by Omar Tyree
Tracy wore one of her prettiest skirts to school on Tuesday. It was royal blue with white and gold hemlines. And she wore the rubber-soled blue shoes that her father had bought her, anticipating playing catch.
Tracy walked through the halls with a new attitude, expecting to be happy. Aaron hadn’t arrived in class, but Tommy was there, and he was in her way. Tracy decided to ignore him while she waited patiently for her young Romeo to enter the classroom.
Tommy asked a few questions, trying to get Tracy’s attention. She answered him snobbishly, still trying to ignore him. But Tommy stayed right in her face. Tracy then asked to be excused to the bathroom. While walking through the hallway, she spotted Aaron turning the corner. Tracy slipped inside of the bathroom and went to the mirror to see how she looked. She was impressed and confident. But no confidence could match Aaron’s. Tracy knew it. She was as scared and as nervous as Celena was.
Walking back into class was like performing on stage for the first time. Tracy felt like everyone was waiting for her to do something. From the corner of her eye, she noticed Aaron looking at her. She quickly turned away from him, acting as though she was still angry. Nevertheless, Aaron’s cute brown face and big energetic eyes were glued to hers. As he started to smile in her direction, Tracy held back a bomb of excitement. She was ready to nab Aaron, despite what anyone said.
Tracy walked slowly to where the boys played football during recess. She took Celena with her for security. Aaron played with all of his concentration while Tommy ran near them every chance he got. But Tracy’s eyes were for Aaron only.
Every time Aaron did something, Tracy clapped her hands and shouted. Aaron shook his head and frowned at her. She didn’t care what he did, as long as he noticed her.
Tommy was getting jealous. Even though they were on the same team, he began to purposefully bump into Aaron. After a while, Aaron realized what was going on. He ignored it a few times because Tommy was his best friend. Yet it was getting on his last nerve. He felt he could easily beat Tommy, but he didn’t want to fight over a girl.
Tommy bumped into Aaron one time too many, and that was it. Aaron had to straighten it out, once and for all.
“Look, I don’t like that girl, man, so stop trying to start a fight with me,” he said, loud enough for Tracy to hear.
Tracy’s nerves were shot. She had gone through all kinds of troubles for him, and yet he could just throw her efforts away in front of all of his friends. He hadn’t even spoken to her. He was simply not interested.
Tracy felt like running away to cry, but her mother had told her to be strong, so she concealed her pain. And she felt dedicated to a new project: to get Aaron Barnes to like her before they graduated from elementary school.
“You want me to walk you home, Tracy?” Tommy asked after school.
“No,” Tracy told him. She then crossed the street just to get away from him.
Tommy responded by following her. “Why not?”
“Because I don’t want you to,” Tracy snapped. She wasn’t interested in Tommy anymore.
“We can go to the store, and I’ll buy you some candy,” he told her.
“I don’t want no candy, boy.”
“Aw, come on, Tracy, you let me walk you home yesterday.”
“Well, that was yesterday.”
“I bet if I was Aaron, you’d let me walk you home. And he’ll never do it,” Tommy snapped back at her with gleaming red hair.
Tracy gave Tommy the evil eye. “How you know, boy?”
“ ’Cause he just won’t. He don’t like girls.”
“Well, I don’t like you either.”
“I didn’t say that I didn’t like you,” Tommy said, confused that she had heard him wrong.
“So. I don’t like you anyway, so leave me alone.”
“Stupid,” Tommy mumbled, turning away from her.
“Who you callin’ stupid, boy?” Tracy said, facing him.
“I wasn’t talking about you.”
“Yes you was. I heard ’ju.”
“Okay, I’m sorry,” Tommy said, hopping back over to her. “Please, I just got mad. So can I walk you, Tracy, please?”
“NO! Leave me alone, boy!”
• • •
Tracy felt better after turning Tommy down. She walked into her house and stared out of the window. It was too cold to stand outside. She thought about what she would do the next day at school to get Aaron’s attention while watching cars drive up and down her block.
