Raven (Orphans 4)

"You're old enough to go out if you want. They shouldn't keep you locked up. Jennifer's certainly not kept locked up," he added. "She'll be at the game, I bet. You can come with her, can't you?"

"I'll try," I said. "She's not happy about taking me along anywhere."

"I'll make sure she does," he said with a wink.

We talked some more. He asked questions about my life before I began living with Uncle Reuben. I didn't want to tell him too much. Jennifer had successfully spread the word that my mother had died, and for the moment, I was afraid to contradict her and create too much of a scandal. It might scare Jimmy away, I thought, and anyway, what difference did it make what the kids at this school knew or didn't know about me?

Jennifer approached me in the hallway the first opportunity she had after lunch. Normally, she wouldn't so much as glance in my direction, but her girlfriends were buzzing around her like bees full of curiosity instead of honey.

"What's going on between you and Jimmy?" she demanded as if she were a police interrogator. She stood in front of me with her hands on her hips.

"Excuse me," I said. "I don't want to be late for class."

"Don't you walk away from me, Raven," she cried, her nostrils flaring. She looked exactly like Uncle Reuben.

"I'm not walking away. Do you want me to be late and get into trouble? Uncle Reuben won't like that, will he?"

"You've got time. Answer me," she demanded.

"Jimmy who?" I said, looking perplexed.

"Jimmy who? Jimmy Freer. You were talking to him in the cafeteria," she said, amazed at my questions. She looked at the other girls, who were just as surprised.

"Oh," I said, "was that his name? He never told me. Um. . . nothing's going on, but when something is, you'll be the first to know," I added, and kept walking. I could almost hear the explosion of anger in her head. -

I didn't realize that because I had been seen with Jimmy Freer, Jennifer was going to pay more attention to me. She was even waiting for me at the bus at the end of the day.

"Do you want to go to the basketball game tomorrow night?" she asked in as close to a pleasant voice as she could speak.

"What?"

"Are you deaf? I asked you if you wanted to go to the game with me, that's all."

"Sure," I said. Now I was the one who was really surprised.

"Just don't get my father angry about anything and spoil it," she warned, and marched onto the bus before I could ask her why she suddenly didn't mind being seen with me. I found out later. One of Jimmy's friends, Brad Dillon, had asked Jennifer to the game and party. The plan was to double-date with me and Jimmy, and since Brad was on Jennifer's wish list, she was eager to get me to go and make it happen for herself. I was more surprised that Brad wanted to be with her. He was even better-looking than Jimmy, in my opinion, but as we would soon discover, the boys had their own special plans.

Jennifer really wanted this date. All that evening and the next day, she did everything she could to ensure that Uncle Reuben wouldn't stop us from attending the game. I was suddenly very important to her. She even offered to help with some of the chores and put on a big act of reconciliation, pretending to help me make friends.

Uncle Reuben had made an appointment at the social service agency and announced at dinner that he was undertaking the necessary steps to make himself my formal legal guardian. In the meantime, social services was promising to cover my health and basic needs.

"It still irks me that society has to pay for my sister's mistakes," he declared as he chomped down on a lamb chop. I thought he would consume it, bone and all, like some bulldog.

I looked up sharply. It was as if he had reached across the table and poked me with his fork.

"I'm not a mistake," I said as proudly as I could. I was a tight wire inside, stretched so tautly I thought I might break and cry, but I held my breath and kept a firm lid on my well of tears.

Uncle Reuben paused and glared at me, the meat caught between his thick lips and the grease gleaming on his chin. Jennifer looked up nervously. Aunt Clara held her breath, and William gazed down at his food. I could almost feel the trembling in his little body.

"It's a mistake not to be prepared properly for children," he said firmly.

"My mother made mistakes, but I'm not a mistake. I'm a human being with feelings, too." I tossed my hair back. "Nobody's perfect, anyway?'

"You hear that? You hear the way she talks and thinks? You'd thi

nk she would be more respectful and grateful. Here I am trying to make a new home for her, and she talks like that, insolent."

"I'm not being insolent, Uncle Reuben."