Warp Speed (9780545543422)

by Yee, Lisa

  Digger expects me to apologize to him?

  I can feel the anger rising from my belly. I clench my fists and when I finally speak, I roar. “WHAT? What did you say? You’re the slime who’s been cheating off of me all this time. You’re the one who owes me an apology!”

  For a split second Digger looks shocked. He quickly composes himself. “Apologize to me, or else.”

  “Or else what?” I spit back at him.

  “Or else this,” he says, making a fist.

  “Go ahead,” I tell him. “Hit me. Hit me and you’ll be the one who’s sorry. Sorry that you’re so stupid you can’t even pass a class without cheating. That’s what you are, Digger, a cheater. I wonder how your almighty dad would feel about that? Or is he too busy putting people out of business to notice?”

  BAM!

  I raise my hand to my jaw. It’s throbbing. Digger’s holding both fists up, ready to strike again.

  I am about to run away, when suddenly something inside me snaps.

  No. No more. I won’t take this anymore.

  I turn around and swing hard. I miss the first time, but land the second blow. This time it’s his turn to be stunned.

  “You hit me!” he cries. He touches his cheek, as if to check if it’s still there.

  “Yeah, and I’ll do it again,” I shout.

  Suddenly, we’re pushing and shoving and hitting. We don’t land every punch, but the ones that do hurt.

  I hate Digger.

  I hate Digger.

  I hate Digger.

  I want to hurt him. I want to hurt him so bad that I don’t care what happens to me. I just want to hurt him.

  Suddenly, a big car screeches to a halt. Digger and I both freeze. A man storms out of the car. He looks angry. The color drains from Digger’s face. He doesn’t look mad anymore. Digger looks scared.

  I know the man from somewhere, but I can’t place him. He’s got ice blue eyes and a reddish mustache. “Get over here!” he yells.

  Stunned, I head toward him, until I realize he’s not talking to me.

  Like a robot, Digger walks toward him. The man grabs Digger’s collar. “What did I tell you about fighting?” he screams. His face is less than an inch from Digger’s. The man is scary … insane scary. That’s when I recognize him. He’s Ron Ronster of Ronster’s Monster RVs, the guy who’ll “do anything to make a deal with you!” in the television commercials.

  “But Dad,” Digger starts to plead. “He … he …”

  “I don’t care what he did. You follow my rules, do you understand?”

  “But Dad —”

  “What? Are you having problems remembering what I say? Well, maybe this will help.”

  In one move, Digger’s dad pulls his arm back and makes a fist. He hits Digger so hard I can feel it. Instinctively, I put my hands over my nose, only it’s not bleeding like Digger’s is.

  As Digger lays on the ground, his father shouts, “You can’t do anything right, can you? You didn’t make the basketball A-Team, your grades stink, you can’t even follow directions. Don’t bother coming home for dinner. I don’t want to look at you!”

  Digger’s dad gets back into his car and takes off. He doesn’t stop for the red light.

  There is pain stabbing me. It feels so bad I start to stagger. I want to scream. It’s not the pain from where Digger hit me. No, it’s the pain I felt when Digger got hit by his father. Digger is still on the ground. He’s crying. Digger Ronster is crying.

  What am I supposed to do?

  Slowly, I walk over to him. My fists are clenched, ready if his dad comes back. “Are you okay?” I ask as I stand over Digger.

  He shakes his head yes. Digger is still crying, only no sound is coming out.

  Suddenly, someone yells, “Oh my God, I don’t believe it!”

  I look up and see Stanford. He’s with Tico and Stretch. “Marley!” Stanford shouts. “You beat up Digger?”

  I start to say something, when Digger sits up. There’s blood all over his face. “Yeah, so what,” Digger growls. “So Marley beat me up. Who cares?”

  “But — but — it wasn’t —” I turn to Stanford. “I didn’t —”

  Digger won’t let me finish. He winces in pain, then tells Stanford, “Don’t ever cross Marley Sandelski or you’ll be sorry.”

  Tonight I had a long talk with my parents. I told them that Principal Haycorn apologized for his mistake. Then I told them that I had broken into Emily’s locker. I also told them I had been in a fight, but that the other guy looked worse than I did.

