Leaves of a Tree

With the window cracked open, a gust of fall wind swept through the russet, beat-up Chevy Impala stopped at the single stoplight in town. Juniper “June” Evans sat in the back seat while her mother, in the driver’s seat, applied a thick coat of black mascara using the rearview mirror.

“The light turned green,” June said. She stared ahead as the cars behind them honked an impatient cacophony.

“Shit!” Her mom pressed on the gas and the brush swiped over her eyebrow and up her forehead. “Fuck!”

“We don’t swear in this family, Mama,” she said quietly.

“Yeah, I know, June.” Her mother steered with one hand while licking her thumb and wiping away the black streak on her forehead with the other one. “Thanks.”

“Mmhmm . . .” June muttered. As they drove through what little bit of town there was, her eyes drifted from tree to tree and she got caught up in all the leaves, each seemingly deader than the last. They’d faded from yellow, to orange, to red, and then to the final color, to the one that declared their death once and for all: brown.

“Isn’t Lakeview a beautiful town, honey?”

“Sure.”

June learned early on that every small town looked essentially the same: old crumbling buildings, abandoned storefronts, and worn-down houses with peeling paint and too many lawn ornaments.

“You excited for your first day of school?” her mother asked.

She shrugged, then realized her mother couldn’t see that response from the front of the car. “I guess.”

It was June’s second first day of third grade. It was her sixth first day of any grade overall. Her mom liked moving, seeing new places. The last place had been good. June was happy with her friends, teachers, and house. They’d been there for the longest time, and she’d finally settled in when her mom decided to pick up and go again. This time they were back in her mom’s hometown after her most recent relationship had failed.

“I’m sure you’ll make a ton of friends. It’s a good school, good people.” She parked the car in a handicap spot illegally, then turned around to face June. “Okay, Junie, we’re here, you ready?”

June shrugged and wrapped her fingers around the handle of her pink butterfly-print backpack and squeezed until her knuckles turned white. She opened the car door and stepped out, throwing her heavy bag over her shoulders as she followed her mom towards the school’s entrance.

“I have a lot of really good memories here, Junie.” Her mom opened the door and smiled. “I think you’ll really like it here.”

They proceeded to the main office, which contained four desks and four women working noisily at them. Along the back wall were two private offices. According to the nameplates, the doors belonged to Vice Principal Romans and Principal Edwards.

“Lord in heaven, Calliope Elizabeth Evans, is that you?” the older woman, who smelled terribly of mothballs, exclaimed as she stood up from the desk closest to the door and eyed June’s mother. “Oh, my goodness, you look as young as ever! How have you been? You know, you just missed your ten-year reunion, honey!”

“Oh yeah, I know, I was out in Nebraska and couldn’t get the time off work. And it’s Callie.”

“Well. isn’t that a dang shame,” the lady said while looking down at June. “This can’t be your little baby from way back when, can it?” She bent over and pulled June closer, examining her face between rough, sweaty palms. “She looks exactly like you did at that age!”

“Yeah, she’s my little clone.” Callie put a hand on June’s shoulder and pulled her away from the lady. “And today’s her first day. Her grandmother came by earlier this week to enroll her, June Evans.”

“Okay, give me one second, Calliope.” The lady’s lips stretched to reveal a crooked smile.

“It’s Callie, Deborah, always has been,” June’s mom said.

“Oh, yes, I remember now,” Deborah said. She nodded, then went to a filing cabinet and searched through it for a moment. She returned a few seconds later with a manila folder in hand. “Oh, well, it looks like we have a Juniper Evans, is that right?”

“Yes, but she goes by June.”

“Alrighty, I’ll note that in her file.” Deborah scribbled something on the side of the folder, then flipped it open and scrawled something else on the tops of the papers inside. “Juniper Evans, such a unique name. Just like her mom.”

“June.”

“Right.” Deborah peered over the papers at June’s mom. “Well, let me go grab the principal. She makes a point of walking every new student to class so they can get a chance to talk a little bit first. Give me one minute, you two.” Deborah disappeared into the principal’s office.

