Root by A. Sparrow Read Free Book Online
Authors: A. Sparrow
headed straight to the Verizon
store, knowing I should take advantage of mom’s offer. But looking
at all those phones just brought back the specter of yesterday at
the beach. I don’t even know why, but I had to get out of that
place.
On my way to Eddie Bauer—I was supposed to be
looking for a new pair of jeans—I got distracted by the Apple
store, and then Brookstone. After I had my fill of playing with
their gadgets, I went off to fulfill my duty, only I couldn’t
resist wandering into Barnes and Noble.
I poked around the manga racks for a while,
turned a corner and found Burke staring blankly at the General
Fiction.
“ James! Hey man, what’s
up?”
“ Oh nothing. Just … hanging
out.”
“ I gotta get a book for school,” he
said. “Fucking sociology teacher wants us to read something written
by an African author. Any African author. But just try finding one.
Hey, you wouldn’t happen to know of any, would you?”
“ Nega Mezlekia,” I said. “He wrote
‘Notes from the Hyena’s Belly.’ You’ll like it. Lots of action.
It’s non-fiction, though.”
“ Whoa, dude! You’re amazing! Mez—how
do you spell that?”
“ Just look it up under
hyena.”
“ Hey, how come you weren’t at the
beach the other day?”
“ Say what?”
“ The beach. Weren’t you supposed
to—”
“ Look at this burn,” I said,
displaying both of my ruddy profiles. “Does this face look like
someone who hasn’t been to the beach?”
“ Yeah, but, I thought you were going
with us. Jenny said she invited you.”
“ Oh man, you went with Jenny?” I
sighed. “I overslept. I tried to find you guys, but…. Where’d you
guys end up going?”
“ Vero,” said Burke.
“ Oh Gawd! I had no idea. I thought
you guys were staying local.” I sighed again. “Was Jenny
upset?”
“ Well … she was a little mopey at
first. She kind of holed up with Marianne, They went off by
themselves, whispering back and forth. It was … kind of awkward.
But then she met some guy, and that perked her up.”
“ Say what?”
“ There were some other Ft. Piercers
there. We kind of linked up with them. You know Jared?”
“ The pothead?”
“ Yeah. Well, Jenny … uh … Jenny kind
of … hooked up with him.”
“ Shit!” I stumbled into a table and
almost knocked over a stack of paperbacks.
Any facade I had been able to erect over my
outward feelings came crashing down. Moisture welled up in my eyes
and threatened to spill. My jaw trembled. I had to look
away.
“ Are you okay?” said
Burke.
“ Burke, I gotta go.” I wheeled and
head for the door.
“ Hey. Come on out to the park
sometime. Okay?”
***
The story of Jenny’s day at the beach only got
worse. I had to piece a lot of it together second hand and well
after the fact, mostly from her friend Marianne, but it seemed my
absence that day had triggered a nasty string of events.
When I didn’t show, Jenny indeed felt
humiliated. When Jared, oblivious to the situation, tried hitting
on her, she was flattered and receptive, in part I guess because
she wanted to feel better about herself and to get back at me for
standing her up.
The problem was, it was no one time thing. She
continued to go out with him for weeks afterward. And this guy
Jared was a total loser. I sort of knew him from hanging out at the
park. He was this acne-scarred, pothead who had dropped out of
vocational school. She couldn’t possibly be serious about
him.
The best I could figure, she was just
pretending to go out with Jared to make me feel jealous and try
harder. Problem was this ploy, if that’s what is was, had not only
punished my little mistake, she had crushed my spirit and made it
uncorrectable. Her little ruse made me lose my last shred of hope
and self-regard.
Maybe if it had happened a month earlier I
would have been more resilient. But dad’s passing had stranded me
out on the edge. I had no guard rails to keep me from going over
the side.
I conceded defeat and
store, knowing I should take advantage of mom’s offer. But looking
at all those phones just brought back the specter of yesterday at
the beach. I don’t even know why, but I had to get out of that
place.
On my way to Eddie Bauer—I was supposed to be
looking for a new pair of jeans—I got distracted by the Apple
store, and then Brookstone. After I had my fill of playing with
their gadgets, I went off to fulfill my duty, only I couldn’t
resist wandering into Barnes and Noble.
I poked around the manga racks for a while,
turned a corner and found Burke staring blankly at the General
Fiction.
“ James! Hey man, what’s
up?”
“ Oh nothing. Just … hanging
out.”
“ I gotta get a book for school,” he
said. “Fucking sociology teacher wants us to read something written
by an African author. Any African author. But just try finding one.
Hey, you wouldn’t happen to know of any, would you?”
“ Nega Mezlekia,” I said. “He wrote
‘Notes from the Hyena’s Belly.’ You’ll like it. Lots of action.
It’s non-fiction, though.”
“ Whoa, dude! You’re amazing! Mez—how
do you spell that?”
“ Just look it up under
hyena.”
“ Hey, how come you weren’t at the
beach the other day?”
“ Say what?”
“ The beach. Weren’t you supposed
to—”
“ Look at this burn,” I said,
displaying both of my ruddy profiles. “Does this face look like
someone who hasn’t been to the beach?”
“ Yeah, but, I thought you were going
with us. Jenny said she invited you.”
“ Oh man, you went with Jenny?” I
sighed. “I overslept. I tried to find you guys, but…. Where’d you
guys end up going?”
“ Vero,” said Burke.
“ Oh Gawd! I had no idea. I thought
you guys were staying local.” I sighed again. “Was Jenny
upset?”
“ Well … she was a little mopey at
first. She kind of holed up with Marianne, They went off by
themselves, whispering back and forth. It was … kind of awkward.
But then she met some guy, and that perked her up.”
“ Say what?”
“ There were some other Ft. Piercers
there. We kind of linked up with them. You know Jared?”
“ The pothead?”
“ Yeah. Well, Jenny … uh … Jenny kind
of … hooked up with him.”
“ Shit!” I stumbled into a table and
almost knocked over a stack of paperbacks.
Any facade I had been able to erect over my
outward feelings came crashing down. Moisture welled up in my eyes
and threatened to spill. My jaw trembled. I had to look
away.
“ Are you okay?” said
Burke.
“ Burke, I gotta go.” I wheeled and
head for the door.
“ Hey. Come on out to the park
sometime. Okay?”
***
The story of Jenny’s day at the beach only got
worse. I had to piece a lot of it together second hand and well
after the fact, mostly from her friend Marianne, but it seemed my
absence that day had triggered a nasty string of events.
When I didn’t show, Jenny indeed felt
humiliated. When Jared, oblivious to the situation, tried hitting
on her, she was flattered and receptive, in part I guess because
she wanted to feel better about herself and to get back at me for
standing her up.
The problem was, it was no one time thing. She
continued to go out with him for weeks afterward. And this guy
Jared was a total loser. I sort of knew him from hanging out at the
park. He was this acne-scarred, pothead who had dropped out of
vocational school. She couldn’t possibly be serious about
him.
The best I could figure, she was just
pretending to go out with Jared to make me feel jealous and try
harder. Problem was this ploy, if that’s what is was, had not only
punished my little mistake, she had crushed my spirit and made it
uncorrectable. Her little ruse made me lose my last shred of hope
and self-regard.
Maybe if it had happened a month earlier I
would have been more resilient. But dad’s passing had stranded me
out on the edge. I had no guard rails to keep me from going over
the side.
I conceded defeat and