Life, Love, & Lemons

by Vernon, Magan

  “Grant, Brody, this is my friend Bentley. We’re just here getting some pie.” His voice had a definite tone of annoyance as he spoke. “Bentley, this is Grant and Brody; you may have seen them around school.”

  “Oh shit, you go to East? And you hang out with Kai? You seriously need to get out more if you think this is the best that East has to offer.” Brody laughed, sounding almost like a sick hyena.

  “I just transferred from St. Christopher’s, so I’m kind of new I guess.” I didn’t look up from the table as I spoke.

  “Oh a Catholic school girl, eh?” Grant was almost too close for comfort, and he reeked like B.O. and marijuana. “You really have moved up, Kai.”

  “Well, I guess we should leave Kai and his girlfriend alone, for now.” Brody stood up and Grant followed. “But you should definitely bring her to our gig next weekend. Brynne’s band will be there, but they suck, so they should only be playing like one song, if that.” He then looked down and smiled his almost yellow teeth at me. “Hope to see you there.”

  They finally went back over to their group of vampire-looking friends, who I am sure were probably staring at us the whole time. Before Kai or I could think of another thing to say, a tired looking waitress with straggly brown hair and dark circles under her eyes came by with a pot of coffee and two cups.

  “Anything else I can get you two tonight?” She sighed and spoke at the same time, her tone more than annoyed. Everyone in that section was just drinking the $1.99 pot of coffee between about five people. Not a very good tip night for her.

  “Yeah, um two pieces of French Silk Pie?” Kai smiled, hoping to, I guess, rid her of some of her annoyance.

  “I’ll have that right out.” She didn’t even smile or look up from her notepad before walking away.

  “So…” Kai tapped his hands on the table, looking everywhere but at me.

  “Who’s Brynne?” I blurted without even thinking.

  That brought his attention back to me.

  “Well, that was fast.” He poured himself a cup of coffee then grabbed a second cup for me. “Brynne would be my ex. We broke up a couple of weeks ago.”

  Oh God, was he thinking I would be some sort of rebound? I was hoping his sarcastic quips weren’t flirting. I didn’t want to be someone’s rebound. I just broke up with Jake at the end of the last school year and that was enough to turn me off to guys for life. And I wasn’t even sure that I really liked Kai. At least that’s what I was trying to tell myself, no matter how much I found myself staring at his smile.

  He must have read my mind because he responded pretty quickly. “Of course…” He scooted my cup over toward me. “It’s not like I’m looking to go after anyone else right now, and that’s not why I brought you here.”

  “Then let’s get to it, Kai.” I ripped open a couple of sugar packets and poured them into the cup. “Why did you really bring me here? And don’t give me the ‘I looked like I was having a bad day’ answer.”

  He took a very long sip of his coffee before setting it down and meeting my eyes directly. “Because I know what it’s like to be where you are.”

  “How could you possibly know what it’s like?” I took a sip of my coffee and rolled my eyes.

  “Think about it, Bentley, we live in the same apartment complex, we both have the same lame fast food job, and we both go to a school where you can’t even go into class without being mobbed by people flashing gang signs.” He picked up his coffee mug. “Trust me, I know.”

  After that the conversation flowed freely, and I admit I was actually having a pretty good time. That is, until we had to leave and I thought about the bill. I only had ten dollars to last me until next week, and I was afraid that most of it would go to the waitress. But by the time I got out of the bathroom, Kai already paid both our bills and was ready to leave.

  “You didn’t have to pay for mine,” I whispered as we pulled out of the parking lot.

  “Yeah, but I wanted to.” He put his hand on mine and just held it there as we drove. We pulled into the parking lot and just sat in Kai’s car with the radio playing quietly in the background. I didn’t know what to say to him, even as he opened the door for me and helped me out of the car. I thought something would come to my mind of what to say, something witty or even flirty, but the only thing I could think to say was thank you.

  He leaned in and put his arms tightly around me as I leaned against the car. I felt like there was no one else in the world but me and Kai and his stupid orange car playing an ambiguous slow song.

