Big Girls Don't Cry 

Cheryl has been what some might label as a big girl all her life. She was teased about her looks all through school. She once had a boyfriend finally in the 6^th grade for almost a whole day. She had a secret crush on him since the 5^th grade. One morning when she got to school, he walked up to her and asked if she wanted to be his girlfriend. Happily she said yes. He told her, "you can't tell nobody or else you're fired!" Well, by lunch time she couldn't hold it in any longer, she just had to tell someone. She told her friend Ieshia and swore her to secrecy. Of course, Ieshia agreed but by the time recess was over, Ian walked up and said, "I thought I told you not to tell nobody! You're fired!" She never spoke to Ian again. Her little heart was crushed but hey, if that's the way the cookie crumbled, then she was gonna eat it anyway. 

She had gotten off work an hour early and was headed home to see her man.  Right now she was a little more anxious to get home than usual because when she called Ricky on her lunch break, he didn't answer.  That was a no-no in any black woman's book.   Her heart was beating so heard it sounded like thunder.  The rain outside mimicked the tears she was crying inside.

She was tempted to call him again on her way home but she didn't want to distract him in what he might have been doing.   She wanted to catch him red handed.  She made a right turn onto her street.  When she was finally two houses away, she saw a car in her driveway that she did not recognize.  Her heart sank deep into her stomach. 

"I know he ain't that crazy!"  She said nervously out loud.  Her feet began to shake uncontrollably making the gas peddle sputter. 

"Lord, please don't let it be!  I can't go to jail today!"  Cheryl prayed.  She had finally reached her driveway and crept in slowly, hoping he wouldn't hear her engine or the closing of her car door.   

She tightly held her keys in her hand so they wouldn't giggle.  Replays of things she hadn't seen or hoped to not experience played in her head as clear as a movie she seen last night.  Trying to keep as quietly as she could, she couldn't get the keys into the lock fast enough.  Many times she had made fun of the people on the movie screen that fiddled with the keys in the door lock.  "Oh my gosh! Stupid a$$!...Just put the damn key in the lock dummy!" she would scream into the television as if the actors would hear her.  Now it was happening to her. 

She finally unlocked the door and pushed it in as fast as lightening.  She was now face to face with Ricky and his unexpected infidelity. 

"What the hell wrong with you?....and why you home so damn early?"  Ricky asked wondering why Cheryl was out of breath. 

Feeling stupid, Cheryl searched for a quick answer.   

"Cause I got done early and I have to go pee."  She rushed past the two men playing Xbox and headed toward the bathroom.   

Cheryl went into the bathroom and closed the door behind her.  Staring at herself in the mirror, Cheryl felt a little foolish for the thoughts she had of Ricky cheating and a bit perplexed about why he wouldn't.  She flushed the toilet without using it and turned on the water to make it seemed as if she indeed had used the bathroom. 

She went into her bedroom to call her girl and buy some time before she entered the living room again. 

"Hey Jamika….girl what you doing?" 

 "Nothing much, just looking in the fridge trying to figure out what to make for dinner before this man gets home."

"I heard that!"  Cheryl laughed.  "Let me tell you right quick about what happened.  I called Ricky this afternoon on my lunch break and he didn't answer.   Now you know that makes me think other things right?  So I came home early today."

"Now Cheryl, you know that man was probably sleeping.  So what happened, cause I'm assuming you jumped to conclusions."

"Well, yeah I did.  I feel so stupid cause he was sitting up here with Beetle playing the 360."

Jamika burst out with a laughed that she shared with her friend Cheryl. "Girl you're too much!"  Jamika commented.

Just then Cheryl's cell phone beeped.  "Aight Mika, I'll hit you back later I got another call." 

Cheryl clicked over and it was her friend Keya.  "Waaaasssuuup Mama!"  Shouted Keya.  Now Keya was single and a very outgoing chick.  She lives fast and plays hard.

"Girl let me tell you."  Cheryl repeated the story to Keya in the same way that she told it to Jamika.

"Um humm..." Said Keya negatively.  "Girl he probably finished what the hell he was doing before you got home!"  Keya just confirmed the other voice that spoke in Cheryl's head.

