He asked me to the dance!
What?! Details plz,
she texted
back.
Brought flowers to soup kitchen.
Ew! Asked you in front of homeless
ppl?
Typical Naomi.
We r shopping on Sat.
She texted.
Sounds good.
I sent back.
Done and done. Date to the dance,
arrangements for shopping. Sweet. As I grabbed my purse I heard it.
Big Pimpin’ ringing again. I gasped, realizing my mom was standing
in the kitchen and there was NO way she didn’t just hear that.
“Mija, what was that?” she asked, wiping her
wet hands on a towel.
“What are you talking about?” I asked, my
voice shaking a little.
“It sounded like that stupid ring tone your
brother used to have. Something about pimping, I think.”
“Oh, Ma that’s a really popular song. It’s on
my cell phone too, I just downloaded it last week.” I lied again,
my hands shaking as I reached into my purse and pressed one of the
buttons so Nando’s phone would stop ringing.
“Have you heard from him?” she asked,
forgetting about the phone, thank god.
“Who, Nando? No Ma, I haven’t heard a word,”
I said while unlocking the padlock on my door. I slipped inside and
shut the door before she could say any more about her golden son. I
grabbed Nando’s phone and chucked my purse on the bed. One message.
I listened quickly. It was Mr. Two Ounces again. That meant it was
time to go out. Dammit. It was already so late. I had to come up
with something. I couldn’t use the ‘oops I forgot the key at work’
excuse again. I quickly prepared the packages and made a couple
extra to throw in the trunk.
I shoved them in my purse and headed for the
door, grabbing a sweater and locking the padlock behind me.
“Hey Ma, I’ve got to run to Naomi’s really
quick. I totally forgot I had her sweater and she needs it for
tomorrow,” I said quickly, breezing to the front door and slipping
out before she could say too much in return. I jumped in the car
and took off down the street, hoping I would get a chance to get
some homework done and get some sleep before going to school
tomorrow.
“Ariceli Pisa, is this class indeed so boring
and uninteresting that I have lulled you to sleep?” Ms. Simmons’
sharp voice cut through my strange dream. I opened my eyes and
blinked a few times as some of the kids around me snickered. Even
James had a little smile on his face.
Dammit. I WAS sleeping. In the middle of
class. So not good.
“I’m really sorry Ms. Simmons,” I stammered,
“I…I’m not feeling well.”
Lying again. Lies. Lies. Lies. It was scary
how much easier it got each time. Little lies that slid past my
tongue. So harmless. No one would know. But still, the fear sat
there in my stomach. I smiled at James. Would he still look at me
the same if he knew? Would he have asked Ariceli the Drug Dealer to
Winter Formal? Doubtful.
After class Ms. Simmons called me up to her
desk.
“Ari, I’m a little concerned. You seem a
little distracted lately, and clearly tired. I realize you are a
senior, but this is hardly the time to let senioritis ruin your
excellent academic record,” she said sternly, looking down her nose
at me.
“I’m sorry Ms. Simmons. I’ve had some family
issues and I had to get a job. It’s been a bit of a challenge to
manage my school and work responsibilities. But I promise I will
work on it. I hope it hasn’t been affecting my grades negatively,”
I added, putting on my best concerned face.
“Well according to my computer, your grades
are still fine, but I’ve seen this type of behavior before and it
usually ends in disaster. Just stay on top of your homework,” she
added.
“Yes ma’am,” I answered sheepishly
James was waiting for me when I left the
classroom.
“Wow, she really let you have it, didn’t
she?” he said, walking alongside me. He reached out and grabbed my
hand. Everyone was now going to see he was mine. If Gina hadn’t
told them all first. Ari and James. James and Ari. Can you see us?
Are you jealous? I smiled.
“It’s all right. She was just being her
normal icy self. Maybe she should work on her personality!” I
giggled.
“Hey, I didn’t get to tell you, my parents
told me that we’re leaving on Friday. We have to go to Aspen to
spend the holidays with my grandparents,” he said, making a
face.
“Oh, poor baby,” I said, patting his arm.
