I
turned over and swung, catching Sandy by surprise. The force of my blow
sent him tumbling off the bed onto the floor. But he was up immediately,
and now his eyes flashed.
“Get
out of that bed!”
“What’s
the matter? Can’t you take it?”
“Get
out before I drag you out!”
“I’d
like to see you try.”
Sandy,
now furious, reached to grab my arm and pull me onto the floor. “Get
up!”
“Make
me!”
Sandy
pulled on my arm, and we landed in a heap on the floor. He aimed a
blow at my chin, but I saw it coming and ducked. The blow glanced
off my shoulder, and I threw one of my own, but it didn’t do any damage.
Then Sandy caught me a good one on the mouth, and I fell hard against
the bed, the taste of blood on my lips. Sandy got up, looking worried,
like he wanted to quit, but I lunged head-first and gave him one in
the stomach that made him take notice, and then we were in close,
jabbing and pushing.
We
were going at it, giving blow for blow, when the door swung open and
Dad burst in. He was wearing blue striped pajamas, the top of which
hung open, revealing his pot belly. And his graying brown hair was
standing straight up from his having been asleep. “What the heck is
going on?” he yelled.
We
stopped then, as much from exhaustion as from his arrival. We were
both breathing hard.
“Well?
What’s this all about?”
Sandy
looked at me, but I turned to stare at the wall. I was not going to
take the blame for this one.
“I
started it,” Sandy finally said.
“Why?”
“I—I
don’t know. I’m sorry, Dad. I—I guess I just wasn’t thinking.”
“If
it happens again, you’ll find yourselves in a lot of trouble! Now
get to bed! And if it does happen again, you’d sure better have a
better good reason why!”
He
left, and Mom came in to see if we were hurt.
“I
don’t understand this,” she said in a worried voice. “You boys have
never fought each other. You’ve always been such good friends. I don’t
know what....” Her voice trailed off as she looked sadly at each of
us in turn. But neither of us enlightened her.
When
she had put some stuff on the cut near my mouth and exclaimed about
the scratches—I told her I’d scraped against a rough board at work—and
made sure Sandy was okay, she left, adding as she went out the door,
“Please don’t do anything like this again. Both say you’re sorry and
then forget it. Okay?”
She
shut the door.
I
flung myself onto my bed and turned to face the wall. Sandy came over
and stood beside me. “Shane, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have lost my temper.
If you don’t want to talk to me, that’s your right. And I guess it’s
not up to me to tell you what to do. But I sure wish you’d smarten
up before it’s too late!”
I
lay still.
“You
drive me crazy! How do you think I feel watching you mess up your
life?”
“Shut
up!”
“You
scratched yourself on a board. Give me a break!”
“I
said shut up!”
“I’ll
shut up, all right. I’m sick and tired of trying to help you!”
Sandy
turned off the light and got into bed. I heard him tossing around
for quite a while. I lay still. My mind was the part of me that was
tossing. And it wasn’t finding a comfortable spot either.
I
guess we both got some sleep. Stands to reason. But when I woke up,
Sandy was already studying. Of course, that’s not unusual. He studies
all the time.
Neither
of us spoke. I went to the bathroom. After Mom called us to come for
breakfast, we dressed in silence. At the table, there was little conversation.
On weekends, Dad reads the morning paper. And Mom was only concerned
that we got enough to eat.
When
he was finished eating, Sandy excused himself and went to study. I
knew I had to get out of there because if I didn’t Mom and Dad would
ask why I wasn’t going to work. So I went to the phone and dialed.
Ted’s
dad answered.
“Is
Ted home?”
“Yeah,
who is it?”
“Shane.”
“Ted’s
busy.” The phone went dead.
I
set the receiver down slowly. What on earth was that about? You’d
think Mr. Cummings didn’t want me to talk to Ted! Of course, Ted could
be sick or something, but why wouldn’t he have said so? Or maybe Ted
had been high last night and his dad was mad about it. I spent a few
minutes wondering what could be wrong, but it was a puzzle I couldn’t
solve. I’d talk to Ted later.
I
didn’t want to phone Keith, not after what had happened last night,
and then I realized I didn’t want to call anyone else who’d been there
last night. They’d all have something to say about me and Marietta.
There
was only one other person I could call. I dialed his number, and Ernie
Walker answered the phone.
