“Yeah?” he answered.
“Hey, I’ve got a problem. I just got this
order out of Cambridge.”
“Yeah, so?” He didn’t seem to be getting the
importance here.
“Uh, I don’t deal in Cambridge. Remember, I
told you that in the beginning,” I said, trying not to lose my
cool. “Look, could you just handle the guy?”
“No can do, girl. I ain’t coming back out
this way until maybe next week. I don’t want to lose that sale.
Come on, don’t let me down. Just do it this once. I promise I’ll
try to find someone to do it soon. Okay?” He sounded annoyed.
“Alright, I’ll do it this time,” I said. I
had already rejected him; I didn’t want to give him any more
reasons to be pissed off at me.
What the hell did I just do? I was going to
deliver drugs in Cambridge. Where anyone could possibly know me. Oh
god. Maybe I would see if he would take a lunchtime delivery. At
least I would have a smaller chance of running into any students I
knew. If I went now, you never knew who would be home or would see
me pulling up at their neighbor’s house. Shitty shit shit.
Ron seemed more than okay with me dropping by
during the day. He probably hoped his wife wouldn’t be around or
something. Perfect. I wrapped his order, along with a couple extra
and shoved them in my backpack. Time for some math. My phone rang
(my phone this time, not Nando’s) and pulled it out of my purse.
James. It was a text message.
Are u going to soup kitchen 2morrow?
Dammit, I’d forgotten about that. It would be
a long day. I had French club tomorrow before school, cheerleading,
and then soup kitchen. I hoped tomorrow would be a quiet day and
Nando’s phone would not be Big Pimpin’ its way through the glove
box. Otherwise it would be a late night trying to squeeze in any
new deliveries.
Yes. U going 2?
I texted back.
The phone rang again quickly.
Yeah. Glad u going to b there. Wanna ride
together?
Nope. Can’t. Just in case of work. But
thanx!
;) I added the smiley, hoping he didn’t get the
impression that I was blowing him off. I really wanted him to drive
me everywhere. All the time. I loved him so much, but it hurt that
he didn’t notice.
K. C you in class 2morrow. G nite!
C U. g nite!
French club.
Math test.
Deadline for the next issue of the
newspaper.
Checking everything over for perfection.
Lunchtime pot delivery.
I drove to the address Ron had given me. It
was only a few blocks from being in Lavender Grove. It took me
about ten minutes to get there from school. The neighborhood of
finely manicured homes was quiet this time of day, with everyone
off at work, hoping to earn enough money to pay for them. I pulled
in the driveway and made sure to park under some low hanging trees.
I would take any camouflage I could get. I had a Chicago Cubs
baseball cap I kept in the car and put it on, pulling it low over
my eyes. Nobody at school would think it was me merely for the fact
that I would normally never be caught dead wearing a hat (hats
always ruin my hair).
I went to the trunk and hit the button on the
remote. I didn’t let the door open all the way, just in case anyone
was near enough to catch a glimpse of the other brown wrapped
packages that were lying at the bottom.
I walked quickly up to the door, still
checking around. There was nothing. It was definitely quiet. At the
door I noticed the world’s ugliest doorknocker. It was shaped like
some kind of fish, my guess, a bass. Yuck. It reminded me of the
singing fish that you could hang on the wall that I saw late one
night on TV. So gross.
I hit the doorbell. It wasn’t one of those
quick ones, it continued ringing. It sounded like some kind of
church bells.
The door opened and an older man with gray
hair held open the door.
“Ron?” I asked.
“Yep, that’s me,” he said breathlessly.
“I’ve got a delivery for you,” I said,
flashing the brown package.
“Oh, right, come on in,” he closed the door
behind me. “My wallet’s here somewhere.” He rummaged around in some
coats that were hanging next to the door. “Yeah, my friend gave me
your number. He spoke very highly of your service and your
product,” he said, producing four one hundred dollar bills from a
fancy leather wallet.
“Thanks.” Great. Creepy old man wants to make
small talk. Okay, so he wasn’t that creepy. But still, I didn’t
need to be making small talk with customers.
“I’m afraid I don’t have any change, you
wouldn’t happen to have some smaller bills on you?” he asked.
