Two peas in a pod

“The next week, we walked to school together thick as thieves, feeling immortal."

I woke up that morning, tired as a dog in heat. I asked my mom if I could stay home, feigning some illness. I barely had any friends with me being new, if you call going to a school for six going on seven months new, and I didn’t feel like feeling alone in a sea of people like I usually do.  She saw right through me and sent me to school anyway. Something told me I shouldn't have gone that day. To this day it is the best, and worst, decision I have ever made.

............

Mabel zoomed past me on her roller skates (she seemed to enjoy reckless things) and hit me so hard on the back I coughed. Although we only met a couple months ago at a neighborhood park, even though we had some of the same classes, Mabel was the closest thing I had to a friend. She stopped and said, "My bad, I was trying to say hi."  "You couldn't have just called out my name?" I say between breaths. "You'll be fine, c'mon before we miss the bus." 

"I'm so tired." I cry out while leaning my head on her shoulder, she tilts her head over mine and her spirally curls tickle my forehead.

"Why do you roll around on those dangerous things anyway?" I ask after a moment of silence. "They help me get to where I need to be a whole lot faster," she says while changing into regular shoes. "Wanna get some ice cream after school?" "Of course" I reply.

We walk into our first period which I don't recall much of since I slept through most of it. Second period was just as boring but miraculously I was able to keep my eyes open long enough for someone to gain the courage to slide me a note on the ground. It read "Wanna go to the spring formal together? Check yes, maybe, or no (please don't check this box)" I chuckle to myself and look around the room to see Randal staring back at me with his big brown eyes. I check maybe and grab my books as the bell rang. My third period teacher always kept me alert. She was a kind woman with blue eyes and short brown hair. She was very bubbly and was one of the few white teachers who actually lived near our school. She always told us stories about her father who took her fishing and whom she traveled with, but she rarely talked about her mother which is who she spent most of her time. Her mother owned one of the sandwich shops near our house, which was in a predominantly "colored" neighborhood, but she always charged members of the neighborhood a little more than folks from other neighborhoods. She also didn't let anyone from our neighborhood use her bathroom. Mama always told me actions speak louder than words and to watch out for that lady. The bell rings and Mabel leads me down the hall to the cafeteria. Lunch was fine until someone threw chocolate milk, which prompted someone else to throw an orange, which prompted someone else to throw applesauce which eventually landed in Mabel's hair. Mabel stood on the table and yelled "Who threw this shit!" Everyone quiets down as she scans the room for answers and sees two boys, one with brown hair and one with red hair, laughing. One of the teachers tells Mabel to get off the table and as she does she picks up her strawberry milk, takes my apple juice, and pours milk on one of the boys' heads and apple juice down the other boy's shirt. Everyone starts laughing as the boys sit there with their mouths open and their eyes stuck on stupid. The boys did nothing of course because everyone knows Mabel is a hothead and not to mess with her. Everyone also knows how Mabel is basically my only friend and how she sticks up for me. The bell rings and Mabel goes to science class while I walk to the bathroom before heading to math.

I look in the mirror and splash water on my face to see if I can make the sleep vanish out of my eyes. The lights flicker and I whisper to myself "old ass school building." I look down at my hands which are small and wet, grandma always told me I had hands like grandpa, small but strong. He died when I was two. Grandma said he was in a sundown town after sundown. Grandma can never seem to get past that detail without her eyes watering so I never pry.  As I walk out of the bathroom the emptiness of the hallway fills me with anxiety. As I turn the corner the two boys from earlier, stand there like they've been waiting for me. I gasp and jump back, relieved it's only them. I try to walk past them but one of them jumps in front of me. I decide to just go the other way so I turn around but the other boy is blocking the way. They both grab me and throw me into the wall. "Tell your nappy-headed friend she needs to chill out." The brown-haired boy says.  I glare at them before hearing footsteps. It's Randal and I sigh a sigh of relief. "What's going on? Get off of her!" He says while grabbing the brown-haired boy. The red-haired boy pulls out a switchblade and tells Randal to let his friend go. Randal listens and backs away with his hands in the air. My heart is racing. I back away from the boys slowly. I can see the anger in Randal’s eyes and beckon him with mine to calm down. He listens and all I can think is I definitely wish I didn't show up to school today.

