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Chapter 3

Part 1

Charles sat impatiently in class, waiting for the sound of the bell to signal the end of the school day.

Thank goodness this was the last class today, he thought to himself. He continued to wonder how in the world he and Doug could have allowed Dale into talking them both into taking the Algebra 2 class taught by Ms. Papas during this period. They must have been real gluttons for punishment. There was one consolation, he thought. At least the three of them were in the same class together. That would make studying easier and keep them on the honor roll.

Charles felt something soft hit him on the back of his head. As the sound of the crumpled paper hit the floor of the classroom, Charles turned around in his chair to scan the room for a possible suspect. His search quickly ended as his eyes focused on the not-so-conspicuous face of Cedric Lambert, his cousin. Charles reached down, picked up the crumpled paper from the floor, but before he could throw it, he was interrupted by the sound of the bell.

“Finally,” he said. Dropping the paper back onto the floor, he placed his math book inside his backpack and walked toward the door.

Outside the classroom, Charles, Doug, Dale, and Cedric met together and began walking toward their lockers.

“So, what’s up for this weekend, fellas?” asked Cedric. “You guys going to the beach tonight?”

“No, not me,” said Dale. “My father is picking me up to take me to the dentist. It’s root canal day.”

“I’m not going either,” said Doug. “My girlfriend Betty and I had already made plans to go to the movies tonight.”

“So, you mean to tell me that for once in your lives, the three of you guys didn’t make plans to hang out together?” chided Cedric.

“Nope,” replied Dale. “Contrary to what everyone thinks, we do have and lead our own separate lives.”

Dale and Doug stopped at their lockers, while Charles and Cedric continued walking toward the student parking lot.

“So, did your pops go out of town already?” asked Cedric.

“Yep. He left this morning.”

“So that means that you can hang out at my house this weekend?” asked Cedric.

“I wish that I could, Cedric,” said Charles, “but Dad said that East Palo Alto was off limits while he is out of town.”

“Is that because of what happened last week between you and that nigga Kenneth?” asked Cedric.

“No,” Charles replied. “My dad doesn’t know anything about that.”

“I think that I know who that nigga is too,” said Cedric.

“You do?”

“You said that he drives a blue Cadillac, right?” asked Cedric. “Well, I know that I’ve seen him in that car.”

“Where?” asked Charles.

“On Alberni Street here in EPA,” replied Cedric. “Right in the middle of the dope spot. Looked to me as if he was trying to conduct some business.”

“It figures. He looks like the type,” replied Charles. He looked down at his watch and realized that fifteen minutes had passed since the last bell had rung. “Oh man! I better hurry.”

“What’s wrong?” asked Cedric.

“I’m supposed to meet Dennis in the student parking lot,” said Charles. “We’re supposed to ride to the Santa Cruz beach together.”

“Then you don’t need to hurry because Dennis is never on time,” replied Cedric.

“You’re probably right,” said Charles, “but I want to be there just in case.”

“If he’s there, then that will be a first,” Cedric responded. “Hey, since you can’t hang out in EPA, then do you want me to come over and kick it at your house this weekend?”

“Well, Dennis is supposed to hang out at my house this weekend,” said Charles. “But if you want, you can stay over at my house for a week before my dad gets back. And believe you me, it will probably be the last time that I will be able to have company over until I get off punishment.”

“Why?” Cedric asked. “What did you do this time?”

“I’ll show you.”

Cedric and Charles continued onto the student parking lot. Cedric stopped in place, frozen, unable to move. He could feel the blood draining from his face.

“You crazy fool!” Cedric shouted at Charles. “Uncle Charles is going to kill you. I don’t believe it. You stole his Ferrari?”

“Wait, Cedric,” Charles pleaded. “Let me explain.”

“No. I don’t want to hear it,” Cedric said, covering his ears. “And I definitely don’t want to spend the week over at your house. Maria is going to tell on you, and I don’t want to be there when Uncle Charles gets back and the shit hits the fan.”

“Relax, Cedric,” said Charles.

“No,” Cedric replied, “if I go anywhere near your house, Uncle Charles is going to think that I’m the one who talked you into stealing his car, and I ain’t got nothing to do with it.”

“Well, do you at least want to know why I did it?” asked Charles.

“Yeah, I’m dying to hear this one.”

“Sharron Morris,” said Charles.

“The cheerleader?” Cedric responded in a loud voice. “You stole your father’s car for a cheerleader?”

“Not just any Cheerleader, cousin. The captain of their squad,” replied Charles, his face conveying expressed accomplishment.

“You’re crazy, man,” said Cedric with a hopeless expression. “But you know, I guess Sharron does have the kind of body that’s worth dying for.”

