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The Tessarae Inn |
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Regrets In Jade Tones
CHAPTER 8 Starr adjusted her backpack then frowned at Jason. He was spending way too much time talking to Susie as far as she was concerned. She walked over to the back corner of the room as quietly as she could. Susie, Jason and Jeremy Palmer were talking excitedly. “I don’t care what Starr says,” said Susie and shook her red curls fiercely. “She’s not right about everything. Tarantulas are not better than Black Widow spiders. My daddy says they’re deadly.” “Shut up,” yelled Starr. “You shut up, you spoiled brat,” spat Susie. “Jason and Jeremy’s interested in me.” “My daddy said Tarantulas are…” “My daddy says your daddy ain’t…” Starr pushed Susie so hard she stumbled backwards and fell on her behind. Starr stood over her and pointed her finger at Susie. “You don’t know anything. And your daddy’s ugly.” Susie began to cry. What a wimp, thought Starr. Then she heard loud footsteps coming up quickly behind her and her heart sank. Mrs. Cole bent down and wiped away Susie’s tears and asked her if she was okay. The wimp stopped crying immediately but Mrs. Cole acted like poor Susie was half dead or something. Mrs. Cole helped Susie stand up. Susie waited until Mrs. Cole wasn’t looking and stuck her tongue out at Starr. Starr glanced over at Jason but he was looking away. She didn’t have time to wait for him to come to his senses because if her experience with Mrs. Cole in the past was a clue, she was going to be put on the hot seat--again. Fred should be waiting for her outside and she could be halfway home before Mrs. Cole realized she was gone. She rushed to the door of the classroom. “Starr Manning,” called Mrs. Cole, “will you come here, please. Jason, Susie and Jeremy, your parents should be waiting for you outside. Principal Hoffman is waiting to see you out at the front door.” Starr kicked at the floor then walked toward Mrs. Cole. She looked back just in time to see Jason slip out of the classroom. Where was he going? He was supposed to ride home with her today. “Starr, I want you to know that I will have to call your parents. Your behavior has improved but I overlooked the tossing of the Jell-O last week and I agreed that it was partly Annie’s fault the week before when she fell off of the monkey bars and I couldn’t prove you were behind the frog jumping on Jennifer’s head or the snake ending up in Michael’s locker or the Baby Ruth bar slipped under poor Helen’s desk that made everyone think she had lost control of herself, but I’ve reached my limit with this poor Susie business. You could have hurt her. I must contact your parents.” Starr stuck out her lips but the tears she felt on her cheeks surprised her. It had been one long day. “Can I go now?” “Yes, dear. You can go.” She walked slowly down the hallway. This was not good. Her mommy would go ballistic but her daddy would be happy about getting out of going to Disney World. It wasn’t fair. She worked so long to be good but being good was awfully hard work. By the time she turned the corner and saw Principal Hoffman she had worked up a pretty good snit. All of the other kids were outside getting in cars and talking to each other in excited whispers. They were probably talking about her. She could see the limo parked right in front but cars were blowing their horns and one of the academy’s green vans seemed about ready to shove the limo out of the way. Could this day get any worse? When she saw the limo pull out, her heart jumped. Fred was leaving her! She took a breath. No, he wasn’t. She was just mad and upset at Mrs. Cole. Fred would never leave her. He always told her if he had to move the car before she got there to just wait next to Principal Hoffman because he’d be right back. She watched the limo lazily drift out of the parking spot, which was quickly occupied by the van. The truth was that she really didn’t feel like going home right now anyway. It had been such a bad day and by the time she got home Mrs. Cole probably would have called and things would go from bad to worse. If she could figure out a way to keep from going home so soon, she would. Someone rushed up to Principal Hoffman. She eased back around the corner where no one could see her but she could still see the door. Principal Hoffman looked around frantically then stared out of the door but finally rushed away. She waited a minute then walked quickly to the front door, slipped outside, raced down the steps and then took off running. Wherever Principal Hoffman went, he’d be back in a flash. The man was like gum stuck under your shoe whenever they arrived and left the school. Once she was across the front yard of the school and running along the front yard of the house three doors down, she cut through the driveway and then scampered across the backyard of the house and through the back yard that joined that house. In a few minutes she was walking down Lancaster Street. She was trying to decide where to hide out for a while, when she heard someone calling her name. She started to run but she still could hear someone calling to her. “Where you going, Starr? Don’t run away. I’m sorry about what happened.” Finally, she recognized the voice. It was Jason. She slowed down to a walk. “Come