Monday rolled around quickly. In second period English class, a few minutes before our teacher walked in to begin things, Pauline rushed in. Her eyes widened when she saw me sitting at my seat. Her arms full of books, she came over and plopped down in a random seat next to me. "Hey Susan."
I tried to smile. "Hey."
"I, uh, called you over the weekend. I wanted to know how you were doing. You know, since Friday... since everything else."
"Oh. Uh, yeah." I scratched my head. "Yeah, I received your call. I just had a lot on my mind, and... I, uh, I went to see Kenny." I wasn't sure why I was telling her this. Maybe because people would be bound to find out anyway.
Her eyes widened. She scooted closer. "Oh my god. How was that? How is he?"
"Um. He's... okay. Just trying to be strong and hanging in there. We talked and all, but I couldn't stay long. Time was, um, pretty limited."
Pauline nodded through every word I spoke. "Wow." She sounded amazed. "He's so strong."
I nodded. "Yeah."
"How are you holding up with him being in there? How have you been so brave?"
I shrugged. "I've gotta be okay. It's the only thing I can do to help Kenny. I mean I- I can't crack now." I abruptly stopped talking as I felt I was pouring my heart out too much. Lucky for me though, our teacher came into the classroom and Pauline went to her assigned seat as the room filled with more students. Throughout the morning, I was grateful that nobody tried to be extra nice to me or ask how I was doing. I didn't need pity or extra sympathy. Pauline and her flock treated me like a fragile bird. They walked super close to me, giving me sympathetic looks and nodding their heads every time I spoke as though to say, 'I understand.'
During lunch, as I sat a table with them, I had enough. I told them I was going to the library after eating half of my sandwich. Samantha offered to go with me but I told her I was fine. I found the library open, with barely any people in it - like usual. I waved to the librarian and sat at a lone table by a bunch of computers and a single book rack. I grabbed some random books off the rack to keep myself busy since I had left my phone in my locker and didn't feel like getting up to retrieve it.
Minutes later, a figure passed by me, dropping a piece of paper in front of me, right under my nose. Startled, I looked up, to see the figure walking away. Derrick. Confused, I looked at the paper. It was a small square folded in two. It said, Don't open right away. I looked up. He was gone. What was this? I unfolded the piece of paper anyway, my curiosity taking over. I looked around. No one seemed bothered by my existence. With the coast clear, I read the note: Meet me in computer room 309 10 minutes after school. I'm sorry about last Friday. We need to talk. It's important.
I reread it two more times. What did Derrick think we needed to talk about? We had already shared some words a couple of times in a few not so great altercations. I didn't want a third one to take place. Especially not in private. I certainly didn't trust being alone with him. Not again. And why did he think I was going to wait ten minutes after school just to meet up with him? I wasn't sure I wanted to. *
I found myself standing by my locker after my last class, texting Dad to let him know that I was going to be staying after school for a bit. He asked who I was with so I used Samantha's name and it was left at that. I took my time at my locker, organizing my books and my bag, waiting for ten minutes to be up. The hall cleared up quickly. Soon, it seemed as though the school were empty. Once there was two minutes left, I grabbed my things and headed to the computer room, walking at a gentle pace. Once I made it to the room, I slowly opened the door, poking my head in slightly. It was dark.
I checked my surroundings before heading into the room, quietly closing the door behind me. I found the light switch and flicked it on. The room was empty. I didn't think Derrick was there until he suddenly surfaced from behind a row of computers. He stared at me, his eyes defined by his grey shirt – a colour he constantly wore, I noticed. After a while of silence, he said, "You came."
I crossed my arms over my chest. "Yeah." He circled around the row of computers and stood a few feet in front of me, leaning against the back of a chair. He put his hands in the pockets of his jeans and looked down at the floor, letting out a little sigh. I sighed too, rolling my eyes. "What is it?"
Silence. Then, "Okay. Look... I already apologized for what happened last Friday. I was angry and went out of line. But I thought about what you said." He looked at me and I straightened my shoulders. "You said that... if you were in my position, you would be trying hard to figure out what really happened. The truth." He stared at me.
I nodded. "Yeah. I said that."
He gave a nod. "Right. And I was thinking... maybe I should look into this. Invest my anger doing something that could help my best friend."
"Okay...?" I shrugged. "So, I'm here because...?"
Derrick stood up straight. "Well, you seem to believe so much that, uh, your boyfriend is innocent, and I know you wanna prove it. So, I thought you could work with me."
