Leaving Serenity (7 page)

The Bluebird Café 1971

I slipped out the side door and past the teacher monitoring the hall during third lunch period. Since the kids from the colored school in Prince came to our school, Daddy and the teachers spent most of their time breaking up fights. What I was up to was the last thing on their minds. Skipping fifth period study hall and sixth period PE was no big deal since I had made an appearance in
the classes that counted.

I ran across the school yard, kneeling behind a
parked car
or tree here and there. When I reached the railroad track, I was too far away to be recognized. Two blocks away at the Bluebird Café, I was home free. Inside the café, I fished two dollars out of my purse.

“Hey, how ya doin’?”

I yank
ed my head around to see the tall, redheaded boy, who magicall
y appeared behind the counter.

“Oh, hey, I’m okay, I guess. How about a dough burger and a
Dr. Pepper
?”

“Comin’ right up.”

The boy walked away.
Did he kinda smile at me? Or was it my imagination?
The boy popped the top off the drink bottle and set it in front of me. I looked around the empty café after he disappeared through the metal door leading to the kitchen.
The Price Is
Right
played on a tiny black and white TV in the corner. Sipping the
Dr. Pepper
, I decided that t
his
place wa
s a lot better than that smelly old cafeteria.

The boy came back in. “It’ll be just a minute.”

He leaned his arm comfortably on the counter.

“You’re Annette, right?”

My heart skipped a beat at the sound of my name. “Uh-huh. Do you go to Serenity High?”

“Nah, I did, but I quit after Christmas. Ain’t the same there no more with the fights and all.”

A bell rang in the kitchen. He ran back through the metal door and came out with my burger on a white plate with a solid blue trim around the edge.

“Thanks.”

I picked up the mustard bottle and squirted some on the burger. “How did you know my name?”

He looked past me, out the front window. “I’ve seen you around. I’m Andy.”

I nodded in the middle of a bite, and then said, “Nice to meet you. Do you like working here?”

“Yeah, it’s cool. My Aunt Rosie owns the place. The work’s not too hard or anything.”

“I wish I had a job. I hate school.”

Andy laughed. “But you’re the principal’s kid!”

I took a swig from the bottle and put it back on the counter. “Exactly!”

Andy snorted a half-laugh, and then his face fell as he looked down at the countertop. “Look, I know you because I saw you on homecoming night.”

The thick burger stuck in my throat. I grabbed the bottle to wash it down.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean I saw you at the equipment shed.”

My body stiffened, and I whispered, “You were there?”

He lit a cigarette and rolled the tip in a tiny tin ashtray. “Yeah. I don’t hang around those guys anymore. I mean, I didn’t know what they were up to. I thought we were goin’ in there to smoke a joint. It wasn’t until Luther – you know – that I figured it out.”

I felt tears welling in my eyes. “Which one was Luther?”

“Luther’s the big guy. The other one is Gip. I don’t know the other guy’s name.”

Andy took a drag from the cigarette. “Damn them. Ain’t none of them worth a flyin’ crap.”

I pulled a paper napkin from the silver dispenser and wiped my eyes. “Greg. Greg was the first one. I knew him but not the other two. You know, nobody beli
eves me, not even my family.”

  Andy finished his cigarette and opened a
M
ountain
Dew
. “That’s too bad. Well I know. And
if it helps any, I’m real sorry they did that to you.”

My face softened
. Talking to Andy ma
de
me feel
l
ike I ha
d
a friend. “Thanks, you’re nice. Maybe I’ll come
here for lunch every day.”

“Yeah, sounds good.” Andy showed a mouth full of crooked teeth when he grinned. His easy manner and his imperfect teeth made me feel better about th
e zits on my face.

After that day, the Bluebird became my
hangout
and my escape from school. I tried smoking cigarettes for something to do but didn’t like the taste. Andy said that smoking would soothe my nerves, but just being at the Bluebird was enough for me. I liked watching the customers come and go while sipping on Dr. Peppers and talking to Andy. I dreaded the end of the school year and losing my getaway.

Andy snapped me out of my daydream. “Hey, Annette! What’s eatin’ you? You ain’t said two words since you got here.”

I twirled the lip of the bottle around with my fingertips. “This is the last week of school. I was thinking about how I’m going to miss coming here.”

Andy leaned his long arms over the counter. “Whatta ya say I ask Aunt Rosie to give
you a job here?”

I perked up and grinned. “For real?”

Andy shot me a look that said,
Trust me
. “Stay here. I’ll be right back.”

He disappeared behind the metal door. I waited and wondered what they were saying about me. A couple of minutes later, Andy followed his aunt back through the kitchen door. Andy’s Aunt Rosie was a stout woman with flaming red hair piled twelve inches high on her head. Her hair was so tall that I wondered how she walked without toppling over. She wore a white uniform like Miss Ruby’s at the beauty shop.

“Aunt Rosie, this is my friend, Annette.”

Rosie held out her hand to me. My reflexes responded, even though I’d never shaken anyone’s hand before. “Hey, Hon. Call me Rosie.”

I blinked. “I’m Annette.”

Rosie folded her arms over her ample chest. “Have you ever worked anywhere, Annette?”

I shrugged. “No, ma’am, other than helping Mama in the kitchen.”

I recognized the kinship between Andy and Rosie when she smiled. “Well, that’s a good start, I reckon. The main thing is someone who wants to work. If you want to work, we’ll get along fine. If you don’t, then it won’t work out, you see.”

I hopped off the stool. “Oh, yes ma’am! I really want a job. I’ll work real hard for you.”

