The weekend went by fast, almost as if it was a dream. My fists and wrists were still sore from the other day’s beating at the gym. Monday came and went like it was just another day. Spending time with mike after school helped me calm down and laugh off the stress. Tuesday was the same. Wednesday, Spaz took Robert’s place as Melanie’s harasser. There was nothing out of the ordinary, just the regular keep-away that usually ensued. As always, I came by pushing Luke, usually into the lockers, out of the way Spaz’s pass; caching Melanie’s binder and giving it back to her. This week, I might have been more aggressive than usual but these guys were the ones who tried to kill me and they use to work for a despicable reprobate that I hoped had died on the run.
I would still go over to Melanie’s house after school to talk about her day. I loved listening to her talk. Her voice was soothing and reminded me of an angel’s chorus. It seemed to me, though, that she kept mentioning Spaz more and more in her daily agenda. I didn’t think much of it until one day I came over and she was extremely infuriated. You could practically see the steam coming off of her she was so enraged. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to, but I asked anyways, “So… Why are you mad?”
“I can’t believe him! That stupid, arrogant, son of a…”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” I cut her off, “Slow down and use some nouns and verbs. Who did what and when?”
“That oppugnant worm, Spaz, stopped me in the hall today just to tell me that Robert says ‘hi’ as if he’s TALKING with him! Who does THAT?!? What kind of a person relates messages just to scare someone?!?”
“Sounds like a terrorist. What did you say to that?”
“I asked him what his problem was! He said it doesn’t matter who I’m with, Robert will have me, ‘even if he has to take it from me’.”
“Wait, he threatened to rape you?”
“That’s what it sounded like.”
“Ok, that’s it. I’m giving you a knife to carry with you everywhere." I pulled out a pocket knife I had been carrying with me. "The blade is over 3 inches long, plenty of length to hit any major organ in the human body. I know you can’t have it at school but make sure no one knows you have it. I mean NO ONE.”
“Well, I don’t…”
“Listen, your life is more important than whether or not you get in trouble. I love you too much to see you get hurt. Promise me you’ll keep it with you.”
“Ok, I promise I’ll keep it with me.”
“Thank you.” I kissed her on the fore head, hugged her tight. Then we moved on to other subjects.
The next few weeks of school were like any other. It had been almost a month without any sign of Robert coming back any time soon. On the other hand, Don had showed up to school a week earlier. He wasn’t talking to anyone, just following Michael and me around school. He made no contact, no gestures of communication, just watching us, like a stalker, just not as subtle. Michael wanted us to confront him about it, but I told him that there was no reason to escalate things without cause. He didn’t seem to understand why, but he said he would wait and see what Don was going to do. Don was planning something. We could see it in his face as he watched us during lunch. The look of scheming was accompanied by vexation and anguish. Robert and he must have seen or done some pretty messed up stuff while they were gone. He was no longer the calm, cool, and collected voice of reason of the gang. His face told a story of fear, unrest, chaos, torment, and grief. Only God knew the hell he had experienced on the run. There was a disturbing rumor going around school that stated Don actually had killed Robert to get away from the cops. Half the school (mainly the credulous underclassmen) believed it. The other half knew Robert would kill his mother before being subjugated by anyone. Michael and I wanted hear it from Don himself before assuming anything.
Mike and I were walking around the old mall. We were just walking the halls talking because this mall had been losing business for so long, all the good stores had been leaving or going out of business. We were talking about different things we wanted to do for the summer. Mike asked me, “So what are your plans for after graduation?” Actually I had no idea. Lately I had been too focused on Melanie to really give it any thought. “I’m not sure.” I said, “Might just work for my dad, earn enough for collage. What about you?”
“I really want to travel for the summer. I’ve got relatives all across the country so I might just go on a road trip. I’ve got enough money from the past year working at Peter Piper Pizza so I think I could do it. You should TOTALLY come with me!”
“Maybe another time, bro. I don’t even know what I want to do with my life yet.”
“How about you come work for me at My new company!”
“Uh, Mike, you don’t have a company.”
“Well Not yet, BUT Once I start up… OOO! MASSAGE chairs!” He ran off to go try one, totally forgetting what he was saying. We were over by the food court at this point so I was contemplating getting something to eat as Mike enjoyed his massage. I knew he had big plans for life. He had always talked about starting a company that provided free rent homes in a rent-free community and jobs working on the houses for homeless people. Then it changed to a company that provided free cell phone service to those who were looking for jobs. I’m sure it had changed again but to what, I had no idea. None of his ideas were ever going to make him any money but his heart was in the right place. He came back from the chair. “Aw man, I can’t wait to own one of those!”
“So what’s the company this time?”
“What company?”
