Requiem of Humanity Read online

  3

  Jenda and Soborgne were best friends since they were thirteen. Soborgne’s family moved in next door to Jenda the day before school started. Each girl spied the other at various times during that first day but neither was able to overcome her shyness to approach the other. Jenda sat at her bedroom window looking down at the commotion in the neighbor’s yard. She wondered about the girl that she had seen lounging on a couch that was haphazardly placed in the driveway during the chaos. The family looked nice enough but one could never tell.

  The next day the girls found themselves alone at the bus stop together. Even private school kids had to ride a bus if their parents were certain it would build character. As Jenda approached the stairs of the old church where she would board the big yellow taxi, she saw a wisp of smoke delicately trail from behind one large brick column. Jenda paused for just a second until she registered the bluish swirl as cigarette smoke. Trying not to startle whoever was on the other side, she gave a bit of a cough before she continued to approach.

  Almost at once, she heard a mumbled curse and the loud clap of a boot heel hit the pavement. A half second later, a surprised Soborgne popped from around the pillar trying to look very innocent but not succeeding.

  The girl’s hair was so black that it had a blue tint in the glare of the sun. Her skin was a flawless olive and her deep chocolate eyes were rimmed in coal black liner. Her full lips were painted with what Jenda correctly guessed as the newest shade of MAC lip gloss. However, the most impressive part was that right that minute those lips formed the most perfected “I don’t give a crap” teenage smirk that Jenda had ever seen.

  Jenda quickly cast her eyes downward but could not help admire the other girl’s black motorcycle boots. Shiny black leather covered in zippers, straps, and laces. Jenda was instantly envious and felt dotty in her white and pink Nikes. Trying to recover and just a little scared, Jenda mumbled, “Um…hi. I…uh…like your…boots.”

  Soborgne arched one perfectly sculpted eyebrow and smiled broadly. “Hi! Thanks! I’m Soborgne Jinks but you can call me Sobo. Everyone does.”

  With that, Soborgne pulled a pack of cigarettes from the pocket of her leather jacket and offered one to Jenda. Caught off guard, Jenda politely refused and introduced herself. To say the least, she was overly impressed and still a bit terrified of the spunky girl in front of her.

  Jenda had never seen anyone quite like Sobo in real life. For her age, the girl painted quite a picture. In fact, Sobo looked closer to sixteen than thirteen. Her makeup was exquisite and her black hair hung in a straight sheath to her waist. She leaned back, casually stretching across the stairs, and chattered unselfconsciously. Underneath the heavy leather coat and boots, she wore holey jeans covered in black magic marker doodles and a rock t-shirt featuring a band that Jenda had never even heard of. Jenda felt like a mouse sitting next to Soborgne’s dark, more grown-up beauty.

  Despite the girls’ differences in attitude, looks, and lifestyles, they became great friends. Soon they were joined at the hip. Though Neil and Janine worried about Soborgne being a bad influence, in time they came to love the girl as much as Jenda did. The weeks turned to months and months turned to years. The girls became closer than any two sisters could have been. The unlikely friendship made Neil and Janine think that anyone who Jenda favored became her lifetime friend and alibi.

  It was a beautifully warm day for October and the girls wanted desperately to ditch class and head out to the mall. Instead, Jenda convinced her dearest friend to stay on campus and eat lunch outside under the trees. After all, they each had finals coming up. Sobo probably would not have made it to their senior year if it hadn’t been for Jenda’s mothering.

  Jenda giggled and her pale cheeks flushed crimson red. Soborgne had just suggested that Jenda shouldn’t be embarrassed to explain to her newest boyfriend that she was a virgin and planned to stay that way. Soborgne’s teasing was good-hearted and her smile was genuine as she told Jenda, “Ya know ducky, it’s a good thing you don’t have those horrid freckles the rest of you ginger people are covered in. With all that blushing you do, spots would only make you look like a polka-dotted fire truck.”

  In return, Jenda put a hint of mock accusation in her voice and said, “Well Sobo, not everyone is capable of announcing their sexual intentions, or lack thereof, to the world without batting an eye.”

  It would have been almost convincing if Jenda hadn’t had to duck her head to hide the new shade of red filling her cheeks at the mention of sexual anything.

