Part Three: Grim Times
Saturday was a cool and clear-sky day, so Celeste decided to go car-shopping. She called Lisa up and her friend readily agreed, but only if they would also go somwhere where Lisa wanted to go, too. Celeste laughed and said she'd meet her friend in half an hour outside Hal's Restaurant. After hanging up, Celeste told her mom where she was going and got a "stay on the sidewalk, be careful, and watch out for strangers" lecture. The strong girl merely nodded, said she'd be okay, and went into the garage, getting on her bike and riding up her street to the main road. As she rode past an empty lot, Celeste noticed a beat up truck and stopped. She inspected it from every angle and noticed many broken pieces on the outside. Opening the hood, she checked the engine: it was totally broken down. Celeste slammed the hood shut and wiped her hands on her jeans. She walked into the store next to the lot.
"Excuse me, sir," Celeste asked the man at the counter. "Do you know if that truck next door is on sale?"
"I think it's just been dumped there. Some guy dropped it off two months ago and he hasn't come back since. Don't know if that's legal or not but it ain't my problem. Barely putted onto the lot before the darn thing died," the store man replied.
Celeste smiled happily. The truck had been exactly what she'd been looking for. "Thank you, sir," she said, starting to leave the store.
The man called out, "Wait!!! You're not planning on... taking that piece of junk, are you?"
"Yes, sir."
"WHY?"
"I need a car for when I turn 16, it's exactly what I want, and I can have fun fixing it up," Celeste stated with a grin. As she left, she had to hold back a giggle after she saw the man's bewildered face. She quickly hopped on her bike and rode to Hal's, where she saw Lisa already waiting. "You're early," Celeste called out as she pedaled up.
"So're you! Guess we're both ready to go do something, huh?" Lisa replied.
"Actually, I think I found my car already. I mean, truck. It's an old beat-up Ford from the '50's that doesn't work at all. I can fix it up and paint it, though, and man I'll have SO much fun doing it!"
Lisa laughed as the two headed off together.
~ ~ ~
On Sunday morning after the church service, Celeste ran up to Alan excitedly and poured out her story of finding her dream truck. "It's just been the best weekend!" she grinned. "First our date, then the truck, and then church. I love it!"
"Did someone say 'date'?" Coach Yoast walked up with smile on his face.
"Yes, sir," Alan replied. "Umm... Celeste and I went out Friday night and had a blast."
The coach seemed happy and asked, "Are you two going to be dating now?"
"I prefer to call it courting," Alan corrected, quickly adding, "Uh, sir."
"I'm glad to hear it," Yoast approved with a nod. "Too many of you kids are blowing away your time with intense dating. More should start 'courting,' like you two are gonna do."
Celeste nodded. "I totally agree, Coach. Alan and I are just gonna take it slow, hang with friends and family and not just each other, and keep God as the top of our relationship."
Yoast replied, "Good. I'm liking the sound of that! Plus, I'm just excited you two are finally together. For months I've watched you both and how you grew to know and respect each other, and I thought to myself, 'They really ought to get together,' and here you are!"
As the two smiled and blushed with pure embarassment, Sheryl came up and stood next to her father. She smiled up at Alan and Celeste in her cute little way and spoke with her Southern accent, "Hi, guys! Whatcha up to?"
Alan shrugged. "Not much. Just telling Coach here about Celeste and I."
"What 'bout Celeste 'n you?" Sheryl asked suspiciously.
"We're courtin'," Celeste bent down and whispered, faking a Southern accent.
Sheryl's face lit up and she exclaimed, "Really? Sure as shootin'?"
"Sure as shootin'!" Alan chuckled.
"That's great!"
The three laughed at the nine-year old who would soon turn nine and a half. As they calmed down, Coach Yoast suddenly remembered something and turned to Celeste. "I was wondering, Celeste, if you would babysit Sheryl for me tomorrow night. I got a board meetin' at the school, an' we're gonna be from 'bout six to nine."
"Sure! No prob," Celeste grinned. She ruffled Sheryl's curly, dark blonde hair and mischievously said, "We have lots of fun together!" The girl giggled.
"Coach? Could Lisa come over, too?" she asked her dad.
"Sure, sweetie. I know you girls like playin' around together when you can." Switching the subject, Bill Yoast questioned Alan, "So, are you gonna play football this season again, Alan?"
"Yes, sir! I plan on it."
"Good! Defense?"
"Yes, sir."
"All right!" Yoast nodded happily. "Sounds great, son. Can't wait to see you on the field. Ya did a great job last season."
Alan blushed and Celeste spoke up instead. "Hey, Coach? Would it be possible for me to go to camp this year? I'd love to help and see the guys learn football better."
"I don't see why not. Your parents would have to approve, though."
"Yeah, I'll ask them. Lisa wants to go, too. Her cheerleading 'would be improved if she could see the guys training,' she said!" Celeste laughed.
