You Don't Know..What you Don't Know

Chapter One: Summer

The trip from Richmond to Baltimore takes 3 hours. Try being stuck in the car with your parents for 3 hours. You don't like their talk radio. There is no scenery. Your brother gets on your nerves. My boredom leads to frustration until the city comes into view. There has always been this fascination for me with the skyscrapers and little row homes and the fact that everything is so close by. I can walk to a restaurant in under 15 minutes and it is divine. Richmond is definitely not like this. Back home, there are Trees Trees and more Trees. A walk to the convenient store is an hour at best.

When we arrive, the heat in the city is 100 degrees. The steam is rising off the cobblestone streets and making me miserable. My grandparent's house was built in 1903. The air conditioning is not functioning well in the house completing my misery. They live in a row home that is long and narrow. The dated house has a basement, middle and top floor.
After putting my bags down in my little room in the center of the upstairs, I am off to find my cousins, leaving the parental figures behind. I know I am being rude, but the house is just too damn hot!

I head down the alley to my aunt's house and find my older cousin, Maria. The other cousins must be out in the city somewhere.

"Hey all," I shout as I walk through the door. Yeah, I am country in the city. Maria turns to me. She is wearing tight blue jeans and a blouse with her hair and makeup done to perfection.
"Hey Tia, did you just get in". Tia is my nickname. Short for Athena. My mom has jokes naming me after the Goddess of Wisdom.

"Yeah, took forever and Yiayia's house is hot so I walked down the ally. You look nice. Going out?" I reach for a bottle of water to cool me down. At least, Aunt Sophia's house has Air Conditioning.

"Not right now. Never sit around looking a mess. That is rule number one. What you gonna do today?" asks Maria. Well I think, what am I gonna do for two weeks here. I have no idea.

"Nothing much, thought I go get some gravy fries and walk the blocks a little. Maybe go find Steve or Mike."

"Oh" Maria says giving me a weary look. Is she disappointed? Not likely, as I am so out of her league. She has never paid attention to me before. She is older. She is always polite, but treats me more like a pest than a person. There is two years between us, but many many years difference in sophistication. Breaking into my thoughts, Maria says, "Hey Tia, can I ask you something?"

"Sure" I say wearily. Where is this leading?

"You're a teenager now right? Is it not time for you to learn about being a women?" Maria stares me up and down.

"Ummmm, clarify" I am skeptical. Surely she is not giving me the sex lecture. At fourteen, boys are back on my radar but sex. No not yet. I have successfully avoided the lecture from my parents. It is a weird conversation for all parties and one in which none of us want to have.

"Well, You are beautiful. A little rough around the edges. I am wondering if before you go off, if we could do a makeover. I learned all these makeup techniques and I have been dying to try them out on someone other than myself." She smiles at me hopeful. Feeling a little weary about makeup, I hesitate. I have never really used the stuff. I play a lot of basketball and makeup would get in the way. I need to change this year and be more girly. No time like the present to try new things. There is no chance here in the city of anyone paying any attention to me, but maybe I can bond with Maria for a little while. If I can be like her...learn some of her tips... Freshmen year might be different for me. "Sure" I nod my head and think to myself, Why the hell not!

"Yeah! Tia, this will be so much fun. We'll do your hair too. Oh and before you go, you can borrow some of my clothes. That outfit is not the style for you. Be right back." She yells as she  disappears down the hallway.