Chapter 21: The Boiling Point
The Sunday afternoon heat continues to strike the beach shores. However, it did not compete with the heat inside one young girl's mind. Harmony, with each step more forceful than the last, pounces towards the Movie Theater. The crew behind her following, anticipating what is to come. While their thoughts race and eyes wander, Harmony stays set on her goal. As she walks towards the entrance, she sees it. More so, him. Lars is standing to the side of the theater, laughing with his friend, Pi. Both wearing their usual clothing of long pants and hockey shirts. Neither seeming at all at worry of what is approaching them. Pi is the first to notice. As he looks, his confident demeanor disappears. He slowly starts to back away from his friend, as Harmony approaches closer and closer. The rest of the crew stands behind her. Harmony continues to slowly, yet methodically approach Lars. He fails to notice her until she's just a few feet away from him. She halts as he turns around and laughs. She stands and stares at him with a dead-eye glare. Lars is not phased. He jokingly looks over to his friend as he speaks.
"Oh, hey look Pi. It'sh those lil' brats again! Who would have guesshed ha-ha?"
Pi, sensing the situation is about to go sour, turns his slow back-away into a full sprint from the situation. Lars, still not phased by the situation, turns to the death-stare of Harmony and continues to speak.
"Ah, forghet him. What a baby. Now what the fsuck do you lil' shits want?"
Harmony wastes no time answering. Her voice in a strong tone, stronger than anyone in the crew has heard from her before.
"What happened to Anna? Why does she have your hand-print on her face, asshole?"
The entire group gasps. Hearing Harmony swear is something no one has heard before. Sure, some of them curse from time to time, but not Harmony. It stuns them all. Harmony still does not waver. Unfortunately, neither does Lars. His confidence takes a step higher as he responds.
"Oh, you saw her face, huh? That's just swhat she deserves after what she put me through..."
Harmony's voice gets louder.
"Excuse me?"
Anna quietly pips up from the back, still struggling to speak from the tears on her face.
"I broke up with him. I told him he wasn't treating me right."
The silence from the rest of the group continues, even with the looks of concern. How could she possibly be making excuses for him? After all of this? It baffles every single one of them. Especially Harmony. She wastes no time turning back, continuing to question Lars.
"So you hit her? That's your answer to being dumped? How low are you?"
Lars laughs and steps towards Harmony, with no fear of the situation he finds himself in.
"Well honey, I'm shlow enough to know when someone doesn't appreshiate love. She wants the whole fucking world. I'm sorry I can't give that to her. To call me a shpoiled brat and saying I need to grow up?"
He takes another step, almost to the point his face is touching Harmony. His voice gets near a whisper, almost taunting the girl standing across from him.
"Let's just say the lil bitch had it comin', shall we?"
Harmony at first continues her strong stance. However, after the smell of Lars' breathe hits her nose, she backs off her stern face-off and towards the group. She knows the smell. One she knows not even she can compete with. Even if Lars is a true asshole to everyone almost 99% of the time, this is different. She realizes he can not be reasoned with. She brings her hand back to motion the group to walk away. Unfortunately for her, it does not work...
While most of the group go along with her motion, one of them finally erases their worry and acts. He steps past Harmony and faces his older brother. Something snaps in his head. Maybe it's seeing Anna cry. Maybe it's seeing Lars act in such a disgusting way, or realizing what is happening. One thing stays for sure. Whoever that is standing in front of him would not scare him anymore. His words came out as strong as he could make them.
"That's enough, Lars!"
Lars' cockiness grows ten-fold when he sees his little brother walk up to him. He laughs hysterically as the group stands pat. Harmony begins to worry, along with the rest of the crew. Their bodies almost in a full petrified-state. The only one free of the curse is Twister. He doesn't even realize Otto, Reggie, Sam, Anna, Harmony and Jorge standing behind him anymore. In his mind, it's just him and his brother. After all the years, all the taunts and all the harassing, he can not deal with it anymore. Not after seeing Anna. Just as his mind begins to prepare himself, Lars taunts his little brother.
"Look swho finally decided to grow a back-bone! About time, slil bro! Ya gonna fight me? Put 'em up!"
Twister does not waver from his stance.
"If that will knock some sense back into you, then I will!"
Lars laughs and approaches his brother face to face, inches apart from each other. Neither fail to notice a crowd start to surface behind them. Not a lot of people, but enough to worry the rest of the crew about the stand-off. Lars then whispers again, similar to what he did to Harmony. This time, putting his face right up to Twister's.
"Then do it. Hit me. I won't move a smuscle."
