Leaving Serenity (10 page)

Mama looked dazed. “What?”

Daddy prompted Mama. “Goldie is the car, dear.”

Daddy dropped the magazine and leaned forward in his recliner. “Your bank account looks great, Trooper. I’m proud to say that you’ve saved six hundred dollars this summer. That’s more than enough to take care of Goldie for a while. I agree with your mother that you should take a break and get ready for school. You’ll be an upperclassman this year. You have a lot of fun activities to look forward to. Jeff will be going to the community college this year. And since your sister is afraid to drive, it’ll be a great help to your mother and me if you’d drive her to school and to her music lessons.”

Mama broke in. “Annette, those people at that café aren’t like us; they’re very ordinary. It’s time for you understand that and make better decisions when choosing your friends.”

Daddy rolled and unrolled the magazine as he talked. “Your mother is right, dear. Being around people like that isn’t good for you. How would you like to be on the cheerleading squad this year? You’ll meet some nice girls there.”

I sat there, helplessly listening to them take away my freedom. Going back to school and being a cheerleader was the last thing on my mind.

“Can I go to work tomorrow?”

Daddy looked at me out of the corner of his eye. “Okay, you can work there until school starts. I think that’s fair enough.”

“And be sure to give those awful tee-shirts back to your employer,” Mama added.

Daddy leaned back and reopened his magazine. Mama turned back to the skirt in front of her. I couldn’t picture myself going back to school or wearing those ugly skirts again. Deep inside, I had a gut feeling that it wasn’t going to happen. 

“Can I go now?”

Mama concentrated on her needle. “Yes, you can go to bed now.”

“ ’Night, Trooper!” Daddy called out as I closed the door.

Stretched out on my bed, the room felt like a prison guarded by my parents, the wardens of my life. I thought about the life I wanted and the life they wanted for me. They didn’t know me or even want to know me. Working at the café made me feel important and needed. I liked earning my own money and having the freedom to buy what I wanted. When I was at work or with Jack, I felt like an adult, not the little che
erleader Daddy wanted me to be.

That night, I dreamed that I saw Goldie’s taillights speeding away from Serenity.

The next day, my face felt as long as the braid hanging down my back. I dreaded telling Andy and Rosie that I had to quit. I took breakfast orders, cleaned, and silently resented my parents’ control over me. After the breakfast rush was over, I noticed Andy standing at the counter, checking me
out as I wiped down the tables.

             
“Hey, Annette! Whassup?”

             
My head felt heavy from thinking so hard all day. I needed to spit it out and get it over with. So I dropped the dishrag in the bucket and plopped down on a stool at the counter. I stared absentmindedly at my distorted reflection in the chrome napkin dispenser.

             
“My parents are making me quit when school starts.”

             
Andy nodded at the countertop and said nothing.

             
“Well, don’t you even care that I’m leaving?”

             
Andy lit a Marlboro. He took a drag, as if he’d find the answer in the dregs of the cigarette. “To be honest, I’m not surprised. That was a pretty dumb stunt you pulled yesterday.”

             
I stared at him, not believing that my best friend
wa
s weaseling out on me. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

             
Andy concentrated on his smoke instead of me. His words came out staggered and uncertain. “I mean, you just kinda flipped out. Jack was stoned out of his mind, and then you just kinda flipped out. I mean, that ain’t kosher for the business. I mean, even Rosie said something to me about it.”

             
Andy’s words sank into the pit of my stomach. “Oh. So I guess it’s okay that I’m leaving, huh?”

             
“Yeah, well, we had a blast this summer, right?”

             
“You pushing me out, Andy?”

             
“I’m just sayin’. You gotta go back to school anyway.”

             
I jumped when the bell on the door tinkled.  A wave of relief washed over my face when Jack walked in.

“Hello, my lady, my man. What’s shakin’?”

Andy and I sat still and avoided each other’s eyes. Jack threw one leg over the stool next to me.

“Hey, this place is getting to be a real drag, Man. Why so bummed out, Dudes?”

I sucked in a breath of air. The smoke from Andy’s cigarette lodged in my throat and I coughed.

Andy said, “Summer’s over, Man. Annette’s got to go back to school.”

Catching my breath, I said, “Not to mention that Andy’s practically firing me!”

Jack wrapped a comforting arm around me. I just wanted to sink into his arms and hide. Andy’s stare ruined the mom
ent, and I felt self-conscious.

“No way, Jose! This here’s my main squeeze. She ain’t going anywhere. Ain’t that right, Baby?”

Andy straightened up and crossed his arms. The words that flew from his mouth sounded stern, not like my friend.

“Sorry, Rosie’s orders.”

I stared at him wide-eyed. “You’re firing me,
for real?”

Andy’s face turned beet red. “Sorry, Annette. You know I like you, but Rosie’s real tight with the Sneeds. See, she don’t want no trouble. You know how it is around here. Everybody’s tight.”

My eyes sent daggers through my friend. “Yeah, I see. Now, you’re on their side. You’ve moved right up there with all the other rapists and hillbillies in this sorry town.”

Jack pulled me closer. “Whoa, don’t sweat it, Babe. Who needs the hassle? Whatta ya say we split this joint? We’ll go somewhere and hash it out. Whatta ya say?”

I looked at Jack, the man I loved, the only friend I had left, and said, “Sure.”

Andy threw my handbag and a fifty dollar bill on the counter. I snatched the money and my bag and followed Jack to the door.

Jack waved on his way out. “Take it easy, Andy, my man!”

“See ya, Jack. Sorry, Annette. See ya around?”

My fiery eyes pierced him. “Not if I see you first!”

I bolted out the door, repeating what I’d heard Jack say the first day I met him.

“I’m so mad I could spit nails!”