“It’s
Shane. You working today?”
“Not
till four. Just thinking of going over to the mall. Want to come?”
“Yeah,
I’ll be ready when you get here.”
“Won’t
be long.”
I
was waiting at the front door when Ernie pulled up in his mom’s ancient
Volkswagen. Ernie is okay. I’ve known him a couple of years. He doesn’t
have any really close friends, but he doesn’t seem to worry about
it. He’s just...Ernie. About five-ten. Wears glasses. Not athletic.
Nobody you’d ever notice in a crowd, except maybe if you went by color.
Ernie’s mom is white, but his dad is black. I guess that’s the main
reason he’s on the fringes like me. I find him kind of comfortable
to be around. Like an old pair of sweat pants. He’s maybe the only
person who’s never tried to change me.
“How’d
it go last night?” he asked.
I
groaned. “Don’t talk about it.”
“That
bad?”
“Worse.”
“What
happened?”
“Nothing
important.”
“Have
you talked to Ted?”
“I
just tried to. His old man answered and more or less hung up on me.
What gives?”
“Ted
phoned me this morning. I guess he flunked the math test and old man
Reynolds phoned his dad last night to tell him if Ted doesn’t do some
work in a hurry he’s not going to pass. So Ted’s dad got all fired
up and grounded Ted until his marks are better. And he especially
isn’t to have anything to do with you. It seems you’re a bad influence.”
Ernie glanced sideways to catch my reaction.
I
slumped further down on the seat. “Oh, man. What does he think I do?
Keep his sweet little kid from studying?”
Ernie
laughed. “Neither one of you opens a book if you can help it. Did
you pass the test?”
“Yeah.”
A pause. “I cheated. How about you?”
“You
forget. I studied right after school so I could go out with you guys
that night with a clear conscience. I received the high mark of 68.”
“That’s
nothing. My perfect brother got a near-perfect mark of 97. Of course,
he studies all the time.”
“Somebody
has to get the good marks.”
I
just looked at him.
Soon
we were at the mall, where we bought Cokes. After that, we wandered
around until lunch time. I bought a couple of tapes I’d been wanting.
We had hamburgers, and then went to an arcade. I told Ernie about
my getting fired and Marietta’s dumping me. He didn’t say much. But
he didn’t tell me it was all my fault, like Sandy would have.
At
last, Ernie looked at his watch. “You know it’s nearly four?”
“You
have to go to work now?”
“Yeah.
Mr. Golachi isn’t very happy if we’re late.”
“So
what’ll he do—fire you?”
“Probably
not, but I’m not planning to find out. You coming now?”
“Guess
so. Nothing else to do.”
We
walked out to the car and Ernie dropped me at my house. I went inside
slowly, wondering if Sandy was home. Dad was sitting in the living
room watching TV. He looked up as I came in. “You’re early, aren’t
you? You don’t usually get back from work until after five.”
I
hung up my jacket before answering. “We finished what had to be done.”
“Oh?
That’s unusual.” But he went back to the TV.
I
walked into the kitchen and found Mom making a pudding for supper.
“You’re
early,” she said.
“Yeah,
I know. Where’s Sandy?”
“Upstairs.
He’s studying now because of the game tomorrow.”
I
went upstairs. Sandy was sitting at his desk writing. He didn’t look
up.
I
took off the sweatshirt I had been wearing and got a blue shirt out
of the closet. I could look good if I wanted, too. I put the shirt
on, leaving the top buttons undone. Then I got a gold chain out of
my top drawer.
“You
have a date?” Sandy asked.
“Naw,
I’m getting dressed up for you.”
“You
haven’t forgotten about the English test Monday, have you?”
“How
could I forget when I’ve got you to remind me?”
“Have
you studied?”
“You
worry too much.”
“Yeah?
Well, you don’t worry enough.”
“Says
you.”
“I
heard you cheated on the math test.”
“Who
told you that?”
“Never
mind.”
“Got
your spies following me, have you?”
“You’re
asking for trouble.”
I
forced myself to laugh, “Well, as long as you keep your suspicions
to yourself, I’ll be all right.” I started for the door, then remembered
I had spent most of my money. “By the way, I need some more cash.
Lend me twenty bucks.”
“You
already owe me thirty.”
“So
now I’ll owe you fifty.”
Sandy
slowly shook his head.
