Fire from the Rock

Sylvia and Lou Ann Johnson, a skinny girl with a powerful laugh and a large gap between her front teeth, sat together most days at lunch. Lou Ann made low-to-average grades, always had boys following her around, and never seemed to have a bad day. She had been going steady with Otis Herman since the beginning of eighth grade. She wasn’t going to be asked to consider Central High, and Sylvia knew she wouldn’t have given it a second thought if she had.

Lou Ann’s father, Zeke, owned the barbershop where most of the Negro men in town got their hair cut. She always had money in her purse, and never brought her lunch. She’d buy the Salisbury steak with gravy that the cafeteria offered, plus an ice-cream sandwich, which the students made themselves out of two freshly baked sugar cookies with a square of vanilla ice cream stuck between them.

Lou Ann was always cheerful and carefree. Everything Otis said or did made her laugh, and she shared her laughter with her whole class. Sylvia knew Lou Ann was the right one to talk to.

“Oh, I couldn’t call him first!” Sylvia said, sounding slightly shocked. “I’m waiting for him to call me. My mother says only bad girls call boys.”

Sylvia didn’t want to admit that she usually did, so she changed the subject. “I think Reggie is going to play football at Horace Mann next year. My brother told me.”

“There’s nothing more fun than a high school football game,” Lou Ann said wistfully, sipping her milk. “The band, the music, the cheers and the cheerleaders, the roar of the crowd, the boys in their uniforms with those pants tight on their rear ends—simply too cool.” She laughed again.

Sylvia wished she could be more like Lou Ann. She always said exactly what was on her mind, and never seemed to be bothered by the rules and regulations. “Uh, I never noticed,” Sylvia said as she made her ice-cream sandwich. It was her custom to let the ice cream melt a little as she ate her lunch so that it would be soft enough to lick into a perfectly round, perfectly delicious treat.

“Well, if you didn’t, you sure will when Reggie is playing!” Lou Ann replied with a laugh. She licked the mashed potatoes off her spoon. “If you don’t use him, you’ll lose him!”

“How can I lose something I don’t even have?” Sylvia said helplessly. “Besides, I think he likes Candy Castle.”

Lou Ann laughed so hard that little streams of milk came out of her nose. “Don’t you know that all the boys like Candy? She’s hot chocolate, Sylvia. Melted, sweet, soft, and delicious. That’s why you have to let him know you like him. Boys go for quality, too—sometimes.” Reggie walked across the cafeteria, carrying a tray and heading for a table where Calvin Cobbs and a couple of other boys sat. “Hey, Reggie!” Lou Ann called as loud as she could. “Come sit with us.”

Sylvia felt herself shrivel as he grinned, changed direction, and headed their way. He wore a blue argyle sweater, blue chino slacks, and those raggedy blue Keds. The rubber of the left shoe flapped a little as he walked. “How could you do that?” she whispered to Lou Ann.

“Aw, quit acting like your little sister. Talk to the boy like you got some sense!” Lou Ann admonished.

“How do you get so many boys to notice you?” Sylvia asked Lou Ann shyly as she glanced with wonderment at Reggie’s approach.

“I relax, Sylvia, like you need to do. Boys don’t like tense girls. They dig someone who can make them feel good. You’re too uptight.”

Sylvia had no idea how to relax like Lou Ann suggested. She wondered if Reggie thought she was boring. There was just so much she couldn’t figure out.

“How’s it goin’?” Reggie asked, chewing that Juicy Fruit gum as he grinned. He sat down then, his long legs bumping Sylvia’s under the table as he got situated. She gasped slightly and her heart thudded, but he didn’t seem to be nervous at all.

“I’m fine, Reggie,” Sylvia replied as smoothly as she could. “How’s your brother doing on the Mann basketball team this year?”

“Greg thinks he’s a superstar,” Reggie said between mouthfuls of meat loaf. “Says he wants to play for the Harlem Globetrotters one day.” Then, looking more serious, he said, “Speaking of brothers, I heard about Gary. How is he doing? Tell him if he ever needs help dealing with the white boys, I got his back!”

