I hated to, but I got on up and did what he said. When I came out of the bathroom a few minutes later, he and Nyla were sitting on the bed watching cartoons.
“You ready?” Pops asked when I came out of the bathroom.
“Yes, sir,” I mumbled.
“You gotta problem?” Pops stood up and asked.
“No,” I answered but I ain’t gone lie, I couldn’t help it if I couldn’t sound all excited like I guess he expected me to be.
“You all puffed up, your jaws all on swoll, like you mad or something. You better straighten up.”
“Pops, I can’t take Nyla with me,” I told him like I was a grown man. “I’m sick of doing this. I’m sick of not having a place to sleep; I’m sick of having to go stand in a soup kitchen line. If Momz was…”
“Shut yo mouth!” Pops hollered. “Your mother isn’t here and I don’t wanna hear your smart azz mouth. You think I like being in this predicament? Huh? You got the answers? Come on, Nyla,” Pops kept yelling. ““So you think you just gone up and walk off from me? You think you can do better out here in these streets?” Pops yelled.
“You know what? Maybe I can. I sure can’t do any worse.” I couldn’t help it; I was mad, even madder than Pops. I couldn’t take it anymore.
“Come on, Nyla,” Pops hollered and stormed out of the motel.
I grabbed my stuff as fast I could and followed them. Pops and Nyla were already in the Yukon. When I started walking toward the truck, he started driving off.
What was he doing? Was he leaving me? “Hold up!” I yelled.
Pops came to a slow stop and I ran and caught up with him. “What about me?” I asked when he rolled down the window.
“Oh, I thought you could do better,” Pops barked.
I had to admit that I was wrong and he was right. “I’m sorry, Pops.”
Pops unlocked the door. “Get your butt in this truck.”
I did as I was told and this time I didn’t talk back.
At first Pops drove along without saying a word, but then finally he spoke. “Look, son, we need to all stick together. We don’t have time for this. Not me, and not you. We have to work together, son, not against each other. We have Nyla to look out for. We are all we have.”
I hung my head in shame because I felt terrible. He was right. Although I knew he was right; it still didn’t change our circumstances and I didn’t know what would.
Chapter 9
Me and Sierra started hanging out at school almost all the time. I really liked her, I liked her a lot. Zach and Juvaun teased me about it, but I didn’t care ‘cause Sierra was hot. I didn’t even think about Rihanna as much ‘cause Sierra was my Rihanna.
“Nyl, me and some friends are going to the movie Friday night. I want you to meet me there,” she told me when we were talking in the hallway after lunch.
“Uh, I don’t know about that. I’ll see. I got some stuff I have to do this weekend.”
“Come on, Nyl, why can’t you come? All you ever think about is playing ball.”
“That’s cause I’m trying to make something happen with basketball, Sierra. Plus, just like you love doing that cheerleading stuff, well, I love playing B-ball, I said and twirled the basketball I was carrying in the air on one finger.
“But I want you to come,” she told me. “I want to see you someplace other than school sometimes.”
I thought about it. She was right. Why did I have to be stuck with Nyla and Pops all the time? I needed to be with my friends sometimes. “K, I’ll be there.”
Sierra started smiling, and I smiled back. I would figure out how I was going to get to the movie plus get the money to get in the movie later; but for now, all I could think about was being with Sierra this weekend.
“Hey,” I said, “Come on, I got to get to my next period.” I leaned in and kissed her on the lips and then we walked toward our next class.
“Wait, Nyl.”
“Whuzzup?” I stopped, turning toward her.
“Am I your girlfriend?”
I looked at her like she was on drugs or something. Of course, she was my girlfriend. “What are you talkin’ about, Sierra?”
“’Cause, if I am, you never asked me. So tell me, wassup?”
Sierra was right; I hadn’t asked her if she would be my girlfriend but I thought that since we were hanging out at school and after the games, that she would know that she was my girl. But to satisfy her I answered, “Okay, then. Sierra, will you be my girlfriend?”
