HOPE, CHARITY & FAITH-THE CONCLUSION PART TWO
* All characters in this story are of legal age. *
Two weeks later Ricky was already in basic training and making a pretty decent go at his new life. We communicated from time to time via snail mail, but he was fast becoming a part of my past while I was still figuring things out, post-graduation. He'd gifted me his car before leaving making my mother partially unhappy because now "I would be gone all the time trying to get girls pregnant to make her a young grandmother." Proving I still had a long way to go mentally, I pointed out that she was in her late forties receiving a butt whipping as reward for insulting her vanity. Mom would occasionally ask about Faith like we'd been talking or something, necessitating an umpteenth repeated explanation that was starting to get old.
Truth of the matter, I thought constantly of Faith wondering what her life was like and if she'd forgotten me in China. I'd only been given a fleeting glimpse into her new life by her erstwhile protegee, sophomore Lisa Jackson. We talked occasionally but I could never work up the courage to ask her to let me see the pics again. Sometimes I chaffed inside thinking she probably had some Chinese boyfriend by now and was living the life.
"Hey Jaleel; how're you doing?" Lisa seemed to read my mind as I sat in the cafeteria having an early breakfast of an overpriced danish and bottle of juice.
"I'm good, what's up?"
"Uhm, just checking in with you; seeing how you're doing is all."
"I'm doing as good as I was yesterday, which is uh, bored to tears." Lisa always seemed so formal in our brief interactions, laughing a bit manically at my snarky asides. Today as usual, she was standing a foot away from the cafeteria table I was sitting at, worrying me a little.
"Things will look up if you get in the right mindset."
I didn't know what to make of her, worried that she might like me in some respect. There was no way I'd mess around with an underclassman and no way I'd let one get clout for being seen with a senior student.
"Man, what's up Lisa Jackson?" She giggled like she always did due to my intentional habit of using her whole name.
"Well uhm, is there like somebody you like at school?"
"Huh?!" The hair stood up on the back of my neck as I anticipated some sort of confession involving a sixteen year old's unrequited for a socially awkward senior.
"Do you got a girlfriend Jaleel."
I froze at the question staring at the slightly chubby girl standing before me looking even younger than her sixteen years. There was no way this would end without disaster as I considered running for my life.
"OMFG, WHAT-THE-FUCK?!! SO YOU GOING FULL PEDO JALEEL?!!" The last of my great female nemesis Treena, reared her shitty face in dramatic fashion tied in a bow accentuated by her raggedy Jack O' Lantern smile. Never mind that her own forced clique was ninety percent underclassmen.
"Oh you again?"
"SO WHAT'S UP; YOU CHANGING DIAPERS NOW?!!" Her clique giggled at the dumb attempt at humor while I simply leaned on the table resting my chin on my fist.
"You'll have to take a number, but I'll charge extra to shave your hind legs."
"Oh, that's supposed to be funny, huh?!!"
"No Treena; I'm not gonna get in trouble for breaking the rules." Lisa stood off to the side. She always enjoyed my perpetual verbal duels with a resurgent Treena, the social last of her kind. Treena was a lackey without a boss.
"Oh yeah, what rules is that Jaleel?!!" She sounded like an idiot as I held my hand up making a blabbing puppet out of my fist aping her goofy voice.
"Don't feed the animals, bitch."
Some students at an adjacent table burst into laughter startling Treena. I'd long noticed the fact that she always wore her cheerleader letterman jacket to accentuate her shabby clothing.
"FUCK YOU!!"
"Not even if you won the lottery biatch!! Girl, I gotta tell you to get yourself together cause you tore up from the floor up Treena girl!! How many days you gonna wear the same dirty ass skirt if you ain't shaving them hairy ass werewolf legs, huh Treena?!! Nigga try a bit of makeup besides that crayon shit on your fucking cheeks making you look like Raggedy Anne, girl!! Um, damn Treena girlfriend-JUST WHAT IS THAT FUCKING SMELL COMING FROM NO MAN'S LAND DOWN THERE, HUH GIRL?!!"
I lit into her using a faux sister girl, stereotypical gay voice throughout the complete verbal burn as more students whooped and jeered not necessarily in Treena's corner. Ripping her apart like this was becoming passe and boring, but Lisa was doubled over laughing hysterically along with a few members of Treena's clique.
"ASSHOLE!!" Treena looked like a trapped animal unable to turn in any direction without being confronted by a laughing face.
"OOOOH GIRL, PLUG THAT NASTY CLAM UP AND GIVE US SOME RELIEF AROUND HERE!! PEOPLE IS TRYING TO EAT UP IN HERE BAAAAA-BEEEE!!" The crowd exploded in uproarious laughter as Treena fidgeted trying to figure out what to do.
