Deal With It (11 page)

Indigo

It
had been five days, seven hours and twenty-eight minutes since I’d last spoken to Jade. We were officially on non-speaking terms, and it felt weird. There hadn’t been many times that we’d been apart. Just the time that she had the chicken pox and I had to stay away; and the time that I had that stomach virus, and her mother wouldn’t let her come over and play Barbies with me. Then there was that time that she moved to New Jersey to live with her grandmother. That was probably the longest time we’d ever spent apart. And even then, we talked on the phone just about every day.

But now, when I saw her in the hallways at school, she walked past without so much as a hello. And I wasn’t about to say anything. In my opinion, she was the one who was being childish, rolling her eyes like I had done something wrong. She needed to grow up.

As I stood in the lunch line, holding my plastic tray, she walked past, running her mouth with Tymia and pretending that she didn’t even see me standing there.

“Can we have a cut, Indi?” Tymia asked.

“You can.” I responded directly to Tymia, making sure that my body language expressed who I was talking to—and not talking to.

“I didn’t ask her for a cut, anyway. So I don’t need her doing me any favors,” Jade said, with her back to me. “Tymia, let’s just go to the back of the line. We don’t need her.”

“Tymia, you are definitely welcome to cut in front of me if you want to,” I said.

“We’re just gonna go…you know…back there, to the end of the line, Indi,” Tymia said. I could tell she felt uncomfortable being in the middle of our catfight. “You’re welcome to join us at our usual table by the window. Okay?”

Jade was already heading to the back of the line, and Tymia followed.

“Okay.” I said it sadly. Now she was stealing my other friends away, too.

“Hey, girl!” Tameka entered the cafeteria, wearing jeans and Vance’s basketball jersey. Something was different about her. She wore her hair pulled up on her head, instead of her usual flat-ironed style. She approached me in line. “Can I get a cut?”

“Yeah, you can,” I said and then spotted Asia, who was running to catch up with Tameka.

“There’s Jade and Tymia in the back of the line,” Asia said. “Let’s go back there.”

“Come on, Indi,” Tameka said, and grabbed my arm. “Let’s go back there with them.”

Reluctantly, I followed them to the back of the line, where Jade and Tymia stood, with their trays. The usual giggles and gossip began the minute we all got together, but it was obvious that Jade and I were not speaking to each other. Whenever we had something to say to or about each other, we said it in third person.

“I saw Kim the other day at Publix,” Asia said. “She’s starting to show.”

“You mean, she actually looks like she’s preggers?”

“Yes, big-time,” Asia said.

“I bet she’s pregnant by that boy who dropped out of school. The one who used to hang around our dance-team practice, waiting for her,” Jade said.

“I wonder if her baby is going to be dumb, since he obviously was,” Tymia said.

We all laughed.

“Everybody that drops out of school is not dumb, Tymia,” Tameka clarified.

“They are in my book,” Tymia insisted. “Anybody who makes it all the way to the twelfth grade and then drops out
is
dumb!”

“My mom dropped out in the tenth grade because she was pregnant with me,” Tameka said, “and my mom is not dumb!”

“She was pregnant with you in the tenth grade?” Asia asked.

“That’s our age,” Jade said.

“I would die if I got pregnant in the tenth grade!” Tymia exclaimed. “I can’t even imagine it.”

“Your whole life would change.” I added my two cents. “You wouldn’t be able to do anything. No parties, no dance team.”

“You would even have to go to a new school,” Asia announced. “Can you imagine wobbling down the hall in front of all your classmates—fat and preggers?”

“I’m too young to be anybody’s mama,” Jade said.

“Can you imagine me asking Marcus, ‘Where’s my child support?’” I laughed, because it sounded so ridiculous. “And this baby need some Pampers…and some formula! Don’t stand there looking at me crazy, boy. Go on down to Wal-Mart and get some.”

