Page 7 of The Sun
And with that, he pressed his mouth against mine. My lips tingled, and my heart played hopscotch in my chest. Elias jumped off the decking and took off across the yard in a flash to fight more bad guys.
I’d sinned twice in one day. And I wasn’t sorry for it at all.
2
Sunny
November 1989
Robertsdale Elementary was a one-level building surrounded by a patch of mostly dead grass and a palm tree by the entrance.
The playground had a single swing set with three swings, a slide, and monkey bars. To be honest, it was depressing. I was certain prisons had more to offer inmates than our school offered children in the way of activities.
Elias was in Miss Thompson’s class which was on the other end of the hallway. And while our school was small, I only saw Elias at recess. It quickly became the most anticipated part of my day.
Me, Jenny, and Daisy sat at the edge of the playground, picking clovers and dandelions while the rhythmic creak of the swing set played behind us. Jenny linked a chain of clovers together to make a crown for Daisy. “My brother says he’s weird,” Daisy murmured. If anyone was strange, it was her brother Bobby.
“My daddy said he’s from trash.” Jenny held up her flower crown, admiring it. “Said he saw Mrs. Black at the battered women’s shelter all the time. He said Mr. Black was an angry drunk, too.” Jenny smiled when she glanced at me, and I felt my insides get warm with anger. “Is it true, Sunny Ray? Is he trashy?”
“No. He’s nice.”
“He told Ben Jones he kissed you.” Her smile went crooked like she had one up on me. Then my jaw tightened, and my stomached turned. “Trashy boys kiss trashy girls.”
“Jenny,” Daisy chastized. “Stop. You’re being mean.”
Jenny shrugged before setting the ring of flowers on top of Daisy’s wavy, brown hair. “He’s either trashy or a liar.” Her dark eyes cut back to me. “Is he a liar, Sunny Ray?”
I didn’t like Jenny Smith. Momma said her mother was a gossiping hen, and I was pretty sure that attribute had passed down to Jenny.
“Stop it, Jenny!” Daisy grabbed the crown and threw it to the ground.
Jenny glared at me, and for some reason, Iwantedto tell her he had kissed me. Part of me thought it would make her jealous. Part of me wanted her to hate me for it. Evidently, the innate desire to make another girl envious wasn’t lost on us, even as children.
“He’s not a liar,” I said, snatching a yellow dandelion and plucking the petals from it.
Jenny gasped. When I looked up at Daisy, her eyes were all wide.
“Ew!” Jenny curled her lip. “Why would you kisshim? Mama said he’s poor. His own parents didn’t even want him.”
“Jenny!” Daisy shoved to her feet. “You shouldn’t say things like that.”
Just then, the back door to the gym flung open, banging against the aluminum siding and catching our attention.
All at once, a group of kids tried to shove through the small opening. They wiggled and shouted, then exploded out of the doorway scattering in all directions like a ruptured artery. Elias stepped through the exit, alone, hands shoved in his jean pockets and eyes aimed at the ground.
He looked similar to every other eight-year-old boy that skipped and jumped around him, except unlike the others, he had that cloud of despair that loomed over him. That heavy weight that surrounded him made him seem like a grown-up with all the burdens of the adult world on his shoulders. And it didn’t seem fair.
“Well, Daisy,” Jenny huffed, then pointed at Elias who took his time to cross the field. “Look at him. My mama told me to stay away from him. You know Pastor Fulmer says that thing about lying with dogs and catching their fleas. I’m not catching his fleas, Sunny Ray. If you aren’t careful, you’ll catch ’em.”
It was like a load of bricks had slammed down right over my chest, and my fingers tingled the way it does when my hand had fallen asleep. Elias drew closer, and Jenny kept talking about how awful his family was and how terrible I was for liking him. Daisy was near tears begging her to stop. And all I wanted was to make sure that Elias didn’t hear the ugly things Jenny said. Before I realized what I’d done, my hand balled into a fist and launched itself right at Jenny’s nose.
A thin trail of blood trickled over her lip, and her eyes welled with tears. She ran off, screaming for Mrs. Beasley while Daisy lingered beside me, her hand clasped over her mouth.
“Sunny,” Daisy whispered, but I wasn’t paying attention to her.
Elias now stood in front of me, holding my bloodied hand and inspecting it.
“You okay?” he asked, a worried frown marking his face.
