INFILTRATION

JINXABELL

The girl stood on the threshold of the class. She couldn’t have been more than five feet, maybe two inches less. Still, all eyes turned to stare at her, seemingly mesmerized at her appearance.

No one could actually place what it was about her that drew their eyes.

She looked ordinary, what with her short black pageboy hair, the plain black dress she had on that flowed freely and stopped above her knees, and the black rucksack hanging on one shoulder. The only thing that seemed interesting about her was the knee-length boots she had on - they screamed city girl, and she wore them well.

“Look at her boots - those are sixteenth edition Loubotin boots.” A girl enthused.

“A what?” Another girl beside her asked, confused.

“Oh, shhh, she’s coming in.”

They both tried to compose themselves with poker faces, as well as the rest of the other fifteen students in the class, but it was obvious to the girl that she was the perusal of all eyes.

She walked slowly into the classroom, surveying everything, the same way a lion surveys its meal. It was obvious to everyone that this was no small town girl.

“OMG! Who is that?” Sarcasm dripped from the voice of a girl sitting in the middle of the class.

She was the perfect representation of a blonde Barbie. Her long blonde hair was tied in a ponytail and hung down her back, while her pink lips were set in a perfect sneer. Her baby blues carried no warmth as she stared in contempt at the new girl who was currently making her way towards her. As the new girl stopped in front of her, she arched a brow and speared her with a look.

“Thought you’d never ask.” Her hand sailed in the air, made a swirling motion and then settled at her hip. “I’m Jinxabell but you can call me Jinx, happy to meet you.”

The whole demeanor of the girl sitting down, changed, and a smile replaced the sneer on her lips. She seemed to be suddenly entranced by the new girl and immediately stood from her seat. “You are welcome to sit here, Jinx, I’ll go sit at the back.”

Taking her books and bag which were slung across the chair, she walked to the back and sat down on an empty seat.

Mouths hung open as they watched the whole thing play out. Even the teacher, who was still standing at the door, was no exception. It took a few seconds for her to speak.

“Well now, that’s very . . . welcoming of you, Hailey..” She indicated to the blonde girl who had given up her seat at the back and who was smiling from ear to ear.

The teacher walked to the front of the class, noticing all the students seemed to be talking all at once. She clapped her hands to get everyone’s attention, but they didn’t seem to take notice.

She took out a whistle from her top pocket jacket and put it to use. Almost immediately, everyone quieted down and faced her.

“If you are all quite finished with your babble, I would like to introduce the new addition to the class - Jinxabell Glover.”

Gasps were immediately released, and the students took up speaking all at once again. The teacher allowed them for a few seconds but then clapped her hands once and they all fell silent.

A boy with red hair and freckles stood and c****d his head to the side. “Do you mean to tell us she’s the daughter of the old rich dude who just got killed? Thought he didn’t have kids?”

Silence reigned as the teacher’s mouth fell open. The boy was audacious as well as stupid, she thought. Teenagers! They spew words without even thinking.

“Kendrick, that’s rude, apologize —-“

“That won’t be necessary.” Jinxabell stood and turned to face the boy who was still standing and looking rueful.“Indeed, that old dude, as you put it, was my dad, but I’m glad he’s dead. Oh, come now, guys,” she continued, noticing the shocked looks on their faces. “I’m the bastard child - the daughter he never really wanted. You actually expect me to feel sorry he’s dead?”

She shrugged and sat down amidst gasps from the other members of the class.

“I like her already.” Someone said from behind her.

Jinxabell smiled to herself. This was going better than she anticipated.

The teacher inwardly groaned and rubbed the sides of her head.

It was going to be a long day.

She fished around the inside of her pocket and took out a tiny blue pill. Once she popped it into her mouth, she sighed, already feeling better.

“Alright, everyone , roll call.”

Time slipped by and different teachers came and went, each shocked as well as excited to see the new addition to their class was the offspring of Old Danny gap tooth.

That meant one thing in their dictionary- money.

Treat the daughter well and the favors would continue to roll in. Before Old Danny gap tooth died, he singlehandedly donated money to oversee the renovation of the run-down basketball court.

The players needed it for practice as they were going to face a very formidable team from another town next season. If they won, scholarships were offered to each of them and so it was a very big deal to them.

