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Saturday morning I get the newspaper for Dad. I’m not only grounded but I have to do whatever he says. Today I’m washing his car, and tomorrow I'm reorganizing his office bookshelf after church.
The newspaper makes a thud sound as I throw it against the front door. It’s warm out today and the sun is bright. We’re in full spring mode even though we have a few days until the vernal equinox. It’s nice outside but I feel like there’s a cloud over me. Any sliver of hope or warmth I get is cloaked in heaviness and I just can’t seem to shake it off.
I fill a bucket with soapy water and grab an extra-large sponge. The quicker I get this done, the faster I can go back inside and read a book. Having no access to my TV, laptop, phone, or tablet doesn’t bother me. I just need a good book and I’m fine.
I plop the sponge in the bucket. Soap suds hit me on the cheek. I squeeze the sponge and realize that I used way too much soap.
“Good Morning Clove.”
Startled, I turn around and accidently fling JJ with soap suds and water. It gets all over his shirt and shorts. Xavier chuckles.
“Oh my gosh J, I’m so sorry!”
JJ scans his wet clothes.
“That’ll cool him off,” Xavier says. “Usain Bolt over here decided to run five miles instead of three today.”
"Why aren’t you breaking a sweat like J?” I ask Xavier.
“I overslept. Haven’t started yet. I’ll catch y’all later. J, you can start lifting without me. I’ll be back in thirty.” Xavier begins jogging down the street, leaving JJ and me standing there.
I go get a towel from the garage. “I’m really sorry about that J.”
I look around. “JJ?”
He’s gone. Did he just decide to go home? I check down the street but don’t see him anywhere. Suddenly a cold sensation splashes me in the back. My body tenses up. “Ahhhh, ahhh, c-c-cold...cold!” My entire back is soaking wet.
JJ snickers.
“Jonaaaaaah,” I cry. He runs with the hose, keeping me at bay so I don’t get too close.
“Don’t take another step,” he taunts. I step on the hose stopping the water supply. We make eye contact. It’s. About. To. Go. Down.
He runs and I chase him around the car. This is hilarious to him and I start laughing too. I have no idea what I’m going to do if I catch him but right now the chase is fun. We stop and I can see him straight through the back window. We’re at an impasse. I move an inch right and he moves the other way. He moves an inch and I move the opposite way. One of us has to surrender, but it ain’t gonna be me.
I crouch down low and quietly crawl around the car. When I see his legs, I reach out to grab one, but all I get is air because he escapes quickly.
“You’re not good at sneaking up on people,” he says with a laugh.
“Get back here you...you...scurvy knave!”
“Scurvy knave?” JJ laughs. “Really? You been reading Shakespeare?”
I start laughing again as I realize I just quoted Romeo and Juliet. That makes me think of the time we went sledding and Xavier had to pee but there were no bathrooms. And JJ said, “To pee or not to pee.” It was so stupid.
“I know what you’re thinking about,” he says. “That time Xavier had to go in the snow and later Zach thought someone had dropped their snow cone.”
I double over in laughter just thinking about that whole trip. Finally I stand upright and my laughter subsides.
“I haven't seen you laugh like that in a while,” JJ says.
He’s right. I don’t think I’ve laughed this hard in a really long time. I seem to open up more when he’s around. First talking and now laughing. It feels good.
Beads of water cover his glasses. He takes them off and tries to find a dry spot on his shirt to clean them. I look at myself to check for the same. “Here,” I come close to him. “Use this sleeve. It’s dry.”
He takes my sleeve and begins drying his glasses. For a long time JJ and I used to be the same height, but now it seems he’s several inches taller.
His light-colored eyelashes and the freckles that cover his nose and cheeks are picturesque. The water has made his hair curl and wave up. I've always wanted to touch his hair, but I’ve been too afraid to ask. I wonder if he’s ever wanted to touch mine. Hair. My hair! I reach up and check to see if it got wet.
“I did not get your hair wet,” he says putting his glasses back on. “I made sure of that.”
I smile. “Your mama taught you well.”
“Yes she did. Never get a black woman’s hair wet. It’s been ingrained in my brain,” he says and taps his head.
We are all up in each other’s personal space. So much so that I smell his perspiration.
JJ takes a step back. “Sorry, I probably smell sweaty.”
It doesn’t bother me, but I scrunch up my nose just to mess with him. “Go shower!”
He lifts his arm to fan the air towards me. “Smell it. That’s all hard work right there.”
“Ew,” I push him away.
We laugh for a moment. “Hey,” he says. “You still waking up at five?”
“Yeah. Why?”
“Will you come somewhere with me tomorrow?”
“Where and what time?” I don’t even think about the fact that I might not be able to go, but it’s JJ. Dad knows him and JJ wouldn’t ask if it weren’t somewhere I could go.
“There’s a midway point between our houses. You know what I’m talking about, right? At Hollow and Chickaree?”
“Yeah.”
“Can you meet me there by 5:45?” he asks.
“Are you gonna be running? Cause I’m not running. And you’ll get there before me.”
“It’s okay,” he says. “I’ll wait for you.”
Something about the way he said that makes my cheeks feel warm. JJ peeks over my shoulder and I turn around to see what he’s looking at.
“Hold on a sec,” he says.
I watch as he disappears between our house and the next door neighbor’s. What is he doing? If he had to pee, he could’ve just come inside.
I resume washing Dad’s car. He’ll want it clean before he gets back into town Sunday evening. I could’ve just waited until Sunday to wash it. It’s not like he’ll know if I washed it today or not. Or maybe Gram would tell him if—
“Clove.”
I jump at the sound of JJ’s voice. My heart is racing but calms down a little when I see what’s in his hand. Honeysuckles. A whole bunch of them.
“Your neighbor has some in their yard. Don’t tell them that I stole these.” He extends his hand out to me. It’s red.
“Did you get stung by a bee?” I ask him.
“Yes. Now please take these so I can go cry like a man.”
I take the flowers and bite my lip so that I don’t laugh. Glad he’s not allergic to bees. I grab his other hand and lead him inside the house so I can help him remove the stinger.
Gram smiles real big when she sees JJ. “Hey there young man. Have some pancakes.” When Gram is cooking, she doesn’t ask who wants to eat, she just makes you eat.
“Uh, yes ma’am, I’ll have some as soon as Clove is done pretending to be a doctor. Clove, it didn’t leave a stinger behind. I already checked.”
“Well why’d you let me drag you inside then?”
“Because once a bee stings you, it sends out a message to its fellow bees to come and help. Therefore, the bee that stung me was going to call for reinforcement and-”
I put my finger to his lips. “Shhhh.” He’s always so full of information.
“Why’d you even risk getting stung?” I ask him.
“I want you to try again,” he says.
“Try what again?”
“Try to see if God loves you.”.