by Bruce Ingram
I’m plenty scared, I’ll admit that. My back is just killing me and Thomas is a good 40 pounds heavier and three inches taller than me. He could play football if he wasn’t so stupid in all his classes… he’s got a tight end-type build. “Ready to do this thing, boy?” he asks.
All kinds of things start rushing through my head. I can’t take him on one-on-one, and I sure as heck can’t beat him and his two fellow jerks. Then I realize how this whole thing is probably going to go down. His two buddies are going to hold me down or against the wall or stalls or something and Thomas is going to pound me to a pulp. I then see that one of his buds, Coby, has whipped out his phone and is filming the whole thing… which is just freaking unbelievable. I’m going to star in an Instagram video. Is Thomas too stupid to realize that some school administrator could see that? Apparently so.
“Answer me, Luke,” he asks again and jerks my arm hard, and now my back and left arm are both shooting pains all over my body. “Are you ready to get down, boy?”
I’ve got to think fast, I know that. If I say something sarcastic, I could really set Thomas off. My next thought is to say something like, “So it’s going to take three of you to beat somebody up that’s smaller than all of you.” But that’s sarcastic, too, and Thomas isn’t interested in a fair fight. He’s not lying, all he really wants to do is beat the crap out of me. Finally, I say, “If we fight, we’re both going to get suspended.” Yep, that’s what would happen. I would get suspended for being beaten up because there’s no witnesses to say otherwise because for sure my three “friends” here are going to claim that I started the whole thing.
All of a sudden, Thomas shoves me toward his other JD, Lance, who holds me while Thomas pounds me three times in the stomach. I can’t breathe, I’m in such agony. I’m all doubled over, and I hear Coby shout out, “Great stuff, keep hitting him.” Yep, I’ll be an Instagram sensation in about five minutes.
Then Thomas puts his face right tight to mine and says, “I’ve been easy on you, boy. Tell you what I’m going to do next. I’m going to count to 10 and then I’m going to start hitting you in the face for a while. Lance, how many times should I hit him in the face? Five, 10, 15?”
“Let’s go for 10,” says Coby and then Lance says something under his breath, I don’t remember what.
Next, Thomas takes a hold of my hair and wrenches my head upward and again puts his foul mouth up next to me. “Is 10 about right, how many teeth can I knock out if I hit ya 10 times?”
I’m shaking like crazy now. I can’t help it, I’m super scared and then I luck out. I mean I couldn’t belief it, but thinking about it now makes sense. It’s lunchtime, guys are going to be going to the restroom. Thomas was smart enough to figure out that I always go to the bathroom before heading to the library but he was too stupid to realize that other guys go then, too. Joshua, Marcus’ brother, comes through the door, sees what’s going on, and rushes over to where they’re holding me. Joshua’s a big dude; heck, he’s a man. The next thing I know, they’ve let go of me, I’ve slumped to the floor, Joshua is yelling curses at Thomas and his friends, and they’re running out of the restroom. My ribs are absolutely killing me.
Joshua helps me stand up and supports me until we get to the nurse’s office where he leaves me and says he’s going to report the whole thing to Mr. Caldwell. I tell the nurse about my ribs, and she feels around for a while and says it looks like they’re just bruised. She calls Granddaddy and he comes to pick me up, and we go to the doctor. Yep, it was bruised ribs. I’m lucky it was nothing worse and that Joshua came in and saw what was happening before my face was rearranged. That’s twice this year that Joshua has saved my butt.
Thomas got 10 days of suspension, Coby and Lance five each. They both ratted on “their best friend,” saying it was his fault that the whole thing happened, that they never actually hit me. What a surprise that they would try to save their own skins. I spend two days on the couch and have to postpone mowing two lawns. I don’t regret taking up for Ms. Waters that day in the classroom, which is what started this whole mess. I know who I am. Yeah, I would have hit Thomas if I’d had to. But I’m not a fighter. The last time I got into a fight was when I was 10. Allen and I were playing checkers in his backyard and this stupid nine-year-old kid Steven, who was watching, started knocking them off the board. He did that two times, and I told him the next time he did that, I was going to beat him up. And Steven knocked them off a third time, and I beat him up until he went home crying.
But fighting is kid stuff and it never really settles anything. I want more things out of life than settling scores with punks like Thomas. I really do think I know who I am now.
Chapter Fifty-Four: Elly
Can you believe it! I’m Caleb’s girlfriend, that’s who I am! I’ve wanted this for so long, but I never believed it would happen. I mean, he is absolutely the best looking guy in the sophomore class, he’s the quarterback for the football team, all kinds of girls want to date him. He even goes to my church and my parents are friends with his parents. I mean it’s absolutely perfect.
It all happened so suddenly. The day after prom, Mary, who always knows about this kind of stuff before anyone else, texted me and said that Caleb had broken up with his junior girlfriend and he had asked her about how serious I was about Eric. And she said that I wasn’t interested in Eric anymore, which is obviously true, and she knew for a fact that I thought Caleb was a “very special guy.” That was just the perfect thing for Mary to say—not make it so obvious that I have had a long time thing for Caleb.
