Ninth Grade Blues Read online

  Mia then tapped Luke on the shoulder and said that he was "coming along." Did that mean coming along in his studies or coming along as in a relationship with her...or both? I really like Mia, she's one of the sweetest girls in our freshman class; she's almost as good a friend as Paige and Mary. Maybe she and Luke are about to become an item, that they're "talking." I don't think I'm jealous...maybe I am a little, though. Why do I have to overanalyze everything.

  So Luke is in our living room and talking to my father...which is about as surreal a scene as anybody would ever want to imagine, and Luke asks Dad if he can bow hunt behind our house for deer. Dad answers really snappy and says no, and Luke says no problem, sir, thank you, and leaves. Later, I asked Dad what would be wrong with Luke bow hunting behind our house, and Dad said Luke's family is trashy and his father had been in trouble with the law. But that doesn't make Luke a bad person, I said, and Dad just mumbled something and went back to reading. I need to do some more thinking about this Luke and Mia thing, and how I feel about it.

  Chapter Twenty-Three: Marcus

  Football season is over, we got stomped in the last game, and we didn't make the playoffs. I don't want to talk anymore about it...maybe just a little. Coach Dell has no idea how important that game against King was to Caleb and me and our college and pro future. He called boneheaded play after boneheaded play, and we got beat 35-14. Our offensive line sucks and our whole defensive line can't put any pressure on the quarterback. I play against those guys almost every day in practice, and they can't defend against Caleb and me, and they sure as heck can't defend against a team like King.

  I'm glad to see a lot of those seniors move on. They've got no game and even the best of them is looking at going to a DII school at best. There was too much arguing going in the locker room with those guys; they can't stand it when Caleb tells them what to do.

  I'm playing basketball on the varsity, but I'm a little behind on learning the plays and getting in good basketball shape. It won't be long, I bet, before Coach Henson puts me in the starting lineup. All I've got to beat out is a junior who, basically, has no touch from long range. Coach Henson needs a good shooting guard who can drain it from beyond the line.

  It's all over school now that Kylee and I broke up last week...it was all over school, Facebook, and Twitter, man, in like five minutes. That's good because the ladies need to know that I'm available. Things started off great with Kylee and me, but she began to complain and was real standoffish about stuff. I asked her what her problem was, and she said I should know what the problem was. How are us guys supposed to know what we're supposed to do to make things right if the stupid girls won't tell us. It's like they want us to play some stupid game like 20 Questions, just trying to figure out what they want us to do or how we're supposed to treat them.

  We would argue just about every day in school between classes or during lunch about something ridiculous, usually something she thought I did or didn't do, or some silly thing that I was supposed to do but wasn't doing and things like that. And finally I told her to lay it on the line about what was bothering her. And she got all sarcastic and said did I want one thing or just three or four things or all of them. And I got real sarcastic right back and said why didn't she just give me the top five or six.

  She laughed this evil laugh and said okay, that will be easy. Then she said, I was "in order" was how she started out, "immature, stuck-up, and clueless." Then she said that I didn't want to talk about anything but football, that I never asked her opinions on anything, that I was insensitive about her feelings and had unrealistic goals about the future. Kylee got really harsh next. She said that the only reason she ever went out with me in the first place was that I was so good looking and on the football team. But, boy, her mama was right about looks not being everything. I got so mad at her that I said that she was nothing but "eye candy" to me, and I could do a lot better in the "looks and personality" department. So that was that with her. I won't stay single long.

  I've already been talking to some new babes as potential girlfriends. I think I've settled on Camila, you know how hot those Dominican girls can be. She's got a real chance to be my number one jaina. The past three days I've stopped by her table during lunch (she sits with Hannah and Mia most days) and let her see what she's been missing in the man department.

  Anyway, I asked her out Monday for Friday night. She said she would have to ask her parents first, that they had said she might could do some dating this year, but they weren't all the way sure. I told her no sweat, no problem, that I needed to know by Wednesday. I told her we could go double date with Joshua and his girlfriend, maybe go out to dinner somewhere nice. She said she has a curfew of 10:00, and I said that was no problem. That's my curfew too, but I didn't see any point in telling her that.

  The whole time we were talking Monday, Hannah and Mia were like hanging on every word, and I don't understand why they didn't get up and go somewhere, go get some more food or go to the restroom or something, and let Camila and me have some privacy. Girls are funny like that, it's as if they feel like they have to herd up, like they were some prey animal or something like that and the jungle is full of lions.

  I'm really sure Camila is going out with me on Friday. I mean she's not going to do any better than me.

  Chapter Twenty-Four: Mia

  Camila and Hannah (they both live in my neighborhood) came over after school on Monday to talk about the Camila and Marcus situation...he's asked her out for Friday night. Camila and Hannah were texting back in forth in all their classes after lunch, and it was one of those times I was glad that I didn't have a cell phone. I've got to pay attention and keep all my grades at the A level. I spend enough time thinking about Luke and me without getting mixed up in all this drama that is constant at school.

