Breaking our contact, I lowered my eyes. I was afraid that if I continued staring into his eyes, he would see what I was hiding. I placed a hand over my chest like I was saying the pledge of allegiance, hoping that would help stop the rapid pounding of my heart or at least keep it from jumping out of my body. I inhaled and released several quick breaths as my heart vibrated against the palm of my hand.
Mama sprung from her seat and rushed over to Henry. Embracing him in a hug, she tried to comfort him. “I’m so sorry to hear about your sister. If there’s anything that we can do, please let us know,” she stated, releasing him from her arms. “I know your parents must be worried to death.”
“Yes, ma’am, they sure are. I’ve been riding around all afternoon trying to talk to anyone who had any contact with Lena this week.”
“Come over here and have a seat, young man,” Daddy said, motioning for Henry to enter the living room.
Following Daddy’s instructions, Henry dragged his feet across the low carpet until he reached the sofa. He sat down beside me and folded his hands on his lap. Mama followed him and sat on the other end of the sofa.
“I know she’s been acting funny lately, but I didn’t think anything about it,” Henry began. “And when I didn’t see her at the dance last night, I should have said something to my parents when I got home. It was just so many kids in the gym. Seriously, it was packed, and I had no way of knowing for sure who all was there.”
“Now don’t go blaming yourself,” Daddy stated flatly, leaning forward to get a good look at Henry’s face. “Have you spoken with the girl that she was supposed to be with at the dance?”
“Yes, sir. I went over to Clarisse’s house and spoke directly with her myself. Clarisse said she didn’t go to the dance last night, because she was grounded and Lena knew it. So now, I just don’t know what to do,” Henry stated. He turned to look at the blank stare in my eyes. My heart was still pumping out of control.
Silently, I prayed that Henry wouldn’t ask me if I knew anything about Lena’s disappearance. I wasn’t a good liar, and my parents would be able to tell right away that I knew something. That caused me to bite down on my tongue with such a vengeance, I almost drew blood from it.
“Well, I’m sure that the police are doing all they can,” Mama interjected. “There’s no need for you to worry. I’m sure she’s going to turn up soon.”
“I hope you’re right, Mrs. Jones. My parents are going to go crazy if she don’t come home tonight.”
“Ah, keep us posted,” Daddy stated, rising from his seat. “Tell your folks that we’re praying for Lena to have a safe return.”
“Thank you all,” Henry replied, standing up. “I better head back home to see if my parents have any more news.”
I jumped at that opportunity to rush out of the room. “Bye, Henry,” I said, avoiding eye contact. I swished past him and went straight to my bedroom.
I flung myself across the bed wondering what Lena was doing right then. It seemed like my whole world was spinning and turning upside down. Keeping a secret like this was beginning to give me a headache from all the worrying. I thought the pounding in my head was trying to outdo the pounding in my heart.
Turning over on my back, I rubbed my forehead and looked up at the white ceiling. I couldn’t believe she had actually run away. I’d thought maybe she’d changed her mind about leaving. What was I going to do? Eventually, someone was going to ask me about Lena. What would I say? I should have encouraged Josh to ask her to the dance; maybe she wouldn’t have left. Now I only have myself to blame for her disappearing act.
The rest of the weekend went by in a blur for me. My mom and I visited with Grandma again on Sunday afternoon, but I wasn’t my usual cheerful self. Grandma Gladys knew that something was wrong. And she urged us to tell her what it was.
“Mama, we didn’t want to upset you, but Lena Turnipseed has been missing since Friday. No one knows where she is.” Mama stated, patting Grandma’s hand.
“What do you mean she’s missing? Someone has to know where she is,” Grandma stated sternly.
“Well, if anyone knows, they’re not telling her folks. We’re beginning to think that she ran away from home.”
“What? That’s ridiculous,” Grandma stated, raising her voice. “Why would that child run away from that fine house they got? It looks like a real palace. They have the biggest house in the black community, and both of her parents are school teachers. She don’t have no reason to run away.”
