Sweet Tea: A Novel (10 page)

T
uck was as different from Matt as Georgia was from New York City. Matt was dark-haired with a wiry build with biceps that made him appear larger than his physical stature. Six feet tall with blonde hair and blue eyes, Tuck’s muscular body was created for football and females. It made up for the depth his personality lacked. Not my usual type, but his other attributes helped me overlook that.

Matt hated football players, and they hated him. Most southern girls liked the Yankee boys in our school, but southern boys did not. When Matt moved in, he found his place in school with other guys with similar backgrounds; however, his dark complexion and musical talent made him especially unpopular with Tuck.

Even worse, everyone assumed Matt lacked intelligence because of his New York City accent and nonchalant attitude. In truth, he was smarter than Tuck
and
most of the football team. The previous year, our English teacher made that known in front of the entire class. Tuck became so angry, he and his buddies made it their mission to make Matt wish he was back in New York, but Matt always prevailed because of his NYC wit.

Tuck’s parents had planned a party for his seventeenth birthday on December 20th.
They invited all of his friends, including me. Most of his friends weren’t mine, and I wasn’t looking forward to going. Especially having to fraternize with Monica Bradshaw, whom I knew would be there. On top of that, I only had twenty dollars from the money CeCe gave me from Mama’s check.

According to Dr. Foster and Mr. Shimmering, Mama would be coming home on December 22. I focused on Mama coming home and getting through the Christmas season. We still hadn’t put up a tree or done any shopping, but CeCe assured us we’d get it all done before she came home.

But until then, I kept my mind on Tuck. He was crazy about me, which made being with him tolerable. Each year since seventh grade, Tuck had told me, “One day you’re gonna be my girlfriend, Olivia.” That always made me laugh. When I first met him, he was scrawny with buckteeth. The following summer he returned to school tall and muscular. However, his zit-covered face and his teeth wrapped in thick metal braces didn’t entice me. Again, I passed.

This year he came back without the braces and even bigger muscles. When I saw him at the beginning of the school year, he grabbed me by the waist and hoisted me in the air like a barbell. “Hey Olivia, good to see you,” he said, and grinned wide. His new smile and clear skin combined with his even larger muscles finally piqued my interest. This time when he asked me out, I agreed.

Now, I had to get Tuck a gift for his birthday, and I had procrastinated until the afternoon before his party. Jonzie agreed to take me to the mall. When she pulled up in front of the trailer she honked the horn as usual.

“Who’s making that racket?” CeCe asked.

“It’s Jonzie. We’re going to the mall, remember?” I grabbed my purse and rushed out the door.

As soon as we pulled onto the main road, Jonzie turned down the radio. “What are you gonna get him?”

“I don’t know, maybe I’ll get him a shirt or a cassette tape . . . I have no idea.” I turned the radio back up. “I love this song.” The Chipmunk’s Christmas song played.

She shook her head. “Why are you going out with him anyway? You and Tuck have nothing in common. He’s a big dumb jock. I don’t get you.”

“He’s not that dumb,” I said. “He’s crazy

about me and he’s got huge biceps.”

“Oh, my… you are missing the point, girl. I

thought you were the smart one!”

I felt it was good for me to go out with someone different than Matt. Tuck didn’t have what Matt had - the thing that made me feel I didn’t deserve him. I wanted to be in control of my feelings this time. With Matt, I felt my only known identity was as Matt’s girlfriend. It wasn’t that way with Tuck. I just wasn’t so sure that I wanted Tuck to be the first one to take me
water-skiing
, and that seemed to be the goal of everyone I knew this year, except maybe Bessa.

“What you are really saying is, Tuck is a BTN.”

“What’s a BTN?”

“Oh, come on,” she nudged. “Better than nothing!”

I looked away and turned the radio back up. Jonzie turned it back down. I didn’t want her to know the way I really felt, not about everything at least. So I said, “What’s wrong with going out with him until someone better comes along?”

She smiled. “That’s what I thought.”

I didn’t see any harm in it. No one wanted to be dateless during the holidays. Jonzie would expect an answer like that from me, rather than the mere fact that I needed to feel superior for once and not alone. After Daddy died and we moved to Stargazer Court, people treated me differently. It didn’t make sense, and it wasn’t fair, and I was tired of it. Jonzie and Tuck already thought I was cool, and I needed that feeling desperately.

We arrived at the mall at 4:00. I had to be at Tuck’s house by 7:00.