“All right, Junie, I’m going to have to take off for work once they get back.” Her mom licked her fingers and ran them over a few wild hairs falling over June’s eyes. “Your grandma will be here to pick you up after school. You ready?”

“Yeah.” June shrugged. “I guess.”

Her mother bent down in front of her and put her hands on either of her shoulders. “Baby June, you know I love you, right?”

“Yes, Mama.”

“More than what?” She ran her hands over Jane’s tightly pulled back hair, then down her braids.

“More than all the moons and stars, Mama.”

“That’s right, Junie, more than all the moons and stars.” She leaned forward and laid a soft kiss on June’s head before standing back up. “You’re going to love it here.”

Deborah returned, this time with another woman close behind.

“Calliop . . . Callie, June, this is Principal Edwards. She’ll take June off your hands and escort her to her classroom now.” Deborah turned to June. “I hope you have a wonderful first day of third grade here, June.”

“Thanks.” June tugged on her backpack straps while Principal Edwards shook her mom’s hand. As she looked around the room at the yearbooks, the pictures littering the walls and desks, and the filing cabinets filled with all the details of every student’s existence at this school, June couldn’t help but simply want to get this day over with.

“Come on, little lady, let’s get you to your classroom,” Principal Edwards said. She held out a hand for June.

June took her hand reluctantly and waved goodbye to her mother, whose back was already turned as she was more than halfway out the door.

Principal Edwards led June into the hallway and down a lengthy corridor, passing by many rooms along the way. “This is the elementary wing, the only place I should ever find you wandering around, okay?”

“Okay.”

“The middle school wing and the high school wing are further south and are generally off limits.”

The principal looked at June when she didn’t verbally respond, so June nodded her acknowledgment, then continued taking in all the lockers with names plastered on them in various creative ways. Each was decorated differently with colored pictures of cheerleaders and football players and band players.

After about ten questions and general get-to-know-you chit-chat, they stopped in front of an oak door with blue construction paper covering it and colorful handprints sprinkled that reminded June of what she’d imagine unicorn poop would look like, all rainbows and sparkles.

Principal Edwards opened the door and ushered June in. Everyone in the classroom turned around in unison to watch the tall, redheaded girl enter.

The heavy blonde teacher smiled and clapped a quick, loud clap. “Ooh, you must be our new student!”

The principal nodded.

“Juniper Evans, right?” the teacher asked.

June nodded in a quick motion then looked up at Principal Edwards, whose hand was gently lying her shoulder now.

“She goes by June,” Principal Edwards said before turning to June and confirming. “Is that right?”

“Yeah,” June said.

“Well, I’m Ms. Perry, June, and it’s a pleasure to meet you. Now, Juniper, though, that’s an interesting name, do you know where your parents got it?”

June stared blankly at Ms. Perry for a moment, then looked at the class. The kids stared back at her, their eyes taking her in.

“It’s just my mom and me.” She looked from the class to the teacher. “And I’m pretty sure it’s a plant.”

The teacher nodded. Her lips twitched as she said, “Well, yes, dear, it certainly is.” After a few seconds of awkward silence, the principal nodded at Ms. Evans, who promptly gestured to the only open desk in the room. “Well, we have an open spot right up front. Why don’t you go take a seat?”

June looked out at the sea of children and only moved forward a step.

The principal moved her hand to the middle of June’s back and gave her a light push. “Go on now. Take a seat and class will start soon.”

After taking in a deep breath, June took another step forward, and then another, exhaling slowly until she got to her seat.

Class went by slowly. Half an hour in, the teacher put them in small groups and instructed them to work on a science experiment June had done in other classes before where they had to make a lightbulb light up using a potato, a penny, a nail, and a copper wire. After everyone got their potato-light working, they moved on to English, then math, then reading. After lunch, they were let out into the playground for recess.

