Best Friends

Nancy and Lawrence moved Angel to the city of Lafayette, Louisiana. The following Monday, she was bought to Lafayette Elementary for enrollment. She sat in the office for what seemed like hours, as Nancy filled out a stack of paperwork.

When she was done, the vice principal came out and introduced herself. “Hello Angel, I’m Mrs. Dawson, the vice principle here. I’ll be walking you to your class. Say goodbye to your mother.”

“Goodbye, Ms. Nancy.”

“Goodbye, Angel. Now, you’ll have to walk home from school, but it’s not far from here. Do you think you can do it by yourself?”

Angel shook her head, yes.

“I’ll be home when you get off, and I want to hear all about your first day, okay?”

“Okay,” Angel replied.

Nancy walked out of the door.

Angel had never been as scared as she walked down the hall alongside Mrs. Dawson to her new class. They came to an orange door, decorated with fall leaves cut outs and names written on them taped on it. A tree trunk cut out sat in the middle, with the name Mrs. Weber written on it. Mrs. Dawson knocked twice and then entered the room. All the kids, sitting at their desk writing, looked up when they entered.

Mrs. Dawson introduced her to the class. “Mrs. Weber, you have a new student. This is Angel Garcia.”

“Welcome, Angel,” Mrs. Weber said. “Please, find a seat.”

Angel found a seat in the middle of the class between a brown skinned, slim girl with long, shiny black hair pulled back into a pony tail, and a dark, thick girl with short uneven hair, that looked as if she never used a brush before.

“Hi, I’m Nicki, and that’s my girl Dionne,” the skinny one said pointing to the heavier one.

“You can hang with us at recess we’ll show you around,” Dionne added.

Angel smiled. She had never had friends before, but Dionne and Nicki were very nice to her. At recess, they introduced her to a large group of people, whose names she forgot as soon as they spoke them. She had a lot of fun with all of them, and was beginning to like her new school.

The school day came to an end. Angel stood outside of her classroom, trying to remember the way home.

Dionne and Nicki walked up behind her. “Do you ride a bus home?” Nicki asked her.

“No I walk, but I’m not sure which way to go”

“Where do you live?” Dionne asked her.

“Wilson Manner apartments,” Angel replied.

“Nicki and I can show you the way. Right, Nicki”

“Sure,” Nicki replied.

They hadn’t noticed the young boy who was passing by. He overheard them offering Angel help and saw Dionne give Nicki a wink.

“Thanks,” Angel told them.

They began walking and the boy followed them.

The second they walked off the school campus, Angel began to worry. She didn’t recognize the direction they were going in, but didn’t say anything.

After about five minutes of walking she spoke up. “I don’t think this is the right way,” she told them.

“Well of course not,” Nicki laughed. “It took you that long to figure that out.”

“She must be slow,” said Dionne.

Angel stopped walking. “It’s not funny,” she said.

“Aww, are you gonna cry?” asked Dionne.

“I thought you were my friends.”

“That’s what you get for thinking,” Nicki told her.

They walked away, leaving Angel there alone, with no way of knowing how to get home, or even getting back to school.

The young boy, who had been following them, spoke up. “Some kids are so cruel,” he said.

Angel turned and saw a tall caramel colored young boy with brown eyes, set narrowly in their sockets. His voice was so soft that she could barely hear him as he spoke.

“Where do you live?” he asked.

Not sure if she could trust him, she was afraid to speak to him.

“I can walk you home,” he offered.

She just stared at him.

He gave her a reassuring smile as he spoke again. “I promise I’m not like those other kids at all. Where do you live?”

“I live at Wilson Manor Apartments,” she finally answered.

“Perfect, it's just down the street from me,” he told her. “Come on, we're gonna have to go back the other way. I'm Khiry, by the way,” he told her as they began to walk.

“I'm Angel.”

As her head cleared from the little scare she just had, she began to wonder. “If your house is the other way, then why did you come this way?” she asked him.

He smiled at her as he explained, “I saw them leading you in the wrong direction. I kind of figured you could've used some help. Nobody out here is looking to help you. You can't trust them. I should know. I was the new kid last year, and I still haven’t made any friends.”

“Where are you from?” she asked him.

“All over. My dad has a job that causes us to move around a lot. This is my third home that I can remember. But, he promised we’d be here a while. Where are you from” he asked her.

“Branch.”

“Why did your family move out here?”

