The Life of Ely

by Jason L. McWhirter

  “Okay, if you insist.”

  “Good,” Amanda said as she grabbed his hand and pulled him off the bench.

  “Wait, I have to grab my book.” Ely turned around and walked back to the bench. He picked up his book, hit his palm with it, and smiled.

  Ely walked back to his car in a daze. He was having a hard time digesting the fact that he had just sat through a movie with a girl, and a cute girl at that. This was definitely new territory for him. He didn’t know how to feel about it. One thing was for sure, though; he felt happy. They had parted casually, with a simple good bye, but Ely thought he saw a lingering smile. No way, he thought. I’m just imagining it. Either way, he had a great time, and he was still smiling from ear to ear when he reached his car at the far end of the nearly deserted parking lot. It was dark and very few people were at the theater.

  “What are you smiling about, fatty?”

  Ely stopped as he reached for the door and saw Adam and his cronies emerge from the brush nearby. They fanned out and surrounded him.

  “Nothing. What do you want, Adam?”

  “What do I want? That’s a stupid question for someone who is so smart!” Adam glared, his voice getting louder.

  Ely looked around and noticed that there was no one else in the parking lot. The few people who had emerged from the movie with him had parked closer, and were already gone.

  “Adam, she…was just messing around with you. We…we didn’t mean anything,” Ely stammered, as he watched Nate and Cole move in closer to flank him.

  “Shut up, shit face!” Adam growled, stepping in close to Ely. Adam was mad, really mad. Ely could see it on his face. “Now this is what is going to happen. We are going to kick the shit out of you, and you are not going to tell anyone it was us. You will not tell Mr. Seljin about it, no one at all, or I will make your life even more miserable than it already is.

  Suddenly Nate and Cole lunged forward and grabbed Ely’s arms, throwing him backwards into the car. Then Adam stepped forward and swung his fist with all his strength into Ely’s exposed stomach. Ely doubled over in pain, the air pushed from his lungs. Coughing violently, Ely was lifted up again and slammed back into the car. This time Adam hit Ely in the face, connecting solidly with his chin.

  Ely’s vision flashed as pain exploded in his jaw. His body, now free from the boys’ grip, fell heavily to the ground. He reached out sluggishly and barely caught himself before his head smashed into the concrete. Blood dripped from his mouth and nose as he struggled to maintain consciousness. He slowly looked up at Adam. “Adam…please…I didn’t mean…,” but his plea was cut short as Adam kicked him in the side. Adam was not just big; he was also very strong. The kick was powerful enough to slam Ely into the side of the car, where he crumpled to the ground nearly unconscious.

  “Shut up you fat pig! Don’t you ever mess with me like that again!” Adam yelled as he squatted next to Ely. He reached out and grabbed Ely’s hair, bashing his head into the side of the car. “Am I clear?”

  “…yes…,” Ely muttered, his head pounding with pain. Ely’s jaw felt like it might be dislocated but he wasn’t sure. If he didn’t have so much body fat, there’d be a good chance that the kick to his side would have broken some ribs. As it was, they were surely bruised, as Ely could barely move without pain lancing through his body.

  “Let’s go, man! Someone might see us!” Nate said, grabbing Adam and trying to usher him away.

  Adam jerked his arm away from Nate and spit on Ely. “Don’t come to practice, dip shit! In fact, quit the team! I don’t want to smell you anymore!” Adam spit on him again before all three disappeared into the shadowy tree line. Their laughter echoed in Ely’s mind as he lay there, dazed and in pain as blood dripped freely down his face.

  Slowly he sat up and leaned against the side of his car. He saw his book on the ground and picked it up, staring at the front image, wishing for the millionth time that he was that hero gracing the cover.

  Tears were now running freely, joining with the crimson smudges around his nose and mouth. Ely used his sleeve to wipe the wetness from his face. Then he looked up into the night sky, wondering if the pain would ever go away.

