“Well, you got me now,” Sanaa said as she turned around and started walking out of the school. Willow followed after her.
“I know, and I want to make the most of it. We got two more months, and we’re going to graduate. You and Toni are history. Don’t stress over her. She’s so full of drama. Be glad,” Willow boldly stated.
“But how can I? I’m not perfect. I’ve been closer to you guys in a couple months than she and I ever were over years. And that so bugs me,” Sanaa admitted.
Willow nodded. “I know it bothers you, and I get you’re hoping you fix things with that she-devil.”
Sanaa ignored Willow’s little joke. “I do want to fix it, Willow. But how can I? You saw what she just told me.”
“If she means that much to you, keep praying. I understand that you have to have hope for what is important to you. I’m holding out hope for my parents. It’s their anniversary today. My dad is coming over for dinner tonight, and my mom texted me. I know she misses him.”
“Wow. I hope it works out,” Sanaa said with sincerity.
Willow could sense the genuine care Sanaa had for her family when she squeezed her hand. The two of them went to IHOP to get some afternoon pancakes, and Willow asked, “How’s Miles?”
Sanaa said, “Worse than you and Dawson. I know that much.”
“Oh please, girl,” Willow replied. “There is no me and Dawson.”
“Uh, there is no me and Miles.”
“Well, that makes sense because last week we were wondering what happened to you guys. You were supposed to be at the movies.”
“That night the bottom came out of our relationship.”
“Yours too? That’s when me and Dawson broke up,” Willow said.
The two girls shared. Sanaa explained how Miles wanted to take their relationship so far again and again, and she was not having any more of that, but he couldn’t understand. And in contrast, Willow admitted that is exactly what she wanted with Dawson, but Dawson wanted to put on the brakes. The two girls laughed.
“We need to trade boyfriends,” Willow joked. “Then we’d both be satisfied.”
“Well, help me see your side.” Sanaa asked. “With everything we went through with the swoop list, we talked about putting on the brakes. You got a boyfriend who’s patient and not wanting to push you. Why is that a problem?”
“Psh, girl, I could ask you the same thing. Why is it such a big deal that Miles wants to keep making you feel good? You started him down that path, and you just want to cut him off completely and expect him to understand? Why is that okay?”
“I don’t know if there is any common ground. It seems like either you are having sex or you’re not having sex,” Sanaa uttered. “How are we going to get past this? It’s not like you don’t like Dawson. It’s not like I don’t like Miles, but the way we’re looking at the relationships is just oil and vinegar, no mix at all.”
Willow held her head down, thankful that the waitress came over and gave them their food. It took her a second to really realize that Sanaa had a good point. She had been through a lot. Dawson was being patient. Why did it have to be her way or no way? At the same time, Sanaa took a bite, and it dawned on her that Willow had a point. She needed to continue talking to Miles and at least hear him out, even if she knew she wasn’t going to change her mind right now.
“Guess we got a lot to think about,” Sanaa said as she dropped Willow off back at home.
“Yeah. But I hear you. Taking things slow isn’t a bad thing,” Willow uttered.
“And I hear you. I’m being understanding, even while I’m looking out for myself. Everybody who doesn’t think like me is important too.”
“I’m glad we can share honestly with each other.”
“Yeah,” Sanaa said.
When Willow went inside, her heart was racing. She had seen her dad’s car, but she didn’t know what she could say to get her parents back together. But she didn’t have to say anything. When she walked into the living room, she found her mother and father locked in a kiss. Somehow they were working through it, and she knew then that that’s what she wanted to do in her own life: work through the drama, continue to grow, and not be bitter from the madness in her life, but instead become better and bigger.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Giver (Olive’s Ending)
“Thank you,” Olive said to Octavia when she pulled up to the front of the courthouse.
“You don’t have to thank me,” Octavia replied, shocked that Olive had arranged a meeting with Judge Reinhold, the judge who required Charles to move out of the group home.
