Twisties

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Tara

Since I had such a good weekend, Monday afternoon was worse. I just wasn't in the mood for Mr. Ully or the powerhouse of the cell. It didn't take long for him to notice I wasn't doing anything.

"You haven't written anything down," he said, not even looking up from the papers he was grading.

"Because I don't want to." I sighed angrily and put my head down.

Mr. Ully also sighed and stopped writing. Crossing his arms, he looked over at me. "What's up? What's wrong?" Of course I wasn't going to tell him I had an amazing weekend and his stupid face ruined it.

"I'm just in a shitty mood."

"Watch your mouth," he warned.

Rolling my eyes, I went on. "I don't wanna be here today. I just wanna go home." I threw my head back, whining. Mr. Ully looked at me, his forehead fat scrunching up.

"I can understand that you may have had a bad day, but the days to come won't be any better if you don't do this. What do you need help with?" He was trying to reason with me, but I didn't want to hear it. My only response was my stomach growling. I was stupid hungry.

Mr. Ully frowned. "Did you eat today?"

I shook my head no. "School lunch is shitty. Expensive too. And for what? Cardboard pizza? And I hate the sugary fruit." I got a look for my cursing, but Mr. Ully nodded his head in agreement. Pulling out his chair, he got up and started walking towards the classroom door. "Follow me." Confused, I got up and went after him.

We walked down the hallway of the school and out the front entrance. Since school was over, there weren't a lot of kids around, just those who were staying after for clubs and sports. "Where are we going?" I asked when we started walking down the street.

Mr. Ully pointed to the bodega at the corner. "Let's get something to eat and then go back to work."

He went into the store first, waving hello to the man standing behind the counter. He was currently talking on the phone but took a moment to smile at us. I went to the back to look for something to drink, squeezing through the small aisle filled with different food. I was already drooling. Despite being small, I loved that the shops had a lot to offer. You could find anything at a cheap price. A bodega was on every block and usually everyone knew the owner like they were a celebrity.

When I was a kid, I would always ask Grandpa to buy me a Big Burst juice (the blue was my shit) and a 25 cent bag of Cheeto Puffs. Every week we went to the store and when me and Tatiana got older, we would go ourselves and pick Grandpa up some looseys. I still go sometimes, but I realized a lot of snacks were bad for you. But what else are you going to eat when you only have a few dollars on you?

I opened the freezer and got a pink vitamin water and (if you call them by their actual names, you're a cop) headed back to the front. Inside the counter, was a bunch of different candy and since I was feenin for some sugar, I had dude pack me a plastic bag full of Tootsie rolls, (both chocolate and fruity), hamburger gummies, Swedish Fish, Nowandlaters, and Laffy Taffy. I made sure to get extra of the yellow ones. Mr. Ully came up next to me, a Sprite and two beef patties in his hand. He looked down at my stuff and shook his head. "That's not food." He paid for both of us and we left the store, brown papers bags full of the best shit on Earth. At least for now.

When we got back to the classroom, Mr. Ully handed me the beef patty, which I was grateful for. We ate our food quietly, the sound of wax paper and my loud chewing being the only sound in the room. When I finished, I threw the wrapper in the trash and took a sip of my drink.