The Gully Path by Sue Clifton

Author:Sue Clifton [Clifton, Dr. Sue]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Multicultural, Women's Fiction
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Published: 2014-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

Fast Track

My fifth week of high school as a freshman, I suddenly became a sophomore. Because of my excellent grades, I was placed in the experimental Fast Track program and would complete high school in three years rather than four. Rita Jean was not keen on the idea of her little sister catching up with her. She was quick to figure out that I would be taking some of the same classes she did her senior year if I was able to stay in the program.

“If you want to be a pen head, go ahead. You’re already a bookworm. It won’t add to your popularity, for sure.”

My sister made the remark to get me to change my mind even though she knew that popularity was not one of my priorities. I had already told her I did not want to join the Debutante Club, but she assured me I’d get an invitation anyway, thinking I’d surely change my mind. Mama hoped I would change my mind, too.

It was nice having people I knew from my old school in Shadywood in school with me, but now that I was in Fast Track, I hardly ever saw them. All of my classes had been changed, and I was with new people I didn’t know very well at all.

One girl I seemed to have a lot in common with was Jules Steiner, who everyone called “Baby.” Her uncle owned the ritzy clothing store in town, and her daddy managed it for his brother, but Baby didn’t act ritzy at all.

What I liked about her was she was not obsessed with clothes or boys. Like me, she was a voracious reader and dabbled at writing, too, though not to the extent I did. Art was her passion.

If she had a shortfall, it was her sarcasm. I almost didn’t let myself get to know her because of her nasty attitude, which surfaced every once in a while.

One day when I walked into advanced literature class, she was trying to be cute in front of a group of kids and yelled out, “Sue-ee, Sue-ee, Pig, Pig!” She then proceeded to snort as she and the others hit each other, laughing.

I walked straight over to her and said, “Are you calling me…Jew Baby?” I hesitated. Immediately, I became furious at myself for stooping to her level and for making fun of her race—or was it her religion? Baby and her family tried to cover up the fact they were Jewish, since Jews were often condemned in the South. Her family attended the Presbyterian Church.

“I’m sorry, Baby. That was mean of me.”

Baby laughed. “Actually, I deserved it. It was a good comeback. For some strange reason, I like it. Who’d a thunk it?”

And that was that. Baby, who hated the fact that her family was Jewish, became “Jew Baby” to me, and every once in a while, just to show she hadn’t really changed, I was “Suey” to my new best friend in high school.

Just before Christmas break, I headed Daddy’s old Dodge truck to Terza to watch the Christmas parade.

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