Olive didn’t know what she was going to say to the judge. She just had to plead with her whole heart, and she hoped that he would hear it. She’d surprised herself by getting an appointment with him. Though, in order to get the appointment, she’d told him she was doing an interview for the school newspaper. But she didn’t mind being a little dishonest because this was a big deal.
“Come on in, young lady,” Judge Reinhold said with glee, so opposite of the tough man she remembered from earlier in the month. “You want to put me in the school newspaper for Jackson High? I must say I’m honored. I’m a product of JHS. Class of nineteen-eighty.”
Feeling really bad now, Olive fessed up. “Sir, I have to apologize, but I’m not here for the school paper. The only way I could get an appointment with you was to say something like that. I do go to Jackson, but I am here for this guy.”
Olive turned around her phone, which had a big picture of Charles. The judge’s pale face started turning red. Olive braced herself to get thrown out.
Quickly, she started explaining, “I’m sorry. Please don’t be mad at me, sir. I definitely didn’t mean to be deceitful, but I need your help.”
He grunted, “Help with what? If you’re coming to lobby for this young man, you’ve come to the wrong place. I gave him plenty of chances.”
“I know, Your Honor, but please,” Olive uttered as she saw Judge Reinhold soften when she gave him respect. “Sir, if I can simply tell you a quick story. Your clerk said I have fifteen minutes for the interview. I only need ten.”
He sat back and studied her. She smiled and clasped her hands together. He motioned for her to go ahead and start talking.
Olive began, “Charles and I have a weird relationship.”
“You’re his girlfriend, I presume?”
“I don’t know. I was his foster sister. You see, I don’t have parents either. And Judge, I don’t know how your upbringing was, but just imagine having no parents. No one there to want you, and no one there to care. Think what that would do to you as a kid. In a group home, you sometimes see other kids getting adopted, but you get passed up time and time again. That is my life. That is Charles’s life.”
“And that’s supposed to be an excuse for reckless criminal behavior?” Judge Reinhold asked.
“No, sir. Not at all. But hopefully it’d be an excuse for a great judge with a tremendous reputation in this county to give some more grace to a boy who only got a little hot under the collar because he was trying to help his friend out.”
“Explain.”
“I was with the wrong kind of guy. A guy who is known for being over a gang. Probably doing real criminal activity in our school. But he was the only one who was giving me things. It’s hard when you never had new shoes or money to get your hair and nails done. You’re not cool when you look like a bum. Naturally, you cling to someone who can give you those things, at whatever cost. But I was abused in tons of ways, and when the guy finally broke it off, Charles stepped in to defend my honor. I couldn’t see how bad I was spiraling out of control. And then the guy wanted to retaliate, and all the things he said he was going to do to me, to Charles, to anyone who got in his way, were scary. So Charles did what was in him to do, and that’s stand up and protect those he loves. If anybody deserves to be put out of that house, it’s me. I brought the madness to our group home, not Charles.”
Judge Reinhol
d breathed deeply, clearly moved, yet now faced with a dilemma. “I see.”
Olive saw Judge Reinhold’s demeanor soften even more. He unfolded his arms, and he sat up in his chair to listen more intently. While she hated that she had to reveal the worst things about herself, to save Charles she was willing to do it. So she kept going.
Olive continued, “Judge, I’ll leave the group home, but Charles needs to be there. I know there has been a new placement for him, but it’s not a good situation. He’s dropped out of school. We’re two months from graduating. He’s got a 3.1 GPA. He can go to college on the Hope Scholarship, but he’s got to graduate. Now he doesn’t even want to do that. He just wants to get a job to take care of himself. Your one decision is setting his life on a course that is not what you intended at all.”
“Well, I’ve made my ruling,” Judge Reinhold shared, refolding his arms.
Olive stood up, and her eyes watered up. She clutched her hands together, not knowing what to say to the judge so he could really understand her, but she knew she had to try.
