“Yes!” I scream.
“So long, losers,” Melissa taunts.
“I think I like football,” Tina says sarcastically. “We should do this more often!” Sally shoves the football into Charlie’s gut and smiles at him. She gives me a high five. It’s cool to see her happy about the challenge. I grab the rope off the grass while Melissa and Tina gather their bikes. Sally and I hop onto the backs and leave the boys in the dust. As we ride away, we take one last look at the boys and give them the L sign. I think Melissa shows them her middle finger. Oh well, that’s her. All they can do is shake their heads. Even Charlie cracks a smile at me. Sally sees this and looks at me funny. I give her a look like, What? Okay, he may be cute, but he’s obnoxious and rude, like Daddy said he would be. All I know is we dusted those guys!
As we roll up to Sally’s house, we’re still laughing about beating the boys at their own game and don’t notice how dark it has become. Suddenly Aunt Jeanie is standing in the doorway with her arms crossed. Uh-oh, she does not look happy.
Melissa and Tina nearly dump us onto the lawn and hightail it up the street. It looks like Aunt Jeanie is breathing so hard steam is coming out of her nose. I am just hoping fire isn’t going to come out of her mouth, but no such luck.
“Do you both know what time it is?” Aunt Jeanie points at her watch.
I guess we were having so much fun that we completely forgot about the time.
“Sally, your father is out there looking all around for y’all,” Aunt Jeanie continues as we walk through the doors with our heads down. “You know better than this.”
“But, Ma—” Sally starts.
“It was my fault,” I interrupt. “We went to buy some rope for double Dutch and—”
Aunt Jeanie cuts me off. “Honey, no need to explain. Whatever y’all need, you just let me know.” She simmers down a bit, thank goodness. I almost tell her how we had to get the rope back from a bunch of boys by beating them in a football game. But all she would hear is that we were playing with a bunch of boys, and then her head probably would explode. “I just don’t want y’all roaming the streets and nobody knowing where you are. These neighborhoods may look safe, but I need to know where you are at all times,” Aunt Jeanie continues with a long, chilling stare.
I must admit, as much as I hate being reprimanded, I appreciate that somebody cares about my whereabouts. Even if I think I can take care of myself, it’s nice to know someone is looking after me. I just hope this doesn’t mean I have to go to sleep without dinner. I’m hungry.
I try to get back into this master chef’s good graces. “Um, Aunt Jeanie, is there anything to eat?”
“If you all promise not to do this ever again, I might let you have something to eat,” she says. Then, through the side of her mouth, “Running my blood pressure through the roof.”
“We promise,” Sally and I say in unison.
“All right, you all get washed up and I’ll warm you some supper,” Aunt Jeanie says with a delayed smirk. “Your uncle took the boys down to the river this afternoon and caught a boatload of fish.” Cool! I think she’s truly relieved that we’re in the house. Who says “supper” anymore?
After my shower, I quickly check on Cameron in Michael and Eddie’s bedroom. I’m guessing the fishing trip wore him out, because he and my little cousins are already fast asleep on the floor with video game controllers in their hands. He actually has a smile on his face. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Cameron sleeping before seven o’clock. He may get on my nerves sometimes, but he’s really a good kid. Roar! Was that my stomach? I quietly shut the door and quickly head to the kitchen. Supper smells good! Sally and I sit there in our pajamas and wolf down Aunt Jeanie’s catfish and yummy corn bread. Man, my aunt can cook!
Even though we had a fun afternoon, I don’t even know if Melissa and Tina will turn out to be any good at double Dutch. But I don’t want to lose the opportunity to compete, even if we look like fools jumping around in the gym. I guess we’ll figure it out tomorrow, but I know one thing: today was more fun than I thought I would have here in the South.
Finally Sally and I put our dishes in the sink and walk upstairs. Sally stands at her door for a second, then turns around.
“I’m glad we found a team,” Sally whispers. “Now I’ll be able to show the Belles they’ve made a mistake by shutting me out.”
“I just hope Melissa and Tina will be as good at double Dutch as they were at football,” I snicker.
“Today was so fun!” she says as she looks back to see if her parents’ door is closed. It is. She gestures for me to come to her room. I tiptoe across the hall, and we run and jump onto the bed with two feet.
“Did you see how Melissa pinned that one boy?” Sally laughs. “He didn’t have a chance.”
“You should’ve seen Tina.” I laugh back. “She had that boy like…” I stare with wide eyes.
“I know,” Sally says. “They all looked like this when I made the touchdown.” She crosses her eyes, and we jump around on the bed, laughing. Who knew my stiff little cousin Sally could be this silly?
