Rhonda was almost knocked over by the crowd, which was trying to get as far away from the fight as possible. When something jumped off at the club, no one wanted to be crushed under the rush of bouncers or hit with a stray punch, so the sensible thing was to move away from the commotion. Rhonda, being who she was, charged head on into it to see what was popping. She broke through the crowd just in time to see the back of Yoshi’s head disappear into the mix on the other side.

“I wonder what this bitch done started now?” Rhonda asked no one in particular.

21

Billy stood on the corner, smoking a cigarette she had bummed off some dude who was trying to rap to her. Smoking was something she had first tried hanging out with Rhonda and Reese, but quickly decided that it wasn’t for her. But with everything going on, she needed a smoke to calm her nerves.

She felt like a complete ass for running out of the club like that. She cherished Sol’s memory in a way that most people couldn’t understand. He had been gone for a while, but she still couldn’t seem to let go of the memory. Soon, she told herself, but not yet.

She felt horrible for treating Marcus the way she had. How could he have known about the tragedy of her lover? Billy was so caught up in watching for an ulterior motive that she never considered the fact that he might actually be a nice guy. All he had been guilty of was trying to get to know her and she had probably ruined that. The worst part about it was she was actually starting to feel him.

Marcus appeared to be the total package: handsome, respectful, and employed. In a sense, he was too good to be true. It had been a long time since she had kept company with a man, let alone entertained the idea of actually letting him in. Maybe if she ever ran into him again, she’d be a little more courteous.

Billy’s thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the emergency door being flung open. Jah and Yoshi came spilling out onto the curb like they had the devil on their heels. Jah looked around frantically as if he couldn’t decide which way to go, with a pistol dangling at his side. Yoshi’s face was stuck somewhere between excited and turned on. Billy scratched her head, wondering what the hell was going on.

The emergency exit had led Jah and Yoshi to a small corridor. There was hardly any light, save for the dim illumination of the emergency bulbs. Yoshi slowed down to get her bearings, only to have Jah pull harder.

“Why don’t you slow your ass down!” she shouted.

“I’ll slow down when we’re outta here,” he said and continued to pull.