"You know what Keya, I was thinking that."

"Girl if you wasn't you stupid!  Don't ever trust no man.  I wouldn't put nothing past none of them.  I mean dang, do you see how fine he is?....What chick wouldn't want him."

"You know what Keya, you are 100% right!"  Cheryl wondered why she felt worse talking to Keya than she had when talking to Jamika.  In her mind she secretly wished Keya would back up Jamika's side of the story.

Ricky entered the room and stood at the doorway.  "Why every time I look around you on the phone?"

"Boy please."  Cheryl joked.

"I thought since you came home early today, we would eat early." Ricky said, giving a subtle hint to Cheryl.

"What… oh hell naw!  I know I didn't just hear what I heard!"  Keya said from the other end of the phone.  "Tell that jigga if he wants something to eat, go fix it his self."

Cheryl ignored Keya's comment.  "I figured we'd just go out to eat.  We haven't done that in a while."

"Naw….I ain't in the mood to go out to eat today.  Just fix something….I ain't ate all day."  Ricky returned himself to the living room and began to watch ESPN.

"Humph…now ask yaself why, he don't want to go out to eat.  He just don't want to be seen with you."  Keya said.

Cheryl had already asked herself that question and came up with the same answer.  This time, she didn't need Keya to cosign for it.

"Keya, I'm a hit you back."

"I know you ain't about to hop up and fix that jigga no food just cause he told you too.  See, that just proves your weakness.  Don't no jigga want no weak a$$ chick."

"Aight Keya, lata."

"Uh hummm.." Keya hung up.

Cheryl sat on her bed trying to think and sort out the facts from fiction.  She loved Ricky dearly but still couldn't figure out why he wanted to be with her.  She'd had this conversation a 1000 times with her girls too.  Jamika said it was because Ricky loved her.  And of course Keya said because she gives Ricky what he doesn't have.  Which is, money and a place to live.  Of course Cheryl went with Keya's version of the truth.

Ricky came and stood in the doorway of the bedroom again.  "I guess we just ain't gone eat today huh?  Ricky asked.

Cheryl sat for a minute and thought about what Keya had said.  Her mouth began to ignore her heart and speak for itself.  "Well dammit Ricky, if you're that hungry then feed yo self!"  As quick as she had gotten it out, she wished she could take it back.

Ricky was stunned and offended.  "Oh it's like that?...OK."  Ricky then stormed off down the hall.  Cheryl heard jiggling of car keys and knew Ricky was trying to leave.

She ran down the stairs to try to stop him.  "Hold on Ricky!"  She grabbed him by his arm.

"Move!"  He yelled.

"Why are you acting like this?"  Cheryl whined.

"Cause I'm hungry!"

Cheryl gave in.  "Okay, I'm going to cook you some food now!"

"Nah, forget about it, I don't want nothing you have to offer."  With that said he left out the door and hopped into his car and peeled off.

RICKY

"I don't know why that girl always trippin on a jigga." Ricky said out loud to himself.  He tried to think of the nearest fast food restaurant that would satisfy his taste buds.  He knew that whatever it was going to be was not going to satisfy his stomach.  He wanted a hot cook home made meal, just like Cheryl always gave him. 

He pulled up into Taco Bell.  All the cars that was ahead of him, he almost changed his mind but his cell started ringing.  Without looking he answered.

"What."

"Dayum….what's wrong with you…you that hungry!"  The other voice said on the other end.

"Man…what the f*%k you want?"  Ricky questioned his caller.

She laughed…"Alls I'm saying is if you hungry I got something for you to eat."

Ricky became more agitated.  "Girl!  If you and I were the only two people on earth and no food in sight…I'd either starve to death or eat myself before I even thought about touching you!"  Ricky closed his cell shut.

"Welcome to Taco Bell, may I take your order?"

Ricky was on auto pilot driving up to the window that he didn't even know he was next in line.  His mind was blank because he hadn't yet figured out what it was that he wanted to eat.

"Um….yeah."  He said searching the menu.  "Let me get um…12 pack of tacos.  Make that 6 soft and 6 hard."

"Would you like something to drink with that sir?"

