|
Click here to read the next story... Shifting By H. Lovelyn Bettison “This is it,” Ray said extending his hand to help me up. I had mud in my new white K-Swiss sneakers and smeared up the back of my pink jeans. They were ruined. I just knew it. I thought we snuck out of school during lunch to see a movie, not to do this. Aaron stumbled around looking for his shoes. His unlaced sneakers had fallen off during the downhill tumble. “What do you mean, this is it?” Aaron said. He slipped his feet effortlessly into his shoes. “We’re in the middle of nowhere.” “Are we?” Ray said. He slipped the hood of his black Public Enemy sweatshirt over his head and walked confidently away from us. “What do you mean are we?” I asked his back. He continued to walk away from us. Ray’s hands moved in front of him jerkily and we could hear him saying, “’Cause I’m black and I’m proud. I’m ready and hyped plus I’m amped. Most of my heroes don’t appear on no stamps.” Ray was obsessed with Public Enemy’s Fear of a Black Planet album. The reason I thought we were going to a movie is because he sat next to me in the cafeteria and said, “Burn, Hollywood burn. I smell a riot going on. First they’re guilty, now they’re gone. Sure I’ll check out a movie, but it’ll take a black one to move me.” He smiled at me. Ray was dark-skinned with straight white teeth and clear eyes. He had a scar just over his right eyebrow. He told me he got it in a fight with his older brother when he was nine. He had a part cut into his short black hair. As he got up from the orange plastic chair he motioned with his head for me to follow him. Aaron was waiting for us out in the hallway. I thought we were going to see Do the Right Thing. Instead Ray led us out to the woods. I followed Ray and Aaron followed us both. Aaron’s high top fade brushed the branches on the trees. His unlaced sneakers made clumping sounds in the dried leaves on the forest floor. Aaron was a follower. He was always getting into trouble for something that was someone else’s idea. He was slower than most and easily caught. He was funny and mostly honest. That’s why I liked him. Even though the leaves had already begun to fall off of the trees, it was an unusually warm day. It was too warm to wear a coat. I could hear birds loudly calling in the trees overhead. “Can you hear that?” Ray asked. He stopped walking. “Wh…” Aaron started to say, but Ray shushed him. With his feet firmly planted, he twisted his upper body and held up his hand, palm facing us. I strained my ears to try to hear what he was hearing. “Water,” Ray said. Once he said it, I could hear it. The rushing of water, like someone forcing air through his teeth. We continued to walk forward. I could see light ahead—a place where the trees parted. Ray stepped out of the trees into the light and stopped. We each took our places next to him. There was a short patch of grass that sloped into a rushing stream. Ray sat on the grass and hugged his knees. “This is it,” he said. “Oh yeah,” Aaron said, “I followed you all the way out here and messed up my new sneakers for this.” He clumped down to the edge of the water and stuck his hand in. “It’s warm, but warm water comes out of my sink at home too.” Ray laughed and looked up at me. I lowered myself to the grass next to him. It was damp, but I didn’t complain. “What do you think?” Ray asked me. “Pretty,” I said. He put his arm around me. It was heavy on my shoulders. Ray and I weren’t going together or anything like that. There were rumors at school, but they were just rumors. We did a lot of talking but it was just that—talking. It’s good to really know someone. It’s good to be able to trust someone. We sat there for a little while and watched Aaron walk back and forth along the water’s edge, mumbling. Ray seemed to be waiting for him to get tired, but he didn’t. Instead he started rapping, “Back in the 60’s our brothas and sistas were hanged. How could you gang bang? I never ever ran from the Ku Klux Klan and I shouldn’t have to run from a black man. ’Cause that’s…” Then he sang the chorus, “Self-destruction. You’re headed for self-destruction. Self-destruction. You’re headed for self-destruction.” Aaron only knew Kool Moe Dee’s part so he repeated it over and over again. I didn’t have a watch, but I knew that lunch and study hall were over. I was missing my A.P. English class. Mrs. Jenkins was collecting our creative writing assignments and going over the introduction to Thoreau in our textbook. I liked English and didn’t really want to miss the class, but it was too late now. “Stop that and sit down,” Ray yelled at Aaron. “I know you’re not talking to me,” Aaron responded. He threw his arms out angrily. Ray said nothing. He didn’t have to. Aaron dropped his arms to his side, laughed nervously and said, “Sike. You know I was just playing.” He walked over and sat down next to me. “I brought you here to show you something. You’re not going to see it if you aren’t looking,” Ray said. “Sorry,” Aaron responded, “Where do you want me to look?” “Over there,” Ray pointed to the stream, “Just sit here quietly and wait.” Aaron was good at following instructions. I didn’t know what else to do, so I did what I was told. As I watched, the water seemed to flow faster and faster. It rushed over rocks and splashed up onto the bank. The rushing of water started to roar in my ears so that I could hear nothing else, not the song of the birds or the wind. None of us spoke. I wanted to plug my ears up with my fingers, but I didn’t. Ray and Aaron sat transfixed. In the roar of the water I could hear something that sounded like a voice. It was a voice tucked inside static. I couldn’t make out what it said. A mist was beginning to form. It was thick and white like a cloud seeping from the ground all around us. I felt Aaron’s cool fingers encircle my forearm and squeeze. “Ray,” I said. “Don’t say anything. Don’t move. Just watch and listen,” Ray said. I could still see him through the mist. He was calm. Seeing him made my pounding heart slow a little. Something fluttered against my cheek. It felt like butterfly wings, but I couldn’t see anything. Then it happened again and again. It was like a million butterflies flying by us. This probably only lasted for a few minutes, but it felt like lifetimes. When the mist lifted, I felt an overwhelming joy in my heart. It was something that I could never explain. When the mist disappeared, I knew that I was loved and approved of. I knew that. I had no doubts. I had no fears. © Copyright, H. Lovelyn Bettison Click here to read H. Lovelyn Bettison’s Brief Bio.
|
