Yell Out / Do You

  “I’m sorry,” he said, realizing he took things way too far.

  “I have never been with a boy, that’s all.” I looked away.

  He took his hand, placed it under my chin, and pulled it toward his face. “Don’t turn away.”

  I said, “Leo, I care about you, but I’ve been too reserved to admit it. I just don’t want to be with someone who doesn’t feel the same way. I’m not trying to put pressure on you to say what you think I want to hear. I’ve got too much going on in my life right now to give it up to somebody who doesn’t care.”

  He reached down and grabbed me. My legs automatically wrapped around his waist. He leaned me against the stacks, and we were looking eye to eye.

  He boldly said, “I already told you, you have been in my thoughts. I think you know me well enough now to know that I don’t have time to bullcrap anybody. If I said I like you, I really mean it. I want you to be my girl.”

  At that point I kissed him. His hands were roaming all over my back and even lower. It felt better than I could find words for.

  Dr. Sapp caught us and said, “Ella Blount and Leo Steele, I knew y’all had something going on. And you just got your tails out of ISS.”

  Leo dropped me so hard that I almost fell down. As we stood and looked at Dr. Sapp, I felt that our guilt was obvious. We were sweating. I felt that my undergarment was not dry. And it wasn’t because I’d peed my pants. Leo’s jeans looked extra snug. I realized that Leo made me feel something new, and those feelings were so overwhelming.

  I was so happy that Dr. Sapp only gave us a lecture. The last thing Leo and I needed was any more trouble. When I went outside to get picked up, I frowned when I saw Samantha pulling up.

  Leo snuck behind me and said, “Dang, I didn’t know your mama rolled like that.”

  “That’s not my mom. That’s my wicked, almost stepmother. They roll. We crawl.”

  He laughed and said good-bye. Samantha waved at me like all was right with the world. I desperately wanted to get in the back and play with Evan, but she had his car seat on one side and the empty car seat for the baby on the other. Even though the baby was not born, Samantha was prepared. I did like that about her, and I was trying hard not to hate on the fact that my dad’s little children were going to have everything when my sister and I have struggled for years. I had barely spoken to Samantha before she was dogging me. Now that I knew where I stood with her, there was no need for us to be fake. So I stared out the window.

  “Okay, I owe you an apology,” she said, shocking me.

  I turned to look at her, but I was not going to say, “Yeah you do,” or “Okay, speak.” No, if she wanted to say something else that was on her mind, then that was on her. I was not going to make her job any easier. She was dead wrong.

  “You gotta understand this is just a hectic time in my life right now. I know you overheard me and your dad talking, but I’m getting ready to have this baby, and I’m planning a wedding too. I’m running after a toddler, and I still work. I’d just like to start over with you on a clean slate. Please chalk it up to my crazy hormones and not the fact that I want to have drama with my husband’s daughter.”

  My dad was not her husband yet. I knew the only reason why she was apologizing was because she pissed off my dad. Now she wanted me to be nice.

  “Whatever,” I said, sounding more like Eva.

  How much did one person have to put up with? Actions spoke louder than words. I hope she did not think that I was going to take her little apology at face value.

  “So to prove that I really care,” she said, “I’d like for you to be in my wedding. I know your dad asked you guys, and your sister said no. You’re staying with us, though. Evan adores you. I know it would make your father happy to at least have one of his girls there. So I thought we could go to the mall, look at a couple of dresses … You can choose as long as it’s not too provocative. I don’t want your dad having a fit. Plus I want to pick up a couple of baby items. We can get something to eat and just bond if that’s okay.”

  Earlier, my dad had given me a couple of dollars. To be able to go into my favorite stores and grab a cute outfit for school so I’d look nice for Leo was on the top of my mind. Certainly, I did want to try to see if this thing with Samantha could work out, if only for my father’s sake. So I agreed to go.

  When we got to the mall, the first person we saw was Eva. She was flirting with two guys. She basically thought it was cool to have their hands all over her. It was a public place, and she was just inappropriate.

