She called again. I laid in bed as she kept bellowing my name. I was still laying down in the bed not being able to hear her, or just not wanting to get up and respond. I couldn’t make up my mind. My eyes were shut, and I was snoring. I found that to be very strange, because I never snore. I slowly began to open my eyes up. As I fluttered my eyelids, I could feel crusts falling out of them. My head was pounding, like somebody was repeatedly hitting it with a sledgehammer. My body was sore, and I was hungry, even though I ate earlier at Christy’s…
CHRISTY!! I quickly jutted my chest up and rose from the bed. I then looked around my room as I blinked a few times in confusion. Where was I? What happened? How come…? I had many questions, but no answers. My Samsung Galaxy Note III was hooked up to the outlet at the side of my bed charging. The green battery on it which signified that it was charging was all the way up at 100%. I quickly reached for the phone with my left hand. I turned it on and went to my recent calls and tapped on Christy’s name. The phone rang once; her soft voice came on. Her voice was low, soft spoken, sotto, barely audible.
“Hi baby.” She quietly said, it sounded as if she was in bed.
“Christy! Christy!” I said.
“Is that you?” I raucously asked her.
She didn’t respond or say anything. I called out to her again.
“Christy! Christy!” I yelled out her name stridently and anxiously.
“Jason, wh-wh-what’s wrong?” She asked me. She sounded more live and awake now.
I didn’t know what to say to her, I knew something was up. There was something going on that I had no knowledge of. I started to breathe hard, as I looked around my room it began to slowly spin. My mother then opened the door to my room and came in.
“Jason? You didn’t hear me calling? Why aren’t you dressed yet? You’re not going to school today?” She asked me.
“SCHOOL! But I just came from school!” I thought to myself.
My mother continued to stand in front of the bed, her hands were dropped and outstretched on her sides, and she had her hair tied up in a bun. She looked at me lying down in bed and I looked at her, I knew that I had to give her a response.
“Jason! I’m gonna be late for work! Come on.” She said again.
She lifted up her arms from her sides and began to pat down her bun.
“I’m sick mom, I can’t go today.” I said to her.
My mother then sat down on the bed next to where I was lying down on, she placed the inside of her palms on my forehead and pushed down.
“What’s wrong, are you okay?” She asked me.
“Yeah I’m good, I think it was just something that I ate.” I said.
She kept her hand on my forehead and looked at me at the face.
“Did you eat that African thing that your dad always be cooking?” She asked me.
She was referring to the cassava leaf that he made a few nights ago.
“Yeah.” I said while half laughing.
“That must be it.” I added.
“Jason I told you not to be eating that stuff, only Lord knows what he be putting in there.” She said.
She began rubbing my head. “Okay I want you to stay in bed okay, I’m about to go to work, I’ll be back later on in the evening, call me if you want anything okay.” She said as she got up from the bed.
“Okay mom, I got you.” I said while half smiling.
She gave me a kiss on my head and began walking out the door.
I turned back on the bed and put the phone in my ears again. Christy was still on the line. Her soft breathing was all I could hear.
“Christy… bae… you still there?” I asked her, while knowing that she was still on. But by the way she was breathing I could not tell if she was awake or sleeping.
“Yes… I’m here.” She said softly, her voice was barely audible.
“Tell me what happened?” I said to her.
There was a pause. “When?” She asked me.
Immediately I responded. “Yesterday at your house, what happened?”
“Jason… I.. don’t… I don’t understand… what do you mean?” She asked me.
I don’t know if whether Christy was playing dumb, or if she really didn’t know what I was talking about? Whatever it was, she was starting to make me lose my patience.
I took a few breaths to calm down, then I regained my composure.
“Christy… tell me… what happened… yesterday… when I came to your house?” I asked her slower this time.
She gave a short pause, then she finally responded.
“Jason you came over, and then your dad came over, he talked to my mom, and we went to this place to get some paper.” She said.
I paused for a few seconds. I had no clue what Christy was talking about.
