Bell Bottom High: Book 3: Junior Jewels

by B. J. Williams

  “Girl, the way you love to read, and after the way you carried on about Nikki Giovanni being in Ebony magazine, I knew this was the perfect gift for you.”

  “Thanks, Joyce, she’s my favorite poet. Well, next to Maya Angelou, she’s my favorite poet. I can’t believe you found a copy of Ego Tripping and Other Poems for Young People in Clifton,” I stated, clutching the book to my heart. “We don’t even have any good bookstores in Arkansas. And the ones we do have hardly sell any black books.”

  “I know,” Joyce said, placing both hands on her hips. Moving her head from side to side, she said, “That’s a shame. That’s why I bought it last week when we went to Dallas to visit my uncle. We found a terrific black-owned bookstore over there, and the owner recommended this one. So I bought it for you.”

  “Thank you, thank you. I’ll probably read this whole book tonight. It’s less than a hundred pages.” I was already flipping through the pages.

  “Oh, no, you won’t!” Joyce snatched the book from me and tossed it on the bed. “You can read this tomorrow when I’m gone. Right now, I have to tell you about my cousin who’s moving here next weekend. I can’t wait to introduce you to him.”

  “Who, what cousin are you talking about?” I narrowed my eyes at Joyce. This sounded like the start of a set-up if I’d ever heard of one.

  “Girl, my cousin, Ricky Johnson, is a real cool cat. We call him R.J., and you’re gonna like him for real. He’s coming down here from Chicago, Illinois, on the bus sometime tomorrow to stay with us for the remainder of the semester. His mom, my dad’s sister, is really sick. I don’t know exactly what’s wrong with her, but she can’t take care of him right now. So my dad agreed to let R.J. come live with us for a while until she gets better. But, who knows,” she said, shrugging her shoulders, “he might decide to just stay down here for good. Doesn’t that sound cool?”

  “Yeah, it does.” I shrugged. “So how old is this Ricky, R.J., whatever?” I flopped down on the bed with Joyce. I reached over and turned on the radio sitting on my nightstand. In seconds, the sound of Van McCoy singing about doing the hustle filled the room. The rhythm and blues dance hit had us tapping our feet as we continued our conversation.

  “He’s sixteen and in the eleventh grade like us. He has an older brother who’s already graduated. But, girl, Ricky is real cute. I tell you, he doesn’t look anything like our family in Arkansas. He’s kind of tall, real slim, high yellow, and wears his hair in these long braids.” Joyce was motioning with her hands as she described her cousin’s fineness.

  Contorting my face, I thought, I should have known he was light-skinned for her to be carrying on like this. I don’t know what it is with Joyce and yellow men.

  “So why is this my first time hearing about this cousin of yours? I’ve known you most of my life. Has his family ever been down here?” I inquired, leaning back on my bed. Joyce grabbed a pillow and hugged it to her chest as she responded.

  “Yeah, they’ve been down here before, but it was a long time ago. You probably just don’t remember them. We were in elementary school then, but they keep in touch and send pictures all the time. That’s how I know how fine he is, and I want to introduce him to you before any of them hussies at school can get their claws into him.”

  “Hold on, now,” I interjected, raising one hand like a stop sign. “I’m not sure if I’m ready for the dating scene, especially with a stranger. I just turned sixteen today, my parents probably want me to take company before I can go out with anyone.”

  “Well, that’s cool.” Joyce pointed a finger in my face. “But your parents probably won’t mind you going out with someone related to me, especially if it’s a double date or something like that.” Joyce was rotating her head again, a sure sign that she felt like she knew what she was talking about.

  “Yeah, right. I think I know my parents better than you,” I responded, just as the doorbell sounded. “I wonder who that is.” I slid off the bed and hurried to answer the front door.

  “Happy birthday, Cuz! How you doing?” The heavyset young man stood with both arms opened wide, wearing a huge grin on his face.

  “Hi, Chubby! What are you doing here?”

  “I heard my favorite cousin was having a birthday today, and I wanted to bring her a present.” He handed me a small gift-wrapped box.

