Hi! My Name is: The Mob Boss's Son

17

It was Monday, and nothing was going right for me.

Mom had left early for work, and I had to iron my own shirt, which I promptly burnt along with two of my fingers.

I was almost late because I had to rebutton my shirt twice, courtesy of my thoroughly burned fingers.

I got a teacher’s detention from my A.P. U.S. History teacher for having a relatively surly attitude, (which I personally think I was entitled to) causing me to spend twenty minutes of my lunch period writing ‘I will not be rude’ on the white board.

And because of my lateness in leaving to go get food, I was over a half an hour late for my lunch date with Jayne, which she did not let me forget.

“You’re late,” she said, the second I sat down.

“Seeing as we never agreed on a time, I find that hard to believe,” I said back to her, as I set out the food.

“Still it’s customary not to show up a half an hour late for a first date,” she said, as she reached for the kung pao chicken. I stopped her.

“Look, kid. If you’re just gonna complain about how late I am, I can just go to study hall, because God knows I could use a half an hour of down time. The ball’s in your court on this one.”

She looked in my eyes, and closed her mouth.

“And besides, the kung pao’s mine,” I said with a smile.

She grinned back and accepted the to-go box I’d gotten for her.

“I hope that’s ok. It’s got some of everything in it. I didn’t know what you liked,” I said to her, and she nodded.

“It’s fine.”

We sat in silence until I said, “So tell me something about yourself.”

“Like what?” she asked, using her chopsticks perfectly.

“What’s the worst thing you’ve ever done?”

“I don’t do bad things. My parents would disapprove,” she replied instantly. My eyebrows raised.

“It’s overrated anyway. I’ve done enough bad things for the both of us,” I said. Her eyebrows went up, mocking me.

“My worst was skipping an entire day of school and taking a train out to the suburbs. Not only did I get a major grounding from the parents, but it wasn’t even worth it.”

My heart ached for a second at the memory, thinking of her and that meadow, before Jayne yanked me out of my reverie.

“Got any brothers or sisters?” she asked, before sliding a California roll into her mouth. I smiled at the weird way she chewed.

“Three older brothers. That’s my twin over there,” I said, nodding my head in the general direction of Carnell.

“We’re fraternal, and for us to be twins, we couldn’t be any more different unless one of us was a girl.”

She giggled, and I smiled.

“What about you?”

“I’ve got an older brother,” she said, and casually glanced off the distance.

“Are you ok?” I asked her, and she wiped a tear before nodding halfheartedly.

“How about we get together after school and talk about it?” I asked, but she shook her head.

“I kinda have a thing after school, and then my mom has how long it takes me to walk home down to a science, even with the crutches.”

“I have a thing after school too, but I’m pretty sure we both get off at four. Can I give you a ride home?”

She narrowed her eyes.

“I’m going to choir. It’s counted as a class for me since our school day doesn’t end until four. What’s your thing? Drug deals or something?”

I was mildly offended until I saw the small smirk on her face. She was kidding.

“Detention,” I mumbled, with a shrug as I reached for my soda.

She laughed, and before she walked off, she mumbled something that sounded like, “Looks like we’re both on lock down.”

“My parents keep me on an almost constant watch. The both work really off hours, so I’ve got an on call nanny, they check in on me at midnight to make sure I haven’t snuck out, and my drawers are always searched through to make sure that I’m not wearing anything that makes me look even remotely fourteen. Do you know that I’ve never even had a sleepover?” she said to me in the car, a continuation of our conversation at lunch.

I smiled.

“Have you ever tried asking?”

“They wouldn’t dare let me out of their overprotective sights for more than the time it takes for me to use the bathroom, so they’d never let me go to someone else’s house,” she ranted.

“I doubt that it’s that bad,” I said back, as we waited at a light.

“Seriously, if I take too long to come back, they’re gonna come looking for me. Have you ever had to rush through taking a crap? Very unpleasant,” she grumbled, and I almost died laughing.

She blushed bright red.

“Sorry, sometimes I forget that I’m talking to someone else,” she said quietly, her face lit up like the fourth of July.

“It’s ok. You’re actually pretty funny when you let your guard down,” I said, with a glance at her as I pulled off again.

“What about them coming over your house? You’re parents won’t be able to object, you’d be right there in their living room watching movies, and eating unhealthy snack foods.”

She snorted, and I almost did a double take. She blushed again.

“Sorry, it’s just that they think I have the most horrible taste in friends, so they’d never let them come over in a million years,” she said as she pouted a little.

“Right. Those are all the reasons why they wouldn’t let you have a sleepover, but my question was have you ever asked them?”

Cautiously, I turned a corner and paused at a stop sign. She thought about it for a second, and shook her head.

“No, I don’t guess I have. I always just assumed that the answer would be ‘no’.”

“Well you know what they say about assuming,” I said, leaving the words floating as I checked the clock. We didn’t wanna be too early, and we definitely didn’t wanna be too late. I felt like I was driving Ms. Daisy, but the conversation was interesting enough to keep my attention.

“Actually, I don’t. What do they say about assuming?” she asked, and her eyes lit up, just like they always did when there was something new to learn.

“Don’t worry about it. I shouldn’t have said it in front of you anyway,” I said, as I pulled over down the street from where she lived. My car couldn’t be seen from here.

Before she could protest, I quickly said, “We’re early. What did you wanna do?”

Immediately, I regretted my choice of words. She looked at me with a look of disgust. I could see her attempt at a gradual shift away from me. I started backpedaling.

“I mean we could discuss anything. Your brother, your mom, your singing, or whatever.”

“I think I’ll wait out the last few minutes outside the car,” she said, grabbing the handle to the door in one hand and her crutches in the other.

“Jayne,” I said, “I didn’t mean it like that.”

“Uh-huh,” was the only response she gave me, and it didn’t do much to cover her obvious suspicion.

“Wait! There’s this thing on Friday night, a rave. You said you haven’t done a lot of teenage stuff and I’m pretty sure that sneaking out and going to an illegal party counts. Go with me,” I said, as I reached across her and held her door shut.

“You shove both your feet into your mouth at the last possible second and then try to regain ground by asking for a second date? You are a new type of shameless. I have to go,” she said, and she pried my fingers off of the door and power walked into her house as fast as her arms would carry her.

I counted to thirty, made sure she was in, started the car, and with one last look, I drove off.