Page 15 of Senior

I extended my hand. “I’m Stanley.”

She sighed heavily as she turned to me. “Stephanie.”

A smile spread across my face. “Stanley and Stephanie. That sounds good together.”

She laughed. “How many girls have you used that line on around here?”

She walked around me again and headed for the candy aisle.

“None,” I answered honestly. “I’m not worried about these girls around here. I’m too busy getting my money.”

She looked me up and down. “Oh, I’ve seen you and the other boy on the corner. Looks like you’re asking for trouble to me.”

“Oh, so you’ve seen me before?”

“Yes, and like I said, you look like you’re asking for trouble.”

“Ain’t nothing wrong with a little trouble.”

She rolled her eyes as she walked to the register. As she placed her items on the counter, I went into my pocket and pulled out a wad of cash.

“I got it, Mr. Marco.”

He ignored me and looked at Stephanie. “He hasn’t been bothering you, has he?”

“I’m not worried about him. And I can pay for my own things.”

“Men provide for their lady.”

Stephanie rolled her eyes. “Well, I’m not your lady, so there’s that.”

“Not yet.” I slapped a twenty in Mr. Marco’s hand. “Keep the change.”

He shook his head at me as he took the twenty from my hand and bagged up Stephanie’s snacks. I grabbed them and motioned for her to follow me outside. As soon as we hit the sidewalk, she held out her hand to me.

“Thank you, but you don’t need to do that again.”

I grinned as I handed her the bag. “Nah, the least I can do is buy your snacks when I see you. You come this way often?”

“I just moved here about a month ago. Still learning my way around.”

“Maybe I can show you around sometime. Nobody knows this city better than me.”

“I bet.” She looked down at her watch. “I gotta go. I have to babysit my neighbor’s son in a little while. Nice to meet you, Stanley.”

“Nice to meet you too. I’ll be seeing you.”

Taking her hand, I kissed her knuckles. This time, she blushed.

That was the start of it all. I saw her a quite a few times at the same corner store throughout the summer. She always played hard to get… or maybe she wasn’t playing at all. I didn’t give a fuck. If I saw her, she was gonna see me. Once school started back and I found out she was in my homeroom class, I was on her ass heavy.

I made it a point to sit next to her. Since she was new and knew me from the block, she was a little more receptive of my friendship. Once she really got to know me, we were locked in and my heart hadn’t let go of her since.

“Nah. I haven’t moved on from anything,” I finally answered. “Just… being mindful. She lost a husband. I don’t know what that loss feels like, but I can imagine it’s like losing a part of yourself. I just wanna respect her process of grieving.”

Salima smiled and playfully nudged me. “You really love that lady, don’t you?”

“Put it like this. I ain’t ever loved another woman the way I love her. I don’t have it in me.”