Heartshield 02

Chapter 9: Teenagers

Hiruma

After a week of watching Mari and trying to find ways to prove Apollo was an unfit parent, I had nothing. I watched her stepmother return from a photo shoot in California and go out and tidy up around the pool. I watched Apollo himself play catch with Mari in the back yard, I saw a stereotypical blonde American girl drop her off in front of her house in a silver mustang convertible. I noticed she was coming out of her shell. She was losing what made her hard-hearted Mari and I knew that if I didn't intervene soon, I would never be able to get her to return home with me.

I made my decision to come out from the shadows the night of the Apollo pool party. I watched them all, fake little girls with tan little bodies in bikinis all the colors of the rainbow, large shouldered football players trying to show off who was stronger. Mari and Vanessa sat on lawn chairs in the corner. Mari herself wore an emerald colored glittering strapless string bikini with a white cover-up sweater. Big sunglasses covered her eyes; her hair was tied in a messy bun. Someone had their iPod plugged into an amp. Jeremy and Apollo were setting up a fire in the fire pit. Normal teenagers. I watched as Panther pulled Mari up from the lawn chair and they danced together by the poolside. They were both good dancers and it was at that moment, I decided to take my leave. She finally had the life she wanted where she had money and her daddy's affection and she wasn't forced to fight or scrape up enough to barely get by. She was the pampered daughter of a football coach rather than a player on the field. I had to get out of there. I couldn't watch that anymore.

I turned and began to walk down the street, but I felt someone put their hand on my shoulder. I turned to see Apollo standing next to me. Somehow he had moved from the fire pit to where he and Watt had been building a fire to my spot by the fence without being detected. "Wait." He said without anger in his voice. "Are you here to take her back?"

I snorted. "She obviously isn't going to want to go back. You got what you wanted."

"Look at her." He said, shaking his head. "She's changing. She stopped going to football practices ever since she started hanging out with those cheerleaders. Her talent is going to waste. I'd rather have my daughter across the sea playing a game she loves than have her here becoming a girl she isn't." He let go of my shoulder.

I didn't want to listen. She was already too far gone. "Nothing I say is going to change her." We continued to watch her. That's when I saw a guy slowly walk up to her. He had longer black hair and he was very tall and thin. "Who is he?" I asked.

"He's our second string tight end." He said, not giving a name. I watched him approach her and loop an arm around her waist, and Panther let him dance with her. He was a raunchy dancer and I saw him get too close to her behind. She gave him a warning shove and said something. He just laughed and jokingly threw his hands up. For about a minute, everything was fine until he pressed himself harder against her, holding her in place. He looked around. Of course Apollo wasn't in sight, he was next to me, and Vanessa was in the house. Everyone else was too busy dancing with someone else. It had gotten darker. I watched him put his hands all over my Mari and put his mouth over hers.

She broke away with that agility I had once seen on the football field and she punched him right in the gut, causing him to double over. "I fucking told you no." She said, stepping back.

"You little bitch. That body of yours is scarred to shit anyways. No one is going to want that." He looked down at her and snorted. "Look at you." He pointed to the large scar on her stomach. "Do you sit in your room and cry and cut yourself? Did your daddy not want you? Is that why you haven't been around until now? Or did your street trash boyfriend back in ching chang land beat the shit out of you because you're a little prude?" Not a single person moved forward to protect Mari's honor. A few of the cheerleaders giggled, but the football players looked uncomfortable.

"Justin, Man." Fitzgerald shook his head. Fitzgerald, Panther, Jeremy and the Gonzales brothers stood in awe at the words coming out of his mouth. "You're off the team."

I wanted to kill him, but Apollo held me back. "What are you doing?!" I hissed.

"Just wait."

Mari took a step forward. "I'm sorry I'm not Barbie." She laughed. "I may not be beautiful, but I can kick your ass." And before anyone could move, she had him tackled on the ground. She hit him in a way that threw his equilibrium off. That's how Mari was able to take people down although she didn't quite reach their weight or height. She knew how to throw someone off balance. She was punching him now, her fists connecting with his face in all kinds of different angles. There was blood on her hands. And all at once, she just stopped and pulled him off the ground. "Now, get the fuck off my property before I tell everyone that you wet the bed up until you were twelve. Oh. Oops." She laughed that maniacal Mari laugh and sat down at the bar. She then directed her eyes to a blonde girl whose busty tan body was breaking out of a tiny pink bikini. "And Summer, since you and your merry band of whores found all of this so funny, you can leave too. Oh, and I really hope you keep the baby. An abortion is a terrible thing to have on your conscience." She was behind the bar now, drinking from her father's stash.

"Do yourself a favor, Mari." The blonde narrowed her eyes. "Go back to Japan. Don't let me catch you in another cheerleading uniform. Or even near my school."

Mari took a couple shots and set the glasses back down on the table and stared at her until she left. Other than Mari's closest football friends, everyone else thinned out and left to escape the awkwardness. Vanessa was standing in the doorway with gauze and was wrapping Mari's swollen and bruised hands. They were laughing about something and the boys joined in. "I think she's going to want to go back with you now." Apollo walked with me from behind the fence. "She's a Devil Bat and she needs you as much as you need her."

"I don't need her. She's just a really good strategist." I said, trying to save face. I stood behind her, waiting for her to turn around. She finally did after a few more shots. She turned and cocked her head to the side. She reached forward as if she was expecting me to fade away when her hand came in contact with my torso.

"Where's your fuck buddy?" She slurred, looking around. "Mama Anezaki." She was on her feet, pointing her finger in my chest.

"Shut up and stop being a jealous bitch. Fucking ginger." I shook my head at her and she stared up at me before she let out a laugh. It was the sweetest sound I had ever heard. "Are you going to come back with me or not?"

"Am I even allowed?" She looked over at her father, who smiled and nodded.

"I know you wanted me to prove to you that I love you and I've changed. This is my way of showing you. You just have to promise to come back." He stuffed his hands into his khaki shorts pockets.

"Okay." Mari turned to look at me. "I'll only come back under two conditions."

"Yeah, yeah. What are they?" I rolled my eyes, slightly annoyed. Was it not enough for her that I came all the way from fucking Japan when I was supposed to be training my team?

"Condition one, we go back to being roommates. I will not live with someone else. I fucking hate girls." That was an easy request. I still had our apartment and I would be able to make payments easily. "My second request is one I can only make because I'm drinking." She stared up into my eyes. "Kiss me."

I looked down at her. "Are you fucking serious right now?" I stared at her.

She laughed and rested her head against my chest. "I'm kidding, calm down. I just wanted to see your face."

"If I don't fucking shoot you before the night is over, we're leaving in the morning." I said, turning on my heel and leaving her behind. Mari was still a pain in my ass, but she was damn good at what she did and it would be a relief to all of us if she came home.