It's a Cold World

As I'm walking, I pulled out my phone to call Kelly. I don't know why I'm nervous, but I am. I pressed call and put the phone to my ear.

One Ring.
Two Ring
Three Ring

I was just about to hang up when I heard that soft voice again. "Hello?" She said.

*Me: Hey Kelly. This is Dante. The one from church.
*Kelly: Oh hey. Wussup?
*Me: Nothing much. I was wondering if you wanted to hang out later on...
*Kelly: I would love too!
I heard the smile in her voice.
*Me: Cool. I'll pick you up later. Around 7. Just text me your address and I'll be there.
*Kelly: Okay. See you tonight.
*Me: alright, bye.
*Kelly: Bye

We hung up and I wanted to jump for joy. Wait. I said I'll pick her up. I have no car. Damn-it. Oh wait, Keke. I can ask to use her's. I pulled out my cell again and dialed Keke's number. She answered on the first ring.

*Keke: Okay. What happened now?
Uh, she always answer the phone like that when she see me or Cory calling. It don't even be nothing wrong. Well, most of the time it don't.
*Me: Can you do me a favor?
*Keke: Depends on what it is. What is it?
*Me: Can I borrow yo car? Please?
*Keke: . . . .
*Me: Please Keke. I got a date tonight and I told her that I'll pick her up. And plus you owe me for that time you hooked me up with that stalker girl.
She laughed at that.
*Keke: Fine. Fine. You better be glad I don't have anywhere to go.
*Me: Thank you so much !!
*Keke: Yea yea. Whatever.
Then she hung up. She know she love me.

It's now 3:33 pm. I have a while before I have to get ready. Do I really need to change? I looked at myself. Black and White Adidas. Baggy Black pants, with black polo shirt. And my black hat. Well, maybe I should change. A little too much black.

I got a text from one of the crew members saying that they needed me. Damn. It's Sunday. Everyone should be resting. They told me to meet them at the hide out. I went right back out the door and started walking to the hideout.

I wonder if Cory got the text too.

~~~~~~~~HIDEOUT~~~~~~~~~

"Whats up?" I said once I got there. I gave each of them nod and leaned against the wall.
"We got a problem..." Mark said. Mark is suppose to be in the same grade as me, but he dropped out last year. I've known him for about 2 years.
"What's the problem? And where is Cory?" I asked.
"He's on his way. And there's some gang that trying to start a war with us."
"For real? And do we know them?"
"Yep. Peewee's crew"
"Are you fucking kidding me.?" I asked shocked.

Okay. Let me give you a little history on peewee and his crew. Peewee is the leader. He's 22 years old. These dudes are like stupid crazy. They do everything. And in open day light. They don't care. And the saddest part is, they have killed 2 cops. Like I said, They don't care. We have history with them. I remember the first time I heard about Peewee. I was 14. But why do they want trouble with us? They don't even live on this side of town.

"They said something about we killed one of they guys or some shit. I don't know, but they serious and we need to be ready for whatever."
"I cant handle this shit right now." I said.
Tony got in my face and said, "Nigga, we brothers. You better handle this shit." And he had attitude.
"Tony, back the fuck up. I'm strapped and unless you want a bullet in you head, get the fuck out my face." I said back with the same attitude. He just glared at me and backed up. That's what I thought. Nobody said anything after that, and that is when Cory showed up.

We all told him everything. and he took the news the same way I did. After an hour of talking about this whole situation, we were free to leave. Cory told me that he was going back to carry's house and chill with her. He seemed different too. I just let it go. I walked back home and watched a movie for the next hour in a half. When the clock hit 5:00. I got up to start getting ready for this date.

~~~~~~~6:30 pm~~~~~~~

I had already took my shower and got dressed and everything. I'm wearing my white button down shirt, but I had the sleeves rolled up halfway. And I wore some black slacks with black dress shoes. I wore my gold chain. And my studs too. I made sure I have a good 5 to 600 dollars on me. I texted Kelly earlier and told her that we were going somewhere expensive and to wear something nice. She texted me her address too.

I told Keke could she bring her car over here, and while I'm gone she could chill here at the crib. She said sure. She is in the living room now. I walked in, and she smiled at me.
"Aw Dante. Look at you. You look nice."
"Thanks Keke. Well I'm out. See ya later on tonight."
"Okay best friend."