Apart from that, some other parents tipped the teachers because they felt this could somehow influence them in giving their children good marks.

It worked - mostly.

After classes, the teachers unashamedly crowded round Jinxabell, trying to find out more about her and where she had been all this while.

“I could have sworn your father didn’t have any children.” A formidable woman with fuzzy hair and beady eyes started. “Where have you been all this while, and why appear now when your father’s dead?”

Silence reigned like a thick wet blanket. It obliterated the other noises as all the other teachers fell silent. At first Jinxabell said not a word, choosing to pretend she didn’t hear her, but just as another teacher started to speak, she put a hand up and the teacher fell silent.

Shaking her head, she turned to face the teacher and a solemn look was stamped all over her face. “My father is . . . “ She fiddled with the hem of her dress and her gaze fell to the ground. In a hushed whisper, she continued. “He didn’t want me, he . . .told mother to abort me when he found out he was going to become a daddy, and . . .”

When next she raised her head, everyone could see tears had pooled in her eyes and were threatening to fall. It was obvious her past was a painful one.

“Look what you’ve gone and done, Renda.” A teacher chided the tactless one. She turned to Jinxabell and took her hand in her’s. “Honey, you don’t have to finish the sentence, what you need to do now is head on home so you can get some rest as I know today must have been overwhelming for you.”

That must have been the cue Jinxabell was waiting for, because she nodded sadly and walked away from them, staring forlornly at the ground.

There were whispers in the hallway as she passed other students. Someone even called her name, but she didn’t look up. She walked all the way to Old Danny gap tooth’s house and there at the door, opened it and let herself in.

She walked into the sitting room and flopped into one of the plush beige chairs, exhaling as she did so. A woman sat on one of them, sipping from a China tea cup in one hand while a huge book lay in the other.

Immediately she spotted Jinxabell , she gave a big smile, closed the book with a loud flap, and placed it on the chair beside her. “Well, hello darling, you’re late from school.”

“Well, aren’t you lucky you don’t have to go to school anymore, mother. ” Gone was the somber tone she’d used earlier. She sounded sarcastic and upset.

The woman she called mother, laughed gaily. “Well, when you’re as old as I am with the face and body to match, then, I promise you, you won’t need to go to school anymore. Now stop sulking and tell me how your first day at school as the richest child in this town went.”

“Uh! It was horrible, I felt like an animal in a zoo, everyone seemed to want a piece of me. They kept wanting to know where I’d been all this while seeing as daddy dearest never let on he had a daughter - me.” She made a twisted face and pointed to herself.

Jinxabell’smother sighed. “Well at least you had an exciting day. All I did was sit here by my lonesome self and drink tea all day. You’d find out that our neighbors aren’t very neighbourly at all.” She chuckled and turned to look up at her daughter. “As they should.” And her face took on a somber look. “One thing’s for sure; daddy dearest must have been a very boring old man. All I see in his library are books on demand and supply. So boring!”

It was Jinxabell ’s turn to laugh “Well at least you were entertained, somewhat. Looking on the bright side, I was able to use my wiles on the class champion, Hailey. I put her in her place, I did.”

Jinxabell smiled as she remembered how Hailey had gotten up immediately and walked to her seat at the back.

Her mother stood and walked to the window. She was so caught up in her thoughts, she didn’t hear when Hailey followed her, so she jumped when she suddenly seemed to appear beside her.

“What’s wrong?” Jinxabell ’s eyes seemed to bore into her mother’s. She knew when her mood changed to a more somber one.

All the gaiety seemed to have bled out of her.

Her mother averted her face and shook her head.

“It’s nothing.” She replied, and moved away.

“No, Olivia, it’s not nothing, It’s not nothing at all, please don’t lie to me, tell me what . . . “. And then she stopped talking as she stared in horror at her mother’s hair. “It’s back.”

Her mother quickly pulled the scarf down and it covered the tuft of hair that had been peeking out. “So we’re back to using my name now, are we?” She tried, but failed to inject some humor into her voice.

Jinxabell said nothing except to continue staring in horror at her mother. Olivia, moved to say something, took Jinxabell ’s hand in her’s. “Look, It’s nothing to be worried about. Just a little grey hair; that doesn’t necessarily mean anything.”

Silence reigned as they both stared out the window, each lost in their thoughts, fear resplendent on their faces.