"Gavin," called out his mother from the kitchen. "Come eat before your food gets cold."
Spinner walked over to the table, angry and upset. His head hung low, he lightly kicked the chair from the table and took a seat.
"Mom—"
"Now Gavin, I'm just trying to make you feel better dear."
"You don't have to do this," said Spinner, grabbing the twenty dollar bill his mother had put next to his plate. As he was getting up from his chair, Spinner felt an agonizing pain in his hip and sat back down abruptly. Seeing this, his mother raced to his side and bent over to check his hip.
"It's only normal, Gav," sighed his mother, touching his hipbone. At each touch, Spinner could feel his heart racing, as he let out quiet screams. "The doctor said that after a few months the treatments would give you some pains. Have you been taking your pills, dear?"
"Four a day every day," said Spinner, becoming increasingly angry. "But how much more can I take mom? It's like... it's like I'm dying just to stay alive."
"It's not like that Gavin—"
"I got fired, mom. Al wanted me to stop working and take a break. He knows, mom, they all know. I can't hide this forever. I wanna keep living normally, but I can't. I can't live like this, mom."
His mother choked up. "I watched your dad fight the very same fight—"
"Mom, please," sighed Spinner.
"Gavin, your dad died before his time. He never got the chance to fight his fight. I know how hard this must be for you, but you are the image of your father, and I won't let it happen to you."
"Spin," yelled Jane from across the hall. Spinner ignored her and kept walking. "Spin... Spin!"
Spinner turned around angrily. "Jane—"
"Why are you doing this, Spin? It doesn't have to be like this."
"And why not, Jane? Look, I was better off before you came along!"
"Ok, ok, I admit it... I suck. I shouldn't have done what I did, but... I do care, Spin, and I wanna help you."
"Whatever, Jane, I don't wanna talk about this right now," said Spinner, walking away.
"Spin," called out Jimmy from his locker. "You okay?"
"Yeah, fine," grumbled Spinner. "Just Jane."
"Oh right, just the girl who got drunk, then almost ratted you out in front of the entire school. Yeah," nodded Jimmy. "Just Jane." Just as Jimmy started to wheel himself away from his locker, he dropped his books on the ground.
"I'll—" said Spinner, bending down to get the books, then falling on the floor.
"Woh, slow down man," laughed Jimmy, picking up his books. "You okay there, cowboy?"
"I'm fine," grumbled Spinner, slowly lifting himself up. "Just... you know..."
"Yeah. I know," sighed Jimmy. "But man, like I said, if there's anything you need—"
"Jimmy, how much can you do to help me?"
"Oh, ok, I get it. So the cripple can't have his man's back, is that it?"
"Jimmy—"
"No, it's cool. But when you're flat on your back, with nobody there to call your doc... Don't bother giving me a call, 'cause the cripple's gonna be too busy learning to walk again."
First skipped message.
"Hey Spinner, this is Jane... look, if you ever wanna grab some coffee sometime... talk about everything that happened between us... I'll be at The Dot anyway—"
Message deleted. Next message.
"Mr. Mason, this is Doctor Sidney from Saint Jude's Hospital. Your next appointment is tomorrow—"
Message deleted. End of new messages. Check erased messages. Press 1-9.