The Pact by Monica McKayhan Page B

at her. After she walked away, we all busted out laughing. I grabbed the beach ball and tossed it at Tiffany. She caught it and then tossed it to Andre. Andre tossed the red, white and blue ball to Michelle, and we continued like that until we got bored. Horseplay, as Rena put it, was so much more fun.
    “Let’s go to my house and watch DVDs,” Tiffany finally said. “Maybe we can even order a pizza.”
    “What kind of DVDs you got?” I asked.
    “I have everything you can think of. All of Tyler Perry’s movies, including a bootleg copy of Why Did I Get Married? ”
    “That movie was so good,” Michelle said. “I saw it twice at the theater.”
    “It was pretty good,” Andre said, “but what kind of action-packed stuff do you have?”
    “I have a few Bruce Willis action flicks. Most of them are old, though.”
    “That’s cool,” I said. “I can get down with some pizza.”
    “How much does something like that cost…pizza, I mean?” Andre asked, and dug deep into the pockets of his trunks, as if he actually had some cash there. “Because I have like…zero dollars.”
    “It’s okay, I have my dad’s credit card,” Tiffany said, and pulled herself out of the water. “Let’s go.”
     
    Tiffany’s house was decorated in cream-colored furniture with black accessories. Expensive art hung on every wall, and the carpet was as white as snow.
    “Take your shoes off and leave them in the foyer,” she said. “I’ll get the movies.”
    She disappeared into one of the back bedrooms while Andre, Michelle and I took a seat on the living room floor, a towel underneath our bottoms. We were all still soaking wet from the pool and didn’t want to soil the furniture. Tiffany handed me a stack of movies and then started punching in numbers on the cordless phone. She ordered two pizzas and a bottle of Pepsi.
    I started flipping through the stack of movies and passing them on to Andre.
    “Let’s watch this.” Michelle held an old movie, Friday, in the air.
    “Yeah, let’s watch that,” Andre said. “Even though I’ve seen it a million times, it just gets better and better.”
    Tiffany slipped the movie into the DVD player, and we all laughed our hearts out until the pizza man finally tapped on the door. I grabbed two slices of pepperoni and slapped them onto my plate. I filled my glass with Pepsi, even though I was a diehard Coke man. Andre had finished three slices of cheese pizza before I even had a chance to bite into my first one. Tiffany and Michelle each started off with one slice, and before long, Andre and I had finished off the pepperoni.
    Several hours later, the four of us were old friends, laughing at movies that we’d all seen a million times each. We’d finished watching Friday and Next Friday by early afternoon.
    “Anybody up for Friday After Next ?” Tiffany asked after the credits from the previous movie had rolled up the screen.
    “I gotta get home,” Michelle said, and stood. She slipped her flip-flops back onto her feet. “I gotta clean up the house before my mom gets there.”
    “I better get going, too.” I stood. “Andre, you coming?”
    “Nah, man, I’m gonna stay here and check out Friday After Next, ” he said.
    Tiffany didn’t seem to mind that Andre was the only one staying, and I couldn’t help laughing inside as I slipped my flip-flops on. I followed Michelle down the wooden steps and across the parking lot. As we passed the pool area, I noticed that it was still crowded. Lots of girls in bathing suits bouncing around in the water. Rena was no longer on her throne; in her place was a redheaded white guy with freckles all over his face.
    When I stepped into the breezeway of our condo unit, I was surprised at what I saw. Rena was sitting on the stairs, her hands clasped beneath her chin. Michelle and I both stopped in our tracks at the sight of her.
    “Hey, Marcus,” Rena said.
    “Rena, what’s up? What are you doing out here?”
    “Waiting for you.”
    I