Sierra laughed. Yea. I’ll be your girlfriend.” She took hold of my hand and then she kissed me again before we took off to our next class.
I felt good. Sierra was my girlfriend and I couldn’t be happier. Finally, something was going right in my life.
∞
Friday came and man was I glad we didn’t have a game, but Pops didn’t know that, so after he came and picked up Nyla, he left me at the school. I had a pair of jeans and a polo shirt that I had in my locker that I changed into after basketball practice. I had talked to Zach the other day and asked him if he was going to the movies and he said he was. We were supposed to go to the one called the Paradiso which was in East Memphis.
He told me I could go home with him and that his brother would take us. I told him that my Pops thought I was having a game and Zach thought it was cool how I had devised a plan to get out and do something I wanted to do for a change.
I had everything planned to the tee. When Pops went to sleep, I went in the glove compartment and got a twenty-dollar bill from the black plastic pouch hidden underneath piles of papers, where Pops kept his money. It was never more than fifty dollars in the glove compartment, at least that’s the most I saw he ever had. He said he kept that money for gas to get back and forth to work, or for times when we were down to our very very last dime and he would use it to get us something to eat. Well, tonight, like it or not, I was going to use some of it to have some fun. Plus, what’s twenty dollars anyway? He probably spent that much for the liquor he bought. I wasn’t going to worry about it; and if he missed it, then I would have to come up with something to tell him. For now, all I wanted to do was be a normal teenager and have fun.
While Pops and Nyla were off doing whatever, I was going to be at the Paradiso with my friends, but especially with Sierra.
We got to the movie and almost right away, I saw Sierra. She looked so dang fine. She had on some skinny jeans that looked like they had been painted on her. I walked over to where she was and kissed her on her lips, then I put my hand around her waist. We went inside the movie and for the first time in a very long time, I felt like a normal person. No problems, no thinking about being homeless, just chilling with my girl. I had the best time I’d had all year. Me, Sierra, Zach and his girl, all cuddled up in the movie. I got a chance to chill with Sierra and of course we made out. We sat at the very back so no one could see that we were more interested in each other than the movie.
After the movie ended, I asked Zach’s brother to take me back to Fairley ‘cause that’s where my Pops was going to pick me up.
“Hey, bruh, you sure your Pops is coming to pick you up? I can take you home you know,” Zach’s brother offered after we got to the empty school parking lot.
“Yeah, it’s deserted up here,” Zach added. “What time is he supposed to come anyway?”
“He’ll be here in a minute. I already texted him and told him I was on my way back up here.” That wasn’t exactly true of course. But hey, it is what it is.
“You think your Pops really believes you had a game tonight?” Zach asked.
“Yea, I told you he thinks we had an AWAY game. He’ll be here.”
“Okay, but I’ll wait a few minutes. I don’t wanna leave you out here by yourself,” Zach’s brother said.
I shrugged my shoulders. “Cool,” I said. The three of us sat in the car, and me and Zach talked about the good time we had tonight.
I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket, but I didn’t answer it. It was probably Sierra.
She said she was going to text me when she got home. I wasn’t about to pull out my phone for Zach or his brother to see.
I would just text her back after Pops came and picked me up. Everything had worked out just as I planned, and I was glad I had the chance to have some straight up fun for a change.
After sitting on the parking lot for about thirty minutes, Zach said, “There he is.”
I looked around and saw headlights. “Later,” I said to Zach and his brother and hopped out of the car. I stood there as they pulled off and Pops drove up beside me.
“Get yo %#@! in this truck,” Pops hollered as soon as the window came down.
Man, was I glad Zach and his brother had left. I definitely didn’t want them to see this part of my Pops. Had he missed the twenty dollars already?
I opened the door and got inside. Pops smacked me upside my head so hard I thought I saw stars. I wanted to hit him back but I knew better.
“You wanna lie? Huh?”
I ducked just as his hand flew up to swat me again. He missed.
“Where the hell have you been?” he asked. “You didn’t have a game. I ran into your coach at Wal-Mart.