“Then maybe she was kidnapped, Mama, I don’t know,” Mama stated, sounding frustrated. “I just know that her parents haven’t seen her since she left home Friday morning heading to school, and some of her things are missing from the house.”
“I just don’t know what’s wrong with these young people these days,” Grandma relented. “It seems the more they have, the less they appreciate.”
“Now, now, Mama, don’t you worry. We’ve been praying since we heard the news yesterday. We even said a special prayer for the family at our church this morning. Hopefully, they’ll be all right, and the child hasn’t come to any harm.”
“I’ll be praying for her, too. That’s the least that I can do while I’m laid up in this hospital bed.”
“Okay, Mama, I’ll be back to pick you up as soon as the doctor releases you in the morning. Now you get some rest,” Mama said, patting Grandma’s hand.
“Good-bye, Grandma, I’ll see you when I get home from school tomorrow.” My voice was about to crack so I didn’t want to add anything else.
“Don’t you worry, baby, everything will be fine. Grandma will see you tomorrow, and we’re going to have a good long talk, okay?”
“Yes, ma’am,” I responded in a low voice. I walked out of the hospital room with my head hanging low.
“Reecy, are you all right?” Mama asked while driving us home. “You barely said anything the whole time we visited Grandma today. Honestly, you didn’t talk much yesterday either, but you hardly said a word today.”
“I’m fine, Mama, I’m just worried about Lena. That’s all,” I replied, staring out the car window at the newly-constructed buildings we passed on the way home.
When Mama stopped at the red light, she turned to look at me. “I can see that this is really bothering you, sweetheart. Were you and Lena good friends?”
“We weren’t really friends, but I would be worried about anyone missing in this small town. Besides, I saw her at school every day. I can’t believe she disappeared just like that,” I replied, snapping my fingers.
“Hopefully, she’ll turn up soon. I’ll call her mother tonight to see if they have any recent news. In the meantime, I want you to come straight to the house every day after school this week. Be sure to catch the bus and lock the doors when you get home. I don’t want you walking the streets for any reason. Do you hear me?”
“Yes, Mama,” I responded. Then, I resumed staring out the car window. I couldn’t take seeing the worry in Mama’s eyes and knowing that Lena’s mother was probably two or three times more worried than my own mother was. How was I going to be able to keep this secret? I gave Lena my word. And now it’s going to be harder than I ever imagined.
*
Monday morning couldn’t come soon enough for me. Even the gray, stormy-looking clouds hovering over the horizon didn’t faze me that morning. I paced the halls between classes hoping to see some sign of Lena Turnipseed. I still couldn’t process the fact that Lena had run away from home and was living at some teenage shelter for unwed mothers. I wondered how she was doing. I wished she would call and tell me something.
By the time lunch hour rolled around, I rushed to the cafeteria, got my food, and sat down beside Joyce. I had been so caught up with Lena’s disappearance that I’d forgotten all about Joyce being hugged up with Rodney at the dance Friday night.
“Hey, girl, what’s happening with you?” I asked, opening my carton of milk.
“I’m good. What’s up with you?’ Joyce ask
ed, smiling to beat the band.
“Nothing, I’m all right.”
“Well, you don’t sound like you’re okay. I called you a couple of times this weekend, but you weren’t home. What’s up with that?”
“I was probably at the hospital visiting my Grandma or grocery shopping with my mom. I’m sorry I missed your call. What did you want to talk about?” I asked, taking a bite of my dry hamburger. I was hoping that she’d be the one to bring up Rodney Payne.
“Not much. Did you hear about Lena Turnipseed running away from home?” Joyce inquired, stuffing a French fry in her mouth.
“I—I heard that she was missing,” I stuttered, chewing my food. My heart skipped a beat as I prayed that my best friend wouldn’t ask me too many questions.
“Rodney told me they believe she ran away from home because her clothes and things are missing. Can you imagine that, Lena running away from that bad crib? I would kill to live in that mini mansion they got.” Joyce said, taking a swallow of milk.