A couple of hours later I got a text from Caleb and we started texting back and forth for several hours on Saturday and then that evening, I got a text from him, asking “R u going to church on Sunday, do u wanna sit together?” Honestly, I had planned to sleep in that morning, but I texted back “Yes and yes.” Sitting next to him was so exciting. He dresses so sharp, that curly blonde hair, those muscles, I mean every high school girl in church that day must have been jealous of me. After church, he asked me if I wanted to go get something to eat, and I said I would have to ask my mom. So I walked over to her while she was going to the car and asked her about it, and she gave me this huge smile and said, “That would be wonderful, good for you.”
I thought we were just going out for coffee or something like that, but instead we went out to a really nice restaurant. Caleb explained that since we were all dressed up for church, why not go out somewhere nice for our first date. I was so thrilled when he called it a date. I mean if we had gone out for coffee, that would have made it seem more like we were just in the talking stage. After we ate, we went driving out in the country and after a while, Caleb pulled over at one of those scenic overlooks and said let’s take a look at the scenery. But we had only been there for a little while that he started kissing me and telling me how beautiful I look and what a great figure I have. I do, too. I’m not a wallflower any more with mousy glasses and chubby legs.
When Caleb dropped me off at my house, he asked if I was free on Friday night to go out again, and I said yes. I didn’t care where we were going. We ended up going out to eat again, and then we drove to that same overlook again and made out. When he was kissing me, it was the most wonderful thing. Saturday we went out to a movie and on the way there, he told me that he wanted us to be official… to not date anyone else, “Would you be down with that?” he asked.
I said that would be wonderful and now we’ve had five dates and things have just been great. Caleb mostly talks about how great things are going to be for him and the football team this fall. How he wants to play college and pro football and how much money he can make in the pros. You know, when I was dating those other athletes and they would ramble on and on about sports, I just couldn’t stand it, it was so boring. But somehow listening to Caleb is so different. I mean I have to pinch myself sometimes to think that we’re together, and, again, it was so sudden. He’s been telling me how much he wants to see me in a bikini this summer, and we o
ught to go to his parents’ country club this summer and swim and sunbathe and take a rowboat around the lake. It is so romantic to think about spending the day with him and that night go paddling around a lake with the moon above, and, like, WOW!
The only down thing about Caleb and me being a couple is how Paige and Mia have been acting about the whole thing. Mia hasn’t said much at all about it, but she always frowns when I start raving about how perfect Caleb is. I try to get her to say something about him, and she just acts evasive and won’t say anything good or bad about him and our being a couple.
Paige, though, has been a little hurtful. One time when the three of us were talking, and I brought up Caleb, Paige said, “Are you really sure that dating him is a good thing, a smart thing to do. You know, he has a reputation for cheating on his girlfriends.”
I know all that, she doesn’t have to say stuff like that. But Caleb would never cheat on me. I told her that, too and she said, “Elly, you’re not thinking straight. You’re blinded by his good looks and the idea of dating him.”
I got furious when she said that and then I asked Mia how she felt, and she wouldn’t comment at all, but I got the impression that deep down she agreed with Paige. I don’t care what they think. I’m Caleb’s girlfriend, that’s who I am.
Chapter Fifty-Five: Marcus
My head and body are so mixed up these days that sometimes I don’t seem to know who I am anymore. The other day I was able to go to school for every period, but when I got home I went to my room and fell asleep and didn’t wake up until around 8. I went downstairs to find something to eat and I heard Mom say my name to Dad, so I started listening to what they were saying.
My parents were having a discussion about whether or not I should play football this fall, assuming my leg is healed all right. But Mom was against my playing no matter what, saying it was too big a risk while Dad was countering that no decision had to be made right now. Mom wasn’t having any of that, though, and kept hammering away to Dad that I could have permanent damage if I got another concussion.
How about my opinion on playing football, don’t I get a say in this at all? It’s my sports future that we’re talking about here. Then I heard Mom say that Coach Dell was very worried about the “lingering effects” from the concussion, and he had told her the final decision on whether or not I played this coming year should be made by my parents, not by him or the coaching staff. Has everybody lost their freaking minds over my concussion?
Still, a few days later I got to thinking that maybe I should talk to somebody about how I should be preparing for college if I can’t play pro ball. I mean, I’ve never worried about that before. My attitude last year was that high school classes didn’t really matter since I was going to make a living playing sports. That doesn’t seem like such a good plan now. My favorite teacher this year has been Mr. Wayne in World History, Part II, so I went to him Tuesday before class and asked if I could come in on Wednesday morning before school and talk about getting ready for college. He said that he would be glad to help me.
On Wednesday, I told him that there was a chance that I might be through with sports and did he think I could major in history in college.
“Don’t give up on athletics so quickly,” said Mr. Wayne. “You’re only in tenth grade and people do get injured and come back from that, you know. You’re a high caliber athlete, don’t throw in the towel. Don’t get discouraged.”