  “Thanks, Chubby, come on in.” I opened the door wider and stepped aside so my favorite cousin, Charles, could enter. He walked through the doorway, opened his arms again, and said, “I’m still waiting for my bear hug.”

  “Sure, you big bear,” I said, giving Chubby a tight squeeze. My arms didn’t reach all the way around him, but that was okay. “I’m glad you stopped by. I’ve hardly seen you at school this semester since we don’t have any classes together.”

  “Yep, I remember a time when we had to have every class together. Man, those were the good ole days.” Chubby laughed.

  “Hey, Chubby. How you doing?” Joyce asked, placing one hand on her hip.

  Turning around, Chubby said, “Hi, Joyce. I’m doing great. How you doing? I haven’t seen you in a while.”

  “I’m doing good. I just came over to celebrate with my girl, Reecy. Are you planning on staying for a while?” Joyce eyed Chubby from top to bottom. He was a thick boy, but he always dressed neatly. Like now, he was wearing a pair of creased bell bottom jeans, a plaid long-sleeved shirt, and a pair of clean white sneakers.

  “Nah, I can’t stay. I’m on my way out right now. I’m going to pick up a friend.”

  “Well, as clean as you’re looking, your friend must be a female,” Joyce stated, using a questionable tone. Her inquiring mind really wanted to know the details.

  Chubby chuckled as he turned to me, and said, “All right, Cuz. I’ll catch you later.”

  “Oh, so you gon’ act like you didn’t hear what I said, Chubby?” Joyce asked, showing a slight attitude with both hands resting on her broad hips.

  “Oh, I’m sorry, did you ask me a question?” Chubby turned to face Joyce, displaying a sly smile.

  “Yes, I was trying to ask if you were going on a date tonight since you’re all dressed up, smelling good, and everything.”

  “Date? Who, me?” Chubby asked, putting on a most appealingly innocent face.

  Joyce gave him a stern look, waiting for him to answer his own question. Finally, he caught on and decided to cooperate.

  “No, no, I’m just going to hang out with some of the fellows down at the Dairy Queen for a minute. Now, y’all have a good night. Matter of fact, you ladies can come join us if you want to.” Chubby added, watching Joyce’s reaction.

  “No, we’re going to stay here tonight and do some girlie stuff like paint our toes,” I chimed in.

  “Okay, if you change your mind, you know where I’ll be.” Chubby gave me another hug and rushed out the door faster than a ranger running to put out a forest fire.

  “Girl, I’m in love with your cousin! He is so superfly with his chubby self,” Joyce said, closing the front door. She filled the room with her loud voice. “I’d forgotten how fine he was until seeing him just now. You know, I love me some light-skinned brothers, but he’s a good-looking chocolate drop.”

  I looked at Joyce like she was an alien. “Will you calm down, please? What’s with you? All of a sudden you have gone boy crazy on me,” Walking back to my bedroom, I was shaking my head along the way.

  As soon as we were back in the confines of my private room, I reminded Joyce of the predicament she’d found herself in last year. “Do you remember what happened last year and how you swore to never do it again?”

  “Yes, how could I forget that whole nightmare with Rodney Payne giving me a venereal disease after doing it just one time? I’ll never forget how embarrassed I was that day you went with me to see the school nurse, and she told me that I probably had Chlamydia. Then, when my mom found out from reading my journal, I thought I was going to die.” Joyce rested her head against a pillow like it had taken all of her ene
rgy to recall the situation.

  “I know. That seems like such a long time ago, but it was just the beginning of last school year. I remember you telling me how painful your first time was, and I don’t know if I ever want to experience that,” I said, cringing.

  “Anyway, I didn’t say I wanted to do it with the boy, I’d just like to get to know him better.”

  “Sure, just like you’d like for me to get to know your cousin, Ricky, better.”

  “That’s right; why not? It’s fun to talk with guys and hang out with them sometime. In fact, I have an idea.” Joyce displayed a sneaky grin before continuing. “Why don’t…”

  We almost slid off the bed at the sound of the sharp rapping on the door. We looked up to see Mama standing in the doorway with a huge bowl of popcorn. She entered the room saying, “I thought you girls might like a little snack.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” we shouted, taking the bowl from Mama like it was the last supper.

