Jackal by Erin E. Adams

Author:Erin E. Adams [Adams, Erin E.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2022-10-04T00:00:00+00:00

TWELVE

Why not me?

All my time in this town, that question followed me. Admittedly, sometimes I asked it for purely selfish teenage reasons. Like not getting asked to prom or a kid admitting she only invited me to her birthday party so nobody would think she was racist. She didn’t want me there. We weren’t friends.

Why not me?

I was a Black girl in this town. I believed what happened to Keisha was an accident. As I search for the site of Bonfire Night, I walk myself through my memory of it again.

Mel convinced me to go. We joined the circle some other kids were in. Keisha was in that circle. She was running it. Keeping everyone laughing. After a while it was clear that, like at that little girl’s birthday party, I was being tolerated, not welcomed. I knew this had less to do with me being a Black girl and more to do with my place in the school’s social hierarchy. I didn’t have one. I moved around from one group to the next. Never popular. Never nerdy. People’s ability to categorize me and define me was so important. I want to say it’s just high school, but it seems like it’s a factor everywhere.

I walked off and sat in the dark. I looked up at the stars. I named them and recounted their stories for myself. They were my way out. What were my stones to build a path? Education and time. I had to get through high school, then I could go to college and get out.

Keisha checked in on me first. She told me not to trust Mel. Then Chris sat next to me.

“What are you looking at?” he asked. Yes, it was nice to be noticed by a white boy. Admitting that to myself now, I hope it will dismantle whatever this town left in me. It doesn’t. If healing is what I need, it will take time. If only it was as simple as relieving pain. Pain can be eased or numbed.

“The Summer Triangle,” I said. “Chasing the Great Bear.” I described the corresponding constellations. Chris listened until we both heard the shouts.

“Cops! Cops! Cops!”

Those words started a blur of events: We ran. I raced away with Chris on an ATV. He hid me in a tree. I waited in the dark. I saw Keisha’s face. One look and I knew she was in far more trouble than being pursued by the police. I reached out to her. She reached out to me.

Darkness. Teeth.

Pain in my arm.

I do my best to stay in the memory. Don’t let it slip by me again. Keisha reached out for me and was ripped away before she even touched me. Something else got ahold of me.

Keisha disappeared and a piercing dark tooth sank into me. It wouldn’t let go. I was too afraid to scream. I pulled, digging it in deeper. I looked out into the darkness that held me. The longer I stared at it, the more something started to take shape.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.