Dodging last-minute shoppers, we squeezed through the crowds. Good-looking guys roamed the mall in droves, and I couldn’t keep my eyes from following them.

For the first time in awhile, I felt good about myself. Having a hunky boyfriend was overrated. Having to be on guard for boyfriend snatchers wore me out. Only now, I lumped myself in with the girls I despised. I couldn’t keep my eyes in their sockets, and they zoomed right to the backside of a guy who resembled Matt, but with shorter hair. I moved in closer. He turned around.

“Well, look who’s here.”

His crooked smile had more power over me than my curling iron. My anger disappeared, and all I saw was the gorgeous hunk who made my heart rock.

“Hey, what’s up?”

Jonzie kicked my ankle. For the next few moments, she didn’t exist. I pretended that Tuck didn’t either. When I realized Jonzie was still standing there, I whispered in her ear, “Don’t be mad at me, but I’m going to hang out with Matt.”

She shouted a whisper back. “I guess I’ll shop by myself, even though I came here for
you
.” I knew I was wrong and being stupid, but I couldn’t help myself. Matt grabbed my hand and we took off. I followed him to his car in the parking lot. Perhaps all my bottled-up feelings about Mama, and thinking about my future and fearing CeCe leaving, led me to behave in a manner unlike myself. Matt and I made out in his car like we’d never been apart. The steamy windows closed us off from the world, as well as my good judgment.

When I checked back into reality, I realized what I didn’t do and what I did do: shop for Tuck’s present and cheat on him with Matt. I thought Matt and I were finished. Now, I wasn’t sure. Before I could go on any further with the relationship, I needed to know why Matt cheated on me. So, I finally asked.

“Who was that girl you were with the night I came to your house?” I folded my arms over my pounding heart and waited for an answer.

“I tried to tell you, but you wouldn’t listen,” he said. “Then I got mad at you for not wanting to hear me out.”

My heart raced harder at the memory. “I’m listening now. Go ahead. Who was she? And why were you with her when I thought we were exclusive?”

“She’s my cousin.”

I pushed him away. “So, you’re a full-fledged redneck now, messing ’round with your cousin? Eww!”

He chuckled. “I may live here, but I’m still a New Yorker. There’ll be no missing limbs from my family tree.”

I turned away, still angry. “Then why was your shirt off?”

He unbuttoned his shirt and held his left arm out. “Pull.”

I hesitated.

“Go ahead, pull.”

I tugged his shirtsleeve and exposed his shoulder. A heart-shaped tattoo with a rose wrapped around it appeared . . . with my name written inside. My name! I was in awe and angry at the same time—angry at myself for never hearing Matt out—angry I was supposed to be with Tuck, but wanted to be with Matt.

“My cousin is a tattoo artist,” he said. “She was just goofing around when you came to the door.”

It took a minute, but finally, I was able to say, “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I wanted to surprise you but then you started acting all weird. You didn’t call me back, you avoided me at school, and then you started going out with Tuck.” Matt shook his head back and forth in disgust the whole time he listed all that I’d done to him, ending by saying, “All after I had
your
name inked on my arm. So who got surprised, huh?”

I slumped down in the seat. “I’m
surprised
, all right.”

“You don’t like it?”

“It’s the coolest thing anyone’s ever done for me,” I said, and I wrapped my arms around him.

“You know,” he said. “My cousin’s coming back to fix it.”

“What do you mean?”

He cocked his head to the side and stared at me. “She’s gonna make a design over your name.”

I didn’t want Matt to cover up my name. Just thinking about it made my stomach hurt, but right before I began making out with him again, I checked my watch and realized how late I was for Tuck’s party. My mind went blank and I couldn’t respond to what he just told me. All I could do was try to find a way to tell Matt that I had to go to Tuck’s party. Guilt ate at me like fire ants on a dead possum. I wanted to be with Matt worse than ever, but I couldn’t break up with Tuck on his birthday. I thought about how I’d feel if someone did that to me. I just couldn’t do it, as much as I wanted to.

Finally, at 9:00, I said, “I don’t know how to say this, but . . . have to go. And I need a ride.”

“Why?” he said, already reaching for the ignition. “Where do you have to go?”

“Tuck’s house. It’s his birthday and his parents are throwing him a party.”

His hand grasped the key and froze. His face transformed into an emotionless imposter of himself. “You’re not serious?”

My voice began to crack. I tried not to cry. “I don’t want to go, but I can’t stand him up on his birthday. I just can’t be that mean.”