  “All right, you all enjoy yourselves. I’ll be in the living room watching television if you need anything, okay?”

  We thanked Mama for her warm hospitality. While I dug into the bowl with both hands, Joyce was eager to finish her suggestion statement. “Like I was about to say, why don’t we all go out on a double date next weekend?”

  I stopped chewing on the mouthful of popcorn I’d been crunching on and gave Joyce a funny look. “What do you mean by, ‘we all?’”

  “I’m talking about you, Ricky, Chubby, and me,” Joyce replied, pointing at herself, acting like it was the best idea she’d ever had.

  “Whoa! Wait a minute. I’m glad to be old enough to date and all, but I haven’t even met your cousin. So excuse me for not getting excited about him.”

  “Girl, I’m not even worried. As soon as you lay eyes on R.J., you’ll be thanking me forever, because he’s a real cool cat. You’ll see,” Joyce said, boasting with confidence. She reached for the popcorn bowl and grabbed a handful of the buttery puffs.

  Joyce was chomping down hard when she suddenly asked me, “Girl, what’s wrong with your face?” Leaning in, she narrowed her eyes, and said, “You have little red bumps everywhere.”

  “Oh, no,” I slid off the bed and rushed across the room to my vanity dresser. I checked out my bumpy face in the mirror. Just when I’d gotten my skin silky smooth, I had to ruin it by wearing inferior-quality cosmetics. “It must be a reaction to that cheap make-up I bought from the dollar store. I’ve got to get it off.”

  I scurried out the bedroom and stepped straight into the bathroom with Joyce on my heels. I put on some Noxzema, wet a facecloth, and rinsed away every trace of make-up I’d put on. Watching the brown powder drain down the sink, I affirmed, “I’m done. I’ve never wearing this stuff again.”

  “Well, it didn’t look bad on you. I like it, but you probably need to try the Avon line or something for sensitive skin,” Joyce said. “My aunt sells it. I bet she can get us some samples to try if you want.”

  “No, that’s okay, at least for now anyway. I just want my face to clear up before we go back to school on Monday morning. I’m already teased enough as it is. If some of my nemeses see this, they’ll really aggravate me.” I sighed while fighting back the tears. It had been such a great birthday up until this point. Now I had to deal with being a pimple-faced teenager all over again. I wish I’d never touched that stupid make-up. I finally had decent-looking skin for the first time in my life, and now it’s worse than it ever was before.

  “Girl, please, you jiving me, right? I don’t know why you let anybody at that school bother you the way you do. That’s why they won’t leave you alone, they know it bothers you. And I could beat the yellow skin off of that po’ Leslie Harper myself. She’s just jealous, because she’s not as smart as you anyway.”

  “Why would Leslie be jealous of me? She’s smart enough to be number three in the class.” I headed back to my bedroom. Stretching out on the bed, I buried my stinging face in a pillow.

  Joyce stretched out on the opposite end of the bed, and said, “Yeah, she’s number three, but she’d like to be where you are, at number one. You know, she’s a spoiled little rich girl who thinks that she should be at the top of everything including the honor roll. But too bad for her, that’s never going to happen, because you got that on lockdown for real. And James has the second spot with his conceited self, so I don’t know what Ms. Leslie is going to do.”

  Although Joyce tried hard to cheer me up, I remained in a solemn mood for the rest of the evening. I felt like Joyce just didn’t understand my situation; even the peppy music on the radio couldn’t get me up on my feet. But as luck would have it, the baritone disc jockey finally played a tune by the Jackson Five. “Up next, we have a popular single titled, “All I Do Is Think of You” that’s making its way to the top from the album Moving Violation.

  Removing the pillow from my red face, I smiled up at the picture of Michael Jackson on my wall, and thought, Michael understands me.

  CHAPTER THREE

  By Monday morning, my bumpy face was all cleared up, and I was ecstatic about that. I’d prayed all day Sunday, and in between applications of Noxzema, for my skin to get better. Now I was walking down the hallway at Charles E. Bell High School with Joyce, about to meet the male cousin she had been bragging about all weekend. I was tired of hearing about the guy that all the girls would want to date, but now that he was in my line of vision, I could see what the fuss was all about. Man, he’s fine as a dime.