  “Is that your twin? Is that Eva? Oh my. I am so glad that girl is not the one at my house; she is way too mature. Can’t wait to tell your dad about her,” Samantha said.

  Though I was so mad at Eva, I did not want Samantha to talk about her like that. Samantha was saying the same things I was thinking; however, it was not her place to say them. My sister was so into her world she did not even notice us. I did not respond to Samantha talking about Eva, and she finally got the point that I was not cool with her innuendos.

  Going to the dress shop was a whole separate dilemma. Every dress Samantha liked, I thought was hideous. Every dress that I wanted to wear, she thought was too skimpy. It wasn’t that she didn’t want me to look cute, we just had different tastes. Finally, we found a dress we both liked.

  “Toys, Mommy, toys,” Evan begged.

  “Ella, I need to go to the restroom. This baby is pressing down on my bladder. Could you please take Evan over to the toy store across the way? I’ll be right over there. Then we can eat and go.”

  “Sure, no problem,” I said, knowing that the only thing I wanted to do was buy me an outfit and then dip into the Body Shop.

  Before I could browse, my sister came out of the dressing room. “Look at you,” my sister sassed. “Did Dad give you some money to buy your affection, and now you’re here to spend it up?”

  “At least I’m not selling my body for money,” I said to her, truly believing that was not true, but wanting her to understand where I was coming from.

  “You want me to give little man here a show?” she teased.

  “Ugh, you make me sick,” I said, turning Evan around. “Why you gotta take money from those gangbangers? You know they’re gonna want you to put out for real, Eva.”

  “Ella, you moved out. You’re breaking Mama’s heart, and you gonna tell me what’s right about what’s wrong? She thinks she not good enough. You gonna try to go and live uptown? You tryna eat off the china? It’s already a slap in her face that Dad has a whole other family, and now you are a part of it.”

  “Please, whatever I do is not as devastating to her as what you’re doing. You don’t understand. I’m one less mouth for her to feed right now.”

  Eva said, “Justify it any way you want.”

  “You know what? I don’t even know why I’m here talking to you.”

  “Exactly, let me shop for you. Here’s a perfect little dress that covers up everything.”

  “You know what? Get out of my face, Eva,” I said, pushing her and turning around.

  “Evan, come on. Let’s go.” I looked around the couple of racks, and I did not see my brother there. “Evan? Evan!” I asked the salesperson, “Have you seen a little boy? About three years old with a jeans jumper on and some cute red Converse?”

  “Uh-uh,” the lazy salesperson replied.

  At that point I felt like I was going to pass out. I had no idea where Evan went. I looked all around the store, and he was nowhere.

  I turned to my sister and said, “You gotta help me.”

  I knew she wanted to get smart, but something inside of her would not let her. She said, “All right, come on. We’re gonna find him.”

  When we walked out into the mall, I said, “He wanted the toy store. It’s right down there. Maybe he’s in there.”

  “You gotta calm down,” Eva said in a reassuring voice.

  “How can I calm down? I had the baby and now he’s gone. Oh my gosh!”


  “Let’s just go to the toy store.”

  I got there before Eva because I ran. I bumped straight into Samantha. “Oh great, I was looking for you guys. I’m starving. Did Evan find something he just couldn’t live without … wait … where’s Evan? Ella, where is Evan?

  I stuttered and said, “Um, Evan, uh …”

  “He’s in the back of the store,” my sister said, trying to have my back.

  Samantha asked, “Where’s my son, Ella?”

  I said, “Well, see what happened was—”

  Samantha snapped, “Oh my goodness! You don’t know where he is? Evan! I can’t believe this. I leave you in charge of him for five seconds, and now he’s gone.”

  “Quit over-exaggerating all of this, lady,” Eva said. “He’s here. My sister is sick over this. We just started looking for him. He couldn’t have gotten that far away.”

  Samantha gave my sister a mean glare. She rushed to the information booth and got mall security involved. Next thing you know, police officers were there. My sister and I were still desperately trying to find Evan.