  I didn’t tell them who the fight was with, or who landed the fatal blow.

  Mom and Dad took it pretty well. I’m grounded for two weeks, but it’s not like I have anywhere to go anyway.

  I can’t sleep, so I’m staying up listening to Lavender and trying to figure out who turned the universe inside out.

  “… so she left me,” some guy is saying. It sounds like he’s sobbing. “And I can’t eat, I can’t sleep, I can’t do anything.”

  “I am so sorry, Greg,” Lavender says. “Heartbreak is never fun. I know you’re in pain, but you’ll love again someday. Until then, here’s Barry Manilow’s ‘I Can’t Smile Without You.’ …”

  It’s morning. Digger is waiting for me at the corner. His nose is bandaged. He looks awful. Not that I look good.

  “About yesterday,” he says as soon as he sees me. “Just let people think you beat me up, okay?”

  “But why? I don’t understand.”

  Digger looks at me, only this time, there’s no anger in his eyes. Only hurt. “Marley, it’s a gift, okay. Let everyone think you did this.” He motions to his broken nose.

  “But why?”

  “Because …” He struggles for words. This is a Digger I have never met before. “… because I don’t want anyone to know who really hit me.”

  “But you can’t let him —”

  “Please,” Digger begs. Fear flashes in his eyes. “Promise you won’t tell. No one at school can know. Please.”

  Finally, I nod. It’s only then that he relaxes. We are both silent for the longest time.

  “Digger?”

  “Yeah?”

  “I don’t want to do your homework anymore.”

  “Whatever you say,” he says. “Whatever you want.”

  When the light turns green, instead of going first like he usually does, Digger waits and lets me cross first.

  Rumor of our fight has spread like wildfire. People are calling me a hero for something I didn’t even do. They’re happy that I supposedly beat Digger up? No one should be happy when someone gets hurt. I feel like a fraud in every way possible. I’m no hero. All I did was stand by and watch Digger get his nose broken by his father. I should have tried to stop it.

  During homeroom, everyone tries not to stare at Digger and me. I fidget in my seat, but notice that Digger looks calm. Well, as calm as someone whose face is bandaged up can look. At one point he glances at me and gives me a weak smile that’s so small, I don’t think anyone else notices.

  On my way to class Dean Hoddin stops me. “You’re the kid who won the Tiggy Tiger Turkey Trot, right?” I nod. “And you beat up Digger too. Where have you been all this time?”

  Right here, I want to tell him. I’ve been right here — you just didn’t see me.

  The rest of the day, it’s the same thing. Kids pointing and whispering, only this time nobody’s making fun of me. If the light on me was starting to dim after winning the race, it’s back on like a huge spotlight shining wherever I go. It’s so bright, I can’t see. I wish I knew where the off switch was. I wish I could go back to being invisible. I wish things were back like they used to be, when I was just another geek Trekker.

  It’s lunchtime. I approach the broken bench where Max and Ramen are sitting. Max gives me an encouraging smile.

  “Hey, Ramen,” I say. He pretends not to hear me. “Listen, I quit the track team, but I’m not going to quit you or Max or the AV Club. I hope you kno
w that. I’m sorry if I called you a nobody, because that’s not true. You’ll always be someone to me.”

  Ramen looks up and almost smiles. I do too.

  “Yeah,” I tell him. “You’ll always be a someone who’s a wussy Star Wars nerd who doesn’t know one end of the lightsaber from the other!”

  “You’re the geekazoid,” Ramen says. “Hey, what’s the dirt on you and Digger? Spill!”

  My heart races. What am I supposed to say? Just then Stanford, Tico, Stretch, and Gus venture over to our corner of the courtyard. “Man!” Tico says. “Marley, everyone’s talking about what you did to Digger.”

  “If I hadn’t seen it, I wouldn’t believe it,” Stanford chimes in as Max stares at Stretch.

  Just then, Emily joins us. “Marley! Stanford told me what happened. I’m not for violence at all, but that Digger is a jerk. Millicent said that if she ever becomes a scientist and discovers a new disease, she’s going to name it after him.”

  I shift my feet and look down. I’ve gone back to wearing my Converse knockoffs, sweatshirt jacket, and a Star Trek T-shirt.

  “Well, see you around,” Stanford says.

