They ran from the other end of the porch, which gave us a head start. Even if those girls walked up slowly, eating snow cones, I would’ve still run. They all had a reputation for being just as ruthless as the dudes downstairs. We ran into the Browns’ apartment. When the three of us got there, we locked the doors, then I screamed, “Get down!” because I didn’t know if they had guns. We dropped to the floor and listened as they banged on the windows, then one of them said, “We just want that hoe!”

On the floor, we breathed hard in each other’s faces. I looked at Tonya and asked, “Why them girls trying to kick your ass?” then put my hand over my mouth, since we were in the Browns’ sanctuary of an apartment. I was trying my best to stop cursing.

Precious looked right up at Jesus hanging on the wall, then back at me, as if I knew better. She got up, ran to the back of her apartment to tell her parents what happened. I heard her back there crying and hiccuping her way through the story.

When Tonya hadn’t answered, I asked again, “Why they chasing you?”

“Meka saw me in Nook’s car.”

“Doing what in Nook’s car?” I asked.

She dropped her head, ashamed.

That’s when I asked her, “Was you having sex with him?” All of Stacia’s warnings and accusations started to make sense. She hadn’t been making things up.

She started crying. I didn’t know what to say then. I knew that was a yes. I looked around Precious’s living room like I hadn’t ever been in there before, thinking Stacia was right about Tonya.

Precious came back in the room with her parents. They checked to see if the girls were gone, then helped us up off of the floor. They immediately started talking about how bad the neighborhood had gotten, and how they’re so ready to move. Precious, Tonya, and I sat in the living room quiet, not knowing what to do.

I looked back up at the cross, then asked Precious, “How Jesus get up on that cross?”

“They nailed him up there by his hands and feet.”

Me and Tonya just looked at Precious, then back at Jesus.

Then Precious said, “They thought he was lying about being God.”

Then her mother and father got all quiet in the kitchen, listening to us. Ms. Patty cut in.