Ninth Grade Blues

by Bruce Ingram

  Now, Mom said, that that is over, how was your date the other night? It's time for some girl talk she said. I teared up a little about that, and I told her that the date was boring, that Paul and Ian only wanted to talk about football and stuff and Mary told me later she was bored, and I had so hoped that my first date with a boy would be really special and magical and it definitely had not been, and then I confessed that Paul had kissed me when we got out of the car and the kiss was all blah like the date.

  Then Mom said her first date had been with a boy named Jonathan, that he had taken her to the movies when she was in the tenth grade, that he had tried to kiss her three times in the movie and finally she let him and all she remembered about the kiss was that that boy should have been "introduced" to some mouthwash before he was allowed outside the house, and maybe been "tutored" on how to use the right amount of cologne as well. She said she went out with him two weeks later for their second date, and the mouthwash, cologne, and kissing were all still issues, and she decided that he was not worth a third date, that she didn't want to waste her time "bringing him up to speed" on dating.

  I laughed at all that and then I asked her about her first date with Daddy, and she said she liked him from the start, but she didn't want him to know that at first because she was afraid he would get "too cocky," that they had started dating their senior year in college, and when it was time to graduate, they decided that they didn't want to let each other out of their lives and got engaged. It was the best decision she ever made, Mom said.

  Then Mom asked if I minded if she gave me some more advice, and I said no, that I needed some help with this whole dating ritual thing and Mary and Paige weren't as clueless as I was, but they weren't much better. And Mom said please, please feel free to come talk to her anytime; that, if I ever got into a situation where I was nervous or scared while I was out on a date, to call Dad or her, and they would come get me, no questions asked. Third, that high school boys, generally, she said, were not as mature as girls (well, duh, I knew that) even though I had recently tried to "disprove that theory," that I should think about giving Paul another chance when my month of being grounded was over. That he seemed like a nice boy.

  Finally, she asked if I was interested in any other boys, maybe ones that were my same age. And I started to tell her that I really liked Allen but he was dating Paige, and that Caleb was smart and good looking but was dating some stupid JV cheerleader, and that I liked Luke a lot, but that I thought he had something going with Mia. But then I thought I didn't want to share any of those things, and I said something like I didn't think anyone else was interested in me, which was definitely the truth.

  Mom smiled and said we should go make some pancakes and later make some brownies for everybody for dinner, but that the two of us would make a secret batch just for us for the afternoon when the boys were out playing in the yard. I love my mother.

  Chapter Thirty-Nine: Marcus

  Joshua came into my room Friday morning and woke me up, even though it was a snow day and I had a game that night if the weather cleared, and I needed my rest. Like he has a habit of doing, he started in on me while I was still rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. He said he had good news and bad news and which did I want first, and I said the good.

  To my surprise, the good news was that he had been very impressed with my shooting guard play, that I was shooting very well and was showing "excellent quickness." He also said that I had waited patiently for the chance to start and hadn't given Coach Henson any "unsolicited, unwanted coaching advice" or in other words "lip" like I had Coach Dell. My brother told me that his only criticism of my play was that I was still looking to shoot first instead of passing first, that if I tried to be a more multi-dimensional player, that whoever was guarding me would have to play the pass, the shot, and the drive which would open it up more for me to shoot. I told him I had never thought of it that way, but he was right. If whoever is guarding me doesn't know what I'm going to do, that will only result in more shot opportunities for me. Finally, he gave me a huge compliment and made me think of something that I had never thought of. He said that I just might be a better basketball player than football player, and that I ought to keep that possibility in mind down the road, that maybe the sport I should concentrate on for the long run might be basketball. Then I told Joshua that I really appreciated the compliments, so what was the bad news?

  The bad news, he said, was that too much of the time I was an" insufferable little jerk," that he was sick of it, and that even Jordan had commented on how immature I was, and Mom and Dad were worried about it too because he had overheard them talking, and Jordan didn't want to double date any more with me and whoever I was going with at the time unless some serious changes were made in my attitude. He laid so much on me at first, that I didn't have time to take it all in, especially the part about me being insufferable. I confess that I had to look it up on my phone later and the definition was "unbearable to be with," which was a little harsh if you ask me, and not true at all. But that part about Jordan not wanting to double date with me was more than a little scary because I can't drive this year and most of my sophomore year and how I am going to go out with the ladies if I don't have a car.

  Then Joshua said he had one more bad thing to discuss. He said I had already gone through two girlfriends and the year was barely half over and at the rate I was being dumped by women, I would run out of girls to date by my junior year. He said if I would promise to at least act in a mature fashion, he would see to it that I have a blind date next Friday night with Jordan's first cousin Tameka who goes to Westside High School. Joshua said she's a freshman like I am and very pretty and very sweet,according to Jordan. But if I should greet her like I'm the planet's gift to women, then Jordan would see to it that it was both my first and last date with her, and the era of our double dating days would be over.

