Never Too Late Part 2 by Mz. Deede (phonics reader .TXT) 📖

Tamika, look at them over there,” Ja’Mya tells her best friend as they watch the boys play basketball after school.
“You know I love caramel, but I already got someone,” Tamika says talking about her life long friend turned boyfriend, Antoine.
“And. Ain’t nothing wrong with having two. What he don’t know won’t hurt him. Here they come now. Don’t run them off. You may already have a boyfriend but I don’t.”
“What’s up? I’m Kamal. Me and my brother, Jamal, are new here,” Kamal a six foot six, caramel colored boy with the muscles of a god, says to them.
“And we were wondering if two beautiful ladies like yourself can show us around,” Jamal, Kamal’s identical twin but just two inches shorter and a little more muscular, adds on.
“We would love to. Wouldn’t we Tamika?” Ja’Mya says playfully hitting her on the arm.
“I guess we would,” Tamika says knowing that she’s going to regret what she’s about to do.
“So, what’s your name?” Kamal says as he helps Tamika get up off her blanket.
“Tamika,” she says as she pushes him away from her before temptation gets the best of her.
“You don’t have to be so mean. I don’t bite,” he says showing his teeth like a vampire attempting to bite her. Jamal and Ja’Mya laugh hysterically while Tamika looks at Kamal with disgust.
“Mika, you need to stop acting so sidity and enjoy yourself,” Ja'Mya says still laughing.
“Yeah. Were all friends here just trying to have a good time, aren’t we?” Jamal adds on hoping to get on Ja’Mya’s good side.
“I’m not acting sidity and I am enjoying myself. It’s just that…” You love me; you complete me. You hold my heart in your hands. Tamika’s phone cuts her off, signaling a call from Antoine. “Hello. Hey Antoine. I’m at the park with some friends. I’ll be over there later, okay. Bye.”
“So that’s why you’re acting like that. You’re scared that Antoine will find out about you hanging out with the new boy. That’s alright though. I understand that you want to stay faithful and I’m just too much temptation for you to handle,” Kamal says gently nudging Tamika.
“You’re so full of yourself. I don’t care if he knows. Who I hang out with is none of his business anyway.”
“If you say so.”
“Whatever. Do you wanna go see the fountain?”
“You actually want to be alone with me?”
“Friends can be alone and have a conversation, can’t they?”
“Yeah, I guess so. Are you gonna push me in the fountain and make me drown?”
“I wouldn’t do that to a friend unless you say something stupid before we make it. Do you want to see it or not?”
“Yeah, come on, friend.”
2/4/08
Dear Diary,
Is it wrong to kiss one person and tell them that you love them while you’re thinking of someone else? Today, me and Ja’Mya met the new kids. They’re twins, Kamal and Jamal, and they’re so, so, so fine. Kamal looks the best out of the two. At first I thought he was arrogant, but after I got to know him I found out he wasn’t; at least not that much anyways.
Why couldn’t he have come before all that drama with me and Antoine went down? The whole time I was with Antoine I was thinking about Kamal. He asked me to the movies this weekend, but as just friends. I really want to go but what would I tell Antoine. If I do go I don’t want to go as friends. Ja’Mya says that if I go she’ll go with Jamal so that I can tell Antoine I’m out with friends. I don’t know what to do, but he wants an answer by Friday, so I have two more days to decide.
♥ Tamika