  Nine

  In life, you are often presented with dilemmas and tough choices. It is how you handle those situations that mold who are you are, and who you will become. Every time we are presented with a difficult situation, we are poised to either better our self, or weaken our character, depending on the choices we make. The easy way out always seems so simple, but I guess that is why it is called the easy way. The difficult choice, however, which is often the right choice, never seems that easy. If you make too many bad choices, before long you will be caught in a downward spiral, immersed in a deluge of crap that makes it almost impossible to see the bright side of anything. People, especially kids, need help along the way to make the right choices. If they are not getting those tools from their parents, then they need to get them elsewhere.

  That night, after I got beat up, I had some decisions to make. Would I let Adam intimidate me? Would I do anything about what happened? I will be honest and say that I did not make all the decisions that night, but I did get the ball rolling in my head, and all I needed was some support, any support. And I was lucky to have found it.

  Ely Carter

  ——————————

  The morning came quickly. When Ely woke up he felt as if Mike Tyson had used his fat body as a punching bag. He made his way into the bathroom to survey the damage.

  As he gazed into the mirror he wondered if he would be able to come up with a plausible reason to explain his appearance. Not only that, but his ribs were so sore that he could barely move. He had a deep gash in his lower lip, which had swollen to almost twice its normal size. His left eye was almost closed shut, and he had scrapes and bruises around his nose and mouth. He didn’t look very good and he felt even worse. His ribs were definitely bruised and extremely tender to the touch, but he didn’t think they were broken since he could turn and bend without the typical severe shooting pains one would experience with a broken rib.

  Ely figured the best thing to do was to tell the truth, at least partially. He could say that he was jumped by some guys who were trying to rob him. That would explain the damage to his body and he wouldn’t have to say anything about Adam and his gang being involved. As far as he was concerned, that part would remain a secret. He had enough problems as it was, he surely didn’t need another run in with that jerk.

  But one thing he did decide was that he would not let Adam dictate his choices. He had decided, before the movie, that he would stay on the wrestling team. What Sel had said earlier that day had really sunk in, and besides, he just couldn’t let him down. This was one of Adam’s threats he would choose to ignore.

  Ely took a deep breath and looked at himself in the mirror. It’s going to be an interesting day, he thought. He sighed resignedly, walked over to the shower and turned on the water. He relieved himself in the toilet as the water warmed. Then he took off his boxers and jumped in the shower, resignation turning to anxiety.

  Things started off pretty typical that morning, other than the curious stares of students as they walked down the halls. He did get a few hushed comments slung his way during first period, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as he thought it would be. Then he ran into Jeff at his locker after second period.

  “Dude, what happened to your face?”

  Ely shut his locker, knowing that he couldn’t avoid him forever. “I got beat up last night.”

  “What!? You’re not serious. Is your dad back?” He whispered the last question, knowing that it was a touchy subject and not wanting any kids nearby to hear him.

  “No. I went to the movies and some kids jumped me and took my wallet.”

  “No way, did you get a look at them?”

  “No, they were wearing masks.” Ely hated to lie to Jeff. But he knew it was the best thing since telling him the truth would only lead to more prob
lems. If he had told him what really happened he’d probably immediately go after Adam and kick his ass. Then he would get suspended and probably not be able to wrestle…and that was something Ely could not allow to happen.

  “Did you tell the police?”

  “Nawww…I only had four bucks in my wallet. Figured it wouldn’t be worth the effort.”

  “I don’t know man, I think you should tell the police in case it happens again. How many of them were there?”

  “Three. They beat me up pretty good. I don’t think I can practice today.”

  “Man, that sucks. Have you told Sel yet?”

  “Nope. I’ll tell him at practice.”

  “So you are going?” Jeff asked.

  “Yeah…I’ll just watch though.” Ely obviously didn’t tell Jeff that he wanted to show his presence so Adam would know that he hadn’t beaten him. Well, technically he had beat him, Ely laughed inwardly, but he didn’t beat his spirit. He was scared, but he figured what else could the bully do? He had already beat him up, and despite the fact that that really sucked, and it hurt pretty bad, he knew he could take another beating if he had to. But he didn’t think it would come to that. At least that was what he was hoping.