“I…I was with my friends,” I said but refused to look at him. I didn’t want him to hit me again, so I stayed as close to the door as possible.
“Well, you should have stayed with your friends then ‘cause the last thing I’m going to have around me is a liar.”
He must not have missed the twenty dollars yet. Boy, was I glad about that.
Nyla was in the back seat crying. She always got upset when Pops got upset.
“I’m tired of living in this Yukon! I’m tired of never being able to go with my friends! I’m tired of not having a place to live!” I screamed at Pops. I was sick of Pops. I was sick of my situation and I was sick and tired of being treated like a little kid.
Pops wasn’t having it though. He opened his door, jumped out the driver’s seat, ran around to the passenger’s door, and yanked it open. He snatched me out of the Yukon, and slammed me on the hood.
“Then you stole from me too? You gone bite the hand that feeds your azz!” Pops yelled.
I held back my tears, and as bad as it hurt, I was glad that I had a chance to get away and do something that I wanted to do for a change. I guess it was just part of the consequences I had to face to have fun on my own, so I still didn’t regret doing what I did. Maybe I should've asked Pops if I could hang out awhile with my friends, but I didn’t wanna take the chance of him telling me, ‘no, or worse, ‘take your sister.’
Pops drove to a Holiday Inn this time and we parked.
“I don’t care what you have to do, but you betta get my money back, and you betta not ever lie to me again or I’ll break yo back,” he continued yelling while we were on the hotel parking lot. “You think you grown, then you can get out and take care of yourself. Come to think of it, since you want to go around stealing and lying, maybe you don’t need to be on the team. I don’t think your coach would take lightly to hearing he has a thief on the team.”
I couldn’t believe he was threatening to make me stop playing ball, and he was going to tell Coach too? If he did make me quit, then it was over. I was definitely going to leave. I don’t care if I had to be a runaway. Hopefully, he didn’t mean what he said about taking me off the team.
“Pops, please. I promise it won’t happen again. I just wanted to be with my friends. I know what I did was wrong; but I’ll earn the money back. But, please don’t make me get off the team and please don’t tell Coach.”
“Look, I’m really upset, and I’m disappointed in you. You should have come to me if you wanted something. What you did is serious, son. You don’t steal from me and you don’t lie to me.”
Pops went on and on until finally I just tuned him out and started thinking about Sierra. I thought about how good Sierra’s body felt when I touched her and how sweet her lips tasted; it had all been worth it. It took a minute, but Pops finally stopped going off. After him and Nyla fell asleep, I texted Sierra.
“I had a good time 2nite”
“Me 2.”
“u felt good”
She texted back, ‘lol’
WYD?
Nuthin,” she texted. “WYD?”
“nuthin, bout 2 watch tv,” I lied.
k. Im @ Shana’s house,” she texted.
Shana was one of her friends and she was on the cheerleading team with Sierra.
k ttyl,” I texted.
k ttyl,” she answered back.
Chapter 10
Early Saturday morning, we headed to St. Mary’s again. Don’t get it twisted; Pops was still mad but this morning he hadn’t said anything else about what I did last night.
We stood in the long line full of men, women, and children. I never knew before how many families were homeless until we became homeless. As we moved slowly forward in line, I started wondering about the other people who were here. I saw a few little girls around Nyla’s age, a boy who looked to be about the same age as me, a few kids who looked no more than four or five years old, and women who looked raggedy, tired, and broke down. Some of the men looked like they hadn’t bathed in months, and they smelled like it too. What had happened to them? Had someone they loved died too? Did they get fired from their job like Pops had? Were they crackheads? That’s what I used to think about homeless people, that they were all crackheads. But my dad and sister and me weren’t like that. Sure, Pops drank a little, but he was still a good dad compared to some kids who didn’t even have a dad in their life, like Zach. Zach and his brother didn’t know where their dad was according to Zach. His mom was raising him and his brothers and sisters as a single mom. But they still had a house to live in, a place to keep warm, and all of that. So why couldn’t we go back to living the way we used to? I had a lot of questions for Pops. Thing is, no way would I ask him any of them. I was too afraid that he would get mad. He used to not be like that.