“You have to go to fancy Aspen while I will be stuck here, rotting
away at my aunt’s house somewhere on the South Side. Yeah, I feel
real sorry for you.” I rolled my eyes.
“Trust me, I’d much rather just stay here and
hang out. They just got excited that I didn’t have any games and
decided we needed one last family vacation, since I’ll be going off
to school next year. I promise you I will be having no fun with my
grandparents. I’m hoping to get in a little skiing at least.” He
stopped in front of his locker, turned the dial, and the door
popped open.
“We should do something together for New
Year’s Eve,” he said, grabbing some folders and slamming the
door.
“Last I heard, Naomi was planning on having
her usual party. We could just go to that,” I suggested. Would it
be weird for him to go over there, not as Naomi’s boyfriend? I
scanned his face for any sign that it bothered him.
“Sounds good. I’d imagine everybody’s going?”
he asked.
“And everyone who’s not wishes they were!” I
laughed.
“That sounds pretty typical,” he said. “Hey,
I gotta run. Call you after practice.”
“Okay!” I said. God, I felt like one of those
fans at a boy-band concert. Weak in the knees and just…ah. This was
perfect. I hugged my books and headed off to lunch. I had no
deliveries for once, so I could relax. Plus, there was SO much to
think about. A little Christmas shopping, dress shopping for Winter
Formal and I might spring for a new outfit for Naomi’s party.
The rest of the week flew by, on wings of
love. Okay, that was super lame, I am aware. Between James and the
holiday excitement in the air, it was hard to focus. I made my
deliveries, but I had forgotten all about Javier. Our last meeting
seemed like a hundred years ago.
After practice I heard Nando’s phone ring
while I was driving home.
JAVIER
Shit. I decided it was better to answer
it.
“Hello,” I answered.
“Hey girl.” His smooth voice bothered me.
“You gonna be home later?”
“Yeah, I’m on my way there now.”
“All right, I’ll meet you there in a bit. See
you.” He hung up.
$$$
There was a knock at the door shortly after I
walked in. Javier was waiting, agitated.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Nothing,” he said, still looking jumpy. “I
came to pick up my stuff. How are you?”
“Uh, good, I guess. Are you sure everything
is okay?” I asked again. I don’t know why I was digging for more
info. Shut up Ariceli. Give the nice drug dealer boss man the money
he’s here to collect and get him out the door before he tries to
maul you. The less you have to say the better.
“It’s all good. No worries.”
I walked towards my bedroom door and unlocked
it. I ran in and shut the door behind me, pulling his box of cash
and the records from under my bed. I hurried back out and handed it
to him.
“I gotta run,” he said, stuffing the money in
his pocket and jumping up from the couch. “Keep it up, I like what
I’m seeing.” He looked me up and down for a quick minute and I
tried not to visibly cringe. And then he was gone.
I let my lungs fill with air; I hadn’t
realized I was holding my breath until the door clicked closed. I
crossed the room in three steps and flipped the deadbolt. I didn’t
know what was going on with Javier, but at this point I didn’t
care. Disaster had been averted. I might not be so lucky next time
though.
I just needed to hold on to this job a little
longer, even if Javier was potentially dangerous. I had to admit, I
was getting kind of used to the green rolling in. I’d had plenty of
money to give to Mom every week. And the shoebox under my bed was
overflowing so much I’d started a second box. I hadn’t spent it on
anything, but I felt so much more comfortable knowing I was
sleeping on a big bed of green.
After one more night at the Slate Park soup
kitchen and one last mini make-out session in the parking lot
(What? The homeless dudes at least deserved dinner and a show!)
James was on his way to fancy Aspen and I was facing the holidays
with my mom. I didn’t mind spending it with her. It was just no fun
to have to drive back to the South Side and visit with my other
relatives who were nothing short of annoying.
The first weekend of break I stopped by a
Christmas tree lot and picked up a small tree for the living room.
I was going to be sitting around here a lot this week. No games to
cheer at, no meetings and surprisingly, not a lot of homework. It
was like our teachers decided they weren’t going to do anything for
two weeks and mercifully gave us some down time. Although it did
worry me that maybe they were planning something big and scary when
we got back. Ugh.