“I’m not really concerned about Lena right now, but I am concerned about you,” I stated, turning to face my friend. I wanted to talk about Lena as little as possible. That way, I wouldn’t have to worry about the wrong thing slipping out of my mouth.
“Me?” Joyce said, pointing a finger at her chest. “Why would you be worried about me?”
“What was up with you and Rodney Payne at the dance Friday night? Are you going with him now?”
“Rodney is a lot of fun,” Joyce replied, waving a hand at me. “And he’s a great dancer. Why are you concerned about me going with him?”
“For starters, he has a reputation with the ladies. He’s dated just about every girl in school and broken their hearts. Do you really want to be next?”
“My, my, it sure sounds like someone is jealous of me and Rodney,” Joyce replied, wearing a small smirk.
“No, I’m not jealous. I just don’t want to see you get hurt. You don’t know what’s going on with this guy.”
“Then why don’t you tell me since you know so much about him?” Joyce queried. “Have you ever dated Rodney? Is that the secret you’re keeping from me?”
“No, I don’t want any parts of Rodney Payne. He’s definitely not my type.”
“Oh, and I guess Henry Turnipseed is?” Joyce retorted.
I flashed a hurtful look towards Joyce. I was shocked at my best friend’s attitude. Joyce was being very defensive and sarcastic with me.
“Don’t give me that innocent look, Ree. I saw how the two of you were looking at one another. And I may be jumping the gun here, but it looked like one of you might be in l-o-v-e.”
“There’s nothing going on between Henry and me. We’re just friends. We only danced together one time.”
“Yeah, right, you can deny it all you want to. I know you, and something’s going on here that you’re not telling me about. You’ve been acting strange for the last couple of weeks. Now tell me what’s going on,” Joyce demanded.
I wanted to tell Joyce about the hurtful thing that I was dealing with. Every muscle in my body wanted to spill the beans on Lena, but I held back. I promised Lena that I wouldn’t tell anyone, and I planned on keeping that promise.
“I—I don’t know what you’re talking about, Joyce.”
“See that,” Joyce interjected, pointing at me.
“What?” I asked, looking startled, wondering what Joyce was referring to.
“You always stutter when you’re lying. Ever since we were in grade school, I noticed that you stutter when you’re lying or either nervous about something. Now give up the details.”
“All right, I heard some things about Rodney, okay,” I responded out of frustration. Closing my mouth tightly, I extended my bottom lip.
“And just what type of things did you hear?” Joyce asked, leaning in towards me.
With my hands on the table, I fiddled with my thumbs. Carefully weighing my words, I spoke. “I heard that he’s dated a lot of girls at school and one of them is pregnant from him.”
“Who told you that, Ree?” Joyce asked, pulling away from me, expressing her shock at that breaking news.
“You know, I hear things. He’s really popular, and he’s on the basketball team with my brothers.”
“So did one of your brothers tell you about this girl?”
“No, this information didn’t come from my brothers. I heard it from somewhere else.”
“Well, I think you’re lying, Ree. You’re just jealous because the most popular boy in school likes me instead of you. I may be short, fat, and dark-skinned, but Rodney likes me. In fact, he’s asked me to go out with him.”
“How can you go out with him? Joyce, you’re not allowed to date, and neither am I.”
“Speak for yourself. I talked to my parents this weekend, and they said it was okay for me to go on a group date. So, you see, I’m planning to see Rodney again, and there’s nothing you can do about it,” Joyce stated, picking up her lunch tray. She gathered her belongings and stomped away from the table.
“Joyce, wait,” I called behind her. But she kept right on walking like she hadn’t heard a word.
Slumping down in my seat, I covered my face with both hands. My heart instantly shattered into a million pieces. My life was getting worse and worse with each passing day. What was I going to do now? Lena had run away from home. Joyce was mad at me over Rodney. And Henry would never speak to me again if he found out that I knew where his sister was and didn’t tell him. What was I going to do?
