I complain a lot,” Gordie eventually said, “but I’m glad you guys are on my side.”
With a grin, Raj nudged his fist into Gordie’s arm. “Cut the soppy crap.”
Gordie recoiled. “I can’t believe you just hit me. I have broken bones! Hit him for me, Chris.”
“Anything you say, Gordie.”
7. Bruised and Confused
One Month Later
Icy wind whipped my face and howled through trees near the sports field. Gordie, Raj, and I trekked away from the crowd of students, as far away from the Field Day activities as we could get. Gordie shivered, letting his crutches fall as he eased onto the lawn. “Could they have chosen worse weather?” He stretched his legs and dug his fingers under the plaster cast on his right leg, scratching for the four hundredth time.
Raj slung his bag off his shoulder and sat next to Gordie. “Why’d you decide to come back to school on Field Day anyway?” He leaned back on his elbows.
“If I had to sit at home with my leg up for one more day I’d have stabbed myself with a blunt kitchen knife.”
Raj and I stared at Gordie. A while had passed since he injured himself, but neither of us knew if he was truly okay.
“What? It’s just an expression.”
“Maybe steer clear of that one for a while,” Raj said.
Over three hundred students had showed for the Cannondale High Field Day. Most were huddled in thick jackets on the sideline, but a few were on the field trying out for high jump, long jump, and hurdles.
Gordie pointed at the field. “Check it out. Kaylee McKenzie’s trying out for high jump. That’s the first time I’ve seen someone do that in tight jeans with a cigarette in their mouth.” He dragged his crutches closer and stacked them.
“I saw it at last year’s Field Day.” Raj dragged his bag behind him and lay back resting his head on it. “And that’s not a ciggie.”
It was good to see Gordie being more normal. I nudged his arm. “We’ll show those Notre Dame Prep boys a thing or two at state finals, right, Gordie?”
“I’d have more chance of making state finals on my crutches than anyone here.”
Kaylee continued with her tryout, each jump worse than the last.
Raj nodded at the trees near the field. “Look who just turned up.”
Under an elm, a large figure skulked in the shadows, poking the ground with a stick. Even from a distance, I could make out the shape of Bundy’s newly crooked nose.
Raj spoke to Gordie in a low voice. “Kyle and his crew haven’t come near us since you’ve been gone. They must figure we’re all even now.”
I wanted to believe that, but couldn’t. They had their reasons for staying away, but their time-out wouldn’t last forever, and I had a feeling Gordie’s return would bring them crawling out of the psych ward.
Footsteps approached from behind us, and a voice called out, “Is this the seating for the athletically disinclined?” Allie swept her hair from her face.
Since Gordie’s leap off the school building, Allie started hanging out with us more. I figured I’d get used to having her around, but my stomach still felt lighter every time she spoke. I smiled. “We prefer to be known as the ‘athletically can’t be screwed’.”
She folded her skirt under her legs and eased down next to me. “I’ve come to the right place then.” She gave a wave to Gordie. “Hey, welcome back.”
Blushing was mandatory whenever Gordie spoke to girls. “Hey… Allie.”
“Your finger’s looking better,” she said.
Gordie wiggled his ring finger. “Splint came off last week.”
On the field, Coach Delroy broke away from a group of students and marched toward us in his standard-issue red shorts and white polo shirt. He blasted a shrill whistle attached to a chain around his neck.
Raj closed his eyes and whispered, “As far as he knows, I’m asleep.”
“Good luck with that,” Allie said.
Approaching with long strides, Delroy boomed, “Let’s go, people.” He clapped his hands and chanted, “To be in the hall of fame, you have to be in the game.”
Allie clapped her hands and chanted, “I’d rather stay, okay… but thanks anyway.”
A grin grew on Raj’s face as he strained to keep his eyes closed.
Pointing at each of us in turn, Delroy said, “I want to see all of you in at least two events.”
Gordie lifted a crutch and raised his eyebrow.
The scowl on Delroy’s face gave way to awkwardness and nodding. “Except you, Radford.” He blasted his whistle and marched off. “Boys Under-Seventeen Long Jump starting now.”
Raj adjusted his bag pillow. “I’ll think about sport while I snooze.”
Allie pulled her hair back. “So how are you doing, Gordie?”
He glanced at her and immediately lowered his gaze. “I’m okay.”
“Are you feeling better about things now?” She leaned forward and caught his eye.
