my shoes. I already had my gym clothes on under my street clothes. Not only did it save time, I didn’t have to get my gym basket from the cage. One of Lena’s friends was in charge of the cage. In the last gym class when I had retrieved my gym clothes, somebody had stuck a big wad of purple chewing gum in the crotch of my shorts. Before I could get my blouse off, Lena strode over and stood in front of me and folded her arms and gave me a threatening look.
“Girl, you look like somethin’ I seen swingin’ from a tree in a Tarzan movie. What you lookin’ at, Cheetah?!” she shouted at me with her nostrils flaring.
“Nothing,” I muttered. My eyes were on the floor.
“I’m surprised they make shorts big enough to fit a cow like you,” she said seriously. The other girls roared.
“They do,” I mumbled. Somehow, I managed a smile.
“And where did you get that book bag? I know for a fact your funky old mama ain’t nothin but a maid cleanin’ funky Judge Lawson’s toilets and shit. She ain’t got no money to afford nothin’ that nice. I bet you stole it.” Then, without warning and for no apparent reason, other than the fact that she just didn’t like me, Lena stomped on my bare foot.
“I don’t steal,” I told her in a weak, barely audible voice as I massaged my foot. It hurt like hell. I was sure I’d be limping for a few hours, but since I wasn’t going to be picked for any of the ball teams anyway, it didn’t matter.
“I bet you do. That’s a nylon book bag. Lemme feel it.” Lena ran her mean hand along the side of Rhoda’s book bag. Before I knew what was happening, she dug a big bugger from her nose and stuck it on Rhoda’s beautiful new book bag. I was horrified. The other girls roared even louder and harder. It sounded like thunder, but what happened next happened so fast, I don’t remember all the details. Rhoda shot across the locker-room floor, grabbed Lena by her arm, and pulled her back to the bathroom stalls. The other girls and I ran behind them. Inside the bathroom, Rhoda forced Lena’s head into an out-of-service toilet and held it there for a full minute, then she flushed it. There was sweat all over Rhoda’s pretty face. Her eyes darkened, and her face became a mask of absolute rage. Her teeth were clenched, her lips trembled. For a moment I thought that I was looking at the devil. The water from the toilet spilled out onto the floor as Lena tried desperately to get away from Rhoda.
The other girls got so quiet you could hear a pin drop. I actually found myself feeling sorry for Lena. Then Rhoda snatched Lena’s head back, pulled her up, and slammed her against the wall with so much force the lockers rattled.
“If you ever touch any of my stuff again, I am goin’ to kill you, Lena,” Rhoda said seriously. “Do I make myself clear?” Her voice was cold and hard, almost like a deep growl. Rhoda didn’t seem like herself anymore. I don’t know how, but I knew she meant business.
Lena was coughing and spitting up all kinds of filth from the toilet. She wiped her face with both hands, then turned to face Rhoda. “Is that a threat, Nelson?” I could not believe that Lena was brave enough to say anything that might possibly provoke Rhoda again. But most bullies I knew were not smart people anyway. She didn’t know any better.
“That’s not a threat,” Rhoda said, letting out her breath. She was so cool and calm that it was scary. By now, her voice had returned to normal. “That’s a promise.”
CHAPTER 12
Kids talked about the incident in the locker room for days. What amazed me was the fact that Rhoda did not get in trouble. Pee Wee had told me that even some of the teachers were afraid of her, but I didn’t know whether or not to believe him. But the more I thought about it, they must have been. Other kids got sent to the principal’s office left and right. Rhoda almost never did.
“Yeah, some of the teachers are scared of me,” Rhoda confirmed on our way to school a few days later. We were walking arm in arm like I saw a lot of best girlfriends do. Pee Wee was stumbling along