Mercedes walked up with a boy who handed her a gold chain. She snuck him a kiss on the lips and headed toward her house. Tracy looked at the boy to see if he was cute. After confirming that he was, she ran to the door to invite Mercedes in.
Tracy smiled at her. “Who was that boy, Mercedes?”
“My boyfriend.”
“Why he give you that chain?”
Mercedes tried it on. “Because he wanted to. Look,” she said, pulling out a football jersey from her book-bag. “He let me hold this, too. He’s a senior on the football team.”
“Uuuuw, he’s too old for you,” Tracy squealed.
Mercedes cracked a devilish grin. “Girl, he’s only two years older than me. When you get older, you can go wit’ older guys.”
“Where you gonna wear that without your father knowing?”
Mercedes responded with a frown. “Fuck him. I hate him.”
Tracy cringed, shying away from the foul language Mercedes was using.
“He’s always trying to tell somebody what to do. That’s why he don’t know what I be doin’ now.”
“What ’chew be doin’?” Tracy asked her.
“Girl, you too young to know.”
“No I’m not, Mercedes. Tell me.”
“Do you have a boyfriend yet?”
“No, but I like this boy named Aaron, though.”
Mercedes took off the chain and put it inside of her small leather pocketbook. “Does he like you?”
“No, because he’s into playing football and stuff.”
Mercedes stared at Tracy curiously. “Did you try to kiss him yet?”
Tracy was horrified. “NO, GIRL!”
Mercedes was getting “nasty.”
“Some boys respond better when you kiss them first,” she said, grinning at Tracy’s uproar.
“But I don’t wanna kiss him,” Tracy whined.
“Well, I guess you can’t get him then, ’cause once you give a boy something, he’ll give you things, too. I got a lot of stuff, now.”
“Why, you was kissing boys a lot?” Tracy asked her.
Mercedes burst out with wicked laughter. “I’ve been doin’ way more than that,” she said.
Mercedes is nasty, Tracy thought. “Well, I’m not gon’ kiss no boy, just for him to like me.”
“You won’t ever get the ones you want then,” Mercedes told her as she left.
Tracy thought it over. She would never go as far as a kiss to get a boy. Aaron probably wouldn’t let her get close enough to kiss him, anyway. He’d probably get mad at her.
“Mercedes! Come in here and sit down!” her mother shouted at her as soon as she walked into the house. “Now I know you’ve been running around here with these boys lately. And I saw that one give you the chain. I want you to give it back to him.”
Mercedes waited to hear all that her mother had to say. She knew Beth was permissive. Mercedes had little respect for her mother. Beth had never lent a hand to help her in disputes involving her mean-spirited father. She didn’t deserve any respect in Mercedes’ eyes.
“Now look, your father has given you a lot of time to go out and all, since you’re fifteen now, but that doesn’t mean you can run around with all these different boys.”
“Aw, mom, ain’t nobody runnin’ around with a bunch of boys. I know him from school.”
“Oh, you think you’re grown now, don’t you? Well, I know about them late-night phone calls you make, too. You’re not slick.”
“So what, mom?
I’m tired of him. I’m ready to move out and go live at Aunt Mary’s house and go to public school anyway. I hate going to Catholic school.”
“Mercedes, you don’t want to live in that neighborhood with all that shooting and stuff going on,” Beth said, disturbed by her daughter’s plans.
“It ain’t like I’m gon’ walk outside and get hit by a bullet. It ain’t that bad!”
Beth pleaded. “They got drugs and stuff down South Philly, you know, and you don’t need to be down there.”
“Well, I ain’t stayin’ here much longer,” Mercedes revealed. She began to take off her uniform.
Her mother continued pleading, “What’s so wrong with living here? This is a beautiful neighborhood.”
“I mean, I got no problem with the neighborhood. I just hate living with him.”
“He only acts like that because he doesn’t know how to show his love.”
“Mom, I’m tired of you telling me how you understand him and all, ’cause I don’t. I’m sorry!”
