Author's Chapter Notes:
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Rita yawned as she walked out of her classroom. It was the end of the school day but her day felt like it was just beginning. She still had 3 hours worth of rehearsals and homework to do. She walked out of the school and rounded the corner to find her best friend, Kitty Andrews, smoking behind the school. She ducked her head around the brick wall and smiled at her. “I have something to tell you!”she whispered
“You don’t have to whisper you know. Im right here”Rita said with a smile. “And why are you smoking those? Those are bad for you”she said indicating the cigarette.
“I don’t want anyone to know I’m here by a dumpster smoking, that’s why I am whispering and I smoke because I like it. I am 17. I will be 18 in a couple of months. I am basically an adult. I can do what I want”she replied curtly and then inhaled, exhaled and then smiled. “Now don’t interrupt me. I have something to tell you”
“What is so important now?”Rita asked her. She didn’t want to be late for rehearsals for her senior recitals.
“You’ll never guess who moved back to town!”Kitty exclaimed
Rita sighed a little. With Kitty, you never got gossip by her just telling you like a normal person. You had to play a guessing game or try to read her mind first. Sometimes it was exhausting. “No idea”
“Ugh, you’re no fun!”Kitty said,”Ok…..remember Booger Clayton? He had a crush on you when were in….the 2nd grade I think? He’s back!”
Rita wrinkled her nose. Booger Clayton was so annoying. He lived up to his name well when they were little, he never cleaned his nose, and it was disgusting. He used to pull Rita’s hair and call her names and then turn back around and write her love notes that were grammatically incorrect. Then during the Crash, like half of their other classmates, he seemed to have disappeared or moved elsewhere to make ends meet. They never heard from him again and Rita didn’t care, good riddance. Now he was back and Rita still couldn’t have cared less. “He looks the same doesn’t he? Boogers and all”
“No!”Kitty said wide-eyed as she shook her head quickly. “He is dreamy, Rita. And he is rich!!!!”she squealed. Rita laughed at her excitement. Kitty was just like her mother, she swooned when it came to rich men, at least that’s what Ma said.
“So you saw him?”
“Yes! I saw a boy get out of a cream colored Packard, one of the brand new special edition ones you know, the kind that Oscar has”Kitty explained. Oscar was her step-father. “So I investigate because no one else gets dropped off in a car like that except for me and Nicky and Bernice told me that Pauline told her that it was Clayton Millner, he’s back in town and sure enough…its him. He looks the same but his nose is smaller and he’s so much taller. He is a dream!”Kitty said. “I even spoke to him, it was short but he asked if you still went here and I said yes and he said and I quote,’Tell her that I want to see her. I bet she still looks beautiful’!”
“Ew”Rita said. All she could see was the kid with the big snotty nose. Not a dream. “No thanks”
“Why not give him a chance? He is soooooooo cute!”
“Then you go after him then”Rita said,”I don’t have time for boyfriends, I have to head to UES right now anyway”
“Don’t be so hasty. You haven’t even seen him yet”Kitty said as she put her cigarette out and walked with her. Kitty walked with her to the school since she lived on that same side of town. Then she squealed and turned Rita around so quick that it scared her. “There he is! CLAYTON! HELLO!”she shouted to a tall boy who was being escorted to a car by a man dressed all in black.
Clayton heard Kitty and smiled at her and waved. He looked at Rita and winked at her and then got in the car and it soon drove away. She didn’t want to but she blushed. Kitty was right. He was dreamy. “That cant be Clayton. He never looked like that”
“Well his daddy is rich. He works for some rich family in Miami and they moved back here for some reason. Maybe they paid for a new face but that’s him alright”Kitty said,”Are you blushing!? You’re blushing!”
“I am not!”Rita lied. “Come on, I am going to be late”she said as she pulled Kitty down the street.
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
Nicky Andrews laughed out loud as Michael approached him with a rose. He had his arm around his girlfriend of the week’s shoulders. “Mikey, I love you like a brother….but not like that”
“Its not for you, idiot. Its for Em”Michael said as he looked around for her. It was odd that she was late. He was running a little late but that’s because he had to walk a couple of blocks to get the rose and come back. It was their tradition. He, Nicky, whoever his girlfriend was (they changed often) and Emily would hang out in front of the school before he went to his various club meetings. “Have you seen her?”
Nicky shook his head,”Nope, haven’t all day”he said. The girl he was holding nudged him in his side and he sighed,”Oh and this is Rosie”he said. She nudged him again and he sighed,”my um….my girlfriend”he said as he coughed.
Michael quickly caught on to this charade and smiled,”What was that? I didn’t hear you. Do you have a cold?”
“Rosie is my girlfriend, Mikey, geez, grow up”Nicky snapped at him. Rosie smiled approvingly now that he said it out loud. Michael just laughed. “Well I got practice”he said. “Will you be here when I’m done?”
