by Jason Zandri
Instinctively, Mark stepped forward and pulled her in and held her. “I know it doesn’t seem it, but things will work out. I’ll do what I can to help.”
“It’s not your place,” Diane said with a sniff, pulling back her head to look up at him.
“It’s the way I am. Let me try to figure some things out,” he said in a voice just above a whisper.
Diane pulled backward just a little but allowed her hands to remain on his arms. “I don’t want to go back there. Tonight and, honestly, ever. You offered to let all of us stay here. Can I, on my own?” Diane paused for a few seconds then continued. “With you?”
Mark was pretty sure what that meant. He’d been fighting for a while some of the things he felt toward Diane, for a number of reasons, none of which he could justify at that moment. His head swam. He barely acknowledged the sounds of the footfalls coming up the stairs. At the last second, he broke Diane’s hold and turned to the door.
Melissa came to the top of the stairs and into the kitchen. Fresh tears flowed. Karen followed her. Matthew wasn’t up yet, but Mark could hear him shutting the lights off around the rec room.
“I guess it’s back there for us,” Melissa said to Diane.
“Mr. Sanford kindly offered for us all to stay, but he won’t maintain the offer without mother’s blessing,” Diane said with ice in her eyes. The words pierced Mark hard. He sucked it up and hoped Diane would understand and forgive him.
“Mr. Sanford is a proper man; he understands the difference between being graceful and helping out, and overstepping his place.” Karen gathered her things. “Someday, when you girls each have your own children to attend to, you’ll better understand. At this point, we’re lucky if Joe lets any of us back in.” Karen turned to Diane. “He doesn’t need to let you back in at all.
You don’t even have a car to sleep in if it came down to that.”
“If it came down to that,” Mark said. “I’d be less of a proper man. I won’t leave any of you without a place to stay.”
“Thank you,” Karen said softly, and returning her tone to a graceful one. “I really do appreciate your kindness and what you’re willing to do. It’s more than Joe does even today. But he’s all we have.”
Matthew entered the kitchen. “I guess you’re going home,” he said to Melissa, ignoring the presence of the adults in the room. Melissa shook her head without responding verbally. “Things will work out,” he said.
“How can you know?” Melissa gasped through her tears.
Matthew looked up at his Dad, almost as if he needed help, but then answered with something his father had told him. “God never gives you more than you can carry. Good people like us …” He waved a finger around in a circle. “Can carry a mountain if we need to.” Matthew reached in and gave Melissa a hug, which caused Diane to become emotional as well.
Melissa leaned into him and said, “Have I ever told you, you’re the nicest boy I’ve ever met?”
“Once or twice.” Matthew grinned, but also tried to be humble about it. He felt self-conscious because everyone was watching.
“I’ll see you in school tomorrow,” she said, letting him go. “Mr.
Sanford, thank you for helping.”
“You’re welcome, anytime.”
Karen headed toward the front door, and Matthew walked with Melissa. Diane stayed back in the kitchen for a moment.
“I don’t want to leave,” she said, stepping back into Mark’s personal space. “For an assortment of justified reasons. At the end of it all, I want to stay for the single most important reason of all.”
“Which is?” Mark asked, curious as to how she would answer.
“Deep down, you want me to stay.”
“What I want and what I should do, are two different things right now.” Mark took a step backward.
“I get a sense of what you feel, and we’re not at work right now. Are you going to tell me to go home? Are you going to tell me you don’t want me to stay?” Diane became upset at his resistance.
“I’m not perfect, believe me. To be blunt, if the circumstance changed even marginally, I would take you right here in the kitchen. That being said, it’s not different. And it’s not that I don’t think you’re a woman worth being with and keeping. Believe me, that’s not it. I guess I just want all the reasons to be the right ones. Would you want to think I was with you out of some sort of pity or because I was alone and wanted the companionship? Or would you rather know I was with you because I wanted you in my life because you added to it, and I just couldn’t imagine my life without you in it?”