“The company you were telling me about.”
“When?”
“Just now before you got in that chair!”
“What? Oh yeah… I don’t remember. I had it for a second then it was gone.” Classic Michael.
Just then, I got a call from a restricted number. I showed it to Mike. He shrugged, not knowing whom it was. As soon as I answered it, I already had a feeling I knew. A deep, almost raspy, voice came through the phone. “We need to talk”
“Hi Don, how’s it goin’? I know you probably see us right now so if you want to talk show yourself and we’ll talk face to face.”
“Turn around. Food court, three tables from taco bell.”
I turn to see Don sitting there hunched over the table. He was about as big as I was. A lager football players figure leaning as if he had been traveling for ages through the desert. His usual short light brown hair had grown long and shaggy. He hadn’t shaved in a week and it was obvious. “Alright, we’re on our way.” I said as Mike looked at me with that “what the heck are you thinking” look. I looked at him and said, “He said he wanted to talk so we’re going to talk. Lets go.” We walked over to Don’s table where he was drinking a Pepsi. I pulled up two chairs and Mike and I sat down. “So, What did you want to talk to us about?” He just sat there looking in between us, not making any eye contact at all. He looked disturbed, like someone had died. Michael and I looked at each other like Uh, what are we supposed to do? It was an awkward silence, but I kept trying to read his face, trying to figure out what was tormenting him so much. Don started with a since of doom in his voice, “Listen to what I have to say. I'm only saying this once. I have not told this to anyone so far and I don’t plan on it getting out, but I have got to tell some one to keep my sanity... Or at least what’s left of it. So if this gets out I will bury both of you. Understand?” Of course we both agreed. “Ok. About a month ago Robert and I had to run from the cops. Robert said we didn’t have a choice. This was right after we had attacked you. So, we yanked our cords and we stole some nurse’s outfits that were lying in the first supply room we came to. Those two weren’t going to be done for a while. Good thing Robert was a smaller guy and she was a bigger girl ‘cause there’s no way I would fit in that chick’s uniform. Anyways, we were on the run for a week and a half jumping from abandoned building to abandoned building. We were doing good, making friends with potheads and bums who would get us weed and other drugs. One of our... suppliers, if you will, offered us a chance to go with him to a buy.We would get a cut of the money and then be on our way. We were selling and some new guy on the streets was supposed to be buying, but when we got there and started the buy, things didn’t seem right, even to me on my first exchange. Before we knew what hit us, we were being told we were under arrest and to get on the floor. Well, needless to say Robert and I ran. We weren’t supposed to be there. We had the authorities thinking we were in the next state by then. We escaped out a nearby fire escape and headed toward the train tracks. We hopped on the on coming train and decided to take it to the next town. We found a girl in the car we were in. She must have been a runaway because she had a sack full of provisions. Robert went over there to talk to her, but you know him. He always has other things on his mind. It started as a common conversation, you know, ‘Hello, how are you?’ ‘Oh good, how are you?’ all that stuff. He was getting a little too friendly, if you know what I mean. She told him to stop but then he got mean and said he’d do what he wanted with her and she’d have to take it. I told him to stop and that she looked like she’s been through a enough. He turned to me and yelled ‘And we haven’t?’ He then turned back to the girl, with his hand around her neck and tore her shirt. I couldn’t just stand there and watch. Plus I’m not one for rape so I found a tire iron behind a wooden crate and I hit him over the head with it. As I did, he slumped over and fell out the open cargo door. I don’t know what I was thinking but I knew I had killed him when he landed and just laid there. The girl screamed but then looked at me and saw I was just as scared as she was. I helped her up and we jumped off the train. I took the iron with me for protection. When we got back to town, I bought her a new shirt and a jacket with some money I had stolen from a drug dealer’s wallet earlier. Then we bought two nights at a motel. I hiked back here the next day, met up with my dad and was back to school that next week.” I didn’t know what to say. That was a lot to process all at once. We just sat there for a while, in shock, so I had to say something. “Why are you telling us this?”
“Don’t you get it? I killed a man! MY FRIEND!… I figured you would want to know that Robert won’t be a problem any more.”
“Listen, you saved a girl. That makes you a hero in my book.”
“Thanks for the sentiment but I don’t feel much better about it.”
He got up and walked out of the mall. Mike and I didn’t know what to say. We just sat there dumfounded at what we just heard. What was Spaz talking about when he made that threat to Melissa? Did he even know that Robert was dead? How was I going to tell her that her ex died to the hands of his own friend? Should I even tell her? I wasn’t sure of anything any more but one thing was for certain, I had to talk to Spaz and get some answers. If he knew something, I wanted to know what it was and I wouldn’t stop until I got it.
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