Morningstar: Chapter 6: Bekah’s Rage

 Chapter 6: Bekah’s Rage

 

         

          The one piece of luxury left in my life is my bed and sheets.  I have wonderful warm cotton sheets for winter, which was of course much milder in San Francisco, and deliciously luxurious silk sheets for summer.   I had a wonderful, relaxing, warm, sleep that night.  This had also been my first opportunity to sleep in for a while.  When I awoke, I lay in bed and started to put it all together.  I remember thinking to myself how glad I was for my bed and sheets, a secure place to think through all I had learned over the past few weeks.  I was starting to believe I was getting it all figured out…  When I finally got out of bed and walked into the living room I found my mom and dad reading.   My mom would be working so I would ask my dad to take me to Amanda’s Uncle’s house.

          I remember wondering where T.J. was and then heard him open the fridge as he hollered “do we have milk? Oh, never mind.” 

          ‘‘What an idiot,’ I thought to myself.  Why couldn’t he look first? 

          Refocusing, I said; “Dad,” and after waiting for him to look up, “Amanda’s great uncle is full blooded Native American.  He’s Shoshone and NiMiiPuu, or something like that.  He has a lot of cool traditional things and I think Amanda can go over there with me on Friday.  We don’t have school because of some-kind-of-teacher training.  TJ has school so he’ll be gone all day.  This is really a great educational opportunity, but we would need a ride.  It’s only a few miles out of Hyrum.  Could you take us and then come and get us about four hours later?  This would give you a chance to meet him if you wanted to.”  I had no idea if he had any traditional Native American stuff, but the educational angle seemed to be a good bet knowing my mom and dad.  I also knew my questions wouldn’t take four hours, but I didn’t want my dad to stay and wait.  I wanted to be able to ask questions without either of my parents knowing what was going on or getting involved. 

          “Sure Anna, I’m glad you’re getting to know people,” answered my dad. 

          My mom then added “I am too dear.  Your dad said Amanda is very nice.  He really likes her.  I understand you are going snowmobiling with Beth and Jason Teeples.  I’ve heard great things about their family from our neighbors the Scotts.  I just met them last night when they brought a loaf of fresh home-made bread over.  If your brother hasn’t eaten it all there should still be some in the kitchen.  It's whole wheat sweetened with honey, really good!” 

          I suddenly felt contempt again for this whole place and thought, ‘of course, people who make home-made bread would know the Teeples.’  I answered, “thanks, I’ll go get some breakfast,” and then a little louder so TJ could hear, “if there’s any milk left!”  And with a softer voice said, “then I’ll get my homework finished.”  I’ve always considered myself an exceptionally organized person.  I’ve always taken and kept good notes for school, and now I was taking good notes for the investigation.  I had them organized by who said what and what was confirmed as fact or likely fact and what was not and why.  So far, I didn’t have a lot of facts.  The Lings had disappeared (fact).  Bobby Sekaquaptewa had disappeared (fact).  There had been blood on the carpet (fact).  Most had been matched to Alan Ling (that was likely fact).  Some was from someone else (another likely fact).  Carl Stuki doesn’t like the Teeples and I wasn’t too sure about them either (another fact).  They were too much like those old TV Land shows my dad likes to watch.  One more thing, strange or not, I didn’t like this old house.

~

          The next morning, Monday, as I was opening my locker, Bekah suddenly appeared… enraged.  She looked like she would explode, but was using a quiet, controlled, ANGRY, voice. 

          With her right index finger shaking and pointing at me almost poking my face, she stammered; “you…. piece of!  You betrayed me… You went over to the Teeples after everything we told you and after everything, I’ve done for you.  You could get my mom fired!” 

          Shocked and surprised I kind of stuttered; “I… I was just getting information.  Didn’t say anything about your family.”  Then getting her face right up to mine, Bekah again whispered; “you little piece of crap!” She then disappeared into her group of friends walking through the hall.

          After class I caught up with Amanda and asked, still pretty shaken, “What’s with Bekah?”

          “Oh, she gets that way; but this is a lot worse than usual.  I told her we went to the Teeples.  I knew she didn’t like Beth or her family; but, had no idea she would blow up like this.  That was pretty harsh.  I thought she’d just be mad at me.  Sorry she got so ugly with you.  I really am sorry.”