"Well, ask your parents, both of ya, and we'll see what happens when school's over." Yoast smiled. As Celeste mentally rejoiced over the thought of going, he added, "You know, you and Lisa are the two most involved girls in this team."
"I know!" Celeste grinned. "Good reason to let us go, huh?"
Yoast laughed and Alan grinned. He really hoped Celeste would be able to go. It would be boring at camp without her, especially after he had just started going out with her!
The coach spoke up, "Well, we'd better get home, Sheryl. We'll see you later, Alan, and you tomorrow night, Celeste."
"Yep! Bye!" Celeste winked at Sheryl, who winked back.
~ ~ ~
"This ain't gonna work," Sheryl grunted.
"Ssshhh!!!" Lisa scolded. "It will work if you'd hush up!"
Celeste looked up at the little blonde girl and whispered, "Sheryl! Did you get it yet?"
"NO!!! I can't even reach the darn branch," she wailed back.
"SHH!!!" was the reply form both Celeste and Lisa.
Lisa groaned as she held Sheryl's feet. Celeste inspected the situation and worked out a plan in her head. "Hey, guys! I got it!!!" She ran in front of Lisa and Sheryl and explained, "Okay, here's what we're gonna do. Lisa, keep on holding Sheryl on your shoulders. Sheryl, just toss it over the branch as best you can, and I'll catch it when it falls."
"Okay, here goes," Sheryl mumbled. She threw the object as best she could over the tree branch. It went over and fell right into Celeste's waiting hands.
As Sheryl squirmed on Lisa's shoulders, she cried out, "Ow, Sheryl!"
"Shut up!" the other two hissed. Celeste quickly glanced around to see if anyone had heard them, but the coast was still clear. She sighed and quickly helped Sheryl down. Lisa rubbed her shoulders gently as they all stood back and checked over their handiwork. After approving it and high-fiving each other gleefully, Sheryl nudged Celeste.
"We'd better get back before Coach comes home," she whispered.
Celeste nodded, and with one last glance behind them, they ran back to the Yoasts' house, giggling.
~ ~ ~
Fred Bosley woke up Tuesday morning and threw on his bathrobe, heading downstairs to get the morning paper and his breakfast. He opened the front door and found himself in a winter wonderland in April. Mrs. Bosley had just come downstairs and had stopped in the doorway, staring in awe. Both were speechless. So was Alan when he saw it. He woke up, dressed for school, and found his parents staring at their white, toilet-papered lawn.
As soon as Alan joined them, Mr. Bosley turned around and raised an eyebrow. "Alan?"
Just as he was about to argue and defend himself, a thought popped into Alan's head, and he was so sure of it he shook his head as he grinned and replied, "I know who did it, Dad."
~ ~ ~
That night, Alan got his revenge. Then Wednesday after school, Celeste punched him on the arm, because she knew he'd done it. He merely grinned and rubbed the sore spot.
The couple was making an impression on everyone; people started to notice over the next few months their simple way of courting and how they actually cared for each other. Celeste and Alan were found to be very daring yet strong to keep a relationship with someone who didn't go to the same school. But, needless to say, many were happy that the couple was together now, Lisa and Tom to name a few. Everyone admired Alan's gentleman-like behavior and Celeste's lady-like demeanor. Many also adored Alan's sweetness, especially when he gave Celeste a single rose on every date that the two went on together (without a group). She decided to collect them, dry them out, and hang them around her room. She hoped the collection would grow soon, and so did Alan.
The two were also becoming more popular in school - Celeste because she was fun and sweet, and Alan because he had done an excellent job in the last football season and because he was so polite. Everything was great: Saturdays would be spent playing football with the team, school wasn't too stressful for either of them, and Alan asked Celeste to the prom his school had at the end of the year. The two danced and sang so well they were named King and Queen of Dance. They left the prom, faces beaming and ribbons pinned to their clothes.
Then it came. As school was coming to an end, Coach Yoast found out some grim news at a teacher meeting. He came home where Celeste was babysitting and reported it to her as she stood on the doorstep, ready to leave.
"Thanks for watchin' Sheryl, Celeste," Yoast smiled.
"Hey, no prob, Coach. Anytime's fine."
"Okay. I'll remember that." Coach Yoast paused, uncertain how this girl would react to the news. "Uh, before you leave, Celeste, I gotta tell you something."
Celeste was fine. "Sure, Coach. What's up?"
Again he hesitated. Finally, he just forced it out. "Celeste, I really don't know how to tell you this... but, um... I found something out at the meeting tonight. The school board's forcing us to integrate with the black school."
Celeste shrugged. "So? My school already has some blacks, and I don't have a problem with them, sir."
Yoast was shocked. Most people around town abhorred blacks and had problems with anything relating to them. But then he remembered Celeste had grown up in Washington, where blacks were not hated so much, and everything clicked. She had no evil thoughts toward them. None at all. He knew he did, so he could not comprehend Celeste's position on this topic. Hadn't her parents at least told her something bad about blacks? Getting too confused to think anymore, he spilled out the rest of his news. "Okay, well... I have something else to tell you, too. I've decided to not let you and Lisa go to camp with the team this year."
