Chapter Five
( Wednesday ) She woke up to the sound of a car jetting off outside of her house. She rubbed her eyes, and then tossed onto her side, stretching her legs out of the bed first and then the rest of her body. There was no sweet smell of morning breakfast, so Robin assumed her father hadn't had any time to cook this morning. She also figured that her mom and dad had left for their interviews by now and knew she was home alone. So she got dressed, brushed her teeth, and then headed downstairs to make her own breakfast.
She sifted through items in the fridge - there wasn't much left except for leftovers from the party, and Robin didn't want to eat what strangers had eaten too, so she grabbed an almost empty jug of milk and pulled a box of cereal off from the top of the fridge. She poured her cereal, then the milk, and plopped a spoon from the pantry in the bowl, heading outside and having a seat on her steps as she shoved cereal into her mouth. Eating outside on the house front steps during the mornings in Boston definitely wasn't as southern as it was in Georgia, but it was more refreshing. There weren't as many flies trying to come in between Robin's meal and the cool air grazed her face.
"Hiya, Robin!" Corey Haim exclaimed, practically running over to her and sitting down next to her on the steps.
Robin tried not to roll her eyes at the boy,
"Hi, Corey."
"Hey, you sound down. Whatsa matter?"
"Nothing- I'm just eating," Robin shrugged.
He opened his mouth to say more, but was interrupted by the soft voice of another girl standing far behind him,
"Corey, leave her alone. She doesn't want to be bothered."
When Robin looked up appreciatively at the girl, she was surprised to see that she was black, just like Robin. She must have been Amandla, the girl River was talking about the other day. Robin was still surprised to see her there - hanging out with a gang involving Corey. Was this how boys in Boston were, or did this only apply to River's friends? By "this", Robin meant having friends that weren't of your racial background.
She turned to face Corey, and his nose scrunched up as he smiled,
"Gotta go, my girlfriend's up my ass again."
Robin's eyebrows shot up and she nearly choked on her cereal - Corey Haim had a girlfriend who was nowhere near as white as he was. Of course she'd heard of interracial relationships, but they were rare in Georgia. Whenever she saw them, it was always a black man with a white woman. And even when it there was a black man in a relationship with a white woman, they were publicly scrutinized for it. Corey lifted himself off of the stairs and ran over to his girlfriend, slipping an arm around her waist and turning her to face him, and then wrapping her in a passionate, romantic kiss.
Robin's cereal, which was placed tightly under her tongue, spilled out into her bowl as her jaw dropped from the sight in front of her. Never in her entire life had she seen such a thing happen right in front of her eyes. She only ever read about this in books she wrote, when she was still hoping that a white boy would tell her he loved her and mean it. She knew that was all bullshit now, whether it came from a white boy or not - she could love herself just fine without a man anyway. She had a man, back at home, but they weren't exactly official, they were just going on dates. His name was Jesus, a Latino boy with angelic hair and pink lips and tan skin that glowed.
The other Corey, Corey Feldman, came prancing over to her as well while she watched the scene continue. Out of pure surprise, she blinked twice.
"Hey Ro... oh, that? Yeah, they do that at least seven days out of the week, unless she's on her period or something," Corey Feldman said, like it was completely normal.
"Wow... they must really love each other. I mean really, really, really, love each other."
Feldman laughed a little "heh!" laugh,
"You're telling me. He is all over her, but he says they haven't done it yet."
"What the hell is 'heh'?" Robin asked, in terms of his laugh.
"What? It's my laugh, the little 'heh' laugh," he responded defensively.
"Oh," Robin mumbled. ( i hope yall caught that reference )
"Bet you're looking for River, aren't you?" Feldman smirked.
Robin almost slammed her bowl onto the steps at the mention of River, but set it beside her calmly instead.
"No, not really."
"Yeah you are," he taunted, "he'll be coming out soon."
Robin was still watching Corey and the girl kiss, and after what seemed like forever, he grabbed the sides of her head with his hands and gently kissed her forehead, hugging her. Robin cooed to herself, and watched as the couple walked over, hand in hand.
"Robin, this is my girlfriend, if you could not tell," Corey purposely deepened his voice at the end, wiggling his brows deviously.
"No, it wasn't obvious, thanks for clearing that up," Robin remarked sarcastically.
"I'm Amandla," Corey's girlfriend smiled.
"Nice to meet you," Robin said.
"So you've just moved here, huh?" Amandla asked Robin.
"Yeah, I just..." Robin lost focus as she noticed River walk outside of his house and come her way, "I just moved here, yeah."