Why are boys so ready to fight all the time? Sylvia thought as she stirred her corn pudding. “He’ll be okay—on the outside, at least.” Sylvia frowned. “I think Gary is simply gonna crash and burn one day. Might get messy.”

Reggie smiled. “He’ll heal up. Then he’ll be ready to fight again—stronger and tougher. But speaking of basketball,” he said smoothly, “there’s a game at Mann next week. Would you like to go with me?”

Sylvia almost choked on her cookies. She couldn’t believe he was asking her on a date! She sat there for a moment, staring stupidly and saying nothing. Then she felt Lou Ann kick her leg.

“Uh, I’d have to ask my mother, but as long as she thinks there will be at least a million other people there, she might let me go.”

“Cool!” he said. “Tell you what—to avoid the parent trap, why don’t I just meet you there? Your folks can drop you off and pick you up, and neither one of us has to go through all those questions that parents think they have to ask.”

Reggie, faking the deep bass voice of her father, said, “Now, tell me, son, what are your intentions concerning my darling daughter? And will you ever buy new shoes?”

Sylvia, Lou Ann, and Reggie, laughing hysterically, initially did not see Miss Washington approach. Sylvia looked up in surprise. Miss Washington, unsmiling and determined-looking, strode toward their table. Her sturdy shoes echoed on the linoleum floor. “I need to speak with you, Miss Patterson,” she said brusquely. “Come with me.”

Not now! Not in the middle of the most important conversation of my life ! But all she could say was a polite and sorrowful, “Yes, ma’am.”

Sylvia turned to Lou Ann with a shrug, gave Reggie an apologetic smile, and helplessly followed the ample hips of Miss Washington out of the cafeteria. Her heart thudded as she tried to imagine what she possibly could have done wrong. Usually it was Calvin Cobbs who was called to task for acting silly or forgetting his homework.

Maybe Sylvia had forgotten an important assignment in the confusion from last night. Gary’s injuries, which, of course, everybody in the colored community had heard about by now, turned out to be mostly cuts and bruises, but he would be out of school for a few days. Maybe Miss Washington wanted to ask her about Gary. She’d had him in class a couple of years ago.

The voices of her friends echoed in the halls as they entered Miss Washington’s empty and silent classroom.

“You’re an excellent student, Miss Patterson,” Miss Washington said, looking directly at her.

“Thank you, ma’am,” she replied, a little surprised at the compliment. She felt like an ant under a magnifying glass.

“I didn’t really get the chance, ma’am,” Sylvia replied. “My brother, Gary, got into a little trouble last night, and Mama and Daddy were not in a mood to talk about Central High School.”

“Yes, I heard about that. Gary always has been volatile and impetuous, and I must admit that his behavior might work against you. But you, my dear, are steady, dependable, and capable of handling the social and emotional difficulties that would confront you. We want your name to be placed on the list.”

Sylvia was overwhelmed. “Me?” she croaked. “I don’t think I’m brave enough for all that stuff.”

“Yes, you are. In addition, you have intelligence, which the boys who attacked your brother do not have. Bravery and brains will take you a very long way.”

“But it’s Gary who wants to be on the list, not me. Choose him instead of me, please.” Sylvia knew that Gary would kill for this chance, and they were offering it to her on a platter. He’d be furious when he found out—and hurt as well.

Miss Washington softened and smiled a little. “You are just the type of young woman who is needed for this task, Sylvia Faye.” That was the first time she ever heard Miss Washington call a student by a first name.

“I’ll talk to them,” Miss Washington interrupted. “I know they will have strong reservations because of the incident with Gary. But we’ll see what happens. Go and finish your lunch now. And don’t mention this conversation to anyone yet.”

“Thank you, ma’am,” Sylvia whispered as she hurried out of the room. She stood there in the hallway, trembling with apprehension. When she got back to the empty lunchroom, which smelled faintly of old meat loaf, both Reggie and Lou Ann had gone to their next class. Sylvia had lost her appetite anyway.