  So I said no sweat, I can behave and be mature, and my brother said, that was fine, but I had one more thing to promise. I asked him what was that, and Joshua said that I was to promise three things, based on what he and Jordan had talked about. First, I was going to ask what were Tameka's opinions about various things, and I was not to talk about things just from my perspective until she had finished and gotten her comments in.

  Second, I was not to use the terms, "my lady," "my woman," or any two dozen or other similar combinations of words when I was talking to Tameka. That nobody was going to be my lady unless I grew up some more, and that using all these ridiculous phrases about girls was another thing that was insufferable about me. And the third was that I was in no position to tell anyone else how to act or think, and life would go a lot smoother for me once I learned that. So I thanked Joshua for looking after my best interests. After all what else could I do, tell him off and have to wait until the second semester of my sophomore year when I would have a car and have a chance to go out.

  You know, maybe I should turn down the heat two or three clicks with the ladies. Joshua has been going with Jordan for almost two years, and things seem to be going really well between them. He must know something about women. But I don't want to admit to him that he may know more about women than I do.

  Chapter Forty: Mia

  I had the most wonderful snow day with Luke on Friday when school was cancelled. We agreed to meet in the afternoon after the roads had been cleared and the snow had mostly melted off the sidewalks and walk about a mile to the library so that we could have our weekly Friday book club meeting. I have been wanting to spend more time with him and maybe even hold hands with Luke, because I've been having feelings for him and I want to get to know him better and maybe date him my sophomore year when Mama and Poppa have said I could start dating.

  Well, when we walking along, I lost my balance and Luke kept me from falling and held my hand just to steady me. It felt so good to hold his hand, and I didn't want him to let go, so I held his hand extra tight and squeezed it, and he smiled and it was just the most awesome feeling. When we got
to the library, we picked out Grapes of Wrath for our next book and we spent hours that just flew by talking and reading about the book and just everything from school to what jobs we would like to have in high school and in life and just everything. He's a good listener and he cares about what I think about and what I have to say.

  After Luke left, Mama came by to pick me up about 20 minutes later because I had called her that morning to say that I was going to walk to the library and would she pick me up on her way home from work. I was so happy about my day with Luke that I wanted to tell her about him and how wonderful he was, so I did. I started off by telling her that there was a guy at school in most of my classes that I liked a lot, and I just wanted her to know that because I thought she would want to know and I didn't want to keep things from her.

  Mama smiled when I said that, and she said was the boy Henrique from down our street, that she was good friends with his mother, and Poppa liked his family, too. And I said no that he was a nice boy, but I wasn't interested in him. So she wanted to know who the boy was, and I said it was Luke who lives on the other side of town, and we spend three lunch periods a week together in the library; and on Fridays, we have a book club where we're the only members and we pick out books to read, and that Luke was in my honors English, history, and science classes together and that he has a lot of ability. I didn't want to get into Luke's grades in math and science, because Mama wouldn't like that he was making a D in both of them.

  Mama sort of frowned a little when I said the word Luke, and she asked if he were a Hispanic boy, and I said no, and then she said that Poppa might not like me being close friends with a guy that wasn't Hispanic. Her saying that got me a little scared, and I said that Luke is the sweetest boy in my classes, and he always treats me with respect and cares about what I have to say and how I think about things. I told her that I knew I was too young to date this year, and I would never date Luke or anybody else behind Poppa's and her back. But next year when they had said I could go out on dates, I would be really excited if Luke asked me out, and I would say yes if he did.

  Mama frowned again and went a little while without saying anything, then she said that she wasn't going to tell Poppa about this, that it would be just between us for now. Then Mama asked what Luke's father did for a living, and I told her that he worked at the plant and ran a used car lot from their house. And Mama said now she knew who Luke's family was, and she had heard a rumor that his daddy had been in trouble with the police. I told her that Luke had told me about that one time, that he was embarrassed about what his father had done with the stolen cars and getting parts from them and selling them, and that he was never going to be like his father when he grew up.

  Mama still didn't seem to be happy about the whole Luke thing, but she didn't seem angry, either, and I was really trying to read her and figure out what she was thinking about my being friends with him. Finally, I asked her if she would be prejudiced against him because he was white, and she said definitely not, she was more concerned that he came from a rough family. And I told her that hadn't she and Poppa had always said that we shouldn't be judged in a bad way because my grandparents came here illegally, and she said, yes that was true but our situation was different. And I said I didn't see how, that I just wanted to be close friends with a really nice boy, and I wanted her to be happy and okay with me having such a good friend.

  I didn't say I was sorry that I had told her about Luke and me spending the afternoon together, but I did think that maybe I should have kept the whole thing to myself because now she might be suspicious every time I leave the house, and I don't want my parents to ever feel that they can't trust me.