Amandla looked behind herself, taking notice of River's long strides,
"Oh, you've got the hots for River. I see you."
"Yeah right! River's got the hots for her, she's all he ever talks about," Corey Haim objected. Amandla rolled her eyes, and he wrapped his arm around her side, squeezing her hip, "I love you."
"Yeah whatever, man."
Robin thought they were an unusual couple, and not just because of the race difference.
"Am I really all he talks about?" Robin blurted wanting to confirm that she was all River talked about.
"Shit yeah! You should've heard him on the phone last night when he came back from your place- he was all loopy going 'Man, her eyes, man. So intense.'"
"It's true," Feldman backed Corey Haim up.
River finally made it over to everyone else,
"Hey guys."
Everyone greeted him back, but Robin stayed silent. He was really into her.
"Come on Robin, make him feel like he can make a move!" Feldman whisper shouted in her ear.
Robin perked up,
"Hey, River."
He smiled at her, thinking she was the only person around him.
"Hi. How are things?"
Feldman eased off of the steps and instead stood next to Amandla and Corey Haim, who were engaging in a conversation.
"Things are great. How are your things?"
"My things? Well they're fabulous," River laughed.
Robin laughed too, realizing how absurd she sounded,
"I should've reworded that. What are you guys planning to do today?"
River sat down on the steps next to her,
"We were planning on going to a game - soccer game. It's in an hour, you think you can come?"
"Yeah, sure. I'll have to leave my parents a note or something. Amandla's coming, right?"
"Of course! Corey refused to go anywhere without her today. They're dating, y'know," River whispered his last sentence.
"Yeah, I picked up on that quite easily. Easier than easy, actually."
"Oh, the kissing, you saw them kissing, didn't you?" he asked.
"Yes. I'm guessing you guys are used to it by now," Robin replied.
"I'll tell you a secret. We were in like sophomore year, they've been dating since then, and we played a game of Seven Minutes in Heaven. Of course, Corey rigged the game so he could go with his girlfriend. They didn't come out for a proper hour, right when the party was ending."
"Feldman said they'd never done it," Robin remembered.
"Highly doubt that," River scoffed. "He's the one who wants to protect Amandla's reputation, though it wouldn't be reputation ruining if she did have sex with him."
"Ha, it sure is reputation ruining back in Georgia," Robin laughed bitterly, remembering her own stories.
"I'd hate to live there," River whistled. "Well, no offense. But I really would though, sincerely."
"Oh I don't blame you. I hated that place."
"Why?"
"Reasons," Robin answered, purposely leaving out any details at all whatsoever.
River nodded,
"Yeah. Sometimes places can be so emotionally and mentally draining. You just wanna get out, y'know? I know that I know."
Robin gawked at him - he described half of her feelings for Georgia in two sentences. Maybe he was trustworthy, but she would never know unless she found out for herself, and she was not about to find out for herself.
"You got it! You described it completely correctly! Man, no one else has ever done that," Robin screeched, lunging forward at him into a tight hug.
Eyes wide, he hugged her back and she pulled away. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw both Coreys giving him a thumbs up and mouthing probably obscene things to River.
"I got it?"
"Ugh," Robin bellowed. "It's like I've been trying to tell everyone back in Georgia this- they just don't listen. But you, god bless you."
"Thanks," he grinned.
He discretely flipped off the two Coreys who were laughing at him- even Amandla, usually non-intervening was laughing a bit.
"Sorry 'bout that. I'm all for personal space."
Robin was even afraid to admit what she was initially going to say in her own head, that that only happens when she feels like she can open up to someone.
"Don't be sorry, I'm alright, trust me," River joked, and she genuinely laughed with him.
He tilted his head a little, a dazed smile forming on his face. "Can we leave?"
"I thought the game wasn't until an hour."
River chuckled,
"It's not. But I wanted to go somewhere, just me and you."
"River, I don't know if I should," Robin bit her lip.
Personally, she wouldn't mind going wherever, but she was just afraid that her mom would somehow catch her. Her conscience was telling her otherwise.
"Oh... did I freak you out?"
"No! It's my mom, honestly River. But screw that, I'll come with you. And no, I don't feel guilty," Robin reassured, knowing that River would think that she was only going with him because she felt guilty.
"Alright! Let's go to the ice cream shop, it's right down the street, past the 7/11. They serve sorbet, too. You know, stuff I can eat."
"Sounds tight."
River and Robin stood up.
"We'll be back."