When Mr. Wayne said all that, I got really encouraged about my sports future. But then what he said next, really discouraged me. I’m sure he didn’t mean for what he said to be that way, but it felt like a kick in the gut.
“I’ve taught some very good athletes,” he said. “One of them tore up his knee really bad like you did and had to be a freshman walk-on for his college football team and actually made the team. By the time he was a senior, he had a scholarship.”
So, now, I can set my sights on being a walk-on, and if I try really, really hard, by my senior year in college, maybe I can be a backup player who is given a pity scholarship? Is that what I have to look forward to?
“It’s good that you’re thinking about your college classes more, no matter what happens with sports,” he continued. “I think you’d really enjoy being a history major. You’re one of my best students. When you’re applying to colleges, come to me and I’ll write a great reference for you.”
When Mr. Wayne said all that, it made me feel better. Next, I asked him what kind of jobs I could do besides teaching which I obviously knew was available. He said I could work at a museum, be a librarian or a curator. I could be a researcher or a para-legal or even get a law degree after I majored in history which is what some lawyers do. So what should I do to be getting ready to maybe be a history major?
“Start reading more outside of class on your own,” Mr. Wayne said. “When I told one of my teachers about my wanting to major in history, she suggested I read For Whom the Bell Tolls by Hemingway. The book is about the Spanish Civil War, but it is also about the horrors of war in general. I learned a lot from that book. I bet you would, too. When you read it at night, come on in the next morning before school and we can talk about what’s going on.”
Mr. Wayne then said if I wanted to read another good book about war to try A Bright Shining Lie about the Vietnam War, which we had just finished studying. I think that book might be interesting, too. When I was running all that through my mind, Mr. Wayne started talking again.
“Look, Marcus, I know you’re really worried about your concussion, and, yeah, life sometimes sucks,” he said. “But I really think, in the end, things will turn out fine for you, regardless of whether you play sports or not. You’ve got a good head on your shoulders. You’ve got great parents and a great brother. I taught Joshua, too, and I know he’s someone that you can go to for advice. Come to me anytime. I’ll be glad to listen and help if I can.”
That morning, Mr. Wayne threw a lot out to me. I’ve got a lot of thinking to do about my future. I’m going to check out those two books from the library, first chance I get. I may not know who I am yet or what I’ll do if sports don’t work out, but at least I’ve got some options now.
Chapter Fifty-Six: Mia
Lately, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about my future. Ms. Whitney says that junior year is the most important one in high school. That’s the year when we should start seriously thinking about our futures and about what we’re going to do after high school, whether it’s going to college or trade school or the military or the workforce. I’ve known since forever that I was going to college, but I’ve decided for sure now that I want to be a pediatrician.
I’ve just got to do something that will make a difference in people’s lives, especially kids. Mama and Poppa have told me so much about how hard life is for our family members in Texas and Mexico that I’d like to go live in one of those places and work with underprivileged, rural kids who need quality health care worse than just about anyone. I’ve read that the poor, rural parts of the country don’t have many doctors, and the ones that are around are stretched really thin.
I told Ms. Whitney about my plans, and she suggested that I should participate in the school’s STEM program my junior and senior years and take those science, technology, engineering, and math classes to help me prepare for a career in medicine. That means, I would be off the school campus for half a day, but I could still take English, history, and Yearbook in the afternoon. I would at least have Yearbook class with Luke seventh period, and that would be great.
I told Luke that now I’ve definitely decided to be a doctor and about taking STEM classes and living somewhere else besides here when I finish all those years of schooling. He was very enthusiastic about my plans and told me to “Go for it!” I was really glad when he said all that. But I wanted him to add something like, “I bet it would be nice to live in the Southwest,” or something like that, but he didn’t say anything about living so far away.
Luke and I’ve talked many
times about our being too young to know what love is, and I know we are really too young to know. But we’re being told that we have to start making all these adult-type decisions now to prepare for college and our futures, yet we’re also being told that kids our age don’t know what true love is. Why are we supposed to know about our futures when we’re still in tenth grade, but we’re not capable of knowing what true love is? I know the two things aren’t the same, but I do know that Luke shows me he has all the things that I would want from a husband: respect, kindness, empathy, affection… he listens to me and wants to know what I think about things.
Maybe, I shouldn’t be thinking too much about a possible future with Luke, maybe I should just let things develop and see what happens between us. I can’t ever see breaking up with him, though. But I can’t see someone like him wanting to live in the Southwest and how hot and flat so much of that country is. He loves the mountains and roaming about in the winter; would he give all that up for me? Would it be fair of me to ask him if he would? I have told myself over and over to stop thinking about a possible future with Luke, but I keep speculating anyway. I should just let things evolve naturally. I know who I am and what my future will be, but I don’t know if Luke will be part of that future. Will we still be together after high school… and after college?
After the school day where I talked to Ms. Whitney about STEM and becoming a pediatrician, I decided to announce my plans when Mama and Poppa and my sisters and I sat down for dinner that evening. When I told everyone, Mama said she was “absolutely thrilled” that I was going to become a pediatrician. She added, “Every day, you’ll be making kids’ lives better. I’m so proud of you!”
