Ch. 1 Lea white
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Lea White was the smartest and prettiest young lady in the whole high school. She was that girl. You know Miss July wearing a student president badge. Captain of the debate team, the captain of ---- every club actually. School activity, fundraiser. “Let’s make money for the orphans and the needy.” She was there. Bets off she was going to be the Valedictorian with the full scholarship to some fancy school, heck, any she wanted. With her, she was good at everything not just brain stuff and talking. She was a gymnast and a track star. Lea White kept the school running at every possible angle and meaning.
So you see my surprise when me Mr. “Can’t catch a break and defiantly not a Girl” skipin’ and Chinese skipin’ everyone in line to get behind Lea White. Making sure I got everything she got, although, I hate salad and I’m lactose and tolerate, but, I thought, it would look good if she gazed down with her long eyelashes and saw that we had the same taste in food choses. I needed all the plus’s I could get if I was gonna do what I was gonna do. Before Lea paid for her food I popped the big question, “Lea will you go to the fair with me… Saturday?”
She was countin change. “Do you have a ride?”
“course” I said as she passed the change to the lunch lady.
“You’re paying our way in?”
“Yeah, already got the tickets.”
She raised her eyebrows at the salad, grabbed her tray, “K, 6.” And left to her table outside. Afterward I turned to the Lunch Lady Jenkins, she was like “Are you sure you want that milk, baby, you and your laktoast-self.”
“Naw mam, you can take that, and the salad too.” I grabbed the bathroom pass and went back to class.
I had already spent the last two weeks suckin up to my parents. Having the whole house clean before they got home, straighten the garage and attic, doin yard work, and unnecessary work baking brownies, handing Long Lost, my dad, the remote so he would have to get up, shine his church shoes, givin momma a foot message. That day I went to reap. (You reap what you sow) Long Lost suspected something was up before I even went to him. Now When I got home I was still hype, but between takin my shoes off at the door, going upstairs to put my stuff up, and fallin back down the stairs , I was able to calm down a little. Pulling myself together at the bottom of the steps I made my move, on Long Lost. I passed him the remote and sat beside him waiting for the game to end and go to commercial. Commercial came:
“Aye Dad, a…”
“Whatcha want.”
“Well you see...” he was flippin through channels, “…I got a big date on Saturday.”
“Good for you.” he was turning to 1030..HBO! I had to speed it up.
‘Yeep. Could I borrow the truck? The blue one.”
“We only have a blue one.” Long pause Trublood theme song: “When you came in the air went out..” I prayed I hadn’t lost him, and then mumbled:
“Sure, just make sure there’s a full tank of gas when she gets back.”
“Whew!...thanks.” Got up went to my room and clasped on the bed thinking about Saturday and feeling satisfied. Rubbin the green tickets in between my fingers.
My Uncle Sam worked on the fairgrounds, so rides and funnel cakes were free. He had given me the idea; Defiant groomsmen. I had the car. And the Lady. Lea White; that girl. I put the tickets under the pillow, and when I closed my eyes I was dreamin of a stray coaster holdin a couple, rollin through cotton-candy clouds, and endin at the big heart shaped sun of love.
Saturday 6:oop.m. on the dot I pulled up to Lea’s driveway. I was making my way along the stepin stone’s when a round women swung the door open, went passed me to my truck and started checkin it out.
“Joycee momma says ‘don’t mess with that young man’s car owwww…Jooyce!” The door swung again and a tiny thing with a mess of blonde hair marched out.
“Who are you?”
“That young man.”
I turned, “Ah!” Joyce was right behind me.
“You have a license?” she snarled. Her menacing 5ft to my 6.2.
“A..yeah.” Pulled out my wallet and took out my I.D. next to the twenty dollars Long Lost gave me before I left.
“Here” passed it to her, behind me a little hand reached up and yanked my ponytail. I had my hair pulled back, it reached the middle of my back, far enough for little fingers to reach. I whirled around.
“I didn’t do it!”
“Naw. We’ll, then, who…” At that moment Lea came out. She was wearing a strapless blue and black dress that flared out. She wore a ugly sweater. Her hair curled inward and framed her face and the back ran straight down to her shoulders. She looked nice, except for the brown ugly wool sweater.
I turned before she caught me gawkin. “Ah!” Joyce was sizing me up. “Nice truck have them back at ten.” Lea had already jumped in the passenger seat, when I went around to her side to give her the flowers I had been holding I was just in time to see small shoes slip in and the passenger door slam. Cousin It-a was climbin the backseat boaster seat already ready.
“Here’s some flowers?” offerin them to Lea who musta saw the confusion on my face cause she said:
“That’s my sister Susie she’ll be coming along.”
The way there was quiet. Lea mostly looked out the window, and her kid sis kept kicking the seat asking: “Are we there yet!” We finally, thank god, got there and there was a line at the entrance with 50 people, so after 3 minutes I had an idea.
“Come on let’s go to the front.” Little Susie was like: “We have to wait here, skipping is bad, it’s cheating.”
