New Year's Resolution

"Young lady, you are going to get your tail in that car, and I'm going to drive you to the community center," Charlie said. "I will not have my daughter walking twenty-three blocks alone at nighttime."

Charlie followed on the heels of Trechial's feet, his steely, gray eyes beating a hole into her back.

"First of all, I am not your daughter, Charlie. Secondly, I already asked Mom if I could walk to the community center and she told me it was okay as long as I got a ride back, and I do have one." Trechial reached the foyer, dropping her low-heel shoes in front of her and stepping into them.

Charlie turned a crimson red. "I'm guessing it's the piss ant across the street?"

He ground his buttery teeth just at the thought of his stepdaughter seeing Devin. Rubbing his bald head, he expelled a loud huff of air searching for any excuse to drive his minute point home. "Your mother's judgment has not been the best due to her working a lot of overtime. From now on, I'll be making sound decisions around here."

Trechial turned to him in a heated rage. Who the heck did he think he was to make decisions for her life? Surely not her father.

"My mom's judgment stopped being the best the day she married you. And as far as Devin goes, I'll do what I want with him, when I want to with him, and how I want to with him. So mind your damn business, you inconsequential shell of a man."

Charlie's cold, calloused palm flew across her cheek, whipping her head to the side. She stumbled backward, rubbing the stinging flesh. Straightening her posture, she blinked away her urge to cry. Her body was in complete contradiction, shock rendered Trechial still unable to speak, yet fear had her tremble within. Charlie had never hit her before yet in the back of her mind she anticipated it. As a matter of fact, she thought it would be sooner. She thought when the moment came, she would be filled with unhinged rage and would kick his behind but here she was crippled with fear hoping her mom would show up and protect her.

Charlie stalled, looking to his palm that was suspended in midair. He took a step forward, and Trechial backed away, her eyes stretched wide. They paused in the stillness that the chaotic moment became, and he scratched the blond stubble on his dimpled chin.

"Trechial," he croaked, "I'm sorry, baby."

Trechial massaged her jaw mulling over her options in her head.

The dim light above them cast Charlie in a new, monstrous light.

Abuser. Monster. Dictator

He watched her carefully with a hint of remorse. She could call her mom and tell her what happened and wait for her to come home and handle the situation. Or she could go to the New Year's Eve party and hang out with her friends, forget about the whole thing. It was not as if her mother would believe Charlie laid a finger on her. Her mom was never short on excuses for the man's rude behavior.

Trechial gathered her frazzled nerves and smoothed her dress. "Stay away from me, Charlie, or I'll tell Momma about this incident, and I'll even add a bit of embellishment if you'd like. Stay out of my business, especially my business with the boy across the street."

His gaze narrowed and he gave her a short nod. It was time to go.

Outside, the cold bite of January air nipped through Trechial's little black dress and black, bedazzled stockings that were embroidered with gold, green, purple lightning bolts.

She looked up at the full moon and stars shimmering in the night sky.

New Year's Eve, the last day of 1998.

Eleven months until she turned sixteen. Two years and eleven months until she turned eighteen and free from her mom's and Charlie's reign. One more year until the year 2000. Would the sky really fall? Would Jesus return? Would her feelings for the boy across the street come to an abrupt end and end her torment?

Her heart pulsated in her chest. The world was supposedly going to end in a year, and she had yet to do anything remotely significant in her short life. Her life was as basic as a No. 2 pencil. Her looks were mediocre, and her dark skin sometimes made her the butt of jokes from black and white people alike. "You're so black you blend in with the pavement," type of jokes. And finally, there was the issue of getting rid of her feelings for Devin Liao.

The porch light across the street flipped on, and for a split second, she held her breath and hoped Devin would emerge. When he did not, she wrapped her red chiffon around her shoulders and started on her mile-long journey to Willow Heights Community Center, formally known as Amigos. Thanks to the upper-middle-class jerks, the too-ethnic name had to be changed.

Her heels clicked against the sidewalk as she walked along the lit path through cold dead leaves. Occasional wafts of chard barbecue filled the air from the restaurants on the strip.

Trechial rounded the corner and disappeared down the long stretch of road that led to the community center. Streetlights brightened the opposite side of the street, while on the side she walked was dim and vacant. She should have caught a ride with Maylee or Leandro, but in her slowness, she was only half-dressed when they called and invited her to tag along.

