Beau and Bett by Kathryn Berla

Author:Kathryn Berla
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: General Fiction
Publisher: Amberjack Publishing
Published: 2019-03-18T16:00:00+00:00

Twenty-Two

She plunked down on the ground next to me, chin resting on knees, arms wrapped around her legs. Her big hoop earrings splayed out against her shoulders. “Why were you there that day—at Castlegate? Just picking up your friend to hang out after school?”

“Something like that.” Plunge. Scoop. Discard earth. Plunge. Scoop. Discard earth. “Actually, my mom’s car was getting fixed on account of the accident with you. (Plunge) And it’s her job to pick up that kid—Khalil—from school, so I took over. (Scoop) And then she wanted me to keep it up a few days a week, so she can get home from work earlier and work on my sister’s wedding.” Discard earth. Wipe sweat from brow.

“Oh, so that kid—Khalil—he’s not really your friend, then.”

“Technically. Why?”

“Just wondering. Because he’s annoying, that’s all.”

I’d reached the gate with my last roll of wire mesh to lay down before continuing on with the trenching.

“You wanna help out?” I asked, and Bettina jumped up, eager to help. “Grab the other end and hold it in place . . . just a little overlapping with the last roll . . . about two inches. Okay, one, two, three, lower.”

I began shoveling the discarded earth back into the trench.

“I don’t think he’s annoying at all,” I said, even though I sometimes did. “And, he actually is my friend. Technically, that is.”

“What’s a technical friend and how does that differ from an actual friend?”

“What’s so annoying about him?” I ignored her question.

Bettina sat down on one of the granite stepping stones. “Well, for one thing, he was walking behind me down the hall between classes one day, and he stepped on the back of my sandal. So, I tripped and dropped all my books.”

I stomped back and forth along the re-earthed trench to pack it down tight with my shoes.

“I can do that if you want,” Bettina offered.

“Nah, that’s okay. Anyway, stuff like that happens all the time in school. I’m sure Khalil wasn’t trying to do it on purpose.”

“Maybe, maybe not,” she said. “Anyway, he didn’t apologize or offer to help me pick up my books, which I consider to be extremely rude.”

“Did you say anything to him? Maybe he didn’t even realize he did it.”

“Oh, he realized,” she said. “He and his friends were just . . . whoops . . . haha. Did I mention the strap of my sandal broke and I had to walk around with it all day?”

“No, you didn’t mention that.”

I sat on the ground to cinch the ties, so we were actually sitting pretty close at that point.

“Well it did. And I did.”

“Did you ever let him know you were upset about it?” I asked. “I’m just wondering because there’s a possibility he doesn’t have a clue you’re mad at him for that. I’m just sayin’ . . . some people, mainly guys, are clueless about social cues and all.”

“Social cues, ha!” I looked at her and that scary face was back for just a second, or was

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