When she didn’t move, Judge Reinhold said, “Well, thank you. I heard you.”
“But you’re not going to change your mind? You’re not going to give him another chance? You’re not going to reconsider this?”
“I will touch base with his case worker, and maybe I need to reevaluate.”
“Thank you, Judge! Thank you!”
“I didn’t say I was going to change my mind,” Judge Reinhold made clear.
“Your Honor, the fact that you’re going to consider it is big.” Olive went around the side of his desk and hugged him tight.
He was overwhelmed and said, “Okay, I can see that if Charles has you in his corner, he is not as alone as he thinks. And I’m proud that it seems you’ve learned from your past choices as well. With your heart and selflessness, you’ve given me faith in our youth. You’re not a taker. Clearly you’re a giver.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Fixer (Octavia’s Ending)
“You! What are you doing here?” Octavia said as she opened up the door to her trailer. She was stunned to see Shawn standing outside.
“Your dad invited me,” Shawn said as he turned around and waved to Ms. B, who drove away.
Octavia was extremely confused. She hadn’t talked to Shawn in a week. She barely talked to her father. He was so busy as an assistant manager at Wal-Mart this year that she barely saw him, and she’d never really talked about either of her parents to anyone. She wasn’t embarrassed that she was raised by a single father, but she was saddened that her mother had taken off with her drug-pusher boyfriend.
Turning to her father, Octavia asked, “Dad! How’d you know about Shawn?”
“I didn’t. But he called the house a couple days ago, and he and I just started talking, so I invited him over for us to get to know each other. Come on in, young man.”
Not only was Octavia overwhelmed that her father had invited Shawn, but she couldn’t believe he’d shown up. He’d told her they were through, and he’d put his hands on her. She hadn’t chased him, so she was baffled why he had called in the first place. She wondered, what did he want? And the bigger question was, what was she willing to give him?
Octavia quickly put her doubts and questions aside as she melted, seeing his nicely tanned body stroll in and shake her father’s hand. She surely knew she missed him. Now it all made sense that her father was having her clean up and set the table for three. She thought the guest would be some lady he was going to introduce her to, but he certainly had her on this one.
They sat at the table. Octavia didn’t want to eat because she didn’t want to get food all over her mouth and be embarrassed. Also, she didn’t know what to say. She didn’t want to sit there like a bump on a log, but she hated appearing nervous. Feeling uncomfortable, she played with her food, sat there, and smiled. It didn’t much matter that she wasn’t adding to the conversation. Her father and Shawn were having no problem finding things to talk about. But when her dad asked Shawn about his parents, a little bit of the green beans that she had managed to put in her mouth flew out. One long piece landed on her father’s cheek.
As she handed her dad a napkin, she whispered, “Don’t talk to him about that.”
Shawn overheard her and said, “No, it’s fine. Sir, I’m an orphan. I live in a local group home. I hope it’s not a problem that a poor pauper is wanting to date your daughter and all.”
“Why would it be? I was an orphan too.”
“You were?” Shawn said as his eyes opened wide.
“I didn’t have to live in a group home. My uncle raised me with his wife, but they weren’t my parents. They took off, and I guess I repeated the cycle by seeing the same traits in my own wife. She took off on me and Octavia.”
Shawn said, “Wow, I didn’t know that. I don’t talk about my family, so I never pressed Octavia to talk about hers.”
Her father shared, “I find looking back on our past can give us strength for our future. I’m not ashamed that my parents left me. I’m just thankful that my uncle was there for me. Honestly, since I had Octavia young, it would have been mighty easy for me to slip out too. But there was something inside of me that understood what it is to be like to be abandoned, and it wouldn’t let me do that to anybody else. And talking to you, I think you got those same cool traits.”
“So what you’re saying is I don’t have to be bitter?” Shawn asked, tuned in to the advice.
Her father said, “Right. Believe it or not, if you put in some effort, you’re going to be a better person than your parents. Someday you’ll be a better dad, and hopefully now you’ll be a better boyfriend.”
