What You Need(30)
Kiley shoved me. “One piercing. Crappy clothes. Get moving.”
“And to think I woke up early for this.”
She laughed and drank the last of my coffee.
On the way to the meeting spot, I said, “So it’s just you and me today?”
“There’s one other person coming. I don’t know him.”
“You didn’t grill him? You’re just assuming this guy isn’t some kind of perv preying on kids?”
“You’re more suspicious than I am, Lennox. This guy is from a charitable foundation run by a bunch of rich women who feel guilty for being rich, so they round up their other guilt-ridden pals a few times a year and force them to volunteer.” Kiley pulled off the freeway. “That wasn’t meant to come off snotty sounding. I’m grateful for these foundations because there’s no way we can do this without them. This foundation in particular sends qualified people that don’t come off as entitled. My kids would crucify them for that. And there is nothing nastier than a sixteen-year-old with a chip on his or her shoulder. Nothing.”
I knew that.
“You never said how long this lasts.”
“Depends on how many kids show up. If it’s over fifteen, I usually take them to lunch after we finish the community service project.”
“And if it’s less than ten kids?” I prompted her.
“I packed lunch and we’ll be out of here by one.”
She pulled into the deserted parking lot. I didn’t see any teenagers loitering. My gut clenched. I hoped for Kiley’s sake some of the kids made an appearance. She’d put so much thought, effort and money from her own pocket into this project that it would crush her if it didn’t succeed.
Kiley opened the back of her SUV. “Grab a bin.”
The plastic bins were heavy, but we each lugged one to the picnic table near the graffitied wall. We walked back to her car and saw a skinny black kid leaning against the car.
“DeMarius—happy to see you here! Grab a box.”
The kid, probably around fifteen, gave me a once-over. “This another rich do-gooder they saddled you with, Kiki?”
It was interesting to me that the kids called her Kiki. Even more interesting was that this kid thought I could pass for rich.
Kiley rolled her eyes. “Lennox is my roommate. I’d be ticked off if she was secretly rich, because the woman has been late on the rent more than one time.”
Not true, but I saw how quickly the kid relaxed and how fast his grin popped up.
“That’s cool.”
“But there’s supposed to be a volunteer showing up today, so I’m gonna ask you don’t pull attitude, okay?”
“No promises,” he said as he hefted the bin and headed toward the picnic table.
Kiley pointed to the case of water and the cooler. “Let’s load the water on top of the cooler and each take a handle.”
After we dropped the cooler off, I noticed two more kids had shown up. A short Hispanic girl and a rail-thin redhead who stood at least six feet tall.
“Hey, Kiki,” the redhead said. “I brought my basketball.”
“Great. I see that you talked fiery Maria into coming today.” Kiley addressed her in Spanish and the girl responded, adding a flurry of hand gestures.
“I don’t wanna play ball with girls,” DeMarius complained.
“You might not have a choice if it’s just the five of us.”
Whoa. I had not signed on to participate in some athletic contest. I was not the sporty kind. At all.
“Check out your girl Lennox’s face,” DeMarius said with a laugh.
Kiley looked at me. “What?”
“I’m fine shaking up spray cans and such, but you are not getting me on that court, K.”
“DeMan is such a ball hog you wouldn’t get to play much anyway,” the redhead said.
“Red. You’re just pissed ’cause you’re tall and you oughta be good at playing ball but you suck it up bad on the court.”
I was seriously screwed if these kids all had nicknames as well as real names. Three was about my limit to keep straight.
“We’ll see if your moves are better, DeMan, because I stuffed you last time.” Another kid had joined us, except he didn’t look like a kid. He had a full beard and was built like he spent his time in a gym, not in high school.
“Juice,” Kiley said with a smile. “Glad you’re here.”
“Well, if this is all who shows up, I ain’t staying long.”
Kiley shrugged. “Suit yourself. It’s not a requirement for you to be here.”
“I thought Jonesie would drag his sorry ass along with you, since he’s livin’ with you and shit,” DeMan said.