“Well, if you’d listen—”
“No, mom, I’m tired of listening to you. I don’t know why you married him anyway!”
Mercedes stomped upstairs to her room. Beth followed after her.
Raheema listened in from her door.
“I don’t know who you think you’re talking to, girl. That’s your father,” Beth said.
Mercedes faced her mother and yelled, “Look, mom, could you leave me alone, please?”
“Stop being hard-headed, girl.”
“Ain’t nobody being hard-headed. Just leave me the hell alone!” Mercedes shouted.
Raheema stood at her door, watching from the hallway.
Beth reached out to smack Mercedes, but she was too slow. Mercedes grabbed her hand.
“Okay, mom, you tough now after he beat you up all these years, right?” she said harshly. Mercedes looked her mother straight in the eyes.
Beth left the room in shock. Raheema pledged right then and there that she would never be as devious as her older sister. Mercedes was no longer afraid of Keith, and she showed outright disrespect toward her mother. She might have even hit her mother back if Beth had succeeded in slapping her. It was more than Raheema could take. Mercedes’ actions scared her more than her father’s did.
Raheema began to think that her sister was possessed. Mercedes had transformed into a cursing, sneaky monster who seemed to fear nothing. She no longer did her homework like she used to, and she began to receive bad grades on her report card. She would leave for the movies on Saturday mornings and not come home until late at night. She even refused to go out with the rest of the family on occasion. And Keith never forced her to go.
Mercedes was getting away with everything. She could openly argue with her father and not be hit or punished for it. Mercedes began to say what she wanted to his face. And she had been sneaking around with boys for two years.
Raheema quietly went to her sister’s room and observed her while she listened to her earphones, blocking everyone out.
Raheema walked over and tapped Mercedes on the shoulder.
“What do you want, girl?” Mercedes asked her, snappishly.
“I’m scared for you, Mercedes.”
“Girl, get out of my damn room. You stupid, and he gon’ ruin your life, too.”
“Yeah, but I won’t turn out like you, ’cause I hate you!”
“So what, Ra-Ra? I always hated you, so get out!”
Raheema left Mercedes’ room in tears. She loved her sister, but she feared what she had become. Mercedes cared less about the family. She cared only about herself. She was no longer the quiet sister Raheema used to know, so she decided to stay away from her.
• • •
Aaron repeatedly dodged Tracy’s attempts to get his attention at school. Tracy brought him candy from home, and Aaron refused to take it. She offered him some of her lunch, and Aaron took it and walked away. She even spread rumors around the school that he liked her. Aaron simply ignored it, while still playing football.
One time at recess, Tracy took Aaron’s ball after convincing Tommy to give it to her. When Aaron said that she could have it and that he didn’t care, she turned to walk away, only to have him swoop by and snatch it back from her. Tracy even tried to take his jacket, embarrassingly taking the wrong one.
Finally Tracy asked Aaron to go with her. He walked right by her, putting his hands over his ears, telling her “no.” Tracy hung around the lunch table where he sat to eat. Aaron didn’t seem to notice. But she knew that he knew. All the girls commended Tracy for trying so hard, but they would never adopt her methods. Tracy was obsessed with the boy.
She began to let older sixth-graders walk her home to make Aaron jealous, but he would only laugh and call her “stupid.” The older boys respected him for keeping her hooked, but Aaron didn’t care. The sixth-graders began advising him to talk to her. Aaron acted as though he didn’t have any ears. And finally Tracy was willing to kiss him. Patti kissed her father when she wanted him to stay. So why couldn’t Tracy kiss Aaron?
Tracy walked into school with a plan to kiss Aaron on the lips. She only needed him to listen to her to pull it off. She didn’t really think it would work, but it was worth a try.
“Ay Aaron, that girl, Tracy, likes you, man. Why you be ignoring her?” a sixth-grader said before walking into school.
“Why don’t you go with her?” Aaron retorted.
“I tried to. But she don’t like me. She likes you, man.”
Aaron frowned at him. “What she like me for?”