Celeste was speechless as she felt her heart hit rock bottom. He was lying. Or joking. He had to be. "Are you kidding, Coach?"
He shook his head sadly in reply. "No, I'm not, Celeste. I figured it'd be too dangerous for the both of you with the schools integrating and all, especially if black boys join the team. There could be some serious fights, and I'm not willing to take responsibility if one of ya gets hurt. Do you understand?"
Celeste hesitantly nodded, realizing he was right and concerned for their safety, but she was still as disappointed as ever. "Yeah, sir. I... I understand."
"Could you tell Lisa for me?" Yoast asked quietly.
"Sure. Will do." Celeste forced a smile.
The coach noticed the attempt and promised, "You know what? I swear I'll take you and Lisa next year. You two deserve it, things should be calmed down by then, and it'll be your last year of high school, anyway. Good note to end on, I'd say!"
"I have to give you that one!" Celeste agreed hopefully.
"Okay. Do you want me to drive you home?"
"No, you can't leave Sheryl. Besides, I have my bike. Thanks anyway, Coach."
"You're welcome. Remember to tell Lisa, please," Yoast quietly called after her as she headed to her bike.
"I will," Celeste assured him. Mounting and snapping the buckle to her helmet, she mumbled to herself, "Believe me, I will. How could I forget?"
~ ~ ~
Lisa was heartbroken. Celeste had called her up as soon as she'd gotten home, even though it was late at night. The two friends had talked it over together, and both realized the concern, but they had been positive they were going this year. It was like they had almost reached the peak of a mountaintop with pure gold waiting for them when they'd suddenly been caught in an avalanche and had crashed to the bottom. As Lisa hung up, probably ready to go freak out, Celeste decided to call Alan quickly and tell him. He turned out to be just as devastated as the two girls.
"Celeste, this stinks, man!" he whined.
"Yeah, you don't think I know that?" Celeste replied with a hint of agitation. She sighed deeply and whispered, "I was really looking forward to this, Alan."
"So was I," he gently told her. "I mean, I'm still going, but I was hoping I'd be able to see you every day there. I hate the thought that I just got together with you and now we have to be apart."
Celeste had to giggle. "Thanks, but it's only two weeks, right?"
"Yeah, but still..."
"Just think about it, Alan. We don't have to see each other every day of every year. Maybe this time apart will be a good experience for us to learn that not all times have to be spent together."
Alan snorted. "Yeah, but, Celeste! We don't spend all our time together. That's one of the things on our list not to do in this relationship, remember?"
"I remember. But, hey, this'll be easier then, right?"
"I suppose," Alan mumbled.
Celeste made another point. "Plus, this time apart will prepare us for other times we'll have to be seperated. For instance, what if we don't go to the same college in two years?"
"That's right! Lot of time there. I guess this could be helpful," Alan finally gave in.
One of Celeste's crazy ideas popped into her head. "Oh, I got it! Let's make a bet!" Her spirits were finally lifting a bit.
"What kind of bet?" Alan asked suspiciously.
Celeste could just imagine one of his eyebrows raised on the other end of the line. "Whoever calls the other first has to take that person out for dinner."
"That's easy!" Alan laughed. "You got a deal, man!"
"All rightee then! I'll see you tomorrow after school, okay?"
"Yep. Bye, Celeste!"
"Later, Alan!" Celeste was somewhat happy. She actually had something to look forward to now, and hopefully she wouldn't break the bet. She could survive: she could do it. Celeste decided she'd just get that truck and work on it to keep her occupied!
~ ~ ~
Within three weeks, every student at Hammond had heard of the upcoming integration, and many were not happy. Celeste heard some strong language all around town and at Hammond when she came there after school to walk home with Lisa concerning the serious topic, all of which she wished she'd never heard and would never hear again. Things only got worse as school let out and kids could now roam Alexandria freely, with nothing holding them back. Whenever they ran into black teens, they pestered and jeered until fights would break out. Celeste and Lisa were quickly swept into one of these melees unwillingly. They had no time to think before it hit them head on. And it would be one of the biggest changes in their lives.
After Alan turned 17 at the end of June, July came and Lisa, Celeste, Alan, Ray, and Gerry were all walking in downtown Alexandria with their football buddies. The laughing teens had just come back from lunch and were heading towards Hammond High to play football on its field when they saw a group of young blacks walking towards them. They were fooling around and laughing, too. Carelessly shoving each other back and forth, they looked like they were having a great time. Celeste and Lisa couldn't help but smile, especially when they saw how cute some of them were. Just as the two groups were about to pass each other in front of a store that everyone labeled as "The Store," one black kid pushed his friend right into Lisa and Celeste on accident.
The cute boy immediately looked terrified and backed away. He stuttered, "I-I'm s-sorry... I just-"
Alan was steaming. He stomped right over to the black and glared straight at him. "What the heck do you think you're doing to my girlfriend and friend, you animal?" He stood in front of the two girls protectively.
