It took a few minutes to explain to my mom that I was going to the mall with Wendy and Anna. She was almost unwilling to let me go until Anna persuaded that she would bring me back in one piece, even if she had to sacrifice Wendy in the process.
We drove nine miles from Papillon to the Crossroads Mall on one of the busiest streets in Omaha. The car glided silently down the street, and I was amazed that Anna knew how to reach the mall and found a parking spot near the door.
“You two stay near me ‘kay?”
“You’re just going to go to the boring stores and then to the bookstores.”
“Boring? They’re clothes, Wendy. Nothing boring about that.”
“You told mama you’re only goin to get a sweater.”
“No, I said I want to get a sweater. She didn’t say I couldn’t get more.”
My mom had given me twenty dollars, telling me to not buy anything at the mall due to the prices That was fine with me as I planned to use said money at the food court and perhaps a bit at ‘Diamond Jim’s”, my dream arcade at the time.
However, I decided to allow the Anna and Wendy to take control of where we went. There were a few stores Wendy and I would not go into. I didn’t want to go in due to the mannequins looking like they had nothing on themselves and my soon to be hormonally controlled brain would shut down and I’d simply stare. Something I would never was to let Anna or Wendy notice.
Wendy just said the stuff bored her and she couldn’t care less.
“If she buys anything more than a sweater, I’m letting mama know. Not that I’m jealous that she’s got more money to spend, it’s more about the principle of what she told man and papa. And I plan to keep her honest.”
“You wanna walk home?” Anna asked as she stood behind us.
“No,” Wendy replied with a sigh.
“Do they have burgers here?”
“At the food court, down that way.”
“I want one. I’ll buy hour lunch, Wendy.”
“Is that a bribe?
“Why no, it’s just me showing how much I just love my little sister,” Anna replied with a look in her eyes that kind of frightened me. I wondered what would happen if someone really annoyed her.
We started down the corridor, passing the various stores. I walked next to Wendy as Anna skipped ahead of us. She was literally skipping which caused Wendy to copy her and I followed behind her until we reached the center of the mall, an area brightened by the high canopy that shot up into the sky above the double-storied area. We took the escalator to the second floor and Anna ran straight to “‘Mercian Burger”-a place I had never eaten at. As I usually spent my money at the arcade, which was now below us and beckoned me to come down and spend money on “Bad Dudes vs Dragon Ninja” or “N.A.R.C.”
Anna ordered a huge number of fries along with the largest burger I had ever sene in my life, and some meals for us. We sat down at a small and unbalanced table next to a “Eu de Perfume” kiosk. I was just about to take a bite when my eyes locked onto what I thought only existed in my nightmares.
“Why are they here?” I asked as I lowered my head.
“Who?” Wendy asked.
The MACS had walked into the food court, along with a tall teenage boy. They had not noticed us looking at them, but that soon changed.
“Who is he?” Anna asked as we all looked in their direction.
“That’s Colleen’s brother, Henry, but everyone calls him Hank.”
I never liked Hank as he always found a way to sneak in a barb or best left unsaid comment. He, along with a few friends, were known to drive a car down the road and make fun of kids who are just walking down the street. There was one kid who had enough of it and threw a rock at their ancient, it-kind-of-resembles-a-car and he got out to tower over said kid and belittle him for doing something to his car. Yes, that would be me.
“This kitten’s smitten,” Anna replied with a smile on her face. “I think I’ll like this school.”
“He doesn’t get involved with his sister’s life. I think he’s just here because he has to.”
“I know the feeling,” Anna remarked, and Wendy slapped her sister’s arm in response.
Hank’s eyes looked in our direction, and girls eventually did too.
“The two of you stay here. I’m going to go and talk with him.”
Anna got up and walked toward the MACS and Hank.
“This is gonna end with her draping his arm around her or with him kissing the ground.” Wendy stated as took a bite of a French fry, “She’s kind of boy crazy like that.”
“What if she does put his arm around her?”
“I’ll have Colleen as a sister-in-law one day,” she answered with a shrug.
I shuddered at the thought of having Colleen as a relative as long as she was friends with the others. If I was Wendy, I’d lock myself in the ball-pit room or trap her in the walls and forget I ever saw her.
We watched Anna move across the food court and waved to the group, Megan and Shonda’s faces had a death stare on them while Colleen and Amanda looked in our direction. Hank, well Hank’s attention was transfixed on Anna. I couldn’t tell at that moment what he said but as soon as he said it we witnessed Anna’s hand slapping him across the face.
That got me to my feet. Wendy took a few seconds to take a sip on her soda before she stood up.
Hank stumbled a bit but then moved to push Anna away, but, somehow, he missed and tumbled to the ground.
“Really? You go there?” Anna yelled as she turned around to look at Hank.
“She’s having a dying duck fit. If he does what I think he’ll do. Won’t be pretty,” Wendy replied as she picked up Anna’s container of French fries. “Anna’s nice, she just handles people differently when they pick on others.”
I nodded as Hank got up and took a swing at Anna, missed, and found himself on the ground once again. The MACS traded expressions, and now Megan and Shonda were looking at us.
They started walking in our direction and I felt I had two options: One to jump over the kiosk our table was next to and high tail it out of there, or to expect to get beaten up by one, or both of them since talking my way out never worked. I was about to bolt when Wendy grabbed my shirt.
“We’re not going anywhere. I mean, what are they gonna do to us?”
“What are you doing here?” Megan sneered.
“School clothes shopping. Same as you,” Wendy replied.
“They don’t have a thrift shop at the mall.”
“Too bad. Lots of good stuff there if you know where to look.”
The four of us focused on the one-sided fight occurring across the way. A fight that had the attention of several other customers and I wondered when mall security was going to show up.
Hank stood back up and tried to circle around Anna, who amazed everyone as she performed several backflips away from Hank and landed with her hair still all in place.
Hank took one more attempt to strike and found himself clotheslined. He was a junior in high school. He was on the football and wrestling teams and there he was, with the wind knocked out of him.
Anna kneeled over and whispered something in his ear. She then stood back up, brushed her hands down her pants and her shirt before looking at the four of us.
“Did she just do that?” Shonda asked as we all looked a Colleen who walked over to Hank.
“She can teach you, if you want,” Wendy replied as she moved her left foot in a half circle. “Just step across the line.”
“Did you eat any of my fries, Wendy?” Anna asked as Shonda and Megan walked backwards and hurried back to Colleen and Amanda.