Category: Young Adult/Teen Publisher: Author House
ISBN-10: 1403358079
Type: Fiction
Pages: 131
Copyright: 10/30/2002
Summer on Montebello is a short story set in an inner city neighborhood
It tells of summer love, the experience of good times and struggles between friends. Summer on Montebello expresses what is special about inner city kids, their neighborhoods, youth loyalty and the true meaning of friendship. It paints a vivid picture of the mind of a young man and the struggles he goes through. Summer on Montebello stand alone in one important way. It is one of the few stories writtrn about youths that reveal a rare but dignified protait of their struggles, their untilmate realities, and situations surrounding them. The experience will be felt throught the story. The experience of growing up in an inner city neighborhood and the experiences I had as a teenager give me the qualificaion to share my thoughts with the reader
Excerpt
Summer on Montebello
1
Chapter One
It was a bright and sunny day. The air was crisp. I was walking home from school when Harry met me.
“Ready for a beating?” he asked with a grin on his face. He was referring to a basketball game we planned to play on Friday after school.
“I’ll go easy on you. I promise.”
“Not in your life,” I said. I was determined to beat him at basketball this time. “I’m ready for you this
time.”
Harry laughed. “Hey, don’t forget Friday.” Friday was the last day of school and the beginning of summer vacation. Harry wanted to make sure I didn’t forget.
“And don’t be late.”
“Don’t worry. I won’t be late.”
Harry and I decided to go to school early on Friday for some crazy reason, and he knew how late I could be sometimes. We were best of friends. The first day I moved onto Montebello, he came and introduced himself to me. From then on, we were inseparable.
When we reached his house, Harry waved.
“See you later.”
I waved back. Then I ran up the road to my house.
***
Friday morning, I was up at seven o’clock. The birds were singing and the sun was rising. It was going
to be a terrific day. I sat up in bed thinking. I thought about today and what it would be like. I thought of summer too, and meeting Harry early and beating him at basketball for the first time in my life.
After a while, I stretched both arms and yawned. Then I stood up and walked over to the window. I pushed it up to let fresh air into the room. There was
this stuffy air that I wanted to get out. I stood there by the window for a while, thinking about my life and
how great it was. I thought about my family, too—how wonderful they were to me, and the love they had for me.
While standing by the window, I had lost track of time. I glanced at the clock on the dressing table. It
was eight thirty. I was late for school and late to meet Harry, too. I had forgotten all about Harry and I knew he would be mad at me for not showing up. I dashed out of the room and into the bathroom.
“Rats!” My voice erupted as I slammed the door open.
I squeezed my teeth and let out a hiss, then shut the door behind me. I turned on the water and after a quick
shower, put on clean clothes and went to the kitchen for breakfast. I poured myself a big bowl of raisin bran
and milk, and sat there gulping it down.
Minutes later, Ted staggered into the kitchen. He was making an annoying sound deep down in his throat. I frowned at him because it was getting on my nerves. Swirl marks were on the left side of his face like a truck tire made them. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and sat down next to me. Then he looked inside my bowl.
“What you got there?” asked Ted.
“None of your business,” I said sulkily.
He rolled his eyes. “What’s your problem? Didn’t you get enough sleep?”
I didn’t answer. Instead, I looked the other way and continued eating. He got up and went to get a bowl for himself then returned to the table. He poured in cereal then milk and sat there eating. As soon as I was finished, I put my bowl in the sink. Then I headed for the door.
“Aren’t you late for school?” Ted asked.
“What about you? Aren’t you late too? It’s almost nine. You better hurry.”
“Not this morning. I’ve got somewhere else to go.”
What was so important about that, I wondered as I turned the doorknob. “Later,” I said. Ted signaled and I closed the door behind me.
I flew down Montebello and ended up on Main Street. It was congested. Cars were everywhere. I sped down the sidewalk as fast I could, almost knocking down a few people standing on the sidewalk. When I was about half a mile, someone shouted out my name.
The voice sounded familiar. I stopped then turned around to see who it was. It was Tom Castor, the nerd.
I rolled my eyes. “Good grief!” I didn’t like Tom. He was weird. None of my friends liked him either.
When he got closer, he had a huge smile on his face.
“Why are you smiling?” I asked
“ ’Cause its Friday,” Tom said excitedly. “Don’t you remember?”
I pretended I didn’t. I looked at him with an evil eye. “What about it?”
He didn’t answer. He backed off. I guess he didn’t like the way I was looking at him. The big smile on
Tom’s face slowly disappeared. I walked away. I didn’t have anything more to say to him and I wished he would leave. I was mad because he called my name. I wished it had been someone else.
Tom walked silently behind me for a while. Then he broke his silence.
“What’s bugging you?” he asked.
“Nothing,” I said, still walking. “Stop talking to
me.”
But Tom insisted he should know. He said, “Mom always told me never to stay mad with people.”
After he said that, I heard a noise, like someone was beating on something. I stopped, hesitating to turn around. But then I did. When I turned around, Tom was beating on his chest. He looked like an excited chimp. And he looked so stupid that I almost laughed.
“Hey! Cut that out!” I yelled. “Are you nuts?”
He pushed his lips forward like a spoiled kid. “So what if I am?”
I frowned. “You better quit or else…”
“Or else…?” Tom stopped beating on his chest and challenged me to a fight. He made a fist and showed it to me, but I wasn’t threatened by it. “Don’t push me
Kelvin or you’ll be sorry.” He was shaking his fist at me. “I’ll land you one right in your side.” I pointed my finger straight at him. “I’m not scared
of you.” Then I walked up to him and made a fist too, and attempted to hit him in the face. “I’ll hit you hard.
I will! I’m not playing.”
Tom stood their looking scared but wouldn’t do anything. His breathing got heavier and anger burned in his eyes. I did not back down. I stood my ground. Soon, I relaxed my hand down to my side. I didn’t want to fight Tom. I just wanted him to leave me
alone.
I sighed. “Hey, I’m sorry. I was just playing.”
After a while, Tom relaxed his hand, too. “I shouldn’t talk so much,” he said.
“It’s not that…” I paused. I was thinking of the best way to tell him how I felt about him. “Tom. I have
something to tell you.” I looked him straight in the eyes. “I don’t like you. None of my friends at school
like you either. Well…” I paused again. “You’re kind of a nerd, you know.”
Tom looked surprised. “You don’t like me?” he asked. “Your friends don’t either? What did I do wrong?”
I breathed. “You didn’t do anything wrong. It’s just the way you are. Didn’t you notice how they treated
you at school? Like a disease?” I smiled.
Tom looked sad now.
“Hey. At least you know now,” I said. “Don’t feel bad.”
“But they liked me,” he insisted. “They did.”
“No, they don’t!” I snapped. “You’re a nerd. No one likes you.”
Tom looked like he was about to cry. I stood there, not saying a word. He sniffed. “None of you ever wants to be my friend.” His eyes were engulfed in tears and they ran down his bony cheeks. “You all think you are better than I, don’t you?”
Something turned in my stomach when he said it. I felt sorry for him. I didn’t know why. I just did. I didn’t know what to say to him after he started crying. I thought of something right away. I did not want to ask him, but I had no choice. I wanted to stop him from crying. I hated to see people cry, even nerds.
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