“Okay,
if that’s the way you want it, I’ll get the money some other way.”
I let the door slam behind me as I went out.
Downstairs,
I went into the kitchen. I could hear the TV and I assumed both my
parents were watching it. I made a peanut butter sandwich and went
to the phone. Ted and I had planned to go driving tonight, but that
was out. Ernie was at work. Marietta would be with Keith. Not that
I cared. But I had to get out of the house. I looked on the hook for
the keys to my car, but Dad must have put them somewhere else.
Then
I saw Mom’s purse on the counter behind some cans of juice that were
waiting for somebody to take them to the basement. Her set of keys
would be in it. Did I dare take Dad’s car? He and Mom didn’t look
like they were going any place. And if Sandy was going to study all
evening, no one might ever know the car was gone. But it would be
just like Sandy to decide to go for a Coke after his work was done.
And if he told Dad.... I thought hard. There had to be something I
could do. Remembering last night, I reached for the phone book to
look up Janice Hopkin’s number.
Mom
called out, “Who’s in the kitchen?”
“I’m
just phoning somebody,” I called back.
“Haven’t
you got homework to do, like Sandy?”
“I’ve
got most of it done,” I lied. I dialed Janice’s number and waited
impatiently while the phone rang once, twice, three times. Finally,
a female voice answered.
“Janice?”
“I’ll
get her.”
I
waited, clenching and unclenching my fist, until at last she came.
“Hi,
it’s Shane. Remember me?”
“Of
course I remember you. What would you like?”
“I
wondered if you’ve still got the car.”
“Depends
on what I want it for.”
“I
was thinking in terms of pizza and a movie. I’d pick you up, but like
I said, I’ve got a bit of a problem there.”
“Just
a second, okay?”
I
waited, wondering what she was doing. If she had to ask her parents,
they’d likely say no. Then I’d just have to take Dad’s car and worry
about the consequences later.
“Shane?”
“Yeah?”
“I’ll
pick you up in about twenty minutes, if that’s okay.”
“I’ll
be outside.”
“See
you.”
I
finished my sandwich and then tried to figure out how I could get
some money. I had just about decided to make up some excuse when I
remembered Mom’s purse. I opened her wallet. There was a twenty in
it, along with some smaller bills.
I
took the twenty and put the purse back where it had been. It wasn’t
the first time I’d borrowed money from her. And although I figured
she must have wondered, she’d never said anything.
Ten
minutes later, Janice arrived in the station wagon and I got in the
passenger side.
“Where
to?” she asked.
“Golachi’s
pizza place. You know where it is?”
“Sure.”
She drove carefully. “Going to the big game tomorrow?”
I
groaned. “Can’t you find something else to talk about?”
“Sandy’s
playing, isn’t he? How come you don’t play basketball?”
“What
do you want on your pizza?”
The
subject was changed and she didn’t bring up basketball again. We arrived
at the pizza place and I got a large pizza and some pop from Ernie,
who gave me a thumbs-up sign and made a dumb comment about my not
wasting any time finding a nice nurse to take care of my broken heart.
Later,
I directed Janice to a parking spot near the theater. As before, I
came around to open her door.
“Not
so hard this time?” she teased.
“What?”
“Being
driven by me.”
“Don’t
think I’m thrilled about it.”
“Maybe
not, but you’re being very good.”
“Come
on, we’re missing the start of the movie.” I pulled her out.
Inside,
I bought tickets, drinks, and a big box of popcorn. I gave Janice
the box of popcorn to hold, and then settled down with my arm on the
back of her chair. The movie was a detective story with lots of chase
scenes and beautiful women. It was only so-so. I tried to liven it
up by making comments. Once or twice I got dirty looks from other
people, but Janice seemed to think my one-liners were better than
the movie’s dialogue.
When
it was over, we walked slowly back to the car, my arm around her waist.
“Like
it?” I asked, looking down at her.
She
matched her steps to mine and let her head rest against my arm. “I
like being with you.”
“Yeah?”
“Yes.”
At
the car, I took her keys and opened the driver’s door. “Want me to
drive?”
“Giving
up just isn’t in your vocabulary, is it?”
“You’re
chicken.”
She
reached up to put her arms around my neck. “Shane, sweetie, if I were
going to let anybody drive it would be you.”
I
kissed her, and then let her get behind the wheel.