by David Skuy
He and Nick left.
“Kiana, what’s gotten into you?” Rashmi said.
Kiana tossed her head back and shrugged. “I’m not worried, so you shouldn’t be.” She looked into Lionel’s eyes. “Accept it, Lionel. You’re fast,” she said, cuffing Rashmi’s arm.
They left. He was alone.
That’s what she’d said at the end of their run. It hadn’t made much sense then, and it made less sense now. Nick was right. He was a big, fat sponge. But there was no backing out now. He was all in. He’d never survive school if he lost this race, and Kiana would never forgive him, not ever, for real this time. If she had to run around the track in her underwear and bra …
He blanked out for a bit, the dizziness returning.
Accept it, Lionel. You’re fast.
He wanted to be fast.
But he wasn’t.
Monday: 3:45 p.m.
Bryan kicked at a few pebbles on the track and pointed to a white pole. “Listen up, Green Shoes. It’s three times around, and the fourth lap ends at the white pole. You gotta beat me by a hundred feet or I win.”
“That’s not the bet,” Lionel flashed.
“Your girlfriend said you could,” Bryan grinned. “You heard her, and you and me shook on it.”
“That wasn’t what we said,” Lionel stammered.
“So you admit she’s your girlfriend,” Bryan snickered.
“I didn’t say that,” Lionel said.
“She’s not his girlfriend,” Nick said.
“Doesn’t matter,” Kiana said. “Lionel will win by two hundred feet.”
Nick laughed. “I love your sense of humor,” he said to Kiana. “Anyway, let’s get this done.” He walked about ten yards ahead and held up an arm. “On the count of three, gentlemen.”
“Bury this guy,” Kiana said.
Lionel put his toe behind the white line. He noticed a group of kids looking their way, including Stephane, Jaime, and Angelina. He had a feeling they weren’t there by accident. Word had spread. Nick or Bryan had probably posted about the race online. He looked around. There were lots of small groups gathered about.
“Ready!” Nick said.
Bryan stepped forward, left knee and arm bent, chest forward, both hands clenched.
That stupid story. Whellan didn’t care. Kiana didn’t care. He could’ve gotten a zero and it would’ve been done.
Kiana will hate him forever and the Marketeers will be over too.
“Get set. Go!”
Nick threw his arm down. Bryan took off like a sprinter, his arms chugging furiously. Lionel gave chase and caught up quickly, trying to stay close until he got a feel for the track. He’d never run a race on a track before, and the track looked huge.
Fifteen hundred meters! This was nuts.
“Try out this heat,” Bryan said, and he pushed the pace.
Lionel was almost glad to run faster. It kept his mind off what was at stake. He decided to match Bryan’s stride as a way of settling his nerves, and they continued around the second curve and into the front straightaway. Lionel was finding the pace a little slow, so he shifted outside and pulled up even. Bryan gasped, his breathing labored like an old-fashioned train huffing and puffing up a hill. He looked over and Lionel almost gasped himself. The strained look on Bryan’s face, the tightly drawn mouth, the pale face — Bryan was scared.
And Lionel was an expert on scared.
Then it hit him. Bryan couldn’t keep up; he’d gone out too fast — he was done. Lionel could win, actually win. It was a strange thought — winning. He’d never won anything in his life, unless you count video games, and that wasn’t really winning. He was going to win a race, at school, in front of all these people, in front of Kiana, and Nick, and Jaime, and Angelina … the entire school would know. A surge of energy flooded his body, from head to toe: an electric charge.
Kiana was right.
He was fast.
Lionel began to separate himself from Bryan, first a half-yard, then a full one. He could see Kiana up ahead pumping her fists.
“Bryan! Move your freakin’ butt,” Nick screamed.
Lionel felt something clip his back heel.
His arms flailed over his head and his feet lifted off the ground. He fluttered through the air like an out-of-control bird — until his chest and forearms hit the track.
