“So, are you going to tell me what’s up with you and Henry?” Joyce asked while I continued braiding her hair. Joyce continued flipping through the pages of the magazine, admiring the pictures more than the articles.
I smiled. I was happy Joyce couldn’t see my face. She would have sworn that I was blushing over that boy. “Ah, there’s nothing going on with me and Henry. He’s been good friends with Joshua for as long as I can remember. And since we’re both in the National Honor Society, we see each other at the monthly meetings.”
“Sure, like I didn’t see the way he was staring at you today. Girl, that boy has always been sweet on you. Didn’t you tell me he asked you out last year?” Joyce asked, turning her head to get a peek at my face. I turned so she couldn’t see the smile spread across my lips.
“Yeah, but it was nothing. I told him that I wasn’t allowed to date until I turn sixteen,” I responded, pulling Joyce’s head in the opposite direction.
“Ouch, that hurt! What are you doing, trying to break my neck?” Joyce asked, dropping the magazine she held.
“No, I just need you to keep your head in this position.”
“Anyway, you’ll be sixteen by this time next year. You can go out with him then if he’s willing to wait that long.”
“No, I can’t. Henry is a senior, and he’ll be gone next year. There’s no way my parents would let me go out with him. I can only date guys my age.”
“Wow, what a bummer.”
“He’ll be in college by then and dating college girls. Anyway, Henry will forget all about me,” I said, trying to convince myself. But Joyce wasn’t fooled by my antics.
“I don’t know, Ree. He’s liked you for a long time. He might not forget about you that easy, but we’ll see.”
“I’m not studying, Henry,” I said, wishing it was true. I really liked him, but dating an older boy was out of the question. When he’d asked me out last year, I had almost melted at just the thought. While Henry wasn’t the most attractive boy at school, he was one of the finest people I’d ever met. Joshua spoke very highly of Henry and considered him one of his closest friends. Henry also had lots of qualities that I admired, and we shared several of the same interests like reading, movies, and doing crossword puzzles. Yes, we’d make the perfect couple if only it was possible. By the time I’m old enough to date, he’ll probably be married or at least have a steady college girlfriend.
*
It wasn’t long before all the records had played, and I was finishing up Joyce’s around the world braid style. “There, what do you think?” I asked, admiring my handiwork.
Joyce stood in front of the vanity mirror, smiled at herself, and said, “It’s absolutely beautiful. I love it. Thanks, Ree.”
“Anytime, my friend, anytime. I’m glad you like it.” Taking one hand, I reached over my shoulder and patted myself on the back.
“You’re so crazy,” Joyce said, laughing. She kept on laughing as she observed me dancing to the beats of the fabulous Ohio Players singing their number one R&B hit “Skin Tight.” I sang along with them, pretending to be a bad, bad missus with some skin-tight britches.
My face lit up at the sound of Joyce’s laughter. This was the fun side of my friend that I’d missed having around.
I turned off the record player and turned on the radio. Snatching the magazine from Joyce, I relaxed on the bed and began flipping the pages. Joyce sat back down on the floor, released a deep breath, and stared at the magazine I was holding between us.
Noticing a change in the atmosphere, I peered over the top of the magazine at Joyce. “Is something bothering you?”
Joyce remained silent. I could tell she was thinking heavily about something. And I believed it could only be one thing. “Are you ready to tell me who gave you chlamydia?”
“I want to tell you,” Joyce began. “But you’re going to think I’m so stupid.”
“Stop it, Joyce,” I demanded, swinging both legs off the bed. I slid down to the floor to be face-to-face with Joyce. “I’ve known you almost my whole life. Have I ever called you stupid?”
“No, but what I did was really stupid. So, I wouldn’t blame you if you did call me that.”
My heart went out to Joyce. I was hurting almost as much as she was. I didn’t know what to say. I wanted to say something smart and quick. Instead, I reached out, placing both arms around Joyce.
Laying her head on my shoulder, Joyce released a few tears. Then, she lifted her head. “What am I going to do if I’m pregnant on top of this?”
