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All she did was nod her head, and that confirmed to me that she was everything but good. But I decided to leave the situation alone, at least for now.
I drove for the remainder of the ride in silence, with Kevin Gates’ new album playing softly. We got there in another twenty minutes and when we did, I parked the car in the food court, since she worked at Chick-Fil-A. I took the key out and she turned around and looked at me.
“You’re getting out?” she asked me with wide eyes.
I chuckled as I looked at her. “Hell yeah, I’m getting out. Come on before you be late,” I said and we both got out of the car.
She was still walking with a limp but I just ignored it. We made it into the mall and she turned to look at me. “Well, thank you for the ride,” she said.
“You’re welcome. Don’t be a stranger either,” I said and she walked off.
Since I was at the mall, I figured that I would stay and get me a few thing
Antonia
“Antonia, can you please come in the back to my office for a minute?” my manager asked me, coming and taking me off of the register.
I hadn’t even been on the register for a good ten minutes yet. It really wasn’t busy, plus there were three other cashiers up front, so I’m pretty sure that they wouldn’t need me. I quickly locked up my register and made my way to the back to see what my manager wanted. She was a middle aged white lady, and for the most part, she was an okay manager. I liked that she gave me a lot of hours and she helped to work around my school schedule.
“Close the door behind you!” she said.
I did, and took a seat in front of her desk.
“Everything alright, Ms. Clark?” I asked her nervously.
“What happened to your eye, Antonia?” she asked me while opening a folder.
“Umm, I fell today at P.E in school,” I said, having to think quickly.
“That’s funny to me because January 1st, 2014, you told me that you fell in P.E. March 4th, 2014, you told me that you fell outside, playing with your cousins. I have three more incidents on file of you claiming that you fell. Antonia, I have to ask, is everything all right at home? Not only do you have that bandage on your eye, but I also see the bruises on your arms. Is there something that I need to know?” she asked me.
If you tell them white people down at the job that I beat your ass, I promise it’s going to be worse the next time! My aunt’s voice echoed in my mind before I opened my mouth to speak.
“Ms. Clark, I’m not your typical teenaged girl. I like to get my hands dirty. When I’m in school, during P.E., I don’t just take a seat in the shade, I actually participate. I play football and basketball with the guys, and that’s why I come to work sometimes with these bruises on my body. I got this today because in the middle of playing football, I was elbowed in the eye,” I said, lying through clenched teeth. I knew damn well I wasn’t playing no damn football.
“Remove the bandage. Let me see the cut. I’m sorry, but we have customers here, Antonia, and I don’t want that to be the first thing they see once they look at you,” she said, sincerely.
I removed the bandage from my eye and I watched as she cringed in her seat at the look of my eye. It kind of made me feel some type of way, so I quickly put it back on.
“How about this? I’ll pay you for the rest of the week, Antonia, and you can go ahead and head home now. You’ll still get paid for your hours. I want to believe you with the whole falling in P.E. thing, but it’s just a risk that I wouldn’t want to take. You’re a minor, and what if a police officer comes in the line and asks you what happened to your eye or how you got those bruises on your arm? You can lie to me if you want, Antonia, but you can’t lie to the authorities,” she told me and I nodded my head.
“Go ahead and clock out. You’ll still get your hours,” she assured me.
I nodded my head and then walked out of her office. I went over to the time clock and punched out. Now, what the hell was I going to do for the next five hours? I walked out of the food court and down to the restroom. I suddenly had this urge to pee. When I finished handling my business in the bathroom, I walked out, and that’s when I saw Jahiem hugged up in front of the jewelry store with some chick. I knew for a fact that he didn’t see anything in me. Hell, no one ever did. He saw me look at him and I quickly turned my head. I used the doors that were on the right of me to exit the mall.
“Antonia! Wait up! Wait a minute! Damn,” I heard Jahiem say, running in my direction.
I turned around and noticed that this time he was alone. I just knew he had a girlfriend hiding somewhere, and he had just proved my point.
“What happened? Ain’t you supposed to be working tonight?” he asked, stepping closer to me.
I could smell the mint on his breath and his cologne was so intoxicating. I stepped back. When I did, my back went against the wall. He held both of his hands on the wall above my head and stared down at me. His stare was intimidating, making me shudder like a little ass girl. Like always, I dropped my eyes to the ground, and he used his hands and picked my head back up.
‘I’m here! Not down there,” he said and I looked
him in his eyes.
“She sent me home because of the bandage on my eye. She didn’t want to take that risk, and told me that I could come back Monday and that she would pay me for the rest of the week,” I told him and he nodded his head.
