Chapter 10: Nueve
Running with Flora's daughters was tough at first. Especially when Flora's daughters weren't used to getting up at the crack of dawn.
Soon enough, after a week of minor complaints in mid-run, they have made it their new routine. Mirabella has made it her mission now to try and outrun me. While her two younger sisters Rosella and Antonella run at our flanks.
I feel better having these girls as my partners because I've always wanted to have sisters. Sure, I have one girl cousin but she's obsessed with collecting coins she finds on the sidewalks so she's not much fun to be around.
It's the beginning of our second week running together and I'm not the only one thrilled at the change. Flora is always happy to see her daughters come back from a run. I hope it means that boy from El Leon has left Mirabella alone.
Mirabella hasn't been very chatty about those types of subjects. Which is no surprise to me since she's entering the age where secrets are all the rage. That's how it was for Kit and I in middle school. Come to think of it, middle school was when Kit and I had our most covert operations.
Like putting slime in Adam Rensky's locker after he pulled Cindy Striker's ponytail and called her a slut in the cafeteria just because she refused his advances.
Or that time we put a layer of Super glue on Maybelline's homeroom desk the morning after she called Jadine Turner a nigger. Honestly, Maybelline Struther's always treated people like poison and she has a big mouth.
After I say goodbye to Flora's daughters, I jog back home and run up to my room to change into my meme shirt of the day that says: Don't grow up It's a Trap. Not my mom's favorite but she won't let me have any shirts with cuss words on it. Nevermind the fact that I have classmates that only speak in the language of cuss.
"Baby, breakfast is ready!" yells my mom.
"Okay Mama!" I say as I check if I'm missing anything in my backpack. As I take a visual sweep of my room, I see my phone is still near my pillow.
Usually, my phone is on the nightstand my mom got me for Christmas. However, it was near my pillow because I got a text at midnight from Kit that said: Let's Make up today! I have a question for you, Kat.
The making up part is not what scared me just because there's nothing to make up for. I understood we needed some time apart to make our fight in the gym believable. What scared me was the question part. Just because Kit knows almost all there is to know about me. So, there's no need for any other questions really.
As I head down the stairs, my mom is already eating what she made for our breakfast: scrambled eggs. She's eating really fast too. "Mama?"
Mom looks up from her plate and asks me, "Hmm?"
"Are you late for work?" I ask her, as I take slower bites of my egg. Mom shakes her head and gulps down the eggs with a cup of milk.
"No baby. I'm late for the DMV. I need to get my state ID and driver's license renewed. I'm taking one of my vacation days today to get that done." Ah, the DMV...the hell on Earth in terms of wait times. Also, a right of passage for my peers when they get their first driver's licenses. Something I hope I'll be able to achieve before I'm twenty.
"Oh. Well, I'll see you when I get home later." Mom quickly gets up from her seat and rummages through her purse for the car keys. Normally, I'm the faster eater.
Mom leans in and gives me a kiss on the cheek as she says, "Adios, baby."
"Adios, Mama." Right after I say that she's gone. Leaving me alone in our home. It's a weird feeling I'm not accustomed to.
I'm going to eat a little faster. It would be better if I wait for the bus. Most of the summer daze has worn off after a week of being back to school anyway.
As the bus rolls in front of my home, I approach the swinging doors. Then I head towards the back of the bus where I've been sitting with Hernando for the week. "Hola!" he says as I sit next to him. I also gave him the window seat which is reserved for me when Kit and I sit together.
"Hola Nando," I reply. His nose is still pretty bruised and it's made him a social pariah at school. He's taking it in stride. It made him feel better when members of El Leon called his bruises street cred...idiot.
"Hey Nando," says Stoner Sal with a brief nod of recognition. Hernando has already confided in me that he finds Stoner Sal off-putting and dangerous. My cousin, the one who wants to be a member of the neighborhood gang, is afraid of Stoner Sal. I find this absolutely hilarious.
Looking out of the window, I notice we're entering Kit's neighborhood. Kit doesn't live in suburbia where the houses are identical to one another. Instead, each house has a different extravagant feature to display. Basically, it's like each neighbor tries to one-up the other with bigger pools, gardens, or ominous but decorative wrought iron gates.
Hernando whispers in my ear, "These people are loaded." We pass through all of the mansions until we arrive to the largest one located on a hill with a long and winding driveway. Kit's home.
Kit is at the end of his driveway already waiting for the bus. As the bus doors open, he happily prances up the steps. When he waves at me, I don't wave back. He walks towards the back of the bus and says, "Kat, I want to reconcile. Even if it didn't work between us, you're still my best friend and hold a special place in my heart."
After Kit's eloquent speech, Hernando tells me in Spanish, "Forgive the man. He has enough money to bail both our asses ten times over."
I roll my eyes at Hernando's comment as I tell Kit, "You're forgiven." Then I look at my cousin and say, "Nando, go sit by Sal."
When I mention her name she snorts at me. "I never agreed to this!"
The bus starts to move and Kit holds on to the back of the bus seat. "Kat and I already owe you one. Why would it hurt?"
Sal assesses my cousin as she stands up and motions with a sweep of her arm. "Get over here, Amigo." Hernando widens his eyes at me in terror as I stand up in the bus aisle too.
Three teens standing on the back of a moving bus is enough for the bus driver to shout, "Everybody better find their seats and get comfortable!" There were some jeers directed at the bus driver from the jocks.
Kit looks directly at my cousin as he says, "Well Nando, you heard the man. Come on, now. I haven't sat next to my best friend for a week and it's been killing me."
With an encouraging shove, Hernando takes the window seat next to Stoner Sal. While I take my window seat next to Kit. "What question do you have for me, Kit?" I ask him the moment he sits down.
"Hmm?" he asks before my question registers. "Oh, well Kat. We've known each other for...about ten years right?"
"Mmm-hmm, go on," I reply. I know Kit's stall tactic of laying down the facts to hide the main point all too well.
"Well, I've noticed that you've never been to my home. All of my other friends have been there except you. I was wondering if you'd like to come to my home Friday after school? We can get our homework done with and play some tennis or basketball...we have two outdoor courts." Kit said all this so casually it took me awhile to register what he just said.
I smile as I ask, "What brought this on?"
"Can I come too?" Hernando asks. "I'm her cousin!"
Kit raises his eyebrow as he said, "You are? Of course you can come! The more the merrier." I frown at Kit as he just shrugs at me.
"You're going to regret inviting him, Kit. He takes the game of hoops very seriously."
Kit takes out his phone and starts texting somebody. I'm about to ask who when my phone chirps. I pull out my phone to read Kit's newest text: Then I'm just going to have to beat him at 🎾
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