He tore a blade of grass and gave a shy smile. “Yeah… I guess I am.” Avoiding her eyes, he turned and looked over his shoulder. And when he did, his lips drew back into a tight grimace.
Before I could look up, a hand gripped my throat from behind. I let out a gasp and wrenched against it, trying to see who it was attached to. An arm squeezed tight around my neck, and warm stinking breath panted against my cheek. Something hard pressed against my head and bristles prickled my ear. I thrashed and bucked, lashing my head back, everything I could do to break free. The more I wrestled, the tighter the arm crushed my throat.
Gasping shallow breaths, Raj scrambled to his feet and glanced over both shoulders. In front of him, Gordie sat frozen, unwilling or unable to move, staring out at the field with the color draining from his face.
Allie stood and put her hands on her hips. “Did you losers forget to take your meds again? Get lost.”
Unfazed, Kyle put a hand on Raj’s shoulder. “Need a girl to protect you?”
Standing behind them like the world’s most underachieving thug, Fink calmly sipped a carton of strawberry milk and picked his nose.
I lifted my arm and drove my elbow into what could only have been Bundy’s bulging gut. He wrenched my wrist and twisted it behind my back. Not wanting to give him the satisfaction of a scream, I gritted my teeth and took the pain.
Still sitting, Gordie trembled like a scared child, and a tear rolled down his cheek. Fink swaggered up to him, holding his carton close to his mouth. “Kyle, didn’t you putty this ‘tard in woodwork class?” He leaned closer and studied Gordie’s face. “Ay yo, check it, he’s crying. All bitched out like a sissy girl.” With an impish grin, he tipped his carton over Gordie’s head and splashed pink milk onto his hair and plaster cast.
Raj stepped forward and pulled his jacket tight across his chest, like he was bracing against a strong wind. “Seriously? It’s his first day back and you’re–”
Barely flexing a muscle, Kyle grabbed a fistful of Raj’s hair and wrenched his head down hard, forcing him to the ground. Raj pried at his fingers, rolling and grappling. “Let go! Let go!”
Almost as if following an order, Kyle let go, and climbed onto him. Straddling his back, he pressed Raj’s face into the ground and pulled a switchblade from his jeans pocket. With a squeeze, a four-inch blade shot out from the handle.
Allie stepped out of their way and scanned the field. “Screw this.” With two fingers to her lips, she let out an ear-piercing whistle, and Delroy looked in our direction.
Raj strained to get a look at the blade over his shoulder, his eyes widening. “What the hell?” A flock of birds squawked and shot out of a nearby tree.
Kyle gripped a tuft of Raj’s hair again and sliced through it with the blade. The loose hair fell to the grass. He brought the tip of the blade to Raj’s eye. “Next time it won’t be a haircut, dickwad.” Turning his attention away from Raj, Kyle glanced at Delroy and folded the knife. He climbed to his feet and stepped toward me. “We have big plans for you
, Maddox.” He pressed his finger into my chest. “You gonna suffer for what you did.” He turned and walked away, pulling his hoodie over his head.
A shrill blast came from Delroy’s whistle as he stared at his stopwatch. He knew something was up, but wasn’t going to get involved unless he had to.
Fink let out a shrieky laugh and tossed his empty milk carton at Gordie, bouncing it off his head with a hollow thud. Gordie flinched, but continued staring into the distance. Fink swaggered toward me, took a drag of his cigarette, and stubbed it on my jacket. “Talk soon, bud.”
The pressure on my throat eased and Bundy drove his hands hard into my back, sending me stumbling forward and gasping. The three thugs made their way down a dirt path toward Addison Street. On the way, Kyle pulled out his phone, thumbed the screen, and put it to his ear.
Gordie shook his head and sent flecks of milk flying onto my jeans. Allie pulled a gym towel from her bag and handed it to him. “Here you go.” She gave me a sympathetic frown. “Are you okay?”
It wasn’t so much that I wasn’t okay, it was that it wouldn’t be long till I wasn’t. I rubbed my throat. “Yeah… all right.”
Raj ran his fingers through the patch of short, spiky hair on his head. “I can’t believe he cut my hair. Who even does that?” He sat on the grass and rested his head in his hands. “At the PTA meeting, the counselor said she thinks Kyle’s a sociopath, whatever that is. Sounds like a psychopath, but worse.”
“Sociopaths have trouble feeling sympathy,” Allie said. “But it’s because of things that happened to them, not something they’re
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