Torn Read Online Free Page A

hood to get yo' hair done."
    "You know it ain't no black hair salons out in Ladue."
    "That is true. You got me. So you was gon' catch a cab all the way from Pine Lawn to Ladue?"
    "Yeah." Mo shrugged her shoulders as if it was nothing.
    "Cam said y'all parents had dough, but goddamn." Caught off guard by the mention of her parents, Mo became quiet and her body tightened up. Up until that point, she had been doing a pretty good job of not thinking about her mother. Quan sensed the tension in her and instantly became worried that he'd offended her.
    "Yo, my bad, I forgot."
    "It's cool," Mo whispered, trying her best to choke back the tears.
    For a minute neither of them could think of a thing to say.
    The atmosphere surrounding them was so thick and filled with uncomfortable silence. He didn't understand why, but at that moment, Quan wanted to take all of the pain that absorbed her heart and melt it all away. He wanted - no, needed - to see her smile again, so he gently placed his hand on top of Mo's. She seemed not to mind, because as soon as their skin touched, she began to loosen up.
    "So Quan, tell me a little bit about yo'self?" she asked, pulling it back together.
    "What you wanna know, shorty?"
    "Do you give a lot of girls rides home?"
    "Nope. You're special."
    "Oh, really."
    "Yeah, now tell me a little bit about you."
    "What do you wanna know?"
    "For starters, if you ain't got no man, then what do you Triple Crown Publications presents . . . have?"
    "I have friends."
    "Oh, and what do you consider friends?" Quan asked, taking a hit off the blunt.
    "When I say friends, I mean people I kick it with and talk on the phone to. Nothing more. I don't get down like that, if that's what you're hinting around to."
    "Now look at you. I wasn't even thinkin' about that."
    "Yeah, right." They both laughed.
    "But nah, for real. You bad, lil' mama. I'ma have to make you my lil' girlfriend."
    "Is that right?"
    "Yeah, you fine as hell, and it seem like you got a good head on your shoulders, plus I can almost bet you a virgin."
    "How you figure that?"
    "'Cause ... you still got an innocence about you that most females these days don't have. It's in your eyes. Remember, a person eyes say a lot about them."
    "I'll remember that, now if you don't mind me askin', how old are you?" He looked like he was in his twenties, but she wasn't sure.
    "Eighteen. How old are you?"
    "Fifteen, but I'll be sixteen in a month," Mo responded eagerly.
    "So what's up, you gon' give me your number or what?" he asked as they pulled up to her house.
    "I got you," she replied, taking a pen out of her Coach purse. "You got any paper, all I got is a pen?"
    "Nah, all I got in my pockets is blunts and money, baby," he answered, going into his pockets and showing her.
    "Niggas." Mo shook her head. "Well, here." She took a hundred dollar bill and wrote her phone number on to it.
    "Give me a call."
    "I got you. As a matter of fact, I'ma call you tonight."
    "You do that," she said, smirking as she got out.
    Two weeks and three phone conversations later, Quan was past intrigued. He was straight up infatuated with Mo. She was proving to be more of a challenge than he expected. Most girls would clamor at the chance to get some attention from him, but not Mo. Every chance she got, she played him to the left.
    Tired of playing games with her, he decided to surprise her with a visit. It was a Saturday afternoon and Quan was sure that he would catch her at the salon. As soon as he walked in, he spotted her. Mo was under the dryer with a textbook and notebook in her lap, studying. She was so engrossed in her work that she didn't even notice him approaching.
    All of the other women in the shop noticed him, though.
    Every last one of them was holding her breath hoping and praying that he was there to make her day a little brighter. But Quan wasn't stuntin' none of them. His mind was only on Mo.
    He was gonna make her his, no matter what.
    She was just about to turn the page in her