John Dandy Boys Club

Chapter Nine: More John Dandy Boys and Unhappy Godsisters

"You met those John Dandy fellas?! And on the first day of school?! Vion, this is great!"

That was the first thing that left Aunt Mona's mouth after I recapped her about my first day experience and even going as far as telling her about the all-male mentoring group while heading for home. And needless to say, she was as thrilled as everyone else at school was. "I guess it is pretty amazing," I replied, sitting back in the front passenger seat as Mary J. Blige was playing on the radio. "But I'm not sure why those guys are interested in me. I'm still the new kid in town and all that."

"Don't be absurd," Aunt Mona told me as she turned onto Miller Road. "First off, a new arrival is always the talk of the town until someone else moves in. But in your case, the spotlight will be on you for quite a while with your parents' death and all. As for you catching those young men's attentions? Well, let me just remind you to not talk yourself down. It's not every day when they're captivated a young man of your caliber. But it's also easy to lose their favor if you do something reckless, so don't get a swelled head."

"I won't," I assured her just as we caught Uncle Donnie waiting for us on the  front porch when we pulled into the driveway. "I told the gang that me getting those guys' attention would be a one-time thing. Besides, they'll have something better to do after this week."

Aunt Mona smiled wistfully. "I wish you could see what everyone can see on you," she told me as we got out. "You don't know it yet, but you're meant for great things, Vion. Trust me, a little faith can do a lot of wonderful things."

She motioned me to help with unloading the groceries, my uncle soon chipping in to help as we headed inside to put everything away. "So, Vion, had a good first day of junior year?" Uncle Donnie said as I finally sat down to some homework at the kitchen table.

"He had a better day, especially when he met those John Dandy fellows," Aunt Mona commented, flittering around to prepare something for dinner. "He even had that Westley boy take him to the final class of the day."

Uncle Donnie grinned. "Then this means that Westley sees potential in our nephew," he commented. To me, "I bet this made your day, huh?"

"Yeah, but I'm not one to put on airs or anything," I replied, turning to my AP Chemistry homework. "I mean, I'm not familiar with everything in town just yet, so I'm still minding my manners and all."

"True, but you should know that it can be hard to win those John Dandy boys and their adult male mentors yet easy to lose favor. I'm surprised that you got their approval without doing anything."

"You're surprised? I'm the one whom Bradley escorted to class with and everyone'll still be buzzing about it for quite a while. I told Aunt Mona and the others that they'll probably won't notice me too much, those John Dandy boys I mean, and that they'll find some other guy to fancy over. But Tahira said that everything that happens once won't happen again while everything that happens for a second time will happen more often. I'm starting to wonder if-"

The doorbell rang, cutting my monologue off as Uncle Donnie went for the door. Two minutes later, he returned with two more of those enigmatic members- a beefy Hispanic dude and his Black male companion- following suit, the younger men dressed in the same ensemble as their cohorts wore. "Look who came by to say hello," my uncle said.

The Hispanic guy stood forward, shaking my hand. "I'm Hector Suarez," he said in a faint accent. "This is my friend Marcus Bowens."

"Charmed," the other guy named Marcus said, his voice a little deeper than expected.

"Nice to meet you," I replied. "And welcome to my humble home."

Hector grinned as he handed me a leather-bound hardcover journal and a fancy pen. "This is a gift from us as well as our fellow members of the John Dandy Boys Club," he said. "Brad said that you looked like the type who loves to write. Maybe you can use this journal to record your time here and collect your thoughts."