Celeste stared at him in shock. "Alan! Why-"
A dark teen interrupted her. "My friend ain't no animal! You are, ya white freak!"
That was all the football players would take. They started to physically fight the black teens, who fought right back. Celeste and Lisa immediately tried to stop them by standing between two boys. It didn't help: Lisa only got socked in the stomach and Celeste got hit on the side of her head. In her dizziness, she could faintly hear Alan yelling, "Celeste! Lisa, take her and stay away!" Suddenly someone had grabbed Celeste's arm and she felt herself being pulled away from the commotion.
Lisa was hunched over, grasping her stomach, but she managed to croak, "Celeste? You okay?"
"Yeah, I think so. My head hurts. What about you?"
Lisa nodded slowly. "I just have to rest."
The two looked up at the fight just in time to see the store owner come out with a gun in hand and shout something about how the two opposing groups better leave right then. No one listened, still struggling and angrily striving away. Celeste saw with horror a black teen sneaking up behind Alan with fist ready, but Alan was already occupied with another black and didn't see him.
Suddenly, a shot rang out from the store owner's gun. The Negro behind Alan fell. Lisa screamed and Celeste turned her head away. The boys all stopped their pointless battle, the colored ones rushing over to their shot friend. They wailed and cried out in agony when he didn't wake up. The whites just stood staring in shock, except the store owner. He looked proud of himself. Celeste and Lisa looked at each other, Lisa with tears welling up in her eyes and Celeste with head still reeling. Both had the same horrifying idea: police. Lisa slowly walked over to the payphone down the street, still holding her sore stomach. She dialed 911 and whimpered the details to the person on the other end. By now, a crowd had formed around the outside of the store, and Celeste was completely surrounded by gaping onlookers. She heard someone calling her name, but wasn't sure if it was real or not: her head had started throbbing. She held it in her hands as Alan, Gerry, and some other football members worked their way through the crowd towards her.
Alan took Celeste in his arms and hugged her tightly. "Oh, man! Celeste! My gosh! Are you all right, love?"
Celeste felt all warm inside, despite her pounding headache. This was the first time Alan had ever hugged her, or called her "love," for that matter. Happily, she embraced him back and buried her head in his chest. "I'm okay. My head just hurts."
"Thank heaven," Alan mumbled, kissing the top of her head.
Without any warning at all, something stabbed Celeste's heart and she could feel herself breaking down. As Alan gently stroked her short hair, Celeste held him tight. Her words were whispered with immense sympathy. "Alan, he's... he's dead."
"Shh. It's okay. He deserved it."
The young woman looked up at him, hardly daring to believe what she'd heard. "What?"
"He deserved to get shot, Celeste. Think about it: he could've seriously hurt me. Don't you care?" Alan lifted her chin to look at him.
She pulled away in disbelief. Just when she thought he cared by hugging her for the first time, he'd betrayed her in a way she hadn't thought possible. Her eyes brimming with tears, Celeste could feel her heart breaking as she whispered, "Alan!"
Unconcerned, he looked into her green eyes. Suddenly, he realized his mistake and blushed slightly, looking so guilty no one could deny he'd said what he did. Alan couldn't even meet his girlfriend's gaze. He quickly left her with the guys and rushed over to Lisa, who was just coming back from calling the police.
Celeste watched him help Lisa over to a bench. More football friends crowded around her. Then Alan snuck a peek at Celeste. She stared at him with teary eyes and wished she could die. A hand was on her shoulder now.
"Celeste, I-" Gerry started.
"Excuse me, Gerry," she interrupted, moving away and getting out of the crowd. She desperately looked around for a place to go for some privacy and spotted through her blurry eyes the black boy who'd bumped into her and Lisa. Slowly and dizzily walking over, she saw he was leaning against a tree with head in a hand. "I'm sorry about your friend."
The boy jumped and whirled around. He looked scared out of his wits at the very sight of the white girl who he'd unwillingly bumped. But, as he noticed she wasn't about to kill him, he relaxed slightly and hung his head, sticking his hands in his pockets. Celeste sadly thought that he looked too humble, too ready to listen to any white he came across. "Th-thank you, miss," he mumbled.
"Call me Celeste," she offered, sticking out her hand.
The boy reluctantly shook it, unsure of why the girl was being so nice to him. "Umm... okay. Petey Jones."
"Well, it's nice meeting you, Petey. Unfortunately, it was under a grim situation. I just want you to realize that I know you didn't shove me and my friend on purpose. You didn't do anything. Nothing here was your fault."
Petey nodded. "Thank-you, mi- uh... Celeste." He said her name like it pained him.
Celeste smiled sweetly nonetheless. "If there's anything you or your friends need, just give me a ring, okay, man? My family will get it for you. And don't worry: my dad's a lawyer, so it's not like we're broke or anything!"
The boy simply nodded again. As Celeste said good-bye and walked away, Petey called, "Uh... Celeste? Are you and your friend okay?"