I raised an eyebrow. "On?"
"On figuring out the real story. So you could help your boy and I can maybe help my friend and his family at the same time. We just gotta squash this whole hate thing we got goin' on, for a minute at least."
"So... you lashed out at me twice. Hated me like I did you wrong, but now you want me to work with you. And just forget everything and be okay with this?"
Derrick licked his lips and sighed. "I know. Just... do it for Kenny. I know you wanna find out what happened."
I looked down briefly. "So what do we tell everyone?"
He frowned. "What do you mean?"
"When people see us together, it'll look weird." Kenny's friends certainly would not let that slide by.
"We don't let that happen," Derrick responded simply. "We gotta be discreet. If we got the whole school talkin', we'll look bad. We shouldn't even be doing this."
"So then, how do we do this?"
"We find strategic places to meet."
"And we do what when we meet?"
"We talk. Figure out how to handle the situation. Try to do what the cops couldn't, or didn't."
"And we do that how?"
"That's what we'll discuss once we meet up. Look, are you in or not?"
I sighed. "Yeah, I guess. I wanna help Kenny."
He gave a nod. "Alright."
I blinked. "So we only met up today to settle this?"
"Yup. That's right. I got some shit to do, so we can talk more in depth tomorrow."
"Who says I'm not busy tomorrow?"
"Are you?"
I looked away. "Nah."
"A'ight then. I'll see you tomorrow."
"In here?"
"Same drill. Wait ten minutes."
"Okay."
"Imma leave. Wait a few minutes before you leave."
"Okay. Sure." I moved aside and let him go out the door. I waited a while before grabbing my stuff and heading out of the school. As I walked home, I thought about whether Derrick's intentions were genuine or not. How could I trust him? I certainly didn't. I guess I just had to find out.
Any thoughts of him flew out of my head as I got home and opened the front door, immediately hearing loud talking. I sighed. Adele. I got in and dropped my bag by the entrance. Jas was standing on the stairs. I ignored her and stood by the living room entrance. Mom and Dad were calmly sitting on a couch, while Adele was on her feet pacing back and forth heatedly. "Do you guys have to do this now?"
Mom. "We only asked where you were going."
Dad. "All you had to do was tell us."
"I'm a grown woman! Not a kid anymore."
Mom. "We're not saying that."
Dad. "But you need to take more responsibility."
Adele stopped pacing. "More responsi-"
I stepped forward. "What's going on?"
Jas, from the staircase, "Adele, we gotta go soon."
Adele held up a finger. "Yeah, yeah." She ignored me and turned to Mom and Dad. "How do I need 'more responsibility'? Explain." She crossed her arms over her chest.
Dad. "Running in and out of the house and not contributing to anything."
"Contribute? So what? Just cause I'm an adult, your own kid can't come into your house anymore? Since when?"
Mom sighed. "Now honey, of course that's not true. Your father didn't say that." I sighed too. Why were they doing this in front of Jas? She was company and we had rules on how to act when guests were present.
That was when Jas spoke. "Look, Adele. I'll be in the car. Please don't be out later than five minutes or imma go on my own." She bounded down the stairs and stopped to look around. "Bye y'all." She then left.
Adele watched her go. She turned to Mom and Dad accusingly. "You see? Thanks for doing this in front of my friend. Our guest."
Mom. "Honey. This all started over a simple question."
"Oh, so you're blaming me?" Silence. "Wow." Adele laughed bitterly. "You guys are great. First, I can't stay here. In the home I grew up in. And now everything is my fault."
Mom. "We didn't say-"
"Save it. I'm leaving now." Adele stalked my way. "Don't let their lies get to your head," she said before walking out the front door, slamming it behind her.
I went to lock it, before returning to the living room and sitting on the couch, facing my parents. I broke the silence. "What happened? And why was this done in front of Jas?"
Mom shook her head, seeming exhausted. "She was heading downstairs with Jas and all I asked was where she was going."
Dad. "She automatically got an attitude. We weren't satisfied with her answer so we asked where she was going again and she flipped."
Mom rubbed her hands together. "That's how the whole argument started." She sighed. "She's out of control."
Dad. "She won't listen or talk to us."
"I'll talk to her."
Dad shook his head. "No. Sweetheart, it is not your responsibility to talk to your sister every time she screws up. She is the eldest and she needs to act like it. Let your mother and I handle this."
Mom. "We'll talk to her later, when she gets back. It'll have to be a serious discussion."