  So finally I said that there was one more thing that I wanted to tell her, and she said what, and I said that Ms. Hawk had asked me to be on her Yearbook staff next year as the feature's editor, that being on the staff would look really good on my college applications. And Mama said she was very happy for me, and I told her that I was one of only three people in my English 9 Honors class that Ms. Hawk had asked to be on the staff. Mama asked who were the others, and I told her that Elly and Luke were the other two students and that Elly was going to be a photographer and Luke was going to be the sports editor. I have to confess that I told her about the Yearbook news because I wanted to let her know that Ms. Hawk had a high opinion of Luke. That Luke was going to be on the Yearbook staff was definitely in his favor Mama said, so I then knew that she knew that Luke has something going for him. I didn't think Mama would act this way when I told her about Luke, but I think I've smoothed things over at least a little.

  Dating

  on the Mind

  Chapter Forty-One: Marcus

  I've been thinking a lot about Mia ever since we went to the library on that snow day three weeks ago. Of course, we still spend the entire lunch period Friday in the library together for our book club meeting, but now she doesn't even bother to get a quick bite to eat in the cafeteria on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so we can have more time to talk and read after she finishes tutoring me in math. I think she must eat a banana or granola bar on the way. On Fridays, I bring an extra apricot energy bar for her to eat.

  What I've been thinking a lot about is how to ask her out for a date next fall when we come back to school. I was 15 in late December, so that means I can get my learner's permit in early June right after school lets out. Mom said she would help me learn how to drive. One good thing, the only good thing, about living at a used car lot is that we will have plenty of clunkers around for me to drive. Then in late March next year, I will be able to get my driver's license.

  But I don't want to wait until next March to go out with Mia. I want to ask her out when the school year starts next August. I don't want to wait until later because I'm afraid some other guy will ask her out because she's so smart and sweet and pretty. And I don't want to ask Mom to drive us somewhere because that would just be the pits, sitting in the backseat with a girl and your mother, for gosh sakes, making stupid small talk with her and driving you to the mall...that would just be humiliating and embarrassing.

  I also am worried about something else about asking Mia out. Dad is always ranting about "Mexicans taking all the jobs of good Americans," and how he can't stand working with them at the plant, that they are just as bad as the blacks and the Jews that have ruined this country. Mom doesn't say anything when Dad is ranting on and on, but what worries me a lot, too, is that she doesn't disagree with him. Does she feel the same way? I asked Granddaddy about how he feels about what Dad calls the "minorities," and he told me that he didn't raise Dad to be like that, but he long ago gave up on trying to change his mind, that it just caused them to argue all the time. I'm scared of Dad's temper, I told Granddaddy, and I'm not going to argue with him. Granddaddy told me to always try to "swallow my anger" when dealing with Dad and people like him, to keep my emotions under control and appear calm, though my stomach might be churning on the inside. Granddaddy told me to judge people by their behavior and how they treat others. I trust my granddaddy. The teachers in school talk all the time about young people having a need for role models, and I'm proud that he's mine.

  So all this means that I'm going to have to find some way to take Mia out somewhere. We can't just ride our bikes to the mall and do something, besides I hate the mall. I hate it when Mom takes me there to get clothes...all those people and all those stores, I just hate it. Anyway, who would want to go out with a sophomore guy on a "bike date" to the mall. How am I going to compete with some junior or senior with a car and they ask Mia out for a nice dinner somewhere. I've never even been to what Mom and Dad call "fancy restaurants." I think I would like to go to one though, to see what it would be like...to take Mia to one...to show her how much I like her. It would be really expensive, though, but she would be worth it. I've saved a lot of money from mowing lawns, and not eating lunches at school, but I want to use that money one day to buy land out in the country to live on.

  Maybe Mia wouldn't mind if we rod
e our bikes to the national forest and we went hiking and had a picnic? Maybe she would like that. I guess that wouldn't be very romantic, but neither is tutoring me twice a week for math...she says she enjoys helping me out. Maybe she would just be glad to be with me...but it's hard to believe that any girl would be happy to be with me. No, that's not true, Mia would be, at least I hope she would...yes, I believe she really would. This whole dating thing is confusing. Girls like going on picnics, somewhere I've heard that.

  Or maybe we could go ride our bikes to the river and have a picnic there and go fishing...that wouldn't be as good as riding them to the national forest, though. Maybe we could ask our parents to drop us off at the mall and meet up there and go to a movie. But Mom would probably be suspicious if I asked her to drop me off at the mall. Maybe I could ask Granddaddy .yes, that would be better than asking Mom. I wouldn't mind going to the mall to see a really good movie if I was going to be with Mia. I don't know what I'm going to do, I've got to think some more on this. But I am definitely going to ask Mia out for a date next year when school starts.

  Chapter Forty-Two: Elly

  Well, just like clockwork when my month of being grounded was almost over last Monday, Paul dropped by my lunch table at school where I was eating with Mia, Camila, and Hannah. Paul said he was going to get some ice cream, and he asked if I would like to come too. I took that as a hint that he wanted to talk to me in private; it was all so obvious, and the girls all gave me knowing looks when I got up to go with him.