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stepped over to the side so as not to get trampled by exiting students. She could smell that pungent odor again and his eyes looked tired.
    “What did I miss in class?”
    Jessica felt a twinge of anger.
Why should I tell you when you blew class off to “party” with your friends?
“Not much.”
    “Cool.”
    They stared at each other for a couple of seconds.
    “Do you wanna hang out with us?” He motioned toward his friends. “We’re goin’ over to Alicia’s house and then back to mine.”
    Jessica could not believe what she was hearing. He thinks she wants to party. The thought scared her, and for the first time, she understood what Eddie warned her about.
    “I have to go. I have to watch my little brother until my mother gets home from work.” She felt guilty lying but thought she had no choice in order to get out of the invite with her reputation intact.
    “Sure. Whatever.”
    “See you tomorrow,” she said and walked off before Paul could say good-bye.
    That night in bed, she had two worries about the following day: seeing Paul in homeroom and her father’s return home.

 
    C hapter 6
     
     
    When she’d gotten back from school the day before, she’d seen the Polish cleaning ladies’ van in the driveway—Father was coming home. Before her father’s return, her mother always hired a cleaning crew to ensure perfection. Even though her mother was an immaculate housekeeper, her father could always find something not quite clean enough. And as usual, Jessica’s insides were a frenzy of oppression and turmoil. Life at home was more relaxed when her father was away. Her mother carried out the rules, but not as forcefully. Her mother would never make anyone stand in the corner holding books above their head as punishment for a messy bedroom, although that type of chastisement had not been doled out in a while. Now bedroom doors were removed to ensure no mistakes were made at all. Jessica started to ache about the situation that led to her door being removed.
    It was over the summer. All the neighborhood kids were out playing Ghost in the Graveyard. Even the high schoolers got involved, so they could hide with their sweetheart and make out, or at least that’s what Marilee thought. Jessica would peek from behind the curtain in her bedroom at all the kids. Marilee and Barbara were allowed to play, and sometimes Marilee would sneak over and wave to Jessica, who was at the closed window. One night, trying to impress a boy she liked—according to Marilee—Barbara decided it would be funny to throw rocks at Jessica’s window, trying to get her to come outside. Barbara’s aim was not very good, and she started hitting other parts of the house. When Jessica heard the commotion, she opened the window to see Barbara and some of the neighborhood boys whispering for her to come down because one of the boys liked her. Jessica told them to leave before her father came, but it was too late. The next thing Jessica knew, she was being dragged back into her room by the neck of her nightgown and thrown onto the bed. As soon as Barbara saw Jessica get tugged in she took off, but the boys, who did not catch on as quickly, just stood there. When her father stuck his head out the window, the boys started running in different directions.
    “Step back on my property again you’ll find bullet holes in your heads,” he bellowed.
    Her father yanked the window down, locked it, and then turned toward Jessica, who was hugging her pillow with her knees pulled up to her chest. Her mother dashed in just as her father unleashed a bunch of expletives.
    “Jim, please,” her mother said.
    “She was about to climb down the window and meet a group of boys.”
    Her mother looked at Jessica. “Is this true?”
    She shook her head no as she stuffed in the tears. She would not show them her tears.
    “Bullshit! I will not listen to any more of it.” Her father’s face was contorted and small beads of sweat had built around the edges of