Marcus Smith had been in love with Maddy Newland since ninth grade. And it wasn't just her big, angelic brown eyes or the way she was chubby in all the right places. It wasn't even all about the way her full, luminous brown hair had natural highlights of mahogany and honey blond.
In fact, it was mostly about a presentation she'd given in freshman debate, an argument in which she had put a rival school's debate captain directly into his place in the most graceful display of intelligence and sass he'd ever seen. And they both loved the band, Avenged Sevenfold. And the fact that she could kick every last one of their asses in a game of Sorcerer's Glenn.
He had a rival in this love, and he knew it. Robbie Petropoulos, not as big a brain as Marcus but ten times the athelete and not exactly stupid. He didn't know if Robbie had been into Maddy as long as he had, because Robbie had only started casting those disgusting, blue-eyed, sideways glances and red-cheeked smiles her way since about a week ago, and it could have been because a week ago was one week til graduation and Robbie knew Maddy would finally be allowed to date.
And really, what did that matter? Robbie could have loved Maddy from birth as far as Marcus cared. He'd spent most of high school writing a poem about her and the past two weeks copying it onto expensive stationery in perfect calligraphy, and tonight, as soon as he had a moment alone with her, he was going to give it to her. What timing could be better than at their graduation party amongst their closest friends?
He watched her, almost breathless, as she shuffled her deck. She would win, of course. She nearly always won at Sorcerer's Glenn. She had the best cards of anyone there, and it wasn't just that - she was good. Marcus had only beaten her twice in the four years they'd been playing. He hadn't enjoyed it, either, but she was the kind of girl who'd know if you let her win, and she wouldn't appreciate it.
To his left sat Ciji, fellow brain and salutatorian to Marcus's valedictorian. She was a short, thin girl with wide brown eyes and a deep ebony complexion. She wore cute little wire-frame glasses and Marcus could easily see why Wynn liked her so much, but he'd never really thought of her that way. She was an old friend, since second grade, and they'd always been close because they'd always been the smartest two kids in their grade.
Next to Ciji, holding tightly to her hand with both their forearms resting on her leg, her boyfriend, Wynn. Nothing to shake a stick at academically, but more of a music geek than anything. He was a genius on a set of drums, and he'd been first chair in the marching band's clarinet section for as long as Marcus could remember.
He thought dreamily about how soon it would be himself and Maddy holding hands, his forearm perhaps daring to rest on the softness of her thigh. A kiss, maybe, if she'd let him get away with it tonight.
He was lost in starry-eyed romance when Maddy slapped the table just under him with a tinkling little giggle. "You with us, Marcus?"
He smiled at her. "Yeah, I'm ready when y'all are."
"It's Wynn's house, he goes first!" Maddy answered cheerfully.
Marcus could only gaze at her and try to imagine ways in which he might place them alone together sooner than later. That poem was burning a hole into his pocket. He had to give it to her as soon as possible.
They were halfway through their game when something snapped Marcus very abruptly out of his daydreams. He'd barely paid attention to the game itself, let alone what was going on at the table around him. He was in a very blissful part of his imagination in which he'd worked up the courage to slip Maddy the poem under the table, and she'd read it under the table just as secretly, and surprised everyone when she'd jumped up and wrapped her arms around Marcus and...
Suddenly, something wasn't right. He was jolted back into reality. He looked around, trying to understand what it was, and then it jumped right out at him, the most obvious thing in the world.
Maddy was next to him, smiling a very sheepish smile. Next to her was Robbie, his cheeks red, his eyes cast downward, and they were holding hands. Right there in front of him.
It was all he could do not to gasp, "WHAT THE FUCK?" right out loud. Had he really been that spaced out? Had he been so in denial all this time that he'd seen Robbie's smiles and glances to Maddy but never noticed she was reciprocating them? When had this happened? What had he missed? What the actual fuck?
He was shaking. He knew he'd gone pale because everyone was looking at him strangely. He stood up slowly. "I'm out. I don't feel well. I need to go home."
"Marcus, please?" Maddy's voice. Like she fuckin' cared.
"At least let me drive you home, man." Wynn this time.
"Thanks, man, I'll walk." His jaw set, his hands clenched into fists. He walked out the door.
His house was only a half mile down this little backwoods highway. He needed the time to blow off steam. He knew they knew what had upset him. He was too embarrassed to go back and apologize and just enjoy the graduation party. He didn't think he could stand being around Robbie and Maddy, anyway, seeing them hold hands and god only knew what else.
He picked up rocks off the side of the road and threw them as hard as he could. Hard enough that they threw little sparks when the hit the pavement. Some of them cracked in two. He'd hear one piece fly to one side and the other hit all the way across the street, and it felt good. Better, at least.