By the time fifth period rolls around, I'm still shaking. Mabel nudges me with her elbow and when I look up, her eyebrows are furrowed the way they are when she can't figure out the answer to a question. I mouth the word nothing and we leave it at that. I knew telling her would only make her mad which wouldn't help anybody.

We walk to the ice cream parlor which is across the street from the sandwich shop. Mabel gets chocolate and I order a rocky road, the cure for all racing minds and hearts. We walk out with our arms linked and our hands sticky. "Wanna go to the park?" Mabel asks. "Yea but you know it's a school night so I got to be in by 7:30." "Why don't you just tell your mom you're staying at my house, that way you don't have to go in so early. I wake up earlier than your sleepy self anyways so I will make sure we get to school on time." "Fine," I say as I chuckle at her slight arrogance but my smile quickly turns to a scowl. Mabel follows my eyes to the sandwich shop entrance where the two boys from earlier are standing. They felt my sharp stare and the one who pulled the knife out smiled at me and yelled "Remember what we said" and chuckled. Mabel looks back at me with her fiery eyes and asks in a sharp toned whisper "What did they do?" "Don't worry about it. Are your parents working late tonight?" I ask trying to change the subject. "Edna if you don't tell me I will assume the worst and go over there to raise hell." I sigh and watch the boys enter the shop. I walk and talk trying to get as far from the shop as possible so Mabel won’t feel tempted to walk across the street to give the boys a piece of her mind.

When I’m finished Mabel is fuming. She grabs my arm and marches across the street. Why didn’t I walk faster?

We enter the sandwich shop and see the boys sitting in a booth and before I can say anything, Mabel is sitting next to the boy who pulled out the knife. I rush over there and sit next to the other boy. “Which one of you pricks had the audacity to pull out a knife on my friend.” Mabel says in a hushed but irritated tone. I stared at her so hard I thought I would burn a hole in her forehead but even if I did, she probably would be too hot to feel it. “It doesn’t even matter, all I know is y’all better not ever do that to her again.” she says emphasizing the “ever”. The owner of the shop comes over and asks “Are these ladies bothering you?” “We’re fine” replies Mabel while staring at the boys, daring them to object. The boys don’t even blink while staring at their menus. The cashier, a young man around twenty, turns up the tv and I hear the news announcer say “ In other news, we have just confirmed that Martin Luther King Jr. has died as a result of a gunshot wound. He was rushed to the hospital about an hour ago but has now been pronounced dead.”  I hear the lady taking our order mumble something under her breath and then asks us if we are going to order something. The boys sit there silent while Mabel orders everyone water. “You have to order a sandwich or an actual drink.” Mabel stares her down and says “We’re not hungry anymore.” as she gets up, she beckons me with her eyes to do the same.  She gives the boys one more death stare and we leave. The woman eyes us down and says “wasteful niggers”, luckily Mabel didn’t hear her.

We walked outside the shop and silently started walking towards the park near Mabel’s apartment. I shed a tear thinking of MLK. Who would want to kill a man like that? Mabel notices me crying and tells me “Don’t worry they won’t mess with you anymore.” “No. Didn’t you hear what they said on the news? Dr.King is dead.” I reply. “What! When did they say that?” “While you were threatening those boys.” I say slightly irritated. “I was threatening them because they threatened you!” She shouts back. “Dr.King wouldn’t have wanted us to threaten them.” He would’v-” “He would’ve what? Huh? He would rather have them slit your throat in the hallway?” She cuts me off. Her words must have cut my eyes because after that I couldn’t stop crying. “No, I’m not saying that I’m just say-” A loud bang rang out and a bright red light appeared

Someone had thrown a molotov into the window of the sandwich shop behind us. I turn around in disbelief. My eyes burn from the smoke and the endless stream of tears. Mabel grabs my hand and starts running. As I follow her lead, I look back to see the lady and the two boys running out of the building. I hope the cashier is ok.