“Let’s not think about that yet. Let’s just concentrate on making sure you’re okay. Are the antibiotics beginning to work?”
“Yeah, they’re working fine. I go back to see the doctor for a follow-up visit on Wednesday, but I’m feeling much better. The itching is about gone.”
“Good, that’s all that matters for now. In a few weeks, you’ll be able to take the pregnancy test, and we’ll know for sure. In the meantime, you really should consider telling the school nurse who gave you this VD. That way, she can call him in and make sure that he gets treatment before he passes it on to someone else. Joyce, you have to think about the other girls at the school. Don’t you see, you could possibly prevent one of them from going through this same thing?”
“I don’t know, Ree. If I tell on him, he’s going to be really mad at me.” Noticing the fear in Joyce’s eyes, I became upset and raised my voice.
“Who cares about what he thinks? This is about you and the other females at school staying healthy,” I said, standing up. “Remember what the nurse said about chlamydia being known as the ‘silent’ disease.”
“Yeah,” Joyce replied with a nod, easing her body up to sit on the side of the twin-sized bed.
“What if he’s already infected someone else, and they don’t even know it yet?”
“Wow, I guess you could be right,” Joyce replied, appearing to actually reflect on my bitter words. I wasn’t trying to insult her intelligence, I just needed her to understand it from another point of view.
“At least the school nurse can bring him in and ask him to give her the name of all the girls he’s done it with so they can be notified to get tested. Think about it, Joyce. You could be saving someone’s life.”
“Ree, I hadn’t thought about it that way,” she said, drumming her fingers against her thigh. Joyce waited a while and then blurted out, “It was Rodney Payne. I slept with Rodney, and he gave me chlamydia.”
“No! Please tell me that you did not sleep with that low-life Rodney Payne!” I placed both hands over my ears and turned away from Joyce. That was the last name I ever wanted to hear again.
“See, I knew you were going to be upset with me. You think I’m stupid, don’t you?”
Telling myself to calm down, I took several breaths before replying, “I’m sorry, Joyce. I don’t think you’re stupid. I just don’t see how you did it with Rodney after knowing that he’s the one who got Lena pregnant.”
“Look, I know. I know that. It just happened, all right. I thought I was over him after we went on the group date last year and he treated me so badly.”
“Well, what happened?” I asked, searching Joyce’s face for the truth. I threw both hands up in disgust at her silence.
Joyce frowned like she’d bitten into a sour lemon. Staring back at my wondering expression, she bowed her head, and said, “I ran into him a few weeks ago at the movie theatre with some of my friends. It was the weekend that you were out of town in September with your parents visiting Tyrone at college. He apologized for what happened last year. And we started talking like old friends. I mean, he was real nice and everything. He invited everybody over to his house, so I thought it would be safe to go since we were all in a group.” Joyce looked at me to see if I was still listening. Seeing my intense glaze, she continued her story, “Anyway, when we got to his place, everyone started slowly disappearing until it was just us. And the next thing I know, we’re on his bed naked, and he’s telling m
e that he’s going to pull out… and I can’t tell you anymore, Ree. I just feel so stupid,” she declared, holding her head with both hands.
“All right, all right, at least you got his name out. Now, you have to go see Nurse Stanford on Monday and let her know who infected you.”
“Are you sure, Ree?” Joyce asked, looking at me through cloudy eyes. “Are you really sure?”
“Yes, Joyce, I’m sure. It’s the right thing to do,” I replied, embracing her again. “Now, what about your parents? Are you ready to tell them who it is?”
“I can’t do that, Ree,” Joyce cried, leaning away from me. Her eyes widened in fear, and her voice trembled. “My father kept asking me the night he beat me so bad, and I refused to tell him. He threatened to beat me again if I didn’t give him a name. Then, my mama told him that if he touched me again, she was going to leave him for good. And she meant it, too. If I go back and give him a name now, there’s no telling what he’ll do to me. I can’t risk that.”
