Jocelyn's River

Jocelyn's River: Chapter 10

            The intense rays of the sun burst through my window.  I squeezed my eyes shut as I attempted to proceed sleeping.  I was having a remarkable dream about River.  He had come to my house to ask me to be his girl again.  How amazing would that be if he rethought everything?  Alas!  It was only a dream and the sunlight coming from my window reminded me of my current reality.  The sunlight also allowed me to become alert.  What were my curtains doing pushed back and why did my bed feel as though it was weighed down?

        “Your ‘lil skinny, knock-kneed self wanna move back to Chicago, huh?”

        That high pitched, female southern drawl belonged to non-other than Denise Smith.  She frightened me and I quickly sat upright in bed.  This predicament was a shock, considering that she hated my guts.  Why did she even care that I wanted to go back to Illinois?  She should be having a party because of it.

        “Denise!” I exclaimed with wide eyes.  “What are you doing in my room at this hour?”

        Denise sighed and rolled her eyes.  “Girl, it’s almost twelve o’clock!  My daddy wanted me to come over and ask if you wanted to go to a picnic with me and a couple of other girls.  Your mama told me what happened and I just had to come up here and chew you out.”

        All of a sudden, my face was slammed by a pillow.  Denise’s face was expressionless after she hit me.  She glared at me and her nostrils flared once.

        “Denise!” I hollered in surprise.  “What…why?”

        “You should know better than to let a man run you off!”

        “That is none of your concern.  Now, get out of my room!”

        She held up the pillow and threatened to hit me.  “I ain’t goin’ nowhere.  You just sit there and look pretty while I do the talkin’!”

        “I don’t wa—” I began to protest but she cut me off.

        “Shut up!” she shouted.  “Now, I done had a lot of experiences with guys in my life.  I know what people say about me—that I’m fast—and I used to be.  I learned, and then I found Ray.  I do wonder why he puts up with my ass.  I learned that men are dumb animals and a lot of ‘em only want one thing.  Some of ‘em will try to run over ya and abuse you emotionally and physically to strengthen their pride.  You can’t let them bastards do that to you.  You’re not weak.  So, I say this to you Ms. Spoiled Brat, it will do you some good to forget about that white trash.”

            I was immune to the offensive name she directed towards me, but what she called River was absolutely false. 

        “Stop,” I whispered.  “He is not at all like those men you described.”

        “Then what is he?” she asked.  “You haven’t even told your folks what he did.  It will help you to talk about it.”

         I inhaled and exhaled as I stared at the mahogany dresser against the wall.  Talking about the issue would only force me into a crying fit.  I was not used to expressing personal matters to Denise.  We were always going head to head, but it sounded like she really understood.

            “He broke up with me because he thinks he’s not good enough,” I mumbled.  Suddenly, I became comfortable. “River is from the wrong side of the tracks.  He’s done some less than honorable things in the past.”

            “What?” Denise screeched.  “Hold on, hold on, hold on!  You’re tellin’ me that a white boy thinks he ain’t good enough for you?  You gotta be kiddin’ me.  This boy sounds perfect.  Tell me what else happened?”