Chapter Nine

Jazmine looked at him. Was he serious?

"Why do you wanna go to the party?" Jazmine asked looking at him a little hurt. She didn't want any of the girls hitting on him and trying to get him in the bedroom. "Ain't nobody gon' be there."

"So what," Manny said preparing to get ready anyways. "Me and you will be there and that's enough."

Jazmine still didn't want to go. She knew what would happen. Guys would try to sleep with her and they would do anything to get that chance. Which usually meant beating up the guy she was with, which would be Manny. And then girls would be all over Manny and they would try to get with him. Jazmine did of course trust him, but she didn't trust any of the girls in this city. And knowing this party, there were students from other schools in the area. She couldn't live with herself knowing she let Manny attend a party like this one.

"Manny, I can't. I just can't let you go to a party like this. Especially with me," she said turned away from him.

"Why?"

Jazmine could tell that he meant business. She could feel his eyes scanning her figure.

She replied, "I can't tell you."

Manny went up to her and placed his lips to her ear. He said, "You can tell me anything. You should know that."

She turned around and looked in his eyes. He was serious.

"There's a side of me that you don't know about," she said looking him in the eyes with every word. "I don't think I'm ready to tell you that side of me yet. I don't know how you will take it and I don't wanna lose you as a friend or anything like that. I'm just tellin' you that if we go to this party, people will start to talk about you and they might try to hurt you."

"Why would they do that?" He asked.

"Manny, I can't tell you," she said looking down.

He directed her eyes back to his. "You can tell me anything. I promise that I won't think any less of you."

Jazmine got weak in the knees by his words. She decided it was time to be real with him. "I'm a...a...whore."

Manny looked hurt by her words. It was as if she called him that.

He looked at her confused and said, "Why would you say that about yourself?"

"Within just about half a year or so, I managed to have sex with nearly half of our class." She paused. "Some girls too."

His expression didn't change. "Why?"

"For money. I would have never done that before. My family doesn't believe in that. But, my baby brother was in the hospital. He had gotten hit by a car and they weren't giving him any type of treatment. We had just moved over here, and we had no money left. Only a little bit to get food and other things we needed. Since finding a job was going to take forever, I did what I had to do. I barely passed last year. I met my girls and they helped me so I could meet the best guys with the most money. Next thing I know, I'm having sex with guys from the streets who just wanted to bust a nut, then their girlfriends and cousins." She shuttered in disgust. "I hate doing that. But, the money was pretty good. It was enough to get my brother some help. Come to find out that the accident had done something to his brain and he has to get brain surgery, if he doesn't..." Jazmine started to let the tears flow. Manny rubbed her back. "He could end up mentally ill or even dead."

"I'm so sorry to hear that," Manny said hugging her. "I had no idea."

"I know you didn't. If I go to this party, they will try to have sex with me. And honestly Manny, I'm tired of living that life. I just wanna go back to the old days when I didn't do that to myself. My brother really opened my eyes. I care so much about him. I wanna go to college and work with kids. I wanna be the one that goes to young girls and tell them to wait to have sex. I lost mine to an asshole. I regret it everyday. I know guys will want to, and they would do anything to try and hurt you just to get to me. I don't wanna put you in danger."

Manny paused for a quick thought. "How come you didn't get a job by now?"

"I've been taking care of my brother. And whenever I go to an interview, one of their employees says bad things about me. Most of the managers wanna have sex with me by then. But I don't care about that anymore. The point is I don't wanna have you in my life or have you get in trouble or hurt by me."

Manny pulled her away from him and looked at her and smiled. "Are you serious? I would do anything to keep you safe. I wouldn't let any guy get close to you. If I can handle a football player, I could handle anyone."

--

Manny and Jazmine walked hand-in-hand into the crowded house of rowdy and out-of-control teens. They could smell marijuana and beer in the air. Jazmine knew that something was wrong.

She turned to Manny and yelled over the loud Latin music, "I think we should go."

Manny looked at her and smiled. "Calm down. We just got here. Everything will be cool. I promise."

Jazmine held his hand tighter and led him through the crowd. They ended up in the kitchen. Jazmine looked at the punch bowl. It smelled like pure liquor. She didn't want to drink around Manny.

"You want a drink?" Manny asked breaking her thoughts. He was grabbing a red cup for both him and her before she even gave her answer.

