Juke Jam

Chapter Three

Charlie walked from gym class, as the school bell rang, with his nose scrunched up in disgust. He hated how kids always smelled after having gym class, as if it was a hard task to put on some deodorant. He made sure to keep a stick of deodorant in his gym locker, so he would not forget to put it on. Charlie was going to wait on Peter, but he didn't want to be around him at the moment. Sometimes his best friend could be a little unborn and ruthless. Peter was just too much for him at times, and that's why Charlie liked to keep to himself. Charlie was a man of very few words; he liked to observe his surroundings and collect information, while talking as less as he possibly could. He wasn't very popular, but he knew a decent amount of people.

He walked to his locker, watching everyone's interactions in the hallways. Everything about school was segregated today. Even though the colored kids could come to school—it was a part of the law now—everything was still segregated. White kids were on one side of the hallway, moving away from the colored kids as if they were some form of bubonic plague. There weren't many white kids to begin with. Most of them weren't present at school because their parents were racist and didn't want them to come today. Charlie walked on the side of the hallway with the colored kids, so he could get to his locker quicker. In the midst of all the tension, he noticed that the girl from his gym class was walking ahead of him. He eyed her for a few seconds, feeling sorry about what happened earlier.

As she turned into the same hallway as him, he realized that she was walking towards the lockers at the end of it. That was where his locker was. The school really put a black person next to him. His father would have so much to say about that, but Charlie didn't really mind it himself. He didn't have to talk to her; he could pretend like she wasn't there. She stopped at a locker, which was a couple lockers down from his own. Charlie tried not to acknowledge her presence as he opened his own locker. He put his textbooks in his backpack for his next few classes, then he turned to look at the black girl—who seemed to be having trouble with her locker. It looked like she couldn't get her combination lock open.

"Need some help?" Charlie raised his eyebrows, closing his locker. He had no idea why he even insisted on helping a colored girl. No one was near them right now, so maybe he could help her out really quickly. He would be good, as long as nobody saw him.

"Huh?" She said in shock, looking behind her. She obviously didn't think he was talking to her.

"Yes, I'm talkin' to you." He chuckled.

"Um, yeah, I could use some help." She said quietly.

The way she spoke caught his attention. Her accent was southern, like she wasn't originally from Kansas, but somewhere deeper in the south. He also didn't fail to realize how well her English was, which made her stand out.

"Boy, you make the king's jive." He smiled. He just had to compliment her.

She looked at him like he was crazy.

"You know what, ion need yo help. I can figure it out myself." She faced her locker and away from him.

She wasn't about to let some white guy help her, who clearly just offended her. He didn't have to compliment her on her English. White people were not used to black people speaking properly or even with good English, so she could tell he was shocked by it. No, her grammar was not perfect, but that's what Gladys was going to school for. Her parents knew it was risky moving out here to Kansas, but it was less of a hassle than living in Georgia. It was getting really bad with racism and they had feared walking out of the house. So, her mother suggested that they move to Kansas with her older sister. Two families were cramped into a two bedroom house with one bathroom, but they were making it just fine.