Taylor had his right arm fully extended behind him and his other arm hanging uselessly at his side. He thought he had me cornered and as a result, let his guard down, leaving himself totally exposed, naked as a baby bird. Even before he could move his right arm a centimeter forward, I planted my feet firmly into the ground and fired a hard hook that connected with his face. He groaned as my punch forced his head to jerk the right.
Hurriedly following up, I leaned on my toes and stepped into a crushing uppercut to his jaw that elicited a crunching noise. He stumbled back and spat out a bloody tooth that hit the ground and rolled just short of my shoe; I didn’t think he was going to be getting a visit from the tooth fairy anytime soon. But despite my brutal combo, he was still standing. I had to end it - now.
So quickly advancing on him, I delivered a straight jab that collapsed his nose, forcing blood to spray all over his shirt. He doubled over with his hands on his nose right after, cursing up a storm in obvious pain.
“You asshole, you broke my nose!” Taylor screeched, sounding like an angry cat that had been thrown in the bathtub.
I exhaled, exhaustion taking over as adrenaline left my body. It made me acutely aware of the pain in my arms now, both limp at my sides like wet noodles. “You wanted this fight, not me.”
“You’re dead!” He unexpectedly reached for his jeans pocket and brandished an army pocketknife.
I froze in horror; was he serious? My stomach churned, and breathing quickened. I didn’t scare easy, but knives were a completely different matter. “Listen, Taylor; you’re not thinking -”
He sped towards me with the lethal weapon raised. I frantically tried to think of a plan to avoid the idiot coming at me with a knife but came up empty and was way too exhausted to run. I might collapse if I even attempted to. Think, you idiot! It was too late; he reached me in no time and slashed the knife sideways. Immediately, I dove to my right and crashed to the ground, small rocks and debris ripping the skin on my forearms as I skidded to a stop.
Streams of blood made their way down my elbows like a lazy river as I cursed; they were on fire. I was forced to look up with shaky vision as Taylor loomed over me, a wild look in his eyes, not that different from a starved animal’s. He’s really going to kill me. A sudden explosion of pain in my chest made me gasp and clutch at it. I tried to take a deep breath, but my lungs were completely devoid of air. How pathetic, I must be the first person to die before actually getting killed.
Taylor let out a prehistoric cry as he brought the knife down towards my head. I threw up a hand at the last second and felt the blade separate the skin on my palm in hot, white pain. If I could curse, I would’ve shamed a sailor, but was still gasping for air. Blood from my hand fell to the ground to mix with the dirt and grime; that was my last stand. You win, you asshole.
I was on my knees awaiting execution and gazed past Taylor to the sky; it was a clear, hazy blue with full and vibrant clouds. I guess it was a beautiful day to die as any. My last thought of my family, I let my eyelids fall.
“Die!”
I broke my wrist once when I was twelve, and it had been bad enough to require surgery. If you’d ever been sedated, you’re you, but not you. Sort of like an out-of-body experience. You’re conscious of what’s going on, but can’t fully control your actions, similar to a dream. It was the feeling I was experiencing now. A moment later, breath rushed back into my lungs all at once, filling them like two giant balloons. My head then snapped up to see the fast descent of Taylor’s knife a mere foot from my face, the whole scene blurry like I was wearing someone else’s glasses.
Acting on its own, my right arm shot up and grabbed his wrist before the knife reached me. His mouth formed a little ‘o’ in surprise. Hell, I was surprised, too. How in the world was I moving so fast? I squeezed his wrist after and heard a pop. His scream filled my ears as he howled in pain and dropped the army knife on the ground, allowing me to snatch it with my damaged hand and thrust it into his gut. No!
His body flew like a rag doll and hit the ground with a smack a few feet away at the unexpected action. Holy crap. I was in awe at what I’d just done but knew I had to check on Taylor before assuming anything. “Please don't be dead, please don’t be dead, please don’t…” Before that, I opened and closed my undamaged hand, apparently in control of my own body again. What in the hell was that?
