Beware of Bad Boy

by April Brookshire

CHAPTER FOUR

  “In every man’s heart there is a secret nerve

  that answers to the vibrations of beauty.”

  -Christopher Morley

  CALEB

  “Caleb! Caleb! Come play with me!” Ugh! What time was it? The break of dawn? Why was this midget bugging me so early on a Saturday morning? I’d be having a talk with my little stepbrother about there being a time for play and a time for sleep.

  I lifted my head from the pillow and growled, “Go bug your sister, runt. It’s too early to open my eyes.”

  “I can’t ‘cause she already left. And it’s not early, it’s late. I already ate breakfast and lunch.” Chance took it upon himself to start dragging my blanket away.

  I lifted my head to see my alarm clock, it was past twelve. That wasn’t too early for a Saturday, so I decided to get up. I was supposed to hang out with my friend, Dante, today. He’d be pissed if I flaked out on him.

  Dante was like a brother to me. We’d been best friends since the third grade when we’d both liked the same girl and used to get into fights over her. It drove the teacher and our parents crazy. Halfway through the school year, the girl moved away and we called a truce. We’d been best friends ever since. I often ate at their house because, unlike my Italian mother who was supposed to like cooking, Dante’s mom was a genius in the kitchen.

  I took a shower, dressed in something I could also go out in tonight and went downstairs. Going into the kitchen first, I grabbed a Gatorade and one of Chance’s Lunchables from the fridge. My dad was on the couch watching ESPN. Julie was over by the shrine to Gianna, dusting the pictures and trophies, making them shine.

  Catching my dad’s attention, I told him, “Hey, dad, I’m driving down to Denver to hang out with Dante. I might be home tonight, or I might spend the night at mom’s.”

  “Oh, Dante, haven’t seen him in awhile. Tell him I said hello and remember it’s a fresh start, son,” my dad replied.

  “Yeah, yeah, I’ll be a good little boy. Scout’s honor.” That was funny, since they kicked me out of the boy scouts. So not my fault. My parents were pissed, but more embarrassed than anything else.

  Speeding out of the neighborhood, I saw an old man throw me a mean look. There went the neighborhood with Caleb Morrison moving in. I put on The Strokes, tapping my wheel to the beat. Fifteen minutes later, I was out of suburbia and on I-25 heading south towards downtown. I had The White Stripes playing on my stereo now, and Jack White was singing about being friends.

  I could see the skyscrapers down in the valley from this part of the freeway. As always, I thought to myself, there’s my city. I couldn’t imagine having to live up north in the suburbs for the next two years of high school. But if I did, the moment I got my diploma I was moving back to the city.

  As the freeway started curving around Coors Field, I thought about last night. I’d really like to kick Josh’s ass all over again. I didn’t know what to make of Gianna anymore. The girl confused the shit out of me. She dressed all sporty-preppy, but listened to hip hop. She was a popular cheerleader, but seemed anti-social at school. She had a boyfriend, but didn’t really seem to want much to do with him. And who the hell was Jared? I hadn’t met any Jared at school. Why would she call him in a crisis? Whatever, the girl wasn’t my problem. Let her mama worry about her.

  When I pulled in front of Dante’s house, he was sitting out front on the porch steps. He saw me, opened the screen door and yelled, “Mom, Caleb’s here! I’m taking off!”

  Climbing into my car Dante asked, “What’s up? Aw, man, turn this shit off.” The “shit” he was referring to was The Pixies. Definitely not shit. He hooked up his music and put on Drake. Dante didn’t like any of the music he liked to call “white boy music.” He knew I liked all music as long as it was good, so I wouldn’t mind anything he put on.

  Answering his question, I said, “I don’t know what’s up. I don’t live down here anymore, remember? So, what do you have in mind for today?”

  “You remember those chicks we met playing basketball at the park on Monday? We could call them up and see if they want to hang out tonight.”

  “Sounds good. There was this chick at my new school I was planning to hook up with, but she was so clingy I had to ditch her ass last night.”

  “Cool, I’ll call them and see what’s up.” Dante pulled out his cell and whined, “Damn, I just got a text from my cuz. Forgot I promised him I’d come check out his crew tonight.”

  “Taye? That’s okay, we can just take the girls with us.”