Writers on the Storm

by Christy Cauley

The next day Cornelia got up very early after barely sleeping a wink. She tried to get ready and leave the house before her mother got up, but when she reached the top of the stairs she saw her mother sitting in the foyer waiting for her.

  “Nice try, CC,” Veronica said.

  “Nice try?” Cornelia asked innocently.

  “I know you were trying to sneak out before I got up.”

  “Nu uh,” Cornelia choked out, trying not to show her nervousness.

  “CC, just come down and have breakfast with me. I won’t bite.”

  “Well duh, mom, I know you don’t bite. Why would you say something like that? As if you were a snake or something,” Cornelia said and then laughed ever so slightly. “Oh just shut up, CC,” she thought to herself, “you sound like an idiot.”

  “Let’s go, kiddo,” Veronica said, leading the way to the kitchen table that was already set with Cornelia’s usual half a bagel with light cream cheese, half a banana, and half a glass of chocolate soy milk. Veronica had cereal. For the first time, Cornelia noticed the cereal was the generic brand instead of the name brand they usually bought.

  Cornelia looked at her glass of soy milk. “You know mom,” she began, “you can stop buying soy milk if you want. I know it costs more.”

  Veronica laughed then coughed to stifle her laughter. “Actually, CC, I’ve been filling an old soy milk carton with regular chocolate milk for quite a while now.”

  Cornelia looked at her mother for a moment then laughed. “What else haven’t you told me?” she asked.

  “I think that’s it, CC. Except -” she began, “Michelle thinks I might do well in real estate. She’s going to help me get my license. I haven’t had any job prospects and Michelle has already offered me a place at her center.”

  “Well that’s good,” Cornelia said.

  “Maybe,” Veronica said. “I don’t know if I’m cut out for it, really.”

  “Sure you are, mom,” Cornelia replied.

  “Why do you say that?” Veronica asked in between bites of cereal.

  Cornelia swallowed a piece of bagel and said, “Well, first of all, you’ve got the best wardrobe of any real estate agent this side of the Pacific Ocean and we all know real estate is just as much about the agent as it is the houses. Secondly, you could sell snow to Eskimos.”

  Veronica laughed. “I think it’s ice to Eskimos, CC.”

  “Well whatever, you can do it. Remember that time you convinced dad to put in the pool because you said it would increase the property value? He didn’t even hesitate.”

  “Thanks, CC,” Veronica said and finished her cereal. “Is there anything else you want to talk to me about?” She asked and raised her eyebrows.

  Cornelia hesitated for a moment and then said, “No. We’ll be alright, mom. Don’t worry.”

  “That’s not what I meant, CC. Do you have any questions about Michelle?”

  “Ew, gross, mom. No I don’t have any questions about your girlfriend just like I didn’t have any questions about any of your boyfriends. I don’t want to hear about your love life,” she said, adding, “no offense.”

  “None taken,” Veronica said, “but if you ever do have any questions you can just ask.”

  “We’ve gotta go,” Cornelia changed the subject.

  On the way to school Cornelia told Veronica she would be visiting Mrs. Hakim again and this time she would use Mrs. Hakim’s phone to get a ride home so that the fiasco that happened the day before would not repeat itself. The two said their good-byes and Cornelia made her way to her locker. Much to her chagrin, she saw David Wharton walking toward her. She looked away, hoping he would pass.

  “Hey Corny,” he said.

  “No such luck I guess,” Cornelia said out loud.

  “What?”

  “Nothing, what do you want? I’m in a hurry,” Cornelia said while throwing books into her book bag.

  “I want to know why you’re giving my girlfriend a hard time,” he said.

  Cornelia looked at him as if he had two heads. “Which one of your girlfriends would that be?” she asked and then smiled wickedly.

  “Don’t play stupid with me. I’m talking about Rebekka.”

  “Don’t you mean, Bekka?” she corrected in a snide voice that sounded just like Rebekka.

  “Whatever, stop messing around,” David began to get agitated.

  “What about Rebekka? I haven’t spoken to her lately.”

  “She said you’re turning Amanda against her and I’m not going to let that happen.” Cornelia laughed at this revelation.

  “Amanda hates Rebekka. She always has. I didn’t have to turn her against Rebekka. That’s stupid,” Cornelia said, closing up her book bag. Just then David slammed her locker door shut. Cornelia jumped a little in spite of herself.

  “You’re going to listen to me,” he said in an aggravated tone.

  “No, actually, I’m not!” Cornelia spat back. Then she felt a hand on her shoulder. She thought it was Chad to the rescue, but, in fact, it was Admeta.

  “Why don’t you go take a shower with all of your jock friends, Davey?” Admeta said, smirking and pointing her thumb over her right shoulder. Just as David started to make a move toward the girls, he saw the principal out of the corner of his eye and stopped. That was who Admeta was pointing to.

  “This isn’t over,” he said and stomped off.

  “What was his problem?” Admeta asked.

  “I don’t know. He said I was turning Amanda against Rebekka.”