Celeste was overjoyed at his concern for them, even though they were white. "Yes, Petey. We're fine. Thank you so much for asking." She wasn't sure, but as she left to walk over to Lisa, she thought she saw the cute boy smile.
~ ~ ~
The rest of the day was tense and strenuous. After numerous police questions, Celeste's mom had taken her and Lisa to the hospital just to be safe. Both had been checked out and everything was fine, and they had been released that night. Both had gone to bed exhausted.
The next morning, Celeste woke up late and slowly reached over to pick up her phone. Dialing Lisa's number, she asked her tired friend if she had known about Alan's hatred of blacks.
"I did, C. I thought you knew, too. I mean, practically everyone here grew up that way, learning to mistreat them and all," Lisa murmured.
"But you aren't that way!" Celeste argued, still not wanting to believe Alan's false ways.
Lisa sighed. "Thank goodness I'm not. My parents weren't born here and they learned the right way. Passing it on to me, they taught me everything, and in all honesty, I don't really know of anyone else in Alexandria besides you that views races the same way I do."
"My gosh," Celeste mumbled. "Coach and Sheryl, too?"
"Them, too."
"I wish my boyfriend wasn't like this."
Lisa paused. "You're not even saying his name, C."
Celeste felt her temper flare up. "I'm sorry, Lisa. I just... I'm mad at him! I can't believe he didn't tell me. Well, I take that back. He probably didn't because he was so stupid as to assume that I was exactly like him."
"Calm down! Man, you're steaming even over the phone!"
"How can I not be?" Celeste relayed the whole story of Alan hugging her and calling her "love." She poured out as best she could her emotions at that time. "I felt so secure, Lisa. Now I don't know if we'll ever be together again. And we just started going out four months ago!"
"I know. Pray, C. That's all we can do, really," Lisa decided.
Celeste sighed. She suddenly remembered her meeting with Petey. "Oh, Lisa! I can't believe I forgot to tell you this. I talked to the boy who'd bumped us, and he's really caring. His name's Petey Jones and he asked if we were okay. I said 'yeah' and 'don't worry about it, because it wasn't his fault.'"
"Okay. That was nice of him. Don't you think he's cute?"
Celeste laughed. "Only you would think of cuteness at a time like this. Only you, Lisa!"
"But he was!"
"Yeah, okay. I better go now."
"Me, too. Bye!"
Celeste said good-bye and hung up. Just as she was about to get out of bed and go get breakfast, the phone rang shrilly. The noise affected her sore head so that it started to thump slightly. She grabbed the phone to stop the terrible annoyance. "Hello?"
"Oh, um... hi, Celeste," Alan's voice replied. "You feeling better?"
"Yeah. Sleep helped." But not until your call came in and rang so loudly my head almost exploded, Celeste thought harshly.
"Good. Well, um... Coach called me about 20 minutes ago and said we're gonna get a new assistant coach. Black, too, which might seriously alter my opinion on whether I still want to try out for the team or not. But anyway... Coach also said practices are gonna start Saturday, so you and I... we won't be able to do anything together with the guys anymore. We'll be practicing."
Oh, that's just too bad. Instead, Celeste spoke monotone, "Yeah, I figured that would happen."
"Hey, look at the bright side! School's out, so we have all the weekdays off!"
That's a bright side? Celeste thought, now regretting that school was out. She really didn't care to see Alan right now. "A black assistant coach, you said?"
"Yeah," Alan replied a little too smoothly.
"Do you have a problem with that? Because I do want you to be on the team, you know."
"Heck, yeah. I... I have a problem with that, but if you want me to, I will," Alan stuttered guiltily.
An uncomfortable silence followed. Celeste waited, needless to say, impatiently for him to fess up and apologize. None came. She was almost ready to just hang up on him when she heard Alan clear his throat.
"Celeste, I-I'm sorry."
"About what?"
"I'm sorry you and Lisa had to get dragged into this."
Celeste was dumbfounded. Almost screaming, she cried, "Alan!!! I don't care if we were in this or not! That doesn't matter! What matters is your behavior towards that poor black! It hurt me, Alan. It hurt me deeply. I can't believe you're this... shallow."
Alan obviously didn't like being called "shallow" as he spoke strongly back, "Well, I'm not going to apologize for that. It's the way I am. If you can't accept that, then something's wrong with you, because I can't understand how you can't hate those colored animals."
That was all she could or would take. Celeste slammed her phone down and started to cry. She couldn't believe it. People said relationships weren't always fun, and Celeste hadn't been able to grasp that fact until now.
