by Kim Pritekel
Out of breath from the effort, I brought the blankets up and tucked them around her shoulders and under her chin. I stood, stared down at her. She was breathing deeply and evenly, gone to the world for this night.
With a sigh, I hurried to the linen closet in the hall, grabbed two sleeping bags, and made myself a bed on the floor next to the bed. I wrapped my arms around the pillow, glanced at the clock to see it was nearly five in the morning, and closed my eyes.
* * *
I saw him coming, fast and mean as I tried to dodge, roll out of the way as his foot got closer and closer to my face…
"Wake up." My eyes shot open, and I turned to see Haley leaning over me. I turned to my back from my side, and cringed as a pain shot up my back. What the? Then I remembered I’d spent the night on the floor. I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment as I tried to get my bearings. I sat up, pulling the sleeping bag closer around me, and turned to look at Haley who sat on the edge of the bed, her legs curled up under her. She was a sight, that was for sure. Her hair was a mess, mussed and sticking up in places, which was amazing as it was fairly long. Tiny smudges of blue could still be seen near her left ear.
"Hey." I croaked, still half asleep. "What time is it?"
"Ten. Your mom was just here."
"Oh." I stood, stretching my back, then it hit me. "Shit!"
"What?" Haley looked alarmed.
"I have to go to practice, shit." I ran to the bathroom to brush my teeth and comb my runaway hair. With the trials yesterday, we didn’t have our normal Saturday practice, so it was today.
"Practice what?" I heard from the bathroom doorway. Haley stood there still in her bodysuit, socks half off and flopped out to the side of her feet. I chuckled, then looked at her.
"Tae Kwon Do."
"You do Tae Kwon Do?" I nodded as I rushed into the bedroom to grab my dobok, then hurried back into the bathroom to change.
"I’ll be right out." I closed the door on a very surprised and confused Haley.
"Can you drop me off on the way?" she called from the bedroom.
"Sure," I called back, tying my ti just right, all the stripes in the right place, the ends of the belt even. I opened the door to find Haley standing near the bed, the blankets in her hands. She looked at me, her face pale and eyes wide.
"I’m so sorry." I looked to see where she was looking; my pillow had blue smudges all over it, including on the edge of the sheet. "I’ll buy you another set, Andi, I promise." I grinned, finding the entire situation incredibly amusing, and shook my head.
"No, that’s okay. You don’t have to, Haley. It’s no big deal."
"Are you sure? God, I feel terrible. I’ve ruined your sheets."
"Haley," I turned to her, my face falling at the look of devastation on her face. "Really, it’s okay. Alright?" I stared up into her eyes, waiting for some sign that she heard and understood. Finally she nodded, avoiding my eyes. I smiled reassuringly at her. "Come on. Let’s get you home. Want to borrow some sweats, or something?" she looked down at herself and her wrinkled body suit, then grinned, shaking her head.
"That’s okay. I’ll just make a full-out sprint for my bedroom." I grinned, nodded.
"Let’s go."
* * *
God, had Tracy gotten better in the last twenty-four hours? She sure seemed to be a hell of a lot faster in her punches. I was having a heck of a time trying to keep up. I felt so dead, definitely not getting enough sleep last night. All I wanted was a bed, I wanted to go home, flop down on my bed, and-
POW!
I saw lights behind my eyes as my head hit the mat with a solid thump. Extraordinary pain raced through my head, centering in my right eye. I brought my hands to my face, expecting to feel something wet and sticky, but there wasn’t. Instead someone pushed my hand away, and fingers trailed along my nose and my temple.
"Can you breathe, Andi?" my Sabum Nim asked. I thought for a moment, then nodded. "Open your eyes." I did, then quickly slammed them shut again as the pain radiated out once more.
"Ah, crap that hurts!" I yelled, hearing a quiet round of chuckles around me.
"I’m so sorry, Andi. Oh, god. I’m really sorry."
I reached out blindly, trying to find Tracy, and my hand was filled with hers. I squeezed it to let her know it was okay, and so was I.