  “I think I should be the one thanking you,” he whispered

  “For what?” I pulled him closer to me.

  He pushed the hair out of my face before whispering in my ear, “For saying, screw the lemons.”

  Chapter 10

  They Double The Coupons

  “One dollar off of toilet paper? Bentley, cut that coupon out!” Dad practically screamed as he pointed at the Target ad that was spread out in front of me. Pre-lay-off Dad and I never really talked. He was always too busy with work or off at some function or another with Mom. I’m not saying that I was enjoying him being home all the time, but it was kind of nice to spend a Sunday morning on the living room floor and looking through the paper.

  “Are you two going to continue with this ridiculous charade all day?” Mom came out of the bathroom, fully dressed to the nines in a sleeveless shift dress and pumps.

  “Honey, come on. Thirty five cents off of macaroni and cheese, and if we shop at Kroger they double the coupons!” Dad pointed at the ad and was obviously too enthused for Mom’s liking.

  She wrinkled her nose and strolled toward the front door. “I’m glad you are enjoying your unemployment while your daughter and I have to struggle.”

  Suddenly the happy demeanor that Dad tried to present had faded. It was the first time in a long time that I had seen him actually smiling, and Mom had to ruin it.

  “I’m going to meet the girls for brunch. I will be back later.” She shut the door behind her.

  I didn’t know where she got off. I was the only one who was working in the house. Oh sure she said that she was going out and looking for jobs, but I didn’t think that every job interview required, ‘lunch’ and somehow she always ended up meeting up with her country club friends afterward. I just wished Dad would say something to her or maybe grow a pair and tell her that she should actually be looking for work too.

  “Have you ever actually made macaroni and cheese before?” It was the only thing I could think to say the tension in the air was so thick that you probably couldn’t have sliced through it with a machete.

  “Oh, yeah.” He leaned back against the couch. “When I was in college, my fraternity brothers and I used to always make it. We, you know, didn’t have a lot of money, so we would just buy gobs and gobs of macaroni and cheese and make it for everyone in the house.”

  He patted my knee. “So you see, Bent, we’ll be fine. I’m looking for a job and who knows I could even get hired back. And if not, then I know we can easily live off of macaroni and cheese for four years.” He smiled, but behind those blue eyes and receding hairline, there was still that scared little boy hiding inside. He couldn’t hide it that easily. The worry that lingered in his dark circles definitely showed that.

  “Did you always want to be an engineer?” I asked as I added another coupon to our pile.

  “Oh, gosh, no.” He almost snorted. My ears perked up, since Dad and I never really talked about anything else that he’d rather do than be the big working man, providing for his family as an engineer.

  “I actually started out college as a journalism major. I even wrote a book, but that was a long time ago.”

  “What was your book about?”

  “It’s silly actually. I was just a kid.” He waved his hand like he was swatting the idea away.

  “Come on, Dad, S.E. Hinton wrote The Outsiders at like fourteen, so it can’t be all that bad.” I poked him with the handle of the scissors. “N
ow tell me.”

  “Okay.” Dad set down the advertisement that he was holding. “It was kind of like a modern day Animal Farm meets The Breakfast Club.” He looked back down at the ad.

  “I know, it’s kind of stupid, but I was young and really into rebellion stories and Molly Ringwald.”

  I pushed the ad away from Dad. “No, actually that sounds like it could be really cool. You should totally try and get it published.”

  Dad’s eyes met mine before he looked away. “Publishing is not that simple. I’d have to get an agent and to do that I need to write a good query letter before they’d even want to look at my work.” He sighed. “I guess I could try and self-publish it. My old editor buddy does owe me a favor and I think I know a guy who I used to golf with whose wife is a graphic designer.”

  “There you go! It’s not like you don’t have the time to do it, and you could have like the next best seller!” I was grinning from ear to ear, trying to show Dad some enthusiasm. Maybe if he was actually involved with something he would stop sulking around the house so much. Maybe…

  Chapter 11

  Weirder And Weirder

  I had no idea how Monday was going to go. Kai didn’t work on Sunday and I was too busy hanging out with Dad to really try and see him before or after work. On the bright side the more I hung out with Dad and talked to him about his book, the happier he seemed to be.