  The girls’ easy banter continued throughout lunch. Shortly before the bell rang, they stood to brush the fall leaves from their clothes. Both were unaware of the eyes that lingered on them.

  Beautiful in ways that could not be compared, the two girls made an intimidating pair. Jenda with her red curling tresses, large green eyes, and alabaster skin, was dressed chicly in a Ralph Lauren sweater dress that she complemented with the perfect pair of Burberry, peep toe, buckle pumps. Of course, Jenda would never wear a heel over two inches to school. She had styled her mass of ringlets into a messy French twist and left small curls to lie beside her face. Beautiful, classic, and never too daring, Jenda’s style suited her perfectly.

  Next to Jenda, Sobo’s was a more severe beauty. Her long black hair was highlighted with deep plum and pinned in a crazy pile on top. A belt made from beer caps carefully topped off her Alexander Wang dress, and a jacket Jenda had helped her purchase from the local goodwill was the piece de resistance. The twenty-five hundred dollar Christian Louboutin boots she just received this morning hugged her perfectly shaped legs up to the thigh. Soborgne was the only person Jenda knew who could combine shopping at Saks with last week’s kegger and come out of it with a tremendous outfit. Strangely enough, their differences did not conflict but complimented each other.

  The two approached the school giggling over their plans to go out the following Saturday. Just as they reached the building, Soborgne mumbled a curse. Jenda, still too much of a good girl to cuss, looked pointedly at her best friend and asked, “What now, potty mouth?”

  “Don’t start with me, Momma.” Grinning madly, Soborgne knew how badly Jenda hated to be referred to as the mother hen she was. “I left my notes for Mr. Hedrick’s class in my car. I’m gonna run and get ’em. You go ahead.”

  With that, Soborgne turned and began to walk quickly across campus towards student parking. Jenda shrugged, thinking there was no use in both of them being tardy. She called out to Soborgne, “Hurry up, Slowbo!” She headed off towards fifth period still laughing at the obscene gesture that Soborgne had thrown over her shoulder at Jenda’s play on her nickname.

  Ten minutes later, Soborgne was still not back. Mr. Hedrick was into full boring mode as he lectured in a completely monotone voice about the importance of warriors in a matriarchal society. To Jenda his pinched face said he would rather be lecturing about anything but women leading a society. In her own head, she grumbled about what a stuck-up old nitwit he was.

  Slipping her cell phone from her purse as quietly as she could, Jenda carefully concealed it between her and the desk. Soborgne must have decided to ditch without her. Thinking her friend probably ran into uber hot bad boy Jeremy Finnel in the parking lot, Jenda sent her a chiding text.

  “U r nvr gona pas if u skip to go smoke wth ubr hoty”

  A few minutes passed with no answer. Jenda fidgeted slightly. Soborgne knew how much she would worry if she did not answer. If Jenda had one negative flaw it was her tendency to worry entirely too much. The girls teased each other constantly about their bad habits but neither would ever purposely cause each other stress. Jenda decided that Soborgne probably did run into Jeremy and that they decided to get into a good make-out session. Of course she wouldn’t know Jenda texted her because her phone was probably still on silent.

  The hour stretched out impossibly long and Mr. Hedrick droned on, oblivious to the misery of his students or maybe he was secretly enjoying it. Finally, the bell
signaled their freedom. The class let out a collective sigh of relief. Jenda hurried from her seat barely pausing to stop and tap Aaron Brown’s head. She tossed “Wake up, Sunshine” over her shoulder as the groggy boy raised his head.

  Aaron was Jenda’s boy of the moment. A sandy haired hunk that played on the football team, Aaron got fair grades and doted on Jenda when they went out. He made a perfect temporary in her life. He was the one who she and Soborgne had been discussing at lunch. It had not come to that yet but Jenda knew that eventually it came to that with all guys. Despite the fact that Jenda thought Aaron was great, he wasn’t the one. She wasn’t saving herself for marriage or anything. She just did not want to be with someone who would be out of her life in less than a month.

  Jenda hurried out of the building swearing under her breath, “If she makes me late again I’ll…I’ll…ooh I’ll break her iPod.”

