by Arthurs, Nia
People never understood my connection with Cece. In Belize, Asians tended to stick to themselves or they hung with others of their own race. Over the past few years, we had been breaking the stereotypes and merging with other cultures. But for the most part we were still generally known to be a quiet, close-knit community. When I started hanging out with a little black girl from the north side, my parent’s friends wondered why Mom and Dad allowed the association. It was unusual for a Chinese boy to latch on to a Creole girl. However, my parents didn’t make a big deal. They were cool with it then and they’re cool with it now. As long as Cece didn’t distract me from school or work, they saw nothing wrong with our friendship.
I noticed a customer walking toward me and put my phone away. She was a pretty Latina girl with long dark hair that curled to her waist and a wide smile. She tucked her hair behind her ear and batted her eyelashes at me as I checked her items. Cece would say that she was flirting, but I tended to believe that Cece told me such things because she didn’t want me to feel bad about my dry as a desert love-life.
“Hi,” The girl said when I was half-way through her items. I waved a bag of rice in front of the scanner and eyed her dubiously.
“Hi,” I replied in a dull voice, waving a carton of eggs over the scanner next.
“I’ve always seen you in here but I never had the chance to talk to you.” She explained, biting her pink lips.
I nodded, unsure what she wanted me to say. “Uh, yeah. I’m always here.” I retorted lamely.
She tilted her head. “So, a couple of my friends are meeting up at the Platypus Park later, like around nine o’clock.” She glanced around the store that was starting to fill up now that the seven o’clock Saturday rush hour had begun. “If you’re free later, you should stop by. It’s a couple of us from the sixth form.”
“Sure. I’ll think about it.” I smiled shyly at her and declared her total. She handed me the money and then winked.
“Keep the change.” The girl said breezily before gathering her bags and strolling away. I glanced up, hoping that Rider hadn’t caught the exchange. He hadn’t. My cousin was too busy with his own customers to pay my strange conversation any mind.
The hours flew by as they did when the store got busy. I kept my eyes swept downward and my head focused on the numbers that I calculated when I handled people’s money. It was as awkward for me to stare a customer in the eye as it probably was for a customer to find the cashier eyeing them. I was ducking my head and minding my own business a few minutes before closing when someone slapped a biscuit package before me. My smile bloomed unconsciously. I’d brought Cece a pack of Oreo cookies the day that we became best friends. Since then, the little black circles of goodness were dubbed ‘ours’.
“What can a girl do to get some service around here?” I heard her voice and jerked my head up in surprise. Cece’s answering grin was wide and brought a sparkle to her brown eyes. She was dressed in a fancy blouse and light blue skinny jeans. Her curly brown hair was out and it fell past her shoulders in beautiful waves. It was probably wet from a recent shower.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
“I begged Mom and Dad to get me out of the house. I’ve been trapped in there all week.” Cece responded. Just as I had a responsibility to my family – and so to the store – Cece had a job with hers. She was the unofficial summer babysitter to her younger sisters. At least I got paid for my work. Cece was often informed that the roof over her head and food on the table was her allowance.
“I can’t believe they let you go.” I blinked in surprise.
“Yeah. Plus, once they heard I’d be with you they were chill.” Cece winked. Her parents trusted me for some reason. I’d received my ‘hurt-my-daughter-I’ll-break-you’ speech from Mr. Walker the minute I became aware that girls were more than playfellows. I never overstepped my bounds and was careful to always keep the door open whenever Cece and I were alone in a bedroom. I’d gained Mr. Walker’s respect and I didn’t play around with that. Still, I was surprised that they’d simply dropped her off here knowing that we had no plans.
I narrowed my eyes at her. “What did you say we’d be doing tonight?”
“Hanging out and watching movies.” She smiled and waved at Rider who was tallying the last customer’s items. My cousin nodded at her.
“What are we really doing?” I asked, crossing my arms in front of my chest.
“So, Shawn invited me to the Platypus Park tonight…”
I groaned. “Nope. I won’t be a part of this.” I shook my head.
She slapped a dollar and twenty five cents on the silver counter and ran a hand through her hair. “Why not?”
“Because I can’t stand Shawn.” I insisted, putting her change in the cash register.
“Come on. I just want to go, peek around and see what it’s like and then come back and hang at your place.” I slanted her a disbelieving look. Cece was a convincing liar but I had spent too many years with her to turn a blind eye to her tells. “I promise.” She repeated. “That’s all I want to do.”
Seeing that I was not convinced, Cece grabbed my hand. “Please,” She gazed at me with her big brown eyes. “I really want to go.”
Darn it!
The puppy dog eyes. She knew I was powerless against that. It was a ploy she used only when she was desperate.
“Fine.” I groused, grudgingly agreeing since it meant that much to her. “But only for fifteen minutes and then we’re leaving.”
“Deal!” She grinned and shook my hand, the gold bangle on her wrist twinkling as brightly as her eyes. “This is going to be so much fun!”
Yeah, I doubt that.
… For more look out for CECE & DAVID by Nia Arthurs in the Amazon store…
