by Lori L. Lake
Born and raised in Ohio, Kelly Zarembski attended Cleveland State University where she was a Philosophy major. She currently lives in Cleveland with her partner of fourteen years and their cat, dog, and turtles. When not reading, writing, or indulging in her love of travel, Kelly works as a purchasing agent. Asked what has sparked her writing, Kelly says, “My seventh grade honors English teacher influenced my creativity.” In terms of authors she emulates, it is “most importantly Anne Rice. Her style and imagination are my inspiration.”
In 2003, Kelly’s second novel, Embers in the Sky, won the Stonewall Society Pride in the Literary Arts Award. She is at work on her next novel.
June Hunter
Fiction by Kelly A. Zarembski
SITTING QUIETLY ON the edge of the bed I looked down on my sister lying motionless, surrounded by bottles and tubes suspended above her. She is a shell of what she once was. My sister and I were never close, not until six months ago when she called me from out of the blue to tell me she was dying.
My mother died the same way, breast cancer. It swept through her body so fast; one day she was my mother, the next she was a frail shell like I see before me now.
I reach for Jeanie’s hand, and it is cool to the touch. She looks at peace, but from what I remember of my mother, this is not typical.
Holding her hand I wonder where all the years went. All the senseless arguing and fighting…it all seems so pointless now.
I think about and ache for my mother every day, and seeing Jeanie lying here brings back vivid childhood memories.
“WHY DO YOU keep hanging around me? Mom! Glory will not leave me alone!” Jeanie yelled, as she stood in the hallway outside our bedroom door.
“It’s my room, too, Jeanie!” I screamed.
“Girls, don’t make me come up there,” my mother yelled from downstairs in the kitchen.
“Fine!” I whipped around, grabbing my basketball. “Have it your way, Jeanie. I’m gone.” I dribbled down the hall, then down the stairs, a trick I’d been practicing, then through the kitchen.
“Glory, not in the house.”
I watched my mother mixing brownies in a glass bowl with a big wooden spoon. “I’m going to the playground. Jeanie kicked me out of our room again.” I leaned against the counter, while I continued to dribble.
“I’ll have another talk with her, but you have to give her some space, baby. She’s seventeen and boy crazy,” she said, giggling.
“Whatever.” Jeanie was only two years older than me, and mom was right, she was boy crazy. I watched the ball all the way to the palm of my hand.
“Glory,” she stopped my ball. “Help me finish these brownies and I’ll spot you five out back.”
“Five? Mom! Make it seven.”
“Seven it is. Get me the brownie pan from under the sink, baby.”
My mom was the best, not only did she make the best brownies, but she had the tightest three pointer of anyone I knew.
“TWENTY-ONE. I better start dinner.”
I sat down on my ball.
She ran her fingers through my long dirty blonde hair. “I’ll tell you what, let me give your father a call so he can pick up dinner, and I’ll whip your butt again. How’s that?”
I jumped up off my ball. “Okay! Tell dad to get Chinese, steamed dumplings.”
“We’ll see, I think in the meantime you should practice until I get back.”
“Mom!”
“Start with foul shots. The free ones make all the difference in the game.”
“Okay.”
“By the time you finish fifty, I’ll be back.”
I immediately lined myself up on our hand-painted foul line and concentrated. With each shot I made, and with every time mom would stuff the ball back in my face when we played, I knew I was getting better.
In the back of my mind I also knew every time I felt myself getting better I was raising myself up to Marcia’s level. She was the best player on our team in high school. She was a year ahead of me, and she was amazing. Long curly black hair, and I felt closer to her than to anyone else my whole entire life.
We liked the same music, Bee Gee’s of course; the same sports, too, and I followed her around all day, every day. Marcia Jones, she was my first crush.
She was the reason I woke up in the morning; she was when I knew I was gay. I had no interest in boys; I was in love with my best friend and scared to death.
