by Paul Langan
After a few hours of training, Darcy was working an eight-hour shift, wearing the white visor and the bright green “Scoops” apron. The outfit was so corny, Darcy was embarrassed to put it on. But her best friend, Tarah Carson, stopped her from complaining the other night when the two talked.
“Girl, just be glad you got a job. Ain’t nothin’ embarrassin’ about that. I’d rather get paid to wear a dumb hat than to sit around all summer without a job,” Tarah had said. She worked full-time at the Brown Street Community Center. The center had a medical clinic and offered classes and job training programs for people in the neighborhood. It also had a daycare center, The Little Learning Spot, where Tarah worked.
“Yes, I would like a medium vanilla and chocolate twist,” said the middle-aged man in front of her. “Could you make it quick? I’m in a hurry. ”
Darcy grabbed a medium cone, went back to the large steel machine, pulled the silvery lever, and filled the cone with soft ice cream. She was careful to twist the ice cream perfectly, exactly as Tamika taught her.
“Here you go,” she said, gently handing him the cone.
“Oh, that’s not enough. Give me a large instead. ” The man looked at Darcy as if she held a rotten piece of food in her hand.
Darcy took the cone back, put it on a paper dish, and gave the man a fake smile.
“Whatever you say,” she said, wishing she could dump the cone on the guy’s head. Now into her second week, she was surprised to see how rude people could be.
The man took the large cone without even a thank-you. He didn’t leave any money in the tip jar either.
What a jerk, she thought.
“What’s wrong with everyone today? That’s the third guy I’ve seen today who’s been rude. It’s like they all decided to come in at the same time,” said Haley, Darcy’s coworker. Haley’s blond hair was pulled into a long ponytail behind her head. She almost made the Scoops uniform look nice. Almost.
“I know what you mean, Haley. If I get one more jerk, I think I’m gonna quit. ”
Just then, Darcy heard the rumble of a loud car engine. Outside, a yellow Mazda sports car with fat, chrome rimmed wheels pulled up in front of Scoops. A tall, dark-skinned young man wearing baggy jeans and a black T-shirt stepped from the car. He held a cell phone which he talked into loudly. Silvery sunglasses covered his eyes like tiny mirrors, so Darcy could not see where he was looking. As he approached the door, he moved as if he expected the world to step out of his way. Darcy turned to Haley and rolled her eyes. There was no way he was going to be nice.
“Here we go again,” Haley said.
“Girl, would you come on? I ain’t got all day,” the guy said as he walked in. He was talking to a young woman who was right behind him. The woman was curvy, wearing denim shorts cut high to show off her long legs. Her shirt was a tight tank top that left the lower part of her stomach exposed. Darcy noticed a tiny gold hoop glittering from the girl’s stomach. She had her belly button pierced.
Several customers at a front table in the ice cream store turned to get a good look. The outfit was almost small enough to be a bathing suit.
“Man, she’s fine,” mumbled a customer.
At first, Darcy didn’t recognize the girl but as she came closer and took off her sunglasses, Darcy nearly fainted. She was no stranger. It was Brisana Meeks!
From middle school through their freshman year at Bluford, Brisana had been Darcy’s best friend. But everything changed last year when Darcy started hanging out with Tarah, Hakeem, and Cooper. Since then, the two barely talked, and when they did, it was tense. Darcy was convinced Brisana hated her, but then weeks ago, Brisana had tried to warn her about Brian. After that, she came to Grandma’s funeral. Now Darcy didn’t know what to think.
“Brisana,” Darcy said, trying to ignore the revealing clothes her old friend was wearing, “how are you doin’?”
“Darcy? Is that you? I didn’t know you worked here,” Brisana said, flashing a superior grin. “Nice uniform. ”
Darcy could not believe her ears. Brisana had no room to talk about clothes, not the way she was dressed. Never had she shown so much skin. Not even at the beach last summer when she was trying to attract guys.
“I just started last week. The uniforms aren’t great, but you get used to it. ” She paused, trying to think of something else to say. If she kept talking about clothes, she knew she would slip and say something about Brisana’s outfit. Something Brisana might not want to hear, especially with the guy standing right over her as if she was his property. “So . . . how’s your summer going?” Darcy asked, trying to fill the awkward silence.