“Yeah, she does, Cedric. She really does. But, you know, it’s kind of funny the way this whole thing started this morning.”

“What do you mean?” asked Cedric.

“The girl calls me up this morning out of the blue,” Charles explained. “I think that it’s some sort of fluke until she asked me to pick her up at her house and take her to school. Not only that, but on the way to school, she asked me if I would be her date tonight at Dollar Night on the Boardwalk. Does that sound strange or what?”

Cedric thinks for a moment, digesting what Charles had just told him. Then it hit him. “Wait a minute,” he said, his voice conveying his suspicion. “I thought Sharron was going steady with that quarterback dude. What’s his name?”

“Donald Johnson,” replied Charles. “Yeah, I asked her about that. She claims they broke up.”

“Are you sure that this is not just some kind of setup,” asked Cedric, “and she’s just not trying to use you to try and make her boyfriend jealous?”

“The thought had crossed my mind,” replied Charles. “But then I thought, how could Donald be jealous of me?”

Looking past Charles, Cedric could see Sharron entering the student parking lot area. “Her ears must have been burning,” he said. “She must have felt us talking about her, because here she comes.”

They watched as Sharon walked up to them.

“H…e…l…l…o S…h…a…r…r…o…n,” Cedric said in a playful drawn-out voice.

“Hi C…e…d…d…i…e,” She responded in kind. Looking toward Charles, she continued to speak, “I didn’t think you’d be here, Charles.”

“Why is that?” he responded, trying to sound cool in front of Cedric.

“Just a feeling I had,” she responded coolly. “So, are you ready to go?”

“Yeah, in just a minute,” replied Charles, trying to maintain the cool-guy image in front of his cousin. “Look, Sharron, I’m in the middle of an important discussion with my cousin, so if you wouldn’t mind, I’m going to give you the keys to the Ferrari, so you can go and kick back. I’ll just be a minute or so.”

“Sure,” she said. Taking the keys, she walked toward the Ferrari.

As they watched her walk away, Charles turned toward Cedric. “So, what do you think, Cedric?” he asked.

“Oh, she’s fine,” said Cedric. “And she definitely looks like she’s worth the beating that Uncle Charles is going to give you when he gets back into town.”

“You would have to spoil everything by mentioning that.”

“I’m just telling you like it is,” replied Cedric, now looking in the direction of the Ferrari. “You better be careful and watch your back, Charles.”

“I will,” said Charles. “I’ll call you tonight and tell you what happened. See ya.” Charles starts walking toward the Ferrari.

“Hey wait!” Cedric yelled, stopping Charles. “What about Dennis? I thought that you were supposed to meet him here.”

“Damn, that’s right,” replied Charles. “Tell you what. If you see him, tell him that I waited for him as long as I could.” Charles started running toward the Ferrari. “Catch you later, Cedric.”

Cedric watched as the Ferrari sped out of the student parking lot.

Part 2

“So, where are we going?” asked Sharron.

“I thought that we had already made plans to go to the beach,” Charles replied. “That is, unless you’ve changed your mind about going with me.”

Sharron sensed the sarcasm in Charles voice. “I wasn’t sure if you wanted me to be your date tonight,” she said.

“We’re in the car, aren’t we?” he replied coolly.

“Okay,” she said. “Then there are a couple of things we’re going to need to do. First, we need to go by my house, so I can pick up my clothes and a few other things. Then we can go by your house and pick up your stuff, unless you already have it in the car.”

“No, I didn’t bring anything. We’ll have to stop by my house too.”

Ten minutes later, they arrived at Sharron’s house.

“It’s going to take me about twenty minutes to change my clothes and get a few things,” she said. “Why don’t you come inside and wait in the house?”

“No, thank you,” said Charles. “I’ll just wait in the car and listen to some music.”

Sharron got out of the car and went into the house.

Charles sits in the car, listening to music. I wonder how this date with super babe is going to turn out? he thought to himself. Is she just using me to make her boyfriend jealous, or could it be that she is actually interested in me?

He looked at himself in the mirror, then shook his head. Nah, it’s just too good to be true. Whatever the case, I better be prepared for a fight with super jock Donald Johnson.

Thirty minutes later, Sharron appeared on the porch, carrying a small tote bag. Charles popped the trunk; Sharron placed her bag in, then got into the car.

Entering the freeway, they drove north on Highway 101 toward San Francisco. Charles took the Marsh Road exit into the city of Atherton. Ten minutes later, they pulled into his driveway.

“Charles! Charles!” she said, the excitement in her voice evident. “Is this your house?”

“Yeah.”