I was supposed to go dress shopping with
Naomi the next day and I figured it made sense to just do my
Christmas shopping at the same time.
What was keeping me busy (well, aside from
the Christmas tree decorating, of course) were my lovely customers.
It’s as if you could smell the fear on them when I made the
deliveries. They were all jumpy. Our conversations were short these
days, which was fine with me. I’m sure the fear of having to deal
with relatives was causing the spike in sales. It was my highest
grossing week since I started. And I had high hopes for the
following week, figuring the whacked out old people would smoke
through their supply super fast because they were so nervous that
they’d need to replenish the supply for their New Year’s Eve
parties.
I finally heard from James that night. I
mean, he had sent a few texts, but it was the first time he’d
called since getting to Aspen.
“Hey Ari, I miss you!” he said.
“Well, I miss you too,” I said, feeling my
face heating up. “How’s Aspen?”
“It’s all right. My grandparents haven’t been
too annoying yet and I got to go skiing with my cousin twice so
far. My dad got delayed, something happened at work, but I guess
he’s heading out tomorrow.”
“Oh, that sucks. At least he can still come.
So, I’m going shopping with Naomi tomorrow to look for a
dress.”
“Ooo, make sure to get something sexy,” he
said.
“Boy, I make everything sexy!” I laughed.
“That’s true. Damn, I hear my mom calling me
for dinner. I gotta run, but I’ll talk to you soon, okay?”
“All right, bye!” I said, turning off the
phone.
Almost immediately Nando’s phone began to
ring. I grabbed it and hit the talk button before Jay-Z could get
to his chorus.
“Hello, I’d like to place an order for
delivery,” a voice said.
“Sure thing,” I answered. “How much and I’ll
need the address. Our rate is 375.”
“Oh, I know, I ordered a couple weeks ago. My
name is Ron.”
“That’s right, I remember where you’re at.
Cambridge, right.”
“That’s it. Good memory. I’ll just be needing
one.”
“Good. I can be there in thirty minutes,” I
said, glancing at the clock. It was nice over break; I didn’t have
to worry about any scheduling conflicts interfering with
deliveries.
I packed up a quick box and headed out to the
car. The trip to Cambridge didn’t take long and before I knew it, I
was standing on the front porch with the ugly giant fish
doorknocker. I swung the big golden ring that hung under the fish
and it echoed through the house.
“Oh, hi there. That was fast.” Ron peeked
around the opened the door. “Getting things ready for the
holidays?”
Oh god. Again with the small talk.
“Yeah, I’m working on getting the tree up.” I
knew better than to follow it up with a polite question. Sometimes
these people could be chatty and if you engaged them in
conversation they’d keep you standing in the foyer for an eternity
while they talked your ear off.
“That’s nice. I’m getting ready to get out of
here. I’m going to Colorado for the week. Here you go,” he said,
handing me an envelope. I noticed a set of skis by the coat
rack.
I set the box in his hand. “Thanks.”
“No, thank you. And have a Merry Christmas!”
he said, opening the door.
“You too,” I said. I glanced in the envelope
as I got in the car. He had given me four hundred dollars again. I
could tolerate the small talk for the extra tip.
Naomi and I drove around the mall parking lot
for forty-five minutes looking for a place to park. Finally we
pounced on a spot, stalking the people down the aisle until we had
it blocked off from the other angry parking spot hunters.
The mall was packed. People were bustling
around loaded down with bags and packages. I loved all of the
decorations—lights, trees, and sparkly things. A long line of
families waiting to see Santa snaked through the center of a giant
Christmas village. We made a beeline for Marshall Field’s to look
for our dresses. There were a few places we could go, but Naomi
wouldn’t be caught dead buying anything anywhere but Field’s.
I had to admit, the dress department was
quite impressive. It carried dresses for normal people like me all
the way to fancy gowns that ran in the thousands. Of course, those
were the dresses we drooled over first. Naomi had money, but I
doubted her parents would let her shell out thousands for a dress
to a high school dance. The saleswoman eyed us suspiciously as we
wove through the racks.
“Can I help you find anything?” she asked
Naomi, ignoring me completely.