"YUH- YOUR MAMMA BITCH!!" She screamed but found her bland retort drowned out by peer commentary and laughter.
"YOU GONNA CRY TREENA GIRL?!!" I interlocked my thumbs under my chin creating a fluttering butterfly shape, batting my eyes at her effeminately.
Treena turned tail bolting from the student cafeteria unused to being the butt of public shame and embarrassment. Thankfully, the bell sounded as I noticed Lisa gone into the crowd with some mutual friends. It was one of the few times Treena's incessant stalking came in handy. I wondered how I'd let Lisa Jackson down without bruising her feelings as I walked to the wall to dump my tray.
"Hey, let's hurry up and get to the girl's locker room." Two freshman girls were standing in front of me dumping their lunch trays.
"Why Rolanda?"
"That senior girl, Treena; she gonna jump Lisa Jackson up for laughing at her." My tray hit the floor as I sped out of the cafeteria running towards the corridor leading to the girl's locker room.
"HEY JALEEL, WHAT'S GOING ON?!!" Pops the safety officer and a teacher nearly got hit by the double doors as I blasted out of the cafeteria intent on stopping history from repeating itself.
I ran through the congested hallway like someone was shooting at me getting some angry jeers while one guy managed to slap the back of my neck as I passed. My heart was thumping as I found the entrance to the girl's locker room stuffed with students desperate to make it to gym. I didn't give a fuck willing to fight Treena to protect a friend.
"HEY, WHAT THE HELL?!!" One female student shoved me roughly in the shoulder as other reacted to my presence.
"GIRL'S LOCKER ROOM DUMBASS!!" Another yelled otherwise ignored.
"NASTY!! NASTY!!" Two more yelled as more women turned pushing into me with gladiatorial force.
I was about to be assaulted by at least ten righteously indignant female students when I was quickly snagged by the collar and slammed into the wall by a male teacher. The corridor became a deafening a cacophony of shrill female peer commentary as Pops arrived with a nosey school counselor in tow. The shop teacher holding me, bent my arm painfully behind my back while more students and faculty gathered as Pops vetted the first few girls erroneously reporting my actions. He turned to me looking shocked like I was a serial killer or something.
"Why'd you do it Jaleel man; you know that's wrong." He almost sounded as if he were going to cry as he took out his handcuffs. I was still struggling when the next shoe dropped in dramatic fashion.
"GET OFF ME!! GET THE FUCK OFF MEEEEE!!" No one was prepared for this.
Several female students and two teachers were bowled over as Treena exploded through the double doors in her birthday suit with bits of tattered clothing hanging about her person. Six underclassmen including Lisa Jackson were swarming her throwing haymakers that landed everywhere. These young girls between the ages of fourteen and seventeen were literally beating her from pillar to post intent on literally lynching the bionically annoying cheerleader. Pops and the other adults quickly forgot about me having a hell of a time restoring order I the corridor as other students caught the action on their cellphones.
Stripped bare devoid of clothing, Treena was literally nothing to look at; a fraud of physicality with her clothing covering a long, lanky bow legged figure tragically hirsute in all the wrong places. Her boobs were a flaccid sagging D-Cup that looked more suitable for a senior citizen mismatched to a curved torso over an extremely hairy bush of matted hair on her mound. Equally hirsute were her forearms and calves as one of the girls beat at her scalp with her own violently stolen Chuck Taylor. Also of note was the gross tuft of hair at the top of her equally saggy, looking butt which while large, was deflated.
"God is truly good." I shrugged resuming my day as the fallout abated in the stuffed corridor.
In the end, Pops gentleman that he is, made Treena a functional poncho out of an extra large garbage bag while she waited for her parents to pick her up. She never did get her shoe back, but the professional clout chaser finally achieved the fame she's sought since her first day on campus. Everyone involved was suspended for a week and good ole Treena got the "Let it roll off your back like water" speech along with some of Pops trusty ice chilled lemon water.
Later I'd find out that Treena did angrily confront underclassman sophomore Lisa Jackson deep off in the girl's locker room only to discover several kindred spirits equally annoyed at the senior's antics over the past few months. To her credit, Lisa threw the first devastating sucker punch loosening two wisdom teeth. It was blood in the water as more girls started swinging emboldened by a rising leader amongst their ranks. More than the six girls I'd witnessed started pummeling Treena along with a few members from her clique. Stripping her nude in the process added more wood to the fire as she was forced to beat a hasty retreat out of the locker room.
Afterwards in the upcoming weeks, Treena would be serenaded by numerous insensitive peers with the opening yodel from The Lion King because of her hirsute nature.
"Jaleel?"
"Yes Ms. Oderkirk?"
"Would you like to join the rest of us, or are you going to daydream all day?"