  Max has not stopped staring at Stretch. He looks uncomfortable. “Do you like Batman?” she asks.

  He nods. “Yeah, Batman’s okay.”

  Max gasps. “So are you,” she says breathlessly.

  As they take off, I call out, “Emily, can I talk to you for a minute?”

  “Sure, Marley, what is it?”

  I go up to her and then turn around. Max and Ramen are standing right behind me. “Do you mind?” I ask. They make some lame noises, then back off.

  “About that note,” I begin. “Did you show it to Stanford?”

  “Marley, it was the sweetest note ever. Any girl would be lucky to have a guy like you.” Then she takes my hand and squeezes it. “But it’s our secret. I promise.”

  After Emily departs, Ramen rushes up to me. “She likes you, man, I can tell. Hey, why don’t you beat up Stanford Wong? Then Emily can be your girlfriend.”

  “Ramen,” I say.

  “What?”

  “Shut up.”

  After school I run, not because anyone’s chasing me, but because I just feel like it. I slow down when I near Sweeteria. A mint chocolate chip cone sounds good right about now.

  There’s a line for ice cream. As I wait I sense someone staring at me. Slowly I turn around. It’s a Gorn. The middle one. The knuckle cracker. I pay for my cone and quickly head out. He leaves the line and starts to follow me. I pick up my pace, and so does he.

  Should I run?

  I can run.

  “Marley?”

  Is he calling my name?

  “Marley, wait up.”

  I walk faster.

  “Chill,” he calls out. “I just want to talk to you.” I slow down and he jogs over to me. “My name’s Brad,” he says.

  “What do you want?” My voice cracks. Of all the Gorn, he hits the hardest. I look around to see if this is an ambush.

  “I just wanted to tell you that to go after Digger, you gotta be tough. Even we won’t touch him. I gotta respect you for that.”

  I nod. “Yeah, whatever.”

  There’s an awkward silence. He looks nervous. “Hey, I hope you know that when I hit you, it’s nothing personal.”

  “Nothing personal.” I gawk. “It’s not personal that you hit me? I don’t get it. Of everyone at school, why me?”

  Brad shrugs. “Don’t flatter yourself. It’s not just you. There are lots of others. But mostly you ’cause you don’t do anything. You just take it. So we dish it out.” He shakes his head and for a moment I catch a glimpse of the look I’ve seen before on his face. Sadness. “I don’t like it either,” he says.

  “Don’t like what? Hitting me?”

  “Yeah, that.”

  This is beyond weird. “Not to sound ignorant,” I tell him, “but why don’t you just stop?”

  Suddenly, Brad starts laughing like a maniac. “Oooh, that’s a good one.”

  “Well, why not? You don’t like hitting me. I don’t like getting hit. Hello? I see this as a win-win situation.”

  “Listen, I’ve tried to get it to stop,” Brad tells me. He tugs on his collar. “I even made an anonymous call to Haycorn that day we slaughtered you.”

  Brad the Gorn made that phone call?

  “Why would you do that? Wouldn’t it be easier just to stop hitting me?”

  As a couple of kids from school near, Brad puts his head down until they pass. “It’s not that simple,” he says when he looks up. “I can’t explain it. It’s just that, well, it’s what we do, okay? If I want to be one of the guys, I gotta do it too. If I don’t, they’ll call me a coward and turn on me. I thought that Haycorn would be able to figure out it was us and make us stop. But he’s too dense —”

  Just then, something happens to Brad. He straightens up and his face contorts. “I’m sorry, but I gotta do this.”

  Before I can ask him what he’s talking about, he slugs me in the stomach. As I keel over, I can hear the other two Gorn calling, “Good one!” as Brad runs toward them, laughing.

  Yes. It’s official. The world has turned upside down.

  It’s morning. Digger is waiting for me at the corner. “Hey, Marley.”

  “Hey, Digger.”

  “I have something to ask you.”

  “Okay, what?”

  “Do you want to be a Roadrunner?” When I hesitate, Digger explains. “Those are my guys. We all have Roadrunner jackets and do stuff together and everything. Do you want in?”

  Cedra drives by and honks her horn. I wave to her, then face Digger. “Thanks, but I’m sort of already in a group.”

