The Green (19 page)

“How did you get into my locker?” I asked.
“Are you some kind of master thief?”

“Yeah right, surprisingly Ms. “Ice Queen”
Simmons was really concerned about you and when she asked if she
could do anything to help you, I said I needed to get into your
locker. She went with me to the office and explained to Mrs. Hanson
the locker Nazi why we needed it and voilá!” He waved his hands
over my stuff.

“Well thanks, considering I’ll be rolling in
there next week just in time for finals. Yuck. Do we have any
assignments this week?” I asked, leaning back against a pile of
pillows.

“Luckily, no. Everyone gave out review
packets. That should make everything easier.” He pulled a thick
stack of papers from the pile and handed them to me.

“Oh yeah, lucky me. Look at how thick these
things are! It’s going to take me forever to finish them!” I threw
one up in the air and watched it fall in a heap on the floor.

“Hey, that is no way to treat study
materials, Ms. Pisa,” said James in his best Ms. Simmons
impersonation. “And not to worry, we’ll do them together, or if
you’re too tired, I’ll give you mine when they are done and you can
copy them.”

“Um, that would be cheating.” I pointed
out.

“It’s not like you don’t know this stuff
anyway, and you’re going to ace your finals even after being shot
in the chest. So shut up!” He threw the packet back at me.

I heard the front door click and then
shut.

“Hey Mom,” I yelled from my bed. She appeared
in the doorway, dark circles under her sunken eyes. She looked ten
years older.

“Hi mija. I see you’re finally awake. I’ll
give James the pain pills so you can take them with your
pizza.”

James scurried out to the kitchen and
returned with two plates of pizza, a can of pop and a glass of
water. “Here you go, need anything else?” he asked, sitting
cross-legged on the floor next to my bed.

“Nope, I’m good,” I said. And that was truth.
I would’ve given anything to have an adoring James alone in my
room. The fact that we were eating pizza and I had a hole in my
chest didn’t matter to me at all.

After James left, I started to feel a bit
sleepy. Mom peeked into the room before I managed to fall
asleep.

“Mija, are you awake?” she asked, waiting for
my reply.

“Yes, Ma, I’m still awake.”

She made her way over to the bed and sat down
by my feet, patting my legs.

“I have some bad news, mija,” she started.
She took a deep breath and her shoulders shook. I could see the
tears spilling down her face. They’d probably worn trenches into it
by now, she’d cried so much.

“Come on Mom, it can’t be that bad,
seriously.”

“Well, I lost my job at the drycleaners.”

“What happened?” I asked, worried about where
this was going to go. We didn’t have enough money when she had two
jobs, what the hell were we going to do if she only had one job and
I wasn’t selling anymore? She earned more money at the drycleaners.
It was going to be a lot harder to replace that money. That covered
a good chunk of the rent and the utilities.

“They got mad, said I missed too many days. I
told them I was sorry, that I had to be with you and I needed to be
gone this week when we have the funeral for your brother, but they
didn’t care.”

I bit my lip. I didn’t want to cry again. I
knew what was coming.

“Ariceli, we are gonna have to move in with
Tia Maria downtown. We can’t afford to stay here.” Her head
drooped.

“I don’t know what to say Mom. I’m sorry you
got fired. But I can’t go there. I have to finish school,” I said,
my voice rising. Everything I’d done, all of this mess I was in
right now was all so I could stay at Cambridge High. I hadn’t given
up before and I sure as hell wasn’t going to give up now.

“Don’t worry Mom, I’ll figure it out.” I
wasn’t sad anymore. I was pissed. Why did I always have to be the
fucking adult? Why did she just give up so easily all the time?

Neither of us said anything for a minute and
she finally got up.

“Do you need anything else?” she asked.

“No. How long do we have here?” I asked. I
hoped she could tell I was pissed.

“Until the end of the month. We’ll have to be
gone by then. Good night mija,” she said, closing the door behind
her.