"Yeah but I wasn't done."  Ricky growled irritated at the hurry of the order taker.

"Well go head den."  The order takers voice became aggravated from Ricky's tone.

Ricky wanted to just leave and go somewhere else but he was too hungry for that.  He finished his order and hoped they wouldn't play around with his food.

"OK, pull around to the first window."  Said the order taker.

Ricky did as he was instructed. 

What he couldn't understand was people acting so sh*tty at fast food restaurants.  Ricky felt like they always had some type of attitude.  "If you don't like ya job then dammit quit!"  He could think of other people who would be happy to have their job.  Like himself for instance.  But even a place like Taco Bell wouldn't hire him with his record.

J. Holiday began singing, Bed.  Ricky answered his cell again this time knowing who it was.  "WTF you want!"  He yelled into the phone.

Ricky paid for the food and grabbed his bags.  "You better watch how you talk to me jigga!"

"I don't have to watch sh*t…..what you want?"

"You gone tell Cheryl I called?"

"Hell naw!  You crazy!"  Ricky said irritated and getting tired of the games.

"Why not?"

"Cause that's what yo a$$ want me to do.  I ain't bout to hurt my girl like that.  It's bad enough she has a shiesty a$$ friend like you."

"Uhn um…don't even front jigga you know damn well if she wasn't keeping yo pockets fat you wouldn't even be with her fat a$$!"

Ricky wasn't even going to satisfy her with a response.  He just hung up his cell and turned it off.

CHERYL

"Keya, did you talk to Ricky?"  Cheryl asked Keya.  She was too afraid of Ricky's rejection to call him herself.

"Girl yeah….he said he didn't want nothing to do with you.  You need to just kick his broke a$$ to the curb.  Keya said lying.

"Girl you know I can't do that.  I love him too much.  I should have just cooked his dinner like I always do."  Cheryl said sulking in her misery.

"I don't know about all that but um…I betchu he at some chick house eating right now.  Call 'em, bet he don't answer this time."

"Naw…he might catch on that we playing on the phone, I don't want to make him more upset than he already is."

Keya sucked her teeth.  "Hold on, I'm bout to call his a$$ on the 3-way."  Cheryl tried to stop her but Keya clicked over anyway.  As Keya was clicking back over, Cheryl heard Ricky's voicemail.

"See…now the jigga ain't gone answer his phone."  Keya already knew that Ricky turned his cell off avoiding her.

Cheryl felt worse now than she did when Ricky left out the door.

"Girl let me hook you up.  You know I know some fine a$$ dudes with mad cheddar."

"Naw…I'm cool."

"Girl please, you could be having some fun now instead of sitting up there crying about Ricky's a$$.  I know a dude that will come over right now!"

"Girl!  Even if I wanted to I would have to get my braids redone first."

"Faget all that.  I keep telling you ain't nothing wrong with your hair.  I did them micros about 4 months ago!"

"I know but girl I got so much new growth."

"I ain't playing CC.  Take em out and watch you gone need to find another stylist!"  Keya threatened.  "I'm a hit you back later though, gotta go."  With that Keya exited herself out of the conversation.

Cheryl didn't want to get off the phone just yet because it gave her nothing but time to think about Ricky.  She didn't want to call Jamika because she knew that her and her husband was probably doing they're thang.  Just when she was beginning to think negative thoughts about Ricky, she heard his car pull into the driveway.  Her heart instantly began to beat faster but this time because she was happy that he was home.  He ran upstairs to see his woman, worried that Keya would try to pull one of her stupid stunts.

"Hey."  Ricky greeted Cheryl as he walked into the room.

"Hey baby.  I'm so sorry."  Cheryl apologized.

"It's all good baby, nothing to be sorry for.  My fault too.  You know how I can get when I'm hungry."

The hugged, kissed, and quickly made up.

"I went to Taco Bell.  I got enough for both of us."  Ricky said.

"Alright.  I'll get us some drinks."  Cheryl headed downstairs.

"Ok."

Cheryl's cell started to ring.  "Can you get that for me right quick babe?"

Ricky answered the phone.