"Can you sit?" I was helped to a sitting position, the pain coming with me. I heard the instructor tell someone to get some ice, and then that person quickly running out of the room. Sabum Nim kept a small refrigerator in the back room for this specific purpose. Within a few seconds someone handed me an icepack, and I had it on my eye. The other one opened to see the entire class standing or kneeling around me, and my teacher looking at me with concern and disdain. "Why did yon lose your concentration, Andi?" he asked.
"I’m sorry. I didn’t get enough sleep last night." I said, feeling lame.
"That is no excuse. I want you to go home and rest. You’re no good if you can’t focus."
"Yes, Sabum Nim." He helped me to my feet, and patted my on the back.
"We’ll see you next time." I bowed to him, and turned to head to the lockers. My head was pounding, and I hoped I’d be able to drive. I could barely keep my eye open. I knew there would be one hell of a shiner there tomorrow.
* * *
I pulled into the driveway, the ice cubes already melting in the baggie they were in. I grabbed it from the passenger seat, and headed into the house. I walked to the kitchen, straight to the fridge. My mom was sitting at the table reading the paper.
"Hey, honey. Why are you home so early?" She looked up at me, and was immediately on her feet. "Oh, Andrea! What happened?" she looked into my face, bringing her hand up to gently touched the red, puffy skin around my eye, her eyes narrowed in concern. "Oh, sweetie. You’re going to have quite the bruise there."
"Yeah. I’m so excited, too." I muttered.
"What happened?"
"Just wasn’t concentrating." I sighed. "I’m going to bed."
"Okay, honey. Oh, there’s a message for you on the answering machine."
"Kay. Thanks." She gave me a kiss on my forehead, and putted my butt as I walked to the living room where the answering machine was. I pushed the play button, and sat on the arm of the couch to listen.
"Hey, Andi. Um, well, I just wanted to say thank you for last night, and that I’m really embarrassed about it. Um, I don’t really do that often, and so, well, I just wanted to let you know that I’m really appreciative. Okay? Um, see you at school. Bye." I stared down at the machine, a smile on my face. Anytime, Haley.
* * *
I turned the page in my book, my teeth crunching the potato chip I had just tossed into my mouth. I could hear the loud conversations all around me, most talking about what they had done for Halloween weekend, no doubt many of them had been at the party Haley was at. Haley. A grin spread across my face as I thought of her drunk Saturday night. The poor girl had been so gone, and so wiped out. She was always so cool and collected, so to see her so out of control was certainly new.
I glanced up when someone kicked my shoe. Haley smiled down at me, her expression shy and sheepish, it slid right off her when she looked into my face.
"Oh, god, Andi! What happened to you?" She knelt down getting a closer look. "Oh, jeez. Does it hurt?" I shrugged, then nodded.
"Well, as you know I had practice yesterday morning, but, um, well, I blocked kick with my face."
"Oh, Andi. Are you a beginner, or something?" I grinned.
"Hardly. I just couldn’t concentrate due to lack of sleep."
"Oh, no!" She covered her mouth with her hands, her eyes huge. "Oh, Andi. I am so sorry. Oh, wow. Man, what can I do? Anything?" I shook my head.
"No. It’ll go away all on it’s own, don’t worry about it." She swallowed, her eyes still on my eye. "Haley, don’t worry. It happens, you know? This isn’t my first black eye, nor will it be my last."
"Yeah, but you got it because of me."
"
True,"
"Oh, jeez."
"I’m only kidding," I laughed, touching her briefly on the arm. "Really, I’m only joking. It’s no big deal. Hey, you got me out of practice and to bed, so that’s good, right?" She grinned weakly, nodding her head.
"Okay. Well, I just came over to say hi and thanks again."
"Well, hi, and you’re welcome." She smiled at me.
"See you later?" I nodded. With one last look, she stood and walked away.
The week flew by for me, the semester coming to an end, and Christmas break not far away. We had to get through November and Thanksgiving, and then were home free for a few weeks. I couldn’t wait.