Jazmine grabbed the cup anyways and took a quick sip. Manny take a swig from his cup and was hit with the strong and pungent taste of the liquor. He wasn't much of a drinker but he thought tonight would be different. He wanted to party.

"Jazmine!"

Jazmine turned around and was greeted by all four of her girls. They all had a man on their arms. Tatiana looked at her and then at Manny who has just finished his drink and was about to grab another.

"Damn! That boy can put it down!" Zaida said turning away from the guy that was now working on putting hickies on her neck.

The rest of the girls agreed.

Tatiana spoke up. "Come on ya! Let's dance. My shit is on!"

Jazmine's alter ego started to peek through and she felt the need to just relax and have a good time. She grabbed Manny by the hand, who still had his drink in the other, and walked out to the dance floor. She didn't want to finish drinking, she just wanted to dance with the man of her dreams.

The Latin music was loud and the crowd was getting louder whenever Jazmine or her girls would start to dance. Jazmine and Manny were against the wall, the only place they could find to actually dance. Manny was leaning with his back against the wall and Jazmine was grinding on his pelvis with her butt. Manny started grinding back and he could feel himself stiffen under his pants.

The crowd has gotten larger and Manny had stepped away for a second to make room for someone else. Within seconds Jazmine was gone. He looked around but couldn't see her anywhere. All of the girls looked the same that night. His vision was deceiving him. He staggered to find the bathroom. Once he did, he opened the door only to find a girl and a guy having sex. The countertop had white powder, a razor, and a rolled up hundred. The couple obviously didn't care that Manny opened the door, they continued to enjoy their time together.

Manny walked out and staggered to find Jazmine. He found the stairs and walked up them to the second floor. Girls and guys were kissing everywhere. One girl was on her knees with penises around her. Manny shook his head in disgust. He heard screaming and he walked into the closed bedroom.

"Get off of me!"

Jazmine.

Manny ran into the room and saw Ricky with his pants at his ankles and an erection sticking out of his boxers. Jazmine was helplessly trying to get away from the huge man, but it was no use. Though Manny was intoxicated, he managed to punch Ricky in the mouth. Jazmine stepped back against the wall and watched as a brave Manny beat a scared football player. The room started to fill with people eager to see a good fight.

"You're dead!" Manny screamed once he kicked Ricky in the jaw. They heard a crack and a high pitched wail. Ricky started to bleed from his mouth. "I'll fuckin' kill you!"

The other football players started to pull Manny off of Ricky. One of the new players, Orlando Vega who came from another school, hit Manny in his stomach. Manny hit him in his mouth and Orlando was on the floor next to Ricky. Manny beat them up by himself. Other football players tried to get Manny and beat him up themselves, but no one could even budge him.

They heard sirens. The whole room started to flee. Jazmine grabbed Manny's hand and they ran down the stairs and out the door. They ran towards the park and cut through to get to the other side. Once they were in the clear, they walked the rest of the way to Manny's house.

--

Jazmine laid down on his bed and looked at him hurt. Manny just laid down next to her.

"You don't have nothin' to say to me?" Jazmine asked not looking at him anymore.

Manny turned on his side to face her. "About what?"

"The party?"

"I had fun tonight. What about you?"

Jazmine sat up and looked at him in disbelief. Did he forget already? "Are you too drunk to remember anything that happened tonight? Do you even remember what you did to Ricky? Do you remember any of that?"

Manny cringed. He sighed heavily. "I don't wanna think about what happened. I hate that part."

Jazmine turned on her side and looked at him. "Why?"

"Because, I'm not really like that. I was drunk. I don't usually drink like that. I don't know. I guess it was a bad idea for us to go to that party. You were right."

Manny didn't want to tell Jazmine about his father and the way he use to drink when he was upset. Manny's mom hated it so much that she never got him upset. Manny's father hasn't been drinking in years. He barely drunk wine on special occasions.

"Don't worry about it. I'm glad we got out of there." She smiled. "Thank you for saving me."

Manny smiled back. "No problem."

--

A/N: Hey guys! Well, if you haven't noticed, I'm not much of a medical person. I don't know if brain damage can really kill. I know a damaged heart can. But it is very sad. Now you guys know the reason why Jazmine has to have sex. She's a really good sister. I know what some of you might be thinking. How come they never kiss when the time calls for it? Well, they are both really scared. The reason why: I don't know yet. I haven't figured that out yet. I'll write more when I get the time to. Thanks for reading.