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Chapter 2
Hitching a ride to school with Ray is one of many ways of how to be suicidal. He's a good guy and all, but he just doesn't seem to posses any bit of self-preservation on the street. It's like his math. Traffic laws and math are two things he will never understand. Slow approach, bribe, threat, force, blackmail… nothing ever worked.
And he was only riding a bicycle.
"Red light! Red light! Stop! It's red!"
"Where?"
"Never mind."
I was sitting at the back of his mother's bike, while he peddled like mad down the street, ignoring traffic lights and narrowly missing hitting an old lady and her dog. Thank god she appeared to be as blind as she is deaf or that would have given her a heart attack. Her poodle seemed to be having one.
"Why are you in such a hurry?" I asked causally, while clinging to his waist for dear life.
A sudden turn to the left into a narrow alley would have sent a normal person flying to China. But years of driving with Ray only threw me a little off balance. "I have practice."
"When?"
"Half an hour ago."
"Oh. Should I fake a broken bone or something to get the coach off your back?"
Another sharp turn followed with another red light forgotten behind us. This is why Ray never got his driving license.
"I think four broken bones in two months from three different accidents while on our way to school are bound to get him suspicious. That and you're out of excuses why you heal so fast and never wear a plaster," he replied, sounding slightly panicked.
Ray has all the right to be worried. His basketball coach can make any team member cry with just three words. If there was one thing he did not tolerate it was lateness for morning practice. Since Ray was born late his life consisted on being late everywhere possible.
Coach Volkov had been transferred to our school at the beginning of this year. While everyone feared him and knew he showed no mercy, the progress in their basketball team was noticeable a great deal, and he was therefore well respected.
Ray has come up with many excuses during the months, many of which included accidents on his way to school. Anyone who knew Ray's history of driving easily believed him. Since coach Volkov didn't know me so well I was usually the broken victim while Ray was the lucky one without a scratch.
There was a stop sign a little up ahead so I tried to dig my heals in the hard cement to slow us down, but other than almost losing a shoe it had little affect. "Is there anything else I can do?"
He sighed. "No, it's okay. I was bound to get caught again sooner or later."
Yikkes, I really pitied him this time. He wasn't even putting up a fight.
xxx
At school he left me alone with his bicycle while he walked towards the gym building, head bowed and shoulders sagging. He looked like a man walking towards a guillotine.
I shook my head sadly while walking to the bicycle shed. There was hardly any space left to lock the bike, but somehow I managed to nudge it in between the others. I sincerely doubted anyone would steal his mother's old bike. It was plain white with a little basket up front, but Ray held an unhealthy love towards it so I treated it with care.
After that I didn't see Ray till lunch time. He was probably hiding somewhere, but he took a peek into the lunch room and crept towards our usual table where I was sitting alone.
"Why so jumpy?" I leaned on my right arm while munching a cheese sandwich.
Ray took a long look around the room. He had a hoodie over his head and was crouched very low over the table. "I scrambled out of practice when Volkov wasn't looking. He always decides the punishment after the end. He likes to make us nervous before that, so we sweat for an hour wondering what he'll do to us."
"Mental torture, huh?"
"One of his worst methods," shuddered Ray. "How was Chemistry?"
I nudged my sandwich lazily. "The usual lab stuff. If you miss one more time old Clark is getting me partnered with Brown."
"I'll try not to."
"You better not. Anyway you're lucky you skipped, Volkov was looking for you and he didn't seem happy."
Ray ducked down one more time, still playing Mr. Invisible, when he spotted Patrick on the other side of the lunch room. He started waving him over "Hey, Trick!" So much for being unnoticed. Sometimes Ray's mind worked like that of a gold fish.
Patrick made his way over to our table with a grin on his face "I heard Volkov shouting your name up to the second floor, what happened?"
He gave me a nervous smile before he sat down and I nodded at him in greeting. Patrick didn't have a tray with him so he must have eaten already. Ray, on the other hand, didn't have time to eat at all. He leaned to my side and snatched half of my sandwich before I could pull away. "I was late this morning and later I ran away before he got his big hands on me."
I kicked him under the table.
"You're lucky he knows you're too good to be thrown off the team," Patrick smirked. "But since you're one of the best you might even get special trainings. And who could be better for the job than Coach Volkov."
Ray's eyes went wide as plates. He gulped loudly and stared at Patrick with silent horror. I nudged him under the table to snap him out of it, but Ray was frozen.
I looked up at Patrick, and then at something behind him. It wasn't Patrick who Ray was staring at, but Volkov himself who was slowly making his way towards us.
Uh-oh, speak of the Devil-
"Rodman!" The coach roared Ray's surname over the lunch room like a man who wanted revenge. Let me tell you that Ivan Volkov was a big man. Burly and all muscles with big hands that could easily squash a basketball, not play with it. Not many would guess that he coaches a sport, but more like trains soldiers for another cold war or something.
Like a obedient kitten Ray stood up. For a moment I wondered if he would salute the man.