~ ~ ~
The next few weeks were a nightmare. Alan and Celeste were not talking to each other at all and no justice was done for the shot black, and his friends and family were not putting up with that. One Saturday afternoon, they bunched together in front of "The Store" and started shouting and threatening to burn the place down. Celeste was coming home from her two hours of work in the garage when she saw them. As she watched, Gerry, Alan, Ray, and another guy all came running down the street to check out the commotion. They were stopped by Yoast pulling up and speaking something to them. As they climbed into the back of his truck, Alan saw Celeste and caught her eye. She stared back sadly, wishing he hadn't wanted to go see the angry blacks and perhaps stir up more trouble. He stubbornly turned his head and stopped looking at her. Celeste sighed, watching him and the others ride off in Yoast's truck bed. Glancing one last time at the raucous mob as a black threw a small crate through the store's window, Celeste trudged home.
Lisa and Celeste had the privilege of meeting the new assistant coach as they were sitting and talking out on the Hammond football field one day late in June. His name was Coach Herman Boone, and he was so polite and gentleman-like that they both knew he didn't deserve to have so many people opposed to his new status as assistant coach. Then again, they knew ALL blacks didn't deserve the opposition they got.
August came, and more disturbing news hit: Yoast had been replaced by Boone. The whites were furious while the blacks rejoiced. Yoast made a speech in Hal's Restaurant which Celeste and Lisa attended, as well as the football boys, their parents, the press, and half the town of Alexandria. After revealing that he would be moving, Yoast was contradicted by Alan's father. Then Ray stood up and supported him. Next it was Alan with the words, "Coach, if you go, I go." Celeste shook her head and ran out of the restaurant. Lisa followed closely behind.
"C, I'm sorry."
"Thanks, Lisa," Celeste breathed. "But I think Alan and my relationship is going to be ending very soon."
~ ~ ~
On August 15, the two girls decided to wake up early and say good-bye to the guys before they left for Gettysburg College. Celeste and Lisa headed over to Coach Yoast and Sheryl after saying bye to their football friends, Alan excluded. The father and daughter duo were not leaving Alexandria after all, since he had decided to "work under" Boone and be the assistant coach. Tyrell was staying, too, to be a special team coach. Lisa talked with Sheryl while Celeste spoke to Yoast.
"Make sure you work those boys so we'll be as good as we were last year!" she directed him.
Coach laughed and promised, "Oh, I will. Or rather, Boone will." He became somber as he added, "I'm really sorry you and Lisa can't come. It's a real shame for Sheryl and I." Celeste merely nodded, and Yoast continued, "And I'm sorry things didn't work out between you and Alan."
"Yeah... me, too," Celeste mumbled wistfully, gazing at her supposed "boyfriend."
"You two were great together."
"Thank-you, sir."
Yoast smiled gently and shook her hand. Lisa hugged Sheryl and switched places with Celeste.
"I'll miss ya," Sheryl started out.
The older girl smiled in her sweet way. "I'll miss you, too, Sheryl. You boss the guys around, you hear?"
The little girl saluted. "Yes, ma'am!" She looked around at the mixture of races in the people and asked, "Celeste? Why don't you an' Lisa hate blacks?"
"Well, the Bible says that all men are created equal."
"Yeah, I know. So you don't got any bad feelin's toward 'em?" Sheryl prompted.
"None whatsoever."
The young girl seemed to ponder this. Celeste smiled and hoped with all her heart Sheryl would change her views on this point. She hugged the little girl and said, "Bye, Sheryl. Have fun, k?"
"I will. Bye!" She hugged Celeste back.
Lisa and Celeste said a final farewell to the two as Coach Boone arrived. He headed straight for Yoast, so Lisa and Celeste just walked away and chatted amongst themselves. They were both deeply grieving that they didn't have packed bags for this trip, but there was a glimmer of hope in their hearts that they would go next year. Celeste found her gaze drifting to Alan. She couldn't help it: she still had feelings for him and didn't want to break up. Suddenly, Alan looked at her and walked over. She turned her eyes to the ground as he approached and Lisa stepped back a few steps to give them some privacy. Alan put a hand on Celeste's right arm and lifted her chin to look at him with the other.
"Celeste, I just want to ask you to wait for me. I... I do want to stay together with you. I'll find a way to." He forced the words out slowly.
She smiled slightly. "I'm glad you're willing to make an effort," she whispered happily.
Alan rubbed her cheek and then kissed her hand. "Bye, Celeste."
"Bye, Alan." Celeste watched him walk back over to the guys before she sighed. "That's the first time I've talked to him and said his name in about a month," she murmured to Lisa.
"I know. You okay?" Lisa asked, concerned for her friend.
"Yes, I am. He said he wants to stay together and will find a way to do that. I feel a bit better now." Celeste grinned.
Lisa rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I know. I heard. So you're saying Alexandria's in for more of the infamous couple of Alan and Celeste?"
"You better bet your John Brown hind it is! At least, I hope so... I don't know exactly yet," she replied with regret. "WAIT!!! You were LISTENING?!"
Lisa's eyes widened. Just as Celeste was about to rebuke her friend teasingly, something caught her eye. It was Gerry and Ray. Talking to Boone. Judging by the looks on their faces, they seemed to be trying to give commands to him. "Uh-oh..." Celeste murmured, motioning in that direction.
"What're they DOING?" Lisa was shocked.
