“Nai, the first people I came out to are all at this table. And everyone kept my secret. We’ll do the same for you. Trust,” Shawn says.

I assume Dell will add something to the convo, but when I look up, he’s nose deep in a Ho Ho. I kick him under the table. He looks at me as if to ask, “What?” Shawn grabs the snack from him and nods toward Naija, who is still in tears. Dell goes over to her side of the table and hands her something from his pocket with the pomp and circumstance a man would hand a woman an engagement ring. At first, I can’t make out what he gave her, but then I look closer . . .

“A four-pack of Oreos?” I say in disbelief.

Dell doesn’t look at me. His attention is solely on Naija. He looks deep into her eyes and says, “I was saving this later just for me. But you’re special, and you deserve nice things. Yeah, that’s right—Double Stuf.” She laughs in spite of herself. Soon she’s both laughing and crying.

I put my arms around her. “C’mon, Nai. Be best!” I tease.

The dumbass Melania Trump slogan has become a joke in our circle. It’s basically something you say when there are serious issues at hand and you have no intention of fixing them. It’s a slogan that has no value or merit whatsoever.

“You guys know about the new guy my mom is seeing, right?” she says carefully.

We nod, and already a knot forms in my stomach.

She swallows hard before continuing. “When my mom isn’t looking, he leers at me like I’m some fruit he wants to bite into. I thought I was tripping at first, but the more time went by, the more he kept looking. I told him I didn’t play that mess and that he needed to stop. But he just acted like he didn’t know what I was talking about. And when I’m in the shower, he started walking in on me. Talk’n ’bout it’s an accident.

“When he’s around, I have to stay in my room. I feel like I’m in prison, like, for real. I cover up like I’m a nun, but he stay looking. The other day, my mom went out to the store. I didn’t realize she was gone. He came into my room and blocked the entrance. If my mom hadn’t forgotten something and come back . . . I don’t know what could have happened.”

The guys are pissed off right away. They release a litany of curses as I hold Naija close.

“Yo, for real, just tell me where that nigga hangs out,” Dell says.

“You not gonna do anything to him,” Naija replies.