Page 2 of Always There Bayou
“My grandma makes me,” She sighed. “I don’t wear ‘em all the time, but when I stay with her, she makes me wear ‘em. I hate it.”
“Oh.”
“Why you wear that sweater when it’s missing buttons?” She questioned back. “Do your people make you wear it?”
“No,” I sighed, trying to fight back tears. “My mom bought it for me, and I can’t see her anymore. I miss her, so I wear it a lot. I think my buttons fell off over the years. I don’t care, though. Imma still wear it until I can’t fit it no more.”
Denali nodded. We sat in silence for the rest of the break, but it wasn’t awkward, and for the first time in a long time, I felt at peace.
Cory Tate - December 20th - 12 years old.
It’s been months since that day back in September when Denny and I first met. Ever since then, she has become my best friend. Even though we weren’t in the same class, we made sure to meet up during recess and break time in our usual spot. I wasn’t usually the talking type, but with her, it felt good.
We talked about our favorite things like shows, movies, and music, and we even shared books. I even got her to play basketball with me sometimes. She was really cool, and I loved that she and I were good friends. She’s the best thing about going to this school.
It’s the day before Christmas Break, and I was waiting for Denny at our usual spot. I watched as all of the kids came running outside, craning my neck to see my friend. When I spotted her, she waved at me excitedly before running over. She gave me a big hug after sitting down beside me on the bench. It wasn’t always here, but when my teacher saw that Denny and I spent most of our time over here, she made sure that we had somewhere to sit aside from the grass.
“I have something for you!” Denny says cheerfully.
“What is it?” I asked excitedly.
She smiled brightly and pulled out a bag of buttons and a small sewing kit from her jacket pocket. I was confused, so when she asked me for my sweater, I was hesitant. But she promised that she wasn’t gonna mess it up, and I reluctantly handed it over. For the next twenty minutes, I watched in awe as she sewed on a new set of buttons. She then sewed a small patch on the hole in the left pocket.
“There you go, Corduroy,” Denali chuckled as she helped me back into my sweater. “Good as new!”
“Corduroy?” I asked as I admired the sweater. I could feel my chest start feeling funny again, almost like I wanted to cry and hug her.
“Yeah, like from the book!” Denali nodded excitedly. I nodded as I recalled the story from one of my favorite books from when Iwas younger. I smiled. “You can always count on me to be the Lisa to your Corduroy! That’s what best friends are for, right?”
“We’re best friends?” I asked, shocked once again. I’d never had a best friend. “Really?!”
“Of course!” Denali squealed excitedly. “Denali and Cory against the world! Forever!”
“Forever!” I shouted and we fell out laughing before hugging each other tightly.
2004.
CoryTate-August23rd - 13 years old.
Today is Denny’s birthday, and I wanted to surprise her with a gift, but no matter how hard I tried, the painting didn’t look right. I knew that I didn’t have skills when it came to art, but I wanted to try at least. She was my best friend, and she deserved to receive something pretty…But I couldn’t even give her that.
“This is stupid!” I exclaimed, standing from the table. My sister, Imani, jumped. She’d been sitting beside me, working on her craft. “Sorry, Mani.”
“What’s wrong, Cory?” she asked. “You need some help?”
“No, I want to do this on my own,” I reply, staring down at the mess of art before me. “It’s supposed to be a gift for Denny, but it looks so ugly.”
“It does look ugly,” My brother, Ian, laughs as he comes over to where we are. “Oooh, Denny is gonna hate that for sure!”
“Shut up!” I yell at him, frustrated. My siblings were so annoying at times. “Ugh, whatever! I’m going to play basketball!”
I storm away from the table and push my way through the back door right as someone pulls it. I stumble into them and we tumble to the ground. I was two seconds away from screaming when my eyes landed on Denny wearing a yellow birthday sash. I quickly stood, helping her up and brushing the dirt off her clothes. I noticed that she was wearing cargo shorts and a flannel shirt, and smiled. Last year, she started to dress more comfortably instead of wearing dresses every other day.
“I’m sorry, Denny! Are you okay?”
“Oh, I’m fine, Corduroy,” she replies, a bright smile on her face. “My parents dropped me off to spend the day with you because I told them that’s all I wanted to do. They talked to your parents and are gonna bring a cake back. Chocolate! Our favorite!”
“Nice!” I cheered, pumping my fist up and down.