  From a distance, I saw an unfamiliar face strolling toward us like he didn’t have any cares in the world. The fair-skinned young man looked exactly like Joyce had described. He had on a pair of medium blue jeans, a colorful plaid shirt, and an oversized brown leather jacket all fitting like they were custom-designed for his slim body. I could tell that the guy wasn’t from Clifton because of his braided hairstyle, the hip clothes he wore, and the way he pimp-walked down the hall like he was the coolest brotha’ on the planet. The dude looked like this was his first trip to the south, and he wanted everyone at the school to notice him as a city slicker.

  Stopping in front of my locker, I smiled at the approaching figure. I was glad that I had worn a fly smock top over my best-fitting, bell bottom jeans and a pair of brown platform shoes to complete the fashionable look. Oh, my goodness! He is so cute. Joyce was right, all the girls are going to be after him.

  “Hey, Cuz, how you doing?” the male asked.

  “What’s happening, R.J.?” Joyce responded. “I’d like you to meet my best friend, Reecy Jones. And Reecy Jones, this is my favorite cousin, Ricky Johnson.

  Reaching out, Ricky shook hands with me, and commented, “That’s cool. You know, we have the same initials.”

  “Oh, yeah, we do, don’t we?” I tilted my head to get a better look at his smiling face. Feeling a slight tingle from the touch of his hand, I quickly pulled it back. He was definitely cuter than I’d expected. “It’s nice to meet you, Ricky.” At least that’s what I think I said.

  “Please, just call me R.J. That’s what all my friends in Chicago called me, but it’s a pleasure to meet you, too, Ms. Reecy. Your name reminds me of a Reese’s peanut butter cup.” R.J. flashed his killer, gold-tooth grin.

  “Oh, yeah,” I gushed. “That’s my favorite candy.”

  “Mine, too,” R.J. replied, maintaining eye contact. If my heart could have jumped out of my chest, it would have. I had never felt this type of instant attraction to any guy before now. Maybe it was his rugged good looks, or the glimmer in his eyes, or the warmth of his handshake. I hope he didn’t notice my sweaty palms. Oh, please don’t let me faint.

  Glancing around, I noticed all eyes were on us in the narrow hallway which was now beginning to get clustered with students rushing to their first class of the day. I felt as if time was standing still and people were moving in slow motion around us. I was the princess in the grand ballroom with the handsome prince staring into my eyes ready to twirl me across the dance floor.

/>   “Where’s your first class, R.J.?” Joyce asked, breaking through my Cinderella trance.

  Pulling out his class schedule, R.J. read from the sheet. “It looks like I have English III in Room 114. Any idea where that is?”

  “Yeah, we’re headed in that direction. You can walk with us,” Joyce offered.

  “All right then, Cuz, thanks a lot.”

  Joyce made a step and noticed that I wasn’t on her heels like I usually was. “Reecy, are you coming with us? We need to hurry, the bell is about to sound.”

  As much as I wanted to move like my mind was telling me to do, my feet didn’t want to cooperate. It took all of my strength to get my thoughts and steps in sync. “Yeah, I’m coming,” I finally responded, walking between the two of them. This is going to be an awesome day.

  When we walked past Leslie Harper standing to the side with her clique of three friends, openly admiring our male companion, I wanted to ask, “How you like me now?”

  Smiling to myself, I didn’t dare look back to see the expressions on any of their faces. It didn’t matter, because just the thought of them envying me was priceless.

  “Here’s your class, Cuz,” Joyce said at the sound of the first bell. “Have a great day, because we’ve got to hustle to get to the next building for our Social Studies class. Ms. Walker don’t play that being-late stuff.”

  “I hear you. Thanks for everything,” he said to Joyce. Then, turning to face me, he continued, “And thank you, peanut butter cup, for escorting me to my class. I really appreciate that and look forward to getting to know you better if that’s all right with you.”

  My eyes bulged at his statement. Nodding my head, I could barely get the words out, although they were screaming in my head. “Yes, that sounds good.”

  “Okay, then, maybe we can hang together at lunch or after school today,” R.J. replied, licking his bottom lip.