I so wanted to talk to my mother about it, but I had no idea what to say.
“GLORY, HERE!” MARCIA yelled, as she jumped up and down.
With one hand I lined the ball right at her, one bounce right into her hand. She shot and we won.
I ran, jumping in her arms. “Great shot!”
She hugged me. “Great pass!”
The whole team ended up at the pizza parlor down the street from the gym, and I stood next to Marcia at the jukebox.
Nervously I patted my fingers on the glass. “The usual?” I asked.
“Yeah.”
She smiled at me and my body tingled, as I punched A5 for Staying Alive.
Jeez, I wanted to talk to my mother.
SUMMER CAME, AND I thought I was going to die without Marcia around me. I begged my mom to put me in a basketball camp. If nothing else, I wanted to improve my game so when I did see her, I’d be able to impress her with my new skills.
“Glory, it’s too expensive.”
“But mom, please!”
“We’ll see. Five hundred dollars is a lot of money, baby.”
“My birthday’s coming up.” I was the poster girl for Independence Day. I was born on the Fourth of July, thus the name, Glory Independence Hunter. “If I get the money myself, can I go?”
“Yes, Glory. If you raise the money, of course you can go.”
“Great! Thanks, Mom.” I jumped in her arms.
“Don’t thank me yet. That’s a lot of money, Glory.”
“I’m going to go to camp, Mom.”
“I know you are, baby,” she said, hugging me. I was almost as tall as she was.
Mom was a great basketball player in high school and I went to the same school she did. The name June Hunter was engraved on just about every plaque and trophy in all the glass cases in the gym. She was offered scholarships from colleges everywhere, but dad pressured her not to accept any of them. Instead, she became his wife and gave up all of her dreams.
I loved my mother.
“HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BABY!” My mother came and sat on the edge of my bed. “You’re not going to sleep your birthday away are you?” She wiped some stray hairs away from my face.
I smiled, “No.”
“Good, this is for you.” She pulled a present from behind her back. “This is just between the two of us, okay?”
“Our secret.”
“Yes.”
I slowly opened the box and inside was a bracelet, small hearts with X’s. I looked up.
“I love you, Glory. You’re my little firecracker. I always want to be with you. This way my heart will always be around your wrist.”
I fell into her, throwing my arms around her neck, crying.
“Don’t cry, baby. Now get dressed. I have blueberry pancakes waiting for you downstairs.”
Before she left I yelled, “Mom!”
She turned.
“I love you.”
She smiled while she stood in the doorway. “I love you with all my heart, baby. I always will.”
I LEANED BACK in my mother’s arms while we all sat on a blanket watching the fireworks after the annual Fourth of July carnival. She whispered, “Your future’s as bright as these fireworks, baby. Remember that. You can be whatever you want to be.”
I held her arms tight around me. “I’ll never forget this birthday, mom. Thank you.”
“It’s your sixteenth, you shouldn’t. Hey, look. Marcia’s here.”
“She is?” I sat up.
“By the Ferris wheel,” she whispered.
“Mom, I . . .”<
br />
She squeezed me. “Go ahead, baby. Go to her.”
I turned and looked in my mother’s hazel eyes, and they looked just like mine. We stared at each other and at that moment I knew she knew. “Mom . . .”
Her hand lay gently on my cheek. “I know, I’ve always known. I love you, Glory.”
I fell into her, hugging her. “Mom, I wanted to talk to you, but I didn’t know how. I’m so confused. I’ve always known I never liked boys like Jeanie does. Then Marcia made me realize why.”
“Does she know?”
“No! God no. I would just die if she didn’t feel the same way.”
“Well she’s here now. Maybe she does feel the same way and just doesn’t know how to tell you.”
“Do you think?” I asked, hopefully.
“Only time will tell. Take things slow, baby. Now go to her.” She smacked my butt, pushing me forward.
“I love you so much, Mom. I was so afraid of having this talk with you. I never want to do anything to make you hate me.”