  “That’s stupid,” Admeta said.

  “I know, that’s what I said.” The two girls laughed at the idiocy of it all.

  “Are you going to Mrs. H’s house tonight?” Admeta asked.

  “Yep,” Cornelia replied and picked up her book bag.

  “O.k., I’ll meet you at your locker,” Admeta said and turned to go to her homeroom and the dreaded Carl.

  “I’ll see you in English class. I can’t wait to hear what Carl has for us today,” Cornelia said with a laugh.

  “I know. He’s el loco,” Admeta said and for once Cornelia did not need a translation. The two girls laughed and went to their separate homerooms.

  In Cornelia’s homeroom, Rebekka and Sarah arrived late again. Cornelia thought it was probably because they were talking to David Wharton or doing who knows what else with him. Cornelia didn’t want to think about it. The thought made her skin crawl. Both girls gave Cornelia a dirty look, but she ignored them.

  When it was time to leave, Cornelia was the first one out the door and she walked so fast that Rebekka and Sarah couldn’t keep up. First bell was the only class they had together so if she could avoid them on the way she was sure she could avoid them after class too.

  Just as she suspected, after History class the two girls went the other way as Cornelia headed to second period Geometry class. The next four periods went as they normally did. Cornelia was half listening to lectures and half-heartedly completing school work when instructed. All the while she daydreamed about lunch when she would get to see Chad.

  When lunch finally arrived, it turned out to be even better than Cornelia hoped. As she, Chad and Amanda sat down, Admeta stood next to them and asked if they would mind if she sat with them.

  “Of course not, have a seat,” Chad said because Cornelia’s mouth was full.

  “Thanks,” Admeta said as she sat next to Cornelia.

  “Hey,” Cornelia said after swallowing. “Do you two know each other already?”

  “Yeah,” Admeta said.

  “Admeta’s in my Spanish class,” Chad said. Cornelia turned to Admeta with a very puzzled look.

  “I could use an easy ‘A,’ ” she said with a shrug and the foursome laughed.

  Everyone was at ease and Cornelia was happy about that. She knew if they had still been sitting with Rebekka and Sarah that there would have been a scene. She didn’t know where Admeta had been spending her lunches before now, but she was glad that she joined them. Lunch passed
by with idle chatter back and forth.

  “How was History this morning?”

  “Fine, how was Geometry,” etc.

  Right before the bell rang, Rebekka and Sarah came up behind Cornelia.

  “Hey CC, When did you start eating with the trash?” Rebekka asked and laughed a hideously hateful laugh. Admeta started to jump up, but Cornelia grabbed her arm and made her sit back down.

  “Don’t,” she said. “She’s not worth it. She’s the one who’s trash, just ignore her.”

  “You’re right. She’s so not worth it,” Admeta replied, knowing inaction would make Rebekka angrier than giving her the attention she desire. Infuriated, Rebekka stormed off with Sarah at her heels. Chad let out a little chuckle and Amanda was smiling.

  “I’m proud of you two for not letting her goad you into a fight. That’s all she wanted,” Amanda said.

  “I know,” Admeta said, “but I wanted to punch her in the face so bad.”

  “I’m glad you didn’t because you would have been suspended and we couldn’t walk to Mrs. Hakim’s together,” Cornelia reminded Admeta.

  “Good point,” Admeta said and the foursome got up to leave the lunch room.

  Cornelia spent her study hall time finishing up some History homework that she had been given in first bell. Then it was off to English class. As she entered room 97 she saw Carl standing at the front of the room with a silly grin on his face as he watched students shuffle in. Cornelia couldn’t help but think he had a certain goofy charm about him. She greeted Admeta and then the two took their seats.

  When the bell rang, Carl was his usual chipper self. “Hello!” he said and once again smiled brightly. “In case you have forgotten, we are watching ‘Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.’ In part one - ” Carl began to recap, but Cornelia tuned him out and rolled her eyes at Admeta who smiled back. When he was through he started the projector and the class sat quietly watching the story that their principal forbad them to read.

  When class was over, Cornelia went off to gym in the basement and Admeta went to her Government class on the third floor. After last bell, Admeta walked to Cornelia’s locker. She was putting away a few books. Admeta had her coat wrapped around her waist and her back pack thrown over one shoulder. Chad showed up about a minute later and he and Cornelia said their good-byes. Admeta turned the other way to be polite, but mostly because she just didn’t want to see them do whatever they were going to do. Then Cornelia grabbed her book bag and coat and the pair headed out of the building and down the street.

  On the way to Mrs. Hakim’s house, the two didn’t say much. They spoke about their day and how much homework they had, but little else of substance. As they approached the house with the white picket fence, Cornelia was nervous but she didn’t know why. This time there was no dog in the yard, so the girls entered and knocked on the big oak door. They immediately heard barking.

  “Ralph, it’s us,” Admeta said through the door, but the dog didn’t listen.

  After a few minutes, Mrs. Hakim came to the door and welcomed the girls in while holding Ralph back.