“Okay, I understand. Let’s take one step at a time,” I stated, patting Joyce’s back. “The first thing we need to do is talk with Nurse Stanford first thing Monday morning.”
*
Monday morning couldn’t come soon enough for me. I’d prayed all weekend that Joyce wouldn’t change her mind about giving Rodney’s name to the school nurse. It’s time for somebody to put him in his place. First, he ruined Lena’s life, and now he’s trying to do the same thing or worse to Joyce. There’s no telling how many girls he’s done it with at that school and infected.
Sliding out of bed, I headed to the bathroom, washed up, and returned to my clothes closet. I pulled out a pair of pressed bell bottom jeans, a printed wrap top, and a pair of suede boots to wear. I reached for the can of Afro Sheen and gave my braids a good spraying before rolling on some strawberry-flavored lip gloss. I took one last glance in the mirror at my bumpy face, picked up my books, and headed down the hallway.
Joyce and I exited the school bus and headed directly to Nurse Stanford’s office on Monday morning. We looked tired and worried from anticipating the outcome of our visit. Joyce said she had thought long and hard over the weekend regarding the advice I had given her. She’d made a final decision to talk with Rodney Payne sometime that day after leaving the nurse’s office. Joyce was going to face him head on, letting him know the damage he’d done to her life. She declared, “I’m not going to let him disrespect anyone else the way that he’s already disrespected Lena and me. I don’t care what he thinks. Why should I be afraid of him?”
I told her not to worry about it, because Rodney was just a coward with no feeling for anybody. And besides, I had her back.
“Well, good morning, ladies,” Nurse Stanford said, sitting behind her desk in the school’s clinic. “I wasn’t expecting to see either one of you back in here so soon. How can I help you all today?”
“Good morning, Nurse Stanford,” I began. “I talked my friend into coming back and speaking with you again. I think she’s ready to give you a name.”
“Oh, thank you,” the nurse replied, reaching in her desk drawer for a pen and paper. “It’s mighty brave of y’all to come back, and I’m very proud of you both. Now, what’s the name of this young fellow?” she asked, placing the pen against the paper.
I saw the skepticism in Joyce’s face and prayed that she hadn’t changed her mind. Rodney deserves to be put in his place. He can’t keep messing over these girls and getting away with it. Please, Joyce, just say his name.
“It was Rodney Payne,” Joyce whispered. Her shoulders were slumped as she spoke.
“Who did you say?” Nurse Stanford asked, leaning over her desk. “I didn’t hear what you said.”
“I said it was Rodney Payne,” Joyce replied, using a louder voice. This time, she stood up straight and squared her shoulders.
“All right, thank you very much.” Nurse Stanford wrote down the name and placed the pad in her desk. “I’ll call him to the clinic and let him know he needs to get examined. Are you sure he’s the only boy you’ve had sex with?”
“Yes, ma’am, I’m positive. He’s the only boy I’ve ever been with. I wouldn’t dare lie about that.”
“Okay, if that’s it, I’ll write you ladies a pass and you can head to class.” Nurse Stanford smiled at us. I was proud of Joyce for finally getting his name out. I was beginning to wonder if I was going to have to tell the nurse myself.
“Ah, Nurse Stanford, could you do me a favor?” Joyce asked, trying not to sound nervous.
“Sure, what is it?”
“Can you wait until after lunch to call Rodney in? I’d like to tell him first myself, if that’s all right.”
“I think that’s an excellent idea. I’ll call him in right after lunch hour and see if he’ll give me the names of any other young ladies he might have been with in the last month or two, so I can start contacting them. Thank you for coming to see me this morning. Hopefully, you won’t have any regrets about disclosing his name.”
Chapter Five
During lunch break, we walked into the crowded, noisy cafeteria together in search of Rodney Payne. Walking between the rows of tables, we stepped over food in the aisles. With only a few minutes left on our lunch period, the next class was already starting to come in. “There he is,” I yelled, pointing to a corner. Rodney, dressed in jeans and a long sleeve wool shirt, stood with a group of four boys laughing. He saw us approaching him and plastered a half-smile on his face.