"Shorty swing my way, you sure look good to me..." The song trailed into a soft hum as thoughts of Charlie faded out and were replaced with thoughts of Jared creating a fluttery feeling in her stomach. An unexpected friendship was built between them during a study group, and their friendly affections blossomed into a crush for one another. Last Saturday, Jared asked her out to the New Year's Eve party, and even though Jared and Devin were enemies, she accepted. Although, she wondered if she accepted Jared's request so easily because she was tired of being the odd girl without a boyfriend to brag about during trips to the mall. Or did a small piece of her want a certain someone to see and become as jealous as she did watching him prance around like Rodolph with his Mattel Barbie doll?

Deep in her gut, she pondered if this betrayal and dating Leandro in the past were of the same accord? And if so, how could something like this be rectified between her and Devin? Could it be rectified?

Regardless of Devin and Jared's relationship, Jared treated her with respect, and he did not bring up Devin's name when he was around her. As a matter of fact, he never mentioned Devin's name in their conversations, nor the fights they had gotten into in the past. More now than ever, she was curious to know more about their Tyson vs Holyfield beef. Devin never brought it up in conversation, so she hadn't asked him.

A swift chill brushed past her, bringing her back to the bitter present. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up. She stopped on the corner beneath the streetlight and turned around.

A tall figure dressed in a black trench coat and matching stockman hat stood on the opposite corner. He blended in with the darkness, so Trechial squinted, trying to see better details of what she only assumed was a large man.

He pulled down his hat and started walking in her direction. Now, he could be a homely old man on an evening walk but Trechial watched enough scary movies to know that the black person never lived in these types of situations so she would go with her gut feeling and leave. She spun around and jogged to the next corner. "Crap," she whispered, searching her surroundings.

There were no cars or people nearby that she could run to. Her safest bet would be running to Maylee's house since it was the closest, and because there was always somebody home.

She peeked over her shoulder, the man had gained a few yards on her, now on the same stretch of street. Fear twisted her belly into cramps.

Tears pooled in her eyes as she speed-walked down the street to the next corner. A single flickering streetlight offered a brief elimination of shadows, and underneath it, she broke into a skip, then thrust herself into a spring.

The man's running feet clapped the concrete behind her, but the sound of them was buried under her stressed breaths. Panic burned her lungs, her limbs numbing from the buzzing of adrenaline and fear.

HONK HONK...HONK HONK!

A car honk blasted in her ears, and a pair of headlights brightened Trechial's path. The vehicle behind her hummed into a higher gear causing her to whip around and trip over her foot, planting her face into the grass and the rest of her on the cold sidewalk.

She pushed off her trembling arms, inhaling the crisp air.

It was over. Done.

Reluctant tears slid down her cheeks, the sound of grass crunched beneath the man's quick footsteps. A wailing scream lodged itself deep within her larynx as she stared at the pavement, paralyzed by the thought of being dragged into the darkness and hacked into small pieces.

"What are you, a cow?"

A slow stream of smoke escaped between her lips, every muscle in her body relaxing at the sound of Trey's breathless voice. She craned her head up his lanky frame as he hunched over, hands planted on his knees catching his own breath.

Trey extended out a hand to pull her up. "You okay?"

She swatted his gesture away, peeking around him to see down the sidewalk. No one was there.

"Yeah, I think so." An aftershock riddled her body and she shivered. There was no way she imagined the whole thing.

Trey's face crinkled, then he lifted the blazer over his head and revealed a white tee shirt handing the blazer to her.

She shook her head. "Trey, it's thirty degrees out. I'll be fine. You're nothing but skin and bones; put the jacket back on."

He exaggerated a long sigh. "Take the jacket, crone-dome girl."

"Then what will you wear to the party?"

He chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck, a goofy grin growing on him. "Oh, I'm not going."

Trechial took the jack and put it on, pulling it down to her kneecaps. "Why not?"

"Grounded."

"What for?"

"Got caught in a very uncompromising position with big booty Judy last week. And, man, was it worth the month-long punishment."

A swirl of annoyance was fostered within her. How many times did she tell Trey to leave that nasty girl alone? Everyone knew Judy was two-timing Trey with a few of his teammates on the basketball team.

"Come here." Trechial curled a finger at him with a sneer on her face.

He shook his head and stepped back. "Nah, I don't think so. You're kind of reminding me of Chucky after they threw him in the fireplace." His pearly whites flashed her.

"Come here Xavier TreyJohnson." She took off chasing him down the street, the memory of therandom stalker put at the back of her mind.

***