[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

 I ll walk you out, Joey said without looking up.
JOEY 135
As soon as he had shut the door behind us Joey put both
hands on my shoulders and turned me around to face him. He
looked at me in his now familiar, searching way. I dropped my
eyes from his and came to focus on his Adam s apple.
 Just tell me something, he said.  Do you still like him? Is
that what this is about?
 No! God! Is that what you think?
 And are you sure you still want to be my girlfriend?  Cause
I don t really get why you told me about this.
I threw my arms around his waist and kissed his Adam s
apple.  I m sorry, I said.  I still want to be your girlfriend.
I could tell Mom and William had been fighting when I came
in, because they were standing quietly in the kitchen. I rushed
upstairs and arranged myself on my bed with a couple of my
school notebooks, hoping Mom and William were absorbed
with whatever they were arguing about.
There was a quick rap at my door. Before I could answer
Mom was standing before me, holding a glass of white wine.
She was wearing a light blue floor-length cotton nightgown, and
her wavy black hair was loose around her shoulders. Her face
was scrubbed clean of makeup and her cheeks were flushed. She
looked pretty.
 You re late, she said.
I sat up and looked at the clock radio on my nightstand. It
was nine thirty, an hour and a half past when I had said I would
be home.
 It s only nine thirty, I said.  It s not like it s the middle of
the night or anything.
Mom set her wineglass on top of my turntable and straight-
ened herself back up again.
136 POLLY
 I ll tell you something, young lady, you re really pushing
it, she said.
 I m sorry, I said.  It wasn t my fault. Carrie and I got stuck
in traffic on the way home from the mall.
 Carrie called here twenty minutes ago.
 She had to stop at Lyle s, so I walked home from there. She
probably just forgot to ask me something.
Mom snorted.  The school called me at work today.
I scooted toward the edge of my bed. One of my notebooks
spilled to the floor, but neither of us moved to pick it up. I
knew what was coming.
 You ve been absent from sixth period eight times the last
three weeks. Her smooth, easy voice had deepened, like it
did when she was really angry.  You want to tell me what s so
important you have to leave school early?
I looked down at the floor.  I m sorry, I said.  It s just
what seniors do at the end of the year. I won t do it again, I
promise.
I got up off the bed and gathered up the clothes that were
strewn around the room. Mom watched.
 Don t think I don t know what you re doing. Do you think
Joey is worth not getting into college for? Do you want to get
rejected from college? Is that it?
I stuffed the clothes in my laundry basket. I could feel my
body starting to wilt under her stare.  I already applied, I said.
 My transcripts have already been sent. They don t check these
grades.
 Well, guess what? You re grounded. You re going to stay
right here, in this house, until I say otherwise. You got that?
The Bad Brains were playing Friday night. They hadn t played
live in two years. I d bought tickets weeks ago. Everybody I
knew was going. Even Mike Franklin.
 If you let me go see the Bad Brains Friday I promise I won t
go out for the rest of the year, I said.
JOEY 137
 Absolutely not!
Mom turned and went out into the hallway, slamming the
door behind her. She stomped into her bedroom and slammed
that door, too.
I went to see William. He was in the basement, watching
an old episode of Star Trek. I settled down on the couch next
to him and rested my Converse next to his Hush Puppies on
the coffee table.
 I guess you know I m grounded, I said when the TV went
to a commercial.
William sniffed.
 There s this band playing Friday, I said.  Bad Brains.
They re probably one of the most important bands I ll ever
see. And they haven t played in years this is probably my only
chance to see them.
William didn t answer. On TV a blond woman held up
a white T-shirt that was covered with spaghetti sauce. She
plunged it into a glass box filled with clear blue liquid.
 Bad Brains are one of the best bands in D.C., if not the
best, I continued.  Maybe even the best on the entire East
Coast. This show is a really big deal.
William kept staring at the television. The woman on TV
held up the same white T-shirt and beamed. The spaghetti
stains had disappeared.  If it were up to me, I d ground you for
good, he said.  God only knows what illegal activities you and
those hooligans you run around with are up to.
I got to my feet.  I m trying to talk to you! I shouted.
William looked at me over his glasses.  You re lucky your
mother is in charge, he said.  If it were up to me you d have
been shipped off to boarding school a long time ago.
Mom was in bed, reading. Her door was open. I waited for her
to look up.
138 POLLY
 William doesn t love me.
 Well, maybe he doesn t, Mom said.  You think he s just
supposed to, just like that? You think that s how it works?
Back in my room I pulled my duffel bag down from the top
of my closet. It was a navy blue duffel bag with a soccer ball
patch on one side. I d had it since elementary school. I grabbed
a few pairs of underwear and a couple of T-shirts that Joey had
given me and stuffed them in the bag. I pulled the green spiral
notebook I used for an address book out of my desk and threw
it on top of the T-shirts. I went down the hall to the bathroom
and got my toothbrush, deodorant, and Noxema. I had $250
in babysitting money I d been saving for college tucked in my
sock drawer. I grabbed the money along with a couple of pairs
of socks and shoved it all in the duffel bag. I picked up my
backpack and the duffel bag and put on my army jacket. I ran
downstairs and went out the front door.
I jogged to the elementary school a few blocks away and called
Joey from a pay phone out front.
 I had a fight with my Mom and William, I said.  I m on
a pay phone.
 Oh, sweetie, he said.
 I hate my family, I said.  I can t wait until I m out of that
house for good.
 Where are you?
 Hiding out in my neighborhood. I was standing near a
bunch of parked school buses, away from the streetlight. I
didn t think anyone could see me from the road.
 I wish I were there with you, Joey said.
 Actually, I was thinking I d come over, I said. Tomorrow
JOEY 139
was Wednesday. I d skip school. We d wake up and make cof-
fee, maybe go out to breakfast at a diner.
Joey cleared his throat.  I don t think that s such a good idea.
 My stepfather doesn t want me living with them, I said.
Tears sprang to my eyes.
 Honey, you re not eighteen. Do you have any idea how
much trouble I could get into?
I set my backpack on top of the duffel bag at my feet.  They
don t even know your last name. Plus they think you re in high
school.
 Have you called Theresa or Carrie? Why don t you go over
to one of their houses and call me from there?
I banged the receiver down as hard as I could.
I walked one bus stop farther than my stop, in case Mom and
William were looking for me. I had to wait almost thirty min-
utes for the bus to show up. I took it to the main bus termi-
nal in Fairfax, which was deserted and smelled like urine and
gasoline. There was a bus leaving for Charlotte at midnight. I
waited near the ticket window, where the clerk could see me.
A large clock over the vending machines buzzed, like the ones
at school. I half expected Mom or William to walk through the
door, but they didn t.
The bus was mostly empty. I could have had my own seat, but
instead I sat next to a heavy, middle-aged black woman. I felt [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

  • zanotowane.pl
  • doc.pisz.pl
  • pdf.pisz.pl
  • thierry.pev.pl

    •