“Wait up,” He called out.
Deanna was starting to get tired, so she went on up to bed. I sat on the step and watched Terrell as he approached. He sat beside me and continued to watch his friends’ game. He turned to me for a second and saw that I wasn’t in the best of moods. “What’s up with you? You still upset about whatever was bothering you this morning?”
I didn’t really want to tell him my business, so I replied, “Nothing’s wrong. I’m fine.”
“You could at least just say you don’t want to talk about it. Don’t lie and say ‘nothing’.”
“You’re not my daddy. I’ll say whatever I want to.”
Terrell laughed and turned back toward the game. “Ok, we’ll talk about something else then.” He paused while he thought. “Where’re you from? If I had to guess based on personality alone, I’d say the deepest realm of Hell, but I’ll give you a chance to answer.”
I glared at him for a second, but couldn’t fight back the laughter. “Whatever. I’m from Virginia. Fairfax.”
“Hmm…You like it there?” He asked.
“It’s alright. I’ve never lived anywhere else. What about you? You from around here?”
“Not too far. About an hour or so north. You an only child?”
“Yep.” I recalled our conversation from the day before. “Is it just you and your sister?”
He didn’t answer right away which made me glance over at him. “Yeah, just me and Danielle.”
“Are you two pretty close?” I asked.
“I don’t have any other family really – well, besides my grandma. But ever since we were little, it was always Danni and me. I’m two years older, so I took care of her. Helped her learn to ride her bike, took up for her when she got in trouble, threatened her little boyfriends; you know, all the things a big brother is supposed to do.” He was thoughtful for a moment, so I left him alone. I could tell that he really missed her just by listening to how he talked about her.
“So, what’s this AJ guy like?” He asked.
My mood shifted as soon as Terrell brought up his name. “What about him?”
“I don’t know. What do you like about him? What’s his family like? How long have you guys been together?”
“I like a lot of things about him, but this isn’t a good time to ask me that question. His family is…..well, his mom’s nice. And we’ve been together since last October.”
“What’s the problem with his family?”
“You are soooo nosy,” I stated and smiled.
“Just answer the question,” he sighed.
“His mom likes me, but his dad doesn’t think I’m good enough for him.” I told him the whole story about Christmas – minus all the racism – and AJ being grounded. He couldn’t believe the things Mr. Hahn said about me.
“Dang! That’s messed up. It sounds like it’s been a hard road for you two.”
“You don’t even know the half.”
“So if you and AJ have been together since October, where does the guy from the store fit in?” Terrell inquired.
“Aww man, I don’t even feel like talking about Antonio. That’s a story in itself.”
He leaned back on the step. “We have nothing but time. Tell it.”
I sighed. “We were together and then I met AJ. Now Antonio is just kind of lingering. I don’t know what his deal is.” I told as much of the story as I could without giving Terrell too much information.
He stared up at the stars thinking. “Has he ever tried to hurt you or anything?”
I made a face. “Antonio? No. He’s not like that. He might be irritating, but not crazy.”
Terrell turned to look at me. “Keep thinking that. Just let me know if he tries anything.”
I didn’t protest.