The Fight by L. Divine

threatened by me. Please, don’t worry. I don’t want to take your spot in this precious clique or your mute man. On the real, though, you can save that foul attitude of yours for somebody else, ’cause I don’t take too kindly to your mouth. You don’t know me, so be careful what you say to me.”
    Shae looks shocked, like she doesn’t know what to say, but her eyes never leave me. Everybody gets still. Misty’s expression says “oh, no she didn’t just go there,” and everybody else is just waiting to see what will happen next.
    â€œWell, I guess we do have a Compton girl after all. Welcome to Drama High, Jayd. I think you’re gonna do just fine here,” KJ says, trying to lighten the mood. Finally, Shae speaks up.
    â€œYeah, I guess we do,” she says. I stand my ground while she tries to think of something to say.
    â€œJayd, why don’t I show you around the rest of the campus before the bell rings? We’ll catch up with y’all later.” Misty grabs my arm, spins me around, and starts walking real fast across the lunch area, away from South Central.
    â€œGirl, you don’t know Shae like that. You shouldn’t have said that. Now Shae is going to be all up in your business, trying to hate on you in ways you can’t even imagine. She is real protective of her man Tony, even though he is as ugly as sin. But, she’s like that with all of the girls, not just you. Why did you say that to her? Damn, now I know there’s going to be some drama behind this mess. Shae don’t let nothing slide.”
    â€œAre you afraid of her or something?” I ask Misty, because she sure did sound like it to me.
    â€œYes! And you should be too. Shae used to be a member of Piru Street gang and her man Tony still is, even though he don’t look like it. They both got kicked out of Centennial for robbing a teacher. How they got here I just don’t know, but we try not to mess with them and let them think they run South Central.”
    â€œWell, Misty, I really don’t give a damn about all that. Nobody runs me, and they and you can have South Central. I’m not into cliques and I don’t let nobody punk me, not even some broad from Piru. If she wants to fight me, fine.
    Bring it on. But it needs to be known from jump that I may be smart and I may not fit y’all’s little image of what a girl from Compton is, but don’t nobody talk mess to Jayd Jackson and get away with it.”
    â€œI see that and hey, for the record, I agree with you. I’m glad you said something to that hoochie. I think you’re the first, maybe the second girl to stand up to her. She goes on like that all the time. This girl named Mickey is the only other person I know who has stood up to her.”
    â€œWhere is she now? Don’t tell me dead or crippled or something.”
    â€œNo, she’s cool. She hangs out with this girl named Nellie. They’re too good for us common Black folk, so they just kick it wherever, I guess. I really don’t pay much attention to them. But the only reason Mickey got away with that is because her boyfriend is a member of a gang, and Tony didn’t want no trouble with him over Shae’s mouth.”
    â€œOh, so he can speak when he wants to.”
    â€œYeah, he can, but he don’t talk much. He’s a man of action, so I hear, not words. He leaves the mess talking to Shae.”
    â€œLook, Misty, just like you said I don’t know Shae like that, don’t nobody up here know me like that.”
    â€œYeah, but you can’t just be going around telling people off on your first day here, Jayd. You gotta let people feel you out first and you feel them out. It’s better to be thought of as shy and quiet at first, and then come out with that ghetto attitude.”
    â€œI thought that’s what I did,” I say with an edge of sarcasm.
    â€œNo, Jayd. You didn’t do