Beneath Read online

  “Hi, I’m new here. I was looking for—’’

  “I can tell that you’re new.” The girl interrupted him. “You’re accent is most definitely different.”

  “I’m from Brooklyn.”

  “Oh wow! I want to go to college in the city.”

  “Yeah? You’ll love it.”

  The girl smiled and got out of her seat. She took Tareeq’s arm and led him down the hallway towards students. He observed the hallway and the long green lockers along the white painted walls. “

  I’m gonna take you to Principal Winters’ office.” The girl said. “She will give you your schedule and your locker.”

  “Okay, thanks.” Tareeq said in an uneasy voice. “What’s your name by the way?”

  “I’m Tammy Hart.”

  “You work here?”

  “No, I go to school here, duh!” She laughed. “I was just sitting at the security desk because it’s a part of a course here; kind of like work study but for credit. So, I guess you can say I work.”

  “You a junior or sophomore?”

  “I’m a junior.” She grinned, rolling her eyes. Tareeq laughed at Tammy.

  “I’m a junior, too.”

  “Good! So, we’ll have some classes together then.”

  Tammy stopped at a door that read Administration Office in black block letters. By this time, Tareeq had let out a quick sigh of relief that no one really paid any attention to him.

  “Here we are, Principal Winters is probably dying to meet you…”

  “Tareeq.”

  “Tareeq…”

  Tammy dragged his name waiting for him to tell her his last name. He thought this was funny because in his old school, girls weren’t usually this quirky.

  “Cooper.” He replied with a smile.

  “Okay, Tareeq Cooper.” She said. “Just go in and then the receptionist will point you to Principal Winters’ office. Get your schedule and I’ll probably see you in class later!”

  Tareeq waved at her and opened the door to the administrative office. His mouth almost dropped when he seen the office; it was huge! The color of the walls was a bright green color with a wolf painted on the right side of the room wall. There were about four desks with women ticking away at their computers. There was a far left wall that had rows of blue chairs that sat against it. Tareeq noticed that there was a glass room that looked to be an office. There were other closed doors along the corridor of the main office as well.

  “Hello, may I help you?” One of the women asked, while typing and staring at her computer. Tareeq shook his head a bit and closed his eyes tight and opened them. The bright color of the office was kind of blinding him.

  “Uh, yes. I’m new here.” Tareeq stammered.

  The woman shot him a quick look and went back to her computer screen.

  “I got your schedule right here, Mr. Cooper.” She replied. Without looking, she moved her hand to her desk printer, waited a few seconds, then grabbed the paper from it. Tareeq was baffled at how fast the woman moved without even blinking her eyes. He was also amazed at how she knew who he was.

  “Thanks.” Tareeq said, taking the paper from her. He glanced at his schedule and prayed to god that he would find his way around the seemingly large school.

  “Go see Mrs. Winters.” The woman said. Her face still in her computer, she pointed her pale, freckled hand toward the glass windowed office on the left. Tareeq went over to the office and turned the knob.

  He was greeted by a brown skinned, portly woman with curls everywhere in her hair. She wore a red skirt suit that showed off her thick legs. On her feet were black flats and a golden charm ankle bracelet on her left ankle that jingled when she moved. She had dark brown freckles all over her cherub cheeks.

  Mrs. Winters smiled at Tareeq and motioned for him to have a seat in the light green chair opposite her desk.

  “Welcome, Tareeq!” She said in a tiny, cheerful voice. She leaned in on her hands smiling at him.

  What the hell is goin’ on in this school? He thought to himself.

  “We’re so glad that you’re here and will be attending Wittington. I’m Mrs. Winters but I like for my students to call me Shelly.”

  “Thanks,” Tareeq replied. “This is a pretty big school.”

  “Yes, it is. One of the best schools in New York as well. Here at Wittington, we pride ourselves on school spirit and education.”

  “I can see that.”

  “According to your school record, you’ve held a three point five GPA. Then, in the middle of your sophomore year, it looks like your grades suffered.”