"Speak to Cheryl?"  A man with a deep voice on the other end spoke.

"Hold up playa!.... Who the f*$k is this?  Ricky asked with bewilderment.

CHAPTER TWO

"Whatever jigga just put Cheryl on the phone."  The deep voice man said.

"I don't know who the hell this is but you don't call my house talking ish unless you want to be dealt with kid!"  Ricky was starting to let this unknown man get under his skin.  Could Cheryl have been playing him this whole time?  Making him think that he's the cheater all the while it being her?  Nah.  Ricky shook that thought out of his mind with the quickness!

Cheryl came back upstairs because she heard Ricky shouting.  "Baby what's wrong?....Who is it?  She asked.

"Some mofo sorry a$$ jigga asking to speak to you!"

"Well, I don't know who it could be.  Just hang up it's probably a prank or something."

"It ain't no damn prank Cheryl if this jigga calling you by name!"

"Give me the phone!"  Cheryl giggled because she knew this had to be a joke.

"Who is this?"  Cheryl asked the rude caller.

"This is Derrick…."

"I don't know no Derrick and I would appreciate it if you didn't call my house again!"  Cheryl hung up the phone and looked at Ricky, hoping he wouldn't think the worst.

Cheryl's phone rang again.  She looked at the caller ID and it was Keya.

"Hello!"  Cheryl answered still upset.

"CC what the hell is wrong with you!  Do you have any idea who that was and how much bank he got!"

"Kiki, I don't have time for this right now…why did you have that guy call my house?"  It all became very clear to Ricky…he had a feeling that Keya was going to do something crazy before the night was over.

"Cheryl…hang up the phone and let's go eat baby."  Ricky said relieved but even more pissed at Keya.

"Go ahead baby…I'll be down in a sec."  Ricky headed on downstairs.

"You better be glad somebody wanted to holla at you…"  Keya continued.

"What?"  Cheryl asked.

"Nothing."

"Oh I heard you I just can't believe you said that!"  Cheryl let it be known to Keya that she was upset.

"Look mami…I'm just trying to look out for you.  I want you to be happy…I just don't think Rick is the man for you, that’s all."  Keya whined.

"I know."  Cheryl gave in.  "But…just don't do that again."

"Why?  Is Rick pissed?"  Keya asked fishing for dirt.

"Nah.  He good."

"Say huh?!  You trying to tell me another mofo call ya house and he answer and don't give a f*%$.  Now I know he really don't care nothing about you!"

"It ain't even like that Keya, he trust me…"

"Trust you?  Or don't think anyone would be caught dead with you but him?" 

Cheryl didn't have time to process what Keya was really meaning behind that comment.  Ricky was calling her and she had left him waiting too long.  "I'll holla at you tomorrow Kiki."  Cheryl hung up and went downstairs.

"I thought I was going to have to eat your tacos and mine for a minute."  Ricky said joking.

"Boy please, thinking like that you must have a death wish messing with my food."  They both laughed.  Ricky rather entertain any type of conversation instead of what just took place.  He had tried to tell Cheryl about the type of person Keya was a while ago.  But she becomes so defensive about her friends.  She feels like if Ricky ever leaves, her girls will always be there.

"Ricky?"  O boy here we go, Ricky thought to himself.  He looked over at her to let her know he was listening.  "About that guy who called…."

"Cheryl, I don't want to talk about that.  I already know you didn't have nothing to do with that."  Ricky answered honestly.

"O really!...and why is that because you think nobody wants anything to do with me but you?"  Keya's words rang in Cheryl's head and ran out of her mouth.

"What you need to do is quit listening to that b$t*h!"  Ricky said getting heated.

"Why you gotta call my friend out her name?  She ain't did nothing to you.  Do I talk about your boys?"

Ricky tried his hardest to let this conversation go, but Cheryl just kept egging it on.  "Dammit Cheryl, yo friend ain't yo friend!"  Ricky roared.

"Oh really, and how would you know this?"  Ricky tried to ignore the question and let it go.  Things were beginning to go too far and it wasn't going to end up good.  "She's more my friend than you are my man!"