I rubbed my legs. "Okay, but I want to be there too. Every time you guys try to have a talk with her, things always end up hectic." I hoped my words hadn't hurt Mom.
She held pain in her eyes. "Okay," she whispered.
Dad. "Okay babygirl. We don't need you stressing over these things. Why don't you start off on some homework."
I nodded and got up. "Okay." It felt like decades since I'd heard Dad call me 'babygirl.' It warned my heart. I kissed both my parents on the cheek before heading upstairs. Adele didn't come back home later. She didn't show up at all. Even the next morning, as I was preparing for school, she was nowhere to be seen. I figured she'd be home later that day.
I stayed after school again, just like I had agreed with Derrick. I texted Dad, telling him I was going to help Samantha and her friends film a video. My parents always had enough trust in me to never ask many questions but I always found it necessary to have my story straight. Especially for moments like these, when I would have to lie. I went over to the computer room. As I passed by an empty, narrow dead-end hallway, I heard somebody call my name. "Susan!" The voice came in a rushed whisper.
I looked into the hallway. A figure emerged slightly from a corner. "Derrick?" I approached.
"The computer room's taken."
"What?"
"Look, go back to your locker. I'm gonna go see if I can get the auditorium back door open. I'll text you when I get it open. You know where it is?"
"Um, I think so?"
"Okay. Go! We can't be seen right now." I left quickly, slightly confused. I passed by my locker and instead, went to a nearby bathroom. Two minutes passed. I stared at my phone screen. Another two minutes went by and I finally got a text from Derrick. Ayt I got it open. It's empty.
I texted back, Uh... how do I get there? I thought he was going to be rude about it, but instead, he sent me some instructions, including a picture of the hall I had to go through that led to the back door. I recognized the hall. It had a painting on both opposite walls and was secretly used a lot by students since the camera installed in that area hadn't worked for almost two years – which the school hadn't gotten around to fixing.
It took me about five minutes, but I found my way to the hall. I hoisted my bag higher on my shoulder as I turned the knob on the slightly heavy door, peeking in slowly. It was dark, except for a distant light. I stepped into the auditorium and looked around. I could see that I was backstage, behind the curtains. "Derrick?"
The curtains moved and his head popped out from the other side. "Come here," he whispered. I followed him to the other side, where the stage was, a single lightbulb gleaming from the far end of the auditorium. He sat at the edge of the stage, his legs dangling off. I put my bag down and took a seat next to him. "We have to be quick about this," he said in a low voice.
I kept mine low too. "Okay."
"It doesn't seem like this school meeting strategy is gonna work."
"There were other people working in the computer lab?"
"Yeah. Like some kind of an after school club. There was a teacher there and all. I just told them that I was looking for someone when I stumbled in awkwardly."
"Oh." I looked around. "But now we have the auditorium."
"But we don't know for how long. People have after school plays here and shit. We don't have any place in the school guaranteed."
I thought for a bit. "Maybe if we met outside of school. Like, at a cafe or something."
"That would be crazier. We can't have the public see us. Everybody knows the story at this point." Silence.
"So... what do we do now?"
"Maybe... maybe if we met further away." Derrick spoke mostly to himself. "Not in a restaurant, but my dad's got this place almost an hour away by the water. He hardly uses it anymore. We can meet up there."
I looked at him. "Almost an hour away? After school? How am I supposed to get there?"
"I'll drive us."
"From school?"
He shook his head. "Nah. We meet somewhere. How 'bout that vacant lot where people like to shoot firecrackers at night? I'll park behind that empty building and you hide in the back."
I raised an eyebrow. "The trunk?"
"Nah. The backseat."
I nodded. The vacant lot was a twelve-minute walk from my place, normally empty during the day. It was a little close to where Bobby lived. I licked my lips. "Alright. As long as you get me back before seven." I didn't really have a curfew but I wasn't trying to stay out long with Derrick. I didn't even know where he was taking me.
"Okay," he said.
"Cool."
"So it's all set. How fast can you get to the lot from here?"
"Like, twenty minutes." Walking fast at least.
"Cool. Imma wait there tomorrow." Derrick got up.
I looked up at him. "So we're not discussing anything today either?"
"Too risky. Besides, I gotta bounce."
I scoffed. "Of course."
"Later." He left. I waited a little before I got up and gathered my things, discreetly leaving the school.
Once I got home, it was quiet. Mom was in the living room. She told me Dad was going to be home a little later. I told her that Samantha ended up not being able to film and that I would be staying after school the next day. I looked around. "Where's Adele? She's still not here?"