  Tareeq lowered his eyes to his sneakers trying not to think of the year that his mother died. He wasn’t going to give an excuse for his failing grades especially to a stranger.

  “Oh, it’s alright.” Mrs. Winters smiled. “There is a reason why we all stumble, but it’s how we get back up that counts.”

  Tareeq cracked a half smile, hoping that she didn’t read his body language. Mrs. Winters got up from her seat and walked to the door. Tareeq stood as well, wondering what she was going to do next.

  “Come on, I’ll walk you to your first class.” She offered. Tareeq and Mrs. Winters walked out of her office, then out of the administrative office and back into the now quiet school hallway.

  “In my old school, principals don’t usually show kids around on their first day.” Tareeq mentioned. Mrs. Winters chuckled to herself showing off her bright, enormous smile and her high cheek bones.

  “I make it my duty that I show young people the school of their dreams.” She said. Tareeq smiled back and continued to walk down the hall with Mrs. Winters. Suddenly, he felt a cold chill run down his back. The kind of chill that one would get if they felt they were being watched. He turned around and saw a group of girls down the hallway nearest the bathroom, eying him. He recognized that Tammy was amongst the group as well. One girl with long, kinky, curly hair with a section of it dyed bright blue that fell to her shoulders, eyed him the hardest. He admired her dark brown skin that stuck out to him like a sore thumb. She smiled and winked at him while the other girls giggled.

  Tareeq smirked at them and turned back around to Mrs. Winters. She stopped at a classroom door and crossed her arms.

  “Room three fifty-two. Math is your first class, Tareeq.” Mrs. Winters knocked on the door and opened it. Inside, the class was already seated writing down what the male teacher was writing on the Smartboard.

  “Hi, Mr. Bennett.” Mrs. Winters said to the teacher. “We have a new student today; Tareeq Cooper.”

  Tareeq was starting to have enough of this parading around like he was a part of an exhibit.

  “Wonderful.” Mr. Spencer said. “Take a seat in an empty desk, Tareeq. Pull out your notebook and take down these notes.”

  Mrs. Winters waved goodbye and walked out of the classroom humming a tune.

  Tareeq nodded his head, turned and took a seat in the second row’s last desk in the back of the room. All eyes were on him as he pulled out his notebook and pen. He could hear a couple of whispers about him coming from the other students. One girl with blonde hair and blue eyes smiled at him. Tareeq smiled back wondering to himself if the girl was single.

  I never had a white girl smile at me. I’ve officially had my first encounter. He thought to himself. He giggled inside and started jotting down the notes that Mr. Spencer presented.

  “Psst. Yo…” Someone whispered from the right of the back row. Tareeq looked over and saw a kid about his age waving at him. The boy had cornrows that reached the nape of his neck, light brown skin and a large, plump nose. He hesitated a bit but waved back at the boy.

  “What’s up?” Tareeq whispered. Being from Brooklyn always had him on high alert whenever a male approached him. He wanted to make friends but he wasn’t about to be confronted.

  “Meet me after class, bro…” He whispered back before Mr. Spencer turned his head. Tareeq furrowed his brow then turned back to his notes. He’d made sure to k
eep his wits about him all the way through the class period just in case the other student wanted to do him harm. The class bell rang and everyone gathered their things and walked out talking and laughing.

  The student that got his attention earlier grinned and walked out of the classroom. Tareeq followed and saw him standing by the lockers.

  “Yo, new kid!” He shouted. Tareeq walked up to him with his New York City swagger and dapped him up.

  “What’s up? You wanted to talk?” Tareeq asked, his voice flat.

  “Yeah, what’s your name?” He asked.

  “Tareeq, Tareeq Cooper.”

  “I’m Kyle Thomas but everyone around here calls me ‘King’.” King stretched his hand out to Tareeq and without hesitation this time, he shook his hand. He felt at ease seeing that King wasn’t trying to start a beef with him.

  “So, where are you from?” King asked. The pair started walking down the hallway toward their next period class.