Everybody laughed. Even Jade. I thought about Kim. Wondered
if she was wobbling down the halls of her new school. Wondered if she knew who her baby’s daddy was, and if he was going to help her take care of the baby once it was here. I wondered how she was going to take care of the baby once it was born. Would she get a job, or would her parents help her out? I wondered how mad they’d been when they found out. What if they had kicked her out of the house, and now she was wandering aimlessly through the streets of College Park, looking for a place to sleep? I felt bad for her and thanked God that it wasn’t me.

Jade and I managed to get through the entire lunch period without even mumbling a word to each other. We avoided even looking at each other. I was grateful for my other friends, because otherwise it would’ve been a pretty lonely world. I liked her hair that day, though. She’d obviously tried something new with it. And the outfit she had chosen for the day was hot. I still remembered where she bought it—Charlotte Russe at Cumberland Mall. That was where she got the jeans. And she bought the tangerine-colored top at Forever 21, off the clearance rack, end of season. I had a blue one just like it. But I wasn’t about to tell her that her outfit was cute. The compliment that was dangling around in my head would never reach my lips. In fact, I looked the other way before she caught me checking out her gear.

In Mr. Espin’s Spanish class, I dozed off at least three times before he finished going over our homework assignment—which I didn’t have, by the way. The fourth time that I dozed off, Mr. Espin stared right at me, but the fifth time, he tapped me on my shoulder.

“Didn’t get enough sleep last night, Señorita Summer?” he asked.

I tried to focus my bloodshot eyes on Mr. Espin.

“I’m awake,” I said.

“Do you have your homework?” he asked.

I began searching through my three-ring binder, pretending to look for it. I already knew it wasn’t there, knew I hadn’t done it. I had been too busy gossiping on a three-way call with Tameka and Tymia the night before. We were on the phone until at least one o’clock in the morning, and by the time I hung up, I was way too tired for Spanish homework. I struggled in Spanish more than I did in math. I didn’t get it, and Mr. Espin seemed to forget that we weren’t born in Cuba, like he was. It took a while to grab hold of a new language, especially when we didn’t even have English down yet. I was still working on my English prepositions, pronouns and verbs.

“Um, I think I left it at home,” I lied.

“Or maybe the dog ate it?” he asked sarcastically.

“I don’t have a dog, Mr. Espin.” I wasn’t in the mood for his sarcasm. I hadn’t completed my homework. So what? What was he going to do? Give me a detention?

“Señorita Summer, you may serve a detention in the cafeteria after school,” he said.

“Are you serious? You’re giving me a detention for not having my homework?” I was wide-awake now.

“And for falling asleep in my class,” he said.

“I can’t serve a detention, Mr. Espin. I have dance-team practice right after school. And I can’t miss practice.” I pleaded my case. “And besides, a detention will get me two demerits. And I can’t afford that. I might not get to perform at the game on Friday night.”

“Señorita, you should think about these things before blowing off your homework,” he said. “My class is just as important as your dance team. You should put forth just as much effort.”

“This class is just so hard, Mr. Espin. I don’t get Spanish.”

“Then you should ask for help,” he said. “In the meantime, I will see you after school. And in the future, please try and be more prepared for my class, Indigo.”

Was he trying to ruin my life? Miss Martin didn’t play when it came to grades and discipline. She would kick you off the team so fast, your head would spin. She was very strict in that area. I had to find a way around this.

Dance-team practice had already started, and here I was, straggling in thirty minutes late. I’d already had Tameka and Tymia cover for me. They were supposed to tell Miss Martin that I was sick, and that I would be in the nurse’s office, resting for a little while. If I felt better, I’d be late for dance-team practice.

“She’s not gonna buy it, Indi,” Tameka had warned. “And I don’t really like lying to Miss Martin like that. You’re gonna get me some demerits, too.”

“What if she sends someone to the nurse’s office to check?” Tymia had asked.