"WTF is that supposed to mean?  What the hell has she done for you?  She can't even do your hair right!  Look at yo hair!  Look at your clothes!  She was supposed to be giving you a make over and she gave you a make down!  F-ing with her you went from bad to worst!"  Ricky bit off more than he could chew.  He didn't mean what he had just said to Cheryl, it just all fit together when it came out.  He loved the way Cheryl looked before Keya came and tainted her.  She tainted their whole relationship.

Cheryl was shocked that those things even came out of Ricky's mouth.  He left her with no choice but to retaliate back.

"The real question is Ricky!  What do you do for me!?"  Ricky tried to continue eating his food and just ignore where this was heading.  "You a good for nothing punk!  We don't go out and do nothing….You don't buy me nothing!, I can't even remember the last time I got a gift from you Ricky!"

This touched deep down into Ricky's manhood.  "F$#k that Cheryl!....You know that I don't have a job right now, why the hell would I borrow money from YOU to get YOU something?....What type of sense does that make!?"

"Well sometimes Ricky, something is better than nothing.  You don't have a problem getting money from me when you want something for yourself."  Cheryl yelled out.  "I don't even know the last time you even got ya a$$ up to look for a job!"

"That’s foul Cheryl when you know my situation."  Ricky still tried to remain calm but he was still at his wits in and didn't see this conversation ending anytime soon.

"Man…f$#k this, I'm out!"  Ricky got up to grab his car keys and leave.

This is the time that Cheryl usually backs down and starts apologizing.  But not this time.

"Oh you leaving huh?"  Cheryl asked Ricky rhetorically.  "Well, get da stepping and guess what, leave my car keys!"

Ricky looked at his hands, "I don't have your keys, I got mine!"

"No mofo!  You got MINE!  I paid my money for the car and its in my name, so um…yeah it's MINE!  You want to leave!...you better use them two things below your knees!  And as a matter of fact!..."  Cheryl said staring at Ricky's feet.  "The more I look at them shoes….the more I'm thinking they mine too!"

"I'm telling you Cheryl!  You going to far, just let me leave so I can cool off!"  Ricky pleaded with her.  He didn't want to leave not only because he had no where else to go, he just knew that ending a relationship was hard to mend back together.

"Oh you can leave, but you leaving my keys!"  Cheryl didn't want Ricky to leave.  She wanted to hurt him the way his words hurt her.  In the back of her mind, she didn't want to continue to seem "weak" either.  She wanted Ricky to make her stop and put his arms around her and squash all this nonsense.  But neither of the two got what they wanted or expected.

Ricky looked at Cheryl with hurt in his eyes and Cheryl starred back with her hurt esteem.  Ricky walked up to Cheryl and gently grabbed her hand.  "Thank goodness."  Cheryl sighed with relief that Ricky was going to be the first to apologize this time.

"I'm sorry Cheryl…"  Ricky said with sadness.  "But you placing anger on me that don't belong on me.  Cheryl tried to decipher what type of apology had "but" in the same sentence.  Ricky continued on, "I love you…but…"  Cheryl heart was now doing flip flops, he'd start of saying something good, but then there was that "but" that just kept butting in. "I can't keep doing this.  I know right now I can't provide for you financially, but I'd like to think I was there for you mentally. 

"Didn't I tell you how beautiful you looked everyday?"  Cheryl nodded.

"Didn't I tell you how much I loved you everyday?"  She nodded again.

"I did what I could do Cheryl.  But I refuse to take you out in public and have my woman paying for everything.  What type of man does that?"  Tears began to swell in Ricky's eyes.

"I told you, I would give you cash when we went out and then you can pay like that."  Cheryl said.

Ricky was becoming frustrated.  "You just don't get it do you Cheryl."  Ricky softly placed what used to be his car keys and house keys into Cheryl's palm.  "I won't take nothing with me….when I get where I'm going, I'll send my clothes and my shoes back to you."  Ricky took off running down the street.  He ran because he knew he wouldn't be able to go listening to Cheryl beg and cry for him to stay.  He also knew that he could run faster than her even if she tried to run after him.

