“Don’t be slamming no doors in here!” she called after Alisha. “I gotta pay for that, and I got your little funky ass for free.” Rhonda’s tirade was interrupted by her phone ringing. She looked at the caller ID, but couldn’t tell who it was because the batteries were dead. “Hello!” she answered in her best hood rat tone.

“Bitch, you can’t answer the phone no better than that?” the caller replied.

“Don’t play with me, Billy. What’s up?”

Billy was one of Rhonda’s closest friends. Though she was younger than Rhonda, they had lived in the same projects a few years back before Billy’s mother had gotten them out. She hadn’t known Billy as long as Yoshi had, but over the years they had developed quite a friendship.

“Nothing, ’bout to go to Kingdome and see what’s going on,” Billy said.

“Shit, I ain’t been there all summer,” Rhonda recalled. “I need to go with you. Who else is going?”

“Me, Reese, and Jean.”

“Jean? Billy, what’s really good with you and that bitch?”

“Don’t be funny, Rhonda. You know me and Jean used to play for Brandeis together.”

“Umm-hmm. Tell me anything,” Rhonda said suspiciously. “Let me find out you eat at the Y.”

Billy sucked her teeth. “You know what, y’all better stop playing with me. You and Reese kill me with them slick-ass dyke comments.”

Billy’s sexuality was a sore spot for her. Growing up, she had always been a tomboy. She didn’t play with dolls or do other things that little girls would. Billy felt more comfortable playing sports. Before her father was killed, he had taught her to play basketball. From the time Billy was five until right before she entered junior high school, he would take her to the park every day to work on her game. By the time Billy was twelve, she could give any of the older boys on the court a run for their money.

Her friends always clowned her about being so boyish, but she was quick to defend her femininity. She had had several boyfriends through the years, but always felt like there was a void being left unfilled. Being around like-minded girls in the sports circuit all her life, it was only natural that her curiosity was peaked. Billy didn’t consider herself gay because she didn’t have a girlfriend, nor did she consider herself bi because she only got involved with guys. Oh, she had experimented a few times, but had yet to find the bitch to turn her out properly.

“Well, maybe if you wasn’t so hard, people wouldn’t think it,” Rhonda continued.

“Rhonda, just because I don’t run around with my tits and gut out like you doesn’t mean I’m not sexy.”