Sammy shook with the lock of her locker, the combination not going through again, making her struggle with it as she shook and even kicked her locker, the bottom of it dented from the constant abuse it endured. As she was ready to give it another hard kick of of pure frustration, she would feel someone’s hand rest onto her shoulder, giving it a soft rub
“Allow me” A male’s voice alisema as she was gently moved to the side. The guy that worked on the lock was a student, a senior like Sammy. Andrew was a student in Sammy’s homeroom class, as well as a theater kid. He has his brown hair slicked back with gel, a well groomed face that lacked any blemishes au even imperfections. He turned the locker’s combination from left, to right, then left.
Click
The locker opened up, Andrew holding it open for her with a smile, “After you.”
“Always coming to help” Sammy said, leaning in and kissing Andrew on the lips with a smile. “I get the feeling wewe mess with my lock on purpose just to look cool.”
“Is it that obvious?” Andrew joked
“Maybe” Sammy spoke with a smirk as she collected her vitabu from the locker
“Did wewe get the okay from your parents? About theater?”
“Hell no” Sammy said, closing her locker with her left foot with a slam. “He says it’s for fruity queers. His words, not mine.”
“Oh come on.” Andrew groaned. “I met your dad. He doesn’t seem that bad”
“Yeah, but he doesn’t seem that great either” Sammy grimaced. “Always need his approval before I can do any damn thing”
“Well hey, let me talk with him some time. He seems to like me.”
“Yeah, and he doesn’t like a lot of people. wewe must have bribed him”
“Only a little” Andrew joked again, taking Sammy’s hand into his and walked down the hall with her
Sammy and Andrew walked down the courtyard of the high school, talking with each other. au rather, Andrew was doing the talking. Sammy, however, was looking around the courtyard for someone, wondering just where he might be. It didn’t take long for Andrew to take notice.
“What, is something up?” Andrew asked
“Yeah, wondering where Mason is” Sammy answered, much to the frustration of Andrew
“Not this again” he spoke under his breathe. “Sammy, don’t wewe think that maybe-”
“Think what?” Sammy said, turning to Andrew, a stern look, as if warning him to pick his inayofuata words very carefully. He chose to shake his head and deny it. “Nothing, forget it”
Sammy gave a nod before looking around again, wondering just where he would be. It didn’t take long for her to take notice of some kids talking excitedly before they would all hurry to the opposite end of the courtyard in groups. Sammy gave a worried look, handing Andrew her vitabu and spoke, “Hey, take these and go get a teacher au something.”
“What?”
But Sammy was already running off, leaping over one of the benches and started running across the courtyard, leaving a confused and worried Andrew behind.
Mason groaned as he fell back onto the ground, feeling his head smack against the brick pilar of the awning. He grabbed the back of his head to feel the blood trickling from the fresh wound. Michah and jay stood over him, the one boy with stringy and slick hair like it was made of grease, the other with a flat black hair over his head like he had a nyanya patch for hair. They both stood there laughing at Mason as he stayed there.
“Now what the fuck did I tell you, Mason?” Michah alisema with a sickening grin on his face. “Not to get up when I push wewe down. Now you’ve gone and hurt yourself. I told wewe to stop being so damn clumsy didn’t I?”
Mason clutched the back of his head, groaning in pain. But even still, he was able to make one crack. “F-Fuck wewe Michah”
“Ooooh, the retard learned a new word, Michah” jay alisema with a dolphin-like laugh that only he wouldn’t notice. “What, did fried mchele teach wewe that one?”
“You wanna repeat that to my face?” A voice called from behind the two. They both turned, but before either one could talk, Sammy decked Michah in the face and sent him crashing like a pile of rocks, taken kwa surprise from the hit. jay looked at her in surprise, with Sammy giving a smile to him as she spoke, “You gonna do something, pussy? au do wewe white boys usually get your punda beat kwa Asians? Starting to think it’s a fetish of yours”
What Sammy wasn’t expecting was for jay to give her a ngumi, punch right back, striking her right in the nose. But unlike Michah, she didn’t fall down. Stumbled, but she kept standing. She clutched her nose, seeing the blood dripping from it.
“Fuck you” jay spoke. “Go back to Vietnam, slant eye-”
But like Michah, Mason would stand up and put jay into a headlock and hold him there. “You don’t hit her!” Mason shouted through gritted teeth. He held him, but didn’t give himself much chance to hurt him much. But he did give Sammy a chance to ngumi, punch jay repeatedly in the gut, again and again and again. Long enough for Michah to get up and try to pull her off, but she would deliver an elbow to his face and feel like she had broke something with that hit. But she didn’t stop. She kept hitting and hitting and hitting. And when she felt herself grabbed again, she was ready to strike them again, only to find her elbow being held kwa that of the schools security, with the school principal nearby
Mason and Sammy sat outside the principal’s room, both having been told to sit there while they call their parents. Sammy sat there cross-armed, still breathing a bit from frustration, but as she glanced over at Mason, her anger subsided for a moment, long enough for her to ask, “Hey, wewe gonna get in trouble?”