“To him! What about me?” He let go of the key and banged his fist on the dashboard. “I can’t believe you.”

“I didn’t expect to see you today. I didn’t expect any of this to happen.” I peered down and picked at my right eyelash. Silence enveloped the moment.

“Say something.”

“I didn’t expect to see you either, but I did,” he said. “Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”

He stared straight, avoiding my eyes. I would’ve been just as angry. It was plain crazy asking him to do drive me to Tuck’s house.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I’m gonna break up with him, just not tonight,” I pleaded.

He didn’t say another word. He turned on the ignition and drove out of the parking lot. We drove for ten minutes without saying one word to each other. When we turned down the street before Tuck’s house, I said, “Stop here.”

I didn’t want anyone to see me get out of his car.

He stopped the car short and I jolted forward. “So what was tonight?” he asked.

“It was everything!” I reached over and put my hand on his leg. He pushed it off. “I’ll break up with Tuck tomorrow, I promise.”

He turned toward me, his dark eyes like shells ready to eject from a two-barrel shotgun. “Tomorrow’s too late.”

My heart stopped, and I couldn’t breathe. Five minutes ago, I was in heaven. Now I was trapped in purgatory. I closed my eyes to keep the tears from falling and opened the door and got out of the car. I took a deep breath and said, “I’ll call you,” but he didn’t answer or look at me. I shut the door - he drove away.

I walked down the block praying I had inherited one ounce of CeCe’s acting ability, because I was about to put on my first big show.

“W
here the heck have you been?”

              I didn’t answer at first when Tuck opened the front door and threw words at me like rocks from a slingshot. While I dug into my personal bank of lies for a believable story, he pulled me inside by the arm and slammed the door shut. It suddenly dawned on me that I hadn’t bought him a gift. In that instant, the lie came, and the flow of tears streamed down my face.

“What’s the matter?” he asked.

“I . . . I . . . I got you a present at the mall, then we stopped to get a bite to eat and I left your gift on the seat. When I went back to look for it, it was gone. I thought maybe I left it in the dressing room of another store and went back there. I spent all night scouring the mall trying to find your gift, but I never did.”

He wrapped his arms around me. “I’m sorry, it’s okay. I’m just glad you’re here.”

I felt cheap and fake. The tears I shed were real, but they belonged to Matt, not Tuck. Now I understood how CeCe felt after she had Luke steal Mama’s car. Lies are like snowballs with rocks inside. You can form them into any size or shape you want, but the liar always knows about the extra weight they carry.

The faint smell of Matt’s Aramis remained on my clothes, and for an instant, I pretended it was Matt holding me.

* * *

Monday morning, I went to my locker and found a yellow sticky note on the door.

I know what you did, Spelling Slut.

I crumpled the note and shoved it into my pocket. Bessa popped up beside me.

“How was the party?” She stared into my eyes, as if she expected to gain a little experience through my stories.

“Nothing special,” I said, and turned my head to avoid her gaze.

“So what did you get him for a present? I hope you wrapped it good and not with duct tape.” She giggled.

I bent down and picked up my math book. I wanted to get to class and forget about the whole night.

Bessa waved her hand in front of my face. “Hell-
o
, is anyone in there? I feel like I’m having this conversation with myself. What’s going on?”

I slammed my locker door shut.

Jonzie popped up behind us both. “How’d it turn out?”

Bessa put her hands on her hips. “Do you know something I don’t? Because Miss Olivia is being all tight-lipped and won’t share anything with me.”

Jonzie and Bessa both glared at me, waiting for answers.

“It’s too much to tell right now. We’ll talk during lunch period,” I said. “But let’s skip and meet in the parking lot.”

“Fine with me,” Jonzie said. “I spent my lunch money on lipstick.”

Bessa pinched the skin from her side. “Fine with me too. I ate too much this weekend.”

The bell rang. We separated and went to our classes. At noon the three of us met by Bessa’s car and climbed inside. Bessa sat in the driver’s seat, I took the passenger’s seat, and Jonzie sat on the back of the console. Bessa started the car so we’d have heat. Jonzie pulled the rearview mirror in her direction and reapplied her lipstick.

Bessa started cleaning out her pocketbook. “Who wants to go see
Nightmare on Elm Street
with me Friday night?” she asked.

“You’ve seen it five times already!” Jonzie proclaimed.

Bessa flashed a sheepish grin. “I might as well tell you.”

