by Terry Keys
Wait – did you hear from you know who yet?”
“You tramp! Did you give Tre my Snap?”
She heard Pam trying not to laugh in the phone.
“Pam why would you do that?”
“What? I thought you liked him?”
“What happened at the party was stupid and it won’t happen again.”
Suddenly Nikki’s bedroom door pushed open.
“What happened at the party?” Her dad asked.”
“I’ll talk to you later Pam.”
Nikki tossed her phone onto her bed.
“Nothing happened at the party dad. Don’t you know how to knock?”
“My house – my room.”
Nikki rolled her eyes, “whatever. Is there something that I can help you with since you barged into my room?”
“Did that Blaze do something with you at that party?”
“You’re unbelievable. Blaze wasn’t even at the freakin party.”
“Can we drop the attitude?”
“Can we knock? Can we not barge in making accusations? Can we not be a sloppy drunk for one night?”
He stared at her disapprovingly but said nothing.
“Yeah, I didn’t think so either. Treat people how you want to be treated right, dad? Isn’t that what you preach? Don’t bother answering. Just close my door when you leave or leave it open. I don’t care.”
She rolled over away from him and slid her head phones on.
A few seconds later, she heard her door slam.
Nikki didn’t understand why parents preached one thing but acted out something entirely differently. It wasn’t just her parents but nearly all of her friend’s parents. She couldn’t even remember the last time her dad wasn’t drunk.
Her dad had been drinking today as usual. Outside of being a prick it hadn’t really affected her much. But her mom – that was a different story.
She turned the music up and started attacking her homework again.
Thirty minutes later a chime from her cell phone got her attention.
Dad been drinking? Mom and dad are fighting again
It was a text from her younger sister Carlie.
Nikki slipped the headphones off and eased her door open.
Carlie was right. She listened for a second to see how serious it was tonight.
Only saw him for a second. But seemed like he’d been drinking. What else is new? Nikki responded back.
What are we going to do? He’s going to hurt her one day, then what?
Nikki didn’t want to admit it but Carlie was right. He’d pushed their mom a few times but she usually just apologized for whatever and it was over. What happened the time when her mom finally had enough? Nikki didn’t know but she did know that she was at the end of her rope. She’dtold herself the next time her dad did it she wouldn’t just stand by.
A minute later, there was a loud crashing sound from downstairs.
Both Carlie and Nikki ran out into the hallway. They stopped for a second looking at each other. Then they both ran down the staircase.
They found her mom sprawled out onto the floor, blood oozing from her mouth and barely moving.
Carlie ran over to aide her mom.
Nikki took a deep breathe, “Dad you need to leave.”
He slowly turned around to her with a weird smile on his face. “Is that so?”
Nikki hesitantly took a step towards him, “yes it is. Leave now before I hit dial.” She held up her phone and the numbers 9-1-1 were displayed on the screen.
He laughed, “You wouldn’t.”
Her mom raised herself to her knees, “you girls go back upstairs. I need you to stay out of this, I’m fine.”
“Damnnit mom, shut up. You’re not fine. This isn’t okay. If he wants to hit someone I’m sure I can find a boy or two at school he can fight with.”
Her mom stared at her wide eyed.
“Dad leave now – I won’t ask you again. You can come back to YOUR house when you decide to quit drinking and doing this,” she pointed to her mom.
“You’re serious?” He asked.
“Does it look like I’m serious?”
He looked around on the kitchen table for his truck keys. When he eyed the keys he stormed over to grab them. “I’m going to have a few drinks with the boys. You girls have your little fun tonight. But I’ll be back. You can’t kick a man out of his own house.”
“When he’s not acting like a man you can,” Nikki said.
After he was gone the three of them sat in the living room and no one said a word. Carlie held her mother who was softly crying.
“Mom, I’m not going to live here forever. I won’t always be here to protect you. He’s going to hurt you one day – really hurt you or worse.”
“He just gets drunk Nikki. He don’t mean no harm. Your dad wouldn’t hurt a fly.”
Nikki jumped up, “listen at yourself? Go look at your face in the mirror? He shouldn’t be touching you at all. Pushing you or whatever. Why are you letting him do this to you?”
“You’re just so smart aren’t you Nikki?”
Nikki was shocked that her mom was actually defending him. What the hell was wrong with her?
“Mom. I’m not going to fight with you. This isn’t about me. This is about you letting a man put his hands on you. Period.”
Nikki ran upstairs.
“You just know it all don’t you?” Her mom yelled at her.
Nikki slammed her door shut and screamed. She threw her cell phone across the room. It smashed hard into the wall and then fell to the floor.
She jumped onto her bed and cried for what seemed like an hour. In public they were the perfect little family of four. They went to church every Sunday. And sometimes her mom even sang in the church choir. But they were anything but healthy or holy.
Nikki went and picked up her phone from the corner. She was hurting and wanted to talk it out with Blaze.
When she unlocked it she had five missed calls and five missed texts from Blaze.
Dammnit!
And now he was probably working and couldn’t talk.