  When Jenda saw that Soborgne’s black SL550 Benz was still in the student lot she skidded to a stop. The car sat empty in the exact place it had been this morning. If Soborgne had left campus, she wouldn’t have ridden with anyone else. Everyone wanted to take Soborgne’s car. It was a scandalously expensive death trap in Jenda’s opinion but to the snobby, rich kids at Fairview Prep it was a rite of passage even better than their own.

  The car was a legend at school and that was impressive in a prep school full of trust fund kids. It was a seventeenth birthday gift to Soborgne from her stepfather Jim and mother Maria, and it outclassed everyone else’s car by a mile. The sleek black body, chrome trim, and every luxury that money could buy made every boy and half the girls drool. The car was rumored to cost Soborgne’s parents over one hundred thousand dollars.

  Jenda shook her head in disbelief as the first fat raindrop smacked her face. Irritation made her cheeks flare pink. She had been so worried, she had rushed out of school, she was going to be late for her next class, and she was going to get wet for her trouble. Right now Soborgne was probably enjoying herself being the center of attention with Jeremy and his group of lackeys. Meanwhile, Jenda had been gawking at that expensive piece of pompous crap she called a car and worried sick.

  When Jenda finally made it back to class, she was several minutes late and soaked to the bone. As she entered her sixth period English Lit class, she felt like a sopping wet mop. As she took her seat, the always-funny Mr. Todd took the opportunity to make her the class spectacle.

  “Ms. Myer, it’s nice of you to join us. Though I appreciate good hygiene, may I suggest next time you take a shower before school and in the traditional manner.”

  This set the class into a fit of snide comments and giggles. Jenda instantly turned towards Soborgne’s seat, expecting her best friend’s help and prepared to give her a dirty look. Except Soborgne’s seat was empty. A weird shiver ran up Jenda’s spine that she was sure had nothing to do with her sopping wet clothes.

  Luckily, they were watching A Midsummer’s Night Dream in various forms this week. Mr. Todd, despite his habit of drawing attention to the misfortune of his students for a laugh, was a creative and energetic teacher. He felt that in order to properly understand MND and its effect on the literary world, one must see and hear it in a multitude of different media and styles. The line-up for the week included the 1935 film starring Mickey Rooney and James Cagney, the 1968 version directed by Peter Hall, the 1999 film starring Calista Flockhart, and showing today was 2002’s A Midsummer’s Night Rave, complete with magical ecstasy. With an exasperated sigh at the absurdity that this movie could ever relate to Shakespeare, Jenda decided to take advantage of the dark room and Mr. Todd’s rapture in the movie.

  Again, Jenda slyly slid her cell phone out and sent a quick note to Jeremy.

  “U wth Sobo?”

  “No. Y?”

  “Shes not n class”

  “Oh whrs her car?”

  “The lot”

  “Dam Did u try mike”

  “Not yet. TY”

  Jenda gave a mental eye roll. Of course, he would ask where the car was. Did anyone ever care about anything but the car? She pushed her now frizzy mane back from her face where it had fallen from its graceful style. Trying hard not to over react, Jenda searched for Mike Bower’s number. The conversation went almost the same as it had with Jeremy. This time a different name came at the end. Why did Soborgne have to be so darn popular?

  This continued for the next hour. The last text sent Jenda over the edge. She had sent it to one of Soborgne’s friends that went to public school. The girl actually asked, “Did u ask Jenda?”

  Furious, Jenda responded with a curt, “This is Jenda. Ty.”

  Jenda decided she would call Soborgne’s mom between classes. Sobo could be irresponsible and she did her fair share of ditching but this was not like her. Jenda hated to admit it but there was something seriously wrong. Soborgne wouldn’t have left her car in the lot. She wouldn’t have left Jenda to worry. No, something was terribly wrong.

  “Hi Mrs. Maria, I was wondering if you picked Sobo up from school today.” Jenda hated to get her best friend in trouble but she felt she had no choice. Besides, Maria Jinks hadn’t the time or the patience for actually punishing her daughter. She would scold Soborgne and threaten to take away the car or the credit cards but she never did.

  Maria laughed, “Don’t tell me she skipped without you, Jenda. The new boy toy must be hot.”