The first thing he heard was Nick cheering. Lionel looked up. Bryan hadn’t broken stride. He was at least thirty feet up the track, almost at the white pole. Kiana looked horrified, hands cupping her face. He could only imagine what she was thinking: what a klutz, what a loser, what a pathetic loser. Bryan had tripped him, but he’d done it from behind. No one had seen it. Lionel forced himself to get up and hobble a step. His right knee throbbed. Blood was oozing from the side. A small stone had lodged itself under the skin. He pressed against it and the stone popped out. More blood dipped down his leg.
This wasn’t fair.
This was the most unfair thing that had ever happened.
He would’ve won: he knew it.
This was more unfair than his dad leaving, more unfair than getting yelled at for striking out, more unfair than having to live in a small, smelly apartment, more unfair than the bus pulling away, more unfair than all the bullying he’d put up with in his entire life.
Anger welled up — and it disappeared the next instant.
Bryan had only done what any scared kid would do.
And then the truth hit him.
It hit him harder than anything he’d ever felt — harder than hitting the ground, harder than any spanking from his dad.
He’d let himself fall. He’d gone down way too easily. He’d dropped like a sack of potatoes — a Do-Nothing. A horrible tightness in his chest, a bitter taste in his mouth, a tingle at the back of his neck that trickled down his spine, a dull thud in his head — his old friends all came back.
He began to run.
No anger, no shame, no worry, no fear, he just ran as fast and hard as he could. He could see Nick yelling at him, but he didn’t hear a word. Kiana looked more ghost than real. He didn’t notice the onlookers. He didn’t see Bryan ahead of him. His mind was empty. All that remained was the track, the sound of his shoes, and his breath.
Nothing to slow him down.
By the back straight, he’d caught up. He moved a good two feet to the side and blasted past Bryan as if he was standing still, a statue in the way, a pylon, nothing. Lionel felt anger at that moment, and for the first time in his life he understood how angry he really was, and how that had made him into a Do-Nothing. He’d been angry at a world that didn’t care, so angry that he’d made himself invisible — and still the world didn’t care. Anger wasn’t the answer. Being invisible didn’t make the pain go away.
He wasn’t invisible now. They saw him — him — on this track, running, doing something.
He came into the front straightaway and pumped his arms and raised his knees, urging himself to go faster and faster. There was no slowing down now — not ever again.
“You’re ahead by at least twenty yards,” Kiana shrieked excitedly as he went by. She was clapping and jumping up and down.
“Run, you idiot,” Nick yelled at Bryan. “Aren’t you on the stupid track team? You’re losing to the biggest doofus in school!”
Lionel chewed the ground up, yard by yard, the corner, the back straightaway, the second corner. Kiana was cheering him on. The kids watching were clapping in unison.
“Faster,” he said to himself. “Faster. You can go faster.”
Do something for once in your life.
Kiana jumped out in front of him and held up her hands. “What color undies you got on, Nicky?” she said.
Lionel moved over. What was she doing?
“Hold up, Lionel. Race is over. He’s walking,” Kiana
said.
Lionel looked over his shoulder. Bryan had quit rounding the second corner and was cutting across the infield, his hands on his hips, head down. He seemed to be limping.
Nick and Bryan were going to kill him, of course. School was about to become a nightmare. He would take over from Stephane as the school punching bag.
But this was worth it.
“Yeah, Lionel. Yeah, Lionel. Yeaaahhhh, Lionel,” Kiana sang, imitating a cheerleader, kicking her heels up and holding a fist over her head.
He let himself smile.
“You’re such a loser,” Nick said to Bryan. “I knew I should’ve run instead of you. Seriously. You run like a beached whale — that has asthma.”
“I pulled a muscle … like when we started,” Bryan said. “I told you I was tight and needed to warm up. I can never run good without warming up.”
Lionel had so wanted to enjoy this, to see Bryan and Nick humiliated in front of everyone — like those stupid stories in Whellan’s class when the bully finally got bullied.