  The biggest problem with being in a big school was the fact that one didn’t always see everyone that they wanted to see. Before school I looked all over for Kai but couldn’t find him anywhere. Okay, so I really didn’t look all over, but I still got lost when I went too far outside of my normal classroom area.

  I really had a lot of fun with him and was almost afraid of what he thought. What if he was just being nice and didn’t have any feelings for me? I didn’t have too much time to think before the first period bell rang for Spanish class.

  “Hola clase.” our teacher Senor Johnson said and then yawned as he slouched in front of the dirty chalkboard.

  He wasn’t one of the new teachers, like Miss Winter. He was probably older than dirt and really stopped caring what we did. In fact, this was supposed to be Spanish 4, but we were using the book that I had in Spanish 2 at St. Christopher’s. Needless to say, I didn’t pay too much attention, usually.

  “All right class, now you’re going to pair up and go over conversational Spanish,” Senor Johnson groaned before plopping back on his desk and hiding behind a copy of some science fiction novel.

  “Hey, are you Bentley Evans?” asked a slender girl with big emerald cat-like eyes as she approached me.

  “In Espanol!” Senor Johnson yelled over his book.

  “Uh..yeah…tu Bentley?” She plopped down at the desk next to mine. Her short, fake leather skirt rode up her fishnet stockings and almost up to her hips as she sat.

  She was actually supposed to say ustedes instead of tu, but I ignored that.

  “Si, estoy Bentley.” Yes, I’m Bentley. I tilted my head a bit. How did this dreadlocked girl know who I was?

  “Que tu hacer y mi chico.” She had this cocky smirk painted on her way too overly powdered face. I also had no idea what she said since it didn’t translate well. My best guess was that she said ‘what are you doing with my man’.

  “Que? No entiendo.” What? I don’t understand.

  Her face scrunched up and her nostrils flared like a mad bull. Not only did I not understand what she was saying, but I think I also made fun of her Spanish at the same time.

  She leaned in closer and whispered, “You know what the hell I’m talking about so don’t try and act dumb, Miss Preppy Bitch.”

  I glanced back at Senor Johnson and then looked over at her. “I really have no idea what you are talking about or even who you are.”

  “Grant and Brody told me that they saw you on a date with Kai on Saturday, and I’m here to tell you that aint gonna fly.” She crossed her arms over her chest that was practically popping out of her black corset top.

  Okay, so this was Brynne. Now I really wanted to have some fun.

  “Kai no es su novio. Solo le gusto las chicas que realmente puede hablar Espanol.” Kai is not your boyfriend. He only likes girls that can actually speak Spanish. Now it was my turn to be the one to smirk.

  “What did you say to me?” She sprang up from her chair and got right in my face.

  “Senorita Brynne!” Senor Johnson actually got out of his chair.

  “Man, she started it Senor!” She pointed a chewed up black fingernail right at me.

  Senor Johnson sat back down and adjusted his glasses. “If you’re not going to participate, please go to the principal’s office.” He didn’t even look at Brynne as he spoke.

  Brynne glared at me and then stomped to the door, kicking over a trash can with her big red leather boots before she left.

  Things at East High were just getting weirder and weirder

  ***

  “Hey.”

  Kai was waiting for me after Spanish class. I couldn’t believe it. I could feel the heat rising to my cheeks, and I tried not to smile too wide.

  “Hi.”

  He walked right alongside me toward my locker.

  “So, I hear you got to meet Brynne.” He twisted a studded bracelet on his wrist.

  “Yeah, she’s a trip.” I smiled up at him once we stopped at my locker.

  “You have no fear, you know that?” He leaned against the locker next to mine as I did the combination.

  “I guess, so are you working tonight?” I wasn’t sure where this conversation was headed, but I thought I’d try and at least make the next move to see if Brynne was really right, that he was hers.

  “No, I’m babysitting my little sisters.” He scratched the back of his head, looking down at the floor and then back at me.