  “I’m from Brooklyn.” Tareeq answered. “Me and my Dad moved here yesterday.”

  “Wait, y’all just moved in the house on Aberdeen?” King asked with wonder in his eyes.

  “Yeah, man.” Tareeq chuckled. “Why you so jittery for?”

  “Because you live in my neighborhood, dog!” King said aloud. Tareeq chuckled some more at his new friend.

  “What’s so funny?” King asked with a smirk.

  “If you gonna hang with me, you can’t say ‘dog’, bruh.”

  The pair laughed in unison; both knowing that the small friendly exchange that happened so fast, will later become a friendship for the ages.

  Tareeq made it through the rest of his other five classes before and it was time for lunch. He found out that King had the same lunch period as him and he was ready to unwind and get a feel of his new surroundings. Nothing said that more than getting to know his new peers through the high school ritual of lunch.

  After he had gotten his lunch that consisted of pizza, apple juice, an apple and vanilla ice cream, he went over to where King was sitting with a couple of other guys.

  “Sup, bro?” Tareeq said, taking a seat.

  “My man!” King said, dapping him up. “Fellas, this is Tareeq; he just moved here from Brooklyn.”

  Tareeq scanned the table and saw that there were about three guys that all looked like they played some type of sport. One of the guys was large and wide with brown skin. Tareeq saw that his face was full of acne and black heads. He was the first to nod at Tareeq. The second was a tall and skinny guy that looked like he played basketball and was good at it. He possessed medium brown skin, slanted eyes, full lips and a wide nose. He said nothing to Tareeq just nodded his head like the first. The third and final table companion was a short guy, his skin was pale and he had a couple of freckles on his arms. His hair was jet black and his eyes were a piercing blue. He actually said “what’s up” to Tareeq.

  “Tareeq, that’s Jamir, the tall one is Gary and the scary one is Mason.” King said.

  “What’s good?” Tareeq said in his heaviest Brooklyn drawl.

  “Hey man. How are you liking Wittington so far?” Jamir asked; his voice boomed.

  “I like it. It’s gonna take some getting used to but I like it.” Tareeq answered, taking a bite of his pizza.

  “You’ll get used to it. Everyone is cool here.” Gary interjected, his voice was a bit nasally.

  “I see.” Tareeq replied.

  “Yeah, everyone except those chicks.” Mason chided.

  “Aye man, he hasn’t even met those chicks yet.” King snapped.

  “Hold on, what chicks?” Tareeq asked, his interest peeked. “Is that pretty blonde among those chicks?”

  “Who Ariana?” Jamir snorted. “Ariana won’t be caught dead with those girls.”

  All of them laughed except for Tareeq who was now wondering who the guys were talking about.

  “Can y’all let me in on this or nah?” Tareeq asked.

  “I’m surprised they haven’t approached you yet.” Gary said.

  “Who?!” Tareeq asked. He was starting to get annoyed.

  “Them…” Mason pointed. Tareeq followed his hand to a table in the cafeteria that was nearest the door to the exit. There were four girls sitting at the table giggling and eating their lunch.

  He immediately noticed that they were the same girls from earlier and Tammy was among them.

  “What about them?” Tareeq asked, still staring at the girls.

  “Nothing except they’re the biggest weirdos in school.” Mason snickered. Everyone laughed except for Tareeq.

  “What makes them so weird?” Tareeq asked. King sucked his teeth and took a bite out of his sandwich.

  “A lot of things make them weird; like they flirt with every dude they meet.” King scoffed. Tareeq turned to him, raising his brow.

  “Funny you say that because I actually talked to one of them earlier this morning and I just knew she was flirting with me, bro.” Tareeq revealed.

  “Dude, which one?” Gary asked.

  All four of them waited in anticipation for Tareeq’s response.

  “I think her name was Tammy.” He replied. King’s mouth dropped open and some chewed food fell out.

  “You okay, bro?” Tareeq asked him. Jamir, Mason and Gary laughed.

  “That’s King’s girl—’’ Jamir started.