Rosie laughed. “Well, we hustle around here when we need to and rest when we don’t.”

She turned back toward the kitchen and pointed a finger at me. “You can start two weeks from Saturday if your mama and daddy say
it’s all right. I don’t need none of them child labor revenuers knocking at my door. If your mama and daddy say it’s all right, then we’ll see how it works out.”

When she was out of sight, Andy and I got so tickled that we nearly exploded. He muffled his snicker with a dish towel. I stuck my head in the crook of my arm until I regained my composure.

“We did it, Sister! You’re in.”

“I really appreciate this, Andy. You’re a good friend.
But how
does she get her hair to stay up like that?”

Andy shrugged. “Beats me. I’ve wondered if a nest of birds lives up in there.”

We
laugh
ed again.

***

The horn sounded off on Earl Junior
’s Chevy truck. “Oooga, Oooga.”

Jeff and Beth scraped their chairs across the kitchen floor. Jeff gathered his fishing gear. Beth snatched the picnic basket and ran to keep up with him, call
ing out, “We’re leaving, Mama!”

Mama rushed into the kitchen.

“Don’t forget to use sunscreen, dear.”

I started clearing away the breakfast dishes. Helping Mama in the kitchen was the only thing I knew to do to get on her good side. She started
washing, and
I grabbed a towel.

“Mama, do you think I could get a summer job?”

Mama chuckled. “Annette, you have the strangest ideas. Why on earth do you want to do that?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. Just something to do, I guess.”

Mama looked out the window over the sink. “Do you have something in mind?”

I tried to play it cool. “I don’t know. There’s the Bluebird Café near the school. Maybe I could get a job there.”

Mama drained the water out of the sink. “Well, I’ll speak to your father about it.”

I jumped up and down ins
ide. That was as good as a yes!

That night, I crouched behind the living room couch and listened to Mama and Daddy in the kitchen. I heard Mama say, “She’s good help in the kitchen.”

“Her grades are horrible,” Daddy said.

Mama sighed. “I know. Surely, there’s something she can do.”

“She barely made it through this year. Her teachers tell me that she shows no initiative in class. Well, maybe she should get a summer job and learn some sort of trade. The others do well in school. I have high hopes for them. I just don’t understand that girl.”

Mama massaged her temples and sighed again. “I guess you’re right, dear. If she gets a job, at least she’ll be good for something!”

When I heard my parents’ decision, I silently cried,
Yippee!
I didn’t care that my parents were disappointed in me or that they didn’t understand me. Going to work at the Bluebird was all that mattered to me. I wanted to jump and shout, but crawled
quietly to my bedroom.

I was up and ready at six o’clock on my first day of work. I sat at the breakfast table while Daddy read the morning paper. Mama stood over a frying pan, tending to the eggs. I was so excited that I could hardly sit still.

I looked at Daddy hopefully. “Daddy, will you drive me to work early?”

He stared at his paper. “Nope.”

I panicked and looked at Mama’s back at the kitchen sink. Her movements told me that she was in a bad mood.

I looked back at Daddy. “But I have to be there at nine. How will I get there?”

He put his paper down. He reached in his pocket and pulled out a key hanging from a white AAA key ring. I glanced at the strange key lying on the table.

“You’ll drive yourself.”

I searched his face. “What?”

Daddy’s face softened, and his eyes twinkled. “I’m pulling your leg, Trooper. Those are the keys to
your
car.”

I felt the blood drain from my face and my mouth fly o
pen. “A car, for me? For real?”

Daddy looked at me and grinned. I ran to look out the living room window. A Ford Mustang sat in the driveway.
Even Beth doesn’t have her own car
. I guessed she didn’t need one since she was always riding with Jeff in his truck. Adam had a brand new Charger, but then, he was Adam. The shock was sinking into my head when Daddy walked up behind me.

I turned and threw my arms around him. “Oh, Dad
dy, I love it! Is it all mine?”

Daddy held on for just a
second and
then let go. “Yes, it’s all yours. You’ve had a hard patch lately. I’m proud of you for getting a job.”

He pulled an envelope from his back pocket. “Here’s the title in your name, the registration, and insurance information. You buy the gas and pay the insurance. It will last you a long time if you take care of it.”

My face beamed through the tears in my eyes. “It’s beautiful! That’s the nicest surprise I’ve ever had! Thank you, thank
you! I’m going to thank Mama.”

             
I ran back to the kitchen, but Mama was outside feeding the cat. She didn’t turn around when I came out the back door. I approached her quietly, uncertain of her mood.

             
“Thanks for the car, Mama. It’s really great.”

             
She gave me a sour look. “No doing of mine. It was your daddy’s idea. You better be getting off to work now.”

             
I backed away from her. Sometimes Mama’s looks could sting like a bee. Sometimes I felt like those looks
are intended especially for me.

“Okay, I’ll see ya later.”

I could tell that Mama was mad because Daddy gave me the car. She didn’t turn as I opened the gate to the chain link fence that led to the front yard. Underneath my excitement, I wondered why he did it. I felt his body stiffen when I threw my arms around him, but I could
tell that he was happy for me.

The sun bounced off the windshield of my new car and wiped away my worries. My fingertips tingled when I ran them over the shiny, gold surface of the hood. I named her Goldie. Inside, the interior was gold like
the outside.
A faint whiff of cigarette smoke lingered inside, and there was a small cigarette burn in the back seat. I turned the key, and Goldie came to life.
I was in love with her. I’d never loved anything as much as I loved her.
S
he
was
beautiful
,
and she
wa
s mine!