I walked the halls of Winston High, ignoring the stares as people took in my shiner, looking at me in a way where I could read their minds. Yes, yes, I have a black eye, what do you know. Can we please try and state the obvious yet again? I shrugged my backpack a bit higher on my shoulder as I headed for the front door to the school, another week down, and another weekend before me.
The walk home was cold, so luckily I’d somehow managed to think ahead through my sleepy haze this morning. I was bundled up in a thick sweater and winter coat. Traditionally Halloween brought on the bad weather, but since the cold had come early this year, Halloween just brought on the really bad weather. Flurries just about everyday, some days all-out snow. Today was actually clear and bright, only cold. I marveled at the Halloween decoration that some people had yet to take down, pumpkins rotting on front porches, and plastic ghouls and goblins leering from windows and front yards.
I ran across the crispy grass of my yard, brown with gold tips, frosted white in the mornings. I was starving, and wanted to chow down before I had to go to work. We had started a really exciting project on Wednesday, so I was really pumped to get there and see how it had gone so far. Dr. Wills, my supervisor, was brilliant, and his insight into the human body was just amazing. He was trying to work on some new combinations of proteins and cells that dealt with cancer, burning to be the first doctor to find the cure. Weren’t they all? But out of everyone I had ever met, I figured Wills could do it. He really inspired me, and made me want to be better scientifically than I had ever been before, as well as made me think I could go further and do more, despite being a woman in a typically man’s field.
"Hey, hag."
"Good afternoon to you, too, Chris." I muttered as I passed him in the kitchen, him sitting on his butt shoving crackers slathered with peanut butter, sprinkled with pickles. I looked at it, grimacing. "God, that’s gross. Can’t you eat like a normal human being, you freak?" I opened the fridge to see what I could quickly get my hands on.
"You should try it. Here." I turned to see him extending his hand to me, a work of art ready for me to eat. I looked at him, his brown eyes serious, then my gaze dropped to the snack.
"If I die, you’re dead." He glared as I took the cracker, bringing it up to my nose. The smell was awful. But, like the champ that I was, I popped it into my mouth. I chewed thoughtfully as all the different tastes mixed and intermingled in my mouth; just a regular party in there. "Interesting," I said, sucking some peanut butter out of my molars with my tongue. I grabbed two more snacks that he had just made, and hurried out of the room as I knew he’d chase me.
"Give those back, you freak!" He chased me up the stairs, his long legs allowing him to close the distance between us until he caught me, just about to slam my bedroom door shut. With a mighty grunt, he shoved it open, and me against the wall. Squealing like a child, I tried to hide the crackers in my hand behind my back, knowing I was getting peanut butter all over me and my clothes, and the wall, I imagined. "Give it back," he grinned, reaching around to grab my wrist, bringing it up and pinning it against the wall.
"No!" I croaked, laughing so hard my strength was waning, and he was a strong little bugger himself. At fifteen he was already taller than I was. He grabbed my claw-like grasp, roughly opening my fingers until he had the mess snack in his hand.
"Ha!" he called triumphantly. I looked at his treasure, grimacing.
"That looks so nasty. You go, boy." He looked at it, then at me, then back at the cracker with an evil grin. "Chris, I don’t know what’s going on through those marbles in there, but don’t you dare." He looked at me, his hand coming closer to me. "Christopher!"
Squish!
I heard the garage door open as I washed my face, careful to avoid my eye. Good, I’d get to work on time now that mom had the car back. I had already scrubbed my wall, a nice brownish/greenish stain there. I just hoped mom never looked too closely at the paint there. Maybe I’d touch it up over the weekend.
Clean and changed, I hurried downstairs, my jacket in my arms.
"Hey, honey." My mom said, laying on the couch.
"Hey. You okay?" I sat on the coffee table in front of the couch, my hand on her arm. Her eyes were closed.
"Yeah. I just have another one of those damn headaches."
"Hold that thought." I stood and hurried up the stairs to grab a washcloth and ran it under cold water, then grabbed an Imitrex pill, hurried back to her. "Here. Sit up a bit." I handed her the coffee cup that she had been drinking from and the pill. She dutifully took it, then laid down again so I could put the cold cloth over her eyes. "I have to go to work, mom. I’ll be back later."
