waiting.”
But he’s not listening to me. At all . His attention is 100 percent on Renée, and his arms are still around her.
Adonna grabs my wrist. “Let’s go, Kendra.”
“Okay,” I say, and let her lead me away. I wanna say bye to Renée, but I don’t wanna interrupt them. I know how much Kenny wanted to see her.
When we get to the corner, I look back and see Renée already walking across the street to her car, looking all sophisticated with her blazer and her suitcase. And then there’s Kenny, still standing there in the street.
Watching her.
NINE
The second we get off the bus, it’s obvious the fight is still going on. We can’t see what’s happening or anything, but about a block away from the school, a whole crowd of kids is standing around cheering and acting wild. I can’t help feeling like I been dropped in the middle of a riot or something. The crowd is so big, it spills out into the street, blocking the cars that are trying to get by. And between the screaming kids and the car horns, the whole scene is just crazy.
“I can’t see shit,” Adonna says, taking ahold of my wrist for the second time. Again I let her pull me where she wants me to go, weaving through little openings in between kids ’til we’re close enough to the action to see it all.
And what I see isn’t even a little bit right. Two big-boned girls got Brunilda up against the metal gate of the car repair shop on the corner. One girl has Brunilda’s long hair wrapped around her fist and she’s yanking her head back. Hard. The other girl is punching her everywhere: the head, the chest,the stomach. And Brunilda is just screaming and crying. More than anything else, what gets me is the look on her face. She’s more than just scared. She’s in shock.
Not one person does anything to help her, either. Most of the kids are laughing, acting like they’re watching a TV show, not a real girl getting beat up for no reason. The whole scene is making me sick.
I break away from Adonna’s grip, but she don’t even notice, she’s so wrapped up in what’s going on. All I know is I’m getting away from here. I mean, there’s no way I can do anything to stop the fight myself with all these kids out here, not if I don’t wanna end up like Brunilda. But that don’t mean I have to stand around and watch it, either.
A few minutes after I make my way back through the crowd, the police finally get there. But I don’t hang around to see what’s gonna happen. I just walk away with my head down. I mean, maybe I was just stupid, but I thought a school like this would be different than a lot of other schools around here, like since these kids are artists and stuff, they wouldn’t be fighting on the street. But I was wrong.
When I get inside the school, through the metal detectors, the halls are practically empty even though it’s ten minutes before homeroom. As I’m passing by the theater, Darnell comes out. And he has dried blue paint all over his hands just like I had yesterday.
“Hey, Kendra,” he says, smiling at me. “You look nice today.”
I almost forgot what I was wearing. “Oh, thanks,” I say. Then, because I don’t know what else to say, I ask him why he’sstill working on the set when we were supposed to be done yesterday.
“I had to add another coat of paint to some of the edges, and I wanted everything to be dry and ready before dress.” He looks up and down the hallway. “Where’s everybody? Fire drill or something?”
“Fight,” I tell him. “Two girls against one.”
“That don’t sound like a fight to me. More like a crime.” He looks as upset about it as me.
I nod. “Yeah, I know. But tell that to half the school. They’re out there like there’s nothing wrong with it.”
Me and Darnell walk down the hall together. When we get close to the boys’ bathroom, he tells me he has to get the rest of the paint off of him before homeroom. So we wave bye to each other and I head upstairs.
I get
But he’s not listening to me. At all . His attention is 100 percent on Renée, and his arms are still around her.
Adonna grabs my wrist. “Let’s go, Kendra.”
“Okay,” I say, and let her lead me away. I wanna say bye to Renée, but I don’t wanna interrupt them. I know how much Kenny wanted to see her.
When we get to the corner, I look back and see Renée already walking across the street to her car, looking all sophisticated with her blazer and her suitcase. And then there’s Kenny, still standing there in the street.
Watching her.
NINE
The second we get off the bus, it’s obvious the fight is still going on. We can’t see what’s happening or anything, but about a block away from the school, a whole crowd of kids is standing around cheering and acting wild. I can’t help feeling like I been dropped in the middle of a riot or something. The crowd is so big, it spills out into the street, blocking the cars that are trying to get by. And between the screaming kids and the car horns, the whole scene is just crazy.
“I can’t see shit,” Adonna says, taking ahold of my wrist for the second time. Again I let her pull me where she wants me to go, weaving through little openings in between kids ’til we’re close enough to the action to see it all.
And what I see isn’t even a little bit right. Two big-boned girls got Brunilda up against the metal gate of the car repair shop on the corner. One girl has Brunilda’s long hair wrapped around her fist and she’s yanking her head back. Hard. The other girl is punching her everywhere: the head, the chest,the stomach. And Brunilda is just screaming and crying. More than anything else, what gets me is the look on her face. She’s more than just scared. She’s in shock.
Not one person does anything to help her, either. Most of the kids are laughing, acting like they’re watching a TV show, not a real girl getting beat up for no reason. The whole scene is making me sick.
I break away from Adonna’s grip, but she don’t even notice, she’s so wrapped up in what’s going on. All I know is I’m getting away from here. I mean, there’s no way I can do anything to stop the fight myself with all these kids out here, not if I don’t wanna end up like Brunilda. But that don’t mean I have to stand around and watch it, either.
A few minutes after I make my way back through the crowd, the police finally get there. But I don’t hang around to see what’s gonna happen. I just walk away with my head down. I mean, maybe I was just stupid, but I thought a school like this would be different than a lot of other schools around here, like since these kids are artists and stuff, they wouldn’t be fighting on the street. But I was wrong.
When I get inside the school, through the metal detectors, the halls are practically empty even though it’s ten minutes before homeroom. As I’m passing by the theater, Darnell comes out. And he has dried blue paint all over his hands just like I had yesterday.
“Hey, Kendra,” he says, smiling at me. “You look nice today.”
I almost forgot what I was wearing. “Oh, thanks,” I say. Then, because I don’t know what else to say, I ask him why he’sstill working on the set when we were supposed to be done yesterday.
“I had to add another coat of paint to some of the edges, and I wanted everything to be dry and ready before dress.” He looks up and down the hallway. “Where’s everybody? Fire drill or something?”
“Fight,” I tell him. “Two girls against one.”
“That don’t sound like a fight to me. More like a crime.” He looks as upset about it as me.
I nod. “Yeah, I know. But tell that to half the school. They’re out there like there’s nothing wrong with it.”
Me and Darnell walk down the hall together. When we get close to the boys’ bathroom, he tells me he has to get the rest of the paint off of him before homeroom. So we wave bye to each other and I head upstairs.
I get
Similar Books