“Of course Nicky, anything for you”Rosie said and then gave him a big kiss and walked off.
“Of course Nicky, anything for you”Michael mocked her as he made a dramatic gesture. “I don’t know how you do it”
“Yes you do, you just haven’t done it yet”Nicky said. “It’s a mystery to virgins-“
“Ok don’t broadcast it to the whole world-“
“Why haven’t you and Emily done it yet?”Nicky asked,”We have known her for the past 10 years”
“Im in love with her”Michael said.
Nicky laughed,”That’s all the more reason-“
“I love her too much for her to be just another lay-“
“She wont be, just lay her, not other girls. Even though that’s a fate worse than death”
“I show her I love her in other ways and she isn’t ready for that-“
“What isn’t she ready about?! She has known you since kindergarten, what else is there to know about you? What is she waiting for?”
“I don’t know, maybe marriage…we haven’t talked about it yet”
Nicky whistled,”Whoooo, you two are a piece of work”he said. “See you later”he said as he rushed off to practice.
Michael shook his head. People like Nicky wouldn’t understand the love that he and Emily shared. It was timeless, classic, deep, and mature like the ones in the novels or the Shakespeare plays…well not as tragic. It was a love that was destined for a happy ending. He smiled at the thought of her but then looked for his pocket watch. Where was she? He was going to be late for his Newspaper meeting. He was a reporter for the newspaper and he specialized in keeping all the students up to date about the war. He had a slight obsession with it and he wanted everyone to know what was going on so maybe someone would open their eyes and stop the madness that was Adolf Hitler.
He waited for a few more minutes and then went inside to his meeting but he couldn’t concentrate. Where was she?
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
Dahlia was in a bad mood that day in school. Her punishment for smoking in the bathroom was helping the janitor clean it and then she was suspended from school for a day. Ma made her do a lot of chores while she was at home and she couldn’t even sleep in. Today was her first day back and everyone was talking about her. She saw Bernice talking to a couple of girls and then headed into the bathroom as she waved goodbye to them. Dahlia walked in. She smiled and then locked the door and waited. When Bernice walked out of the stall, Dahlia practically pounced on her and pushed her against the sea foam green tiled wall. “Hey!”Bernice exclaimed
“You are a jealous bitch with a big mouth!”Dahlia hissed at her as she grabbed the collar of Bernice’s dress. “Tell on me again and you’ll be sorry!”
“I didn’t-“
“Say it! Say your sorry!”
“I didn’t! I didn’t! Someone else did!”
“Who!?”
“I heard from Eugenia that Mr. Harrison submitted the report-“
“How!? How the hell does she know!?”
“Eugenia works in the principal’s office, Dahlia. Where have you been the past year!? You know the principal is her aunt, she is her assistant”
Dahlia pushed her away. “Fine…but we still aren’t friends”
“Why!? I didn’t do a thing-“
“I don’t trust you”Dahlia said to her,”Now get out of my sight”
Bernice picked up her things and then ran to the door. She unlocked it and left in a frenzy. Dahlia stood there, fuming. She then ran to the sink and splashed water on her face. Mr. Harrison!? Her science teacher? Why would he tell on her!? She was crushed. She has been in love with him since the beginning of the school year but he never noticed her. And now, of course, he notices her when she is smoking in the bathroom and tells on her!? She had to take things into her own hands. She had to talk to him. She picked up her books and walked to his office but his door was locked. He was gone for the day. Damn. She had to confront him tomorrow.
Ma picked her up and on the way home, she told her about the additional chores she had to do after she finished her homework. “Just because the school only gave you a warning does not mean I will do the same. You are still punished until I say otherwise”
‘What else is new’, she thought. It was like Ma’s joy in life was making her miserable. They got home and she went to her room and attempted to do her homework, but she couldn’t concentrate. What was she going to say to Mr. Harrison? She thought about her plan as she did some of her assignments, helped wash clothes and fold them and set the table. She thought about it during dinner, not talking at all.
“You alright, Lia?”Rita asked her as they ate. Dahlia just shrugged.
“….something needs to be done, Pop”Michael continued. The one thing that Dahlia loved about her brother was that he made such convincing arguments about everything that no one talked at the dinner table. Dinnertime was his soap box and she was just fine with that. He was Ma’s favorite anyway and that took the attention off the fact that she wasn’t. “How would you feel if Roosevelt threw all of us in some camp because we are black? Like animals….and you cant do anything about it!?”
“That wont happen, Michael”Pop assured him
It wasn’t enough. “But what if it does, Pop? What would YOU DO!?”