“It’s the best summer ever, Darce. I’m working three nights a week at the Golden Grill. The tips are good, and that’s where I met Duane. He’s back from his first year of college. Can you believe it? We’ve been to the beach twice already. He’s got the best car. We even went to a club the other night. I’ve never had this much fun. Remember those summers when we used to sit in the house all day hoping for something to do? Not for me anymore. I’m done with that,” Brisana said, glancing at the guy standing behind her.
Darcy thought something about Brisana’s voice was too forced, but she wasn’t sure. Brisana had always been a show-off, but never to the point where she would change her own style. Now she looked like someone out of a tacky music video.
“What about you, Darce? It can’t be easy without Hakeem,” Brisana said, as if she enjoyed the fact that Darcy wasn’t seeing anyone.
Darcy cringed. For years, she and Brisana had competed in school. Last year, Brisana even tried to steal Hakeem away. But now that he was gone for good, Brisana’s question seemed almost cruel, as if it was designed to make Darcy feel bad.
“Yo, I hate to ruin your reunion, but can we hurry it up? My pops is expecting me back at the station soon,” Duane cut in, looking at Brisana.
Darcy blinked in surprise at the comment. Next to her, she noticed Haley’s eyes widen. She knew exactly what Haley was thinking. Another rude person.
“Yeah, sure. Sorry,” Darcy said, fighting the urge to tell Duane off. “What do you want?”
“We’ll take two mint smoothies,” he said, his bassy voice deep and flat. For a second, Darcy caught him glancing up and down at her body. It made her feel uncomfortable, especially with Brisana standing right there.
Darcy rushed to get the smoothies. When she came back, Duane had his hand on Brisana’s hip, and she was leaning back into him. The two were in the middle of a slow kiss. It was as if they didn’t notice they were standing in a public place with people watching them. Darcy felt embarrassed.
Last summer, Brisana talked about girls who were too forward with their boyfriends in public. “Low-class,” she would call them. Now she had become just like them.
“Here you go,” Darcy interrupted, trying not to stare as she handed them their order.
“Keep the change,” he said, leaving an extra quarter on the counter as if he was being generous.
“Thanks. ”
“Bye, Darcy. Call me sometime,” Brisana said, heading out the door with Duane.
Several men in the store turned to watch her stroll to the car outside.
“You know her?” Haley asked, as soon as the door closed.
“Yeah,” Darcy said, shocked at how much her old friend had changed. “At least, I used to. ”
“I’d say she’s just a little over her head,” Haley added, wiping the counter and putting Duane’s quarter in the tip cup.
“I think you might be right. ”
The whole scene made Darcy’s stomach twinge. Outside, the Mazda did a Uturn in front of the store and raced off in a yellow blur of speed and noise.
Too fast, Darcy thought to herself. Everything was going too fast.
“I couldn’t believe it, Tarah,” Darcy said to Tarah later that night, describing Brisana’s behavior and what happened at Scoops. The two were at Niko’s. Darcy had just gotten off work and agreed to meet Tarah and Cooper for pizza. Coop
er was late, so Darcy and Tarah ordered a pizza and started eating. “There they were standing in line practically going at it. ”
“That’s just nasty,” Tarah said. “Ain’t nobody wanna see that while they’re trying to have their ice cream. ”
“I never saw the guy before, but I have to say there was something about Brisana that didn’t seem right. It was like she was just doing what he wanted. She’s normally annoying, but she’s never acted that way,” Darcy said, grabbing a slice of the hot pizza.
“Lotsa girls think they gotta be someone else when they go out with a boy. It’s sad. You see ’em dressin’ different and talkin’ different, hopin’ that some boy’s gonna like them. It ain’t right, but that’s the way it is for some girls,” Tarah said, taking a sip from her drink.
“I had a cousin who was smarter than anyone,” she continued, “but when she hung around boys, she pretended to be dumb. I was like, ‘Girl, if a boy likes you because he thinks you’re dumb, then he’s the wrong boy for you. ’ Look at Coop. He knows I ain’t perfect. But he likes me for me. I don’t gotta be anything or anyone else. Same is true for him. Lord knows he ain’t perfect, but that’s all right. ’Cause he’s Coop, and I don’t want him any other way,” Tarah said, wiping the pizza grease from her fingers.