  It actually made Jenda uncomfortable when Soborgne’s mother talked to her as if they were both seventeen. She was a classically beautiful woman who refused to age in either looks or personality.

  “Actually, I’m a little worried about her. She went to her car to get some papers right after lunch and she did not come back. The car is still in the lot and she’s not with any of her other friends, not even Jeremy.” Jenda felt so stupid. Here was proof of her insanity even Soborgne’s mother was not that concerned.

  “Hmmm…The car is in the lot?” The concern Jenda was waiting for was now evident in Maria’s voice.

  “Yes, it’s there.” The car! Seriously? Did no one ever care about anything but that stupid car? It would have been funny if it weren’t for the fact that it was true. That car was only second best to Jenda in Soborgne’s eyes.

  “Jenda, try not to worry. I’m sure she will meet you after school. If you see her tell her to give me a call so I don’t put more lines in my face worrying.”

  “Ok. I will. Thank you, Mrs. Maria.” Jenda sighed and hung up the phone.

  Having gym for seventh period was helpful for once. Jenda was not a sports fanatic but she did fairly well. She did Pilates three times a week to keep in shape and her high energy level made her capable of doing well at anything except basketball. Being vertically challenged did limit your free throw ability. The physical exertion of playing tennis helped take her mind off Soborgne’s disappearance. She played hard and won three sets. Probably the best part was the hot shower afterwards. She had been chilled by the fall rain earlier and the water helped to warm her and ease her frustration and aching muscles.

  Afterwards, Jenda wasted no time in getting dressed. Always prepared, she kept a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt in her gym locker. She quickly donned the modest outfit and pulled a brush through her hair. A simple ponytail was all she needed to keep the wreckage of wet curls from her face and she was ready to go. Grabbing her bag and hustling out of the locker room, she ran right smack into Bridgette Olsen.

  Bridgette was the type of girl that no one liked but everyone worshipped except for Jenda and Soborgne. Soborgne had broken the girl’s nose in sixth grade over some trivial snide remark about Soborgne’s mother. Though Jenda understood the dislike between her friend and this girl, she wished Bridgette would not take every opportunity to make her miserable.

  “Watch it, Carrot Top.” Bridgette snarled like an angry Doberman. “What’s with the outfit, Red? Are you campaigning for National Hobo Queen?”

  Jenda hated to be goaded about her auburn tresses. They weren’t even really what qualified
as ginger or carrot top. Today Jenda did not have time to argue with a snotty cow like Bridgette, so she did the simplest thing she could do to shut her up and get her out of the way.

  In the most sugary sweet voice she could muster Jenda said, “Oh, hi Bridge. If you are looking for a new nose job, Sobo isn’t with me but I’m sure I can manage to help you out. Sobo has been giving me lessons on how to deal with girls like you.”

  Bridgette gasped and her hand unconsciously flew up to her perfectly sculpted nose. Jenda took a step forward trying to look as menacing as possible and Bridgette took a single step back. This gave Jenda the exit she needed. She darted around the girl and headed down the hall and out of the building. She could barely restrain herself from running as she headed to the student lot. She was certain she would find Soborgne sitting on the hood of her car, smiling and talking to half a dozen people. Jenda already knew how it would play out. Soborgne would try to crack a joke about how long it took Jenda to get there and how badly she needed a smoke. Jenda would give her the dirty look she had been planning for English Lit and tell her how worried she was. Then Soborgne would apologize and give her a rundown of whatever crazy stuff she’d been doing. It was always the same with Soborgne, but the girls could forgive each other anything.

  Jenda was one of the first students out of the building and she was the first to hit the west side of the student parking lot. When she turned the corner onto the lot, she froze. A scream lodged in her throat and her eyes bulged. There was red fluid covering the hood of Sobo’s car. No, it wasn’t red, not exactly. It was a rusty color like the old red brick buildings you see downtown. Across the windshield, someone had smeared the red substance into cryptic letters that spelled, “She Will Rise.” Jenda didn’t know how she knew that it was blood but some inner instinct told her that was exactly what it was. She turned to run, trying to find someone to help her. The scream finally broke free from her. It echoed off the school’s brick walls and brought several students running.