Chapter Fifteen
"You go to work, May," Scott said as he placed a hand on her shoulder gently about an hour after they arrived home from talking to the principal. May was already dressed in her pink scrubs and was anxious about going to her shift. "Peter and I will be fine. We will even get started on dinner for you. How does meatloaf sound?"
"Meatloaf sound perfect." May said with a smile as she kissed Scott. May turned to look at Peter with a nervous smile. "Are you sure you will be ok, sweetie?" Peter nodded as she gave him a quick kiss.
For a full 10 minutes neither Scott or Peter made a movement, both of them wondering for different reasons if May was going to come back up. When it was clear that she wasn't Scott turned towards Peter. Peter's lower lip trembled. "Look man, I'm sorry I didn't-"
Scott didn't give Peter a chance to explain, instead he threw Peter against the apartment wall and the punches started raining down across Peter's face this time instead of his body. Peter could taste the blood on his mouth. Had Scott bruised his lips?
A voice inside his head started to scream at Peter to fight back, but the only thing that he could do was curl into a small ball. "Listen to me, you stupid kid. You have 1 job to get the hell out of my way and stop screwing things up for me. But you just don't listen. That's why I have to keep hitting you Pete, you need to start listening. Do you know how much May worries about you? It's always Peter this and Peter that and poor, little orphan Peter. Maybe she is willing to coddle you, but I'm not."
"I'm sorry," Peter mumbled, his jaw felt tight. "I didn't mean to fall asleep, I was trying to bring up my grades-"
Scott landed a slap against Peter's jaw. He could feel the bones his face rattled. "I told you what would happened if the school called again. I told you, didn't I? You can't tell me I didn't warn you."
"Listen to me," Scott said as he pulled Peter up roughly by his shirt color and made him face him even though there was blood dripping from his chin that was probably spilling all over May's turquoise carpet. "Stop crying, I didn't hit you that hard, nothing you didn't deserve anyway. So this is the story and you better pay attention, you went to hand in your resignation at the grocery store and a couple of thugs beat you up when they tried to steal from you. You were outnumbered and before someone could help you they ran away. Do you understand?" Peter gave a slow shake and Scott shook him slightly harder until Peter felt his head was shaking like an unstable bobblehead. "Yes," he said quietly. "I understand."
Scott nodded. "Good," he threw a kitchen rag towards Peter. "Now clean yourself up, you look like a mess."
Peter could taste the blood on his lips as the wound reopen again. He probably needed stitches, but right now an old ban aid would have to do. He picked up the boxes and tried to ignore how his body creaked in all of the wrong places.
His manager at the store gave him a concerned look, but he turned around when a middle aged woman started arguing over the price of milk. He was working out his 2 weeks on the job, he had handed in his notice that morning and he had 6 more shifts to go before he returned to the life of a normal high school kid.
Peter was trying to get used to the concerned look that people had given him. He honestly didn't think he look that bad. Not that much worse after a fight. He examined himself in a nearby mirror. He had a cut on his lip, a bruised left eye, and a scratch on his cheek. Peter didn't think he looked that bad, did he?
Peter wondered how Scott's bruising lasted more on him. If he had been bruised like this during any other situation it would have been gone by now, but with Scott it seemed to remain.
It had been two days since Scott had beaten him, then it had turned into the weekend. He wondered how he was going to face MJ and Ned tomorrow. He doubted that they were going to believe that bogus story that he had feed May. He had told May that he had been beaten up in broad daylight by a gang on thugs when he had turned in his resignation. Peter had told her that there had been too many people around so he couldn't defend himself otherwise people would find out about his strength. May had huffed and mumbled how people were inconsiderate these days and then she had helped him clean his wounds while Scott drank a beer and watched Peter carefully.
"Hey, I need to talk to you." Peter turned around and saw Pablo. Pablo frowned. "Dude, what happened to you?"
"I got mugged." Peter squeaked.
Pablo shrugged as he pulled Peter towards the health food aisle that was usually pretty empty. "Look, Peter I need to ask you something. This kind of shit makes me uncomfortable, but the other day when you and I were in the freezers did you take some of my ADHD pills? It's ok if you did, I know the kind of crap high schools make you go through now especially when you are applying to college-"
Peter didn't bother correcting him and telling him he was a Sophomore. " . . .I just need to know for sure, I know that Reggie is always looking for an excuse to fire me and I need this job-"
"It was me," Peter blurted out nervously as he looked over his shoulder. "Sorry, I just had a lot going on and I needed some extra energy."
Pablo looked relieved. "Don't sweat it, dude. I'm glad it was you and not Reggie, next time just ask though and I'll give you a deal." Peter looked confused. "Look, don't tell anyone but my brother in law is a med student and he volunteers at NYU. He's a good looking dude so he can get a bunch of prescriptions. For a price of course." He scribbled his number on an old gum wrapper. "Just call me, ok."
"What did you say Ben's brother, Richard worked in before he passed away. Marketing?" Scott asked during dinner. Peter looked up from his pot roast trying to hide his confusion. Why was he asking about his dad?
May shook her head as she poured him more wine. "He worked for the government in the private sector. Security I believe, why?" the doorbell rang and she stood up. "That must be Dr. Banner, just in time."
Peter looked up nervously trying to ignore Scott's glare. "Why did you call Dr. Banner, May?"
"I wanted him to check up on you Peter." May said. "Those awful bruises haven't healed up properly."
"You're a nurse." Scott said dryly.
"It never hurts to have a second opinion."
-End of Chapter Fifteen-
