A Teenage Love: A Coming of Age Story

Chapter 11 - Summer Rain

Ryan. It was Carlos' first day back and he was waiting for me when I came in. He leaned against the counter with his arms folded. "You're late."

"No, I'm Ryan." I figured he could take a joke.

"You think you can just stroll in here anytime time you want?"

I checked my watch. "I thought I was scheduled for three."

"Three o'clock," he reminded me. "Not three oh five, not three oh nine."

"My clock says three."

"We don't go by your clock. We go by mine. The minute you step in here, you go by my time and my rules. Understand?"

I hesitated. This Carlos didn't match up to the one Juan was telling me about. "Okay cool. I just thought..."

"You don't think. I do all the thinking around here," he said. "When I need two extra brain cells, I'll let you know."

I looked to Juan for some backup. I thought this guy was cool. Juan stood beside the counter with his arms folded, stiff as a soldier.

"I'm just messin' with you, Slick. You alright?" he asked patting my shoulder.

"I was about to say, do I still get paid?"

He chuckled. "I'll grill you later. I got some calls to make."

Carlos wasn't stiff at all. He was okay with me being me as long as work got done and money was made. We didn't get many customers because our day time crowd was hiding from the rain. After Carlos left, the drizzle grew into a full blown rainstorm. It even knocked out the lights for a second. Juan went to the back to turn on the radio for the night's forecast. He pulled out a chair and posted up in the storage room doorway as they broadcasted that we would remain without customers for the rest of the night.

I was surprised to see a man and a little girl stumble in that night. He was wearing a black windbreaker and she wore a purple raincoat. "Someone's windows are open out there," he told us.

After a long beat, Juan jumped up and ran outside completely unarmed in his T-shirt and jeans. The little girl ran down the candy aisle with pink hearts in her eyes. "Can I have these?" she said holding up a bag of candy.

"Whatever you want, sweetie."

He snapped his phone closed and turned to see his daughter raping the shelves. "Come on, Sil. You trying to buy the whole store?"

She hurried over and threw a pile of candy on the counter. "What'd you get for me?"

She held up a bag of gummy bears. "And I got Marcia and Michelle these," she said holding up two Snicker Bars.

"Good choice."

"That's him," she whispered to her dad. He kissed her head.

"We heard a lot about you. Silas," he said offering his hand.

"Are you coming to movie night? We have snacks," Silvia said.

"Uh...I don't think she likes me very much right now."

"Ah, it's cold out there in the dog house."

"Freezing." I dropped a pack of strawberry lemonade bubblegum in her bag. "Tell her that's from me."

"That's nice, huh?" Silas said prompting his kid.

"She said he was nice and cute," said Silvia.

Juan tripped back in, soaking wet with his hair plastered to his forehead. Silas patted his shoulder on the way out. "You guys take it easy, alright?"

Juan wiped his face and waddled to the back room, stiff, heavy and dripping wet. I heard him slipping around in the storage room. This guy is having the worst day ever. I walked in to see him sitting on the floor, irritated and frustrated as hell. He hopped up and started snatching up the inventory papers he knocked over. "I'll get it," I said grabbing some wet papers off the floor.

"I got it," he said pushing me back.

"You're messing up the papers, man."

He shoved me so hard I fell into the shelf. I tried to break my fall while holding the shelf up at the same time. It was no use though. We were both going down.

He ran over to catch to catch the heavy unit and I jumped up to make sure it was steady. I hugged the shelf tight trying to keep it in place while Juan clenched his teeth trying to stop the thing from rocking. Once it stopped teetering, I took a deep breath, turned around and punched him in his fucking face. He faltered and wiped the blood off his lip. He watched the blood on his hand for a moment then closed his fist and hit me in the jaw. We scuffled on the slippery floor. The shelf went down this time and both of us were too invested in wrestling each other off to care. When I finally got the upper hand, I went straight for his throat. "Fuck is your problem?!"

He clawed at my hands desperately before shifting back to offensive mode and punching me in the nose. He could have taken the upperhand, but we were so tired we just sat there panting like wild dogs. I sniffed and wiped the blood trickling down through my nasal cavity.

"I said I got it."

I tilted my head back and held the bridge of my nose while he snatched the papers off the floor.

"Help me get this thing back up."

We heaved until it was on its feet again. We didn't do it for each other as much as we did it for our own employment. Once the shelf was on its feet again, I started grabbing bins and throwing them back on the shelves.

"Hold it, Einstein. Everything in here is in alphabetical order."

My shoulders fell in defeat. It took us hours to put everything back in its correct place. When all was clear, we killed the lights and walked out even more messed up than when we walked in.

Michelle. Clouds were forming overhead while Brandon and I shared the track for a quick run before dinner with Silas and Silvia. He was content with racing his car around the curve while I focused on the rhythm of my feet hitting the ground. My deep breathing turned it into a song. I noticed three girls approaching so I casually took Brandon's hand and started on my walk home.

"But we just got here," he complained.

The husky one bounded toward me in a full sprint. She was fast and agile, definitely an athlete. I stood tall for a moment then I was buried underneath them. I was getting dragged and kicked in the side while the one with the neon Nike shoes got cheap shots to my head from behind. I could hear Brandon crying, begging them to stop. It was the first time I was truly angered by their hate for me. The husky runner stomped on my right hand and used her full weight to make it throb. I managed to pull it from under her shoe, but the friction from the ground made my knuckles bleed. Another shoe to the head and I saw stars. They used my hair to drag me around the curve of the track then ran off giggling like wild banshees. I think the only thing that stopped them were the droplets of rain that started falling.

Frazzled and discombobulated, I sat on up the redtop and checked my busted lip in the reflection of my phone. Brandon wrapped his arms around my neck and cried. I told him I was okay but he refused to let me go. I got on my feet and limped toward my house with Brandon clinging tight to my tender hand. In my condition, walking home felt like climbing a mountain.

Mom and Silas looked horrified upon my entrance. Brandon was still clutching my shirt so I told them not to panic. "We can talk in there," I said pointing to my room.

Silvia ran up to Brandon. "I didn't get you anything cause I didn't know you were coming..."

"Sil," her father said sternly.

"But you can have some of mine...I guess."

We gathered in my room and closed the door. Immediately, I burst into tears.