The Green (20 page)

After school I made my way out to the busses,
finding my big yellow limousine in the same spot it always was. The
bus driver was happy to see me.

“It’s been awhile,” she said as I climbed the
steps. “I heard what happened. Are you feeling okay?”

“Yeah, sore, but I’m getting there,” I said,
giving her a smile.

“Well, glad to see you, I’ll try to take it
easy over the bumps,” she said, smiling back.

Even though she tried to be gentle, the ride
was still a little tough, but I made it home in one piece. I was
extremely tired after the long day, but before I could rest I had
something to take care of. I went into my room and pulled a box
from my closet that contained the last brick of pot that Javier had
given me. I wrapped the box in brown paper, giving it a little
extra security and pulled the other supplies from under my bed,
including the last of Javier’s money. I stuffed that into a sealed
envelope and wrote Javier’s name on the front. My stomach twisted
just writing his name.

I took everything and stuffed it into an old
duffle bag that I found in the back of the closet. I heard the
doorbell ring and ran to open it.

“Hi Junior,” I said. He stood in the doorway,
unsure of what to do. “Come on in, I’ve almost got everything.”

He came in, standing awkwardly in the living
room. I grabbed the keys for the Cadillac off the counter and
handed them to Junior, along with the duffle bag.

“I’m sure Javier already knows, but I just
want to make it clear that I’m out. I can’t do this anymore.”

Junior nodded. He was a man of few words.

We both stood for a minute, unsure of what to
say. I reached out my hand.

“Thanks, Junior. I appreciate this.” He
grasped it and shook.

“Later,” he said, turning and walking out the
door. I closed it behind him and went to the window, watching him
get into the Cadillac and drive it off into the night. I was
car-less once again. But that was it. I had gotten rid of
everything that reminded me of the last couple of months. I still
had Nando’s phone, but I kept it turned off. I assumed my customers
had taken the hint.

Sure, I was now homeless and almost
penniless, but after I got better I hoped to get a job somewhere in
Cambridge. Even without a car, I could get around there a little
easier, maybe get a job somewhere that I could walk to from school
and see if Naomi or James could pick me up afterwards. But until
then I still had the spending money under my bed.

It was time to get back on track. Sure, this
life wasn’t going to be easier. Selling pot had been super easy.
But at what cost? It almost ruined everything I’d been working
towards.

James showed up not long after Junior left,
bringing a bag of Chinese food.

“How’s my girl?” He kissed my forehead and
set out the little white boxes on the table.

“I’m feeling really good right now.” And I
was.

Finals were a little tough, if only because I
found it hard to stay awake. I was still taking the pain medication
and it was just so quiet, it didn’t help. But I did fine on them
despite having been shot two weeks before. My teachers were very
impressed, of course.

I had something bigger to look forward to.
The Winter Formal dance was this weekend. Naomi had kindly lent me
some shoes to match my dress, since I didn’t get a chance to get
any. We spent the evening getting ready at her house.

Dean was a distant memory to her now and even
short on time she managed to get another date for the dance. I’m
sure the video Claire had posted of her on Facebook hadn’t hurt.
Colin was a basketball player that had been on her short list. As
weird as it was for me to be dating her ex-boyfriend and for her to
be dating one of James’ teammates, it all seemed completely
normal.

“How do I look?” I asked, twirling around
slowly in front of her, but not too fast.

“Oh, Ari, you look so pretty,” she squealed.
“My turn, my turn!” She twirled in front of me.

“Fabulous as usual, Naomi,” I said, as we
both studied ourselves in the mirror. She was slightly taller, but
our hair looked similar being that we’d gone to the same salon
earlier. We both had our hair swept up into a twist with a few
curls hanging down. We spent an hour applying each other’s makeup,
trying to make sure we got the smoky eyes just right. My sapphire
blue dress gave my skin a warm glow, but that may have had more to
do with the fact that I was finally feeling so much better.

We dumped our bags and some pillows into her
backseat. The plan was to stay at James’ house after the dance. It
was decided that we didn’t need a repeat of Naomi’s. Hopefully no
one would be getting drunk and making out with someone else’s date.
We drove across Cambridge on our way to James’ house and as we got
closer the houses looked strangely familiar. We pulled into the
driveway. I knew this house. Oh god, no. This wasn’t happening.