“What place? What paper?” I asked her.
“Jason, what’s wrong… why…”
“WHAT PAPER?” I asked her again.
She paused for a few seconds. “A contract paper.” She said.
“For our marriage.” She added.
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Marriage… Contract. This is all that I wanted! But why couldn’t I remember? I wanted to ask Christy. But I didn’t want her to think I forgot. If what she was saying was true, and me and her really got married. To ask her to recall everything that happened than that would mean that I forgot. And I know that she wouldn’t want to know that I forgot the day that me and her got married.
“What about your mom?” I asked her instead.
“What about… her?” She asked me.
“I thought she was opposed to the idea of me and you getting married.” I said.
“Yeah she was, but your dad came and talked to her for like an hour, idk what he said to her but she agreed to it.” She said.
“Your father then drove us to this place so we can get the marriage finalized and they gave us this paper with both our names on it, I got it right here, baby what’s wrong? You don’t remember?” She asked me.
Immediately I responded. “Naw I remember, how could I forget, I love you, but umm…” I started saying to her.
“Did anything… happen to me? Like did I go anywhere or do anything.” I asked her.
“Uhh… no… I don’t think… After we got the contract your father dropped us back off at my house, and then he left, and then Hairy Jerry came over, and you left with him, that’s all I remember.” She said.
JERRY! I instantly knew what I had to do.
“Okay bae thanks, love you.” I said, then I hung up.
I scrolled down my contact list and selected Jerry’s name and called him. The phone rang once… twice… three times. On the fourth ring he picked up.
“Wassup bruh man from the fifth floor.” Jerry’s voice came on.
“Yo bro, what happened yesterday?” I asked him.
“What you mean?” He said to me.
“When I came to your crib yesterday, what happened?” I asked him.
Jerry paused for a few seconds, then he started laughing.
“You was fried rice yesterday bro!” He said as he continued to laugh.
Jerry was telling me that I was really high yesterday when I was over his house.
“Bro, how? I don’t remember.” I said.
Jerry erupted in laughter. “Prolly cuz you downed that whole golden monkey and the 40.” He said in between laughter.
I paused and started to collect my thoughts. “Golden Monkey” is a type of alcoholic beverage in which you drink, 40 oz. was another type of alcoholic drink. But… how could I? Alcohol always tasted nasty to me and I never drink it.
“Bro you was ecstatic all smiling and whatnot because your pops took you and Christy to go get that marriage contract, and then you called me over. We went to my crib and smoked up and downed a few bottles.” My friend said to me.
Jerry was confirming everything that Christy had told me. I now knew everything that happened. Well... not everything. There was still something that I was confused about.
Yesterday my dad came over Christy’s house and talked to her mom, and somehow he was able to coerce her into letting me and Christy get married and we got a marriage contract.
The confusing part was… When I told Christy that me and her should get married, I really meant it, I wanted that marriage contract which will have both of our names on it saying that we are both husband and wife. But I’m still thirteen, my birthday is going to be in a few weeks. Christy is only thirteen. And we are both living in America. Technically, it’s not legal for us to get married considering the fact that we are both underage, and in America you must be 18 years or older to get married. So… how? How did it happen? There was only one person that I could ask, that could give me the answers that I needed.
“I’ma holl at you bro.” I said to Jerry.
Then I hung up and threw the phone gently on top of the bed. I got up from the bed and quickly walked past my door into the hallway. I walked past Cecilia’s room, her door was open but she wasn’t inside. I know that she went off to school. She’s in fourth grade and she attends an elementary school. My mother wanted her to skip the fourth grade and just go to fifth. Because she took this standardized test last year and she received a really high score in it. All her teachers and the school principal talked to mom and the old-head, and they told them that she is a really smart student, and they recommended that she should just skip the fourth grade and go to fifth, which is middle-school. Cecilia refused though, she didn’t want to miss all her friends and leave them behind, so she chose to stay.
The old-head’s door was locked, I knocked gently on it twice.
