Vanessa reached up and touched her nose. It was bleeding! She climbed to her feet and then another girl pushed her back down. She looked up in surprise when Kaneeja grabbed her ponytail and began pulling so hard that it felt like she was being scalped.

"You think you cute! You ain't nothing but a trick baby!" Kaneeja said, wearing a scowl across her usually friendly face. "The only reason you and your mama live up on that hill is because she is a ho. My mama said that when she ...