“Doubt it.” Mason said. “My moms probably out working at the pet duka and my dad’s probably drunk, so they’ll send me nyumbani with a letter if anything.” He turned to Sammy and asked, “Will you?”
“Uuuuum…. Yeah, probably” Sammy alisema casually, kicking her feet lazily. “Oh, kwa the way, I finished that Ziggy Stardust album if wewe ever want it back sometime. Isn’t it a bit odd wewe still use CDs though?”
“I know they’re a dated medium, but I like them” Mason spoke. “Nice to have something physical. What’d wewe think?”
“Punk rocks zaidi my thing, but yeah, that glam rock stuff was super good. upendo Rock n Roll Suicide and Lady Stardust. Those were some damn bops”
“Right?” Mason exclaimed excitedly. “And Suffragette City and Moonage Daydream are just absolute classics. Bowie was a real genius back in his glam rock days”
“Yeah, at first it wasn’t hitting me, but then I really got into the album kwa the end”
kwa the time Sammy’s parents arrived, they had completely gotten entrapped in their conversation to even remember what it was they were there for. But when Sammy looked at the stern, judgemental gaze of her father, and the indifferent blank expression of her mother, reality came crashing like a train. Sammy stood up from the chair as her parents walked into the principal's office, Sammy’s father giving Mason a glance before closing the door behind him and leaving the big guy outside
“This is serious, Mr. and Mrs. Nguyen” the principal said. “Every week, these two are getting into fights with other students. But this is different. A student, one of our upstart athletes for the mpira wa kikapu team no less. His nose was broken in the fight and he’ll have to cancel the game this Friday.”
“Oh please, they had it coming” Sammy spoke, but she was immediately silenced when her dad raised his hand to her
“Please understand, my daughter never meant any hard, sir.” He spoke calmly. “She was zaidi than likely just getting herself involved with the help when it wasn’t her business. She’s always a curious and helpful sort. Perhaps too helpful. Surely wewe understand the importance of this.After all, a daughter to the a vice president of one of the states biggest companies would assume they can control the whole world”
Sammy glanced between her father and the principal. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Was this real? Was this a bribe? Some sort of favor? It couldn’t really be going this way.
“Well…” The principal spoke
Sammy knew it was really going to go this way.
“It would be an issue if it got out that it was unsafe for anyone related to your company, sir. Very bad. After all, she was just trying to help. But even still, we will need to discuss the needs of the children. The boy that was involved, Mr. Mason, he will have to be suspended for at leats two weeks for starting the fight. And the boy, Michah, he’ll be out for the inayofuata few days”
“I’ll have it taken care of. I’ll send a matunda basket to the family and work things over” Sammy’s father spoke, giving a wave as if it was a minor issue. Sammy didn’t care for the kid if he lived au died, preferably the latter after today, but was this really how things were going? No detention? No suspension? Nothing? While Mason was aliyopewa the swiftest penalty. It left her shocked, almost offended at the whole thing. And she wasn’t sure what would happen to Mason if his dad got word of it, if he had to hear about this when he got back. She dreaded the very idea
On the car drive home, Sammy sat awkwardly in the backseat of the car, looking out the window. It was a deathly silent drive. There was rarely a time when they spoke, but this one was far zaidi tense than any other drive. It was broken kwa Sammy’s father, giving a statement that was as crushing as a sledgehammer.
“You’re not to speak to that boy again, Samantha”
“What?” Sammy said, taken from her thought
“That Mason kid. I don’t want wewe around him anymore.”
“What do wewe mean?”
“I mean exactly what I said. Don’t talk to him, don’t be around him, don’t even think about him. The boy is a bad influence, a menace, and a hindrance to your studies and your chance at a future.”
“Dad, wewe can’t be serious. He didn’t do anything.”
“He held a kid down for wewe to beat on him after he let himself get involved. He dragged wewe in, and wewe almost paid for it. Andrew already told us about how he’s ruining your brain”
“Wha-Andrew?!”
“Yes, he called us before the school did. alisema that wewe were still around that Mason boy. And here we found wewe with a busted face, beating up your schoolmates.”
Sammy couldn’t believe what she was hearing, that Andrew would throw her under the bus like that, even though he knew about her and Mason. To call her parents first before even going to the principal to get help. For what? His own image? It was insulting. She looked to her mother and begged, “Mom, please, tell dad that-”
“It doesn’t matter what wewe want her to say” her father interrupted. “I alisema my piece and that’s final. You’re not gonna see him again. Do I make myself clear?”
