Ron looked surprised at my words. "I was?” he asked, his voice higher pitched than usual. He took one look at Mekhi and his pride returned. “I mean, yes, I was.”
Mekhi laughed again as he looked at me. “Shiiiit. You might as well go by yourself.”
Ron’s mouth tightened into a thin line and his narrow chest puffed out.
“What is that supposed to mean?” he asked.
“Just what the fuck I said,” Mekhi responded.
“You–”
“Y'all stop,” I pleaded, turning to face Mekhi and positioning my body in front of Ron.
“You ain’t gotta protect yo’ little girlfriend, Farrah. I’m cool as long as that nigga stays in his place. Now, let’s go,” he ordered.
I shook my head. “No.”
He looked down at me like he heard me wrong. I already knew Mekhi didn’t take well to my defying him, and this didn’t look like it was going to go any better than any of the other times. But I owed my parents more than that.
“Why is it that you can't seem to hear the first time around?” he asked.
I wanted to ignore him and do what I’d come to do, but I knew he’d never allow that. So, I decided to try to reason with him.
“Mekhi, I need to check the house. Please.”
I tried to sound as sweet as I could, not that it would probably make a difference. He looked at me for a long minute. Finally, he spoke.
“Give me your keys and stay your ass right here,” he ordered.
I bit back a triumphant smile. “I need to go with you, Mekhi. How will you know if something is out of order?”
He didn’t say anything, just took off across the street to Steel’s car. I watched as Steel got out and they talked for a few seconds. Ron took the opportunity to address me.
“Farrah, how did you get involved with people like them? Is that why that man was around your house? Are you in trouble? If you need help?—”
I held up a hand, waving off his worry. “I’m fine, Ron,” I said, watching as Mekhi and Steel approached.
“Let’s go,” Mekhi said abruptly, and I started to lead him to my front door.
“I’m going, too,” Ron announced.
Mekhi shook his head. “Nah. We good.”
“But—”
“Farrah, tell your…friendgood night. Hurry up.”
I wanted to smack him for his insolence, but since he was giving me what I wanted, I decided to go along with his command.
“Ron,” I began. “I’m good. Thank you for everything, but we can handle this.” Ron looked like he wanted to object, so I grabbed his hand and squeezed. “For real. Have a good night.”
He let out a long sigh before shooting Mekhi a nasty look. Then, he squeezed my hand back.
“Just let me know if you need anything.Anything.”
Mekhi rolled his eyes, but he let Ron walk off with no problem. I marched toward my house, Steel and Mekhi behind me.
“Give me the keys,” Mekhi said, his voice low.