“Michael, calm down now, we are eating dinner. This isn’t a conversation for the dinner table”Ma said to Michael as she put her hand over his. He was shaking and she saw that Gabriel was getting uncomfortable with the conversation. “Michael, you seem upset. Tell me whats wrong”
Michael sighed. Emily never showed up. No one even saw her. He bought a rose for her instead of saving it for lunch tomorrow and she didn’t even bother to show up. “Nothing”he said. And he couldn’t tell Ma that because Emily didn’t want anyone to know that they were together. “We were discussing the same thing in a meeting today and it seems like all of America doesn’t care”
“Why?”Salomi asked. She knew that asking questions of her own, calmly, calmed Michael down from his soap box when he got too crazy.
“Its like this country thinks we are invincible because we are thousands of miles away. But this could happen to us. Actually, it is but they aren’t locking us up in camps….yet. I know how much you support Roosevelt because he’s an old family friend but I don’t agree with this whole neutral thing. We need to do something”
“So what do you suggest that we do?”Salomi asked him calmly.
Michael sighed. “We need to be allies. We need to fight-“
“Why? Why should we put our innocent men on the front lines to clean up another country’s mess?”
“Because not only is Hitler ruining his own people, he is destroying everyone else. He wants to be God, he thinks he is God! And he’s going to come after us! We would want help if Hitler was here doing this to us. Its our duty as allies”Michael said seriously
Salomi smiled and Gabriel nodded. “You make very good points, Michael. You are so smart, I am so proud of you”
“Your right, son”Gabriel said,”We should do something, but I don’t have the power”
“You do. It’s a democracy right?”Michael said. Gabriel nodded again.
“Well, Michael, as long as you write about it, someone will read it. It takes a long time for big decisions like this to take place”Salomi said before Michael got upset again. “Rita? Lia? You two alright?”she asked them. They were quiet as usual but that wasn’t a surprise.
Rita shrugged. “Just tired, Ma. I just want to graduate”she said
“Its just around the corner, babe”Gabriel said to her
“Lia? You alright, huney? You are barely touching your food?”Salomi asked. Dahlia only rolled her eyes and grunted. Salomi raised an eyebrow,”Im sorry. What was that?”
“Nothing, Ma”
“You watch that attitude, Dahlia. I am not going to say it again. Eat your vegetables”
“So, Mikey gets to yell about Hitler for a half an hour and that’s alright but if I eat my vegetables too slow its considered a crime?”
“I have nothing to do with you”Michael said as he raised his eyebrows at her. What was her problem?
“Yes, Michael has nothing to do with you. He is keeping us up to date on current events. You on the other hand are giving your mother an attitude and I will not tolerate it either”Pop said to her and gave her that look that she hated. “I will not even hesitate in sending you to your room-“
“Fine, can I take my food?”Dahlia asked as she stood up. She didn’t have to take this.
“No, I would say you have had enough. Go on now”Pop said. Dahlia scoffed and went upstairs and slammed the door. This was all Mr. Harrison’s fault and she had to fix this now.
An hour later, Pop left to go to the radio station and Dahlia sulked. “The Legacy” was now her favorite radio show and her favorite character was Angela, the sexy socialite. She didn't want to miss it. Dahlia stared at her assignment, not able to concentrate as Rita laid in her bed and diligently did her homework. “The show’s coming on”Michael said as he peeked his head in and went into the parlor.
“Oh”Rita said as she stood up.
“Am I allowed to listen too?”Dahlia asked her.
“I don’t know. Ma and Pop are really mad at you”Rita said. “Whats wrong?”
“People lie about me and they believe them”Dahlia sulked.
“Come on and ask”Rita said. They went into the parlor.
“You can listen but I don’t want to hear a peep out of you”Ma said to her. Dahlia nodded. She sat on the floor next to Michael and listened intently. She was soon silent and wrapped up in the story as she stared at the radio and imagined Angela with long dark curls, like hers, wearing an elegant red evening gown, made of silk. She would stand next to Kenneth, the man she was running away with, and declare her love for him.
“Kenneth is my soul mate! He will do anything for me. He would get in trouble for me…hell he would die for me. That is why I am running away with him. He loves me and I love him!”Angela proclaimed through the radio. “This is my life and I will do whatever I want with it, damn it!”she said
Dahlia smiled as she heard Angela say that. She was her new heroine. “This is my life and I will do whatever I want with it, damn it”. Hearing her say that gave her inspiration. This was her life. Yes, Ma and Pop thought she was still a child but she could make decisions and fix things. She can do whatever she wants, damn it. No one should stop her. Rita wanted to be a Broadway star. No one was stopping her. Michael wanted to debate until the sun came up. No one stopped him. She just wanted respect. She wanted to be treated fairly. She wanted to be Mrs. Harrison. She can do whatever she wanted and she was going to do things just like Angela would. She smiled wider as a new plan popped into her head. She knew how she could kill two birds with one stone. She had to do it right. The music flourished and Angela and Kenneth ran off to get married and it was a shock to everyone. But not a shock to Dahlia. It was romantic. It was their right to be in love. She wanted that too. She wanted a man to love her. Not some 13 year old boy. She was done. She was going to take her life into her own hands.
*__________________________________*