CHAPTER EIGHT
I opened the front door to my house and ran straight to Grandma’s room. Tapping lightly on the door, I waited for her to answer before I slipped in. “Hi, Grandma, how’re you feeling?” I asked. Grandma Gladys was lying in bed still wearing a white patch over her left eye.
“Oh, I’m doing better, baby. How’re you today?” she asked, rolling over on her right side.
“I’m good. It’s great to have you home. I was so worried about you.”
“There’s no need to ever worry about me. But come on in here and sit on the bed beside me. Let’s have a little talk.”
Cautiously, I entered the room and sat down on the bed. I was always suspicious when a grownup wanted to talk with me. Grandma had a serious tone in her voice that frightened me just a little bit.
Grandma sat up in the bed the best that she could. Staring at me with her one good eye, she took her shaky hand into mine. Using a soft tone, she said, “I’ve been worried about you since you left my hospital room yesterday. It’s not like you to be so quiet. Now if something is bothering you, I want you to tell Grandma what it is.”
“I’m all right, Grandma. I’m just worried about the girl who’s missing.”
“Well, I’m praying that the police will find her soon and bring her home. Maybe she’s still in Clifton and is afraid to come home. My Lord, somebody has got to know where that child is.”
My soul was being tortured listening to Grandma’s worries regarding Lena. It was like I had the devil himself sitting on one shoulder sticking a burning torch into my skin. This wasn’t the way it was supposed to turn out. How would I feel if it was me who was pregnant? Would I want someone to tell where I was even though I’d sworn them to secrecy? Placing my left hand on my right shoulder, I tried massaging my pain away. Too bad, it didn’t want to bulge.
“I feel so sorry for her parents,” Grandma continued. “They must be worried sick about their child. I know if it was you, we’d be worried to death.”
“Ah, Grandma, nothing’s going to happen to me. There’s no way I’d ever run away from you,” I said, reassuring her.
“If you were missing, I’d get up out of this bed and hunt you down myself.”
I laughed at Grandma’s statement. She said it with such conviction until I believed she was telling the truth. Hearing her loving words helped me to relax, and my hands stopped shaking.
Taking a deep breath, I squeezed Grandma’s hands, and asked, “Grandma, hav
e you ever given someone your word and then gone back on it?”
“Well, let’s see,” Grandma began, pondering the question, “I don’t think I have. Your word is your bond. A person who doesn’t stand by their word can never be trusted. I know that I wouldn’t want anybody like that for a friend of mine. Would you?”
“No, ma’am, I guess I wouldn’t,” I replied, lowering my heavy-laden head.
I dreaded going to school for the rest of the week. When I woke up on Friday morning to cloudy skies, I knew it was going to be a terrible day. Lena had been gone for exactly a week, and Joyce hadn’t spoken to me since we argued on Monday. I’d even seen Joyce talking with Rodney on several occasions after school while we were waiting to get on the bus. I simply turned my head, because I wasn’t able to stomach the sight of them together knowing that I couldn’t say anything.
Dragging myself out of bed, I stumbled to the bathroom and got washed up. A few minutes later, I returned to my room, searching my closet for the perfect outfit to cheer myself up as the lightning flashed outside my bedroom window.
I choose a yellow skirt, a printed sunflower top, yellow stockings, and brown platform shoes to wear to school. I stood in front of the dresser mirror, sprayed my hair with some Johnson’s afro sheen, and picked out my natural. Since I wasn’t old enough to wear make-up, I rolled on some strawberry-flavored lip gloss and puckered my lips.
Soon I was ready and waiting on the porch with my brothers for the bus to arrive. Being the nice brothers that they were, Joshua and Tyrone teased me about my yellow outfit. “Look at that, you look just like big bird with the skinny legs and all,” Tyrone said, laughing with Joshua as he pointed at my stick legs.
“Yeah, where are you flying to today?” Joshua asked, flapping his arms.
Bell Bottom High: Book 1: Freshman Fears Page 7