  “I can’t believe you’re helping me,” I said to her. “Thank you.”

  A little later, everything inside of me started to fear the worst. When my dad found out I was the reason that his son was missing, I didn’t know what I was going to do. We were waiting in the mall’s security office when a policeman approached Samantha and said, “We found this shoe. Is it your son’s? It was by the exit.”

  Samantha took one look at it and panicked. When I saw the red Converse, I knew it was Evan’s.

  She screamed, “Oh no!”

  CHAPTER 5

  Solidly Intact

  I tried to keep it together as the police questioned me about exactly where I was when I first noticed that Evan was gone. Three different officers asked me the same questions. I guess they wanted to see if they could shake me. The thing was, I did not understand why they were being so mean to me. I did not want this to happen. I guess they were trying to find motive because one officer grilled me and asked if I was excited when I found out my dad was having another child with someone else.

  Trying to stay calm but being honest, I answered, “No.”

  “So inwardly you were ecstatic when your stepmother asked you to watch him, because if he got lost it would be one less problem you’d have to deal with,” the officer prodded.

  “Okay, sir, you’re twisting everything around. First of all, she’s not my stepmother yet. And second, I’ve grown to love Evan. Just because I wasn’t overjoyed to find out he was on the way doesn’t mean I’m not grateful he’s here. Why are you sitting here talking to me about nothing, sir? You are wasting time not looking for him.”

  “Oh, there are people looking for him.”

  My attention got diverted when I heard Samantha call out, “Calvin.”

  My dad was here. This was real. I had lost my little brother.

  Samantha pointed in my direction, “He was with your daughter. I just went to the restroom. I asked her to take him to the toy store. When I got to the toy store, I couldn’t find them. I started walking back to the entrance when I saw Ella running toward me. I realized right away that Evan wasn’t with her. Then Eva walked in and tried to tell me that Evan was at the back of the store. Calvin, I’m so scared. He’s gone, and your fast-tail daughter told me some lie.”

  I looked over at my sister talking to another officer. I could see in her eyes that she was devastated. Hearing this lady belittle her and not having her father defend her was very hurtful.

  I felt the way Eva felt times two. Listening to Samantha bash me cut to the core of my heart, but I couldn’t be offended. I had lost her son. If something happened to him, I would never forgive myself.

  “You told me to trust her. You told me to give her a chance. I was trying and look where it got me. My baby’s gone!” She hit my father in his chest.

  “Ma’am, ma’am, we need you to give us a detailed description of what your son looks like,” the policeman said to Samantha. “Do you have a photo on your cell phone?”

  My dad came over to me. I was ready for him to bite my head off, but I guess he could see I’d already beaten myself up. So he just held me. It was the first time in years I’d ever had my dad comfort me when I was frightened.

  “It’s going to be okay, Ella. We will find him.” Then I pulled away, realizing I did not deserve his kindness or support. He might not ever see his son again because of me. My irresponsibility was unacceptable.

  I said, “Samantha is right. She did trust me. Dad, I was fussing with Eva. I wasn’t paying attention to him. I wasn’t taking care of Evan the way I should have been. He was pulling on my leg. I knew he wanted to go to the toy store, but I wanted to get an outfit. Oh, Dad, it’s all my fault. You should hate me.”

  “I’m not saying you shouldn’t have been more responsible, Ella, but that boy is definitely my son. Every five minutes he is running off somewhere. Last week she lost him in the grocery store. Two weeks before that he ran away from me at the park. As parents, she and I are going to have to tell him he cannot just go where he wants to. She should have told you to watch, watch, watch him.”

  “Don’t blame Samantha, Daddy.”

  “I’m not blaming her solely. But we all need to share some of the fault. It’s not just on you. Right now we need to hope and pray all will be okay. We must stay calm and let the police do their job.”

  I hugged him so tight. Suddenly, we heard the best sound we could hear.

  “Mommy,” my little brother screamed, wriggling out of the policeman’s grasp and running toward his mother’s open arms.

