When my alarm clock rang the following morning, I opened my eyes to discover that every fiber of my body ached. I stared up at the ceiling, realizing I felt completely overwhelmed. I was upset about my father, worried about Ace, livid that I couldn't ditch school because of that damn tutor session. I felt my cheeks get hot with tears and I was disgusted with myself for being such a pussy. I just didn't want to face the day.
My stomach lurched and I grabbed for the wastebasket beside my bed. I was promptly ill, sputtering painful bile into the bin before me. "Goddammit," I breathed, pushing the bin away from me when I'd finished. I just couldn't catch a break.
I sat up slowly, trying to focus my eyes. Chris was sitting up in his bed too, watching me. "You okay?" he asked hoarsely from across the room.
I didn't answer him. But what he'd said to me the night before came washing back over me like a wave. I stood up determinedly and started getting dressed. I wasn't looking forward to putting a shirt back on over my exposed flesh. I searched for the lightest-weight shirt I could find.
"Richie, what are you doing?"
"I'm goin' to school," I answered through gritted teeth as I slipped the shirt on over my head. Every movement I made hurt.
"Are you fucking insane?" Chris asked, his eyes wide.
"No, I'm a fucking coward, remember?" I shot back, wincing as I reached down to put on my shoes. Tears continued to leak from my eyes.
That shut Chris up real good, but he kept watching me. I finished tying my shoes and then slowly made my way to the bathroom. I closed the door behind me and locked it. After taking a piss and washing my face, I forced myself to take a look in the mirror.
I barely recognized the person staring back at me. My face was paler than the moon and my lips were stark white. My eyes were red and puffy. Frankly, I looked hideous.
I heaved a sigh. With how slowly I was moving this morning, I figured I needed to start my walk to school now. I emerged from the bathroom reluctantly to find Christopher standing in the hallway outside of the door.
"Richie, don't go," he said, and I was surprised to hear that his voice was wobbly and uneven. "You're too bent out of shape, man."
"I have to go," I said, pushing past him to grab my backpack from our room.
"Why?" he demanded, following me.
"For Christ's sake, Christopher, mind your own goddamn business," I growled as I slung the bag over my shoulder.
Chris put his hands up in defeat. "Fine, Rich. Do whatever the hell you want. See what I care." He slammed the door shut after me as I exited the room.
Well this day was off to a fucking swell start.
"Mr. Chambers." Bates was standing over my desk, his arms folded.
God, no. I thought to myself. I hadn't been paying attention at all in class today. I could barely keep my head up and my side was still throbbing in pain from the belting I'd endured the night before. The whole day I'd been close to dissolving into tears, and if Mr. Bates gave me any trouble, I might do just that.
"Why aren't you doing your work?" he asked, his voice firm.
I nervously looked around the room. The rest of the class was working on practice problems that Bates had put up on the board. I hadn't even realized. I swallowed hard. "I-I…" But I couldn't put together a complete sentence, and even if I could, I had no idea what I would say.
Bates squatted down in front of me. "I want you to do go have a seat outside in the hall for the remainder of class," he said sternly. "Take your things."
I groaned inwardly as I glanced up at the clock. There were only five more minutes left of class. I had made it through all of my other classes. Why couldn't he have just left me alone for five more minutes? I reluctantly picked up my book bag and walked across the room and out to the hall, well aware that the entire class's eyes were on me. I closed the door behind me and practically collapsed onto the bench outside of the classroom.
I wrapped my arm around my middle in an attempt to get my side to stop aching. I leaned my head back against the wall and closed my eyes.
The bell rang and the students emptied out of the classroom, and after a while, the halls. I remained on the bench, anticipating the wrath of Mr. Bates.
"Rich?" I opened my eyes several moments later to find Lachance standing at the doorway, his head tilted in my direction. "Are you okay? What are you doing out here?"
"Bates told me to wait out here," I answered hoarsely.
Denny started to say something else, but he was interrupted by Bates calling him into the classroom. "I'll be right back," he told me.
Take your time, I thought.
When Denny returned I thought he'd be accompanied by Mr. Bates, but he wasn't. He took a seat next to me. "Hey, man," he said, his voice careful. "Bates asked me to drive you home. He said you ain't well, so he's giving you a pass on tutoring today."
I met his eyes, awestruck. "Really?" I asked. And to think I thought he was going to explode on me…
Denny nodded. "Turns out he does have a soul," he said shrugging. "Who knew?"
"Not me," I mumbled.
Denny was looking me over carefully when his gaze fell on my hand that was clutching my side. "What happened there?" he asked.
"What do you mean?" I asked through gritted teeth.
"You're bleedin'." Denny pointed at my abdomen. I looked down, and sure enough, blood had started to seep through the side of my T-shirt. Before I could stop him, Denny had pushed my arm aside and he lifted up shirt.
"Don't do that," I snapped, trying to pull it back down, but it was too late. He had seen.
Denny let the shirt fall and his hand flew up to cover his mouth. "Jesus Christ, Chambers!" he exclaimed and I told him to shut the fuck up. He lowered his voice. "Did your old man do that to you?" he asked.
I shrugged. "It ain't a big deal."
"Not a big deal?" Denny hissed. "Rich, just look at yourself."
I bit down on my lip and much to my dismay, tears started dripping down my face. "Shit," I breathed, wiping them away with the back of my hand.
I felt Denny put his hand on my shoulder. "C'mon," he said, his voice gentler now. "Let's get out of here."
Denny knew better than to take me home. As far as I was concerned, I was never going back there again. Or at least, that's what I always tell myself after Pop goes wild like that. But the truth of the matter is, I always end up going back to make sure Ma and, especially, Chris are okay. He's my brother and I care about him, even if I don't ever bother to show it.
Anyway, in the car, Denny asked if he should take me to Ace's, but I told him no. I couldn't face Ace right now. I didn't even know if he would be home, but I wasn't taking any chances. I really was a coward.
"Then where should I take you?" Denny asked.
"Far away from here," I deadpanned. I was being sarcastic, but he seemed to take it to heart.
I'm not really sure where Denny ended up taking me because I fell asleep, but I know it was out of city limits. We ended up on this winding dirt road surrounded by trees that led up a steep hill. "Where the fuck are we going?" I mumbled, keeping my eyes closed so I wouldn't hurl.
"You'll see," Denny said simply.
I felt like we drove for ages, but finally we came to a halt. Denny cut the engine and shook my shoulder. "Take a look," he said.
I opened my eyes to find us on top of the hill staring out into the valley below through a clearing in the trees. It was a gorgeous sight to take in all at once. Everything was starting to turn green, buds were starting to bloom, the sun was shining through the clouds. I could see tiny rooftops and streets far in the distance.
"Whoa," I breathed. "You can see the whole town from here."
"Pretty cool, right?" Denny asked, grinning at me.
"Yeah," I said shrugging. "But why are we here?"
Denny sighed. "I wanted to take you somewhere far enough away that you couldn't get back on your own."
I frowned at him. "Why?"
"So I can kill you and grind your bones for bread," he answered with a straight face.
I rolled my eyes.
"I'm only kidding," he said, chuckling softly to himself. "I just want you to talk to me. And considering I'm the only one who knows how to get back from here, and I'm not leaving until you talk… you sort of don't have a choice."
I just gaped at him. That sly, sly bastard.