She sent him a text and waited.
A few minutes later he finally responded.
Working now, why didn’t you answer earlier? Can’t text now. TTYL
Now on top of everything else, Blaze was mad at her too.
She slammed her phone down and went to grab her backpack. The joint she’d been smoking earlier was only half smoked. She opened her bedroom window and lit the joint. She’d taken a few hits while she walked over to grab her cell phone again.
Then she accessed Snapchat and clicked on the message from Tre.
Chapter 13
Blaze looked down at his cell phone. He had one hour to go before his shift ended. The band session had gone so well that he was searching the internet for studios to rent. A studio where the band could record. They needed to record a demo to send out to a few producers. It needed to sound professional if anyone was going to take them seriously.
“Excuse me young man,” a middle-aged man called to him.
Blaze walked down the counter, “yes sir, can I help you.”
“You look mighty young.”
“I’m old enough and I love the smell of gun powder. What can I do for you?”
“Looking for a good AR-15, tell me which is the best.”
Blaze laughed, “that’s an easy one. I thought you were about to ask me something difficult.”
He spent the next twenty minutes explaining the differences between all of the AR15’s they sold. All the way down to every tiny detail. Including the lbs. of pressure needed to squeeze each trigger, barrel lengths, etc.
“Wow, you are very knowledgeable on this weapon,” the man said.
“It’s not really all that impressive. I mean it is my job, right?”
“I’ve bought many guns here before. Most of the time you guys are lucky to hand me the right caliber.”
Blaze smiled.
“Blaz
e – can you come here for a minute?” his boss called to him.
“If you’ll excuse me sir, I’ll be back in one minute.”
“Blaze, how long have you worked today? Four hours?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Go ahead and clock out. I’ll finish up here. They got me cutting back everybody’s hours for the next few weeks.”
Blaze clocked out and texted Nikki.
Off a little early, want to catch a movie? Grab dinner?
I’d love to, but I got myself grounded.
She knew he would ask why but hoped that he didn’t.
Okay. What’d you do?
She hesitated.
Stayed out past my curfew last night. They said I can’t go anywhere all week.
But you came to watch us play earlier?
Yeah, that was before my dad checked the security camera. Yikes. What time did you get in?
Almost three.
Blaze didn’t want to start a fight, but he didn’t figure she’d be out so late. When they were together, they usually never stayed out that late.
Guess ya’ll were having a good time? Meh it was okay.
Had to be better than okay if it made you stay out two hours past your curfew. Five or ten minutes is one thing...
We had a lot to drink and lost track of time.
He didn’t know what to make of her story, but he didn’t want to fight about it either.
Happens. My mom doesn’t care about me, so I don’t have a curfew. At least you got one that cares I guess.
Your mom loves you, Blaze. She cares about you. I think you are too tough on her. You gotta let her try to make up for what happened.
The last thing Blaze wanted was another shrink.
She sure as hell has a funny way of showing it. I’ll call you later.
He opened his Snapchat app and viewed his friends’ stories. He called them his “friends,” but they really weren’t. He only had his band mates and Nikki if he were being honest. Everyone else was well, just there.
He sat in his car for a few minutes longer catching up on Twitter too. Seemed like the entire school had been at the party the night before.
Tre was in most of the videos being obnoxious as usual. He’d even seen Nikki in a few of those videos too. Then he tossed the phone without looking anymore. The last thing he needed to do was let his imagination create something that wasn’t there.
The sun was just setting and it was finally starting to cool down a little. His mother had sent him a text asking him to stop to get milk and bread. Blaze remembered back to his conversation with Nikki and Mark the day before. About Kilwade being so country and behind the times. And about how Nikki wanted to leave. Maybe he could see himself leaving Kilwade behind one day and starting over somewhere new.
He smiled as he approached their twentyyear-old Walmart. There’d been talk for years about Kilwade finally getting a Super Walmart, but it hadn’t happened yet.
It only took him a second to grab the items his mother wanted. He found the shortest line he could and threw his items onto the conveyor.
It was only when he looked up that he noticed who his checkout clerk was: Tre’s best friend, Wayne.
Wayne was six-foot-three and probably two hundred and thirty pounds if Blaze had to guess. He played on the defensive line and had offers everywhere.
He wanted to grab his things and go to another line but that would be even more awkward at this point.
“Missed you at the party last night, Blaze” Wayne said.
“Yeah. Not really a big party-goer.”
“That’s too bad. Nikki and her friend seemed to have a good time.”
Blaze felt his blood start to boil, but he wasn’t going to let this guy see him sweat.
He smiled. “Good. That’s why I told her to go. I knew she and Pam would have a good time,” he lied.
“Better than you know,” Wayne mumbled.
“What was that?” Blaze asked taking a step towards Wayne, which he knew was suicide if Wayne wanted it to be.
“Ah nothing… don’t worry about it my man. It’s going to be $8.78 today. Will that be cash or food stamps?” he said grinning.
Blaze snatched a ten from his pocket and slammed it on the counter, keeping his hand on top of it.
