“I see,” said Mommy, hiding a smile. “Do tell.”
“She likes all that Malcolm X brooding intensity,” said Kyzie. “One time I saw Damon standing, looking out the window and he looked just like that ‘by any means necessary’ picture daddy has hanging up in his office.”
“Is Damon that intense?” asked mommy, glancing over her shoulder. Her mother turned around and caught her first good look at Brielle.
“Ooowee!” she said. “Such a fashion statement!”
“You have no idea,” said Kyzie, ignoring her mother’s exclamation. Brielle cut her eyes at Kyzie to get her to shut up, but Kyzie ignored the signal and continued. “You should see some of the stuff that he reads, mommy. He was reading the Koran the last time we were over at Jada’s house. He was reading it like it was some kind of novel, eating chips and flipping pages. And his music, is major old school.”
“Really?” asked Mommy, holding the frying pan sideways so that she could slide the eggs onto two plates. “That is interesting.”
“Yeah,” said Kyzie, “and when I asked him why he was reading it, the Quran, I mean, he said that he’d read the Left Behind series and he wanted to compare and contrast the Christian views of Armageddon from the Islamic views.”
“He’s really smart like that,” said Brielle. She had tried reading the first book of the Left Behind series but it had nearly scared her to death and she had had nightmares for weeks afterwards. As far as Brielle was concerned, the last days should sneak up on her without warning.
“Whatever,” said Kyzie, grabbing a plate off the counter. She opened the silverware drawer and got two forks. She handed one to Brielle. “The boy is a massive weirdo, even if he is fine.”
“Shut up,” said Brielle. “You’re just mad because you don’t get him.”
Damon was fathoms deep. Sometimes, Brielle didn’t get him either. He regularly read books like the Bible, The Spook Who Sat by The Door, and Kafka, ‘The Metamorphosis’ for fun. Brielle knew that because she had seen him with the three books and asked him what class he had to read the books for.
He replied, “I’m just reading this for fun.” Then he’d given her a slow, warm smile that made her feel hot all over.
Brielle had tried to read ‘The Metamorphosis’ and could not figure out what was going on. As far as she could tell, a man was turning into a giant cockroach, which was the grossest thing she could think of, but if Damon thought the book was worthy of a read, Brielle determined that Damon must be brilliant. She would never let on that the book made her brain hurt.
“You’re right about me not getting him,” said Kyzie. “He’s in that alternative dimension. I’m not with that.”
“We know,” said Brielle. “If he’s not wearing tights and doing plies he’s not speaking your language.” She struck a ballet pose and sank into a plie.
“Well, at least I’m not trying to dress like some desperate fly girl to get a boy’s attention,” said Kyzie with a snort.
“Your sister looks very nice,” protested mommy.
“No, you look like you’re on the way to kindergarten,” countered Brielle. “You’re wearing Keds for God’s sake.”
Mommy laughed and said, “That’s enough, you two.”
“Forget you, Flipper,” said Kyzie, to get in the last word. Brielle answered the insult to her larger feet with only an eye roll in her sister’s direction. Although she and Kyzie were fierce foes at home, they were also fierce friends against anyone who tried to hurt the other. Kyzie sat down and started shoveling her eggs into her mouth. Brielle sat down at the table across from Kyzie and started eating her eggs more sedately.
“Well, Damon is a cutie, but that can’t be the only reason you’re all pumped up,” said Mommy, to Brielle. “Or is it?”
Brielle shook her head.
“I think we’re going to have a chance at States in swim,” said Brielle. “My times are dropping fast.”
“Really,” said Mommy. ‘You think that your team is going to be that good?”
“I just feel it,” said Brielle, nodding emphatically. “This is going to be a year that none of us will ever forget.”
Damon
Damon parked his Taurus in one of the parking spaces of the Wimberley High School parking lot. It was not a big man on campus type of ride, but Damon liked that about his car. A really sweet ride would just reinforce people’s opinion that he was some kind of player. Lately, the less he caught people’s attention, the more he liked it. Even though he liked sports as much as the next young man, he’d stopped running cross country and track so that he could get a job at Michigan State in the laundry last June after he’d slunk out of Lansing Southern. Sports had groupies. Damon planned to avoid those types of girls because they were nothing but trouble. He could lift weights and run by himself. Working kept him out of trouble and gave him the money to pay for his gas and insurance. Although his dad had bought the car, he felt that Damon should be responsible for its upkeep. Damon had taken a general mechanics class this past summer so he could learn to change the oil and do minor repairs.
He dropped his keys into the pocket of his book bag and got out of the car. Damon was about an hour early, but he wanted to walk around the school and get his bearings before the other students arrived. He locked his car door with the inside lock
