Marley Queen

Community Service - Chapter 6

As I walk up to the front doors of my school, I can feel everyone'e eyes on me. Everyone is wondering what I'm doing at school, I either ditch school or just don't bother coming in the first place. Seeing Marley Queen walk through the front doors with a backpack is a rare sight.

Nearing my locker, I can see Sierra and Mercedes walking around the corner. Jo isn't at school but then again, she never is. Sierra and Mercedes come up to my locker and we start talking about the party. Sierra's parents forced her to go to school, but Mercedes and I had stayed at home Monday. I tell them about what happened with Oliver, and how I feel like he's hiding something. "I just don't know what he's hiding," I say. "I mean, he can't go yelling at me for disappearing and then disappear himself, that's so hypocritical!" "What do you think he's doing?" Sierra asks, "What's the worst he could be doing?" "Yeah Marley," Mercedes starts, "Maybe he's just going to your family's business, he does kind of own it now." What they say just doesn't seem right though, I can sense that Ollie is hiding something, I just know it. The day goes by, hour by hour, until it's finally 2:50, time to go home. I had been thinking about Oliver all day, but I just couldn't think of anything he could be disappearing off to do. I packed up my stuff and started walking home with Sierra and Mercedes, passing the elementary and preschool. By the time I reached my house, I only had Mercedes with me. Sierra's mom had gotten extremely upset with her, and was forcing her to come home immediately after school. "I feel so bad for Sierra," Mercedes starts, "Her om's being such a bitch with all her stupid rules." "I know right!" I reply, "Her mom is so strict". "Maybe if her mom lightened up a bit, she wouldn't look ten years older than she already is, Mercedes says in a joking yet brutal voice, and I can't help but agree.

We enter the house and go straight to my room. I had no interest in listening to Genevieve's stories which always went "and then guess what happened... and then guess what... guess what happened next," and so on, and I wasn't feeling particularly like getting a concerned yet disappointed look from my mother at the moment. We settled down, me on my bed and Mercedes perched on my desk.

"Hey Marley, you know what's next week?" Mercedes starts with a sly look on her face.

"Could it be, oh I don't know, someone's birthday?" I reply, playing coy.

"Why yes, the one and only Mercedes is turning a year older" She replies in a British accent.

"A year crazier, you mean," I say, which causes both of us to burst into laughter.

"Anyway, anyway, seriously. As I was thinking about becoming older, I realized that I needed to start giving back to the community," Merecedes says, a suspicious gleam in her eyes, a look I'd grown to know so well. "And as my first act of community service, I want to help the less fortunate; those who cannot get the same resources as me. So, I brought you this, as my first act of kindness." She hands me a packet. Vertigo.