My brain started working overtime. What the
hell was I gonna do? I still had some cash in a box under the bed,
but it wasn’t enough to pay the rent here or anywhere else in the
area. It was only a couple grand. That could maybe buy us a month.
Think, Ariceli, think. I had one option. I just hoped I had a favor
to pull here. I grabbed my cell phone out of my purse; so happy the
cops gave it back to me.

I scrolled through the phonebook until I got
to Naomi’s name. I pressed the button and waited for her to pick
up.

“Hey girl,” she said.

“Naomi, I need to talk to you,” I started,
not quite sure how to ask her. I figured I could start by just
telling her the truth. No more lying and trying to cover up what
was going on in my life. Naomi was my friend and maybe she could
understand me. Or, as I hoped, she could help me in some way.

“I have some bad news,” I said.

“Ohmygod. I just left you! Are you okay?” she
asked, instantly sounding concerned.

“My mom just came in and told me that I have
one month left at Cambridge. She lost one of her jobs and I have to
move back to the South Side of Chicago.” The tears came, hot and
angry. It was so unfair.

“What? You can’t leave me! No way. I almost
lost you this weekend, Ari. You can’t just leave! You’re my best
friend!” It sounded like she had started to cry as well.

“I don’t know what to do Naomi.”

“I do. You let me talk to Clark and Diane and
I will sort this all out.” She was referring to her parents.

“What do you mean?”

“Look, Ari, you’ve been through an awful lot.
And I kinda feel like this is my fault. We’ve got plenty of room at
my house, as you well know. You are going to stay with us.”

“Ohmygod, thank you Naomi. I don’t know what
to say,” I said, happy that I took a chance and told her the
truth.

“Don’t say anything. I’ll talk to my parents
and get the details sorted out. I can’t see why they would say no.
They totally love you.”

“Thank you, Naomi. I love you, you know,” I
said, sniffling.

“Well, I love you more. Look, I’m going to go
call my parents. And you need to get some rest. I’ll call you
later. Good night!”

“Good night,” I said, hitting the end button
and placing the phone on my bookcase. I couldn’t believe how
exhausted I was. Before I could think about anything else, the pain
meds took over and I drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

Naomi called me with the good news the next
day. The Standishes were more than happy to have me be their extra
daughter through the end of the semester, or as they said, as long
as I needed.

Mom was less than happy knowing that I was
leaving her, but as I explained to her, my education came first and
it wouldn’t do me any good to switch schools in the middle of my
senior year. It’s what had to be done. It also meant I’d still be
able to see James. I couldn’t have imagined leaving him for the
fine urban neighborhoods on the South Side. He was extremely
relieved when I explained to him that I was moving in at
Naomi’s.

There was still a more pressing issue this
week. James and Naomi came to the apartment to help me get dressed
and drove mom and I to the funeral home in the city. My chest hurt
the whole time, sending sharp pains through my body. The doctor was
right, I shouldn’t be out yet, but how could I miss my brother’s
funeral?

Mom was a mess and I was happy that her
siblings were here to help her. I still felt pretty helpless; James
had to half-carry me around. I pretty much parked it in a chair at
the funeral home and leaned against him, with Naomi on the other
side of me holding my hand.

Nando was laid out at the front of the room
in a rented casket of deep mahogany. The one we could afford didn’t
look so nice. Try a pine box. Mom had him dressed in a cheap suit
she bought, as he never owned anything nicer than jeans three sizes
too big. He wouldn’t have been caught dead in that ugly brown suit.
Haha. Yeah, I know, it’s in poor taste to make a joke about a
funeral. Especially when it’s your own brother.

The funeral home was crowded with people I
didn’t even know. The pain pills made me a little woozy, so I just
nodded and murmured thanks as people came up to give their
condolences. I was happy that I didn’t have to say much.

The worst part was the service. The priest
came from Mom’s church and hadn’t seen Nando since he was a little
boy. I wasn’t sure how I felt about my brother being dead until
that priest started yapping. At funerals, you’re supposed to be sad
and feel like you were going to miss the person who had died.

