The Due Date is Here

OK, so it’s Monday night and my students have to turn in a narrative tomorrow, I think. I’m sitting in my recliner previewing a video I might show at some point when the reality hits me: I have to turn in a narrative too. I started the story but couldn’t develop a middle. I grow irritated. Why in the world did I tell the class I’d write a story too? Was I crazy?

I drag myself down the hallway and into my room. I reread what I wrote before and think, it’s not exceptional, but I like Shana (my main character). I force myself to write. Here’s what I come up with:

First Date

“Excuse me.”  Shana’s eyes darted up and down. Her neck grew warm. Suddenly her pink Nikes were the most important thing in the world. Well, that and her red smock that said, “Welcome to Piggly Wiggly! I’m Shana.”  “Uh, excuse me, what aisle is the bread on?”

Before Aisle 3 stumbled out of her mouth, he was gone.

Shana hurried to her register. Please, please, let him get in my line, she thought. Shana let out a sigh when the tall, mocha-colored boy walked past her register and got into Karen’s line.

…..

The next day Shana went into the cafeteria, took one look at the tables filled with laughing, chatting schoolmates, and darted right back out of the café door and into the library.

“Hi, Ms. Brooks,” Shana waved as she made her way to the back of the room where four carrels sat in a row. Only serious, quiet students settled here so Shana was sure she would avoid talkers. She had no patience for conversations about parties crashed over the weekend or couples going out on dates. All she wanted was to sit down and read. 

As soon as she opened her copy of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, she heard a familiar voice. She looked up and saw the boy from the grocery store talking to Ms. Brooks. When he looked up and over toward her, Shana jumped and stuck her nose into the book. A few minutes later she peered over the book slowly and saw that the boy had chosen a table on the other side of the room.

Shana stuck her nose back into the book and then out again. She thought about introducing herself to him, but decided against it. What would she say? What if he ignored her? Besides, Marguerite was waiting for her to discover how she broke her silence after being mute. Shana read a few more lines before glancing quickly at the boy whose own nose was now buried in a textbook. She noticed how he rapidly tapped on a calculator and then wrote in a tablet.

He’s doing math, Shana thought. She smiled and pushed her chair back.

Shana checked to make sure no one was looking her way, not even the boy. The walk toward the other side of the room seemed long. When she reached his table, she took a deep breath and said, “Hi, do you need some help?”

The boy looked up and grinned. “Are you any good at theorems?”

Shana’s cheeks grew red. “Sure. I’m taking trig. I had geometry a while ago.”

“Oh, well, have a seat. I’m Jeremy. Don’t you work at Piggly Wiggly? Shana, right?”

“Yes, I’m sorry about last night.”

“It’s all right. I was in a hurry. My mom was fixing sandwiches for my sister’s class and ran out of bread, so I had to get to the store and back fast.”

“Um, you were really in a hurry to get your mom that bread.”

Jeremy grinned. The sight of his dimples made her knees buckle. “Actually, I was trying to get home so I wouldn’t miss much of the football game.”

They both laughed.

The bell rang.

“I’ve got to get to English,” Shana said as she stood.

“I’ve got to get to class, too. May I call you later?”

Shana leaned her head to the side as if she were trying to decide. “Uh, sure.”

After dinner, Shana checked the phone in the kitchen, hallway, and her bedroom to make sure they worked. By 8:00pm when Jeremy still hadn’t called, Shana knew he wouldn’t.  She went into the den, sprawled herself across the couch, and sighed. As she clicked through the television channels, she sucked her teeth as one happy couple after another danced across the screen. “Uhhhh, my heart feels like a fifty pound dumbbell is resting on it,” she yelled.

“What, honey?” her dad asked as he entered the room. “Did you say something?”

“No, Dad,” Shana mumbled.

“Well, while I was on the phone with Aunt Marge, this boy named Jeremy beeped in. I told him you’d call him back. Here’s the number.”

Shana jumped off the couch and ran to her room.

After Shana hung up the phone, she squealed, leaned back on her bed, and kicked her feet in the air. When her five-year-old sister, Sabrina, ran in, put her hands on her hips, and said, “Ooh, I’m telling Mama,” Shana continued to kick and squeal.

“Tell, I don’t care,” she said and tossed a pink, fluffy pillow at Sabrina’s head. “I’m going on a date!”

Sabrina darted out of the door and ran down the hall screaming, “Maaaa! Shana has a date!”

Shana laughed and said, “I really don’t care if you tell, Sabrina. Why should I? Jeremy Jackson just asked me out!”

Yeah, yeah, it needs a lot of work, but I put myself in my students’ position and I wrote too. I’m pleased that I kept my word.