The next morning, Tamika was really confused about what happened the previous day. While she was getting ready for school, she concluded that everything that happened was all a dream. Nobody contradicted her about that, not even Ja’Mya. She believed that that was all it was until she had lunch with Antoine.
“So, what did you and your friends do at the park?” Antoine asks Tamika bringing her back from her daydream.
“Nothing, we just watched a basketball game and walked around and talked,” Tamika said finally realizing that it wasn't a dream. Finally realizing that what happened yesterday was actually real and that she is attracted to someone other than Antoine.
“Who were you with?”
“I was with a couple of friends.”
“What friends do you have that you didn’t see at school yesterday? I thought the point of you spending the day with your friends at school was so you can spend the evening helping me study?”
“There was a couple that I didn’t see at school. And guess what. I can spend my evening with my friends if I want to whether you like it or not. I still helped you so you need to stop trippin’.”
“You’re right. You had your own life before we hooked up and you still do. I’m sorry. Do you forgive me?”
“Yeah. You still want me to pick you up from practice?”
“Yeah, if you don’t mind.”
“Okay. I have to go, see you after school.”
Tamika spent the rest of the day happily daydreaming about Kamal. The day was going along good until Tamika went to seventh period, pre-calculus class. She takes that class with Kammie and Joseph.
At the beginning of the school year, Kammie was the cheerleading captain and Antoine’s girlfriend. Joseph was Antoine’s best friend. Everybody knew that Kammie was cheating on Antoine with Joseph, everybody but Antoine. At the beginning of October, Antoine found out and broke up with Kammie. He also found out that Kammie was pregnant for Joseph and intended to tell him that he was the father. Now, Kammie is five months pregnant. And the baby will be fatherless because Joseph wanted nothing to do with her and the baby after she ruined his friendship with Antoine.
When Tamika walked into class, there was a huge commotion. Everybody was screaming, “Fight, fight, fight.” Tamika tried to make it to her desk, but when she was just about there, Joseph picked it up and threw it across the room. When the desk crashed against the wall the entire class went quite and a sudden chill ran down Tamika’s spine.
“Joseph, please calm down. You’re not the only one that’s hurt,” a crying Kammie says on her knees in the middle of the class.
“You want me to calm down. How the fuck can I calm down when I’m gonna die? Explain that to me. You give me AIDS and don’t expect me to get mad. You ruined my life just so that you can get a couple dollars,” Joseph says pulling Kammie off the floor by her hair.
“Please, just calm down, I’m already going through a lot. I didn’t give you AIDS. You got it from someone else ‘cause I’m clean.”
“What can you possibly be going through that’s worst than this?”
“I had a miscarriage, Joseph. The baby, our baby, is dead.”
“I know. Just like I know that you’re lying about not having AIDS. When I went to the doctor to get tested, I went to the doctor that you go to. Yesterday when she told me my results, she expressed her sympathy for losing the baby and she told me that you had AIDS too. She said that that was the reason the baby died, ‘cause you had AIDS. You need to stop acting like you care, ‘cause you known good and well you ain’t want that baby anyway.”
After Joseph said that, Kammie ran out of the class in tears. Tamika actually felt sorry for her; even through she deserved it for playing Antoine. After Tamika battled with her conscience, she finally got up and went to look for Kammie. Tamika finally found Kammie in the restroom locked in one of the stalls. Since they had a substitute teacher Tamika spent the rest of the hour talking to Kammie.
When the bell rung Kammie finally spoke what was really on her heart, “Tamika, I’m so sorry about what I did to Antoine and about trying to trick you into thinking that Antoine didn’t really like you. When I heard that you tried to commit suicide, I knew that it was my fault and I felt extremely guilty. Actually, the only reason I tried to break the two of you up was because I’m jealous of you. I wish I didn’t have to act slutty to get a man and get pregnant to keep him. You have the looks and personality to get and keep any man that you want, always remember that. Thanks for talking to me today. Bye.”


When Tamika finally left school, she went to the mall to meet up with Ja’Mya. After they finished shopping, they went to the food court. There Tamika told Ja’Mya everything that happened at school, including Kammie’s apology.
“Drama, drama, drama. I’m so happy I’m not you right now. And then to make it worst, Kamal’s gonna call you before the night is over.”
“Why did you give him my number? You know I already got a boyfriend.”
“Don’t act like you ain’t want him with it, ‘cause you know you do. If you already got a boyfriend, why do you sound like a little school girl that’s about to see her crush?”
“Whatever. You really play too much. What’s up with you and Jamal?”
“Girl, I been meaning to tell you bout what happened at lunch. Since you were eating with Antoine, I decided to go off campus to eat with Jamal. While we ate, we talked and talked, and talked some more. Before we made it back to school, we hooked up.”
“Wow. Let me guess. After that happened, you started talking about hooking me and Kamal up.”
“How did you know? Are you psychic or something? I kind of also told Kamal that you would go to the movies with him Saturday”
“Ja’Mya, why would you do that? Look, I don’t even want to know the rest. I got to go pick up Antoine. I’ll call you later.”
When Tamika arrived at the gym, Antoine was helping one of the players, so she sat in the bleachers. Antoine is the team’s captain so he has to stay late sometimes to help out. Tamika thought see knew all the players, but who ever Antoine was helping was new. He looked familiar, but she couldn’t figure out who he was. She spent about five minutes trying to think of whom he could be, but she still had no idea.
Finally, Antoine and the mystery player finished practicing and were now picking up the balls. Antoine waved at Tamika so that she would come over there by them. When she made it, she realized who the player was.
“Hey, Tamika, how are you?” Kamal says with a flirtatious smile.
“I’m good Kamal. I didn’t know that you were going to play basketball for the school,” Tamika replied a little uncomfortably.
“I didn’t either, but Antoine here talked me into it. He’s very persuasive.”
“That’s one of the many things that I love bout him,” Tamika says trying to hint to Kamal that Antoine is her boyfriend.
“So you two already know each other?” Antoine cuts in feeling the attraction between Kamal and Tamika.
“Yeah, her and Ja’Mya were the girls that me and Jamal were with in the park.” Kamal said making Tamika remember how much fun they had that evening.
“O, really. Tamika how