Just then, Boone called out, "Ladies and gentlemen! I got an announcement to make for ya. We got Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin going to camp with us here this year. Jerry tells the jokes, Dean sings the songs, and gets the girl. Let's give 'em a round of applause." He started clapping... alone. No one else did.
But Celeste and Lisa had started giggling and they would've burst into full-fledged laughter if people had not turned and glared at them with scolding looks. The two immediately shut their mouths and acted like nothing had happened. Several minutes passed before Boone demanded all the boys get off their "seperate" busses. The two girls could catch wisps of Boone's yelling: "I don't care if you're black, green, blue, white, or orange... defensive players on this side... offensive... let's move, let's move, let's move!... you and you: sit together... get comfortable, too... same one you'll be rooming with for the duration of this camp." The boys all trudged onto their assigned bus. Celeste saw Petey and waved. He smiled slightly and gave a brief nod back. After a final wave to Sheryl, the two girls watched the busses leave and then headed home.
~ ~ ~
Alan sat on the bus among absolute silence. No one was speaking, no one was talking. He could feel the thick tension of hatred hanging in the air. It weighed down on everyone's shoulders, but it attacked Alan's heart personally, pressing around it, nagging it, suffocating it. The only thing it brought to mind was Celeste. Celeste...
Alan lowered his head and stared at his lap. He liked her too much to suddenly be torn from from her, especially by this painful feeling conjured up by a strong rejection of blacks. That's all it was, too. A simple, sinful, ages-long rejection. Everyone disliked at least one person in their lives. Alan knew he did. Kip Tyler. And Kip was white.
It struck Alan that if white people could hate blacks AND whites, something must be similar between the two opposing groups. Didn't blacks hate the whites and other blacks, as well? An obvious truth was right in front of Alan's eyes now; he saw the light. Blacks and whites were the same. They were both human, both were people.
"'...'Cause, baby, there ain't no mountain high enough...'" Some black had started singing with another. They only got to finish the "valley" line when the black in front of Alan told the first black to shut up. The singing black looked disgusted with his friend but closed his mouth. The black in front of Alan then told the second singer to be quiet as well. Alan heard Gerry say, "You got that right," and saw the "shut-up" black tell Gerry to be quiet, too. Those were the last words spoken by anyone on the whole ride to Gettysburg College. Alan sighed and put his head in his hands, the recently sung song reminding him again of Celeste. He had to stay with her, he just had to. He'd try to find some way to rid his dislike of blacks. After all, if they were people just like he was, there had to be a solution. It'd be hard to find and difficult to accomplish, but he'd do anything to keep Celeste.
When Alan sighed again, stressed, and rubbed his face, he looked up and saw Gerry looking at him sympathetically. The older boy knew Alan's problem and realized the song only brought it up. Alan gave him a reassuring look to tell him he'd figure everything out sometime. Gerry turned back around, satisfied in his mind, but Alan leaned back and placed his head on the back of his seat, staring at the ceiling and completely as not satisfied in his mind as he had ever been.
~ ~ ~
"Lisa? Could you hand me that tool over there?" Celeste called from underneath the old pickup.
Lisa frowned and sounded annoyed. "How can I? There's stuff EVERYWHERE!!!"
Her friend quickly glanced in Lisa's direction and specified, "The one next to the wheel on Chad's car. To the right... No! Yeah! That one." Lisa handed it to her and Celeste used it to fix something on the truck. The beat-up vehicle was now in Celeste's possession. She had gotten it towed from the empty lot when she'd found out it was up for grabs because it was ruined. But it wasn't ruined to Celeste. She had already fixed it up enough in the past week and a half so that it would run when only a few more parts were installed. However, Celeste's attention span for the truck was dying as Alan and thoughts relating to him creeped into her mind. She missed him so much...
"That's it!" Celeste threw her tools to the ground and got up from under the truck. She wiped her hands off on a rag and fixed herself to look acceptable.
"What're you doing?" Lisa asked with wide eyes.
"Taking a break. I'm going to see Mrs. Bosley. Wanna come, man?"
"No, that's okay. I want to go home," Lisa admitted. "See you later, C!"
"Bye, Lisa," Celeste mumbled as she ran inside. Dashing upstairs and into her room, she carefullyput on her locket from Alan and stared at it in the mirror. A wave of sadness washed over her and she sighed. Hopefully Mrs. Bosley had news of Alan. More particularly of his decision to stay with Celeste or not.
~ ~ ~
"Hi, Mom!" Alan spoke into the phone.
"Sweetie! How are you doing? How's camp?" Mrs. Bosley's cheerful tone came back over.
Alan had to admire how much his mother cared for him. It was a nice thought, especially at times like this when he was feeling lonely and depressed. He smiled and replied, "I'm fine, Mom. Coach Boone is giving us a real hard time up here if we want to stay on the team! I've had to run a mile a few times when I messed up or didn't do something right."
"You poor thing!"
"No, it's great! I've learned a lot in many areas of life."