“I was an orphan, but Mr. and Mrs. Jones just recently adopted me and brought me out here.”

It took them ten minutes to arrive at their destination. Then they stopped right outside of the gates of the apartment complex.

“Well, we're here,” he said, gesturing towards the tall black iron gates that surrounded the complex.

She smiled at him, truly grateful for rescuing her.

He hesitated before turning towards his street. “You think maybe we can hang out sometimes?” he asked her.

“Sure, that’ll be cool.”

“So I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Sure,” she said with an even bigger smile.

He turned and went the opposite direction heading towards home. Angel entered the complex and went to her new home.

She walked in, and Nancy stood near the stove, stirring a boiling pot.

“How was your first day?” she asked as she place the spoon on the counter and turned towards Angel.

“It was okay​.”

Angel did not know what to say to them. Whenever they asked her a question she always gave very short simple answers.

Nancy continued to press. “Did you make any friends?”

“Sure, I made one.”

“That’s good.” She smiles at her new daughter. “Are you hungry? I can fix you a snack,” she continued.

“No thank you. I have homework.”

“Well maybe, I can help you.”

Nancy began untying her apron.

“That’s okay​, I’ve got it.  It’s pretty basic stuff.”

“Well, let me know if you need anything.”

“I will.”

She began to head down the hallway to her room when, she felt compelled to put Nancy’s mind at ease.

She turned around and went back into the kitchen. “Ms. Nancy,” she called.

Nancy turned to look at her.

“I just wanted to thank you for bringing me here. I’ve never had a family before, so I don’t know what to make of this new situation just yet, but I do appreciate you choosing me to be your kid.”

“Thank you, Angel,” Nancy said smiling.

Angel turns and heads for her room.  She sits on her bed, open her books, and began her homework.

The next day, when Angel came out of the gate, she spotted Khiry waiting on the outside for her.

“What are you doing here?” she asked him.

“I figured I'd walk you to school, and back for a few days. This is just until you learn the way,” he told her. “Maybe longer if you want me to.”

“I would like that,” she told him.

They began walking slowly, and making small talk.

“So, what happened to your real parents?” Khiry asked her.

Angel took a deep breath. “My mom died giving birth. No one ever mentioned who my father was.”

“Do you think you'll ever find out?”

“It doesn’t matter to me. I'm fine without him.”

“I guess you are,” Khiry said, looking up at the sky.

Over the next few days Khiry and Angel became best friends. The two, had an understanding that no one else understood. All the other kids thought they were weird. They were both unusually mature for their age. They were both considered an outcast, but pretty much looked out for each other. They did their homework together every day after school, and hung out either at her apartment, or in his yard, on weekends.  Angel enjoyed having him as a friend.

One Saturday afternoon, he and Angel were sitting on the back porch of his home drinking soft drinks and eating chips.

Khiry had been staring into space not making conversation with her, when suddenly he asked her the strangest question. “You ever had a boyfriend, before?”

“No,” she replied as she took a sip of her soft drink. “You ever had a girlfriend?”

“Yeah, but it wasn't like real boyfriend and girlfriend. It was just for pretend.” Khiry looked at her from the corner of his eyes.

“What’s the difference?”

“Well, we would just hold hands and play together,” he told her. “But, real boyfriend and girlfriend, they do stuff like kiss, and they put their tongue in each other's mouth.”

Angel made a disgusted face. “Ewe, that's nasty,” she said.

“Yeah it is,” he told her, “but I've seen a lot of teenagers do it.”

“Have you ever kissed a girl, before?” she asked him.

“No, but I want to”

He took a sip of his drink, then placed it on the steps between his feet. “Do you want to try it?” he asked.

Angel looked at him as if he were crazy. “You are not putting your tongue in my mouth,” she said.

“No, of course not,” he said.

Angel looked around to see if there were any witnesses. “Okay.”

They quickly pecked each other on the lips.

Khiry smiled. “Huh! That was kind of nice,” he said.

“Does this mean you're my boyfriend, now?” Angel asked.

“Yeah, I guess it does,” he replied.

“You won't leave me for another girl, will you?” she asked jokingly.

“I'll never leave you, I promise,” he told her. “No matter what happens, we'll always be together.”

Angel smiled at him and he smiled back as they continued to enjoy their snacks in silence.

Angel came out of the gates the following Monday morning. Khiry was waiting for her as he always did. This time they locked their pinky fingers together, and began walking to school.