“Well,” Roxy said, rising, “since everything we need to do is out there, we won’t waste any more of your time or mine and keep Emmie out of her classes. Thank you.”
I stood up, too. It was clear to me that no one could intimidate my sister. She seemed to know instinctively how to speak and deal with people, no matter who or how high up they were. Where did she get her poise and self-confidence after becoming a street kid? How did she develop into this beautiful and accomplished young woman? Did I want to be more or less like her? When would she tell me more about herself, especially the journey she took to arrive at this place in her life?
Roxy and I paused at the counter, and Dr. Sevenson’s secretary handed Roxy the forms to fill out.
“You can go to class,” Roxy told me. As I turned, she added, “And watch your ass. You can see how everyone else will be,” she added loudly enough for even Dr. Sevenson to hear behind her closed door. I smiled at her and left.
When I entered my class, Chastity’s eyes nearly exploded, as did those of some of my other classmates. I took my usual seat and opened my notebook, pretending that nothing at all was different. I could feel the curiosity practically boiling over and out of the minds of those around me. When the bell rang to end the class, Chastity nearly leaped over desks to get to me.
“You’re here!” she cried. Some of the others gathered around us.
“Yes, it does seem like I’m here,” I said, and started out.
“But . . . I thought you were going to live with your aunt and uncle in Washington, D.C.”
“That didn’t work out,” I tossed back. “They don’t have MTV.”
“What?”
I laughed to myself, wondering how long I could keep her dangling. She hurried to walk beside me.
“But where are you living? I mean, who are you living with?”
“Whom,” I said. “You’re never going to improve your grades in English.”
“I don’t care about my grades in English,” she whined. “Where are you living? Are you at home? Who’s with you?”
I paused. The other girls were still hovering around us.
“If Dr. Sevenson hears that sort of disrespect for our English class, you’ll be dangling on your participles,” I said, and kept walking.
I saw Richard ahead of me with two of his friends and quickly caught up. He was excited to see me but didn’t ask many questions. I used him to waste as much time between classes as I could and entered the next class just as the bell rang. I glanced at Chastity. She looked as if she might explode with frustration. The moment she had an opportunity to whisper, she leaned over. “You’re living with your sister, aren’t you?” she asked. It sounded more like an accusation.
I didn’t reply. I pretended not to hear her because I was too involved in my work, but her question hung in the air until the bell rang again.
“Well?” she asked immediately.
“Yes,” I said.
“In the hotel?”
“That’s correct,” I muttered, and kept walking.
“But how can you . . . I mean . . . with what goes on and everything?”
“Where there’s a will, there’s a way,” I said, and went on to my next class.
For a while, I actually enjoyed the curiosity and excitement swirling around me. It was mostly stirred up by Chastity in the beginning but soon developed until I was the topic of conversation everywhere. I knew that once Chastity told others where I was living and with whom, the news would fly through the school. Everyone was after me to sit at her table in the cafeteria at lunchtime. Suddenly, I was fascinating to those girls who were previously intimidated by my grief and my family tragedy and wanted to do everything to avoid me.
Handfuls of questions were thrown in my direction. “You’re living in a hotel? What’s it like? Are you really on your own? What kind of people are you meeting there? Do you have anything to do with your sister’s work? Are you going to meet rich and famous people?”
I was deliberately vague with my answers, making all that they thought was exotic and exciting seem very matter-of-fact, if not outright boring.
“I have to walk farther to school and back,” I told them, as if that summarized it all.
Frustrated and annoyed, they stopped asking questions and peeled away like beggars who realized that the one they were following would give them nothing. Naturally, Chastity expected that I had reserved the truth only for her ears. She smiled and was at my side as soon as she could be.
“Can I visit you at the hotel?” she asked. “I could come today.”