“It’s a mansion!” she exclaimed. “You’re rich!”

Charles was bewildered. “It’s not a mansion, and I’m not rich,” he explained. “It’s just a big house. Now if you want to see a real mansion, then I could show you one.”

Sharron did not respond to his voice. Speechless, she continued staring at the house.

Charles found the entire situation amusing. He didn’t understand what the big deal was. He had lived here most of his life, and to him it had always been just a big house. “Would you like to go inside?” he asked.

“Yes! Yes!” she said.

They exited the car and went into the house. Upon entering the house, they were greeted immediately by Maria.

“Buenos tardes, Señor Junior [Good afternoon],” said Maria.

“Hello, Maria,” said Charles. “Maria, this is Sharron Morris, one of my classmates from school. Sharron, this is our maid, Maria.”

“Buenos tardes,” Maria said, bowing her head to greet Charles’s guest.

“Nice to meet you,” replied Sharron.

“Señor Junior,” Maria said, “dinner will be ready in thirty minutes. Will the señorita be joining you?”

“Hmm, I don’t know. What do you think?” Charles asked Sharon. “I mean, we can eat now. That way, we can save money and just snack when we get to the boardwalk?”

“Sounds okay with me,” she said.

“Esta bien, Señor Junior [Very good],” Maria said. “I will call you when dinner is ready.” With that, she left for the kitchen.

“I can’t believe that you have a maid,” said Sharron.

“Like I told you, it’s a big house and somebody has to clean it.”

“Why does she call you Señor Junior,” asked Sharron.

“Oh, that. Well, señor is Spanish for mister. She doesn’t feel that it’s proper to call her employer’s son by his first name. So, since she calls my father ‘Señor Gill,’ she calls me ‘Señor Junior’ because I’m Charles Jr.”

“Oh,” she replied. Sharron raised her arm to look at her watch. “Charles, if we stay for dinner, do you think that we will be too late to go to the beach?”

“Don’t worry.” Charles said boastfully “I have a Ferrari.”

Part 3

Dinner was served on the patio in a very elegant setting. Even Charles had to admit that he had been totally captivated by the enchantment of their dining area. The allure of the fine china on the candlelit table. The romantic soft Latin music, which was piped in through the intercom system, made them feel that a spell had been cast. To top it off, the sun was setting to a red, dusky sky. Maria had outdone herself this time, He thought to himself.

Charles looked across the table to Sharron, who seemed spellbound. For the first time in his life, through the eyes of someone else, he could understand just how fortunate he was.

Maria entered and set up a serving tray next to their table. She filled their crystal goblets with sparkling cider. Before departing, she placed before each of them a small dish of homemade Mexican shrimp cocktail.

Charles watched in amazement as Sharron awkwardly decided on which eating utensil to use. Was basic dining etiquette not taught in the homes of children living in East Palo Alto? he asked himself. Now, things he had learned as a child but had taken for granted—such as which fork is a salad fork, and which spoon is a soup spoon—seemed to have some significance.

Charles initiated, and she cleverly followed suit. He raised his glass and playfully said, “A toast to our newfound friendship.”

Sharron giggled as their glasses met.

As they consumed the last portion of the shrimp cocktail, Maria entered carrying another serving tray. She picked up the small dishes and replaced them with two bowls of homemade Mexican seafood soup. Before leaving, she placed on the center of the table a plate containing an assortment of steamed flour and corn tortillas.

In the very professional and timely manner in which she had come and gone during the course of the meal, Maria entered with the main course, which consisted of filet mignon wrapped in bacon and covered with sautéed mushrooms; a lobster tail, which had been broiled to perfection in butter; and a baked potato.

Charles and Sharron were stuffed. They sat at the table unable to move. “I can’t eat another thing,” said Sharron.

“Neither can I.”

At that moment, Maria entered with surprisingly nothing else in her hands. “Would Señor Junior or the señorita care for desert?” she asked. “I made a chocolate mousse.”

“No, thank you,” Charles replied. “Dinner was muy excellente [very excellent].”

“Muchas gracias, Señor Junior.” Maria began picking up the plates, while Charles and Sharron started toward the front door.

Once outside, while they were getting into the Ferrari, Charles looked up and saw Maria standing at the front door of the house. He had forgotten that he was not supposed to drive his father’s car. “I’ll be right back, Sharron.” Charles walked back to where Maria was standing. “Did I forget anything?” he asked with presumed innocence.

“You drive your papa’s car?” asked Maria.

“Oh, yeah. Dad wanted me to drop it off at the mechanics, so it could be serviced,” he said, trying to keep a straight face, yet feeling guilty for lying to her.