June wandered around the edges of the playground while tugging at the bands around the ends of her braids. Slowly, she removed them, then worked her fingers through her tight braids. It hurt to loosen them but as soon as her hair was free she rubbed her fingers against her scalp, over and over. It felt like heaven. Like freedom.

“Whatcha doin?” a boy’s voice asked from behind her. She faced the boy with short brown hair and pudgy cheeks who stood half a foot shorter than her. She recognized him from her classroom.

“My braids were too tight,” she said. “So, I took them out.”

“You have a lot of hair.” He teetered from one foot to the other while eyeing her hair. “You look like that one Disney princess.”

“Yeah, I get that a lot.”

“She’s ugly.” He scrunched his face.

“You’re not too cute yourself, Toad.” June turned back around to continue her walk.

“Say that to my face!” the kid shouted at her.

“I would, but then I’d have to bend down to your eye level, and that’s too much work,” June said over her shoulder as she continued walking away.

“Yeah . . . well . . . well, at least I have BOTH parents,” the kid yelled after her.

June stopped and thought about it for a quick second. She could keep walking and ignore the kid and his wrongful assumption. Or . . .

She turned on her heel and stomped over to him, smiling. “Is that so?” she asked.

“Yeah.” He swallowed what little machismo remained. “It is.”

Without halting, she balled up her fist, lifted her hand, and punched the kid in his nose. Just like Ken had taught her. Red liquid spewed from his nose, covering his mouth and dripping down his shirt. He cried out as he reached for his nose and cupped it with both hands.

“You punched me. You’re crazy!” he said, though it came out muffled from between his hands. “You’re gonna pay for that.”

He turned and ran back towards the teacher on duty. Within seconds, June’s name was called and the three of them went to the Principal’s office. The teacher took the boy off to the nurse’s station, leaving June alone with Principal Edwards.

“Take a seat, June,” Principal Edwards said. She gestured to a chair sitting in front of her desk. June sat, looking around the room at the picture frames filled with kids and happy families. “Can you tell me what happened out there on the playground?”

June shrugged. What was there to say?

“We don’t tolerate bullying at this school,” Principal Edwards said.

“Then maybe you should talk to the kid I punched.”

“I will, once he’s back from the nurse’s station and I’ve heard your side of the story. So please, can you tell me what happened on the playground?”

“That kid made fun of my hair, and then he said something about my family.”

Principal Edwards nodded, writing down something a piece of paper. “Okay, I know it might hurt to tell me, but can you tell me exactly what he said?” She looked up at June over the paper and waited.

June looked at the picture on the desk of Principal Edwards with two kids and a woman. “Is that your family?”

“Yes, June, it is,” Principal Edwards said. “And I wouldn’t like it very much if someone said something mean about them, either, so can you please tell me what Todd said?”

“That’s his name?” No wonder she’d thought of a toad when she thought of him.

“Yes.”

“‘At least I have both parents,’ that’s what Todd said to me.”

Principal Edwards nodded, writing some more on the piece of paper.

“Thank you, June.”

June leaned her head back and stared at the ceiling. “Am I going to get in trouble?”

“A little bit, yes. We don’t stand for violence, but June?” June turned her attention back to the woman. “We also don’t stand for bullying. And it sounds like the both of you were bullying a little bit.”

June rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. “What would you have done?”

“Told a grown-up.”

“Yeah, I’m sure.” June forced a smile. “So, do I get to go now?”

“We’re going to have to send you home for the day. You’ll be able to come back to school tomorrow.”

June’s cheeks flushed. “No one can pick me up. My mom and grandma are both working.”

“Then I guess one of them will have to leave work, I’m sorry.” Principal Edwards sighed. “That’s why you need to think about others before you do something rash, June.”

The principal found June’s file and called her mother first, who couldn’t answer. Then her grandmother, who couldn’t leave work.

“There’s a third contact, June. Your father?” the Principal asked, the phone in one hand while she held down the switch hook. “I thought you said it was only you and your mother?”

“It is, mostly. I don’t see Ken often.”