“Yes, come in!” His voice bellowed.
I opened the door delicately. My father was laying down on his back on the bed and he had his reading glasses on while reading… “The Oxford English Dictionary 13th Edition.”
He quickly put it down on the bed and took off his glasses when he saw me. I stepped in the room and closed the door behind me.
“Jason, what is wrong? Why are you not in school today?” He asked me as he sat up on the bed.
“Old-head is you busy right now? Can I talk to you about something?” I asked him.
“Yes of course, come sit down.” My father said. Then he patted the surface of the bed next to him, gesturing me to come sit.
I took a few steps and went to sit down next to him.
“Old-head, me and Christy, did we get married yesterday?” I asked him, while turning my body to face him.
“Yes son, you and her now have a marriage contract.” He said.
“But… how? Me and her is still underage, and you have to be 18 years or older to get legally married in America.” I said to him.
“Yes, Jason, me and Christy’s mother talked about that yesterday, that is why you got the marriage contract. It is a Religious type of marriage, in which age does not influence it’s validity.” My father said to me.
He then looked at me and twisted his face a bit.
“What is wrong son, is this not what you wanted?” He asked me.
I quickly responded. “Yeah, it is. I was just asking.” I said to him.
My father then reached in with his hand and began to rub my head and smile.
“Jason, I did not tell you this yesterday, but I just want you to know, you are doing the right thing, and this is a very big step for you. You could have just made that girl your girlfriend, but you chose to marry her and do the right thing. That is a very mature thing to do.” My father said to me as he continued to smile and rub my head.
“I want you to be very careful with this girl okay, I want you to treat her right, it is not going to be easy son, but I will be there with you the entire time, any help that you need I am there for you okay?” He said.
I looked at my father’s face as he spoke, then I began to drop my gaze a little bit.
“Yeah old-head I will, I’ma treat her good, thank you.” I said to my father.
He then looked at me and nodded his head.
“Why are you not in school?” He then asked me.
I got up from where I was seated on the bed. “I’m not feeling good today, I’m not going.” I said.
“Are you okay?” My father asked me with a lot of worry in his voice.
“Yeah I’m chilling.” I replied as I began walking out of his room.
“Well I do not have to leave to go to work until 2pm, if you need something then just give me a shout okay.” He said.
“I got you bruh.” I said as I walked out of his room and gently closed the door behind me.
I walked back into my room and went to lay down on the bed. I then picked up my phone and went to my “Recent Calls” and tapped Christy’s name.
The phone rang once, she answered. “Hello?” Her soft voice came on the line.
“Where you at?” I asked her.
Immediately she responded. “Walking to school with Roxanne.”
“I miss you, when are you getting off?” I asked her.
“Around 12 bae.” She said.
“I’m not going to school today, but I’m coming there at 12 to pick you up and walk with you home okay, and Christy?” I said to her.
“Yes?” She answered me.
“You better not be wearing any obscene type of clothing, like you was the last time.” I said to her, remembering the scene at Rita’s when that guy was staring at her backside.
“Omg I’M NOT! Didn’t you tell me not to? So why would I do it if you told me not to?” She asked me,
“Okay, well I was just saying.” I replied to her.
“I’m gonna be over there at 12 when you get off okay, I luh you.” I said.
“Okay, Iove you—” She began to say. I hung up before she could finish.
I then got off the bed and walked over to my dad’s room. I didn’t knock this time, I gently opened the door. My father was laying down on his back again while reading the same dictionary that he was reading before.
“Old-head, can you drop me off at the school at 12, I wanna walk Christy, I mean I wanna walk my wife home and spend some time with her.” I said to my father.
He took off his glasses then he put the dictionary down and looked at me.
“Yes Jason, of course, just let me know when you are ready okay?” He said.
“I got you.” I said.
I gently closed the door and went back to my room and laid down on the bed. I stared at the ceiling and started thinking… “Joe is probably not going to be home now, he’s probably at school.”
“DAMMIT!” I thought to myself.