“Fernando was a good son, a good brother and
did everything he could to help his family. He will be remembered
for his sense of humor and his willingness to help others. The good
Lord has taken Fernando into his fold now, and will protect him and
keep him for all time.”

What a crock of shit. I never met this
‘Fernando.’ I know all this was really meant to make Mom feel
better about losing her son, but we lost Fernando long ago. They
forgot to mention how he stole from us, made a mess of our
apartment and aside from using and selling drugs and beating me
nearly to death. All he did that was good was give my mom some of
his drug cash so we could keep the apartment. So for that he
deserves a fucking medal of honor? Please. But it would always be
that way with Mom. She never saw Nando for what he truly was. And
now she never would. Her baby Fernando would be forever idolized in
her mind. Her perfect son who was taken too soon.

But I could never say any of this aloud. It
would make me a horrible person. So I cried anyways. I cried
because of all the things Nando did to me and how his fuck-ups
forced me to do something I’d never thought I’d have to do. I cried
because my whole life was going to change now and it was all his
fault. I cried because Mom would never see that reality. It would
be mine and mine alone. And then I couldn’t cry anymore.

James and Naomi joined me the next morning
for the funeral, their parents nice enough to call them out so they
could help me again. At the church we sat together, the three of us
in the first row next to my relatives. They were my family now.

At the end of the service, we headed to the
exit and my breath caught in my throat. I stumbled a little and
James stopped.

“Ari, are you okay? Are you in pain?” he
asked, leading me over to an empty pew. “Here babe, just sit.”

It wasn’t my chest that hurt, but the sight
of Javier in a wheelchair near the church entrance. His wife stood
behind him and his daughter was curled up on his lap. I had no idea
he’d be here. I figured he’d be in jail. I guessed they let him
out.

“I’m okay, really,” I said, taking a couple
of painful deep breaths. “Let’s just go.”

Protected by James on one side and Naomi on
the other, we made our way down the aisle past Javier and out of
the church. I purposely didn’t look in his direction, but I could
see him out of the corner of my eye. He was looking right at me,
his eyes weak. But I was walking with my real life, the life I
should have chosen all along. I had no desire to talk to him or
ever see him again.

After the funeral I realized there was one
thing left to do to close the door on my life as a drug dealer. Mom
had stayed at her sisters in the city and Naomi was going to stay
overnight with me, in case I needed something. While she was at
home grabbing some pajamas and sleep-over necessities I made the
phone call.

“Junior?” I’d found his number in Nando’s old
cell phone.

“Yeah?” He sounded slightly confused,
considering it probably showed that Nando was calling.

“It’s Ariceli. Can I ask you a favor?”

“Sure, what is it?”

I gave him a quick explanation and asked him
to stop over on Monday afternoon, when I knew Mom was supposed to
head back to work cleaning the office building and hopefully James
would be at basketball practice.

The rest of the weekend passed by in a blur.
Naomi drove me to see Dr. Patel who said I was ready to go back to
school on Monday. He was happy that I was healing so quickly. Every
day the pain seemed less and less.

I was super nervous on Sunday night. It felt
like the first day of school all over again. James was nice enough
to drive to Slate Park and pick me up, but I’d be stuck taking the
bus home. Naomi was cheer captain and still had to stay for
practice.

I was lucky to be with James in our academy
classes. He carried my things around all day. I received a lot of
smiles from people in the hallways, even from people I didn’t know.
Ms. Simmons was even fairly friendly.

“Wow, Ari, I am impressed with your study
guide, you really did a great job keeping up with your school work
this week, despite your injury. I am glad to have you back. Let me
know if there is anything I can do for you,” she said at the end of
class.

“What’s gotten into everyone?” I asked James
as we headed towards my French class.

“I guess you had more friends than you
realized. I told you it was on the news, not to mention the biggest
gossip in school. It’s not every day a Cambridge High student gets
shot, as you well know.” He chuckled. “It’s like you’re a
celebrity.”

To tell you the truth, it didn’t bother me
all that much. Everything was working out, despite the mess I’d
been in. Tonight I’d be saying goodbye to another part of that
mess.