She tried.  "Ricky!"  She yelled as she tried to run after him.  Ricky dared not to look back.  He didn't want to see her.  Not like that.  He wanted to stay with her but not if he couldn't provide the things she needed.  Sure he could do it her way, but he knew that in the long run she would resent him for that too.

As Ricky knew, Cheryl couldn't keep up.  She collapsed to the ground with tears streaming from her round plump face.  Crying hysterically, Cheryl continued to mutter Ricky's name.

CHERYL

For the past three days, Cheryl was a no call no show from work.  Technically she should have been fired, but her boss was cool and knew Cheryl was definitely an asset to the company.  He allowed her to take her two week vacation and added her three days onto that.

Cheryl didn't care about life anymore, she wasn't answering any phone calls from anyone.  Although she did look at the caller ID and jumped every time the phone rang hoping it was Ricky returning her many calls.  He never called her back.  The calls mostly came from Jamika, a couple from Kiki, but that was it.

For the past three days, Cheryl didn't shower and she barely ate just enough to stay alive.  She didn't want to do that.  She wanted to die.  Her eyes were swollen from lack of sleep and crying.  Her heart was broken yet again.  How many time can a person's heart break before its not able to be put back together again?  She wondered.

She lay on the couch and flicked through the television.  There was nothing on that she wanted to watch.  Everything seemed like it was a love story.  She knew every movie was going to have a happy ending unlike her life.  "Lord!  Why do I have to keep going through this!"  Cheryl cried out loud.  People say there is someone for everyone, but Cheryl felt like there must be no one for her.

She threw the remote down and it hit the side of the coffee table changing the television station she had on.  "You have to have radical faith if you want to overcome any obstacles in your life…..I understand what you're going through and I understand how to help you come out.…."  T.D. Jakes began to speak to Cheryl personally.  She turned around to give him her undivided attention.  "We're in this battle together…and let me tell you something, we're going to win this thing by faith."  Cheryl sat up.  T.D. Jakes continued on, "Some of you are going to have to do something that you have never done or you are going to always be where you've always been.

Cheryl pushed pause on the tivo and went to grab her something to eat.  She sat back down and continued to listen to T.D. Jakes.  "I want you to understand that everything you are dealing with right now, the issues that you are confronting right now, has everything to do with where you are right now in your faith walk with God.  That doesn't mean that if your having trouble in your life that you don't have faith so before you fall out and faint, give me just a minute here…"  Cheryl began to chuckle.  It was the first smile she had cracked since Ricky left.

Cheryl watched the whole Potter's Touch and felt somewhat uplifted from the message.  Before she got up to take a shower, she made sure she pressed the record the series button for The Potter's Touch.  After she got out of the shower and got dressed, she called Jamika.

"Girl!  Don't you ever do that again!"  Was the first thing that Jamika said when she picked up the phone.

"I know."  Cheryl said sullenly.

"I know you need to get out of that house.  We bout to throw a little something on the grill, why don't you come over and get you something to eat.  You want me to come pick you up?"

"No…I just got dressed so I will be over in a little bit."  Cheryl hung up the phone and started to get ready to leave the house.

Before she opened the door her cell phone stared ringing.  She couldn't help but hope and pray that it was Ricky on the other end. 

"Hello?"  Cheryl answered eagerly.

"Don't tell me you still over there crying and being all depressed?"  Keya spat.

"Actually I'm not."  Cheryl sang out.  "I was just about to leave out and head over to Mika's house."

"Hump…well I'll meet you over there I guess, I got something to give you."

"Okay."  Cheryl hung up feeling anxious of what kind of gift Keya had for her.  "It's not like her to be all nice and baring gifts."  Cheryl thought to herself. Whatever it was Cheryl would welcome it.  It's been a while since she had gotten a gift from anyone.  The last gift that she received was when she had signed up for a book club and it came with a free tote bag.

Cheryl pulled into Jamika's driveway and she was there in the front yard ready to great her best friend.

"Girl!  I missed you!"  Jamika said as she threw her arms around her friend.

"What?...its' only been three days!"  Cheryl joked but had to admit she loved the attention.

"Girl come on.  Lets go to the back and get a drink and talk."  Jamika lead her friend to the back yard and they sat and had their girl talk while James continued to mind his business grilling hot dogs and hamburgers.

