“So where are you from?” asked Liz. We were now on the way to lunch together. There was nothing feminine about Liz. She walked like a man and talked like a man and had a very strong presence about her. Regardless of the nasty comments a few students made about her, Liz couldn’t have cared less, and I suppose I was drawn to her because of her strength. She was strong in ways that I didn’t think I was.
“Chicago,” I said.
“Really? What side of the city?”
“South side,” I answered her.
“Cool. I used to live on the north side a few years back. Up in the Ravenswood area. I still have a lot of friends in that part of town. They’re much cooler than these stuck-up rich kids out here.” We turned left down another corridor and I could see the cafeteria ahead of us. “So how did you end up at this school?”
“It’s a long story,” I said.
“Hey, I’ve got nothing but time,” Liz said as she held the cafeteria door open for me. The place was noisy and packed with kids.
“Come on, the line is over here.” I followed Liz and stood in line.
“The pizza sucks. Never eat it because I think they spit on it. The fries and burgers are good but never, under any circumstances, eat the fish sticks. If you do, you’ll spend the afternoon with a bad case of the runs.”
“Eeew,” I said.
“Exactly,” Liz responded. “The people in this school are so lame. The cheerleaders are way too damn catty. The jocks, or the jockstraps as I call them, are completely into their bodies. They’re all brawn and no brains, if you know what I mean.”
“Yeah, my brother is like that,” I said, thinking about the incident I had with Mike yesterday.
“You have a brother who goes here?” Liz asked.
“Yeah, his name is Mike Kendall.”
“You’re kidding me?” Liz asked completely surprised.
“No. Why did you respond like that?”
“The kid is only a freshman, and he is one of the most popular kids on campus. He came into the school and broke the sprint record for the fifty-yard dash. The old record was 5.5 seconds and he ran it in 5.3 seconds. The football and track coaches were on him like flies on shit. I heard that he’s the only freshman on the varsity football squad.”
“I don’t know much about all of that,” I admitted.
“Well, just FYI for you. He thinks everyone likes him, but it’s only because of his speed and the fact that your dad works for the hottest radio station in town. People have been blowing his head up because they’re hoping to get some free concert tickets or something.”
“Does he know kids are just using him?” I asked.
“I don’t know. Maybe he does and maybe he doesn’t. Either way, the guy is popular. It’s practically unheard of to be a freshman and playing football on the varsity squad.”
Once we got our food, I followed Liz around the cafeteria to a table filled with other students who were dressed like Liz. Everyone had piercings, spiked and multicolored hair, and damn near all of them wore black.
“Yo, listen up.” Liz got everyone’s attention.
“This is Keysha, she’s new and is going to be hanging out with us.” I said hello to everyone and they just nodded.
“So what’s your story?” Liz asked as she dipped a few of her French fries in a small cup of ketchup.
“My story is real jacked-up.”
“Hell, honey, I’ve already figured that one out. Give me details.” Liz leaned forward so that she could hear me clearly.
“My grandmother was arrested for bank robbery and is serving time in prison. My mother is also serving time. When she got arrested, I had to live in a group home for a while.”
“Oh, man, you too? I knew that I liked you the moment I saw you. Which whacked out facility were you at?”
“I was at a place on the south side. You were in a group home too?” I asked.
“Hell, worse. I was at Sunnyville.”
“Sunnyville?” I asked, confused.
“You know, the nuthouse. They wanted to evaluate my mind for a while,” she said, bugging her eyes wide open as if her mind was some great mysterious phenomenon. I was intrigued by her story and wanted to know more.
“My dad was my world. I was his princess.” I read Liz’s expression and I could tell that what she was about to tell me was deeply personal. “He and my mom got divorced a few years back. I can’t stand my mom because she’s such a bitch, so I asked to go live with my dad. He was the coolest dad a girl could have. He was a soldier in the army. When the whole Iraq War thing broke out he was called to duty. To make a long story short, his unit was escorting a supply truck and they were ambushed. He was killed.”
“I’m so sorry to hear that,” I said, feeling really bad. I knew that it had to have been hard to know her father all of her life and then lose him.
“Anyway, when I got the news I didn’t take it very well,” she said, and then she just stopped talking. I waited for her to continue but she didn’t. It was as if she’d locked up her feelings about it or something.
“So that’s why you wear all black, because you’re in mourning, right?” I asked. She suddenly slapped the palms of her hands down on the table, making a loud sound that startled me.
“See.” She pointed her finger at me. “Why is it that you can see that but my all-knowing mother thought I’d flipped out and shipped me off to the damn nuthouse where a weirdo tried to fry my damn brain?” Liz was very passionate as well as angry.
“So, you’re back at home with your mother?” I asked.
“Yeah, and her new boyfriend, who has moved in with us. I don’t like him at all. He keeps telling my mother that I’m headed for trouble and blah, blah, blah.” I didn’t ask Liz any more questions because she appeared to be on the edge and I didn’t want to push her. Hell, and I thought I had it bad, I thought to myself.
I met Liz after school, and since her house was in the same direction as mine, we walked home together. I wanted to know more about her dad so I asked another question.
“So, what was your dad like?”
“He was cool. If I said, ‘Hey, dad, can I get fifty bucks to go shopping with,’ he’d give me sixty and say get something to eat, as well.” Liz continued, “He was always around whenever I needed him. If my bike was on a flat, he’d fix it for me. When I wanted to learn how to swim, he’d spend his Saturday mornings teaching me how. When I was selling Girl Scout cookies, he made sure that my order sheet was always filled. I loved him. I could always depend on him for anything. He was the type of dad who always bought me something when we went shopping. Even if it was the dumbest toy ever made. He’d buy it for me because I wanted it.”
“What do you miss the most about him?” I asked.
“His smile, his laugh and his scent.” Liz paused in thought. “I suppose the thing I miss the most is him coming into my room at night and tucking me in. I know it sounds corny, but I’d lie in the bed and he’d wrap me up like a mummy and then hug me. That was the best feeling in the world.” I saw Liz wipe a tear away from her eyes. I felt her pain so I hugged her.
“Ew, you’re hugging Lesbo Liz,” said a group of guys who were walking past us. I didn’t care what the other kids thought. I just felt she could use a hug, and she accepted it.
“I hate this damn war,” Liz said as she backed away from me. “I’m sorry for dumping on you like this.”
“It’s okay,” I said. “I can understand how you must feel.” We walked a little farther and finally reached my house.
“Nice house,” Liz said. “It’s big.”
“Maybe you could come over sometime. We could sit around and listen to music or something.”
Liz laughed. “Or we could get online and hang out in a chat room and see what kind of perverts are out there.”
“I’m not too sure about that one,” I said, laughing.
“Well, don’t knock it until you try it. It’s kind of fun and exciting to talk with someone who is in another part of the country or the world.”
“Well, I’d better go. I’ll see you tomorrow,” I said. Liz said goodbye and continued on her way. I walked down my driveway toward the house feeling good that I’d met a nice person, even though she was kind of odd.