“Ari, we’re here,” Naomi said opening the
door. “Are you feeling okay? You’re looking a little ashy.”

“No, I’m all right,” I said, feeling like
someone had knocked the wind out of me. I felt panic rising in my
throat as we walked up to the front porch. There was no turning
back. I couldn’t get out of this one.

On the front door was the giant, ugly brass
fish doorknocker.

“Come on, Ari, I’m freezing out here,” Naomi
said, half-dragging me up the step. She picked up the brass fish
and used it to knock on the door.

“God, that thing is ugly.” She giggled.

The door opened.

“Hi there girls,” said a cheery middle-aged
guy with gray hair. His eyes widened as they fell on me.

Ron.

James’ dad was my chatty customer Ron. I sold
him drugs. Ohgodohgodohgod. There are no rules in the non-existent
‘Drug Dealers Guide’ on how to handle this. What the hell should I
do?

“Why don’t you girls come in,” he said,
keeping his jolly composure, eyes returning to normal size. “You
must be freezing out there!” He stood aside, holding the door and
allowing us to enter into the front hallway.

“It’s nice to see you again, Naomi. How are
your parents?” Ron asked.

“Oh, the usual,” answered Naomi, sounding
slightly bored.

“And you are?” he asked, holding out his
hand. Like he didn’t know. I suppose he really didn’t, though. I
don’t think I ever gave him my name. But at least he threw his
cards on the table. We were just going to pretend we’d never
met.

“Hi Mr. Bartlett, I’m Ariceli, but everyone
calls me Ari.” I shook his hand strongly, even though mine was
sweaty. I met his gaze.

“I’ve heard so much about you, it’s nice to
finally meet you.” He released my hand and gestured down the
hallway. “Everyone is in the family room taking pictures.”

There were about twenty people in the family
room and only half of them actually going to the dance. The rest
were parents, cameras in hand. We lined up over and over,
plastering on the smiles as a million flashes lit up the room. By
the time we were done all I could see were spots swimming before my
eyes. Which was preferable to looking at Ron. Mr. Bartlett. James’
dad. Pot smoker. Regular customer.

“You look awesome,” James said, giving me a
kiss on the cheek. “Are you feeling all right? You seem a little
distracted.”

“I’m just a little tired, you know, still
healing and all,” I said, laughing a little bit too nervously. Did
he notice? And I was going to have to stay here tonight? No way,
not happening. I couldn’t do this!

It was maddening to sit there and watch
everyone take pictures. First it was all the couples, then the
boys, then the girls. It was everything I could do to keep from
puking on my shoes. I wanted to get out of there so bad. Ron, or
Mr. Bartlett took pictures, along with the other parents. He was
smiling and laughing like his drug dealer wasn’t dating his
son.

What would he say? Would he forbid James to
see me? Would we have to break up? Would he tell James the truth,
that I was a liar and a low life? He showed me nothing. He was calm
and normal and it made me crazy. I wished I had the power to freeze
everyone in the room so they couldn’t hear us or see us and see
what he said then. Would he be angry?

Picture. Picture. Flash. Flash. Finally James
took me by the arm and helped me into my coat. We escaped through
the front door, the giant brass fish doorknocker rattling as we
slammed it behind us. The fish doorknocker knew what was up.
Luckily he couldn’t tell anyone.

We hurriedly stepped into the waiting party
bus and headed out to the dance. The streets of Cambridge flashed
by on the way to Villa Roma. Cambridge kids didn’t have dances at
the school. That would be lame. So instead they had them at the
fancy banquet hall in downtown Cambridge.

I couldn’t taste my food at dinner, or
appreciate the fine decorating. I was too focused on Ron. But I had
to let it go. This was my senior formal. What if this was the last
time I was allowed to see James? I sat and looked at him, his
smile, the way his hair fell over his left eye. He caught me
looking at him and place his hand on mine, squeezing it.

On the dance floor I locked my arms around
his neck as we both swayed along with the music. In the back of my
mind I couldn’t stop thinking about how to get out of sleeping over
at James’ house.