Diane started to cry. She sniffed and finally responded, “You’re
right.” She paused for a moment while she gathered her things. “I’m sorry.
What time did you need me in?”
“As soon as you can get there. I have nothing pressing in the morning.
Call me about half an hour before you start walking in.”
“Certainly.” As she walked to the door, she heard the car start. She looked out the front door and could see Matthew waving. “She’s taken by him, as much as an eleven-year-old can be.”
“He is too,” Mark replied, touching her shoulder. “Apparently, the Sanford men are completely captivated by the Wakeford / Bancroft girls.”
Diane turned to him and smiled. “I wish you were a little less honorable. I could have used some comforting to know that everything will be all right.”
She touched the door and just before she opened it all the way to step outside, Mark responded, “Everything will be all right. The rest of what you want, if it’s to be, it’ll come in time.”
Diane made her way past Matthew and over to the car. Mark stepped out onto the porch to stand with his son while they pulled away. Melissa looked back out of the rear windshield and waved.
“I heard you tell Diane everything would be all right,” Matthew said, still staring down the street after the car. “Will it?”
“Matthew.” Mark put his hands on his son’s shoulders from behind.
“All you can do, sometimes, is let things happen and be there for the ones you care about. When they slip, you try to catch them to break their fall. It’s a harsh reality, but some people—most, actually—won’t learn or do better by themselves if you’re always there to catch them. It’s hard, especially for those you care about the most, but sometimes they need to have that happen for them to understand.”
Matthew stood in silence for a minute, then finally spoke again. “So what happens if they slip and you can’t be there to break their fall?”
“Then,” Mark said, turning his son toward the front door, “you have to offer your hand and help them back up.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
Late getting to gym class, the coach was already addressing the class as Matthew entered. He stopped abruptly when Matthew came in and changed his tone. “Ah, Sanford. Excellent,” his voice bellowed as the rain pattered against the metal gym doors. “I was just telling everyone how excited I was that it’s raining today, so we can finish the last game of dodgeball in the gym. You were over there on the west side of the gym, and Cafferty was here on this side.”
Matthew looked over at Tim Cafferty, who packed the ball into his palms and had a grin on his face. “Now we’re going to answer that question,”
he said, slamming the ball down on the ground right near Matthew’s feet.
The coach blew his whistle. “Knock that garbage off, Cafferty, or I’ll give Sanford the game right now. You’re good, but I have no issue disqualifying you.” He pointed his finger in Tim’s face.
Matthew made his way to the opposite side of the gym, past the five other balls lined up in the center of the floor. Melissa pumped her fist, offering some encouragement.
“Get him, Matthew! You can do it!” Liz Wellsworth shouted out from a few places over.
Melissa turned her head, annoyed, and then looked back at Matthew, who stood looking at Liz and then back over to her.
> Melissa’s look made Matthew uncomfortable, and he took his place quickly against the far wall. He paced a little to psych himself up for the match.
“I’ll do a quick refresher on the Pond Hill Dodgeball rules while the remaining two combatants stretch and warm up,” the coach said, pacing the floor and scratching the back of his white-haired head with the corner of his clipboard. “In the center of the floor, mid-court, is the red line with the six rubber kick-balls we use for Dodgeball. On each half of the court is a blue line. From the opposite wall, that line is three-quarters across the floor. That’s as far as you can go on foot. Cross that line and you are out.” Once he’d paced all the way to the far end blue line, the coach turned and headed back toward the other one. “Between this blue line and that one, you can be in there from either team. It’s no man’s land. It’s the neutral zone. If you’re hit with the thrown ball or even just tagged by it, you are out. If the ball is
thrown from anywhere on the court and you are hit, you are out. The exceptions are if you are hit above the neck. You will get one warning on head-shots, if they appear to be accidental play, and then you’re out and the opposing player will remain in. Don’t aim for the head.” The coach turned and return paced again. “If you use the ball to deflect another ball, you are safe. To be out by a moving ball, it has to be thrown from an opponent; if their shot hits the wall and then hits you, it does not count. If your opponent catches your thrown ball, you are out. Are we all good on the rules?”