When the giant man made his was over to our table, he first glared at Ray, then at Patrick, who was half way under the table by then, and lastly at me. I had a sudden sense of déjà vu when he towered over us. For a second his pale skin turned to a more russet colour, his hard jaw loosened into a broad smile and his almost black cold eyes turned warm. His hair was suddenly longer, his face didn't have so many edges and I could smell the forest and hear the soft drop of rain.
I spaced out for a moment, but quickly came back to my senses when Volkov suddenly grabbed Ray by the collar of his hoodie and wordlessly stared dragging him away. Before they reached the exit Volkov barked to the far east table of the room, "Evans, Cooper, Adams! You might want to join us."
I watched as three guys, also from Ray's team, wormed out of their hiding places from behind their friends or under the tables and obediently trailed after their coach.
That was the last I saw from Ray until the end of classes. Since the basketball team was the pride of our school, the team members were sometimes excused of their classes if the coach wanted practice. All of them would gladly have just any class than a special training raid with coach Volkov.
With a quick peek on the basketball court I made sure that Ray was still alive before leaving a message in his locker that I went home with a bus. God knows how long Volkov will keep them prisonor.
xxx
The house was big and cold when I opened the door. Despite the beautiful and sunny day outside, I shivered in the dark hallway. No one was home of course. Only Sunny greeted me, with a soft yowl and a wagging tail. At least someone was happy to see me back.
"Hey boy, wanna take a walk?"
I let my school bag slide on the floor before grabbing Sunny's leash and I was out again. We walked to the park we always went to, and after that, we ran to the small forest that lay further up the path.
It wasn't really big and it was impossible to get lost in it. It was full of little paths made by joggers and other dog walkers, but when it was almost empty I pretended it was one of La Push's many forests. It wasn't damp, rainy or green as at home, but I could pretend. I would always pretend.
Sunny ran up ahead of me and I gladly chased after him. Running puts my mind at peace. When I was exhausted enough I didn't have time to worry I could finally relax and concentrate only on my breathing. Other people do yoga for peace, but I ran myself out of steam.
I watched Sunny's black and white fur stretch as he ran before me. He would almost look like a wolf if it wasn't for the red bandana around his neck and his broad snout.
I got Sunny when I was fourteen, as a birthday present from Sam and Emily. Bonbon, their old Siberian Husky, had had a litter at that time so they brought me one of her pups. Aunt Emily said he was probably a mix with some local dog, but I liked to believe he was part wolf. The Quileute legends said they were our protectors, so I hoped he was mine.
The path curved up ahead of me and I followed it. Sunny, on the other hand, didn't. "No, no, no. Don't you dare."
But of course he did. Within just a few seconds he was out of my sight, galloping off in a different direction.
"You stupid mutt!" Not another mud bath.
xxx
Since I promised Ray a movie night before my birthday (to which I would go willingly and without a fuss), I didn't spend more than an hour outside. With that and giving my loving dog a bath I barely had time to change from my sweaty and, thanks to Sunny, muddy clothes to some fresh ones just as Ray texted me to come over.
Since Ray didn't had a driving license for obvious reasons, and I refused to drive my car for other reasons, we took the bus. Despite Ray's tortured day and me never liking crowded places, we had lots of fun at the movies. The city zoo had some special opening hours for defined species that evening so we went to take a look there too. We laughed, we argued, Ray almost lost his kidney and I had a blast.
We missed the last bus on our way back, we were also out of money for a cab and we didn't came up with the idea to call someone so we hiked for an hour and half to get home. I was still cackling a little when I got back. Ray lost an argument with a monkey in the zoo. For the last half an hour he was trying to prove me right and the monkey wrong. Only Ray could.
It was dark now, and when I turned on the lights at the house I stood still for a moment, taking in the silence. The joy with which I came now left as I walked to the kitchen.
The sink was bare but for one cup and plate which I had left there that morning. No one came home, then. I washed the two dishes silently, listening to the steady flow of water and the ticking of the old clock in the living room.
I was drying my hands when a little light caught my attention. The answering machine's light was blinking telling me there was a message. Putting the washcloth down I went to press the green button.
"Suzanne are you there?" My aunt's voice echoed in the empty house "I've been trying to reach you everywhere and you secretary keeps telling me you're busy. I've been calling you for three days so it's really time you stop avoiding me and take at least 3 minutes so we can make some arrangements. Call me or Sam as soon as possible and don't mind the hour. This is for Claire, you know."
I frowned at my mother. She was making Emily stress out over nothing. The light was still blinking, telling me that that wasn't the only message, so I pushed it again.
"Claire? This is your mother speaking. I'll be working late again today, so you have to make some dinner for yourself. There's money on the counter so call some take away at least. Your father is currently in New York, they're having some problem with a certain contract so he might have to stay a day or two longer, but he says hello. Have you talked to your aunt yet? My secretary has been getting her messages, but I haven't had the time to return her calls. Be kind and ask her what this is about, I really don't have the time. I have to go now, be good."
No more messages.
I ignored the money on the counter, I ignored dad's 'problem with a contract' and I ignored mum's 'late again'. How many times has she left the same message? Or any message at all? I just grabbed my bag from the hall, turned off the lights behind me and closed the door to my room.
I could still pretend.
Salute,
UW