"What do you mean, honey?"
Alan gathered his words together and explained, "Well, first of all, I know discipline a lot better now. It's drilled into my brain every day by the coaches. Secondly, I'm stronger physically and I realize that I wasn't as buff as I thought I was before!" At that, Alan's mom let out a sweet laugh. Alan listened, the sound reminding him of home, and continued. "And most important of all, I've learned that teamwork is very important. We won't win without it."
Mrs. Bosley asked, "So... you and the blacks are getting along?"
Alan was overjoyed he could answer positively. "Yes, Mom. We're all getting along. And don't worry! The blacks aren't as terrible as we think they are. Would you be willing to give them a chance? It's well worth it."
"Oh, I'm willing, honey. I just don't think your father will."
Alan sighed. "Yeah, man. That's what I'm depressed about. And Ray; he's not changing his mind, either. It's hurting me to see him behave like this. Ray's my bud, Mom, but he's treating the blacks like dirt." He lowered his voice in shame. "Like I used to treat them."
"I'm sure everything will turn out fine. God has a plan, whether it is painful or joyful," came his mother's perfect advice.
"You're so right, Mom," Alan sighed.
"I'm a mother. Of course I'm right!"
Alan laughed and then asked, "So how's everyone?"
"Oh, everyone's fine. Celeste was just over," his mom informed him.
That sparked his interest. "Celeste?"
"Yes! She came over just to visit. She's the sweetest girl, Alan; she helped make dinner for your father and I tonight. You're very lucky," Mrs. Bosley said.
Alan's heart yearned for his girlfriend. "I know."
~ ~ ~
Celeste flipped through a horse magazine as she lounged around on her bed. The phone rang. She picked it up and mumbled unexcitedly, "Hello?"
"Celeste!"
"Alan?!" Celeste cried, sitting straight up on the bed in utter joy. "Why didn't you call? I've missed you so much! How are you? How's camp?"
"Whoa, whoa, WHOA!!! Man, I've missed your craziness, Celeste! I've missed you, too!" Alan laughed. He relayed the whole story of camp and getting along with the blacks. There was pure happiness in his voice just from hearing her again. "Oh... and I didn't call because I wasn't sure I wanted to talk to you until I'd figured out what I wanted to do with our relationship."
Celeste realized she was starting to cry with joy as she choked out, "That's perfectly fine! And I just can't express how glad I am that you're getting along with the blacks. I told you they weren't bad!"
"I know. And I'm sorry! Will you forgive me?" Alan pleaded over the phone.
"Yes, I will! I'm just ecstatic we're still together!"
"Me, too!" Alan sighed. Celeste heard a pause. "Are you crying, Celeste???"
She laughed, wiping a tear from her cheek. "Yeah, I am, man! But they're happy tears; don't worry!"
"Good!" he said. There was some yelling and scratching noises in the background and Celeste heard someone tell Alan to stop flirting and get off the phone. "Celeste, hold on a second," Alan told her. She heard him yell back to the people something about shutting up and the importance of the call. "Sorry, man!"
"That's okay! Who was that?" Celeste giggled.
"Oh, some of the guys in line who are waiting for the phone. Petey especially. He's such a joker," Alan replied in disgust. "You've met him, so you know, Celeste!" Another yell of "get off the phone" and Alan replied with a shout of "shut up."
"You know what? I don't want you to get beat up by any of the guys, so I'll leave you, okay?" Celeste laughed.
"Sure. I'll be home in a few days! Oh, and there's this new guy in our class who's such a gentleman. He's so nice! With that and his good looks, he's a perfect match for Lisa!" Alan mumbled quietly into the phone, a hint of slyness in his voice.
Celeste laughed. "Are you saying what I think you're saying?"
"Yep!"
"All right! It's a plan then!" Celeste declared firmly.
"HI, CELESTE!!!" someone yelled over the phone. Then Alan's voice came over again. "The guys want to say 'hi!'"
Celeste heard rounds of "hi, Celeste" and "we miss you, man." She wasn't sure but she thought she heard Gerry yell, "Give Alan a big smooch when he comes home!" She shook her head and loudly spoke, "Hi, guys! Miss you all! Stay out of trouble without me!"
There were cheers in the background as Alan yelled into the phone, "Bye, Celeste! See you soon!"
"Oh, wait, Alan!"
"What?"
"You ready to take me out to dinner now?"
"Am I... wha-" There was a pause. "Oh, CRAP!!!"
"And you said this bet would be easy!" Celeste roared.
"You stink. Bye, Celeste!"
"Bye, Alan," she chuckled as he hung up. She sat on her bed in a glorious daze until she squealed with delight and fell backwards, flat on her back and arms outstretched in happiness. A huge grin spread across Celeste's face.
Coming soon: Part Four! So... what do you think so far??? I'm dying to know, so please drop me a note by reviewing! Any comments, questions, suggestions, and/or complaints would be great! Well, no, the complaints wouldn't be great... just review, okay? I'm losing my mind. ;)