“Ken,” the principal repeated. “Hmm. Okay. Well, I’m going to try call—”

“No, my mom won’t like that.” June leaned forward and said in a quiet voice, “She doesn’t like him.”

“Well, someone needs to come get you, June, and he’s listed as your third emergency contact.”

“Is this an emergency? Can’t I wait in the office until my mom can come get me?”

The principal shifted in her seat and set the phone back on the receiver. “Is there a reason you don’t want to see your father?”

“It’s not that!” June sighed, then sat back in the chair and crossed her arms. “Just call him.”

“Okay.” She picked up the phone and dialed a number. “I’m sure everything will be fine.”

June’s mom was a good mom just as much as her dad was a good dad. But her mom liked to be the only one that took care of June. Even her grandma had limited time with her. It had always been that way: just June and her mom. And for a long time, that had been nice. They’d paint their toenails blue, her mom’s favorite color, so they’d be matching, and they’d go shopping and her mom bought June the best clothes, the ones that made June look like a younger version of her mother. Her mother was her best friend. These days, she was pretty much her only friend.

“Ken Slater?” the principal said into the phone. “Hi, this is Principal Edwards. I’m calling about your daughter, June Evans.”

June listened as the principal rehashed the fight with the kid to her father. She stared at the ceiling. The ceiling tiles were old and brown, and she kept counting them as they spoke on the phone about her.

“Okay, thank you, we’ll see you soon.” Principal Edwards hung up the phone and smiled. “Looks like your father will be here shortly. I’m going to go grab your things from the classroom and I’ll be right back. Sit tight.”

A short while later she returned with June’s bag in tow, and they waited together on the bench in front of the school for June’s father.

Ken pulled up to the fifteen-minute parking spot in front of them and beamed as he got out. It had been a while since June had seen him last, at least six months. It was the last time he’d been able to come out and that time he’d visited them in Nebraska. His blondish-red hair was longer than it had been and he’d grown a beard that was as dark red and thick as the hair atop June’s head.

“Well, hey there, baby girl, you’re so tall!” He bent over and opened his arms to her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and squeezed him tight. “How are you?”

“It’s been a long day,” she said.

“You were only there for half of it before causing trouble.” He ran his hand over her frizzy hair. “Sorry about that,” he said to the principal.

“I think it’ll be okay. June seems like a smart kid. I’m pretty sure this won’t be happening again.”

“It won’t, right, June?”

“Right.” June backed up towards Ken’s blue hatchback. “Can we go now?”

Principal Edwards shared a few quick words with Ken, then he took June’s hand and led her to his car. She jumped in the backseat and buckled up while he got in the front seat.

“First things first, I should go talk to your mom so she knows exactly what’s going on.”

They drove over to the gas station that her mom worked at and he parked the car right in front of the open-windowed storefront.

“Stay in the car. I’m going to go talk to your mother. I’ll be right back,” Ken said, stepping outside. He left the car on with the cold air blasting into the backseat, cooling June’s cheeks.

June watched as he entered the empty gas station. Through the windows, she saw him go to the register. Her mom looked outside at June, and June smiled wanly at her mother while giving her a small wave. Her mother’s face grew red as she walked around the counter to Ken. Her hands flew in the air, and June couldn’t help it, without thinking about it, her hand tugged on the car door handle and before she knew what she was going to say, she was inside the building with the both of her parents screaming at each other.

“You left me, remember?”

“For work! And when I got back you were gone! And now I have to fight to be a part of my daughter’s goddamn life.”

She ran to her mother and pulled on the hem of her shirt as hard as she could.

“Because I can rely on myself better than I can rely on you!”

“You sure know how to rely on my money.”

“Mom,” she yelled over her mother’s much louder voice. She was screaming words at Ken that June had too often heard. Especially in conversations with Ken.

“Do you know what it’s like to go months on end without seeing her?”

“No! Because I’ve never even thought about leaving her side!”