  “See, Ralph, these are friends, no need to bark, حسن الكلب,” Mrs. Hakim said and the dog immediately stopped barking as if on command. Cornelia didn’t understand the language Mrs. Hakim had just spoken and she didn’t know that the translation was “good dog” in English.

  “Take off your coats, girls,” Mrs. Hakim said and the girls put their coats on the coat rack and sat their book bags on the floor next to it. “Shall we?” Mrs. Hakim asked, pointing to the living room.

  Cornelia thought Mrs. Hakim didn’t look well at all. Her skin was yellowish and her hijab was crooked. She had an afghan wrapped around her shoulders, but Cornelia thought the house was really hot for November. She hated what the cancer was doing to her teacher but what she hated more was that there was nothing she could do about it.

  The three sat in the living room and exchanged stories. The girls told about their day at school and Mrs. Hakim told a funny story about Robin, the nurse at the hospital. Apparently one of the orderlies wanted to play a joke on her so he jumped out from under the nurse’s station wearing a Michael Myer mask and holding a scalpel like a knife. Nurse Robin didn’t think it was a very funny joke because she chased the man all the way to the stairwell where he fled for his life. Then she came back to the station and lectured everyone about appropriate hospital behavior. The girls laughed. Mrs. Hakim offered them tea and crumpets. They accepted to be polite.

  Cornelia had never had a crumpet before and she thought it tasted very bitter. She wanted to spit out the piece she had in her mouth, but she didn’t want to be rude so she slowly chewed it up and swallowed it and quickly took a drink of tea to wash away the flavor. She tried not to grimace.

  The three spoke for about an hour, but they mainly ignored the elephant in the room. Mrs. Hakim wanted to talk about anything else besides cancer. Then Mr. Hakim came home with the children and Cornelia and Admeta visited with them for a while before calling Cornelia’s mother to come pick them up. Cornelia gave her mother directions to Mrs. Hakim’s house and asked if she could drive Admeta home. Veronica did not object. She was secretly happy that Cornelia was making new friends. She didn’t like the people she had been hanging out with.

  Admeta tried to argue, but Cornelia said that giving Admeta a ride home was the right thing to do since her father had given Cornelia a ride home the day before. Admeta surrendered. After a few more minutes of chit chat, Veronica pulled up to the fence and honked her horn. As the girls exited the house, Mr. and Mrs. Hakim waved from the door. The girls waved back and climbed inside Veronica’s massive SUV.

  “Mom, this is Admeta; Admeta, this is my mom,” Cornelia said from the back seat.

  “You can call me Veronica,” her mother said. Admeta and Veronica exchanged pleasantries and then Veronica asked for directions to Admeta’s house. Unlike Cornelia, Veronica didn’t blink when Admeta told her it was in the valley.

  When they arrived, Veronica was saddened by the condition of Admeta’s house, but she of course said nothing. Cornelia had told her a little bit about Admeta’s family situation earlier. She felt bad for a young woman having to live in such a house surrounded by men and no women. She could only imagine what the inside looked like. All she knew was that the telephone was turned off and that was enough for her.

  Cornelia and Veronica said their good-byes and Admeta walked up to her house. She turned and waved as she walked inside and Cornelia and her mother drove off.

  “You told her I’m a lesbian, didn’t you?” Veronica asked.

  “What?!” Cornelia yelled, nearly laughing.

  “You told her I’m gay and that’s why she was so cold to me.”

  “Oh my God, mom, you have gone totally over the edge,” Cornelia replied.

  “Oh, so because I’m gay I’m over the edge?” Veronica asked sharply.

  “No, mom, you’re over the edge because you’re out of your mind. First of all, I didn’t tell Admeta you’re gay. And secondly it wouldn’t have made a difference if I had. Admeta’s not like that. We have lots of gay friends.”

  “Is that so?” Veronica asked skeptically.

  “Yes, Steve in Writers on the Storm is gay and no one cares, mom.”

  “Why didn’t you tell her I’m gay, then; are you ashamed of me?”

  “What? No, mom, I’m not ashamed of you. It’s not something you just blurt out about someone. It’s not like I’m going to say, ‘Hey Admeta, meet my gay mom!’ for Pete’s sake,” Cornelia shouted.

  “O.k., CC, I get it. I just wanted to be sure there wasn’t anything unsaid between us.”

  “There’s nothing unsaid. You’re gay or whatever and I’m cool with that. I don’t think dad will be, but I’m fine with it.”

  “I didn’t give a thought to what your father might think.”

  “He’s going to be pissed,” Cornelia said.

  Veronica laughed and said, �
��Good. Serves him right. Let him think he turned me gay.” And the two women cracked up laughing.

  The next few weeks passed the same way, with Cornelia avoiding Rebekka and Sarah, especially at football games, and then going with Admeta to Mrs. Hakim’s after school. Sometimes Veronica drove them home and sometimes it was Admeta’s father. Each time they visited, Mrs. Hakim seemed to get sicker and sicker.

  Chapter 18

  We are the Champions