  Anyway, when Camila and Hannah arrived, I said I had to do some housework and start getting dinner ready for when Mama and Poppa got off work, and I had to help Emma with her homework because I had to work on my own after Mama and I cleaned up after dinner, but I could listen and talk with them at the same time as I did my work. Camila said she had texted her mom after lunch, and she said that Camila could go out to dinner with Marcus, providing that was the only place they went and she was home "well before 10." Hannah was all about thinking it was really cool for Marcus to ask Camila out, and said he was really cute and a sharp dresser, plus a big time athlete.

  That made Camila feel really good, she said, when Hannah said that, then she asked me how I felt about Marcus. When Marcus and Kylee broke up last week, I heard her talking before English class started with Jayla. Lots of us come into English class in the morning and study, or do homework, or just chill out or to eat some fast food breakfast. I just want to be super organized before school starts and sometimes I'll talk to Ms. Hawk a little about what we've been reading. Anyway, I heard Kylee tell Jayla that Marcus was super immature and conceited, plus he was a "first-class jerk," and, really, that about sums up how I feel about him.

  But Camila is one of my two best friends, and how am I supposed to tell her that a guy who just asked her out for what would be her first date is not right for her. I felt like she had really put me on the spot. So I started hedging about how I didn't know what she should do and asked her what did she think?

  She said the usual things about Marcus being so good looking and athletic...blah, blah, blah. And his parents have a really nice house and all that, and Marcus says he's going to play pro football—give me a break. Then I said but what did she think about Marcus as a person? And she hesitated on her answer, and I thought maybe that I should just smile and not say anything more. Mama told me one time that I was "born old," that even when I was little I was different from the other kids that were in the neighborhood where we used to live. That I saw things in people and could read them, and I was always looking and thinking about what was going on. Mama is right about that.

  But it doesn't take an old person to know that some boys just aren't dating mat
erial. That's why I like Luke so much. I feel he has all this potential to be someone special in life and do the right thing. Doing the right thing toward other people is really, really important to me. When I was six or seven, Poppa had this job working construction, and his boss was making him work overtime but wasn't paying him extra for it like he should have. Poppa would complain to Mama about it at night, but he was afraid to say anything to the supervisor because he might lose his job and what would happen to us then...we were barely getting by back then. That boss did not do the right thing toward my Poppa.

  Luke will always do the right thing toward other people; I can see that in him. And any girl he would ever date would be treated with respect and he would be sweet and kind to her and see about her needs first. I don't see those qualities in Marcus...at least not right now...maybe he will grow into them.

  Camila and Hannah talk and talk and talk and I listen and nod a lot and finally Camila says she is going to say yes to going out with Marcus. Hannah says super and gives Camilla a big hug. I force a smile and say that sounds wonderful but I feel like a hypocrite for not being open and honest with her. But what was I supposed to say...I don't know. I'm really glad I'm now spending the whole lunch period Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays with Luke. I eat my sandwich really quick on the way there, stop for a drink of water at a fountain, and I'm good to go. Tuesdays and Thursdays are nice with Luke, especially after we make it through the math tutoring so we can read and talk a little. But Friday lunches with Luke and our book are the highlight of my week.

  Oh, I give Camila and Marcus one month of being together, maybe two...tops.

  Chapter Twenty-Five: Luke

  Granddaddy and I went deer hunting this past Saturday in the neighborhood. I might as well get this out of the way now. I blew a shot at a doe that was only about 12 yards away. All night I was so excited that I couldn't sleep. I kept tossing and turning and thinking about how I was going to handle things when a deer came by, and how I was going to keep calm and make a good shot and the deer wouldn't go very far and die quickly. I didn't want it to suffer when I shot it. Finally, I just gave up getting any sleep and got up an hour before I was supposed to and ate a huge bowl of oatmeal for breakfast with bananas, cranberries, and blueberries. I didn't want to get hungry when I was sitting in the blind. Dad and Mom had gone away to a race for the weekend, so I didn't have to worry about waking them up.

  Granddaddy picked me up early; I think he was excited about my being excited about going. We got to the blind about an hour before sunrise, and when it's dark like that, it's just my favorite time of the day. Even in the neighborhood, I heard two screech owls whistling that creepy night song of theirs, and then as it got closer to dawn, the cardinals, and robins and Carolina wrens started singing. I just love listening to the birds. Then dawn came, and I could see better and better as every second went by.

  We had been sitting there looking out the blind's front window for about 20 minutes, and this young doe came out of the woodlot and started feeding toward us. She was about 20 yards away, which is within range but her head was pointed straight on toward the blind. I needed her to turn broadside and begin feeding before I could shoot...that's what the magazines say to do. I raised my left knee, propped up my crossbow with my left elbow on my knee, and clicked off the safety so the doe wouldn't hear it when she got super close.

