The Boy She Illegally Brought To The Lavender Field (bwwm)

Page 16

Annie laid, halfway asleep, before she heard a knocking on her window.

She opened her eyes and waited to hear it again.

There it was.

She sat up and looked towards it.

Daniel was crouching on the other side and pointing at the lock.

She climbed out of bed and hurried to it, lifting the latch and sliding the window upwards.

"Hey." he greeted her.
She got up and walked to her nightstand.
Daniel was confused but climbed inside and quietly shut the window.
Annie turned around and flinched. "You can't be in here!" she whispered.
"Why can't I?"
"Because I can't have boys in my room!"
"Aren't you an adult?"
"I'm still under my daddy's roof, ain't I?"
Daniel rolled his eyes.

Annie held out the lighter.

"What's that?" He took it and began examining the metal.

His heart dropped when he flipped it over.

He looked back at her while she stared at the floor and held herself in her arms.

He began to explain, "Listen...I ain't know you went there before I-..."
"But you knew people went there. Colored people. Like me."
He sighed.
"You burned it down. Why?"
He looked away from her.
"Did you help shatter the windows too?"
"It was supposed to be a joke."
"Well it wasn't funny!" she whispered.
He sighed and put his hands on his hips.

"We can't talk anymore. Please leave." she begged.
"Why?"
"Cause you don't even like us. I don't know what you'll do to me for your next joke. But I know I won't find that one funny either."

She walked off to open the window again and let him out but he grabbed her arm.
She flinched and looked at him.
He quickly let go. "Alright, I'm sorry. But when I told you I wasn't gonna hurt you, I meant it."
"But you did hurt me."
"When? Did I grab ya too hard?" he wondered.
"No. You hurt my feelings. You broke and burned my store. You've made a lot of lives harder. Lives of my friends and family. That hurt me. You didn't even keep your promise."
He just stared at her.
"When you do things like that...and then you come and talk to me...do you forget I'm colored too?"
He eyed the floor.
"Every bank you destroy. Every grocery store. Every soda shop. The ones that got a 'coloreds only' sign, I go there. You're breakin' things I love. You're hurtin' me, Daniel."

She continued towards the window and he didn't stop her.

She kneeled down and raised it again for him to get out.

"I won't do it again." he said with his eyes on the floor and his hands on his hips.
She looked at him.
"I won't do it. I won't break nothin' else. And I'm sorry I did it in the first place. Don't kick me out." he pleaded and looked at her.
"How will I know?"
"The fire happened at night, didn't it?"
"Yea..."
"Well, every night I'll visit you here and knock on your window. You'll be lookin' at me. Can't break nothin' then. Any later past visitin' hours, I gotta go to sleep. Sometimes I work or help my dad with the lawn in the mornings. I gotta be well rested."
Annie stayed kneeling by her window.

Daniel walked over and crouched down in front of her.
She looked in his eyes.
"I won't break nothin' and I won't hurt you. Promise."
He held out his hand.
Annie looked down at it, then placed hers in his and they shook.

•~~~•

"Saw it when it first came out." Daniel stated.
"Well have you seen the Dracula movie?" Annie asked him.
Daniel was sitting at her desk while she sat on her bed.
"Yea, I saw that one too."
"Do you like Frankenstein or Dracula better? I think they're both pretty scary."
Daniel very carefully thought about it.

"Frankenstein."
"Because of the doctor or the monster?"
"The monster."
"Why?" Annie smiled.

They both heard a door open.

"Shoot! Get under the bed!" Annie commanded quietly.
"What?!"
"Hurry!"
Daniel quickly dropped down and crawled underneath Annie's bed frame.

Annie heard the person go to the bathroom.

She waited until she'd hear them leave and then go back to their room.

"Can I get out now?" Daniel asked.
"No. Hush."

The bathroom door opened and Annie listened to the footsteps.

Her door began to open and Annie quickly grabbed her book.

"What're you doin' in here?" Marshall asked. He leaned one arm on her doorframe as he rested on the knob.
"I was just reading." Annie replied.
"Out loud?"
"Yes. Sometimes it helps me focus or comprehend."
Marshall just stared at her.
"Well I'm awfully sorry that the way I read isn't to your liking." Annie sassed.
Marshall rolled his eyes then walked out of the room and shut the door behind himself.

She waited until she heard his bedroom door shut.

Then she crawled to the end of her bed and hung her head off of it.

She and Daniel looked at each other.
"Hi." she smiled.
"Hi..." he smiled back.