I didn't know where I was going, didn't have the slightest clue. I drove
about 25 or 30 minutes until I needed a piss or food break. I went into the
nearest McDonald's so my first instinct was to make a run for the ladies
room. Afterwards, I came out and ordered a Big Mac. So I sat down at the
last table available and ate my food when a girl, who looked about 15 or 16
came in. She was a tall pretty girl with pin straight blonde hair, blue
eyes with dark blue mascara on, and big hoop earrings on. After ordering
her food she looked around for a table with a dismayed look on her face to
find that none were available. She approached my table and I thought how
funny it was with that blue mascara on that it looked like those flowers
with the thin dark blue petals.
She smiled wearily at me and asked, "Do you mind if I sit here? There's no
more tables."
She may have been younger than me, but having someone so much prettier
around it means she's more important then you are, period.
"Sure, I don't mind." I replied.
She sat down smiling and said, "Thanks. I'm Delia."
"That's a nice name." I said.
"Thanks!" she said excitedly, "So, whats your name?"
I replied in my usual introduction, "I don't know, but you can call me
Spider. Everyone else does."
Delia looked at me quizzically and asked, "What do you mean?"
I explained the story to her saying, "My mother never told me my name, and
I never was curious about it, so everyone just started calling me Spider. I
was a big Spiderman fanatic when I was a kid." That part was a lie. My
whole life I had been curious about my name, but Jocelyn wouldn't speak at
all if I ever asked the forbidden question. We had many arguments over it.
"Oh." She said, brushing her perfect hair back, "Well that's interesting.
How old are you? You live around here?"
"I'm about 18. I lived in the Bronx and I decided to move." I said.
"Oh I'm 16, I lived here my whole life." Delia said.
"Where am I anyway?" I asked. The whole time, I had no idea where I was.
"Mt. Vernon, its not much of an escape from the Bronx." Delia snickered.
I think I know what she meant by that.
Afterwards Delia asked me where I was going to, and I told her I'd be fine
settling here as soon as I find a place to live. I had no idea what came
over me, why I wanted to stay here, why I only drove 30 minutes to find my
destination.
"Oh you can live with my neighbor! She's letting people rent, but since you
know me she might let you stay." Delia said. She had a squeaky little
voice, like Minnie Mouse.
I shrugged and said, "Oh, that's nice."
Delia said, "Ok, well, I don't have a car with me, but I can give you
directions."
I said, "Don't be ridiculous, you can come with me since your right next
door."
Delia smiled and we went outside to my crappy old station wagon. I felt no
connection with my car, it was just a piece of crap that I got off some old
man that talked to my private parts and not my face.
Delia was smiling the whole time. The way she looked you just feel stupid
that she seems to have everything perfect when your life is so messed up
that you don't feel like leaving the house sometimes.
"Now turn right here," Delia said, giving directions, "Go down California
Road, no, no, that way. Ok, now turn right."
I did as she told and ended up in a small neighborhood with Hispanic and
black people sitting on their front steps, staring at us with their huge
black eyes.
"This is my house. This one is where Morgan lives." Delia said. I guessed
that Morgan was her neighbor.
Delia got out of the car, and I did afterwards, wondering what I was doing
with my life.
I just drove 30 minutes out of the place I grew up in, and now after
meeting a person for 10 minutes I'm living with her neighbor for God knows
how long.
All I had to do was get in the car and drive back. The car was in good
enough condition to survive 30 minutes. I needed to see Jocelyn. I needed
to be in my asylum. Maybe leaving the Bronx was just a phase, maybe a huge
mistake.
But Delia was already ringing the doorbell. A lady opened it, or more like
a girl around 21. She was somewhat round in the face, but not overweight,
and had thin curly hair, cropped up in a bun, and huge brown eyes.
Her face lit up when she saw Delia and she said, "Hey Delia, can I help
you?"
Delia smiled back at her (as if Delia wasn't smiling already) and said,
"You still looking for someone to rent up your room?"
Morgan looked at me realizing Delia must have been referring to me.
"Sure I am." She said.
"Well my friend is looking for a place to live, and I thought maybe you
shouldn't be renting, ya know Morgan, just let her live here." Delia said
shuffling her feet.
"Why don't the both of you come inside." Morgan said with a quick weary
smile and stepped into the house.
We sat down in her living room and I looked around. It kind of reminded me
of home-except maybe a little bigger.
"So whats your name?" Morgan asked me.
"Well I don't have a-" I started when Delia interrupted, "She doesn't know
her name, but everyone calls her Spider."
Morgan didn't laugh or say anything. She just nodded and took a sip from
her coffee mug.
"And how old are you?" she asked.
"18." I replied.
Delia looked at her watch and said, "Oh, sorry everyone, I have to go feed
the baby."
Morgan said, "Alright, bye Delia."
Delia had a baby? This I found hard to believe. Its not that it's a
surprise to me that a kid would have a baby before they learned how to do
long division, its just that I didn't realize how many places something
like that could happen in.
"Its better that she left." Morgan said as the front door closed.
I replied snickering, "I think I know what you mean."
"Oh no, Delia is a sweet girl, I just think that if your going to be living
here we need to work out everything without her around, that's all." She
explained. Morgan wasn't the prettiest girl in the world, so she isn't the
kind of person you feel uncomfortable around.
At the moment I didn't want to hear about paying the rent or anything, I
wanted to find out what was up with Delia and her baby.
"Can I just ask you something though first?" I asked.
"Shoot." Morgan replied, sipping at her coffee.
"Delia is 16 and she has a baby?" I sputtered.
"Come again?" Morgan said, I must have been speaking too fast.
More slowly, I asked, "Delia is 16 and she has a baby?"
Morgan nodded and said, "It's a rather upsetting story."
I watched Morgan waiting for her to continue. I didn't know Morgan well,
but already it seemed as if she was a somewhat depressive person but her
slow and low tone of speaking, and it may sound odd, but the way she sipped
so slowly and thoughtfully at her coffee made it look even worse.
"Delia went to a high school party when she was still in around 8th grade.
I guess you can tell she was more of the prettier more popular ones. So
naturally she was invited to these high school parties. From what I heard
someone offered her a drink, and after the first she just kept going and
going and going."
I kept watching Morgan intently as she took a slow sip of her coffee again.
The way it took her so slowly was starting to bother me, I wanted to hear
the rest even though I knew what happened.
"I knew this boy, a sophomore at the time, Billy I think his name was. He
was Delia's boyfriend at the time. I never really liked him. He was too
disarming for his own good. You know what I mean? When they're just so good
looking that you can't trust them."
I nodded. I knew exactly what she meant.
"Well Billy offered to take Delia home after one too many drinks and she
was so hooked on the stuff that she didn't want to leave. So Billy decided
to take advantage of the fact that she wasn't leaving and she was
completely drunk. Well Delia's friend Melissa said that Billy told her she
was too drunk and needed to wait upstairs. Delia naturally listened to him,
and went upstairs. And that's when Billy did what he wanted. Can you
imagine that? A sophomore in high school taking an advantage of a little
8th grader?"
Actually I've heard worse in my life. One girl in my junior English class
had a baby when she was eleven when her 20 year old cousin raped her. But
how could someone do something like that to little helpless Delia? And how
could Delia go on with her life living with something as horrible as that?
Possibly because she was so drunk she didn't remember Billy even doing
anything.
"How come that Melissa girl didn't stop him?" I asked.
Morgan sighed and looking down at her hands which were folded neatly in
her lap she said in a hoarse whisper, "Melissa only knew what happened to
Delia because he did the same thing to her earlier."