All the kids sitting on the stairs nodded, and then looked on the floor, turning their attention back to Matthew and Tim. The coach turned to the boys. “Gentlemen—LET’S PLAY DODGEBALL!”
The whistle barely blew, and Tim was off like a shot. Matthew initially charged forward to try to get a ball, but he was no match for Tim’s size and speed. Matthew backed himself up against the far wall, getting ready to dodge at least the throws coming. He glanced to his left; he didn’t want to get pegged into the corner and be unable to maneuver.
Tim scooped up three balls to carry, then went for a fourth, but only managed to move it forward on the floor. It rolled slowly toward Matthew in a most a tempting manner.
Tim stopped at three-quarters of the court on the blue line and sent the three balls at Matthew in rapid succession. Matthew was ready. Tim threw high, above the waist, so Matthew moved lower. The first two shots hit the wall above him, one right after the other. Matthew stopped the second one off the ricochet and grabbed it. He used it to deflect the third shot.
Matthew stayed low and moved forward, and was off balance, so his throw to Tim’s feet missed.
Tim moved to the far edge of the floor away from the stairs, trying to scoop up two balls. Matthew ran forward and into the neutral area to grab two balls. While moving toward the stairs, he noticed that Principal Beltmore had come into the room.
“Look out, Matthew!” Liz screamed, jumping to her feet. Matthew turned to see Tim right on top of him. He threw the ball at Tim’s right hand; it missed, but it knocked the extra ball loose. Everyone screamed, thinking Matthew had hit him, but they backed off when the coach’s whistle remained silent.
Tim had to switch the other ball to his throwing hand. Matthew made the first shot with his non-throwing hand, so he pitched it right while back-pedaling away from Tim.
Tim threw his ball just before he would have been hit. The collision of the balls sent them rocketing away. Matthew turned to run forward and nearly collided with the coach. He scooped up one ball and carried it. Tim had grabbed two and pitched them; both shots missed.
Matthew got back into his safe area beyond the three-quarter mark on the court. The only way Tim could get him in that zone was to throw the ball.
Tim threw pitch after pitch and Matthew dodged or deflected each throw. Some of the shots went back to Tim, and he recovered the ball and immediately released it, trying to wear Matthew down. Matthew would take a stray shot or two, but being on the defensive kept him from moving around much.
The kids cheered Matthew on. They’d like to see nothing more than Tim knocked out of his spot as Dodgeball Champion. Melissa looked at Matthew with a worried frown that would occasionally change to annoyance when Liz yelled Matthew’s name extremely loud.
Matthew became tired and desperate. After one series of throws, he pushed off the wall and ran toward the neutral zone. Tim whipped two balls; both missed, and they bounced off the stairs where the class sat, with one rolling up into the cafeteria and out of play.
Matthew scooped up a ball, turned, jumped and threw it back at Tim.
At the release of the ball he saw two more coming at him from Tim, so he tried to pull his legs up in midair.
The first ball hit his leg just barely, but it was enough to make a sound. Tim’s second shot hit Matthew square in the face as Matthew’s shot hit Tim in the shoulder after the fact.
Matthew hit the ground hard. His whole face stung, and he put both hands up, tucked, and rolled over. Warm blood covered his hands. My nose is bleeding, he thought. The coach’s whistle stopped the game.
Tim didn’t move from where he stood, but he did look up at the Principal, who threw his thumb over his shoulder, signaling Tim to go sit in the office. Resigned to his fate, he glanced over at Matthew on the floor and
walked away. Liz and Melissa both came off the stairs to see Matthew, who still sat on the floor.
“You okay, son?” the coach asked while the Principal escorted Tim out of the gym.