I struggled to get to my feet and staggered over to the bigger teen. He had the pocketknife protruding from his gut, and his eyes were wide in shock. My stomach lurched at the sight, and a wave of lightheadedness hit, his unmoving gaze holding me in an accusatory look. You killed me.
“I’m sorry.” My knees buckled and hit the ground. Out of the corner of my eye, something moved, but I was too exhausted to pay it much attention. The world spun soon after, and darkness took over.
Chapter 4 – Hospital
I was awake, my entire body ached and felt completely drained, and an uncomfortable material clung to me, like a dress. My eyes were still closed, so I tried to listen for any noise and heard ‘beeps’ and ‘boops’ that sounded like R2-D2. Where am I? I tried remembering what I’d been doing before and felt immediate pain as a thousand pictures flooded my mind, the R2-D2 sounds getting louder at the same time. Taylor Louis, the fight, a knife, going berserk, Taylor dead, black boots, passing out. Oh god, no, no, no!
That’s right; there was a dead guy because of me. Sure, I was only acting in self-defense, but that didn’t make me feel any better. I had killed a breathing, living human being. My stomach tightened and twisted in disgust. What in the world happened to me during the fight? It felt like something possessed me, as though I’d gone into Hulk mode, minus the green skin. How would I explain this? How could I? I doubt anyone would believe it - I didn’t even know if I did.
Even stranger than that though, if that was possible, was what I saw before passing out. Maybe I was delirious because of the state I’d been in, but I remembered seeing several pairs of black boots from my peripheral vision.
“Nurse!” A voice snapped me out of my thoughts.
Mom.
A door slid open. “What’s wrong, Mrs. Anderson?”
“Look at the monitor; his heart rate is one hundred and seven!”
I tried calming down, causing my heartbeat and the R2-D2 noises to get quieter in tandem, then slowly opened my eyes to see my mother’s worried face to the side, and a female nurse in blue scrubs at the foot of my hospital bed. Behind her were see-through, sliding doors and in the corner of the room was a small toilet and silver sink.
“Mom.” I attempted to say, but it came out as more of a croak.
“Adin!” She cried out, tears already filling her eyes.
“You’re gonna mess up your makeup.”
“Oh, I don’t care about that! I’d hug you right now, but I’m afraid to touch you.” She opted for kissing my forehead.
“How is your head feeling, Adin?” The nurse came around and flashed a light in my eyes with what looked like a small pen.
“Like it got ran over by a bus, a hundred times.”
“The concussion you sustained isn’t serious, but we still have to be cautious.” The woman smiled at me.
Despite joking around, I was scared to death. My eyes darted towards the hospital room door every time someone passed by, me imagining a police officer storming in to haul me off to some prison.
“Thank God you hit a tree and not a bus. I’m so sorry about your friend.” The nurse’s eyebrows furrowed and her lips downturned into a frown.
What? What is she talking about? My friend? I was pretty sure you didn’t stab your friends in the gut. Quickly raising my hand, I looked at it to see there was no cut; no scar from where Taylor had sliced my palm.
“Why are you staring at your hand, honey?” My mom asked.
“Oh... nothing.” Had I dreamed the whole thing?
“Do you remember what happened?” The nurse asked.
“It’s hazy….” I wasn’t sure
what to think.
“You and Taylor Louis were both driving when he lost control and hit a palm tree. It’s so sad; he had such a bright future.” The nurse turned around and picked up something off of a small, bed-side table, then walked over and handed me a newspaper. “They wrote about it in the Maple Hill’s daily paper.”
LOCAL FOOTBALL STAR KILLED.
I read through the article in silence. Apparently, Taylor and I had been hanging out at a party where he’d had too many drinks. The paper had to be fake… Or maybe I was just losing it. “How long was I out?” The fact that there was already an article meant that I’d likely been out for at least a day already
“You were brought into Maple Hill’s Community Hospital yesterday, early afternoon. You faded in and out of consciousness for most of the day. We did basic blood work, and several of the tests came back abnormal, but they were most likely contaminated, so don’t worry, you seem to be doing fine.” The nurse gave a reassuring smile.
