Adolescent| Devanté Swing

chapter eight

"Junior— baby are you alright? You haven't touched a thing on your plate. Are you feelin' sick or somethin'?" His mother's delicate voice knocked him out of his deep thinking as she rubbed his back with the palm of her hand. The answer was no, he wasn't okay. He had been playing hooky for the past three days to avoided the judging stares and comments he would hear as he walked through the halls of James Baldwin high— ranked as the worst school ever in his book.

His face went pale as all the eyes belonging to his family were plastered on him. He gulped to hold back the vomit that threatened to erupt from his mouth and gave his family a tight grin. "Mhm. I'm alright mama— I-I'm just waitin' on my food to cool off some— it was a little too hot." His eyes peered down at the banana flavored oatmeal sitting in the green glass bowl that had been in front of him for the past five minutes, waiting to be eaten, but little did it know, it made Donald's stomach turn in circles like a roller coaster the more he participated in a staring contest with it.

"Well lil' boy we ain't got time fuh you to be waitin' around. Now, y'all gotta be at school on time, no more playin' hooky— ya' done missed three days because ya' been foolin' ya' mama— but ya' ain't foolin' me, now hurry up!" Reverend Don lectured his eldest son as he removed himself and his now empty plate from the dining room table and going into the kitchen to wash his dish off.

Fighting the urge to roll his eyes, he picked up his spoon, and shoved a scoop of his breakfast into his mouth. It wasn't that he hated oatmeal, it was the fact that he didn't have an appetite for anything at the moment. He couldn't even stomach the fact that he's going to be the clown of Baldwin high for the rest of its miserable existence.

Mrs. DeGrate could see right through her eldest son like he was glass. As she raised her three boys, she discovered that Donald acted just like her, he reminded her of herself when she was his age. She remembered going through some of the worst moments of her adolescence and being scared straight— too scared to voice her problems with her parents. She knew when her boys would be in some trouble— it was all in the appearance. With Dalvin, he'd stutter a lot when he would speak, Derek would avoid eye contact with everyone, and Donald would turn pale in the skin, sometimes he would even lose his appetite depending on how bad his problems were.

Mrs. DeGrate tilts her head as she studied Donald's actions carefully as he sat next to her in the chair, stuffing his face with the last bit of oatmeal in his bowl, and washing it down with the cold cup of water. "Junior, you do know that I know you, right? I know all of you crazy little boys."

He nods." Yep! I know, mama. But I promise nothing is wrong." He politely excused himself from the table and joined his younger brothers by the kitchen sink as they quickly scrubbed the leftover bits of oatmeal from their dishes. Suds flew everywhere as they raced the clock.

"You promise on the Bible?" He froze his actions. Shit, he winced to himself. That was her trick to getting to the truth, but he couldn't. He had to lie and just take whatever punishment the lord had for him like a man, he figured that it couldn't be worse than the ass whipping he'd get from his father.

Derek snickers, tossing his bowl into the dishwasher. "I hope you get struck by lightning, liar." Donald removes his hand from the balmy dish water and smacked Derek on the back of his head. He winces, using all of his strength to push Donald into the marble countertop with his hip.

"I promise on the Bible mama..." He sighs. His younger brothers shakes their heads, peering at him with shameful eyes as they rinsed their hands off with cool water as they reeked of bleach and dish soap.

"Mmm mmm mmm— God gone getchu' for all that lyin'— and I can't wait til it happens." Dalvin snickers as he and Derek left Donald by himself in the kitchen as they scurried off up the stairs into their bedrooms to prepare themselves for what they planned to be a good day for them, and and a bad day for their eldest brother.