Jack pulled me into a warm embrace with one hand and revealed a joint in the other.

“No sweat, Baby. I’ve got just the thing to fix that.”

“Oh, Jack, I don’t need that. All I need is you.”

Jack shrugged. “You snooze you lose, more for me. Hey, let’s take your ride. The van’s on the fritz.”

“Sure. But call her Goldie; that way she’ll like you.”

Jack jumped in the passenger seat. “Far out, Baby. Goldie’s a mean machine!”

I felt better already as Jack and I spun out of the gravel parking lot. Later, sitting in a clover patch on the hillside, the weight of the clear blue sky fell on my shoulders. Smoking a joint in broad daylight made me feel paranoid. I was still fired up about getting fired and Andy’s attitude toward me. I hated Serenity where
everybody’s tight
.
My parents’ meddling and the thought of starting school dragged me down. Most of all, I felt like I didn’t belong here, but I didn’t know where I belonged.

Jack sucked contently on the last of the joint. He put the roach in his pocket and scooted up behind me. The warm sunlight in my face and the comfort of his strong arms calmed me.

“You know, Annette. You and me could start a whole new life together in a brand new place.”

“Oh, yeah? Where?”

“My man, Ray, offered me a groovy setup down in Daytona.”

“What kind of setup?”

I listened to Jack as he stroked my hair. “He needs somebody to live at his motel and look after things. His other
business keeps him away a lot.”

“Wow, I’ve never been to Florida. Have you?”

“Sure, Baby! Lots of times, and you’d like it down there. It’s like summertime all the time. No hassles, the easy life, see? Just imagine us taking it easy around the pool all day, soaking up the rays.”

I looked over the hillside and thought about a p
lace beyond Serenity’s horizon.

“Yeah, that would be the life, all right.”

Jack’s silky voice cooed in my ear. “Hey, Baby, let’s get married.”

My heart leapt so far that I felt myself jump. “For real?”

“Sure, I love you. Don’t you love me?”

“Sure, you know I do.”

“Well, whatta ya say?”

Jack poked the tickle spot in my side. I wiggled and squealed. “I say yes, yes, yes!”

He tipped my head at just the right angle and kissed me for the first time. It was the kiss I had waited for my whole life. I felt as if I was living a dream.

Jack settled back on one elbow. “Yep, you and me, Babe, just like Sonny and Cher.”

I smiled. “Yeah, I guess we are like them. Cher was just a kid like me when she met Sonny.”

Jack tugged at my braided hair. “Hey, you’re no kid. You’re my lady. Do you know what we should do? We should get married at South of the Border.”

“In Mexico?’

Jack cracked up. Hearing his be
lly laughs made me laugh, too.

When we settled down, he said, “You poor baby, you really have been stuck in this hick town! South of the Border’s only a couple of hours from here. I can’t believe you’ve never been there!”

I searched the horizon and shook my head. “Nope. Never been anywhere.”

“From now on, Baby, the sky’s the limit. We may even make it all the way to California one day. But for right now, it’s South of the Border for us. The wedding chapels there have two lines and no waiting, just for us, Baby.”

For a day that started so badly, it turned out to be the best day of my life. When I looked at him, I felt like I’d found where I belonged. “Mrs. Jack Harris. I like the sound of that.”

I plucked the white flower balls that sprang up from the clover underneath me. “Jack?”

“Yes, my pretty lady?”

“Do you think I could change my first name, too?”

He placed a kiss on my head. His breath brushed my fine hair. “Mrs. Jack Harris can do as she pleases. The world is your oyster, my dear, just open it and look inside.”

He made me feel grownup, not like a little kid. With Jack, I could be the person I’d always wanted to be. I said, “Well…in that case, I want to be Nikky.”

He sat back and flashed a smile. “Nikky, huh? Nikky Harris, far out!
I like it!”

Jack tapped on my glasses. “You know what else? We’re going to get you some groovy specs, too. No more cat eyes!”

I blushed and agreed. “No more cat eyes!”

He threw his hand out like he was painting our future. “It’ll be you and me, Babe, and the glimmer of taillights fading into the sunset.”

The more he talked, the closer I came to having everything I’d always wanted, freedom from Serenity. I sat quietly, feeling the summer breeze blow through my hair. Jack watched the smoke from his cigarette drift through the ai
r and broke the silence.

“Only one problemo, Compadre.”

“Problem?”

Jack flicked the cigarette butt down the hill and leaned back in the clover. “The van’s busted, and I’m out of bread.”

I stretched out next to him. The sun-soaked clover felt warm on my back as I mapped out my future across the sky. “Well, I have Goldie and a little over six hundred dollars.”

Jack jumped to his feet. “Six hundred dollars? Well, what are we waiting for, Baby?”

Jack reached his hand out to me. The sun blocked his features, creating a glow around him. In the silhouette, he looked like he had just stepped from the heavens. Jack lifted me off my feet and charged down the hill. “Vvroom! Vvroom! I can see those taillights fading now, my dear!”

Jack let me down at the bottom of the hill, held me in a soft embrace, and placed a light kiss on my lips. I held on to him with all my might, hoping that he wasn’t a dream, and if he was, p
raying that I’ll never wake up.

Jack turned the radio up a notch or two louder than I was used to. We bantered back and forth, ad-libbing “
I Got You, Babe
,
”
and laughing our way to the bank. He whistled and yelled cat calls out the car window as I walked through the glass doors of the bank. The big clock behind the counter said 12:45. I was restless in line, shifting from o
ne foot, and then to the other.

“May I help you?”
s
omeone called from the far end of the counter.

My heart flew ahead of me as I rushed to the open teller window. I slipped my savings bo
oklet underneath the iron bars.