Darcy sipped her glass of ginger ale. “So what should I do about Brisana, Tarah? Do I say something to her, or just let her alone?”
“It all depends on how serious it is,” Tarah said. “I mean, me and Brisana don’t mix, but if you think it’s serious, you should say something to her. But I’ll tell you what. I know that girl well enough to know she ain’t gonna listen to you. ”
“Yeah. But at least I’ll know that I did the right thing. ”
“There you go, girl. Always lookin’ out for everyone else. But what about you? How’s your sister doin’? I saw her the other night. ”
“Really?”
“Yeah, she was over Coop’s house. I think she and his little brother, Desmond, are a thing. ”
“What?” Darcy could not believe her ears. “Are you for real?”
“Yeah, they been hangin’ out a lot the past week. They’re so cute. They remind me of me and Coop back in the day. Dez can’t spend enough time with her. If it was up to him, they’d always be together. ”
Darcy felt her pulse quicken in her temples. The idea of her sister out alone with a boy, even Coop’s brother, bothered her. And she did not like being the last to know what Jamee was up to. No wonder Jamee was always on the phone.
“Darcy, are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just thinking of something, that’s all. ”
“It’s Hakeem, isn’t it? I know it’s hard not having him around,” she said, her eyes wide and sincere. “Just remember, Darce, you can’t stop living now that Hakeem’s gone. You gotta make sure you don’t sit around feelin’ sorry for yourself. That won’t help anything. ”
“I know, Tarah,” Darcy said, smiling weakly. It was true she missed Hakeem, but that wasn’t what was bothering her now.
“Listen up. We’re havin’ a little cookout at the park on July 4th. My cousin Troy is coming. You two need to meet. He’s school-smart like you, and he’s a junior at Lincoln. I think you two might really get along. ”
“That’s okay, Tarah,” Darcy said. “I don’t—”
“C’mon, girl! What have you got to lose?”
“But Tarah—“
“Darcy, it’ll be fun. Coop’s gonna be there. We’ll have burgers and hot dogs. I’m gonna make my famous chicken. There’s gonna be fireworks. You gotsta be there with us. Besides, it’ll do you some good to get outside. ”
The last thing Darcy wanted was Tarah to fix her up with someone. After Brian, she wasn’t ready to deal with any boy, not even Tarah’s cousin. She knew what the night would be like. Tarah and Cooper would be watching her every move, waiting for some spark with Troy. They would be on display, like the dead frogs in her biology class, pinned up in front of everyone so they could be examined, studied, analyzed. Darcy wanted no part of that.
Darcy knew Tarah had no clue why the idea of meeting a boy bothered her. Tarah didn’t know about Brian, or her nightly terrors, her inability to sleep. And sitting in Niko’s, Darcy was not about to tell her now. Perhaps not ever. The memories were bad enough. But the idea of others, her friends, knowing how vulnerable she had been was ten times worse. It filled her with shame, making her blush.
“Well? Spit it out, girl. Why you look like you just ate a piece of bad pizza?”
Darcy cringed and tried to think of a lie to tell her best friend.
Chapter 3
Just then, Tarah looked up over Darcy’s shoulder. “It’s about time,” she said suddenly. “Where you been at, Coop?”
Darcy was grateful to see Cooper Hodden, Tarah’s boyfriend. She hoped Tarah would drop the subject of the cookout.
As Cooper approached the table, Darcy noticed he smelled of grease. A hand-shaped smudge of oil was streaked across the bottom of his dark blue work shirt. What surprised Darcy most was the angry scowl on his face. She had never seen him look so mad. Normally he was one of the friendliest people Darcy knew. Yet now he almost looked scary.
“Wassup, ladies,” he grumbled, grabbing a chair. “Man, I had the worst day. ”
“What happened?” Tarah asked.
