Hurricane Watch:

I dragged Jim outside. I breathed out hard. Your grandfather stared at me the whole time. I looked up and noticed his face.

“What?” I asked. Jim had a serious look on his face.

“Why did you do all of that?” he asked. I pushed back my bangs from my eyes.

“He has no right to talk to you like that,” I said in a strong rhythm.

“What?” Jim asked. I whipped my head to him.

“Sure, you’re black and I’m white,” I went on. “But who is he to say we can’t be together because of it? Huh/” Your grandfather looked at me with those puppy dog eyes of his.

“Starlette…” he murmured. I flipped back my blonde hair.

“Now come on,” I said. “We have a party to go to, don’t we?”

“Yeah…” he said.

“Well, let’s go,” I said. “The night’s still young!” I marched off down the street. Your grandfather followed behind.

“And you’re sure about this?” he asked.

“Yes!” I said.

“We could just…”

“I don’t want to talk about it anymore, Jim. Drop it!”

“But…”

“Drop it!”

“Okay…”

“Which house is the party at?” I asked.

“That’s at Jazz’s house,” Jim said.

“Jazz?” I asked. “Who is that?”

“She was in our class, remember?” Jim asked.

“Was she?” I asked.

“Yeah,” he said. “She was mixed.”

“You don’t say,” I said.

“That’s right,” Jim said.

“Okay then,” I said. “Where’s the house?”

“Follow me,” your grandfather said. Then, he took the lead. My usual doubts of when he did so stayed quiet for a change. I guess my high from my rebellion from daddy hadn’t come down yet. That night opened up a new world.

Jazz lived on the other side of town in a shady neighborhood. I did my best to swallow my prejudice. Your grandfather looked at me and smirked.

“Having second thoughts?” he asked. I stuck my tongue out at him.

“No!” I said.

“You sure?”

“Just ring the doorbell!”

“Okay, okay.” Jim rang the bell. The door opened up to us. A pretty face peeked out at us through the crack. Jim smiled and waved.

“Hi,” he said. “We’re here for the party.” The door opened wide for us. Seeing Jazz’s fat face sparked a little memory in my head. She looked over at me.

“Jim, who’s this?” she asked. Your grandfather smiled at her.

“This is my girlfriend, remember?” he said. I smiled and gave her a nervous wave.

“Hi,” I said. Jazz’s face didn’t change. She stepped aside.

“Come on,” she said. Jim smiled and bowed his head and dragged me inside. The smell of smoke smacked me in the face. I coughed and panted for air. Jim tightly squeezed my hand.

“I’ll take you outside,” he whispered to me. I was amazed I could hear him over the pounding Run DMC over the stereo. I nodded at him. I felt my feet moving forward. The smoke smell got worse with each step. I took in heavier breaths. My head began to ache because of it.

“Hang on,” your grandfather said. “We’re almost outside.” I nodded as I panted harder. Just one more step…

A cool breeze tickled me across the cheeks. I took a deep breath out.

“Better?” Jim asked. I nodded at him.

“Yeah!” I said. I opened my eyes and saw your grandfather smiling at me. Felt good to be free in that moment, let me tell you.

1984