  I was so happy everything was going to be all right. Evan was back, and it appeared he didn’t have a scratch on him. He was only missing a shoe. What a blessing.

  Then I saw two cops bringing a big guy into the mall’s security office. My heart sank as I realized it was Leo. What was going on?

  One cop said to the sergeant, “We caught this man in the parking lot attempting to leave the mall with the boy.”

  Leo defended, “I was not leaving. I was going to my friend’s car to get my cell phone.”

  I rushed over to them and said, “Leo, you had Evan?”

  “Yeah, I was in the mall. He was crying and looking for you guys. He remembered who I was, and I told him we’d search for you. When I couldn’t find you, I knew I needed to call. I left my phone in Amir’s car. I couldn’t find him either, so I was hoping the car was unlocked. Lil’ man and I were headed to the car when these cops just seized me,” Leo explained.

  “Could you let him go?” I cried.

  My dad came over to the sergeant and said, “Sir, I think there must be some mistake. We know this young man.”

  “No, we have to take him down. You are not able to leave the premises with a child,” he stated to Leo. “This boy is not yours. You could have taken the little boy to mall security or used a store phone to call the cops.”

  I said, “He wasn’t going to do anything to hurt Evan.”

  My dad helped me by saying, “Yes, sir, I can vouch for this young man. He’s a football player up at Lockwood High School.”

  “I don’t care if he plays for the Falcons,” the stern officer preached to my dad.

  “He wasn’t gonna hurt Evan. Didn’t you just hear him say he was tying to call me? Evan was comfortable with him. He just told you he calmed him down,” I said.

  A policeman stepped in front of his sergeant and said, “That’s how kids get lured to go with an abductor. It’s someone they know. It’s someone to keep them calm and not make them think anything is wrong. It’s someone they like. To take a child off the premises is a crime.”

  Leo voiced in frustration, “Whatever! Just do what you gotta do.”

  “No!” I shouted. “I know he wouldn’t hurt him.”

  The sergeant finally started listening. “How do you know that, ma’am?”

  Laying it all on the line, I said, “Because this guy yo
u wrongfully have in handcuffs is my boyfriend!”

  “Sir, is that true?” the sergeant asked my father. “Were you aware of this? And if so, are you comfortable with your daughter’s boyfriend having your son?”

  My father paused. He looked at me and could see Leo had my heart. My dad looked at Leo and could tell Leo truly cared about me too. He looked over and smiled when he saw his happy son in one piece. He looked back at the officer and said, “Honestly, I’m completely fine with my daughter’s boyfriend being with my son. No problem here, sir.”

  “Just remember,” the cop said, uncuffing Leo, “it is not okay to remove a child from this site when they are not directly in your care.”

  Leo rubbed his wrists and humbly said, “Thanks. I gotcha.”

  I hugged him, and we both went over and watched Evan wipe the tears from his mom’s eyes. Not having a clue about how worried we all had been, my brother was laughing. My dad told him how scared we were and how important it was for him to never wander away from us again.

  “Your boyfriend?” Leo whispered in my ear.

  “Yeah, your boyfriend?” my dad asked, coming between the two of us. “Thank you, though, for keeping my boy safe. Take care of my daughter so I won’t have to hurt you.”

  “Yes, sir,” Leo replied as they slapped hands.

  All was now really right with the world. I’m not saying going through all that was worth it, but in the end Leo became my guy, so it was definitely a nice reward.

  I looked around to thank Eva, but she was gone. I wondered what that was about. However, I was too happy to get upset.

  It had only been a couple days since the mall incident. Although in the end things with Evan turned out right, I sensed in Samantha’s mind things were still drastically wrong. My dad had already gone to work. She was taking me to school.

  On the car ride over when Evan fell asleep, she said, “You know you’re not a little girl. As much as your dad would like to try and make up for the time you guys missed, those days are gone. I’m sure you’ll agree.” I said nothing. “You don’t have to respond,” Samantha said firmly.