I nodded dumbly, unable to speak.
“Okay, I’ll just examine you now, and if everything checks out, you’re free to go home.”
A fight or a car crash, I didn’t know what to think anymore, and to be honest, I didn’t care. I just wanted to get on with my life and even had something to look forward to now; college was within my reach, and nothing was going to get in the way of that.
Chapter 5 - Test
The next couple of months flew by and without me really even realizing; it was suddenly April. My entire attitude towards life had changed in the time - I guess you could call it a New York state of mind. I had a purpose, a goal. And when friends would invite me out on the weekend, I would tell them I’d rather study, which earned me looks like an extra head was growing out my neck. Personally, I thought there were two types of people in life, those who accomplished things and those who ended up going nowhere; I refused to be the latter.
Plus, I planned to make good on my promise to Candace. If I wanted to get into Addison College as an early enrollee, I’d have to pass their summer placement test, which was supposed to be like climbing Mount Everest if you let her tell it. Although, I guess it wasn’t one of the top schools in the entire country for no reason; my work was cut out for me. The whole mess with Taylor Louis still bothered me, no matter how hard I tried to forget the situation.
Being reminded of it didn’t exactly help either as the odd person would still occasionally approach to ask about ‘The Crash.’ In our small town, news like what happened was considered major and wouldn’t go away any time soon. A vibration interrupted me from the math textbook I’d been reading at my desk, which could’ve been written in Chinese for all I understood of it. When was I ever going to need Algebra? If I ever became a politician, I would ban all math that included letters.
Maybe it was because she had no faith in me or really, really wanted me to pass, but a third text came from Candace that hour, reminding me what materials to study.
[Adin:] Ok mom I got it
[Candace:] I am your mom until u pass that placement test.
[Adin:] Well if u would actually let me study mother
[Candace:] Fineee so ungrateful let me know as soon as ur done with the test.
I put my phone down and switched it off, not needing any more distractions. I was finally ready to take the placement test that had been my sole focus for the last two months. My school work suffered but getting into Addison was far more important. And the material Candace recommend paled in comparison to it. Logging onto the Addison college’s website, I took a deep breath. Let’s kick the tests’ ass! A little self-motivation never hurt anyone.
But before I could click the red ‘start test now’ button, someone knocked on my bedroom door. I thought I had clearly put a large ‘do not disturb’ sign on my it. Apparently, people in this house can’t read. “What?” I raised my voice, annoyed. Since I had the attention span of a goldfish, I needed complete focus when studying or taking tests.
“It’s Arena.”
I sighed and reluctantly got up to open the door. “Yes, madam, can I help you?”
“How’s your studying going?”
“Arena, you know I asked you not to bother me today.” I pointed at the bold sign on my door.
“I’m sorry, Adin. I brought you cookies and milk since I thought you might need a break. But I’ll just leave them in the kitchen.”
I looked down and noticed the snacks in her hands for the first time. Geez, I felt like an ass now. Why did I have to have such a thoughtful sister? She turned to leave, but I grabbed her shoulder. “Hey, hey, you’re not going anywhere with those cookies, I’m starving.”
The young girl smiled and handed me the snacks.
“What are you doing later?” I asked with three cookies stuffed in my mouth.
“Nothing, why?”
“I thought I’d take my cute, little sister out for a movie and ice cream.”
“Really!?” Her eyes went wide.
Most of the money we made went straight to bills, and we basically lived paycheck to paycheck, so going out for ice cream and a movie was like going to the Hamptons for us. And to be completely honest, I couldn't afford it, but at least wanted to spend a little quality time with her before I left. She didn’t say it, but I think she’d felt a little lonely while I’d been preoccupied with all my studying.