“Hi, Rodney,” Joyce said. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”
“Ah, yeah, hold on.” He turned to his friends and said. “I’ll see you guys later.”
“Can I talk to you outside?” Joyce asked, pointing to the door.
“Yeah, sure. What’s this all about?” he asked, narrowing his eyes. Rodney sucked his teeth as he followed us out the side door.
“Look, Rodney,” Joyce began the second we stepped out into the cold air. “This won’t take long.”
“Okay, just spit it out then,” Rodney replied impatiently. His eyes roamed the school grounds to see if anyone besides me was watching them. Luckily, none of his boys were within listening distance of their conversation.
“I just wanted to tell you that I went to the doctor last week and found out I have a venereal disease called chlamydia.”
Taking a step backwards with raised hands, Rodney asked, “What does that have to do with me?”
“You’re the only boy I’ve been with, Rodney. So if I got it that means you got it, too.”
Shaking his head, Rodney looked baffled, and replied, “Girl, you crazy. I don’t have no diseases. If you got something, you must have gotten it from somebody else,” he fumed, pointing his index finger in Joyce’s face.
“Whatever, I just wanted to let you know because the nurse is going to call you in after lunch,” Joyce said, reading his expression.
“Call me in—call me in for what?” Rodney asked, wrinkling his forehead. I heard anger in his voice.
“I gave her your name and…”
Before she could finish her statement, Rodney spat in Joyce’s face, and screamed, “You damn liar! Why the hell did you go and give my name to the nurse? Now everybody at school gonna be up in my business.”
I had been standing to the side but close enough to witness their exchange. I rushed past Joyce, shoved Rodney to the side, and shouted, “Get away from her, Rodney. You low down dirty dog. Ain’t nobody lying on you!”
My heart was pounding fast enough to take on a life of its own, but I wasn’t afraid of him. I was determined to stand up to this jerk. One thing I’d learn from living in the house with two brothers was how to stand my ground against them. And now, I was forced to do the same thing with Rodney. He didn’t have any right to disrespect anyone the way he’d just disrespected Joyce.
“Don’t be pushing on me,” Rodney said, regaining his composure. “You stay out of this. You probably the one who told her to do that anyway. Why are you all up in my
business, huh?” he asked, glowering at me.
I simply glowered back at him in silence.
“That’s what I thought, you zit-face hoe.”
I continued staring at Rodney as my nose flared with anger. I knew he was a despicable human being, but this was unbelievable. I carefully enunciated each word with raw emotion, “Stay. Away. From. My. Friend.”
“You don’t tell me what to do. If you don’t get out of my way, I’m going to hurt you, and I ain’t playing, either. You need to stay out of other people’s business,” Rodney growled, pointing an index finger in my face. I didn’t flinch. I could feel my heartbeat starting to slow down. Silently, I dared Rodney to touch me, because I was prepared to give him one good kick in the groin if the tip of his finger so much as touched my skin. My brothers had prepared me well for encountering this type of male jerk. If he wasn’t careful, Rodney would be the one hurting in just a minute. Come on. I wish you would touch me.
By this time, a crowd of students had gathered around us. Of course, they were laughing, clapping, and cheering Rodney on to act a fool. He was one of the most attractive guys at school, but right then, he was looking worse than a dusty ole troll.
“What’s going on out here?” a male voice asked.
I spun around to see Joshua approaching the scene. Wearing a red jacket, he had both hands stuffed in his pockets. He wasn’t quite as tall as Rodney, but Joshua was solidly built. “Man, you better get your hand out of my sister’s face or deal with me.”
“Look, Josh, your little sister and her little friend all up in my business.”
“I don’t care about that, bro. Get your hand out of Reecy’s face,” Joshua demanded, removing his hands from his coat pockets.
Rodney lowered his hand, and grunted, “I don’t have time for this. Both of you need to stay away from me.” Rodney turned and stomped his way back inside.
Bell Bottom High: Book 2: Sophomore Sorrows Page 4