“I already got tickets” Waving the two green tickets; Lea pointed out.
“The fair tickets are red.”
“These are special tickets. Come on” They stayed in line: Susie stuck her tongue out at me “cheater.”
“My Uncle works here..k..Wait here I’ll prove keep looking at the entrance. I walked up to the entrance and asked the security guard if he could get my uncle 2 minutes of two sets of black glaring at my back later and my uncle came. I waved them over and was like “Uncle Sam, Lea and this is her sister little Susie can you give the little one a stamp or something. Uncle was like yeah and we got in Whew! Then, I put my game on.
“Lea, through my little connections..I got the rides and funnel cakes free, all you have to do is wave your green ticket, and you Susie girl just wave your wrist, course I got it if you want to do are want something else besides rides and funnel cakes, no problem.”
She waved at her friends who were beckoning her over.
“Yeah, could you hold my sweater?” Mmm.shoulders. Little Susie kept tugging at my jacket.
“I want to go to the merry-go-ride.” Lea turned to smile at me.
“Take her to the ride while I go talk to my friends, I’ll be there.”
“Sure.”
She walked over to her giggling friends and me and little Susie went to the ride. It was actually kinda funny cause when Susie got to the ticket checker: He was like “Where’s your ticket?” and she put her hand up and said “Ah. Stamp.” And climbed ontop the unicorn. Watching that I turned around and Lea and her friends had gone ghost. After little Susie got off the ride I bought her a cottoncandy and spent 30 minutes looking up, down, and around the place. one time I thought I saw one of her friends duck around a corner, but when I followed she was gone. Soon little Susie started to get irritated and bored and started nagging me about being hungry and wanting to play some of the games.
“Susie, I promise we’ll have fun, but we have to find your sister first.’
“She’s probably with Joe.”
“Who’s Joe..?” I spotted Lea and her gang and all I could think of was Oh, that’s Joe. Lea and her posse we’re snuggling up to 4 football players in uniform. Joe Kingly the star had Lea wrapped in his arms and they embraced in a kiss. Susie was stomping beside me having a tantrum while my heart slid down my body and shitted out of my ass.
“You! You! Pay attention! We found my sister, and I’m hungry!” Shaking my arm up and down. “I want a cookie!” I snapped out of it turned to Susie and picked her up.
“You’re right I promised you when we found your sister we were gonna have fun, and that’s starting now with those cookies!”
“Woohoo!”
“That’s right, you’re my date tonight.”
So I took Susie to the cookie cart, cotton candy, funnel cakes, and a ride, although there’s only certain ride you could take Miss Lil Bit on, won her some prizes, one a big pink chimp. It was nice, even though my heart was somewhere on the carnival floor getting stepped on, all that and I was actually having fun. When we got to the truck Lea, her gang and Joe was there. I put the prizes in the back and buckled Susie in her booster seat as Lea and Joe whispered sweet nothings to each other, leaned on the truck and listened.
Lea was like “I’m going to miss you, Joe, why can’t you stay with me.”
“Look I have to go, we... we have chemistry, but me and her have a history.”
“Why be hers when you could be mine.” They kissed!
He was like “I have to go, you could do better.” Looked at me.
Lea smiled. “He’s just my ride.”
Thank goodness Susie cranked the radio up to distract me. Lea got in the car and I got in drivers. Susie was blasting Hannah Montana she was singing along so I started singing along. She was my date, poor Lea we ruined her Aloha Oe moment, cause she was like “Could you please bring the volume down.”
“Well, I’ll ask my date.. Susie you want the music turned down.”
“No!”
“So, Joe Kingsley phenomenal football player, has a nice car too.”
Lea stayed silent looking out the window. “Must be a good friend of yours.”
“Look I’m a sorry I used you, k, you were used, and if you had a bad time, well, sorry there too, but please I don’t need this right now, just drive.” Oh just drive, designated driver.
“Oh, don’t worry me and my date had a great time, while you were too busy up taken man’s ass we were riding rides , winning games, and eating sweats, isn’t that right Susie!”
“Yeah!”
“Those are our prizes in the back”
Lea was like “Pull over.”
“No, no, no, no, I’m your ride and it wouldn’t be gentlemen like for me to let you walk in the dark, and I sure hope you enjoyed the ride because it was a once in a life time experience.”
We drove in almost silence. Lea glaring at me through the side mirror and Susie singing Hannah Montana “I put my hands up! Their playing my song the butterflies running away!”
When I dropped them off, Lea got out the car and slammed the door. I got Little Susie out the boaster seat and walked her to the porch, nodded at Joyce and there momma and passed the pink chimpanzee and the other prizes. Little Susie tugged at my sleeve.
“Hey, hey what’s your name?”
“Adam.”
“Well, thanks for the night.” And kissed me on the cheek. I gave her goldfish, patted her on the hand, Lea was looking down from her window. I waved. “Ya’ll have a good night now!” and hopped in the truck. I stopped at the gas station and went home. Home in my room, in an empty house. In, layed on the bed and dreamed of nothing.