"And where are you two going, the shed?" Corey Haim teased, nudging Feldman with his elbow. They both began to laugh.
"What's that, River? What's the shed?" Robin asked River, looking up at him.
"It's nothing," River mumbled, but Robin could see the red spread across his cheeks.
They began to walk down the hill.
"Come on, tell me."
"Okay, okay. I uh, I had a crush on this one girl, and we went out. I thought it was a date and I thought she was into me, but she wasn't into white guys. Her parents only wanted her dating Korean guys, since she was Korean. So I took her to this shed, I cleaned it out for a week and made it all romantic and stuff. I asked her to be my girlfriend, I thought I'd set the mood and everything. But she turned me down."
"Aw, River," Robin frowned.
So he was into girls of color. But that did not mean he was trustworthy. She knew deep down that perhaps it did, but she didn't want to believe herself, one of the truly heart wrenching features of picking up trust issues.
"Yeah, it was freshman year."
"Well that's disappointing. I would've said yes right then and there, even if I didn't like you like that- that's just too romantic to pass up," Robin blurted, though she was half lying.
River stopped in his tracks before covering his pause up and walking again, acting like he wasn't stunned,
"Oh?"
"I mean, sorry, that came out wrong. But I would've."
"Will you?" he asked, quietly.
"I'm sorry?" Robin asked for repetition.
"I mean would you be my girlfriend, if I ever actually asked?" River asked, even quieter than before, but Robin heard him like he was yelling it through a megaphone.
"I don't know," Robin shrugged. "If we both wanted to, then yes. And if we got to know each other better- I mean, we did only just meet. But you don't want to, I know that already."
Robin genuinely believed that- she didn't think he wanted her to be his girlfriend, he'd just met her. The two finally reached the ice cream shop, and when River glanced in, he took ahold of her hand almost protectively.
"What's wrong, why are you holding my hand?" Robin asked.
"Just... I'll tell you later," River squeezed her hand.
River seemed to adjust himself to look tougher. He rolled up his sleeves and puffed out his chest, and Robin had no idea why - it was just an ice cream shop. There were a few teenage boys and their girlfriends lying around, but everyone else looked but eleven years old.
"You okay, Riv?" Robin asked.
He squeezed her hand as if to say "yes", and sat down on the parlor stool, helping Robin up although she didn't need assistance. She thanked him anyway and River began to order once the worker had approached them,
"Uh, I'll have a peach sorbet, please. What do you want, Robin?"
"Ice cream sundae, please."
"One peach sorbet and an ice cream sundae comin' right up!" the worker exclaimed, disappearing behind the walls.
Robin flipped her hair over to one side and turned around to see the group of boys and their girlfriends walking towards them. One of them had an unlit cigarette in his mouth, which Robin frowned upon since there were younger kids around. Even though the cigarette wasn't lit so the kids weren't subject to second-hand smoking, Robin still thought it would be a bad influence. She tapped River on the shoulder, trying to get him to acknowledge the fact that the teens were approaching them - he was looking down at the table however, bobbing his foot up and down.
"Hey River," one of the boys called, the one with the unlit cigarette in his mouth.
River almost jumped up, attempting to recover his flailing. He flashed his teeth in an overly-forced smile,
"Hey, Dennis. Walt, Geoffrey, Gio ... Heather."
Robin noticed that River seemed hesitant to greet the last girl. She giggled and fawned over him anyway, squeezing her legs together in a curtsy motion. Robin raised a brow.
"So River, how are things?" Dennis asked, though it was clear he didn't have any friendly intentions. River "tee-heed" nervously,
"Great. How are your things?"
Robin chuckled, realizing he'd screwed up his words just as she had this morning.
"What are you, a homo?" (I use this word because it's the 80s and Dennis is supposed to portray a homophobic asshole, and to represent the reality of any struggle that I show in this book.) Dennis chuckled.
River ran a finger through his hair, stressed, and Robin turned to face him. She placed what she hoped was a comforting hand on his knee, glaring at Dennis.
"Come on, Den, lay off him, will ya?" Heather, the girl who'd been gooey-eyed for River demanded.
"Shut up, Heather," Dennis raised his voice a bit, then chuckled to himself. He found his cool again, folding his arms. "Meet me after school on Monday, it's the first day. I gotta talk to you."
River stuttered, only managing to get an incomprehensible sound out of his mouth that sounded like it was supposed to be a "yeah" to Robin. Dennis and his gang walked out of the ice cream place, and Robin figured they didn't even get ice cream. When they were out of sight, the worker came and set their food down in front of them, and the two ate in silence. River stopped eating halfway though, it looked like something was wrong as he set his spoon down.