“It’s Duane Nye. If I have to work with him all summer, I think I’ma go crazy. I don’t care if he’s in college. Me and that punk are gonna have problems. ”
“Calm down, Coop. Tell us what happened,” Tarah insisted. “Right now you’re soundin’ like a thug or something. ”
Cooper leaned back and rubbed his forehead as if he had a headache. For the past two summers, he had been working as an assistant at Nye’s Garage, an auto repair shop not far from his house. Darcy knew he planned to become a mechanic. He had joked about it many times.
“The way I see it, people always gonna need someone to fix their cars. So, if I become a mechanic, I’ll always have work and get paid. One day, there’s gonna be a Coop’s Car Center in every neighborhood. People in like Kansas or Alaska or something will see my mug on a poster and say, ‘We gotsta go to Coop’s to get our car fixed,’” Cooper kidded once, but Darcy believed him.
Cooper might not have been the best student at Bluford, but he had more street smarts than anyone Darcy knew. He also had the magic ability to get along with almost everyone. And Cooper was already a skilled mechanic. He kept his old pickup truck running like brand new. Darcy had gone many places in the truck, thanks to Cooper’s skill. Yet now, sitting at the table, he seemed ready to break something, not fix it.
“The problem ain’t my job. It’s Duane, the owner’s son. Since that boy got back from college, he acts like he can run the place, looking down at the rest of us like he’s better than we are. Just ’cause he went to prep school and his dad’s got money,” Cooper said, shrugging his shoulders.
“What happened, Coop?”
“Dude lied and got me in trouble. That’s what happened. ”
“Huh?”
“This afternoon, Mr. Nye asked me to set up three giant displays full of oil cans. It took me two hours to get it exactly the way he wanted them. Then Duane comes along, knocks the display over, and blames it on me. Cans were rolling everywhere, knocking into things. It was embarrassing, and Mr. Nye thinks it’s my fault. ”
“Why don’t you tell him what Duane did?” Darcy asked.
“I tried, but he don’t wanna listen to me or anyone right now. He lets Duane run the show. Dude don’t do jack around the place except cause trouble and boss us around. None of the guys want to say anything ’cause they’re afraid they’ll lose their jobs, so they keep their mouths shut. ”
“I think you should just quit. That job ain’t worth you being upset all summer. This is the third time Duane started trouble with you,” Tarah said. “Besides, there’s got to be some other place you can work, Coop. ”
“I know
what you’re sayin’, but I‘m not runnin’ away from him. Mr. Nye ain’t that bad, and Duane’ll be headed back to college in the fall anyway, so I just gotta stick it out until then. But I’ll tell you, if he keeps pushin’ me, one of these days, I’m gonna push back. ”
“You stop talkin’ like that, Coop,” Tarah cut in. “That Duane can’t get to you unless you let him. He can do and say whatever he wants, but that don’t mean you gotta let it get to you. ”
“Girl, I am tryin’, but it ain’t easy,” Cooper said bitterly. He went on for several minutes about Duane, and how he was always on his cell phone talking to girls while he was supposed to be working. “Dude is nothin’ but a show-off. It’s like everything he does is just to let everyone else know that he’s the man. His yellow sports car. His expensive sunglasses. Even his girlfriends are like that. ”
Something in Darcy’s mind clicked. Darcy had never met Duane Nye, but the description sounded familiar. Too familiar.
“Yeah, well his daddy’s money and college don’t make him a man. Just ’cause he didn’t go to Bluford, don’t mean he’s any better than the rest of us. Sounds like someone needs to tell him that, you know what I’m sayin’?” Tarah said, crossing her arms on her chest.
“You got that right,” Cooper nodded. “But while I’m working there, it ain’t gonna be me. ”
“I can’t believe it,” Darcy said finally. “Coop, was Duane wearing a black shirt today?”
“Yeah, how’d you know?”
“Does he drive a yellow Mazda?”
“Girl, are you psychic or somethin’?” Tarah asked.
Darcy’s heart sank.
“No, I saw him today at Scoops. He’s the one who’s goin’ out with Brisana Meeks. ”
“Oh, no. She didn’t just say that,” Cooper said, glancing briefly at Tarah. “Girl, are you serious?”
“Mmmm hmm, she’s serious all right,” Tarah replied, absorbing what Darcy had just said. “Darcy was just telling me that Duane and Brisana were puttin’ on a show for everybody. ”