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Authors: Norah McClintock
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Then he pissed off Jojo. I didnât see it, but I heard what happened.
Jojo used to go with a girl named Shana, right up until he got Shana pregnant. He wanted Shana to get rid of the baby. Shanarefused. She told Jojo she was going to have it and raise it and if he didnât like it, that was his problem. Jojo didnât like that. He didnât like anyone making a decision about
his
kid, never mind that he didnât want the kid in the first place. He didnât like Shana, or anyone else for that matter, telling him no when he wanted to hear yes. He particularly didnât like Shana telling him that what she did with her body was none of his business.
So Jojo did what he always did when he didnât care for someoneâs attitudeâhe made life hard for Shana. He called her namesâ slut and whore and worseâwhenever he saw her. He talked about her to his friends. He told them personal stuff about what he and Shana used to do when they were together. He muscled her and, one time, grabbed her breast right out there in the street. When Shana slapped his face for that, he slapped her back five times harder.
Then, one day, while Shana was on the way down the street past his house to get to her own house half a block away, Jojo and his friends surrounded her. There must havebeen six or seven of them. They boxed her in, and Jojo started calling her names and saying how miserable the babyâs life was going to be with her for its mother. The whole time, Shana didnât say a word. That only made Jojo angrier. Finally he shoved her off the curb. Shana had a big belly by then. The baby was only one month away from being born.
Shana would have fallen and hurt herself, and maybe the baby, if it hadnât been for Eden Withrow. Eden was watching Jojo from across the street. When he saw Jojo and his friends circle Shana, he started to cross the street. He got there just in time to grab Shanaâs arm so that she didnât get knocked to the ground.
Jojo didnât like that either. He jumped Eden in an alley that night and beat him good with a crowbar. Eden was rushed by ambulance to the hospital emergency room. Then he was rushed into an operating room. From there he went to intensive care. Heâs still in the hospitalâa different one now, one where they look after people who are never going to be able to make it on their own.
My mother, who knows Ardellâs mother, says that people used to talk to Ardellâs mother about Eden all the time. Then, when they found out that he would probably never wake up from the coma he was in, everyone stopped talking about him. But theyâre talking about him again now, and they all say the same thing. They all say that itâs not right that Jojo only got five years, out in two, for taking away from Eden everything that makes a life worth living.
Ardell has been saying the same thing a lot, ever since we got word that Jojo was coming back. Another thing Ardell has been saying a lot: heâs not afraid of Jojo. And I bet he isnât. First of all, Ardell has hate in his heart, and hate takes the fear out of people and replaces it with a thirst for vengeance. Second, Ardell hasnât been wasting his time. While everyone else has been breathing easier and probably hoping never to set eyes on Jojo again, Ardell has been applying himself to the study of martial arts. Heâs been bulking up too. His muscles are bigger than Jojoâs.
Itâs almost as if Ardell has been wishing the opposite of everyone else. Everyone else wants peace and quiet, which means no Jojo. Ardell, though, heâs hungry. He wants Jojo. He wants him bad, and now that heâs back, Ardell is watching him. Everyone else is steering clear. Theyâre wondering who Jojo will go after. They keep their eyes down, the way people do when they come across a big dog they donât know. They wonât look that dog in the eye because they know the dog will
Jojo used to go with a girl named Shana, right up until he got Shana pregnant. He wanted Shana to get rid of the baby. Shanarefused. She told Jojo she was going to have it and raise it and if he didnât like it, that was his problem. Jojo didnât like that. He didnât like anyone making a decision about
his
kid, never mind that he didnât want the kid in the first place. He didnât like Shana, or anyone else for that matter, telling him no when he wanted to hear yes. He particularly didnât like Shana telling him that what she did with her body was none of his business.
So Jojo did what he always did when he didnât care for someoneâs attitudeâhe made life hard for Shana. He called her namesâ slut and whore and worseâwhenever he saw her. He talked about her to his friends. He told them personal stuff about what he and Shana used to do when they were together. He muscled her and, one time, grabbed her breast right out there in the street. When Shana slapped his face for that, he slapped her back five times harder.
Then, one day, while Shana was on the way down the street past his house to get to her own house half a block away, Jojo and his friends surrounded her. There must havebeen six or seven of them. They boxed her in, and Jojo started calling her names and saying how miserable the babyâs life was going to be with her for its mother. The whole time, Shana didnât say a word. That only made Jojo angrier. Finally he shoved her off the curb. Shana had a big belly by then. The baby was only one month away from being born.
Shana would have fallen and hurt herself, and maybe the baby, if it hadnât been for Eden Withrow. Eden was watching Jojo from across the street. When he saw Jojo and his friends circle Shana, he started to cross the street. He got there just in time to grab Shanaâs arm so that she didnât get knocked to the ground.
Jojo didnât like that either. He jumped Eden in an alley that night and beat him good with a crowbar. Eden was rushed by ambulance to the hospital emergency room. Then he was rushed into an operating room. From there he went to intensive care. Heâs still in the hospitalâa different one now, one where they look after people who are never going to be able to make it on their own.
My mother, who knows Ardellâs mother, says that people used to talk to Ardellâs mother about Eden all the time. Then, when they found out that he would probably never wake up from the coma he was in, everyone stopped talking about him. But theyâre talking about him again now, and they all say the same thing. They all say that itâs not right that Jojo only got five years, out in two, for taking away from Eden everything that makes a life worth living.
Ardell has been saying the same thing a lot, ever since we got word that Jojo was coming back. Another thing Ardell has been saying a lot: heâs not afraid of Jojo. And I bet he isnât. First of all, Ardell has hate in his heart, and hate takes the fear out of people and replaces it with a thirst for vengeance. Second, Ardell hasnât been wasting his time. While everyone else has been breathing easier and probably hoping never to set eyes on Jojo again, Ardell has been applying himself to the study of martial arts. Heâs been bulking up too. His muscles are bigger than Jojoâs.
Itâs almost as if Ardell has been wishing the opposite of everyone else. Everyone else wants peace and quiet, which means no Jojo. Ardell, though, heâs hungry. He wants Jojo. He wants him bad, and now that heâs back, Ardell is watching him. Everyone else is steering clear. Theyâre wondering who Jojo will go after. They keep their eyes down, the way people do when they come across a big dog they donât know. They wonât look that dog in the eye because they know the dog will
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