“You could never. This is nothing, Glory. This is only one part of your life. There’s so much more to you than who you choose to love.”
I smiled at her, then ran to her again, hugging her. I stepped back feeling great because I knew how much my mother loved me.
I turned and started forward, then looked back at my mother. She was beautiful and tall, with blonde hair.
Just like me.
“Glory!” Marcia yelled.
“Marcia, hi. I didn’t know you were here.”
“I knew it was your birthday.” She gestured forward with her head.. “There’s a great spot just ahead to watch the fireworks.”
“Okay.” I followed her, my heart racing. I was so nervous. Her hair bounced as she hurried through the crowd.
“Marcia, where are we going?”
“Just up ahead.”
She stopped at the edge of a grassy clearing.
“Here?” I stopped.
“Yeah,” she looked up at the sky. “Here, it’s perfect.”
I looked at her. “It is.”
“Glory, I wanted to wish you a happy birthday. Here.”
I didn’t know what to say.
She moved closer to me and hugged me.
My arms went around her and it was the best feeling. I didn’t want to move.
Her head lay perfect on my shoulder, then she stepped back, staring. After a moment, she leaned in to kiss me.
Her lips were soft, and it was everything I ever dreamt of. The kiss was quick, and she pulled back slightly to stare in my eyes. I didn’t move. I couldn’t. Then I pulled her back to me, kissing her again.
She didn’t pull away, so I opened my mouth and she slipped her tongue in.
She pulled back when we both heard a noise. I watched Marcia while she watched me. “Happy Birthday, Glory.”
Then she was gone. That quick.
I ran back to my mother.
“Hey baby, you’re back already?”
“Yeah, where’s Jeanie and Dad?”
“One last ride on the Dutch Shoes. We’re going to be leaving soon, okay?”
“Sure, let me help.” I reached for the cooler as my mother started clearing the picnic table.
“Where’s Marcia?” She looked up at me as she folded the tablecloth.
“She left.”
“That was fast.”
I took the tablecloth from her. “Mom . . .” I held the tablecloth with both arms; I wanted to tell her about Marcia, about my first kiss, about my first amazing kiss. My first kiss and I wanted to share it with my mother.
She grabbed my hands and pulled me to the picnic table. “Tell me all about it, baby.”
“Marcia and I, we . . .”
“Did you two kiss?”
I looked up, shocked.
“Glory, it’s fine. You’re sixteen years old now, and you like who you like and you’ll fall in love with whomever you fall in love with. Marcia’s a great girl. I’m so happy for you. So, how was it?”
“Oh, Mom, it was perfect. I’m so glad we talked. What about dad?”
“You leave your father to me,” she said, while she put her arm around my shoulders.
I felt like my whole world was coming together. My life was perfect.
“WHY DOES SHE get to go to camp?”
“Jeanie, your sister paid for camp on her own, that’s why she gets to go to camp. Besides, it’s basketball camp. If you really want to go, Jeanie dear, I’ll be glad to send you.”
“Oh please!” She turned in a huff and stomped her way upstairs.
“Mom, I’m going to miss you so much.” I hugged my mother, almost on the brink of tears.
“Glory, this is going to be good for you. All this practice could lock you into a college scholarship. Enjoy yourself.”
“Okay.”
“But you better write me,” she tugged my ponytail. “You hear me?”
“I will, I promise. Where’s dad?” I asked.
“At work.”
“He wouldn’t be if it was Jeanie who was leaving for camp.”
“Well, if he was here, then I wouldn’t be able to give you this.” She pulled a box out from one of the kitchen cabinets.
I hurried to open it to find a brand new pair of Nike basketball shoes. “Mom?”
“Hurry and tuck them away before your sister sees them. Now get all your bags. Your ride will be here in a minute.”
“Okay. I love you, Mom.”
She smiled. “You be careful, baby. I love you.”