"What's wrong, River?" Robin furrowed her brows, placing a hand on his arm.
He shook his head,
"Those kids are bad. I don't know what their problem is with me. But ever since that Heather girl admitted to Dennis, her boyfriend, that she liked me, they've been on my back. Except for Heather of course."
"Tell you what? If any of those little scum-eaters tries to pick on you, defend yourself. You looked like me out there, grinning and bearing it. You should've said something, you knew his intentions."
River reminded Robin so much of her lack of ability to stand up for herself when she was being ganged up on, she just couldn't even bear it. He looked so vulnerable, when he'd been walking into the shop like he was the toughest thing not five minutes before the incident.
"You're right, I tripped out there. I hope you don't think I'm chicken."
"No way, man! You're brave enough to ask me to hang out with you, me of all people. That's a sign."
River laughed to himself, his body shaking from laughter. It was cute when he did that, the little things about him.
"Hey, do you like sorbet?" River asked.
Robin blushed- afraid to admit her answer. Everytime she gave anybody the answer to this question, they freaked out. He probed her though, nudging her gently.
"Well, I've never had sorbet."
"Not even for dessert?" River asked, trying not to sound bewildered.
He hated when he would tell people something slightly uncommon and they'd freak out. Robin shook her head, a small smile forming on her lips. River sucked his teeth and scooped up some of his sorbet with his spoon.
"Well, I've wanted to try it, but I don't know, I never did."
"Come on, open your mouth," River tempted her, waving the sorbet filled spoon in front of her. She shook her head before opening her mouth wide.
He "flew" the spoon towards her like he was feeding a toddler.
"Oh come on, already!" she playfully shouted.
He laughed and flew the spoon into her mouth, and she pursed her lips around the spoon. She let go and pulled back.
"Want more?" he teased. She nodded and opened her mouth again, expecting him to drive a train instead of fly a plane. But instead, whatever he was maneuvering crashed and landed smack dab on her nose. She gasped and River began to howl with laughter, holding his stomach.
"River!" she yelled, though amused. She scooped ice cream up from her bowl with a spoon and flinged it at him, holding the handle of the spoon back and letting it land on his cheek. He wiped his cheek with a napkin and Robin let the sorbet stay on her nose, seeing as River was about to clean it off for her.
He stood up and walked towards her chair, bending down a little and ripping the napkin so he could rid the tip of her nose of peach sorbet.
The two finished their stuff shortly after the incident, and River left the money on his counter and walked out of the shop, holding the door open for Robin. They walked back to her front lawn, but nobody was there.
"They must have gone into my house." Robin looked back at her house with worry, chewing on her bottom lip. "Well what are you waiting for, come on!"
Robin sighed and gave in, following River inside of his house. The walls were painted a dark red, but it wasn't ominous- it was actually quite relaxing and fitting for the summertime. River's friends were in the living room to the left of the front entrance, snuggled up on a couch and laughing at the cartoons they were watching.
River walked in and stood in front of the T.V. like a mother who couldn't get her kids to get up and help her around the house, and Robin leaned against the doorway into the living room.
"Hey, we're tryna watch our show! Now would you please get out the way?" Corey Haim complained.
River sure did get out of the way, but he snatched the remote from off the table in front of his lazy friends and turned the T.V. off. Robin chuckled at his motherly actions.
"Enough of that junk, you guys. We're supposed to be socializing, talking! Our new friend Robin is here for god's sake, we don't want her getting the wrong impression of us, now do we?" River patronized his friends.
They sighed "no" and shuffled on the couch.
"Sorry, Robin. River's right, we should be socializing," Amandla apologized.
"No worries, I'm all for cartoons. But there has to be something else we could do."
"Ah, like what?" Feldman moaned. "There's barely anything to do in this old house. Sorry, Riv."
"He's got a point..." of course Corey Haim agreed.
"There's plenty we can do in my house!" River argued.
The three continued bickering until Amandla piped up,
"Well guys, the game's in about twenty minutes. We should go if we want to get any food or anything, you know."
Corey Haim shut up first, grabbing a hold of his girl's hand and squeezing amorously,
"Gotta love her. She stays on top of me."
"In more ways than one," Feldman joked to himself.
Corey Haim glared at him and waved his free hand in Feldman's face like he was going to punch him. Feldman flinched, his eyes shutting closed.
"Ha, two for flinching!"