Wayne reached out for it, but Blaze still didn’t move his hand.
“I don’t know why you guys can’t just keep your damn mouths shut.”
“Cause we run shit – you remember that. And stay in your lane,” he said moving Blaze’s hand and taking the money.
He opened the cash register and got his change. Then he slammed it back on the counter. “You have yourself a great day, sir. Come see us again.”
“Eat a dick, Wayne.”
“Whoa Blaze, there are kids here. Don’t be so cruel. I’ll be sure to tell Tre you said hello.”
Blaze yanked his bag from the counter and turned for the exit.
“Blaze, be sure to bring Nikki out Friday to support the team,” Wayne yelled as he reached the door.
Sure thing jackass. Blaze wondered when they’d find someone new to pick on. When would they be done with him? Or would they ever?
Blaze parked in the garage and grabbed the bag of groceries that his mother asked him to get.
“Mom, I’m home. I got the stuff you asked me to pick up.”
“I’m right here – no need to yell,” she said while rounding the corner.
“Oh, hey. Figured you’d be in your room already.”
Steph took a deep breath. “Have a seat here beside me, Blaze.”
They both sat down on the couch.
Blaze rolled his eyes and slowly sat down. “I have a big tournament tomorrow, so I need to get one last night of practice in.”
She put a hand on his leg. “Listen, I know the last few months have been hard. It’s been hard on us all though Blaze, not just you. And if you want to blame me for the whole divorce or whatever, that’s fine too. But this anger – I’m worried about you. It feels like you’re mad all the time. It’s not good for you. And you’re starting to worry a lot of people. People who care about you.”
Blaze jumped to his feet. “You’re worried? Now?”
He bolted towards the staircase. “Blaze, I’m trying here. At least meet me halfway.”
“Too late!” He yelled back from the top of the staircase. “Think before you act – right, mom?”
Steph buried her face in her hands and cried. Maybe she would reach out to her exhusband. She needed to get through to Blaze somehow but she didn’t know how. And he sure as hell wasn’t making it easy.
Blaze turned on his Xbox and waited for Fortnite to load. He played for an hour while listening to their new song. They’d recorded it on their cell phones earlier that day. The band decided it would be their anthem and first single if they ever made it that far.
The tournament was starting at eight the next morning, so he shut down his gaming system and laid down. He texted Nikki.
WYD
Netflix.
What show?
All-American. You seen it?
No.
Pretty good. You should watch.
Maybe. What’s it about?
Hmmm a high school and sports and stuff.
She left out the part about it being about football.
Doesn’t sound like my type. You coming to the tourney tomorrow?
Grounded remember?
Duh…that’s right. We’ll win for you.
I’m sure. Pam was really impressed with you guys.
Kool. New song went good.
She wanted to tell him what Pam had done. But he was already seemingly on edge with her, so she dropped it.
Sweet. When can I hear it?
Soon. Few days probably. I’m shuttin it down. Early morning. Love you.
Love you too.
Sunday, Aug 25th
Chapter 14
Blaze and Mark strode into the community center, confident they’d get a wi
n and advance to the next tournament in Houston. Only three teams from the tournament would advance.
“Did you boys register your team online?” An older man asked as they approached. He had a list of teams on a sheet of paper he was holding.
Blaze nodded.
“Okay, what’s your team name?” “Murder Squad,” Blaze replied.
The man stared at him for a second. Finally, he spoke up. “You’ll be the third
match at station five. Good luck,” he said pointing. They walked over and took their headsets out of their backpacks.
“Murder Squad?” Mark asked.
“Yeah, what? You don’t like it?”
“It’s a little much, don’t you think?”
“I think its fitting. What’s so funny?” Blaze asked.
Mark looked around. “These guys really think they have a chance.”
“What is the prize for first place anyways?”
“Three grand for first place today. If we win in Houston, it’s ten grand and a trip to Vegas to play for another fifty thousand.”
Blaze nodded.
Mark nudged Blaze on the leg. “Told yah they’d be here.” Tre, Wayne and another handful of football players were checking in at the front door.
“Doesn’t matter. They won’t be an issue,” Blaze said.
“Hell no. I’ve seen them play. Amateurs.”
Right on que, Tre noticed them and made a bee line in their direction. .
“You boys lost?
“Funny. I was about to ask you the same question. This is a pro tournament. The rookie tournament was last weekend,” Blaze said standing up.
“I looked over the names on the list. Did ya’ll check in? I didn’t see a team named GeeksR-Us on there.”
“Lame. Hope your game is better than your shit talk.”
“You’ll see. Nikki coming up here to watch me win?” Tre asked.
“Why don’t you keep her name out of your mouth, bro?”
Tre stepped in Blaze’s face. “And who’s going to stop me if I don’t? You?” He laughed.
Both of them stood face to face without saying a word.
“Alright everyone, listen up. The tournament is about to begin,” a male voice boomed.
“He just saved your ass, Rockband,” Tre said backing away.
Blaze’s fists were balled tightly. Part of him was relieved that the man had called for the players to start the tournament.