Free From the Notebooks of Melanin Sun by Jacqueline Woodson

me and smiling.
    â€œWhat’s your family like?” Maybe she had a dyke mother, too. Maybe this was the perfect ending.
    â€œMother, father, sister, sister, brother, brother, brother,” Angie was saying. I felt myself closing up, switching off—like a light with a dimmer switch. She would run screaming if she knew. Screaming, screaming, back to her big, big family. Back to her normal life.

Chapter Fifteen
    Toward the middle of August , it got cold suddenly, and me and Sean and Ralphy ended up walking the neighborhood with heavy jean jackets hanging like capes from our heads. Ralph said seasons changing depressed the hell out of him. Sean was quiet, too quiet, and Ralph and I kept nudging him with our elbows trying to get him to say something.
    We finally gave up and the three of us fell silent for about four blocks. When we passed Angie, I smiled at her.
    â€œHey,” I said.
    â€œHey yourself,” Angie said back, falling in step with us.
    I hadn’t called her since that day in the park. Maybe she thought I didn’t like her.
    â€œRasta woman,” Ralph said.
    Angie rolled her eyes at Ralph. “Stupid. You’re the one with locks.”
    â€œWho you calling stupid?” Ralph raised one eyebrow.
    â€œI’m calling you stupid,” Angie said over her shoulder.
    â€œLeave her alone, Ralph,” I said.
    Ralph was frowning. “She’s trying to be cute in front of you. I’ll show her who’s stupid.”
    â€œYeah,” I said. “Whatever.”
    Angie and I walked bumping shoulders. Ralph and Sean gave us glances but didn’t say anything. Sean was glaring. Maybe he was jealous.
    I took my jacket off my head and put it on. It was too big. Everything we owned was too big. “You planning on doing a lot of growing?” Mama asked last time she took me shopping.
    â€œIt’s the style,” I told her, but she just pulled her lips to the side of her face and paid for everything.
    Now I pulled the pants up a bit and stole a look at Angie. I could tell she was still mad from Ralphy messing with her.
    â€œDon’t listen to him,” I said softly.
    â€œOh, I’m not even hearing it,” Angie said.
    We walked along silently for a while, Ralphy and Sean a few paces behind us.
    â€œI guess we should double-date sometimes, huh?” Ralphy said. I knew this was his way of apologizing, so I smiled. Angie said she guessed it would be fun.
    â€œYeah,” Sean said. “Why don’t you take her out on a double date with your mama and that dyke she’s seeing.”
    I turned. Please, God. Please let me be imagining this.
    â€œDon’t look at me like I’m crazy,” he said. “Everybody knows.”
    â€œKnows what?” Ralph was asking, but I didn’t wait to hear Sean’s answer before I swung hard and landed a punch across his jaw. Something snapped and Sean seemed to move toward me in slow motion. I caught him around the neck, feeling my fist connect with his nose. Someone was trying to pull us apart and in the distance I could hear Angie telling me to stop. Sean’s knee landed hard in my stomach and I felt myself falling backwards.
    â€œStop it,” Ralph was saying. Someone was pulling Sean off of me. I kicked into the air and connected.
    Pancho, the guy who owned the store we were standing in front of, was holding Sean’s arms, but Sean was struggling against him.
    â€œYour mother’s a dyke,” Sean yelled. Angie, I kept thinking, looking around for her. She was standing in front of the store, where a small group had gathered. She looked confused and angry. Now she knew. Now everyone in the whole stupid world knew.
    â€œStop talking junk,” Ralph said.
    I swallowed, breathing hard to keep from crying.
    â€œNo fighting here,” Pancho was saying. “You want to fight, go back to where you live.”
    â€œDon’t worry, Pancho,” Ralph said.