Day Eighteen
‘’Pssssst,’’
Louise pointed with her head. A pretty, dark-skinned girl walked by the girls
without paying attention to them. Jessica followed her with her eyes, making
sure to glare a little so that Louise would see. ‘’Have you ever seen where she
lives?’’ ‘’I heard she lives in a dumpster.’’ Louise laughed. ‘’She lives in
that part by the bus station with all the broken fences and old cars and
garbage everywhere. Jessica shook her
head in condemnation. ‘’Do you know why she was gone last week?’’ ‘’Because she
had lice.’’ ‘’Yes!’’ ‘’She always has lice,’’ both girls laughed. ‘’Poor Natasha,
she has to share a desk with her.’’ ‘’I know! I think I would die.’’ ‘’Me too.’’
‘’I think she must not be potty-trained or something because she always stinks.’’
‘’I know!’’ ‘’Have you ever seen her little brother?’’ ‘’Yes! The one who walks
funny?’’ ‘’Yes!’’ ‘’I think her mom took drugs when she was pregnant.’’ ‘’Really?’’
Jessica said, wide-eyed. ‘’That’s what I heard.’’ ‘’She always wears that same
pink sweatshirt with the cat on it.’’ ‘’I know! I think I had a sweatshirt like
that when I was five!’’ They both laughed.
The next
day at lunch they watched her from afar. Their same stream of comments
continued like a broken record, as they had day after day, all school year
long. But this day something was different. Michael was sitting with her at the
lunch table. Michael! They watched closely, and it was clear to any observer
that they were having a great time, talking, laughing, telling funny stories. ‘’Oh
my gosh, gross!’’ Louise said. ‘’What is he doing?’’
Jessica asked, with emphasized disgust. The girl stood up and took her milk
carton and pretended to throw it and Michael burst out laughing. They watched
them til they finished with their lunch and stood up to turn in their lunch
trays near them. Michael was telling her about a funny show she should watch,
and just then Jessica slipped on some spilled ketchup, dropped her entire lunch
tray and landed directly in it, getting ketchup all over her light blue pants.
Time stood still. The busy cafeteria went completely silent and the whole room
turned and stared. Some kids started to laugh and she was holding back tears. The
pretty girl and Michael crouched down and took her tray, picked up all the
silverware and food and gave her a hand up. ‘’Here,’’ said the pretty girl,
handing her a stack of napkins. She grabbed them from her without saying a
word. She stood up and tried in vain to wipe the ketchup from her pants. After
the lunchroom resumed its lunchtime clatter, Jessica turned around to look for
Louise. She was nowhere to be found. She dumped the wad of napkins in the
garbage and walked out quickly.
She went
back to their classroom and grabbed her gym shorts from her backpack and headed
to the nearest bathroom. The pretty girl was washing her hands. ‘’Hey,’’ she
said to Jessica. She didn’t respond, just headed into the stall to change. The
pretty girl waited for her to come out. ‘’Don’t worry,’’ she told her, ‘’people
will forget about it by tomorrow,’’ she smiled kindly. Jessica just looked at
her for a second. ‘’Like when I had lice.’’ This took her aback. ‘’Thanks.’’
No comments:
Post a Comment