“No sir, but I can write a credit for next
time, if you’d like.” Everyone usually had the right cash.
“You know what, why don’t you just keep it.
Consider it a tip.” He nodded, handing me the cash.
“Oh, thanks,” I said, taking it and stuffing
it in my jacket pocket. “Well, I better go.”
“Right, thanks again,” he opened the door and
held it for me. “Have a good one.”
I guessed chatty was better then trying to
kill me or rob me or something. I went back to the car and made
sure to transfer the money into my wallet. If I left it in my
pocket, I’m sure it would fall out somewhere and then I would owe
Javier. No thanks.
I made it back to school in time for the
five-minute bell. No lunch today. Wonder if they’d feed me at the
soup kitchen tonight. I was starving. Maybe a quick stop at Taco
Bell was in order after practice. I would have to see if Naomi
would let me sneak out a few minutes early.
The rest of the day crawled by; I could swear
my stomach was eating itself by the time I left practice. I grabbed
a couple of double-decker tacos at the Bell drive thru. I felt like
a pig, but seriously, it could hardly be fattening or bad for me if
I hadn’t eaten anything all day, right? I managed to drive, eat and
wash it all down with a Pepsi on my way back to Slate Park.
The Slate Park soup kitchen was located in a
small building, about a mile down the street from my apartment,
towards the center of town. It was across the street from the train
station and the bus station, which were common places for the
homeless to hang out. I pulled my car into a small lot in the back
and stepped around a few giant potholes on my way inside, pulling
my coat up around my neck as the frigid winds swirled around my
head.
I pushed open the door and smelled wonderful
things, thank god I had just eaten or I seriously would’ve jumped
into one of the glorious steaming pots on the stove. I read the
menu written on the chalkboard. Tonight was baked chicken and
macaroni and cheese, along with potato leek soup, bread and
brownies.
Jen, one of the soup kitchen’s head
volunteers waved as I entered the kitchen. We had met before when I
had come to meet with the head volunteers to set up our NHS
volunteer schedule. I said hi to Gina and made my way to the sink,
carefully washing my hands and grabbing an apron. I looked around
at the other workers in the kitchen. No sign of James yet, I
thought he was coming. Huh. Maybe his practice went late.
“Ari, would you mind getting the counter
ready for serving? The plates and silverware are in the cabinet
back there, and there should be cups and napkins as well.” She
nodded to the back of the kitchen.
“I’m on it!” I said, dodging a few others
manning the stoves. I glanced at the clock. I had to hurry. The
kitchen would be open in about ten minutes. I grabbed the supplies
I needed and carried them to the counter. I neatly laid out the
silverware and plates.
“Anything else I can do?” I asked Jen.
“You’ll be serving tonight. We’re going to
start pouring the different dishes into large pans. Then a few
others will join you at the counter. We’ll have a few people in the
dining area to clear dishes and the rest will be washing dishes
back here,” she said, pointing to the sink.
Glad I wasn’t going to be washing up. Those
pots were as big as me! I stared out into the dining room. Despite
being a tired old room in a building that was probably built in the
seventies (ick) it looked kinda cozy. It was decorated in reds and
greens and a brightly lit Christmas tree stood in the corner. The
Soup Kitchen was run by a few different churches so I wasn’t
surprised to see a manger set up on a table next to the tree. The
door opened and I looked up, ready to greet the first diner.
I was shocked to see bright red roses making
their way through the door, followed by James. They couldn’t be for
me. But who else were they for? A devilish smile was perched on his
face as my heart swelled with excitement.
“Ari, will you go to the Winter Formal with
me?” he asked, standing in front of me as a few diners walked in
behind him.
Shocked, I didn’t know what to say. The other
workers stopped what they were doing and turned to us, watching the
scene unfold. Gina concentrated on every word. This would be all
over school before our shift ended.
“Girl, will you just tell that boy yes so I
can get my dinner?” grumbled a wrinkled old man behind him.
“Yes, of course yes!” He rounded the counter
to hand me the bouquet. They smelled lovely.
“Dinner, girl, I’m hungry!” the old man
growled again.