Cheryl told Jamika the whole story of what happed that night between her and Ricky.

"I told you, you were going to run that man away one day."  Jamika was disappointed and wished she didn't way what she just did.  She never wanted to tell her best friend, "I told you so" but it just came out that way.

"I know….I know."  Cheryl said feeling sadness fill her heart.  But it's like he wasn't even listening to me.  Every time I call him he won't even answer the phone."

"Cheryl, you have to give him some time.  Time for his pride to heal.  He's a good man, just having a hard time right now."  Jamika said.

"Yeah but, do you know he called me ugly?"

"He what!"  Jamika didn't believe it, that wasn't the Ricky she knew. 

"Well in so many words he did.  He was saying how Kiki ain't my real friend and that she makes me look bad on purpose."  Jamika turned her head looking away from her friend trying her hardest not to say, "I told you that too."

"I always told you, you need to watch that chick.  I bet she wants your man…..shoot she probably want mine too!"  Cheryl looked back at James and they both began to laugh.

"See that’s what I'm saying, keep smiling, you have a beautiful smile."

"That’s probably about the only thing I have that’s beautiful."  Cheryl muttered.

"Stop that!  If you don't think you're beautiful who else will?"

"See I don't know how you can do it.  I can't.  Maybe its because you really are pretty."  Cheryl said.

"Girl don't I know it!"  Jamika got up to show off her voluptuous curves.

"Ohh…you better stop all that over there!"  James said from where he was standing.  "You gone have to tell CC to hold on for about two minutes!

"Yeah and a minute and a half will just be us trying to get our fat asses upstairs!  Jamika laughed.

"You got that right!"  James said as the three fell out in laughter.

"Eww ut unn….yall really need to stop all that.  That’s just plain nasty."  Keya said as she came into the backyard over hearing.

"Ha!...what's nasty is the thing that just walked into my backyard!"  James said referring to Keya.

Keya stopped to eyeball James rolls of fat from his head to his toes.  "Jigga please!  Do you even have an esophagus or does the food just drop from your mouth to your belly?"

"What, Snuffleupagus!  You trying to call me that thang off Sesame Street?"

Keya was irritated just being there and didn't want to continue playing the roast me game with a complete idiot.  She continued to walk toward where Cheryl and Jamika was sitting.

Jamika whispered to Cheryl, "Why did you invite her here?"

"It's cool, she's just dropping off a gift for me.

Keya sat down.  "So…… what's up besides all you guys' weight?"

Jamika jumped up.  "I'm bout to tear your little ass to threads!"

"Hmmm…"  Keya wasn't the least bit threatened.  "Well, if the truth hurts, back away from the table sometimes."

Cheryl jumped up to try and hold her friend back.  "Keya!  That's not nice!

"Nor is it nice that I have to look at all the cellulite and rolls of fat that forms over her shorts or the flabs that she calls ass cheeks.  At least you cover yours up!"

"You's a jealous bi*ch!  You just mad because we got ass!  Jamika modeled her curvaceous curves in front of Keya.

"Okay guys stop!"  Cheryl yelled. 

When everything had quieted down, Cheryl asked Keya, "Ok, so where's my gift?"

"Gift?  I ain't got you no gift!"  She said with an attitude.

"Yeah right!"  Cheryl laughed.  She snatched the bag that Keya held and peered inside.

"Oh, well if you want to call it a gift."  Keya said with a smirk.

"What the hell is this?"  Cheryl questioned.  Inside the bag was the contents that Ricky wore when Cheryl had last seen him.  His shirt, jeans, shoes, socks, and fruit of the loom underwear.  Cheryl was hurt and confused.  She pulled out Ricky's cell phone from the bag and looked at Keya with her mouth wide open.

"Oh yeah.  He wanted me to give that back to you to.  Girl you was relentless on the cell wasn't you."  Keya laughed.  "You wasn't going to stop calling for nothing was you?"

"Where is Ricky?"  Cheryl managed to get out.

"He at home."

"Home!" Jamika shouted.  This time Jamika had to stop Cheryl from jumping on Keya.