          “Oh, don’t worry about it.  I’ll get over it.”

          “Bekah can be pretty controlling, and if she can’t control you, she doesn’t like it and can have a hard time controlling herself.  I didn’t know it would be such a big deal for her. I really am sorry…

          She has a group of friends; you’ve met some of them.  They pretty much do what she says.  She’ll be sitting with them at lunch.  They will all look at us and whisper.  If it’s ok, let’s sit with Beth, that will really drive her crazy, besides, we have some things to talk about.  Is that ok?  …  By the way, what did your dad say?  Uncle Charlie said Friday would be fine, he’ll be there all day and we can come by anytime.” 

          I remember thinking to myself; ‘this girl sure can talk once you get to know her,’ “Yes, my dad can take us, and don’t worry about Bekah.”  I was actually starting to like Amanda and remember thinking, ‘Amanda has a lot of moxie.’ 

          “Great!” Amanda almost yelled.  I thought that I might even like her better if she were just a little less enthusiastic.  “I’ll talk with Beth and meet you at lunch.”  By the way, here’s my prediction.  Tomorrow Bekah will be sweet to you again.  If she can’t control you by intimidation, she’ll try to be sweet and if you don’t do what she wants, she’ll try to hurt you.  Not physically; but, … some other way.”  These last comments got me mad.  I didn’t like to be controlled or manipulated.  Maybe, I thought, … I’d go snowmobiling after all.  At lunch it was just as Amanda had predicted. Bekah sat with her group of friends and they all whispered and pointed at Amanda, me, and Beth.  Beth didn’t seem to notice or just didn’t care.  Amanda was facing away from them, but occasionally glanced at them and chuckled quietly.  I was not surprised Amanda was right and wondered if she would be right tomorrow too.  The three of us talked about our plans for Saturday.  Beth’s grandfather would call my dad.  Neither snowmobile was very fast, and the trails were pretty safe, so I was sure my dad would be ok.    Jason would bring Beth, pick Amanda and me up and take us to their grandfather’s house.  Jason would then drive all of us up to the cabin.  Their grandfather had lost one eye and the other didn’t work so well, so didn’t drive any more than he had to.  Jason, Sarah, Max or some other family members would usually drive him where he needed to go. 

          Each snowmobile could easily carry two people and we could switch around.

          Beth added; “grandpa is really great.  He’s been the best grandpa; but lately since his arthritis has gotten worse and since grandma died, he’s been a little cranky, but don’t worry, he really doesn’t mean it.  He really has the biggest heart.” 

          I was actually a little relieved, sounded like there was someone normal in the family. 

          The next morning, as I was leaving my locker Bekah came up to me with a big, and easily recognizable phony smile.  “I’m sorry about yesterday, the Teeples just make me so mad.  After everything they’ve done.  Not just what they did to the Lings, but other things Carl told you, and a lot more you don’t know about.  Anyway, do you want to sit with me and my friends during lunch.” 

          “Sure” I answered with a smile. 

          Bekah’s smile broadened as she said, “Great!”.  She kept smiling as she walked away and turning for a moment said, “See you at lunch.”  She had the almost sinister look of someone who had just gotten their way.  I’ll admit I was a little surprised at how well Amanda had her pegged.  ‘I’ll tell Amanda all about it,’ I thought to myself; but first, I wanted to see what would happen at lunch.  I had my own prediction.  Bekah’s friends would trash Amanda and Beth.  That was an easy prediction.  I knew the game and had played it to perfection in California.  I was even sure I had been much better at it than Bekah could ever hope to be.  I thought about my old school and wondered if there had been anyone who saw through me as well as Amanda could see through Bekah. 

          When I got to the lunchroom Bekah was already there with some of her friends.  She motioned me to join them and introduced me to a couple girls I hadn’t met before.  There was small talk at first about classes and boys, and then the trash talk began just as I knew it would.  There were the usual, jokes, slurs, half-truths, and then just plain ole lies.  They were mostly focused on Amanda, Beth, and another girl I didn’t know by the name of D’Lisa.  Nothing terribly original, same stuff you hear all the time.  There was a lot of giggling, pointing, and sour looks.   They went on for about fifteen minutes before I decided I’d had enough.

