de facto 〖 ponyboy curtis 〗

three.

Jo-Lynn

Jo didn't know if she wanted to ride the bus again. Her last week had been one of the low points thus far. She watched as one of her friends got chased down and damn near shot by a cop, her mother told her of a protest that her auntie had been part of that ended in a riot, and her best friend got arrested for absolutely nothing. Jo-Lynn was almost arrested alongside her but she was at the right place at the right time.

She always tried to find the good in things but right now, she wanted to bury herself in her blankets and sleep until she felt safe.

"Jo," Calvin calls, barging into the younger's room.

She didn't even bother to lift her head up, "Get out, I'm sick with the flu," she lied, closing her eyes and faking some coughs.

"Jo-Lynn, I know you ain't sick so get up. Momma wants you to go to the store."

"Me? Why?" She groaned and flipped over, sitting up and looking at the boy standing in her doorframe.

"Because I gotta work and we all know she's l-a-z-y," he whispered. They both chuckled, and Jo-Lynn stood up, dragging her feet over to the dresser. She picked out a quick outfit for the day and pushed her brother out of the room, changing as quickly as she could. All she was looking forward to was getting back home and going back to sleep.

She had to force her brother to slow himself down, reminding him that he's her ride to the grocery store. He didn't want his kid sister leaving the house any more than she wanted to but they both knew life couldn't pause because of tragedy, especially when it came to black folks. "I got the list and the cash from Momma, all I need you to do is take me."

"Fine by me. Keep your time out on these streets as short as possible."

"I don't even wanna leave the house." Their silent ride to the store ended as soon as it began. She walked in and avoided eye contact with everyone as best as she could. The worst part of living in a mostly white neighborhood as a colored girl was that the boys were sleazy and fear was elevated drastically when race-related crime went up throughout the country. The only person she wasn't afraid to see was the boy from English class.

"Hey," he greeted with a smile.

She knew there was no need, but she couldn't help but feel nervous. You'd think greasers would understand how it feels being lowly ranked in society but they can be the nastiest when it came to colored folks. Nevertheless, she responded, "Hi. . ." He took the cue as a signal and gave her his name, to which Jo-Lynn couldn't help but giggle a little bit. In class, their teacher called everyone by their last name. "Sorry, I've just never heard a name like that." Do all white parents give their kids the weirdest names, she wondered.

"It's alright, I don't take offense." She didn't know what to say next and she took the moment he asked her what she was doing at the grocery store to relax and not think so much about her responses.

"Oh, just huntin' deer." He got sheepish immediately and she smiles at his expression. "I'm gettin' dinner. I'm probably cookin' tonight so I'm just out here shoppin' against my will."

"Against your will?" He asked with a chuckle. They unconsciously seem to walk down the aisles of the store together, continuing their talk.

"Yeah, a lot's been goin' on recently. I just feel... a little unsafe leavin' the house."

He seemed to understand what she meant and the reasons behind it and she didn't think he'd be able to empathize, so she chose not to say much more on the subject matter. Over the course of their shopping lists, they'd made it through a couple different conversations. As they got to the bottom of their lists, they realized their time was almost up together. She could barely believe the way they got along so quickly.

As they went their separate ways, Jo-Lynn was pleased to realize that she now had more to look forward to than just going back to sleep

i kinda like this chapter.