Losing Romeo Read Online Free Page A

you.”
    I nod even though I’m not really in the mood for company. My annoyance disappears when I see Michelle reach into her jean jacket and pull out a fat blunt and a lighter right here in the open. She’s bold like that.
    â€œWant a hit?” she asks, lighting up and taking a couple of tokes.
    â€œHell, why not?” I say. I’m bold like that, too. I take a few puffs and then pass it over to Trisha. I hold the smoke in my lungs for as long as I possibly can, and as I exhale, the thick smoke clouds take away all the stress I was feeling a few minutes ago.
    Michelle and Trisha start talking a bunch of trash that I’m not a bit interested in, so I end up just nodding my head through most of it. All that matters is that they keep the rotation going. By the time we reach the strip mall we are all high and giggling like a group of six-year-olds.
    Once we reach the mall, we start perusing one of the department stores. I start wondering why the hell I even bothered coming here. It’s not like I have any money or anything. Not that I would have anywhere near what it costs for even a T-shirt. Still, I sift through the stuff with a mix of disgust and longing. I can easily picture the Redbonesstrutting in here and plopping down one of their parents’ stupid credit cards to buy whatever the hell their hearts want.
    For a few minutes I drift away from Michelle and Trisha. But when I circle back, I’m stunned to see them stuffing clothes in their bags, down their pants and under their jackets.
    â€œWhat are y’all doing?” I hiss.
    â€œShh,” Michelle says. “Just keep an eye out.”
    Oh, shit. My high is instantly blown. They are straight jacking the place, I realize. My nervous gaze skitters about. I see two salespeople helping out customers and one lady checking someone out at the cash register. “Hurry up,” I say.
    I gotta hand it to Michelle and Trisha—they clearly look like professionals: snipping off price tags and security tags with impressive precision. Five minutes later, we’re strolling out the joint, smiling like three little angels. I ain’t gonna lie: my heart is racing like crazy. The blunt we smoked is probably adding to my paranoia. Not until we make it outside the mall do I relax, but even then I half expect a security guard to jump out of nowhere and haul our asses to jail.
    When the coast is clear, I look at them. “Damn. You two might want to warn a bitch before you pull a stunt like that.”
    â€œI thought that was a given,” Trisha says, laughing. “What else are you supposed to do at a mall?”
    Michelle laughs and then smacks her lips. “I already got the munchies.”
    Across the way is a Taco Bell. With just one glance at the place, my stomach starts growling. “Yeah. I can eat. We ain’t going to steal tacos, too, are we?”
    â€œHEY, YOU GIRLS! STOP RIGHT THERE!”
    My head jerks back to the front of the mall to see a team of security guards charging toward us.
    Michelle yells, “RUN!”
    Hell, she doesn’t have to say it twice.

four
    Kierra—Regret
    It’s what I see and feel whenever I see Christopher Hunter, one of Romeo’s road dawgs. I regret that I ever met him, talked to him, kissed him and I definitely regret that I ever had sex with him if you want to call what we did sex. Hell, it all happened so fast, I can’t be too sure. I just know there was a lot of pain and tears. After that, the asshole was running out of the bedroom door so fast he left skid marks. Judging by the way he’s acting, I’d say that he feels the same way about me. If you ask me, Romeo and Chris are definitely two birds of a feather.
    I haven’t told anybody about what happened, and I don’t plan to, either. So far it looks like he’s kept his big mouth shut, too. In a strange way, I’m both relieved and hurt at the same time. But with all this talk about