THE CAMP WAS at an area college, and everyone stayed in the dorms. I unpacked and was headed downstairs to look around when I saw Marcia coming out of one of the rooms down the hall. “Marcia!” I yelled.
“Glory.”
“I had no idea you were going to be here,” I said, as I hurried closer to her.
“Well, I knew you were going to be here. Your mother told my mother.”
“She did? I didn’t know that. I didn’t even know they knew each other.”
“I didn’t either, but everything turned out okay, right?”
“Yes, Marcia, about the night at the carnival…”
“What about it? Didn’t you like it? The kiss, if…”
“No, God Marcia, no. I thought…”
“I mean, I wanted it to happen. I planned it to happen just like it did. Glory, I like you, a lot, more than just friends. I really like you.”
“I, me, too.” I felt relief, and I wanted to throw my arms around her.
“We have an hour before we have to be in the gym. Why don’t you come inside and we can talk.” She held her door open.
I walked inside, and she reached for my hand, pulling me to the bed. “Let’s sit.”
I sat next to her and my body was pulsing. “I’m so glad you’re here. I was so afraid of missing you this summer.”
“Now you won’t have to.” She ran her hand through my hair. “You have beautiful hair.”
“Can I kiss you, Marcia?”
“That’s all I’ve been thinking about since your birthday.”
I hugged her then kissed her, softly at first, then passionately as we fell back on her bed. We lay side-by-side kissing and hugging until we had to leave. Neither of us wanted to but we knew we were together, just us and our passion, and basketball for four weeks.
TWO WEEKS FLEW by, and Marcia and I played basketball non-stop all day and made out on her bed all night. It was one of the many nights we spent together kissing in Marcia’s bed when she pulled back. “Can I touch you?”
I’d wanted her to touch me for days now, but I was scared. Nervous. “Yes.” I stared in her brown eyes and she kissed me. Her tongue searched for mine and her hand slid under my t-shirt. I wore no bra. I never did. I never really had to. She touched me so soft and slow I felt my breath stop. My breaths were heavy against her cheek, and I let out a soft moan. I was embarrassed at first until she didn’t stop, so I followed my instincts. I touched her. She was
bigger than I was, and I couldn’t help it. I moaned again.
She leaned back to look at me.
I paused, “I’m sorry, am I doing something wrong, I’ve never…”
“No, you’re not, you’re doing everything right. I never did this either. Is everything okay? Does it feel okay?”
“Oh, yes it does. I was afraid that…well, I was making sounds.”
“I like when you make sounds.”
Her hand kept touching me and my eyes started to close. “Kiss me some more, Marcia.”
I ARRIVED BACK home just in time for school to start, and I was the happiest I’d ever been and thought I could ever be in my whole life. I was in love. I knew I was in love. I was in love with Marcia and she was in love with me; she told me so.
I threw my luggage from camp on my bed, and was glad Jeanie was out with friends when I got home. I didn’t want anything spoiling this day for me.
My mother yelled from the kitchen, “Glory, family meeting at dinner, so I don’t want you to be late, okay?”
“Sure, Mom. No problem.” I bounced my basketball through the house, then outside. I couldn’t wait for school to start. I would be able to see Marcia every day and play basketball with her all afternoon.
Mom came outside just as I finished a lay-up, and she started tossing me the ball for some outside shots. “So how was camp?” she asked.
I released the ball, and it fell short, hitting the rim and bouncing into the bushes. I felt myself blushing.
“That good, huh?” She grinned, as it was my turn to toss her the ball for some three pointers that she was so good at.
“It was.” My face was still red. “Mom, thanks for talking to Marcia’s mom. How do you know her?”
“We talked a few times after some of your games.” She released the ball and swish, she was white hot. “Don’t you know your mother is a social butterfly? I just don’t stay home and bake brownies all day.” Swish, again. Man, she was good.
“Well, thank you for talking with her so Marcia could come to camp. We had a great time.”