Sammy was stunned, feeling this anger rising inside of her again. Only this time, she couldn’t throw punches to fix her problems. She fell back into her seat, arms crossed and she spoke, “Sure dad. I won’t see ‘that’ boy again”
“Good,” he said. And from there, total silence.
S: hey
M: Hi
Sammy looked out the window of her class, her textbook hiding her cellphone as she texted Mason in class the following day
S: u good??
M: Yeah, I’m fine
M: Why do wewe ask?
S: u srs?
S: u got suspended my guy
S: aint that super bad?
M: Sure, if dad ever finds out
M: But I tossed the paper
M: As far as he knows, I’m at school
M: I can just hang out around town, go to the arcade, and then go nyumbani when the rest of the kids do
S: no shit???
S: im jelly
S: wish i got suspended
M: Eh, pretty boring honestly
M: I mean, few things beat the Crazy Taxi arcade machine
M: But sucks we can’t hang out at school
S: just 2 weeks
M: I know, but still
M: Just lonely
S: awww, miss u 2
M: Gross
M: Okay, I should get off so wewe don’t get in trouble
M: Gotta get a decent high score
S: lame
S: ttyl
Sammy was messing with her locker again, kicking it harder and harder with each hit. She knew that he would eventually onyesha up. She had a few choice words for him. Once she felt his hand on her shoulder, she reacted kwa jerking her shoulder away, turning with the recoil of an angry viper. Andrew stepped back a little at the sight before speaking, “Hey, Sam. Need some he-”
“What the fuck, Andrew” Sammy interrupted
“What?”
“Don’t what me. wewe called my parents before wewe went for help from the school?”
“If I didn’t, your dad would have gotten mad.” Andrew defended.
“And wewe told him about Mason?”
“Well yeah” Andrew admitted. “Sam, he’s bad news. He’s getting into trouble regularly, I’m starting to think he likes the abuse and that isnt something wewe should get involved with.”
“He’s getting shit from these fucking bullies” Samantha stated sternly. “And I don’t need your help. If wewe don’t wanna help, I don’t care. But to tell me who I can’t be Marafiki with au what wewe think about that? Who fucking died and made wewe king?”
“Sam” Andrew spoke wearily. “I know what kind of people get into this stuff. I think… I think Mason’s probably a drug addict au something”
“Are wewe fucking serious?” Sam questioned, her eyes blinking in disbelief at what he was hearing
“Oh, come on, Sam” Andrew cracked. “Why do wewe care so much. He’s a guy who’s constantly in trouble but won’t even stand up. He’s bigger then some of the adults in this school and he lets kids walk all over him. wewe can’t tell me that you’re going to care for him all your life like your his mom”
“You don’t know a goddamn thing about him” Sammy spoke
“I know that your wasting your time with guys like that”
“No, I’m wasting my times with guys like you!”
“What?”
“It’s over, Andrew” Sammy spoke, pulling her locker open as she turned her back to him, pulling her vitabu out in a hurried mess and slamming the locker behind her as she walked passed a dumfounded Andrew, leaving him standing there in the hall
“You guys broke up?”
“Yeah, we did”
Sammy and Mason had decided to spend the siku out after school. Sammy could already hear her phone going off. Most likely from Andrew trying to get her back au her parents wondering where she was after sundown. She didn’t care. She didn’t care about anything right now as long as she was with Mason. They were out at the park, watching the sun going down as the two talked
“Was it about me?”
“Kinda” Sammy spoke.”Also the guy was just a real asshole about it. I didn’t see us sticking together long.”
As the two sat there, her phone would start to ring again. She only took it out this time to mute it. To mute out the whole world. As long as she was with Mason, she didn’t care. Mason looked at her and spoke, “Don’t wewe wanna answer that?”
“I don’t care” Sammy said, her arms crossed. “What about you?”