We continue running and all I see is people around us shouting at each other, looting, crying, screaming, or just standing still in a pool of disbelief or sadness. As we are about to turn on to her street we see an army of armed officers. I look at Mabel asking what we’re going to do without verbally asking what we’re going to do. My mouth has forgotten how to work, but she understands me anyway. She pulls me into an alley that leads to her house. Something starts to burn my eyes and throat. As I look around trying to spot the fire, I see white smoke coming from the other side of the alley and behind us I see the cops, one of whom sees me and yells something I can’t quite hear with all of the people screaming around us. Mabel spots the officer and pulls me even harder. We run into the white smoke which only makes the burning sensation worse. I can’t see at this point but I feel Mabel’s hand. The officer is still yelling at us and his voice is getting closer and closer. 

We keep running although we can only really see at close range. Then almost out of nowhere, an Asian man with a shotgun aimed at a Black man with a brick in his hand is standing in front of us. Mabel stops dead in her tracks. The man with the gun turns and looks at us. His gun follows his eyesight and we freeze. The man with the gun drops his weapon and falls to the ground. The Black man had thrown the brick so hard at the man, he was bleeding out. The man’s head is right in front of Mabel’s feet. She is stuck like a deer in headlights. Her face is filled with tears and little splatters of blood. As I try to speak, another loud bang in the not so far off distance catches my attention. I look through the dusty air and white smoke in the direction of Mabel’s apartment to see an officer with a gun pointed at a boy who looked to be about our age. The boy falls to the ground and the officer looks around to see a group of his coworkers, with their clubs pulled out, surrounding the man who threw the brick. I hear a familiar voice coming up from behind. I turn to see the officer from earlier. I tug on Mabel’s arm but she won’t move. “Please Mabel, snap out of it!” 

A mixture of smoke and pain in my throat causes my voice to crack. Mabel looks up at me with her bloodshot eyes and hands me the keys to her apartment. “Go” she utters.

“What! I’m not leaving you. Come on!” I say while pulling her arm. She reluctantly starts to move her legs very slowly. The cop from earlier is getting closer and closer. Now I can hear him say “ Stop! I will arrest you if you continue to move.” Even with Mabel moving as slow as she is, I still run and pull her with me. The officer shouts “Stop!” one more time and then my ears start ringing.

I feel a sharp pain in my arm and then I hear a bang followed by a scream. I look to see a woman crying with a baby in her hands. 

As we approach Mabel’s apartment, we pass the boy who I saw fell earlier. He is lying on the ground, face down, but I hear him coughing. I turn back to see if the cop is still behind us and realize I can’t see anything. Black smoke has now filled the air behind us. I look at Mabel, her eyes still empty, and ask her if she can go open her door. She nods expressionless as I push the keys into her hand. I turn the boy over and scream.

Randal is barely breathing with blood all over the front of his shirt. I pull him to his feet and help him carry his weight. Mabel left the door open and we hobble inside. I set him down on the sofa and shut the door. I hear Mabel calling for her Mom who must not be here. She uses the landline to call her mom’s job but nobody answers. I see her slink down to the floor and lie down in the fetal position. I take off Randal’s shirt to see an enter and exit wound through his right shoulder. I take my jacket and wrap it around the wound to help keep pressure on it. Randal’s tears start to evaporate and he jumps up. “You’ve been shot too?” he asks. “What? No sit back down.” I reply “You have, look at your arm!” I look to see a small pool of blood pouring out of my left arm.  I run to the bathroom to use the mirror. Luckily it’s only a graze. I grab a gauze pad and place it on the wound. When I come back out to the living room, Randal is boarding up our windows and pushing stuff in front of the door. Mabel comes out of her cocoon and screams. She runs over and starts hitting Randal on his back. “You idiot! How is my mom going to get inside the house!” I pull Mabel off of him and hug her from behind to try to get her to calm down. She falls back into me and we slide down onto the floor. Randal comes and sits next to me. While Mabel is crying in my arms, he apologizes to her and lays his head on my shoulder. I rock Mabel back and forth until she falls asleep. Until we all fall asleep.

............

"Then what happened Grandma?" asked Jermey. "Then we woke up the next morning and survived the next few days," I said with a sigh, "Mabel's mom was so happy to see her. She didn't come back for a day and a half. The police wouldn't let anybody into the neighborhood so her mom couldn't reach us. Her mom said she prayed so hard her hands were burning. Ever since then, your Aunt Mabel and I have been two peas in a pod. The next week, we walked to school together thick as thieves, feeling immortal."