  For a moment, Digger looks disappointed. “Sure. Whatever,” he says, straightening up.

  “How are things at home?” I ask. His nose is looking better.

  His jaw tenses. “Fine,” he says.

  “Does he hit you a lot?”

  There is a silence between us that stretches out until the signal changes color again.

  “Naw,” he finally says as traffic rushes past us. “Just when I mess up. I deserve it. Does your dad ever hit you?”

  I shake my head. “No, never.”

  A woman with a baby in a stroller walks past us, but neither of us moves. Digger fumbles with the zipper on his jacket and pulls it all the way up to his neck. He looks around, then asks, “Does he yell at you and make you feel worthless?”

  “My dad and I get along really well. My mom too.”

  “You don’t know how lucky you are,” Digger says softly. “I wish I were you.”

  Digger Ronster wishes he were Marley Sandelski? We must have been sucked into a black hole when I wasn’t looking, because it sure seems like we’re in an alternate universe. I may not be sure of what’s going on, but I do know one thing. I’m not scared of Digger anymore.

  “Hey,” I tell him, “if you ever need to get away, you can always hang out with me at the Rialto. We don’t even have to tell anyone, if you don’t want to.”

  “I may do that sometime,” he says.

  I reach into my pocket and pull something out. “Here, you can have this.”

  “Captain Kirk?” Digger says, staring at the action figure.

  “I carry him around for good luck, but he’s yours if you want him. He’s a good guy.”

  For a moment, I think that Digger is going to laugh at me. But instead, he slips Captain Kirk in his pocket. “Thanks, Marley,” he says. “I could use someone like Kirk on my side.”

  I didn’t sleep well last night. First, I was nervous because of the oral report I have to give today in McKenna’s class. And second, Lavender played this really confusing song called “Muskrat Love” about these two muskrats named Susie and Sam who like to dance and eat bacon, and it made me think about Emily, even though we’re not muskrats, and I don’t dance, and I’m not sure if she even likes bacon. It still hurts when I see her, so whenever she’s aroun
d, I just run away.

  I’m in history right now, and we’ve been going alphabetically for the reports, which means I’m near the end. This is the third day we’ve been doing this. The girl before me gives her speech on the Bill of Rights. Everyone is struggling to stay awake, even her.

  Digger was supposed to go before me, but he’s not in class today. I wonder if he’s really sick, or just avoiding giving a speech. I hope he’s okay. I’ve been thinking a lot about Digger. Every time I relive the moment his father hit him, it feels like I’m being hit again too. I know he doesn’t want anyone to know, but Digger’s secret is tearing me apart. Maybe I’ll tell Mom. Yes, I’ll talk to my mother. She’ll know what to do.

  “Marley Sandelski, you’re up next!” Ms. McKenna says.

  My palms start sweating. I stand up. Julie yawns. “I need a minute,” I say as I grab my backpack and bolt out the door.

  I can hear Ms. McKenna calling out my name.

  The hallway is empty. I could just take off right now and run away — but instead, I get ready and then step back into the room. A couple kids snicker. Ms. McKenna’s eyes light up. I stride up to the front of the room and hold a hundred-dollar bill in the air. Well, okay, not a real one, but a picture of one.

  “Everyone knows what this is,” I begin. “But what do you know about the man on the hundred-dollar bill?” The last time I wore a costume in school I nearly died at the hands of the Gorn. But today, no one is out to kill me, and instead of being embarrassed, I feel at home in the brown velvet jacket with gold buttons. I slip on the glasses.

  “His name is Benjamin Franklin, and not only was he one of the Founding Fathers of America, but he created the first public lending library and the first fire department. Franklin also invented the lightning rod, rocking chair, bifocals like the ones I’m wearing, and swim fins …”

  When my report ends I bask in the enthusiastic cheering and applause. So what if it’s only from Ms. McKenna?

  “Marley has done a marvelous job of bringing history to life,” she tells the class. “And I would like to continue that. Since we’re done with our oral reports, and tomorrow’s the last day of school before winter break, I was going to debut a vacation rap I just wrote.” Students look sideways at each other and grimace. “But instead, I have an even better surprise … War Balls!” she shrieks. “Let’s hear it for War Balls!”