"Is that right?"
"That's right," he said as he fidgeted with his CD changer. Tony Toni Tone's Just Me and You played softly through the speakers. "Once I get your number, it will be just me and you on the phone talking."
Cooling the conversation down, Shayla changed the subject. "I see you've turned your music down now. You didn't want Mr. Jackson to kick you off the campus."
"Yeah, Mr. Jackson be tripping, but it's all good."
Just me and you, huh? she thought, as she reached into her purse and tore off a piece of paper from her note pad. She wrote her number down and handed it to him, but snatched the paper back before it was secure in his hands. "Wait a minute. Before I give you my number, at least tell me your name?" She knew it, but she wanted him to introduce himself.
"Titus, but call me Tee."
"Okay, Tee." She put her hand on her hip. "There are a few things I need you to know off the top before I even think about talking to you on the phone. One, you have to treat me like a lady at all times. I'm nobody's bitch or ho…"
The four valuable lessons her father, Rich Thomas, taught her were: One, she was nobody's bitch or ho. Two, never let a man disrespect her. Three, think more of herself than anyone else. Four, trust in a higher power and the rest will fall into place. Those lessons started when she was knee-high and were engraved in her mind. He would say, "You ain't nobody's ho, and I damn sho' ain't raising no punk bitches." Shayla would laugh, but he was as serious as a heart attack.
"Whoooaaa! Wait a minute, baby girl. Pump your brakes. I'm going to give you a phone call. From there, you will have plenty of time to see how well I'm going to treat you as my lady."
"Hmph!" she said and cracked a slight grin. She handed him the note with her name and number.
Titus looked at the paper and said, "Shayla. That's a pretty name." He smiled, and she blushed, once again. "How about I call you tonight around eight?"
She confirmed, "It's a date." She nodded and they parted ways.
On the inside, she melted - not from the sweltering hot summer heat, but from the heat that radiated from Titus to her. He was all that and a bag of chips.
From their small talk, she could tell they would have a great conversation. As soon as she walked off, smiling like she'd hit the lotto, a thick, red-boned chick marched over to his car, arms crossed, and filled with attitude. The girl's curly black weave bounced in the wind as she rolled her neck and engaged in an intense conversation with Titus. She pouted and waved her arms back and forth between her outbursts. Then, she pointed in Shayla's direction and pouted some more.