But all he felt was sadness.
“Let’s forget the bet,” Lionel said. “I wasn’t serious. Stupid thing to bet on.”
Bryan stared, open-mouthed.
“What?” Rashmi said. “They lost, and they would’ve made you do it, trust me.”
“I wasn’t going to make Kiana run in her underwear,” Nick said. “I was joking. C’mon, Rashmi. You know me.”
Rashmi gave Nick a stern look.
“It’s dumb,” Lionel said. “It was just a race. I’m going home. So … let’s forget it.”
Rashmi half-laughed and looked over at Kiana.
“That’s fair, I guess,” Nick said, “since he pulled a muscle. If someone got hurt … and it’s not like I was going to make you do it, Kiana.”
Kiana stared hard at Nick, and then shrugged. “If Lionel doesn’t care, I don’t. I’ve gotta go, too.”
“Hey, Kiana. Let’s just go to Pearl’s. On me. We were joking about the underwear,” Nick said. “No big deal. C’mon. Rashmi, what do you say?”
“I’m gonna go home,” Kiana said.
“I should go too … lots of homework,” Rashmi said.
Kiana pointed at Bryan. “Go buy yourselves some real shoes, cowboy,” she said.
Rashmi let out a short laugh. “I’ll talk to you later, Kia. See you, boys. Good running, Lionel. Never knew you had it in you.”
Rashmi began to walk towards the school. Lionel felt awkward, standing there with Kiana, Nick, and Bryan, knowing the other kids were watching.
He decided to leave … after he said one more thing!
“You two don’t have to be such jerks … to guys like Stephane,” he said. “You could leave him alone. It’s so stupid. If you don’t like someone, don’t talk to them. Guys like you … think you’re special … you think …” He paused to catch his breath. “If you asked around you’d be surprised what people really think of you.”
Nick looked at Lionel blankly. He puffed out his cheeks, and then with a slight shrug, offered a grin. Bryan stood still, head down.
“I’ll see you later,” Lionel said to Kiana. He picked up his backpack and headed to the field.
“Wait up,” Kiana called.
Lionel kept walking. He was finished: no words, no feelings, other than a need to get away, to leave this behind. Tomorrow was a long way off. He’d go for a run tonight, the longest of his life, and he wasn’t going to worry about tomorrow. Sure, it would come: the chirping, the bullying, the humiliation. He wasn’t taking these shoes off, though. Not ever.
A hand grabbed his shoulder. “Hey, Lionel. Didn’t you hear me?” Kiana asked.
She sounded like her feelings were hurt.
His chest got tight. What was it about this girl that mixed him up so much?
“Sorry. Yeah, I heard, but I was … I don’t know what I was, to be honest. Messed up about that dumb race.”
She flicked her eyebrows. “You sure did win that dumb race, though.”
“I guess I did.”
They continued toward the gate at the top of the hill.
“I can’t believe how you smoked him after you fell,” Kiana said. “I’ve never seen anyone run like that. You were … I don’t know … Amazing.”
“I guess I got pretty mad. I think he tripped me.”
“I knew it,” Kiana said, slapping her hands together. “He’s such a snake. Tripping a guy — I bet he faked being hurt.”
She sounded furious. Weird. He wasn’t actually that angry about it — more mad at himself.
“It’s over. Doesn’t matter. I don’t blame him. He wanted to win.”
“You’re too nice. It’s cheating and …” She laughed, and suddenly didn’t seem that angry either. “I’m being silly. You’re right. You smoked him and everyone knows it.”
“I guess.”
“Hmm. You don’t seem too excited about it.”
Truth was he didn’t know what to think. His head was in a whirl. He still couldn’t believe what had happened. “Not sure I should be excited. Things will be interesting for me tomorrow.”
She jumped in front of him and held out her arm. “Those boys try anything, you tell me.”
“What are you going to do?”
She grinned and punched her palm with her fist. “I might have to break some heads or something.”