“Tell us what?” Jonzie and I asked simultaneously.

“I’m saving myself for Johnny Depp.” She giggled.

Jonzie smirked. “You already told us that, and I still don’t even know which one he is.”

Bessa placed her hand over her heart. “He’s the most perfect-looking guy in the movie . . . in the world! You can’t miss him. I know he’ll be famous one day, and I’ll be waiting.”

“You’re too sheltered,” Jonzie said. “I’m surprised your granny even lets you go to the movies.”

Bessa turned away and stuffed the garbage from her purse into the trash bag hanging from the radio knob. “Oh stifle it, Jonzie.” She flicked her hand as to shoo her away. “It isn’t a sin to fantasize!” She blushed. “Enough about me—spill, Olivia.”

Jonzie kissed the top of her hand to remove her excess lipstick. Still holding the trash bag, Bessa turned toward me.
Now both she and Jonzie sat gaping, waiting to hear the dirt. I covered my mouth and secretly grinned. I found it humorous how badly they wanted to know what was going on in my social life. Actually, I don’t think my life had ever been livelier, or should I say filled with drama. 

“I’ll tell you what happened,” Jonzie said. “Then maybe Olivia will fill us in on the rest. First, Miss Livy saw Matt in the mall after asking me to drive her there so she could buy Tuck a birthday present. Not ten minutes later, she dumped me and took off with Matt, but she was supposed to be at Tuck’s party at 7:00. I don’t even know if she went. Did you go?”

Bessa held onto her garbage with white knuckles and stared at me. “I thought you said you went. Did you?”

I took a deep breath. “Well . . . yes.”

Jonzie’s eyes widened. Bessa gazed toward heaven and shook her head.

“What was I supposed to do, it was his birthday!” I brought my knees to my chest and hugged them.

“So what!” Jonzie said. “It’s not like he’s five years old. Matt’s the one you want, right?”

“Yeah,” I said, but my euphoric moment faded quickly.

“So, what happened with Matt?” Jonzie asked again.

“Matt and I hung out in his car for two hours. Everything was going great. He didn’t cheat on me by the way. The girl at his house that night was his cousin.”

“Ewww,” Jonzie and Bessa groaned.

“It wasn’t like that, it was a misunderstanding on my part. Anyway, I thought we were getting back together. He even got a tattoo on his shoulder with my name on it.”

“A tattoo!” Jonzie exclaimed.

“Yup, it’s beautiful. Everything was so perfect until I realized I had to get to Tuck’s party.”

“What did you do?” Bessa asked.

“What else could I do? I asked Matt to drop me off at Tuck’s house—only I made him drop me off a block away.”

“You’re ruthless,” Bessa said.

Jonzie nodded in agreement.

I shot them both a narrow stare. “You would have done the same thing. It was his birthday. I guess the two of you don’t have as much of a conscience as I thought.” I smirked.  “Anyhow, even though he dropped me off a block away, someone must have seen me because I found this note on my locker.” I pulled it from my pocket and held it open.

“
Spelling Slut!
What the heck does that mean?” Jonzie asked.

“It must have come from someone who knew me in middle school. It’s got to be one of those cheerleaders.” I rolled my eyes. “Back in middle school I was a bit of a nerd. Also a wannabe cheerleader. I made friends with a few cheerleaders. I also entered all the spelling bee contests too.”

“Your life has more twists and turns than my soap opera,” Jonzie said wide-eyed.

Bessa zipped up her now-tidy handbag. “I remember how good you were in spelling. It must have been one of them.”

“Yup. Probably a jealous cacographer.”

“Huh?” Both Jonzie and Bessa responded.

Bessa said, “What the heck is a caco . . .?”

“That was one of my spelling bee words way back when,” I said. “It means a person who can’t spell.”

“Gee, I never thought of myself as a cacographer,” Bessa said. “It sounds intelligent.”

“Ahem,” Jonzie cleared her throat. “Can we get back to the subject? Did you and Matt do it or what?”

“Is that all you think about?” I blurted. “No! We didn’t do it! For goodness sake, I feel like a tramp as it is.”

“So why did you get that note?” Bessa asked.

Wide-eyed and impatient, they both glared at me, waiting for an answer.

“Whoever saw me get out of Matt’s car must have also been at Tuck’s party.”

Jonzie chuckled. “Do you have any idea which cacographer it might have been?” She asked sarcastically, while shoving her big glossy lips in my face.