Twister brings his hand behind his head. He looks back to see what is happening. His brain stops for a second. He looks back at his brother once again. His mind comes to terms with reality. This is what his brother is now. A monster. If he fights him, could...could he actually become the same monster? Is that what his big bro wants? To bring him down too? His mind starts to race like a roller coaster. His strong stance failing. He looks back at his friends, who emphatically shake their heads, urging Twister to back down. Lars tries again to goat his brother.
"Come on, lil' Maurice. Fucking hit sme, Maurice! Do it, you little schit!"
Twister looks at his fist for a second. He starts to hear the sounds around him again. The sound of people chattering. Feet moving like highway traffic behind him. Some soft moving feet and some racing. Suddenly, his brain snaps out of it. He realizes what is happening. Everyone watching him. Is he going to be known as a coward, or a fighter? And which is even the right choice? He looks up, his mind finally made up. He speaks to his brother.
"No, Lars. You can be a monster, but that's not going to be me."
Lars lets out a hearty laugh and stands his body up straight. He once again sarcastically speaks to his brother.
"I should have known better. Oh well. You're not gonna punch me? Then I better show you how it's done."
The sound of feet and chatter grow in Twister's head. He looks back at his friends. All still stuck in shock. As he goes to turn his head back, he feels it.
BAM!
He falls to the ground, feeling the full force of a punch to his right cheek. As the pain hits, the rest of the group runs to him. He hears gasps around him. All he can hear is the feet starting to clamor. He hears one pair in a full sprint. He's in pain, but he wastes no time getting himself back up. He did not want to back down anymore. All he wants is to stare down his brother and face his fear. Before he can get up, he sees his brother approach. Twister closes his eyes as his ears take control again!
"HEY!"
BAM!
Twister's brain stops for a second. Expecting another blow to strike pain. Then, the realization hits. The second punch he expects never happens. His mind starts to wonder. As he collects himself, he whispers to himself.
"What happened?"
He opens his eyes. What he sees shocks him. Lars is on the side of the movie theater. His face is being pressed against the wall. Someone is holding him there. But who? Not long after, his vision returns and he sees who it is...
"Talk about fucking up..."
Rick slowly walks down the busy street. He kicks a can to the side. His head locks to the ground, unable to keep his chin up. Once again, he struggles to handle the reality of another screw-up. Reggie's decision to dump him earlier in the day really hits him. "So much for having everything..." was the thought running through his mind over and over. His hands stay in his pockets, occasionally coming up to swipe the phone, in order to skip the sad songs. For him, the last thing he wants to do is think. He wants the music to block out his thoughts. Instead, he just finds himself thinking through the lyrics. The air does help clear his mind a bit. But it doesn't clear his conscience. He feels horrible. About not just Reggie, but everyone. His mind continues to race through all his decisions and mistakes over the past few weeks. He once again goes into his pocket and opens his wallet. He brings out the picture once again. The one he's looked to plenty of times. He looks at it and quietly speaks to it.
"Maybe I don't deserve it. I disappointed you. I disappointed her. Fuck, man."
He goes to put the photo back in his wallet. As he looks back up, he notices something. He sees two people arguing in front of a big building in front of him. He takes notice to one thing specifically. He whispers.
"Is that...Twist?"
He slowly starts to walk up, before he sees it. The taller figure throws his hand back and completely nails Twister right in his face. Like a sprinter out of the gates, Rick's pace goes from 0-to-100. He goes right at the taller figure, as it walks closer to his friend. He runs through the crowd, not worrying about knocking anyone over. As he runs, he recognizes the taller figure as Twister's brother. He knows he's pretty bad with names and can not remember what it is. No matter. Without even considering the situation, he leaps towards him and grabs Lars' jersey from the back, forcefully throwing him against the brick wall of the theater. He holds him in that spot with all of his might. Lars tries to fight off the surprise attack. However, his attacker is stronger than he originally anticipates. While Lars is able to free himself from the wall for a second, he can not get free of the grip. The boy still has firm hold on him. Rick adjusts his grip and throws him towards the ground. He puts his knee into the back of Lars, keeping him from trying to squirm his way out. Lars screams in pain.
"OW! MAN WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING!?"
Rick answers in a terrifyingly calm, yet infuriated tone of voice.
"Shut up. Stay still or my knee's going so far in your back, I'll break a rib."
Lars tries to squirm a few times again, to no avail. He is locked in place. He whimpers.
"Fuck sman! Let me go!"
Rick quickly takes note of something. He is quick to question Lars on something that throws some of the watching group off.
"Jesus dude, you're fucking drunk, aren't you? How many drinks did you have?"