He didn't hear the big '68 Chevy coming around the curve, and certainly did not know it had a brand new paint job, cerulean blue with silver flecks. It was a loud truck, but he was just too lost in his anger, too caught up throwing rocks and cursing Robbie under his breath. He didn't notice until he heard his rock bounce off the hood and fly into a tree. He thought about ducking off into the trees, but he wasn't even sure they'd even stop and didn't want to get eaten alive by mosquitos or lost. He didn't generally go out of his way to associate with anyone who drove a big truck with a Confederate flag graphic on the back glass, but maybe they'd just keep going.
For a few seconds, they did. Then they hit the brakes so hard they squealed and tiny pebbles spewed from under the tires.
A woman, just shy of six feet tall with a mullet and her front four teeth missing, got out of the driver's seat. She had kill in her eyes. She started toward him.
He was stammering a clumsy, "I'm sorry, ma'am, it wasn't on purpose, I just -" when a big burly fellow with a bushy black beard and one hell of a beer gut slipped out behind her.
"Well, look-ee here," said the bearded fellow.
"Look-eeeee heeeere," agreed the woman with a devilish smile.
The passenger's side door opened. A third voice, raspy but deep, boomed, "What is it? Look at what?" followed by a deep, hacking cough. An even bigger, burlier man, but older, with a long gray beard and a lot of prison tattoos walked around the truck, inspecting the hood carefully as walked, looking annoyed and yet genuinely curious.
Oh fuck. A truckload of rednecks. Marcus stood frozen to the spot.
"Oh!" The old man again. "I see! Well, boy, you done dented the hood of my daughter's truck."
"Look, Mister, I didn't mean to. I can pay for the damage, if you'll just -"
"What the name of God is wrong with you, boy. I didn't ask you to speak." Gray Beard. This "boy" thing was starting to worry Marcus. That with the flag on the back window didn't seem a good sign.
"I'm sorry, sir, I -"
He didn't get to finish. The old man had him by the nape of his neck and was dragging him over to the car. "You're goddang right you're gonna pay for it, boy. You're gonna pay for that and for speaking out of turn! Now, look at the dent!" The old man was insanely strong for his age. He slammed Marcus's face down so hard on the hood of the car that he chipped his front tooth and cut his chin. "Do you see it, boy? Do you fucking see it?"
Marcus didn't answer. Wrong move. He slammed his face down again. Blood poured from his chin.
"You better answer when he's talkin' to you!" the woman managed in the midst of peels of laughter. The black beard man just stood there with his hand on her ass, grinning like a retarded gorilla.
His face hit the hood a third time. The rest of the tooth crumbled. "Yes, sir," he sobbed. Just breathing sent shots of jolting pain through what little was left of his tooth.
"Good!" The old man threw him to the ground. The envelope fell out at his feet. The woman, just inches away, apparently could read.
"Maddy Newland? Hey, that's my cousin!"
Gray Beard was over in a flash. "What's it say, Skunky?"
"It's a damn love poem!" she almost shouted.
"You nasty buck sonofabitch!" The old man was screaming. "You ain't getting your goddamn monkey paws on none of my kin! Hold him, Elroy!" He tossed Marcus like an empty beer can right into his companion's arms. Elroy grabbed on tight around Marcus's arms and chest, laughing at his futile efforts to slip away. Skunky kicked him square in the balls and she and Elroy had a good laugh about it.
Her eyes lit up like a Christmas tree when she saw what Gray Beard was retreiving from the chrome tool box on her truck bed. "Oh, Daddy, really?" she beamed.
Marcus threw up when he saw it. A hangman's noose.
He kicked and tried his best to scream with Elroy's massive, hairy hand clamped tight over his aching mouth. Elroy only responded by squeezing him tighter and mumbling, "Fuckin' coon blood all over my new jeans..." They brought him just a few feet into the woods, just far enough to find a good, strong tree.
The drop when Elroy let go of him with the rope around his neck was not hard enough to kill him. While he asphyxiated, the three stood around him and watched. The old man laughed and stuffed the now-crumpled poem into his mouth, replacing it roughly every time it fell from Marcus's gaping jaw. Skunky and Elroy giggled and pawed away at each other like a couple of horny teenagers.
Like Maddy and Robbie. The two of them were the last image in his mind before the world went black.
The old man gave a heartfelt nod. Elroy muttered a polite, "Good work, Ross. Good work, all of us." Skunky skipped all the way back to the truck.
Back at Wynn's house, Maddy was winning at Sorcerer's Glenn and they were all trying to think of a way to cheer Marcus up tomorrow so they could spend their last Summer together as friends.