The Black Book

by George Shadow

Chapter 34: How It All Ended

  NORA stepped out of her Z4 and locked the door. She came early that day and wore attire she would have thought unusual and alien to her person before the last weekend: an ankle-length skirt beneath a long-sleeved blouse.

  Since Linda was the first to meet her, she was the first to notice this awkward affair. “Hi, Nora—Jeez! What’s the skirt for? A nunnery?”

  “Hi, Lin. Actually, I wanted to look different today.”

  “You do look different,” her friend agreed. “No one can deny that. How was your weekend?”

  “Fantastic? And yours?” Nora stopped short of talking about the book. Linda would never believe her.

  “Well . . . not fantastic, but it sure was cool. I bought a new saddle for Speed. What happened on Thursday? You just got up and left without meeting Leonard. He was so sorry, you know.”

  “I later met him at home,” Nora lied. “Look, let’s not talk about him, okay?”

  “Why? What’s wrong? Don’t you like him anymore?”

  “He’s just . . . fallen out of favor, that’s all.”

  “I knew he would. The way you were going on about him.”

  “Talk of the devil, Linda,” Nora told her friend, spotting Leonard jumping out of his car on the other side of the parking lot and heading their way.

  “Now, that’s a first,” Linda observed.

  “What?”

  “You called him the devil?”

  “Let’s go,” Nora urged her friend, swerving round to head for a distant door, and Linda followed her.

  “Nora, wait,” Leonard called out behind them, taking the steps two at a time. “You’ve gotta hear me out.”

  “Can’t we just do that?” Linda protested. “What has he done?”

  “Nothing?”

  “Nora,” Leonard pleaded.

  “Then why are we running away from him?”

  Nora stopped in her tracks and turned back. “I’ve never known you to argue, Linda.”

  “Hey, what now?”

  “You’re right, but I must deal with this, myself. Meet me in class?”

  “Sure. Gist me later?”

  “Nora,” Leonard groaned, coming up to her. He’d been flustered by his chase.

  “What’s the matter with you?” Nora cried, feigning concern. “Can’t a quarterback easily cover ten steps?”

  “That would be twenty, actually,” Leonard corrected, trying to catch his breath. “Look, I’m sorry about last week.”

  “What happened last week?”

  “The Native Americans? My not being able to stomach the fear of getting killed?” Leonard laughed.

  “Oh, that story,” Nora remembered. “My mom’s working on it, you know. Do you know she’s writing about the black book? She’s even made us characters in her plot.”

  “Your mom knows about the book? That’s weird.”

  “And why shouldn’t she? It’s just a story, right? Imagination, right?”

  “You don’t remember?”

  “Of course I do remember, Mr. Coward!” Nora flared up. “I do remember you failed me by chickening out of that moving cart!”

  “Nora, I . . .”

  “You what?”

  “You guys . . . filmed me with Tricia, remember?”

  “Oh! Peter,” Nora remembered, holding her forehead. “Don’t worry, we won’t publicize it.”

  “And Nora, I . . .”

  “No, Leonard, not another word!” she snapped at him. “Let me advice you from now on? You’re better off with Patricia and her many boyfriends!”

  And Nora stormed off, leaving Leonard the more flustered. On entering the long corridor adjoining all the classes, Nora spotted Peter and his Nigerian friend and quickly straightened her blouse before shaking her blonde hair into place. “Hi, Peter,” she hailed as she came up to both of them.

  “Wow. What’s the rush for?” Ikechukwu wondered.

  “I’ll have to find out,” Peter replied. “I’ll see you later in class?”

  “Have it your way, man,” and his friend entered one of the nearby classrooms.

  “Hi, Peter,” Nora repeated uncertainly, stopping before him.

  “Hi, Nora. What’s up?” he quickly responded. “Guess you had a nice weekend?”

  “Yes, I did.” She laughed, nodding. “How about you?”

  “I went with my dad to a synagogue in Washington, can you beat that?”

  “D.C?”

  “No. The state. It was wonderful.”

  “I’m sure it was,” Nora agreed, hesitating. “Well, I . . . came to thank you for last week.”

  “Why? What did I do?”

  “You—You don’t remember?” she asked him in surprise.

  “Remember what? What happened last week?”

  “The Spartans? Thermopylae? The Huns?”

  “Yeah, we had History class last week, but I remember we did ‘The Great Wall of China’ and I didn’t stay near you or help you in any test, which I know Mr. Heaver never made us do, so where are you coming from?”

  “But, Leonard remembered,” the blonde girl began. “He . . .”

  “Leonard?”

  “So sorry,” she stammered, realizing Peter could have equally remembered the whole thing like Leonard if the book had allowed it. “Let’s forget about all that, shall we? By the way, Leonard told me to . . . about Tricia’s video . . .”

  “Oh, that?” he helped, laughing lightly. “He shouldn’t worry, really—I’ve destroyed the video file.”

  She laughed with him.

  “Funny, isn’t it?” she asked him and he nodded, smiling. “Anyway,” she began, waving away the story. “I want you to be my friend.”

  Peter froze. “‘Scuse me?”

  “I know I’ve been . . . crazy and—and aloof sometimes, but—but I’m not like that anymore,” Nora stammered. “I’m a new person now, Peter. I know you’ll forgive my past mistakes.”

  “It’s not that, Nora,” Peter began slowly. “It’s—It’s just that . . . you’ve never learned. I used to think I was in love with you, but now I know I was only infatuated with this . . . pride you still exhibit.”

  “Why—Why do you say so?”

  “Nora, you don’t . . . just go around demanding friendship from others. It’s not done that way. You don’t just pick and discard friends. You don’t just keep choosing and dumping them. That hurts.”

  “Guess you’re right,” Nora agreed with a forlorn look, staring down at the floor. “Guess I’ll never change, but would you like to be my friend? Anyway?”

  “I’ve always been your friend, Nora,” Peter said. “You just didn’t see it. And that’s the question you should’ve put to me first. No one has the power to make others what they want them to be. Genuine friendship doesn’t work that way.”

  “I’m so sorry, Peter,” Nora begged. “This hasn’t worked out the way I planned it.”

  “Genuine friendship only falls into place,” Peter told her. “It is never planned.”

  “So, can we start all over?” she pleaded with tears in her eyes. “I’m willing to learn, you know, believe me.”

  “I don’t think I can believe you, Nora,” he said, smiling. “I’d rather believe in your ability to change.”