“I’on know, man. Some girls never make no sense.”
“I know, so why should I talk to her?” Aaron asked as they entered the building.
“ ’Cause she’s pretty, man.”
“So what? I got a sister that’s pretty, too.”
“What that got to do with anything?”
“So I’m not interested,” Aaron answered. “My sister makes me sick, like all girls.”
“Well, Tracy ain’t your sister, man.”
“So, she a girl, and she acts like my sister.”
The sixth-grader grimaced his long, brown face. “Man, stop acting stupid and just talk to her.”
Aaron sighed, finally giving in to suggestion. “Yeah, aw’ight, man. I’ll talk to her. But I still don’t like her.”
Aaron walked into his advisory class and immediately noticed Tracy staring at him. She was out to wear him down.
Tracy called him over to her as soon as they got a break from class. She didn’t think he would come to her, but she called him anyway.
“Yeah, yeah, what do you want?” he asked her nonchalantly.
Tracy looked up the hallway, watching her girlfriends watching her. “I got something for you,” she whispered. Everyone liked surprises, Tracy had figured, just like her and her mother. Her father was full of surprises. Maybe Aaron would like a surprise, too.
“What?”
“I’ll tell you at recess. Okay?”
“Yeah, aw’ight,” Aaron told her. He didn’t think much of it.
Tracy went out and watched him playing football at recess as usual. She waited patiently for him to notice her without bothering him. Aaron looked over at her after scoring a touchdown and remembered that she had something for him. He told his team to hold the ball for a minute.
“Well, what do you have for me?” he asked her.
Tracy told him, “You have to go inside with me to get it.”
Aaron started to walk away. “Oh well, never mind then.”
Tracy snapped, “Okay, forget you if you don’t want it.”
“What, girl? What do you want?” Aaron shouted, walking back.
Tracy said, “Come on,” as she grabbed his hand.
“Where y’all goin’? Tommy shouted at them.
Aaron followed Tracy into the building, feeling silly. His friends decided to play on without him. Luckily for Tracy, Tommy didn’t follow them to mess things up.
&n
bsp; Her girlfriends watched them excitedly as they entered the building. But Tracy hadn’t told any of them what she was doing.
Aaron asked, “Now what do you want, girl?” as soon as they stepped inside of the building. They stood inside the stairway.
“This,” Tracy said, kissing Aaron on the lips.
Aaron looked into her slanted hazel eyes with his big browns, and was shocked. Tracy thought he’d get mad, so she backed away from him, staring curiously.
Aaron said, smiling, “Kiss me again.”
Tracy smiled, filled with sneaky energy. “Okay.”
Aaron closed his eyes and puckered his lips, kissing Tracy again.
Despite their begging, Tracy didn’t tell any of her friends. She just smiled and said nothing. She found more excitement in not telling them. It was her little secret. Tracy felt on top of the world.
She got Aaron to walk her home, and even Tommy saw them. Tracy felt good about that. I told him Aaron would walk me home, she thought to herself. Now, boy!
She kissed Aaron again in front of her door, and went inside the house. She jumped and danced around the living room, pleased with her accomplishment. Tracy had been as cunning as her mother had said she had been when she was younger. Tracy felt proud and smarter than boys. Aaron wasn’t such a hot shot after all. All she had to do was get his attention.
DING DONG!
“I got it, mom,” Tracy called, running to the door.
“Hey, girl,” her father said, picking her up for a hug and a kiss. He liked the idea of ringing the doorbell instead of using his key. It was an announcement that he was home, and he knew that it would please his daughter to be surprised.
“Mom, daddy’s here!” Tracy screamed excitedly.
Dave followed his daughter to the kitchen, while Patti worked on dinner. She wasn’t all that happy to see him, though. Patti wanted to press the issue about him moving back in. He had stalled long enough. And they were having another child soon.
Dave said, “Come here, woman,” and opened his arms wide.
Patti approached him reluctantly, thinking about arguing her point. Yet arguing with him would only give her selfish husband another excuse to keep his getaway apartment.