“Mom!” June yelled louder, as loud as her lungs would allow. Her mother barely glanced at her before grabbing June’s shoulders and pulling her close. She continued to tear into Ken like June had never heard before. June pushed back against her mother, trying to get away, but her grasp was too tight. Finally, not knowing what else to do, she slammed her fist into her mother’s stomach and yelled, “CALLIOPE!”

Instantly, her mother let go and stared down at June while holding onto her abdomen. “Juniper Elizabeth Evans!” her mother shouted. “You don’t ever hit people. You already got in trouble once for that today!”

Both her parents were staring at her. “We were talking, Junie,” Ken said. “Please go wait in the car.”

“No, go to the storeroom and wait in there, June.” Her mother glared at Ken. “Don’t tell my daughter what to do.”

“I am her father!” Ken yelled, his arms calmly at his sides as he stepped forward. “She’s my daughter, too.”

“Get out of here.” Calliope raised her hands as she stepped towards him. “She doesn’t even want to see you.”

“MOM!” June pulled on her arm.

“What?” her mother turned her fury back to June.

“I want to go to the park,” she spit out as quickly as she could, then added, “With da—with Ken.”

“With Ken?” Calliope’s gaze shifted from June to Ken, then back. “You think you deserve to go to the park at all, young lady? You’ll be lucky if—”

“Callie, it’s just the park. I’ll take her, she’ll get some energy out of her system, and then we’ll eat dinner and I’ll return her to you, good as new.” He put a hand on June’s shoulder, who backed up to be closer to him. “Give me a couple of damn hours with my daughter. Please.”

“She doesn’t deserve to have fun after she just got into a fight, Ken.”

“She’s a kid. She made a mistake. And he was being an asshole anyway.”

Callie rolled her eyes. “You know what? Fine,” her mother said through tight lips. Turning to Ken, she continued, “Bring her home by seven. A minute later and I’ll call the cops on you.”

“You don’t get off work until seven,” June said, grabbing onto Ken’s hand.

Her mother’s eye twitched visibly. “Seven-fifteen. No later.”

“Of course,” June’s father said, nodding, while opening the door for June. “Whatever you say.”

Without looking back, they exited the gas station and hopped into the car.

Once on the road, and at the single stoplight, June’s father turned to look at her and asked, “How about some ice cream?”

“Strawberry?” June asked.

“That sounds perfect to me.” He smiled and turned back a few seconds before the light turned green.

They drove to the ice cream parlor in Lakeview and got two strawberry cones. After, they drove to the park and sat on the bench in front of the playground to eat their cold, sweet treats.

The sun was out, the sky was light blue and clear, the grass was green, and the trees here were alive and rich with life. It was perfect. Not too hot and not too cold. June’s skin was warm, and for the first time in a while, she felt truly happy as she closed her eyes and leaned back, the cold ice cream melting in her mouth, down the cone, and onto her hand.

“So how was your first day of school?” her dad asked.

She opened her eyes and looked at him, not sure if he was being serious. “Nothing special.”

“That bad, huh?” He failed at holding back a small laugh.

“I punched a kid.”

“You really shouldn’t have done that, honey. In all seriousness, I hope you know that.”

“I know, but he was being an asshole,” she said. She took a bite out of the strawberry ice cream. “He deserved it.

“Don’t say asshole,” her father said, sighing. He took a bite of his ice cream.

“Fine, ass.”

“Don’t say ass either.”

“They’re just words, Dad, and you just used them talking to Mom.”

Her father looked at her and smiled the widest she’d seen in a long time. She nudged her arm into his and smiled back.

“You can use them when you’re older then, June.”

She gazed at the playground and thought about running around and playing. But instead she leaned her head against her dad and looked up to the sky.

“Hey, Dad?”

“Yes?” her father said, still smiling.

“Can you call me Juniper?”

June smiled back at her dad as he laid his hand over hers and squeezed.

“Of course, sweetie.” He paused for a moment and then asked, “Hey, Juniper?”

“Yeah?”

“You know, that was my mother’s name.”