“It had to be Monica, I just know it. She arrived at the party a couple of minutes after me.”

“What are you gonna do?” Bessa asked.

There were many things I would have liked to do to Monica, but I didn’t need any more problems at the moment.

“Nothing right now,” I said. “But as the saying goes, ‘What comes around goes around’ and for now, I’ll just watch and wait.”

* * *

CeCe picked Luke and me up from school early and took us to K-mart. We zipped up and down the aisles filling the cart with items for Christmas. We found Mama a new outfit. Luke picked out a fake tree, garland, and something called “Christmas Tree in a Can,” which was supposed to trick the nose into believing our tree was real. CeCe grabbed a poinsettia plant as well as a bunch of ingredients to make a sweet potato pie, and some small gifts like socks, gloves, magazines and a Clint Black CD to put under the tree for Mama. I was tempted to purchase a pair of fake eyelashes to enhance mine, which were thinning more and more each day, but I feared I’d look worse instead of better. We packed the car and drove toward home.

As soon as we got in the house, CeCe turned the radio on. While Nat King Cole sang about chestnuts roasting and Jack Frost, we began to complete the decorating for Mama’s homecoming.

“Here Luke.” CeCe handed him the base for the tree. “Loosen the screws so I can drop it inside.”

Luke obeyed, and then helped CeCe wiggle the tree into the stand.

“Olivia, go get the ornaments.” CeCe said.

I handed her the box and she reached inside and pulled out a drummer boy figurine.

“Luke, come help us decorate.” CeCe handed him the figurine. “Daddy bought this the year you were born,” she said.

I found the angel I had made from pipe cleaners in second grade and hung it up, and CeCe put some candy canes on the branches. Together the three of us decorated the tree with everything we could find in the box.

“Step back,” CeCe said and sprayed the tree with Christmas-Tree-in-a-Can, and then plugged in the lights. The sounds and scents of Christmastime filled our home making it seem like there might be a possibility we could find joy this Christmas after all.

“How’s Mama doing?” I asked. “I didn’t call her yesterday.” It was hard to make conversation with her. She was so quiet, and I didn’t really want to discuss all that had been going on in my life. “Are the side effects going away yet?”

“She’s not shaking as much as before, and the tremors have gone away,” CeCe said. “I spoke to the doctor and he said she’s responding well to the medicine, though it makes her tired and she’s not quite used to it yet.”

Luke’s eyebrows bunched together and he stared at CeCe nervously.

“Don’t worry. Everything’s gonna be fine.” Then she said, “Let’s clean this place up. Whose turn is it to vacuum the floor? Luke, get those bicycle parts off your bed and change your sheets. Olivia, if your clothes pile any higher in the hamper, they’re gonna touch the ceiling.”

She wasn’t exaggerating much. I
had
been slacking on cleaning since Mama had been gone. I saluted her. “Yes, Ma’am—right away.”

She shot us a beady-eyed grin and waved. “Go on, get moving.”

I grabbed a load of laundry and tossed it in the washing machine, then cleaned off my dresser. I checked in on Luke and saw him shove his bicycle parts under the bed. Luke
always
slacked off when it came to cleaning. When I went to help in the kitchen, CeCe had already mopped the floor and did the dishes. The place never looked so good. Finally, we were ready to pick up Mama.

“Do I have to come?” Luke asked.

“Of course,” CeCe said. “Mama wants to see all of us, so rid yourself of that attitude.”

He hung his head and didn’t reply.

Once again we headed back to Milledgeville. The hairs on my arms stood up the moment we entered the gates. When we passed those awful gravesites, I actually shivered. But maybe it wasn’t just the memories. Although we were happy Mama would be coming home, it felt strange after so many weeks with her away.

As soon as we entered the hospital, I spotted the same woman I’d met the first time we’d gone there. The one who kept talking to me. I remembered her odd name - Minta. She appeared much different from the last time I’d seen her. She wore a pair of cranberry colored pants and a winter white jacket. Her hair, a brighter shade of white with a tinge of blue blended well with her earrings. Sapphires. They flashed when the sunlight beaming through the window caught their attention.

Minta moved toward me. “I know you. Are you here to see me? I’m going home today.” She grinned. The faraway gaze in her eyes still lingered, but it seemed closer than before.

“I’m here to pick up my mother,” I said.

She straightened up, seeming taller than I remembered her. “And who might your mother be?”

“Cassandra Travis.”