Mom jerked her head upwards. "She's upstairs. Sleeping. I came home not long ago."
"You and Dad are still gonna have that talk with her?"
Mom rubbed her eyes. "Yeah. I'm gonna wait till your father gets here and till Adele wakes up."
I nodded. "Okay. Can I be there for the talk?" I sat down next to her.
"Sure. You can do that."
"Okay."
"How was school?"
I forced a smile. "It was okay."
She smiled tiredly. "You've been holding up okay?"
I looked at her. "Like always."
She nodded. "Good. That's good." I nodded too and looked down at my hands. She patted my leg twice. "I'm gonna go take a shower." She got up.
"Okay." I watched her leave. *
Dad got home a while later, before six. By then, I had showered, Mom had had a snack and Adele was up. I got to speak to her a little bit and was now sitting on the living room couch. Mom and Dad were sitting across from me on the bigger couch. Dad had changed into a T-shirt and comfy pants with flip-flops. He called Adele down. She took a while before I saw her slowly coming down the stairs with no worries at all. Typical Adele. Always taking her sweet time like you could pause everything. She came into the living room and didn't acknowledge me. She stared right at Mom and Dad. "What?" she asked.
Dad gestured at the spot next to me. "Have a seat."
Adele sighed. Mom said, "We need to talk."
Adele finally took a seat next to me. "What's up?"
Mom. "It's about yesterday."
Adele groaned. "Here we go."
"Adele listen-"
She spun my way. "Why is she here? A bodyguard? What, you need a third person to handle me?"
I spoke quickly. "No, Adele, relax. You never give Mom and Dad a chance to talk, so I wanted to be here so we could actually have a fair family discussion with an equal amount of talking and listening. That's all."
She stared at me, then looked at our parents. "So then who's doing the talking first?"
I looked at our parents. "Them. So then that way, you could give your side of the story afterwards."
Adele looked from me to our parents, then nodded. "Okay." Mom and Dad began, starting from the previous day when Adele went out. She began to interrupt. "I'm an-"
I stopped her. "Let them finish."
Mom. "All we're saying is that, adult or not, you're our daughter. We need to know where you're going."
Dad. "Especially since you don't even have a phone on you anymore. We need to know how to reach you in case of an emergency."
Mom. "Does that make sense?"
Adele set her jaw stubbornly. "Okay. If y'all must know, I went with Jas to try and get some concert tickets for a show. The tickets were sold out so we didn't get 'em. We went to one of her homeboy's house and then I slept over at her place once it was getting late."
Dad nodded. "Okay. That's all you have to tell us when you're going out. Sound fair?"
Adele sighed. "Sure." This was the calmest she had ever been in a discussion with my parents. She then asked, "What did you mean when you said I needed more responsibility and to contribute? You mean like, get a job?"
Mom sighed. "Well, that's the thing honey. We don't know for how long you'll actually be here. You didn't speak to us once about college since you got here. Do you know when you're returning?"
"Yeah. Some time at the end of October."
Mom and Dad looked at each other. "Hm."
"If this is about a job, Jas already got me covered."
Mom looked up, surprised. "Oh?"
"Yeah. It's not a sure thing though, but it's a quick way for me to make some money and work alongside Jas before my break ends. I'll let y'all know." We all nodded. I wondered what this job was about.
Mom leaned forward. "So, is there, anything else you wanna tell us?"
Adele rolled her eyes. "Just say it Mom! Am I doing drugs? Is that what you guys wanna know?"
Dad looked at Mom and blinked. "Well, it's a start," he said.
"Then no. I'm not. Jas isn't hooked on that shit either."
Dad sighed. "Please watch your language. Your sister's sitting right there."
"She's fuckin' sixteen!" Adele exclaimed.
Dad's voice was calm but tense. "Adele."
She gave him a look before sighing. "Whatever. The pills I took were only to get through school. Like I said before."
Mom. "Do you plan on reusing them once you go back?"
"Most likely. That school is fuckin'-" Dad looked at her, "hard."
Mom. "Just go easy."
Adele rolled her eyes again. "I know this. Anything else?"
Dad. "Nope."
Mom. "It's nice to have talks like this."
Adele got up. "Sure is," she replied sarcastically. She pointed towards the kitchen. "Can I go eat something?"
Dad. "Help yourself."
Adele left. Mom looked at me and mouthed, 'Thank you." I smiled and headed upstairs, feeling satisfied with the talk, but now having my own things to take care of. Homework. *