“I told my mom I was out helping with after school stuff. My dad won’t care as long as he doesn’t have to drive here”
“That’s good. So we just have all the time for ourselves”
“Yeah, basically” Mason alisema matter of factly, unaware of Sammy looking at him, staring at Mason. Sammy opened her mouth to break the silence, only for Mason to unintentionally interrupt. “Oh yeah, about that album wewe borrowed, if wewe wanna hold onto it for a bit longer, I understand. Things are all kinds of messed up right now. But just make sure wewe take good care of it-”
“Mason” Sammy interrupted
Mason immediately silenced himself and looked over with a curious “hmm”
“Mason, I upendo you” Sammy admitted
“Well yeah, I upendo wewe too, dude” Mason stated, a smile coming to his face
“No, Mason. I upendo you”
“I don’t follow” Mason spoke
“Then let me onyesha you” Sammy said, leaning closer towards Mason. It was then Mason realized what she meant, and he leaned back from her instantly
“W-woah, Sammy. Wait. That’s… That’s not what I meant”
“What do wewe mean?” Sammy asked, confused. She gave a chuckle and spoke, “Don’t worry, Mason. I promise it’s not like Titanic. I won’t let go this time and I mean it. We can be rich girl and poor bo-”
“Sammy, I’m gay” Mason admitted coldly
Sammy blinked in surprise and confusion, words unable to leave her lips. And when she finally found the words, they were a single, simple word. “What?” She alisema softly
“I’m gay, Sammy” Mason repeated. “I like wewe as a friend. Hell, I consider wewe like a sister to me and I mean that a lot. But I don’t like women that way.”
“Wait, wait, wait” Sammy spoke. “But… So wewe like guys” The confusion was clear on Sammys face, mixed with the shame of the rejection and not even figuring this all out sooner
“I don’t like to make it a thing.” Mason stated. “I don’t feel comfortable telling anyone. Hell if I told my dad, he’d probably kill me. I’m telling wewe cause I trust you, Sammy”
Sammy couldn’t find the words again. She felt so ashamed of herself. Ashamed for not asking. Ashamed for trying to push herself onto him in a time where she needed sympathy. And she felt like she had crossed some sort of line. She didn’t know what to think. She didn’t want to go home, but she couldn’t find the right words to not embarrass herself further. She stood up from the bench and spoke, “I gotta go.”
“Sammy, wait” Mason tried calling to her, but before he could, Sammy had broken into a run to get away from the situation as fast as possible. She didn’t know what she could say. She was completely Lost in her mind with sadness, anger, desperation, and self loathing. And she hated it
It had been two days since Sammy had tried to kiss Mason, and since those two days, she was far too embarrassed to speak her mind. She didn’t know what she was going to do au say. Maybe she could run away from Ohio and get a job in a traveling theater troupe au something, she thought. As the school siku came to an end, Sammy was walking out of the school, only for her to see Mason waiting out of school grounds. He waved to her, but she was already prepared to walk passed. She still felt to guilty to even look him in the eyes. But Mason wasn’t having it. As she walked passed, Mason hurried over and shoved her shoulder.
“What the hell, Sam” Mason spoke
“Look if this is about your album, I’ll send it back to you, just please let me-”
“Sam! It was literally nothing” Mason interrupted. “You made a mistake. Big shit. You’re an eighteen mwaka old in high school. Everyone makes fucking mistakes. But if wewe just keep letting yourself feel like shit over one mistake, you’ll make a giant mistake. And I ain’t going to let wewe do that, do wewe hear me. We alisema we’d be there for each other no matter what. And I can see wewe need the support from someone who cares as much as I do. I’ve been beat, I’ve been hurt, I’ll live. wewe need someone there who will care about you. That’s why I’m here, Sam. As a friend. As your friend”
Sammy looked to the ground, no feeling even stupider than before. She wasn’t sure what she was able to say, but she looked at Mason and spoke with a chuckle, trying her best not to cry and ruin her make up, “What movie did wewe take that one from?”
“Actually it was from a video game” Mason joked, which Sammy laughed at. But as Mason shuffled his feet awkwardly, he remembered, “Oh, well, that’s not the only reason I came here.”
“Oh, wewe got a surprise for me?”
“This is the surprise?” Sammy asked, slightly disappointed
She looked down at the rugged, messy, skin and Bones black cat with one eye, the other closed from some sort of accident. It rested on a busted dog house out in the middle of the woods. Mason looked at Sammy and stated, “I found it here when I was cutting through the woods to get nyumbani faster. Sucks to walk at night, but there’s enough open space to avoid getting stalked and murdered, I think”
“So wewe found this thing” Sammy spoke
“Actually, it’s a she,” Mason said. “I named her Lola. Like the Kinks song”
“I gathered that,” Sammy said. “But why do we wanna take care of this thing”
“Well, it reminds me of me, wewe know,” Mason said. “Sad, alone, but it’s affectionate if wewe get close”
Mason leaned his hand down, the cat looking up at him and sniffing his hands before it would rub and nudge its head against his hands with a soft purr.
“See” Mason said, petting the Cats head. “It must have been a house cat at some point before it wound up here”
As Sammy looked down at the small creature, she couldn’t help but see the similarities. To Mason and to herself even. As she looked at it songesha in circles and rub it’s black body against Mason’s hand, she exhaled and replied, “Alright, I’ll see if I can get it some cat food”