“She won’t,” I’d insisted. “Miss Martin is too busy to be worrying about my whereabouts. Please, y’all. Help a sister out.”

“Why don’t you just make up with Jade? She’s the team captain. She’s the only one who can cover you, Indi,” Tymia had replied.

“I’m not making up with her! She needs to make up with me,” I’d said. “I’ll take the demerits first.”

“Fine, Indi. I’ll do it.” Tameka gave in. “But if I get in trouble for covering—”

“You won’t get in trouble. I promise,” I’d said.

“I’m not playing,” Tameka had said.

“This is not cool,” Tymia had said. “Why didn’t you just do your Spanish homework?”

“Because I was on the phone with y’all hoochies last night,” I’d reminded them. “Talking about your little, ugly boyfriend with the nappy hair.”

We had spent most of our chat time trying to tell Tymia what a loser her new boyfriend was. He was already starting to accuse her of other boys, and they weren’t even exclusive yet. And he was already starting to be aggressive with her, pulling on her arm. He even shoved her once. In my opinion, that was a red flag. He would’ve been history the first time he grabbed my arm. But she liked his smile. A million boys at this school had a nice smile, and she had to pick the weird one.

“Whatever, Indi,” Tameka had said. “I’ll do it, but it better not backfire on me.”

“Thank you!” I’d been so grateful. I was home free.

I stepped into the gymnasium and then walked slowly toward center court, where the group was practicing a new routine.

“Miss Summer, we’re glad you could join us,” Miss Martin said. “You can begin with your laps around the gym, and then take a seat in the bleachers.”

Laps? Was she serious? Didn’t she get the word that I was sick?

I took off around the gym, slowly. I panted as I finished the first lap. I tried to read the faces of my friends Tameka and Tymia. Wanted to know if the lie had gone over or not. Tameka was into her routine. She didn’t even look my way. She took dance way too seriously, in my opinion. With a serious look on her face, she shook her hips from side to side. Tymia finally looked my way, and I tried reading her face. When she shook her head from side to side, I knew something was wrong. But what?

After running my last lap, I bent over and tried to catch my breath. Then I took my seat in the bleachers, as Miss Martin had suggested. When practice was over, she dismissed the team and then motioned for me to come see her.

“Why were you late, Indigo?” she asked.

“I, uh, I wasn’t feeling well in my last class, so I went to the nurse’s office for a little while.”

“Which nurse’s office was that? Because when I sent someone to check on you, she couldn’t find you.” Miss Martin’s mouth was moving, but I blanked out for a minute.

“Um…” I didn’t even have a response.

“She did, however, find you in the cafeteria, serving a detention,” Miss Martin said. “And you know how I feel about detentions. They are for students with behavior problems, and none of my girls have behavior problems.”

“Miss Martin, I’m sorry for lying. It’s just that Mr. Espin gave me a detention for nothing. I didn’t have my homework, but I told him that I don’t understand Spanish and I need help. It’s not fair to give somebody a detention for not having their homework when they don’t understand it.”

“Indigo, you know what my rules are. I don’t really care about the circumstances surrounding a detention. A detention is a detention, as far as I’m concerned. And the consequences are just that…consequences. You can’t perform at Friday night’s game.”

“Aw, Miss Martin, not Friday night’s game! We been practicing that hot routine. I wanna dance,” I pleaded. “Please let me dance.”

“Indigo, you know the team rules. If I let you get away with it, then what kind of example would I be setting for the other girls on the team? That’s what I was looking for in a team captain, someone who would be an example for other girls. Not someone who tried to use their friends to lie for them. You understand?”

I nodded yes.

Her decision seemed final. She seemed unmoved, and it was worthless to keep trying to convince her to give me another chance. I gave in.

“Am I dismissed?” I asked.

“You can go now,” she said.

I lifted my gym bag onto my shoulders and headed for the locker room. I wondered who had given me away. Was it Tameka or Tymia? I stopped in my tracks, turned to face Miss Martin.