  So she kept walking and walking and getting closer and closer and still I couldn't shoot because she was still head on toward us. My heart was just pounding and pounding and I started breathing hard and Granddaddy whispered relax, you can do this. I felt like I was going to hyperventilate. The next thing I know the deer was just, like, eight yards away right outside the window, and I raised up the crossbow just a little, and the doe, she stared daggers at the window. And I rushed the shot and I thought the arrow went right over her back and into the woods. The doe ran off and Granddaddy said did you hit her, and I said that I wasn't sure but I thought I missed. And he said that I had better go outside the blind and make sure that I missed, because it would be wrong if I did hit her and she was out there in the woods suffering.

  So I climbed out of the blind and went into the woods and scared about five or six deer that were just inside the tree line and they went running and snorting through the woods and I heard other deer that I couldn't even see running and snorting, and it was just a big mess. Then I found the arrow and there was absolutely no blood on it...that confirmed what I had thought had happened, that I had blown the shot.

  I went back to the blind and told Granddaddy what had happened, and he said that was okay, that I would kill the next one that came by. That made me feel a little better, but we sat there for like hours and no more deer came by. I had ruined hunting for the whole morning, I was so angry at myself. When we left, I stopped by the man's house and told him what had happened and he said that was okay, everybody messes up some time or another. Then I just blurted out and asked if we could come back Tuesday after school, and the man said yes...he was tired of the deer eating everything in his garden and stripping his fruit trees.

  So I practiced and practiced with my shooting form the rest of the day Saturday and Sunday, and I worked on my breathing and being relaxed, and Granddaddy picked me up after school on Tuesday and we drove straight to the man's house. We lucked out that no deer were in his backyard right then, and we eased into the blind as quickly and quietly as we could without any deer seeing us.

  About an hour later, I finally saw the first deer of the evening. She popped out of the woods 15 yards away, turned broadside and put her head down into some clover and began feeding. It happened so quickly I didn't have time to get nervous. I raised my crossbow, sucked in some air and let it out and said to myself relax, relax, relax, and shot the arrow. It went right through her chest and she sort of staggered into the woods and a few seconds later I heard this big crash. She had to be down, I just knew it.

  I burst out of the blind, entered the woods, and there she was just 25 yards away—dead on the ground, she hadn't suffered one bit. I let out this yell and Granddaddy came out of the blind and by then I was standing over the deer and getting out my Buck gutting knife. I got out this sheet of paper on how to field dress a deer that I had printed from the Internet, and I went to work, saving the heart and the liver and removing the insides. Dad loves liver and onions, and I thought maybe he would be proud of me for once for bringing him something and not messing up like I do all the time with vacuuming and washing his cars.

  My hands were all covered with blood, and I made this mental note that I should ask Mom for some of her dishwashing gloves to take next time I went hunting. I got blood all over my camo, and Granddaddy said there was this big streak of blood across my forehead where I must have wiped the sweat away. I didn't care about that at all. I had just killed my first ever deer!

  Chapter Twenty-Six: Elly

  We've been reading Call of the Wild in Honors English class, and just about all the boys are really into it because it's like a boy's adventure story where a dog gets kidnapped and gets sent to Alaska to become a sled dog and more and more starts acting like a husky and at times even a wolf. The book is very graphic about the way the dogs act and fight and kill, but I have to admit that the story is well written. It's still more of a guy book than one I would pick to read for myself.

  When we were about halfway through the book, Ms. Hawk gave us an assignment to write a 500-word story about something that we do or have done out in nature. The guys were all asking whether they could write about the time they went fishing or camping or hunting, and a few of the girls asked if they could write about going hiking or to a summer camp, and Ms. Hawk said all those were good suggestions for papers. And I panicked because I couldn't think of anything that I had done outside and finally I asked Ms. Hawk if I could write about helping my dad with his tomato plants and she said yes. I probably wouldn't have such chubby legs if I went outside more, but I don't like to exercise and do nature stuff. She said w
e had a week to write the story, that it should be grammatically perfect, and she was going to project them on the Smart Board so that everyone could read what we wrote. She also said that we would peer edit each other's papers in our Bonus Points groups so that nobody would have any embarrassing mistakes. That we also had three days to write the paper and edit the paper in our groups the final two days.

  So on the fourth day, I got together with Luke, Mia, and Jayla, and we started editing each other's papers. I read Luke's first; it was all about how he had killed his first deer the other day and it was just poetic, the story was so beautiful and it made me feel like I was there, and I don't know anything about hunting. Luke wrote about the birds and the night and morning and seeing the deer and then missing the shot and being determined that the next time he went hunting, he would kill one for the meat to feed his family. He wrote about how he loved his grandfather and how they were very close and the bond they had, which had been strengthened by going hunting together. I couldn't find a single grammar error in the whole paper; it was just perfect in every way.