The way her father stared at Shawn made Octavia giddy all over. She felt her father knew Shawn needed to step it up a notch. She didn’t know if Shawn had confessed something to her father or if he was just guessing, but he was dead on. Shawn was taking it in.
When Octavia’s dad got up to clear the table, Shawn touched her hand and mouthed the words “I’m sorry.”
Her father suggested, “It’s a nice March night out there. Why don’t you two go for a little stroll? Don’t get too far. Octavia, show him the walking trail behind the trailer park. Y’all come on back in about an hour, and I’ll get you on home, son. That sound good?”
“Yes, sir,” Shawn said. “And thank you for the talk. I needed to hear that.”
Her father smiled. “Above all, you two be good friends to each other.”
They nodded before the two of them stepped outside for the walk. Octavia was still reeling from the exchanges between her two favorite men. She did hope her friendship with Shawn could get better.
After a few minutes of silence, Shawn said, “I’ve been a jerk. I know I gotta lighten up on Olive. And even though I hope you will forgive me, I definitely understand if you can’t. I didn’t mean to be so aggressive with you that day at the courthouse. I’ve kind of been kicking myself ever since. I just wish my world could be right, but it seems like it’s always messed up. If I could get things back on track with you, that would be a huge step in the right direction.”
“I do want us to be close. I want things to be right between us, but I’m not who you think I am. I’ve got some issues.”
“You?” he teased.
“Yeah, me.” Octavia popped him lightly as she bantered back. “The whole swoop list thing.”
“I don’t care about that dumb list.”
“You don’t understand. I’m holding a big secret over it, and when people find out, nobody is going to like me.”
He stopped walking and turned to her, “What? Trust me. Tell me.”
All of sudden Octavia blurted out, “I saw the posting online for the swoop list. People could e-mail who they thought was the easiest girl in the school and argue their case. I made a new e-mail address, so it couldn’t trace back to me. Then e-mailed and said ‘Octavia Streeter belongs on this list more than other girl in the whole state!’ So, I put myself on the l
ist, okay? There!”
“Oh that? I sort of figured that.”
“You did?”
“I ain’t really figured out why, but who else would have done it? You have no enemies. I know for sure you’re a virgin.”
She blushed and looked away. “When the girls find out, they’re going to hate me.”
“I can’t tell you how they’re going to feel, but they know your heart. You can make this right. Octavia, you’re a fixer.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Better (Pia’s Ending)
It was the last day of March, and Pia was feeling good about things. Tonight was going to be another big slumber party at Willow’s house for the swoop list girls. Things were getting better for everyone. Sanaa wasn’t sweating the fact that she couldn’t control how other people felt about the decisions she’d made. She could only get better from them. Willow was thankful her parents were giving it another go. Olive was ecstatic that Charles was going to be home for the next couple of months to graduate. Octavia seemed excited that her father liked Shawn, and Pia was happy too. Her mother had started finding a job, and the landlord was working with them on paying back the rent owed.
Pia was running around the corner in the hallway to get to class when she heard squeals. When she saw some of the swoop girls, she started running towards them. “What’s going on?”
“It’s Stephen, look!”
Pia looked down and saw her friend’s face bashed in, barely recognizable. She bent down by him. “Oh my gosh! What happened?”
She helped Stephen to his feet, and he said, “Some of the guys know I gave statements to the police about them raping you. They’re trying to shut me up.”
“Oh my gosh! You’re gonna have to take back what you said. I can’t let you get hurt over me.”
“But you were hurt. Because I didn’t stop the rape back then when I had a chance, I can’t get all of that out of my mind. Today those punks jumped me from the back. One of them covered up my eyes with a dirty sock, like I can’t hear their voices. A black eye and a bloody nose are not gonna make me hush up. I’m going to the office to report this right now. All of their violence is gonna be on the record. It’s got to stop.”
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