He laughed at the way she said it, like a gangster.
Kiana moved aside and they began walking again. Suddenly, she whirled in front of him again and stuck her hand in his chest.
“I got it. Greatest idea ever.” Her eyes were alive and she seemed possessed by this idea — like it actually was the greatest ever.
He looked at her and she looked back, grinning the entire time.
“Lionel, you’re the most amazing person I’ve ever met.”
He had no clue what she was going on about. She’d lost it.
“I say I have the greatest idea ever and you just wait for me to tell you.”
“Um … what’s your idea?”
She laughed. “You’re coming out for the track team.”
So he could get picked on even more? “No thanks. I’m not really a team guy.”
“It’s track-and-field, not a team sport,” she said. “You’re an awesome runner. You are. I still can’t believe how you ripped that last lap.” She looked at him closely. “You never get tired, do you? Admit it.”
“Of course I get tired.”
“No, I mean when you’re running. I’ve noticed, with the Marketeers, we’re all puffing and you keep running, like you can’t understand why we’re going so slow.”
Sometimes they did seem to go slow. He figured they were being nice to him.
Kiana put her hands on her hips and took a deep breath. “Will you promise me to at least think about it?”
“Not much to think about …”
“Please? C’mon. You’re such a good runner. Pick a distance event and go for it.” She clapped her hands together. “Maybe the fifteen hundred? You have the speed and the stamina. I’m going to tell Whellan.”
“No, don’t,” he said.
He said it louder than he meant to. The smile faded from Kiana’s lips. She lifted her chin and let her shoulders relax.
“I don’t actually have a boyfriend,” she said.
His heart began pounding.
“Bryan is just chirping me,” Lionel said. “Don’t let him bug you.”
“He doesn’t bug me,” Kiana said. “I just wanted you to know, to hear it from me. I wouldn’t mind, having a boyfriend I mean, if it was the right boy. I don’t have one now, is all. I’ve never had one, not really.”
His throat had gone dry.
“You taking the bus to the Market?” she said.
He nodde
d.
“Wanna run back instead?” she said.
She took off. He followed her up the hill, and slowed at the top to let her go through the gate first.
Thursday: 7:10 a.m.
Lionel stopped in front of the café. He’d felt strong this morning, wide awake the second his alarm went off. He’d run every day after school since his race with Bryan, and the Marketeers had run Tuesday and Wednesday too. Everyone was getting into it, even Deepak wasn’t complaining.
Without running, Lionel would’ve lost his mind these past couple of days. Nick was all over him, or at least he tried to be. Lionel was pretty good at disappearing, in the library, in different parts of the school, in the park. Still, it had been pretty brutal. He could never relax, and had to be constantly on his guard. He could only hope Nick would let up soon. He didn’t seem the let up type.
He didn’t regret the race, though. He’d always remember it — and the look on Kiana’s face. They’d gone to the café after and sat and talked for a couple of hours. Kiana teased him about a lot of things, like how quiet he was at school, and that he never hung out, and always went right home. He didn’t care. It was fun to be with her, except when she asked about the track team; sometimes she’d be weird and just smile at him and her eyes would be so bright and alive it was hard not to stare. She even hugged him when they said goodbye.
He wiped his face with his t-shirt and looked down the street. Still no one. They must’ve stopped. Kiana and the others had teased him so much about running in his sweatshirt and sweatpants that he finally ran this morning in shorts and a t-shirt. He hated showing his flabby arms and legs and stomach, although he had to admit it was way more comfortable. He wasn’t such a big sweat ball.
He was about to go inside the café to get his sweatshirt when he spotted Kiana’s bouncing hair about a half-block away. He didn’t want to be rude and look like he was taking off before they even got back, as if he was some sort of big shot runner. He waited, feeling a bit awkward. He folded his arms across his chest, then let them fall, then crossed them again. He was such a goof — didn’t even know how to hold his arms.
“Hey, Speedy, what got into you?” Kiana said.