“Oh stop Dennis. Isn’t young love so sweet?”
asked a middle-aged woman standing next to him.
“I might find it sweeter if I was eatin’
somethin’ already!” he hollered.
“I’m so sorry sir. What can I get you?” I
asked, setting the roses under the counter. I proceeded to serve
about sixty people chicken and macaroni and cheese. James stood by
my side for a bit, joking with the patrons and making everyone
laugh. I felt high the whole night. I couldn’t believe he’d finally
asked me! I had to go shopping and get a dress, and I needed new
shoes as well. There was a lot to do.
After the food was gone and the Soup Kitchen
cleaned up, we headed out the door to the cars. James put his arm
around me, steadying me in the wind as the roses tried to fly
away.
“So are you sure you didn’t say yes because
that crotchety old Dennis guy told you to so he could eat?” He
opened the passenger door of my car after I hit the button to
unlock it. He took the roses and set them on the seat and closed
the door.
“Oh, I’m sure. I’m really happy you asked
me,” I said, too shy to look him in the eye.
“Well, you’re the only one I wanted to ask.
I’m glad you’re still available. I heard you were on a lot of guys’
lists.” He nodded, trying to look serious.
“Yeah, right.” I laughed. “I saw them lined
up down the block. Oh no, wait, those were people coming to the
soup kitchen.”
We both stood for a minute, unsure of what to
do next. Awkward.
“Well, I better go, I’m freezing out here,” I
said. Light snowflakes had started to fall and floated in the air
around us.
I held my arms out and moved toward him to
give him a hug goodbye. He moved forward quickly, scooping me up
against his tall frame. I couldn’t tell you who started the
kissing, but it didn’t matter. Our lips pressed hungrily together,
his hands squeezed me and I wove my arms around his neck.
And that was where we had our first kiss. In
the parking lot behind the Slate Park soup kitchen in the snow. It
was the most electric kiss I’d ever had.
I don’t know how long we stood there and
kissed, but when we stopped I had to catch my breath. He set me
down and gave me another kiss. And another.
“We better go,” I said. “Not that I want
to.”
“I know, but come on, we’re giving the
homeless guys a good show,” he said, kissing me one more time.
I punched him playfully in the ribs and
laughed.
“Ow. See, abusing me already.” He rubbed his
side. “All right.” He sighed. “I guess this is goodnight. See you
tomorrow Ari.” He opened the driver’s door. I got in and stole one
last kiss.
“Bye!” I said, starting the car and turning
the heat on full blast, along with the seat warmers. He jogged over
to his car and I waved as I pulled out of the parking lot and
headed towards the apartment. In Javier’s car. Oh no. That just
made me feel gross. I wondered if James would think I was so
wonderful if he knew where this car came from and that the owner of
it had pounced on me like a piece of meat. And I continued to work
for him anyway.
I walked into the apartment with the roses
and went to the kitchen to find a pitcher for them. I noticed that
the flowers Javier had given me had been arranged into our only
vase. Had to be Mom: I’d left them on the table to die. I should
have just thrown them in the garbage. I filled the pitcher and
arranged the flowers, setting them on the table next to the other
bouquet.
I heard a key in the lock right before Mom
walked in the door.
“Hi mija, what’s all this? Is it my birthday?
More flowers! They’re beautiful! I saw you left the others on the
table last night, so I put them in water for you.”
“Hi Mom!” I gave her a hug. “I’ve missed
you.”
“So, the flowers?” she added, pulling away
from me to smell the roses.
“Actually, they are from boys. I got the
roses today from someone who asked me to the Winter Formal dance.
The other ones were a thank you from a guy at school that I helped
with a project. He’s just a friend though.”
“Oh a boy asked my baby to the dance. What’s
he like? Tell me about him!”
“Well, he’s on the basketball team, so he’s
tall, he’s got short brown hair and green eyes and he’s so pretty!”
I sighed, feeling all dreamy. “His name is James. He’s also really
smart. He’s in the Journalism Academy with me.”
“It sounds like you really like him,” she
said, stroking my hair as I leaned against her.
“I do Mom, I do.”
I grabbed my phone out of my purse and texted
Naomi.