  “Are any of your injuries serious?” Jeff asked with concern.

  “I think I bruised some ribs. That feels like the worst of it. My jaw hurts like hell but I don’t think it’s broken.”

  “Do you think they were kids, or adults?” Jeff asked.

  “I’m not sure. They were pretty big so probably adults. But hey, on a positive note, guess who I watched the movie with last night?”

  “You mean before you were beat up?” Jeff asked, intrigued.

  “Yup.”

  “Who?”

  “A girl,” Ely said with a smile.

  Now it was Jeff’s turn to smile. “A girl, eh?”

  “Yup, and she’s cute. She’s new here and I ran into her a few days ago, literally. I almost knocked her down. I was so embarrassed. But she was really cool, and then I saw her at the movies and she asked if I wanted to sit with her.”

  “Nice work, bud,” Jeff grinned. “You going to ask her out officially?”

  “Hi, Ely!”

  Ely looked up from his conversation and saw Amanda walk by carrying an armload of books.

  “Oh, hey, how’s it going?”

  It looked as if she was just going to walk by. Obviously she was in a hurry to get to class, but when she saw his face, she stopped, skirted through the crowd of students, and walked up to him.

  “What happened to your face?”

  Jeff looked at Ely, then back to Amanda. Then he reached out his hand. “Hi, I’m Jeff.”

  Amanda was staring at Ely, her face a puzzled look of concern. Then she turned to look at Jeff for the first time and shook his hand. “Hi, Jeff, I’m Amanda. Nice to meet you,” she said before directing her eyes back to Ely. “So what happened to your face?”

  Ely didn’t know how he was going to get out of this one and he wasn’t sure if his lie was going to work with Amanda considering she was with him at the movies last night. He had purposefully omitted his run-in with Adam and his cronies when he had told Jeff about the movie, but now Jeff might put two and two together, and that was not good.

  “I, umm, sort of got beat up and robbed last night after the movie.”

  “What! At the theater?”

  “Yeah.” Just then the one minute warning bell rang. Ely capitalized on it, hoping to end the conversation. “Hey, we better get to class.”

  “Not so fast,” Amanda said, grabbing his arm. “Was is that jerk, Adam?”

  Shit, Ely thought, looking at Jeff. But he stuck to his story, hoping that he could curb Jeff’s rising suspicions. “No, I don’t think so. They were wearing masks and it didn’t sound like him.”

  “You saw Adam last night?” Jeff asked, raising his eyebrows.

  Amanda answered for him. “Yes. He’s an asshole and he was giving Ely shit. I stepped in and got him to leave.” Then she looked back at Ely. “You sure it wasn’t him? You should tell the principal so they can question him.”

  “Hey, I got to go,” Jeff said as he turned to leave. “But we are not done with this conversation, Ely.” Then he turned and jogged down the near empty hallway.

  “I have to go too,” Ely said.

  “Okay,” Amanda said, her voice reflecting her concern. She reached out and briefly touched Ely’s arm. “I better go as well.”

  “Do you have first or second lunch?” Ely asked as he began to move down the hallway.

  “First.”

  “Me too. I’ll see you at lunch,” he said, hustling away from her as she looked at him with a puzzled look on her face

  Jeff was worried. In fact he had a hard time concentrating in his history class as he kept thinking about his friend. What were the chances that he had had a run-in with Adam, and then that same evening was beaten up with guys in masks? Jeff didn’t think the odds were good; in fact he was not so sure that Ely was telling him the truth. He seemed jumpy and agitated to begin with. Then there was the omission about seeing Adam. And why would three guys rob some kid who drove a run-down beater? It didn’t really make any sense.

  Everyone was working quietly on a worksheet, but there was some soft talking, so Jeff leaned over and whispered to Cisco who sat next to him, “Hey man, have you seen Ely yet?”

  Cisco looked up from his paper. He was a handsome guy with glossy ebony skin, a shaved head and a strong angular chin. But it was his stark white teeth and beautiful smile that really made him stand out

  “Nope. Why?”

  “He got beat up last night, and robbed at the movie theater.”