“My nose is bleeding, but other than that and my face hurting, I’m fine,” Matthew answered, talking through his hands.
The coach waved over his helper with the first aid kit, and they got gauze out of it so Matthew could hold it to stem the blood flow. The coach broke open an ice pack and gave it to him for the upper bridge of his nose.
“Can you stand up and walk?” the coach asked after he’d let Matthew sit for a moment.
Matthew eased to his feet with Melissa’s help. Liz was trying to be consoling, but the bloody nose made her squeamish.
“Wellsworth!” the coach called. “Walk with Sanford down to the nurse.”
Melissa flinched as Liz took Matthew by the arm to steady him.
“Matthew, are you okay?”
Matthew looked over at Melissa, slightly embarrassed. He could only imagine how ridiculous he looked with his hands cupped together over his nose. “Well, I’d probably be better if I hadn’t tried to catch that last shot with my face,” he said to Liz while still looking at Melissa.
Despite Melissa’s worry about him being hurt, she giggled at his comment.
“Bancroft!” the coach yelled. “Go have a seat. Wellsworth should be able to find her way to and from the nurse’s office without your help.”
Liz looked at Melissa while holding Matthew’s arm and sneered at her a little. The two of them walked out of the gym together, and Melissa sat back down with Carrie.
***
“You know,” Melissa whispered, plopping herself back down while the coach rattled on about what had happened and sportsmanship, “I’m really beginning to dislike that girl.”
“Who?” Carrie asked. “Liz? Why?”
“I hate how she’s always ‘there’ somehow,” Melissa continued softly.
“I would have helped Matthew to the nurse’s office. I didn’t know it was a race.”
“Well, I hear she likes another boy already,” Carrie said. “Some boy in sixth grade.”
“Why would a sixth grader like a fifth grader?” Melissa asked. “It must be a made up thing. Liz probably started it.”
“I hear it’s true,” Carrie whispered back to her. “Bonnie’s older sister Lisa—her friend Ben, well, his cousin is in Dag, and he said Liz and this guy Brian Baker, they live on the same street, and they go sit on the path between Cardinal Drive and Mariot Circle. Well, they sit off over on that path, on that tree that fell. They go over there to kiss … and well … you know.”
“And what?” Melissa asked.
“Well, you didn’t hear it from me, but Melina said they were kissing and laying down on the ground.”
“GIRLS!” the coach shouted. “If what you’re talking about is that important then let me stop what I’m doing down here so you can let us all know.”
Both girls immediately snapped quiet and motionless like a deer in headlights.
***
Matthew stopped just outside of the nurse’s office. “Thanks,” he said, turning to Liz. “I can go in on my own.”
“A little bloody nose isn’t going to scare me,” Liz said and opened the door for him. “Unless there’s some reason you don’t want me here.”
Matthew felt embarrassed and didn’t answer, but walked in with her.
Liz sat quietly with him while the nurse took all his information and asked what had happened. Liz spoke again when the nurse stepped out. “Matthew, we’re friends, right?” Liz put her hand on his knee.
Matthew looked down his nose to her because he had his head tipped back and the ice pack on it. “Of course.”
“I get the feeling you didn’t want me to walk you here,” she said.
“Did you want Melissa to do it? Is that it?”
“No, of course not. Well, I mean I wouldn’t have minded either of you, you know?” he said, sounding a bit nasally from the pressure applied to his nose.
“Then what is it? Because I’m smart enough to know you like me,”
she said.
All kinds of responses flooded Matthew’s thoughts. He decided to go with the most honest replies. “Well, I know … well, I think Melissa likes me
…”
“She does,” Liz responded.
“Well … okay. Anyway, I also know there’s some sixth grader that you like, and he likes you. Next year, when I’m at Moran and you’re at Dag, the last thing I want to have is a seventh grader from this side of town on my case because I’m talking to the girl he likes.”