          I stood and very forcibly but calmly said: “You girls are so pathetic, predictable and insecure.  You ought to be a little less concerned about someone's religion or the color of their skin and a little more concerned about the color of the clothes you’re wearing and how they match.  Some of us may be wearing Wal-Mart, but at least we can dress ourselves.  Seriously, did you think to look in the mirror before leaving your house?  What some of you are wearing!?, I could go on and on but would have to charge a consulting fee.  My friends were right, there are bigots here, no more than any place else and maybe less than most.   It doesn’t matter if you hate and ridicule someone because of their religion or their race, you’re still a bigot and you’re all a bunch of bigots.  I bet if the Lings were still here, Mia wouldn’t be allowed anywhere near your little klatch.  From what I’ve learned about the Lings, I doubt she’d want to be.”  With that, and amidst some gasps and a “you’ll be sorry, … bitch! ” from Bekah, I knew  they’d come after me for vengeance. I walked away, turning only briefly to ask; “Bekah, is that the best you got?  You probably wouldn’t last 20 minutes in the school I came from.”  As I walked away, I could hear a shrill gasp from Bekah.  It was so predictable it was almost comical.

          Amanda was sitting with D’Lisa, who I was just about to meet.  She grinned and motioned me to join them as I walked away from Bekah and her little group. 

          “I’d ask you how that went,” said Amanda, “but I think most of the cafeteria heard it.  And the whole school will know by the end of the day.” 

          D’Lisa, added with a smile, “I can’t remember anyone talking to them like that.  There’s going to be hell to pay, but from my position, it might just be entertaining.  Good luck.”

          Nodding her head towards the friend she was sitting next to, Amanda said; “This is D’Lisa.  She’s my cousin.  Well, actually she’s my second cousin or something like that; but, as uncle Charlie would say, she’s my sister.”  Amanda grinned as she explained, “Just about everybody related to you is your brother or sister or aunt or uncle or something like that.  Her dad’s from Mexico and her mom’s Shoshone.  She’s probably the reason they were making fun of Mexicans today.  It all just depends on who their target is for the day.” I hadn’t really thought about it; but realized, when Amanda said it, every time I had sat with Bekah and her friends, they trashed somebody.  D’Lisa was just a little heavy and a little ‘bustier’ than Amanda.  Her hair was long and black with no highlights.  She was even prettier than Amanda and was wearing a fairly, but not too large, gold cross necklace.  She had the cutest dimples and probably the biggest genuine smile I’d ever seen.  As we were sitting there, she said “hi” to just about everybody who went by and seemed to know everyone’s name.  She would tease and kid people as they walked by in a friendly way, very different from the kind of teasing from Bekah’s group.  Tom, the guy I’d met on my second day stopped by the table for a couple of minutes but didn’t sit down.

“Hi D’Lisa, how’s it going?”

“I’m good, you?”

“Great! Don’t think I’ve ever heard Bekah’s little group any more gritchy.  You doin OK Anna?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“See ya later…  Amanda, are you headed to class?”

“Yep, OK if I walk you?”

“Sure, let’s go.”

 

          The rest of the week passed pretty much as expected, rumors about me, things written on bathroom walls, stalls, and mirrors, the usual.  I will admit that gluing my locker shut was a bit of a surprise, but I’d seen, and I’m now, sorry to say, done, or rather caused to be done, much worse.  The Vice Principal got wind of the incident in the cafeteria.  No surprise, the whole school probably knew within an hour.  He pulled Bekah’s group into the office one by one, but someone else finally got nailed for the locker gluing.  I wasn’t surprised.   Had I been orchestrating it; I would have gotten a wannabe or some guy that wanted to impress me to do it.  It wouldn’t be anyone from my close group because it would be too easy to pin back on me.  I wouldn’t even have to ask anyone to do it.  All I’d have to do is say how much I hated someone or say something like, ‘wouldn’t it be funny if…’, and leave it to their imagination.  It can be pretty easy to manipulate people if you know how.   I didn’t know if Bekah was that good, but expected, she just might be.  No worries, I was just doing my time in Logan and would be outta here in a couple years.