  “Really?”

  “That’s what he said. But I have a feeling that it might have been Adam and that he’s lying to me.”

  Cisco crinkled his forehead as he thought about what Jeff had said. “Why would he lie about it?”

  “I don’t know. Probably because he was worried about what I might do.”

  The realization struck Cisco immediately. “Which is…?” Even though he asked the question he fully knew the answer.

  “Kick his ass.” Luckily the talking in the room had gotten louder and no one heard him.

  “That’s what I thought. You’d get suspended for sure and you wouldn’t be able to wrestle. It would be a really bad decision, dude,” Cisco added, clearly hoping to deter Jeff from any stupid knee jerk reaction.

  Jeff looked back at his paper and sighed. “You’re right. But we have to do something. What if Adam does it again?”

  “What if it wasn’t Adam at all?” Cisco countered.

  Jeff just looked at Cisco, his expression clearly saying, really? You believe that?

  Cisco relented. “Okay, you’re probably right. It doesn’t make much sense that Ely was robbed, and the fact that Adam and his buddies were there definitely seems suspicious. But you can’t just kick his ass. Besides, you’d probably need my help, especially if his sidekicks are with him.”

  “Are you saying you would help?” Jeff asked, raising his eyebrows.

  “Does a bear shit in the woods? But I think we should just scare him, not fight him. I don’t think it’s worth the risk. And we definitely can’t do it here at school,” Cisco added.

  Jeff nodded his head. “What about John? You think he’ll join us?”

  “Is the Pope Catholic?” Cisco added, smiling.

  Jeff just laughed.

  Ely was nervous about seeing Amanda again. He wasn’t exactly sure what he was going to say to her. He didn’t want to lie to her, and it seemed like her bullshit detector was in top form. But he didn’t want things to get worse between Adam and himself, so after careful deliberation he figured he better keep up with the ruse. Besides, there was really no way she was likely to find out the truth anyhow. She might suspect that it was Adam, but that was as far as she could take it.

  Even though Ely and Jeff were friends, and Ely considered John and
Cisco to be friends, it was still unusual for Ely to sit with them during lunch. There were other guys and girls that were typically at their table that Ely did not know and joining them with the uncertain knowledge of how he would be accepted generally kept him away. But this time Jeff called him over as he was working his way outside to his typical spot where he could eat and read in relative peace.

  “Hey, Ely, come sit over here!” Jeff hollered at him as he made his way to the commons door that exited into the courtyard. Ely turned to face Jeff and gave him a I don’t think so look. But Jeff wasn’t having any of it. “Get over, man! Join us!” Then John and Cisco joined in and at that point there was no getting out of it.

  So Ely shyly made his way to their table with a piece of pizza in one hand and his book in another. “Hey, Jeff, Cisco, John…how’s it going?”

  “Better than you it would seem. What happened to your face?” Cisco asked. Cisco was feeling out the situation for himself before he made any concrete conclusions.

  “Some guys jumped me last night after the movie.”

  “Jeff mentioned that. Hey, sit down and tell us about it,” Cisco said.

  Three other seats were taken besides the ones occupied by Jeff, Cisco, and John. Ely knew one of the kids since he was on the wrestling team. His name was Damon and he was nice enough, although Ely didn’t know him well. He wrestled at the weight class below Jeff and he was a good athlete, powerfully built, with a short and stocky body, and a blocky head topped with strawberry blonde hair. He looked like he had just come right out of an Irish Spring commercial.

  Two attractive girls occupied the other seats. Ely knew one of them was Cisco’s girlfriend, Tanya. She was a petite dark haired beauty who looked like she had spent too much time in the tanning bed. Ely had never met her but he’d seen her around. Ely recognized the other girl, Lauren, from his math class. He had never met her either, but she was smart, at least she did well in math. She resembled the stereotypical cute honors student. She was not as stunning as Tanya, but when she smiled she looked almost angelic, exposing two dimples that made her appear both endearing and genuine. Both girls smiled and glanced briefly at Ely as he sat down, before turning away and going back to their own private discussion.