I shut the door and headed across town to the fancy neighborhood's to pick up Kelly. I pulled in front of the house at exactly 6:58. I called her and told her I was outside. She said okay and came out. She was wearing a red strapless dress that was tight in the chest area but then hung loosely. It stopped at her knees. She had on some red pumps too. And her hair was curly now. She looked amazing.

I got out the car before she got to it and ran to the passenger side. I opened the door for her and she chuckled at my actions and got in. I ran back to the driver's side and zoomed off.

"Nice car" she said still smiling. "Thanks" was all I could say.
"So mister sweet talker, where are you taking us?" she asked.
"That's for me to know and for you to wait and see." I said keeping my eyes on the road. "Alright. I'll wait." And then she turned the radio station. Pretty girl rock by Keri Hilson was playing and she started singing along to it. I tried not to laugh at her singing but I could not help it.

"What's so funny?" She said facing me. "Lets let Keri sing it." I said trying to hold in my laugh but failed miserably. She hit me in my arm and I laughed harder. Then she started to laugh also.

20 minutes later we were pulling into this 5 star restaurant. I don't even know how to pronounce the name but I've been here a couple of times with Cory and Keke. They have everything. Soul food, Italian, Mexican, and Chinese. Anything you can think of. We got out and she looked up at the restaurant.

"It's so big." She said in amazement. "Well, I see you have never been here before, which is what i was hoping for." She smiled at me and I took her hand in mine. We walked in and there was a lady at the front.
"Yes. What can I do for you two?"
"Can we have a table for two?" I said. "Of course." she escorted us to one of the tables in the back by the window.

"Dante this is very nice. Looks expensive though."
"It's a fair price." I said shrugging. Our waiter came in no time.
"Hi, I'm Pam. What would you two like to drink?" She said handing us our menus.
"I'll have a cola." I said. I always get a coca-cola when I come here.
"And I'll just take a sprite." Kelly said. The lady nodded and said, "I will be back with your drinks, and to take your order for your dinner tonight." Then she walked away.

"You look great Kelly. I mean really." She blushed again. And I was beginning to love every time she blushed.
"Thank you. Your too sweet" She said smiling. "And you look very good too." I shrugged and said with a smirk, "I try. I try." She started laughing and so did I.
"I see someone's a bit conceited." she said leaning forward.
"Oh no. Far from it." We kept going with the small talk until the waiter came back.

"Okay. Here is your drinks. Are you both ready to order yet?" she asked. We both looked at the untouched menus. I chuckled and said, "um. No, not yet. Can you give us a little longer?" "Sure." She said, and walked away to another table.
"Well, we better go ahead and see what we want" Kelly said opening the menu. "I'll get the steak and gravy, with the side order of mashed potatoes.. With the chicken salad" I said closing my menu. She nodded still looking at the menu. I found myself staring at her. She noticed and blushed and hid behind the menu a little more. I smiled at the fact that she was being shy.

"Okay. I'll get the chicken enchiladas and a side of macaroni and cheese and beans." She said dropping the menu. "Good choice." I said and we started sipping on our drinks. "So tell me about yourself." I said. She cleared her throat and said, "um. what do you want to know?" "Whatever your willing to tell.." I smirked.

"Well then, I have 2 siblings. Brother and sister. I'm the oldest. And I'm a senior at Bradshaw High. I moved here 4 years ago. I'm shy, silly, and outgoing. And when I think of something else, I'll tell you." we both laughed. "Okay. Your turn." She said taking another sip of her drink and getting ready to hear what I have to say. Oh shit. What do I say?

"Well. . .me and my best friend Cory share a crib. I-I um, I'm also a senior. And I go to Jameson High school. I have no siblings. I keep to myself most of the time. I do love to laugh and all that stuff. And that's all" I said looking away. It was quiet now. Yea, I can't do this. She probably wants to go home now. She probably found nothing interesting about me.

"Are you two ready to order now?" Said the waiter approaching us. Thank God. "Yes. Yes we are" I said in a rush.
We both told her what we wanted and she wrote it down. "Give me a minute, and I'll be back with your orders." I nodded and glanced at Kelly. She was looking at me also, but she was smiling. Why is she smiling?

"So. Where did you move from?" I asked trying to spark up a conversation. "New York." "Really? Is it fun up there?" "Not really. The part I lived in, was bad and dangerous. All you seen was people selling or prostitutes on the street. Always heard about killings and stuff." she shook her head as she spoke, "I just don't go for all that stuff." She ended it with that.

