Juke Jam

Chapter Twelve

Charlie decided to tackle his homework after he walked Gladys home. Albeit, he didn't get much done because he was too busy thinking about Gladys. He couldn't stop thinking about how they kissed or how gorgeous she was. It got him thinking about the school's sock hop that was coming up. He really wanted to ask her if she wanted to be his date, but he was scared. There was no written law that prevented a white guy from asking a black girl out on a date, but there was something called racism.

Even if he wanted to ask Gladys, he couldn't. There were things that he just couldn't do and that was certainly on the list. He would have to settle for asking Daisy; she had had a crush on him ever since they were little. She expected him to fall in love with her and become high school sweethearts, like her parents did. In all honesty, Charlie never took a liking to Daisy. She was a bit too much for him. Charlie was a chill guy; he did not like being flashy, or around anyone who felt the need to brag. That was another reason why he couldn't stand Peter sometimes—he was flashy.

"Honey, I'm home." Martha called to no one in particular as she came through the front door.

Annabelle still hadn't came home yet, which Martha was probably going to make Charlie go get her. Hal hadn't made it home from work yet, so it would give Martha a head start on making dinner. There was nothing the family hated more than Hal being hungry. If he was an angry person already one could imagine how he acted when he was hungry.

"Hello, Mom." Charlie smiled as she walked into the kitchen. He was still thinking about Gladys.

"Hello, son. How was your day?" Martha placed her hands on her hips.

Boss.

More than boss.

"It was kind of boring." He shrugged his shoulders. "Nothing much happened but the same ol stuff. How was your book club?"

"It was excellent. Daisy's mother made these amazing pies. Daisy's mother is quite lovely, her whole family is. How is Daisy these days?" She opened the fridge and pulled out some meat to prepare cooking.

Martha always asked Charlie about Daisy and it was quite annoying—just like Daisy. Daisy was a sweet girl, but she could be a bit ditzy at times and she flaunted her money. She and her family were also very racist people. Charlie could only imagine what would happen if Daisy found out he and Gladys kissed. She would probably do something outrageous such as getting Gladys kicked out of school for good. She would definitely try to make Gladys seem like the bad guy even though Gladys didn't do a thing to her. Sometimes Charlie steered clear of Daisy on purpose whenever he saw her in the hallway.

"She's just like any other teen. She's tired of school and likes to have fun." He said with a bored tone.

"Don't sass me! Charlie boy, your father has told you about that! Don't let him hear you." She pointed a stern finger at him.

"I apologize, Mom." He raised up his hands in defense.

"Go get your sister. I'm sure she'd love to help me prepare dinner. Annabelle loves cooking with me, and especially if we're baking." Martha's mood instantly brightened up.

Charlie was convinced that he was the least favorite child out of the two. His father and mother always talked lovely about Annabelle. They never really talked like that about Charlie; he was a good kid, though, so he didn't quite understand why.