Chapter 1 Exceprt

The following segment is taken from Chapter 6 of
Good Girl.

They each had agreed that they could dance with others, but only Shayna really tried it out. Kendall was gone to get them some drinks when an R Kelly song started. This guy she knew only as Eric, asked her to dance and she accepted. He was a big guy, dark-skinned, muscular. He held her very close, with one arm around her waist and the other on her hip resting on her butt, so he could feel her cheeks rise and fall as her weight shifted with every step. By the middle of the song, she detected his condition against her stomach. It seemed that he wanted her to feel it. If he didn’t, he would have stepped back. She sort of enjoyed this little game, knowing that he wanted her, but that Kendall was her man.

When Kendall came back with her punch and saw her dancing with Eric, his mood immediately changed from joy to anger. They had agreed that they could dance with others, but he had no intention of doing it, and he hadn’t expected her to do it either. When the song was over, they would leave, he decided. How dare she go out there carrying my baby, and dance with another dude?

When the song was over, she and Eric broke their embrace. As she walked towards Kendall, Eric hit her on the butt, like a football player would after a good play. She was surprised he did it, and did not look back at him for fear Kendall would think there was something more to their relationship than just a quick dance. It was dark, and their were a lot of people to walk through as she walked towards her boyfriend, but from his stance and the look in his eyes, she knew he had seen what had just happened, and she was afraid of how he would react. She felt her face getting hotter with every step. She felt like she was walking in slow motion towards her boyfriend, still holding her drink. He looked as if he were struggling with the decision as to whether he should throw the drink on her or choke there on the floor. She trusted that he would do neither, but a quick flash of fear came over her as she was within arm’s reach of him. His face showed major distress as his lips were separated as if he didn’t know what to say. His head was tipped back, and she could see his Adam’s apple above his collar, and his chest was rising and falling like his heart was about to jump out of it. She had never seen him get jealous, but she immediately knew that this was a combination of jealousy and rage.

“Let’s go,” was all he said. He touched her lower back and guided from the rear as he always did. He set her drink down on a table as they walked towards the door.

He walked behind her all the way to the car. When they got to the car, “I’m sorry for dancing with Eric.”

“No, you’re not.” He tried to decide what to say next. There was a long pause. “You thought you had to test me. You wanna see how mad I can get. You wanna see if I’ll leave you with this baby!”

“Kendall, that’s not how it happened. He just asked me to dance. I didn’t know how he wanted to dance. I didn’t know he was gonna do that as I walked away. I love you and I trust you. You’ve already been through the fire with me. If you decide to leave me then…but I’m not trying to push you away or test you out or anything like that. I love you. I don’t even know his last name.”

Now they rode in silence. She kept looking at him hoping he would say something more. “Shayna, why did you let him feel you up like that? You did more than dance with him! I didn’t leave; I went to get you some punch. I guess you weren’t lying when you said ‘why have one guy when I can have two!’”

She touched his arm, hoping he would take her hand. “I don’t know. I made a mistake, Kendall. I mean…should I have punched him in the face when he hit me on the butt? I didn’t turn around and grin at him or anything. I can’t control what he does…And I was joking when I said that other thing. You know me better than that! Come on, now.”

He didn’t reach for her hand. He was mad. “By letting him dance with his hand on your butt and rubbing all on you, you told him it was okay for him to touch you any way he wanted to. And you told him and everybody else that I didn’t mean anything to you. I might be your boyfriend, but you’re an independent woman. You can do what you wanna do! Shayna, I never thought you would disrespect me like that.”

They rode around, stopped for some ice cream, which she declined. He got some, but threw it out the window before he finished it. She wanted to cry, but she didn’t because she needed to stand up to him and make him realize that she really meant no harm by what happened. She breathed deeply to hold the tears back. They stopped by his house so his grandfather could see them in their evening attire. Inside, they sat on opposite ends of the sofa, and Mr. Thomas was the only person with anything to say. For people who claimed to have just had a fun evening, their body language didn’t show it. When Kendall could take no more he turned to her, “Hop up. Let’s go.”

As they went back to the car, so he could take her home, he opened her door. She sat down with both her feet still on the ground. She took both of his hands. “I’m sorry. I need you to forgive me. I wasn’t thinking. Kendall, I didn’t mean to upset you like this. Just because I danced with somebody else, doesn’t mean I love you any less.”

“I know it doesn’t.” He looked up at the sky, then back at her. “I just got scared that you might leave me and take my child too! Shayna you gotta stop joking around. It’s time to grow up. If you gotta push a nigga back off you some, then that’s what you gotta do! It’s either that or risk losing me...and I think I’m worth more to you than he is.” He sighed, “Shayna I did not like what I saw tonight. I don’t wanna have to wonder what you’re gonna do when I’m not standing right there by you. You gotta quit joking around.” He took a deep breath, “It’s called trust.” He bent and kissed her forehead.

She turned around in her seat, embarrassed that he had felt the need to say that to her, ‘stop joking around, grow up, trust.’ And not only did he feel the need, but he had actually said it. She was tired of the argument and had no intention of ever bringing up senior prom again. Jealous Kendall was not pretty. They rode in silence and she was content that he was again happy in love. Now he held her hand.