Yea, there's no way we can work. She doesn't do the whole street life. But there's something about her. The waiter came back in no time and we started to eat. I was watching her and she was watching me. She gave a light chuckle and I asked what was funny.

"Ha. Um. You have a little something on your nose..." she said pointing to my nose. I felt it and it was a little gravy.
"How the fuck did that get way up there?" I said, and she started laughing.
"Oh that's funny now?" I pecked my gravy with my fingers, leaned forward and put it on her cheek. She froze in shock, and then said, "Dante. I know you didn't just put gravy on my face." I smiled and said, "Yep. I did. Who's laughing now?" I laughed a little.
"Oh. So that's how you want play?" She stood up, and then leaned forward, dug her whole hand in my gravy. Oh no.

I scooted my chair out and stood up too. I said with caution while holding my hands out, "Kelly. Put the gravy down." She smirked and threw the gravy at me. I covered my face, but it got all on my white shirt and arm. I put my arm down and stared at her. She was laughing too hard. So she wants to go a little farther huh?

I didn't really see anything else on our table that I could put on her so I looked at the table next to us. They had a nice white pie on the side. I smirked. Looked at Kelly then back at the table. I walked over to the nice people and said politely, "Excuse me. Are you done with this pie?" They looked at the pie and then back at me. They nodded and I picked up the pie.

I walked back to our table and stood with the pie in my hand. Kelly seen and suddenly the laughing stopped.
"Oh Kelly whats wrong? I thought something was funny." I said pouting.
"Dante. You wouldn't." She said in surprise.
"Oh really? I wouldn't?" I said raising my eyebrows.
She started backing away and I threw the pie straight at her. She ducked and it hit this white man right in the face. Oh Shit. Me and Kelly looked at each other and took off running.
Damn, we didn't even pay for the food.
I grabbed Kelly's hand and we were gone. When we got to the car, we stopped running and leaned against the passengers side. We were panting and trying to catch our breaths.

All of a sudden we heard, "HEY YOU TWO?" We turned and seen 3 waiters pointing at us. We hopped in the car and I zoomed out of there.

We couldn't stop laughing while we were in the car. That was too funny. "Did you see the mans face when the pie hit him?" Kelly said still laughing. "I know. I didn't even get a chance to pay the bill." I said laughing and shaking my head.
"That was like the funniest thing I have ever did in my life." She said smiling to herself. "I'm glad you got to share it with me" I said a little to myself but I know she heard it. She looked at me still smiling, "Yea. Me too." I couldn't help but smile. We fell into an comfortable silence and it stayed that way until I pulled in front of her house.

We sat in the car for a while and said nothing. "I had fun tonight. Thank you Dante" she said in a low voice. "Your welcome. And I did too."
"I guess I'll call or text you before I go to sleep" she said. I smiled. "That would be nice. Goodnight beautiful" I said. "Night." She said and got out. She shut the door lightly and I waited until she was all the way in the house before I drove off.

This was the best fucking night of my life. When I got home, I found Keke watching TV with Cory. When they heard the door shut, they both turned around. "What the fuck happened to you?" Cory said pointing to my shirt.
Keke laughed and I did too.
"Me and Kelly got into a playful food fight at the restaurant."
"Aw. How romantic" Keke said smiling. "You two didn't get anything in my car did you?"
"No. It's the same way I got it."
"Iight. Well I'm out of here losers. See you two at school." "Okay" we both said and watched her leave the house.

"Hey Dante.?" Cory said. "What's up?" I asked looking at him. "Carry's pregnant" he said looking down.
"YOU LIEN!" I almost yelled. He shook his head, "No I'm not. That's why I was with her all day. And that's why she gave me that trick test." he said. I walked over to him and sat on the couch too.
"Bro, it's gone be alright. Your going to be a great father." He nodded and said, "Well, I'm gone turn in early. See ya tomorrow."
"Alright." We did our handshake and he went to his room. I then went to mines too and took a nice shower.

When I got out. I put on my boxers and basketball shorts. I took my phone out and seen I had a message from Kelly. She said hey call me. I did exactly that.

We spent over 4 hours on the phone. I didnt go to sleep til 3:55am. We talked about some random ass stuff but she's easy to talk too. And we both love to laugh so that came pretty natural. I'm really feeling her, but my life is going to get in the way of everything. I just know it.