"Okay, honey. Have a good night. I love you." Her voice was groggy as she started to go to sleep. I kissed her forehead, the wet washcloth a bit of a shock to my lips, then stood, pulling the curtains closed as I left the room.
* * *
Dr. Wills looked at me, his blue eyes crinkling as he smiled at me. "Excellent work, Andi." He gazed back into the microscope. "I don’t know how I missed that mutation." I was beside myself with happiness. I had so much respect for this man, working in the science field for nearly twenty years, and I had noticed something he hadn’t. Wow. What a thrill.
We had finished with our testing earlier tonight, so I had asked him to show me what he was working on himself, his own private research. It had been so exciting to see the slides he had made from different patients who had cancer of various types. The mutation and breakdown of their systems were unbelievable. I was so inspired, yet again.
"Well," he glanced at the wall clock. "It’s getting late. What do you say we call it a night?" He turned off the microscope and smiled at me. I nodded. He pushed the lab coat off his shoulders as he headed for his office. I watched, standing where I had been, his confident, happy swagger of what he and I had discovered tonight. Wow. I wanted to be just like him.
Shaking myself out of my reverie, I started to close up shop for the night, putting things away and turning machines and equipment off.
"Have any plans for the holiday break, Andi?" he called from his office.
"Not really. Does sleeping count?" I called back as I put my jacket on. I heard his chuckle, then he appeared, closing the office door behind him. He wore his overcoat and briefcase.
"Well, would you be interested in helping me out here in the lab?" I looked at him in shock, my mouth hanging open.
"Really?" He nodded.
"I think you’d be great help to me in my work."
"Yeah, I’d love to." He smiled at me, those eyes twinkling under heavy, dark brows that had just the slightest bit of gray in them.
"Wonderful. Well, we’ll see you Monday."
Dr. Wills and I went out different ways as he was parked in the underground parking garage. I nearly skipped to my car, so excited at the prospect of working with him on his research. Pictures of what we could accomplish together flew before my eyes, huge dreams. Larger than I.
I drove home with a new sense of worth and power, and my love and passion for science was larger than ever before. I felt a definite sense of accomplishment today, like I’d changed someone’s life, somehow. I knew that all this thinking was young and puerile, but damn it felt good.
The snow had begun to fall again as I pulled into the garage, glad to be off the streets as they g
ot more icy. There were some nutty drivers in Minnesota.
"How’s mom?" I asked my brother, who worked on his homework while watching TV. I never understood how he was able to concentrate on both at the same time.
"Bed. Her headache didn’t go away." He turned the page in the text book he was pouring over, not even looking up at me.
I headed upstairs, only to stop when I heard the doorbell.
"Door." Chris called to me. I glared at him, but it was lost to the top of his head. I walked over, flipping the porch light on as I unlocked the front door. Haley smiled at me.
"Hey." She said when the door was open.
"Hi." I said, surprised to see her.
"Busy?" I shook my head. "Good. Come on."
"Um, where?"
"I’m taking you to dinner. Come on." Without another word, she turned around and headed to her car, which was parked in the driveway. She must have been practically following me here.
"Tell mom I’ll be back later." I said as I hurried to grab the coat I had tossed on the couch. He just grunted acknowledgement, and kept studying. I headed outside, pulling the door closed behind me.
Haley pulled out to the street, waiting for a car to pass before heading out.
"So how was work?" she asked, glancing briefly at me.
"It was good." For some reason I didn’t want to tell her about it, somehow feeling she’d think I was even more of a science geek than she already did.
"Good. I was waiting for the stop light on Merrideth when I saw you pass, heading home. I figured my timing was perfect." She grinned.
"Wow. I must have been booking it; I never even saw you." She smiled at me.
"How’s the eye, by the way? It looks a lot better. Now it just looks like you have a pee stain under your eye." I glanced at her to see she was grinning as she watched the streets before her.
"Thanks. Now I feel all the more confident about going out in public." Her smile spread, and she smacked my leg. "Ouch. Trying to give me a bruise there, too?"