Lars, still clearly in pain, reluctantly answers.
"Five or Six? I don't sremembur! Who cares anyway! Let me go!"
Rick looks down at him again and speaks to him, almost in pity.
"No chance..."
He looks back to see Twister. His voice changes quickly to a calm, but still clearly worried tone.
"You okay, Twist? Why the hell is he punching you?"
As Twister still tries to gain his focus again, Rick notices Anna. He looks towards her face and starts to think. Once he puts it together, he dives his knee farther into Lars, forcing another scream out of him. Rick ignores it and questions him again.
"You hit your fucking girlfriend too?"
Lars' confidence completely leaves his voice at this point. His answer now almost a plea to the boy with a knee stabbing his back.
"Look, I'm sorry okay? Just let me go!"
Rick takes a second, looks at his friends again, then once again returning to his calm, yet stern tone.
"You have two options here. Either we take you home and you tell your parents EXACTLY what happened here. You then sleep it off and try reconciling for your fucking stupidity..."
Before Rick can finish, he hears Lars again.
"Fuck no, man!"
Rick sighs and digs his knee in, making Lars yell a third time. After the yell ends, Rick continues.
"Or, we can just have Anna talk to the police and throw you in jail for assault and underage drinking. You want that option instead, shithead?"
Lars continues to whine and moan. Rick barely moves, still holding him down. The rest of the kids just staring, still stunned. The crowd stays where they are, trying to maneuver around each other to see what is happening. All of a sudden, the kids start to hear a familiar voice.
"Reggie, Otto!"
The two siblings look over to see their dad, Raymundo approach them. He looks over in worry are runs to them, hugging his children. He then notices Anna and Twister. Both of their faces beat red. Twister's cheek beginning to swell. Raymundo's voice grows in anger as he surveys the situation.
"What in the world happened?"
Everyone stays silent. That is, except for Rick, whose voice stays calm.
"Doofus here decided to get plastered and took it out on a few people. His girlfriend and his brother. I'm making sure he doesn't make any other stupid errors."
He then looks back down at Lars.
"You ready to go home? My knee's getting pretty fucking tired to be honest."
Raymundo voices his anger.
"Rick! You know what I've told you about swearing!"
Rick shakes his head as he hears Lars laugh at him. After considering digging his knee again, he lifts the taller boy off the ground. He looks at Raymundo and the crew.
"I could use some help with him."
Harmony is the first one over to help escort Lars to Raymundo's car. They set him in the back. Rick keeping him in check on one side, Harmony on the other. As Harmony enters the car, she turns towards the rest of her friends.
"Get Anna and Twister home safe and make sure they are okay. We'll meet you there."
They both enter the car with Lars and Raymundo drives off in higher speed than any of them have seen before. The kids each take a second to recover. Taking in what just went down. They each quickly check on each other, making sure everyone is okay. The group slowly begin to head up the road towards the Rodriguez's. They each walk slowly, almost fearful of the future. Twister and Anna keeping their hands on their faces the whole way up. The walk is slow, tough and full of fear. As they finally get to the house, they see Sandy, Twister's mom, waiting outside the door. She yells out to the kids as she runs to them.
"Anna! Maurice!"
She checks their faces and hands them each a bag of ice. She hugs both of them for a few seconds and motions them all to come in the house. Everyone walks inside together. As they get inside, they see Raymundo standing up near the couch. Rick is sitting on one side of it. His face nervously looking from the ground. Harmony is on the other side of the couch. She quickly stands up when she sees the doors open. The kids all hear Twister's Dad, Raoul, screaming at his older son from his room upstairs. Raymundo is quick to speak up, as the kids enter.
"Everything go okay, guys?"
Reggie quickly answers.
"Yeah. They're just bruised up. Give it time and they'll be fine."
Raymundo looks over at Sandy.
"Look, I know it's tense here tonight. The kids can come stay at my place until we figure this all out."
Sandy looks at him with a smile. Her answer is quiet, as she tries to use her smile to mask the pain in her voice.
"That would be good. Give them some space."
Raymundo nods and motions for them all to head to the door. Each child walking slow and more drained with each passing step. It is hard to describe what they were thinking about. For once, their thoughts seemed to be on the same problem. Today's events are still shell-shocking, to say the least. No one knows what they should be thinking. In an odd way, however, sometimes the things that seem to throw the world upside down can actually bring people together. Especially the ones that need it the most. They would all be together for the first time in a very long time. In hindsight, it would certainly not be the last. Somehow, this hectic mess might end up being the first, but necessary step for these eight kids to once again be as close as they were just a few months ago...