How little really has changed.
Daddy did take the lock off, but the hasp remained as a reminder of my grandmother's fury and power. She muttered around me all throughout breakfast the next day and followed me out of the house with a trail of warnings and threats, trying to make me feel guilty for putting more pressure and turmoil on our family at a difficult time.
"You're not the only one who's suffering here. Cinnamon. Think of your father having all this on his head and having to have to do a good job at work at the same time. I know it's difficult for young people to be considerate of others these days. They've been spoiled and turned into self-centered little creatures. but I expect more from you."
Before I left, I couldn't resist turning on her and saying, "I'm not the self-centered one here.
Grandmother. You should direct
yourself more at Daddy," I fired. She raised her eyebrows and chased after me, out of the house and to the car.
"And what is that supposed to mean, young lady? What are you saving now? How can you say such a thing? Well?"
"Ask him," I said and got into my car. I left her standing there, fuming.
Clarence was waiting for me at the lockers in the hallway when I arrived at school. One glance at his face told me something was very wrong.
"What?" I asked instead of saying hello or goad morning.
"They called my mother at work." he said. "Told her I wasn't at school. She called my father and I'm grounded for a month. I can't go anywhere on the weekends."
"Oh. Sorry," I said. They called my house too. Who knew they cared?' I added and pulled what I needed from my locker.
Clarence smiled.
"Get ready for the wisecracks," he said. 'My sister already warned me they're talking about us."
"Good." I put my arm through his. "Let's give them something to really talk about then."
He looked surprised, but happy.
There wasn't an eye not directed at us as we made our way to homeroom. And that was the way it remained most of the day. We could see them all whispering, giggling, rotating their eves with their fantasies and stories about us. I could tell Clarence was becoming more embarrassed by it than I was, but whenever he was embarrassed, his earlobes would turn red. The rest of him would grow pale and he would keep his eyes down, his lower lip under his upper.
None of the girls in my classes had the nerve to confront me directly. Even the girls who were so much bigger physically shied away from any face-toface confrontation. Everyone was afraid of the evil eye, as my penetrating dark glare was called. The boys, however, were different. Eddie Morris, who liked to tease Clarence anyway, was full of witty remarks like. "Viagra Boy, can you keep up with her?"
Before lunch, Eddie and his buddies surrounded Clarence and tormented him with questions about our relationship. I was a little late because Miss Hamilton approached me in the hallway and practically shoved the script of her new school play into my hands.
"I want you to try out for the lead," she insisted. "Don't say no or anything until you read the play and see the part. Cinnamon. Please," she cajoled and I nodded and took it.
When I reached the cafeteria. Clarence was trying to get by four boys led by Eddie. Eddie kept poking him in the shoulder, baiting him with questions like. "Does she paint her nipples black too?"
Clarence lifted his eyes to see me coming and then, without any warning, swung his closed fist around and caught Eddie Morris on the side of his head. It took him by such surprise, he lost his balance and fell, spilling his books and notebooks over the floor. His friends, shocked, stepped back and Mr. Jacobs, the teacher on lunch duty, came charging forward, inserting himself quickly between Clarence and Eddie who was rising in a fury to retaliate.
He marched them both past me toward the principal's office. When Clarence went by, I caught a gleeful smile in his eyes.
"The spirits made me do it," he muttered and I laughed.
The other boys took one look at me and cleared away quickly. When Clarence returned, he came directly to my table and told me he had gotten a severe warning and two days detention.
"They're sending a letter home to good old Mom and Dad." he added, "but they don't have to. My sister will be blabbing about it at the dinner table tonight. Maybe my father will be at one of his famous dinner meetings. Maybe they both will be."
As it turned out, that was exactly what happened. Clarence called me to tell me so. Then he surprised me by asking when he should come over.
"I thought you were rounded," I said.
"I'll tell them I had to study with you for a math test or something. That usually works. Any excuse usually works," he added.. "Ours is a house built on a foundation of lies everyone accepts."
"Come any time." I said and went to join my grandmother for dinner. It was the first time since Mommy had been taken away by ambulance.