“There’s nothing like slow dancing to rap
songs.” James laughed. We moved along the edge of the dance floor
while full-fledged grinding was going on in front of us. The truth
was I was a bit too sore still to shake my booty. “Is that what
we’d normally look like?”

“Well, maybe you dance like that, but not me.
I have class,” I said, sticking my nose up in the air.

“Right, so I didn’t see you dancing like that
at Homecoming with Jeff Ludlum? Please!” He slid his hands down my
body and attempted to shimmy.

“Well I certainly didn’t look like that!” I
giggled.

“Okay, well maybe I didn’t do it justice, but
you were bustin’ a move on Jeff and he was likin’ it!”

“Wait a minute, weren’t you still going out
with Naomi then?” I pulled back slightly.

“What? Like I’m not allowed to look? I could
be looking at someone right now.” His eyes scanned the dance
floor.

I slapped his arm. “You better watch it!”

“Look, all I’m saying is that deep down
you’re more of a freak than you let on. I could see you going
crazy, doing all sorts of naughty things that most people wouldn’t
ever suspect you of.” he smiled sexily, winking at me.

“Oh, you think so?” He knew me way better
than he realized.

“I know so and I can’t wait to find out all
about it,” he said, running his fingers down my arm.

The night flew by and we all waited in the
line for our party bus to show up. The party bus drove us back to
James’ house where the cars were parked. Maybe I could do this.
Maybe I could go stay at his house and just be a normal teenager. I
didn’t want to deal with his dad, but I also didn’t want to miss
out on the fun I knew they’d be having without me.

On the bus, I sat next to James, his arm
around me and I decided then and there, Ron or no Ron, I wasn’t
leaving my boyfriend. Maybe he would just see I was a regular kid.
He must have noticed by now that I’m not taking calls anymore.
Maybe he didn’t really think it was me, meaning he thought he knew
me, but you know how it is when you see someone out of context it
messes with your head and you think you know them but you’re not
sure? Besides, he smoked a LOT of pot. He could also be slightly
paranoid and just write it off as a side effect. Hopefully he’d be
sleeping when we got back and there would be nothing to worry
about.

I sat back, trying to enjoy the ride home,
confident in the decision I made, even though my heart thudding in
my chest was trying to rat me out.

The house was brightly lit, awaiting our
return. Ron was not around when we got back, but Mrs. Bartlett was
waiting in the kitchen wearing cute flannel pajamas.

“The pizzas were just delivered, I stuck them
inside the oven downstairs, just so they would stay warm. I also
loaded the fridge with pop! I’m going to bed now James, but if you
need anything, you know where I am,” she said with a smile and a
wave to the rest of us.

We filed down the stairs, dragging our bags
into the finished basement that was set up like James’ own
apartment. There was a large entertainment area with a pool table,
bar and small kitchen next to a projector-style TV that took up the
whole wall. A fireplace crackled in the corner, its warmth
spreading across the room.

“Here, you get to put your stuff in my room.”
His arm slid around my waist. He grabbed my bag and led me towards
his bedroom.

“Woo hoo, don’t be gone too long you two!”
howled one of James’ friends as he pulled one of the pizza boxes
from the oven.

“Do NOT eat all of that,” James shouted at
him. He flicked the lights in his room on and set my bag in the
corner. I took in my surroundings. Large, queen-sized bed, flat
screen TV. Expensive looking furniture. It looked more like an
adult’s bedroom than a kid’s. The only giveaway was the video game
system in the corner and his letter jacket hanging over the desk
chair.

“When you’re ready to go to bed later, you
get to sleep in here,” he said, waving his arm in a grand gesture
towards the bed.

“So you think it’s going to be that easy?
Here’s my fancy room, wanna sleep with me?” I giggled, trying to
keep a stern face.

“Oh, no no, you’ve got it all wrong. I don’t
expect to sleep in here with you. In fact, my mom would probably
get pissed. I reserved the bed for you because I figured you would
be too uncomfortable sleeping on the floor, considering your bullet
hole is still healing. You get this large bed all to yourself! Not
that I wouldn’t give anything to be there with you.” He ran his
lips down my cheek and brushed them across mine and I pulled him
closer.