“Really. Be ready by eight; I don’t want to stay out too late.”
“Okay! I’ll wear my blue dress!”
I laughed at her excitement. “Okay, okay, now get out of here, I have to finish my test.”
She smiled with her teeth showing and skipped back to her room. At first, I was worried about leaving my mother and sister. How would they get by without my part-time jobs? Sure, Addison College would give me a full-ride scholarship, but I needed more than that. To my great relief, Candace informed me that on top of the scholarship, they’d provide monthly living fees for me.
Technically the living expenses were solely for me, but I was definitely going to make use of it to help my family and if I had to live on Ramen Noodles, so be it. After devouring the remaining cookies and downing the milk, I turned my attention back to the placement test. Okay, now it’s really time to kick some ass! I clicked my mouse with enthusiasm; it groaned back in response. Hang in there, buddy. I glanced at the upper left corner of the monitor on my desk, which displayed a timer of approximately three hours, making me whistle.
It was going to be a long test, which made sense. It was covering four subjects, math, English, science, and history. I was solid on all subjects except for math, so I physically cringed seeing it was the first thing up. Might as well get it over with now. The first few questions were actually recognizable, so it immediately made me feel better. Then the test started adding that Chinese text from earlier. Come on; you can do this. Just focus.
After what seemed like a grueling two days, I glanced at the timer. Wow. I was so focused on the math questions and barely noticed the timer wasting away, having spent a third of the time on one subject. I wasn’t too panicked though, knowing it was likely that I would spend far less time on the others. And in short fashion, I worked my way through them and even had ten minutes to spare. I was ready to click ‘submit test’ when I noticed there was an unanswered question. What the heck? I was pretty sure it wasn’t there at the start of the test. Well, whatever.
Clicking it opened a textbox which a simple text; One who knows nothing, can learn nothing.
I stared at it. What kind of inane question was that? And was it even a question or was it supposed to be a statement? I was completely stuck on how to answer it. Can someone learn something if they know nothing? Technically, of course, but if they know nothing, they may not have the tools needed to understand new knowledge. Ugh. Before I could commence pulling my hair out, the text box disappeared. “What the…”
While busy contemplating the strange text, the rest of the time had dwindled away. One question wasn’t going to kill me. Still,
for some reason, it bothered me. Anyway, I was finally done with the grueling placement test, and that's all that mattered. It felt like half my life had been devoted to it. Even normal school work sounded pleasant now. Well, almost. And the convenient thing about online tests was that you received the results immediately.
So, I let out a victory cry at the big, green pass text on my screen. I had promised myself that I wouldn’t fail, no matter what and hadn’t. I hated watching movies or reading stories where the main character’s fate was being pulled or manipulated by some unseen force, and knew it sounded corny, but I was going to control my own destiny, no one else.
“Are you okay? I thought I heard an animal in there.” My sister’s voice sounded behind the door.
Actually happy for distraction now, I jumped up and ran to it with a huge smile. “Nope! Just your college-bound brother.”
“You passed!?” She yelled with even more excitement than me.
“Yup!” I grabbed and spun her around.
“Adin, I'm happy for you, but I'm getting dizzy.”
“Sorry, kinda got too excited,” I gave an apologetic smile, letting go. “To make up for it, I'll get you two bags of popcorn, on top of the ice cream.”
“Two bags, really!?”
“Well, maybe one.” Hey, I wasn't rich.
She suddenly looked down with a sad expression.
“Okay, fine you can get two.”
“It's not that.” She said in a voice that was a little more than a whisper. “I know why you’re being so nice.”
“Hey, I'm always nice.” I put my hands on my hips and frowned.
“Since you passed that means you're leaving in only a couple of weeks.”
I gently put my hand on her head. “I'm not gonna lie, it might be a little different at first, but I promise to Skype and call you as much as I can. And before you know it, you won't even notice I'm gone. You’re the man of the house now.”
Sixty-Seven Salamanders Page 3