  “Oh.” My heart felt like it sank, knowing that I wouldn’t be able to spend more time with him.

  “But you can stop by after work and help if you want. I mean I know it’s lame and whatever, but Mom is working tonight, so I gotta do what I gotta do.” He shrugged.

  I put my Spanish book in my locker and closed the door. “Sure. I’ll just ask Dad and try and be over around 7:30?, if that’s okay?” I bit down on my bottom lip to keep from grinning. I didn’t want him to think that I was over eager.

  “Sounds good.” He smiled and this time I couldn’t hold mine back either.

  Chapter 12

  I Don’t Kiss Boys Unless They Are My Boyfriend

  I can’t believe that I was actually nervous to go over to Kai’s to babysit. I was just hoping that Dad would say okay with it since it was a school night. As per usual, I got home from work and Dad was sitting in front of the TV, and Mom was nowhere to be found.

  “Hey, Dad,” I said as I walked over to him and stood right in front of him, blocking the TV.

  “Yeah, Bent?” He sat up a little straighter on the couch.

  “Do you mind if I go over to Kai’s next door for a little bit? He’s a friend from school, and he’s just over there babysitting his sisters.” I swayed nervously back and forth. I had no idea what I would do if he said no. I didn’t want Kai to think I was standing him up or something.

  “Well, don’t you have homework?” He crossed his arms over his chest and for the first time, he actually had the concerned-father look with the furrowed brow and all. Probably because he knew that Kai was a boy. Not only that but a boy with a visible piercing.

  “Yeah.” I shoved my hands in my pocket. “But it’s not really that much, and I can bring it over there. I promise you can even check it when I get home.”

  He paused, staring at the wall for a few seconds and putting his palm up to his chin.

  “Please, Dad, please.” I put my hands together in front of me and bent my knees a bit.

  “Oh, all right, fine you can go.” He let out a big breath, looking back at me.

  “Thank you! Thank you!” I gave Dad a quick hug before heading in
my room to get ready.

  ***

  I didn’t want Kai to think that I was trying too hard, but I didn’t want to look like a hot mess either. I changed out of my uniform and into jeans and a blue henley top, quickly dousing myself in some vanilla body spray and reapplying my lip gloss.

  It was almost 7:30 on the dot when I knocked on the door to his apartment. It was silly that the door was less than five feet from mine and he could probably here me walking over with how thin the walls were. A little girl with the same long eyelashes as Kai and dressed in a pair of pink pajamas answered; she couldn’t have been more than five.

  “Who are you?” She put her hand on her hip with some sass.

  “Um, hi.” I did a pathetic little wave. “I’m your neighbor, Bentley, Kai’s friend.”

  Her little brown eyes scanned me up and down as she curled her long, black hair around her thumb. “You’re prettier than his usual friends that stop by.”

  And there I went dropping my jaw to the floor as Kai stepped in behind the girl.

  “I see you’ve met my sister, Damaris.” He picked up the little girl and motioned me in with his free hand.

  Our apartments had the same layout, but his definitely looked more lived in than mine; complete with tons of baby pictures, school pictures, dirty dishes, and very worn furniture.

  Another little girl, who looked around seven or eight, sprang up off a futon in the living room and ran over to us. She was also dressed in pajamas with the same long, black hair.

  “Hi, I’m Abby!” she proudly proclaimed, flashing a mouth full of missing teeth.

  “I’m Bentley, but you can call me Bee.” I smiled back at her as Kai put Damaris down beside Abby.

  “Bee, we were just about to read a story before bed, do you want to listen too?” Damaris questioned, her eyes growing wide as she spoke.

  “Sure.” I looked up at Kai for reassurance. “I’d love to.”

  “I hope everyone likes Dr. Seuss.” He put his arm around my shoulder as we followed the girls into the bedroom. I didn’t stop him. I didn’t know when I started to become attracted to him, but it was like ever since Perkins he was all I could think about. And my skin prickled with goosebumps just from his touch. I couldn’t believe he had this effect on me.