Page 115 of Mark Us Little Bear
It suddenly dawns on me.
“Fuck us both then,” I whisper and smile at the same time, digging my hands inside the pockets of my jeans. Let’s hope he doesn’t remember otherwise he’ll be thrilled to see me.
“You know him?”
“Nope.” I shake my head sideways, declining by making sounds with my mouth closed.
“You’re lying,” her eyebrows rise, eyes blinking long as she crosses her hands over her chest.
“I punched his face at a party.” Amongst other things.
She starts chuckling, widening her eyes, and parting her lips in surprise, “Whoa?”
“He came at Ronnie. No one comes at Ronnie.”
“Grave mistake.” She shakes her head from side to side. “You did good son. I probably would’ve kicked him in the nuts if I’d been there.”
“Probably.”
We hold our laughter but smile widely at each other.
“Piper, please come in.” The crispy voice of her teacher captures our attention and Piper steps through the door first.
“This is my cousin, Bradley.” She waves at me.
Nice.
Always lie.
The moment he views me, horror grows in his eyes. “Stay away from me or I’m calling the cops.” His finger points in accusation.
He remembers after all.I must’ve left an impression.
“Mr. Ripley,” Piper attempts to calm him, “I can assure you he is not here to punch—”
I immediately cover her mouth with my hand. “She meant, I’m here to talk to you about Piper’s project.” I free her and proceed, narrowing my eyes at her. “Piper worked extremely hard to redo the project if you’d allow it. She knows grades are super important if she wants to be accepted into art school in the future.” I veer my gaze at her and she nods up and down to assure him.
“Art school, that’s lovely.” His eyes slide to her.
“She had some concerns about her project…” I prompt her to continue.
“It wasn’t inspiring and I wanted it to be flawless.” She bounces her foot.
“Oh, Piper, there’s no such thing as flawless. You… inspire people by creating something that reflects you.” That’s actually great advice.
“I couldn’t find me.” The desperation in her voice is palpable.
The resemblance in Piper’s mood swings match Amber’s in many ways. They’re loners but inside they long to have theirown pack. Own family of friends to confide in. The only setback is they hate to ask for help because they don’t want to be let down. Rejected. They want to do things on their own. I hope they see how powerful they truly are, each in their own unique ways, because when they speak, and run around they capture everyone’s attention.
“Piper, I’m happy you are interested in fixing your project so I’ll allow it.”
I realize I zoned out and am back in time for the end of their conversation.
“Hey, that sounds great.” I nod at Piper with a wide grin.
“Thank you, Mr. Ripley.” She smiles from ear to ear, satisfied with herself as she walks out the door. “Bye. Thank you again.”
“You made her day, Mr. Ripley.” I salute him.
