My Town

We’re in homeroom, and Jessica St. Clair and Her Bossy Brigade got it all wrong. I am not “livin’ in a car.”

For example, today. After school, I go to the library, do my homework on a computer. Print it out then browse for graphic novels before walking to State Street. Duck into Fairchild Coffee for a hot cocoa. That’s where I eat the ham and cheese sandwich from Decca’s lunch. Decca gives me her sandwiches when she’s on her gummy diet.

Art galleries near the university are still open, so I look over the watercolors and hand-woven scarves. One day I’ll learn how to weave these myself. At almost-closing time, I go to an all-night doughnut shop on St. Francis Street and slip into the restroom. Pull PJ’s out of my knapsack and layer them on under my clothes. Amos is on shift and he sneaks me a couple of the apple cider doughnuts. They’re still warm.

Then it’s time to head up Haskill Hill to Waun-A-Wash, settle into a chair by the Lost & Found boards and read a graphic novel. I love the smell of Downy when the college students pull their blue jeans out of the dryers. A cocker spaniel named Alfie hangs out nearby, wanting me to scratch behind his ears. Alfie belongs to the lady who vacuums.

Mom honks out front in our Chevy sedan after she finishes at the Marriott. She squeezed in a shower so the car smells like honeydew melon. We eat the doughnuts and drive out Grand Canyon Boulevard, park in the corner of the lot behind Arby’s. If Doug’s working, we get the Smokehouse Briskets that didn’t sell. I pack them with hotel ice in the cooler for breakfast.

By 7:30 a.m. Mom’s on her way to work, and I’m on Decca’s porch after her dad leaves for a construction site in Larensville. I shower and change my clothes, then the two of us set out her back door to take the shortcut to Evers High.

Meanwhile, Her Bossy Brigade are riding in Jessica’s Jeep Comanche to school even though their own houses are just down the hill from the tennis court. That’s because at lunch recess, they sit and smoke with the windows cracked. After classes, they cruise up and down Main Street. They don’t walk anywhere.

So, who’s “livin’ in a car”?

Jessica doesn’t know what she’s talking about.