I wish Momz knew how bad off we were now that she was gone. I’ve heard some church people say that the dead know what the living are doing. If that’s the case why didn’t Momz make something happen for us up there in heaven. If she’s with God, seems to me like she could at least go to him and put in a good word for us, ask him to open some doors for Pops and help him get a job and us a decent place to live. Why wouldn’t she do it if she sees what we’re going through? This whole world is one big ball of confusion. Maybe I’ll understand it better as I get older, but for now I couldn’t manage to wrap my brain around any of what was going on in our lives right now. None of it made sense. Not heaven, not God, nothing.
I tried not to think about it anymore. I had enough to worry about. I helped Nyla get her tray and plastic fork and spoon while moving on up in the line.
I know I must have turned three shades darker when I saw guess who? Sierra! She was standing behind the long counter serving food. What was she doing here? Man, I wanted to crawl up in a hole and die. I looked at my Pops. This was all his fault. At that moment, I hated him. Hated him for having us in this terrible, terrible situation. I just knew I was going to be the laughing stock of Fairley High if Sierra had anything to say about it.
“Nyl? Oh my God,” she said right away. She had a weird look on her face. I guess she had to be shocked to see me in a soup kitchen line because I was just as shocked to see her serving food at St. Mary’s. As many times as we’d been to St. Mary’s in the past, I’d never seen Sierra. Man, what bad luck.
“Be quiet,” I heard one of the servers tell her.
“Nyl, what are you doing here?” she asked, as I came closer, ignoring what the server had told her. She couldn’t take her eyes off me and she almost missed putting a sandwich onto the plate of the person ahead of me. Her mouth dropped wide open and I could see her eyes buck. “Excuse me for a minute. I need to go to the bathroom,” she said to the lady standing next to her. “I’ll be right back.”
“Can you wait until we serve this group?” She looke
d at Sierra. I watched as Sierra shrugged her shoulders and then looked back at me.
“Wassup, Sierra,” I mumbled, trying to sound like I was cool and could care less. I couldn’t face her, so I kept my head down and hoped she wouldn’t keep talking to me. As bad as I wanted to rush out of there, I knew I wasn’t because this might be the only meal I would have for the day or for days. Plus, I wasn’t going to run off like some little girl, I was no wuss so I had to stand my ground. I had to suck it up and suffer the horrible consequences I knew would probably follow.
Pops stared back at me and nodded for me to keep moving forward. There were still a lot of people in line behind us and the soup kitchen only stayed open for four hours total.
Nyla was singing one of the songs that some of the volunteers at St Mary’s would sometimes sing while people stood in line to be fed. It was like she was in her own little fantasy world where nothing bad ever happened to her. But here I was, face to face with the girl of my dreams, the one who just yesterday I had made out with. Now here she was looking at me like I was. She placed the food on my plate, and then the rest of the servers passed out fruit, chips, and gave us our drinks. It was the most embarrassing moment in my whole life. How was I going to go back to school and face everybody after this?
“Aren’t you going to say something, Nyl Person,” she asked me while batting her eyes.
Say something? I thought. What else did she expect me to say, thank you Ms. Sierra for giving me some food? Did she actually think I was going to tell her or her sidekick thank you? She was out of her mind.
Jeesh, I wished I could up and disappear, but instead I forced myself to say, “Whaddup.”
“You’re…you’re homeless? I can’t believe this.” She elbowed the girl standing next to her who bowed her head and starting laughing.
“Nyl Person is homeless?” I heard the girl say to Sierra. “And he supposed to be your man?”
“He is not my man,” she snapped at the girl.
“Talkin’ about mad; I was so fired up. They were talking about me like I wasn’t even standing there. And Sierra was dissing me too. Yesterday she was all over me and today she didn’t wanna have nothing to do with me.
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