on, Starr. Wait up.” “Why should I wait for you? You took Susie’s side.” “No, I didn’t.” Starr stopped, put her hands on her hips and whirled toward him. “Yes, you did.” “Where you going, anyway?” “I haven’t decided but I’m not going home right now. I’m going to walk for a while.” “Okay. Let’s walk. I heard Jeremy say there’s a three-leg dog that lives down this way. Maybe, we’ll get to see him.” “He told me it was a stuffed parrot in a window.” Jason shrugged. “Whatever it is we’ll probably see something.” Starr looked at her digital watch. She loved her watch. It was bright pink and had big numbers. It was 3:30. They had been walking for at least an hour. She was tired, hungry and thirsty but she couldn’t let Jason know. They were walking by the stonewall that sloped downward toward the entrance to Buchanan Park. She was debating whether they should go into the park or not. There were swings in there but she had never walked into the park before. The swings were probably far away. She reached toward the top of the wall every few feet and finally it got low enough for her to touch and then low enough to climb on. “Let’s stop and watch the traffic.” “Okay,” Jason said quickly. Starr realized he was tired too. They climbed onto low end of the wall and Starr felt much better once she sat down. They swung their feet and hit the wall to a rhythm that they both felt. She wanted something to eat and drink but she still wasn’t ready to go home. Not yet. “I guess you know we won’t get to go to Disney World together.” “Yeah, I kinda figured Mrs. Cole was going to rat us out.” Starr smiled. She liked the way he said ‘us.’ “Why did you get so mad at Susie?” “I don’t know. I just did. Sometimes she likes to act like she knows everything, is all.” “She can be kinda bossy.” “Yeah, bossy.” They were silent for a while and watched the cars go by. Some cars turned into the park but most kept moving at a steady pace. Lots of people looked at them and pointed but Starr knew how to look like she belonged anywhere. She crossed her legs and stared back at them. “We can probably get our parents to change their minds,” said Jason. “We can probably still go.” “My parents will take me if I want them to, but we won’t all go together. There’s no way my daddy is going to agree.” “Your dad’s pretty cool.” “You think so?” “Yeah.” “Me, too. What about your dad? He looks like he could be pretty cool, too.” “He’s okay. He and my mom haven’t been together too long. I don’t know how long he’s gonna stay.” “My daddy goes away too, sometimes. He always comes back, though.” “Does your mother go with him?” “No. But my father had another wife and she did.” “Really?” “Yeah and the last time he came back then took her with him but I stayed with my mommy.” “Were you sad?” “Yeah, but my mommy had another husband then and we were living in this big house. It was fun some of the time. I had a grandfather, Asa, but that didn’t last too long.” “Your mom and dad are together now.” “I don’t know if it will stay that way. My mommy left and stayed away for a long time. I didn’t think she was coming back.” “I bet you were scared.” “Yeah, but my daddy was really scared. He couldn’t find her and he was really upset for a long time. He tried not to let me know it but I think he thought she wasn’t coming back.” “She did.” “She could leave again.” Jason turned at looked at her with wide eyes. “That’s why you want to go to Disney World together?” Starr pressed her lips together for a few seconds then said, “I guess. I just want us to be a family forever.” Jason nodded then bit his lower lip for a few minutes. “We can be friends forever,” he said finally. “Really?” “Yeah. Shake on it.” Starr took his hand and for a moment everything was all right in her world. She finally felt like she was ready to go home. A car pulled over to the curb in front of them. It idled loudly. The windows were so deeply tinted that Starr couldn’t see who was in it. She didn’t like it and Jason was frowning too. “My mommy told me not to talk to strangers,” whispered Starr, “and never to get into a car with someone we don’t know.” Jason nodded. “Bad people sometimes hurt children.” Starr nodded gravely. “Wanna go?” Starr looked at the car then looked at Jason. She nodded but what she really wanted to do was to call her daddy. He would never let anyone hurt her. Starr reached for her backpack then felt her heart sink into the pit of her stomach. Mrs. Cole had taken her cell phone and Jason’s as well after first period this morning just because they kept calling each other and sending messages during the stupid spelling exercises. Everybody with a brain already knew those baby words anyway but Mrs. Cole had to make a big deal about everything. Mrs. Cole had their cell phones and she forgot to get hers back before she left! Starr felt a creeping sense of fear but she tried to control it. There were lots of people passing by but they were all strangers too. She glanced over at Jason then back at the idling car with the dark windows. Jason seemed to understand everything, even about the cell phones, without her saying one word. She realized he had been thinking about everything too. He grabbed her hand and they jumped down from the wall. They started walking toward the entrance to the park--fast.
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