  “That’s not my girl!” King interjected. Tareeq noticed that King’s brown face had a hint of red from blushing. He didn’t want to laugh at his new friend nor did he want to intrude on the girl that his friend liked. Tareeq turned his head from their heckling King and observed the group of girls again. This time, the girl with the curly hair with the light blue hair highlight eyed him like she did before. She winked and smiled and now, it was Tareeq’s turn to blush.

  Chapter 3.

  Derek reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. He immediately noticed that he had a text message from his agent. Sighing to himself, he opened the text and read the message to himself. His agent wanted another best seller and from the tone in which the text was written, his agent wanted it as soon as possible. Derek hadn’t written anything since the death of his wife and he wasn’t ready to now. He had lost his muse and passion. He made sure to text his agent back to let him know that he was working on something. He shoved the phone back into his pocket and rested his fingers onto his laptop. He stared at the blank document on the screen, wishing that the blinking cursor would just write a best seller on its own.

  Derek got up and walked to the living room window. He glanced up at the gray sky, watching as the rain started to cascade his down window pane.

  “I need to get a grip.” He mumbled.

  He walked away from the window and called his agent. Howard Moretti, the fast talking literacy agent, answered on the second ring.

  “Derek! I have been trying to get your attention for a week.” Howard answered in his thickest Italian accent. “What have you been doing, man?”

  “Calm down, Howie.” Derek replied, pinching the bridge of his nose. “My son and I just moved to a new place.”

  “And you didn’t tell me? God rest the dead, but unlike you, your wife would’ve picked up where you’d forget and tell me things.”

  “Of course she would. I just had a lot to do; unpacking and getting Tareeq in school. I guess I forgot.”

  “Just don’t do it again. You’re Derek Cooper for Christ’s sake! The best Urban lit, street lit, black lit, whatever, author in the business. You’re on top; I shouldn’t have to chastise you.”

  “Alright, can you stop already?!”

  “Look, I’ll stop once I get a best seller to send to the publishing company. They’re on my heels waiting for another hit. What you are working on, anyway?”

  “Well, I’ve got something here but I don’t know…” Derek’s voice trailed off. He was doubting himself and his abilities to write something without his wife being his inspiration.

  “I’m gonna give you a littl
e pep talk, D.” Howard said in a calm done. “Use this tragedy and write something. Write something that Felicia will be proud of. I know you have it in you, she knows it too. Speaking through me, she believes in you.”

  Derek’s eyes started to water. He looked at the picture that was on the round coffee table of him, Tareeq and his wife and held it to his heart. He could feel the motivation build up inside him as he wiped the single tear away from his cheek.

  “Alright…”

  “Atta boy, D! Look, you have three months to crank out something. You’ve already lost some time pining away.”

  “Yeah, yeah. I’ll have something for you in two months just for talking crap.”

  “I’ll hold you to that. We have some money to make.”

  “Yeah, after buying this big house, you ain’t never lied.”

  “Send me some pictures of the new digs and tell the boy I said what’s up.”

  “I will.”

  “Okay, don’t fail me, D.”

  “I won’t, Howie.”

  Derek ended the call and slipped his phone back in his pocket. He placed the picture frame back onto the coffee table. Grabbing the laptop, his fingers started to tick away at the keyboard.

  The bell rang for the school day’s end and Tareeq hurried out faster than he could have imagined. Since the house was such a short distance away from the school, he decided that he would walk home to get a feel of the neighborhood. He strolled down the street making sure to keep himself centered on the side walk. He looked at his surroundings and noticed that the brown Spruce trees were wide and tall; as if it touched the greying clouds above him.

  He felt a wet drop on his nose and kicked himself from not bringing a hoodie. He opened the weather app in his phone and typed in the zip code for the town. His eyes widened when he saw that there was going to be heavy rain all week long.

  “Looks like I gotta switch up the fits.” He murmured. Tareeq continued to walk down the street, taking in the lush green grass on lawns that held luxurious houses. He gawked at the faunas that grew along the sidewalks as well.