Crossing the Barrier

by Martine Lewis

  “Lily,” he said, gently caressing her hair. “Are you all right?”

  “No,” she said, then began to cry again, hard sobs that rocked her small body.

  Malakai just held her against his chest, as hard as he dared without choking her. His cheek against the top of her head, he closed his eyes and let her cry, fighting his own tears at the thought of what had almost happened.

  How could someone want to hurt her so? He just didn’t get it.

  Then the horror of it all slammed into him, choking him. He hadn’t been there to keep her safe. He hadn’t been there for her, to prevent this from happening to her. He felt so guilty about it all he could barely breathe. How could he ever keep her safe?

  He was still thinking about it when the door opened behind him. Quickly putting Lily behind him to shield her, he turned around and faced the door, ready to pounce, ready to protect.

  He would not let her down like this again.

  But it was David and Sandra.

  David had his fists clenched at his side and his face was a dark shade of red. Sandra was frowning, her eyebrows drawn together.

  “Lily,” she said and went to her. “Are you okay?”

  Lily nodded, wiping the tears from her eyes.

  Malakai looked at David, a question in his eyes. David shrugged, his jaw clenched tightly.

  “What happened? Are they gone?” Lily asked from behind him.

  “Yes, but not their parents,” Sandra answered. “And we found this,” Sandra added, putting Lily’s cell phone on her bedside table.

  Lily shuddered, and Malakai took her in his arms again. She hid her face in his shirt and he held her, willing her to be all right, hoping he could take her away.

  “Lily, come to my house tonight,” Sandra said. “I…we don’t want you to stay here.”

  Lily nodded against Malakai’s chest, and Sandra went around the room, gathering things and putting them in Lily’s bag.

  Five minutes later, they were crossing the street.

  Chapter Forty-Six

  MALAKAI

  Three days after the incident at Lily’s, Malakai was still furious she hadn’t wanted to call the cops. He wanted to see Wes arrested so badly he had almost hit the wall with his fist when she asked them to keep the entire episode quiet. He hadn’t wanted to scare Lily more than she already was, so, his fists solidly clenched at his side, he had taken a dozen breaths to calm his temper while Sandra and David argued with her about the stupidity of her request.

  The only thing that had calmed his anger some since then was to find out the word had gotten out anyway, and the band members were now in the know. They rallied behind Lily, and every time he had seen her in the last twenty-four hours, one of them was nearby, watching her back.

  It was lunchtime now, and as he had done since the beginning of the week, Malakai would join Lily for the duration. He was anxiously making his way to the cafeteria to buy food when he was suddenly pushed against the wall.

  Wes.

  It was the first time the quarterback had come anywhere near him since the last weekend, and Malakai believed it was better that way. His anger at the boy who used to be his friend hadn’t faded away, and it was best if he kept well away from Malakai.

  If only Lily had let them call the cops…

  Wes looked a right mess. His eye was black and his lip busted from when Malakai had punched him.

  “What the bloody hell?” Malakai exclaimed, clenching his fists at his side. “What did you do that for?”

  “You told,” Wes spat.

  “No, I didn’t. You’re bloody lucky Lily asked me not to,” Malakai growled, taking a step and standing an inch from Wes’s face.

  Everybody in the corridor stopped to look at the confrontation.

  “Yeah, you’re fucking lucky,” David said, walking up to them and standing next to Malakai, arms crossed over his chest.

  Despite his bravado, Malakai was glad to see the center show up. Wes was livid, and even if Malakai was angry in his own right and had beaten the boy before, he didn’t know if he would end up on top in a fight with someone who was bigger and a good four inches taller than he.

  “You told what happened at that band geek’s house,” Wes accused again.

  “No, but I should have,” Malakai said.

  “Did you really expect no one would talk?” David asked, shaking his head. “Needless to say, you’re the one at fault here, not us.”

  “Then it’s one of those tramps,” he accused.

  “Whoa, careful here. You’re talking about my sister and her best friend. And honestly, if they said something to anyone, good for them. But let me remind you of something. Zoe was there too, and three other people. Who’s to say one of them didn’t talk?”

  “Zoe wouldn’t betray me,” Wes said hotly, his face turning red.

  “Oh, really?” David asked with a frown.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “It means don’t be so sure.”

  David’s words proved to be more than accurate the next day at lunch.

  Malakai walked into the cafeteria to find half the student body in an uproar. At the table next to the one where he usually sat, Zoe was in tears in the middle of her group of friends. Wes was nowhere to be seen.

  “And…and he touched her chest,” Zoe said between sobs. “It was horrible.”

  “Never mind you were smiling the whole time,” Andrea said.

  “Shut up!” Zoe snapped. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. He played me.”

  Malakai opened his mouth to support Andrea when the girl shook her head at him. Throwing a murderous glare at Zoe, Malakai took his seat next to David.

  “Where’s Lily?” David asked, looking around with a frown.

  “At the library,” Malakai answered, unwrapping his lunch.

  “Sooo, you heard that, didn’t you?” David asked between clenched teeth, pointing behind him.

  “Yeah.”

  “She broke up with Wes, saying she’s as much a victim as Lily,” David said, his eyes on his lunch. “That’s messed up, man. Andrea wouldn’t let me intervene. On top of it all, he’s ruining practice.”

  “I know. He didn’t pass me a single good one yesterday. The coaches are beginning to notice.”

  Malakai’s BLT didn’t look as appetizing as usual.

  “Not just the coaches. Half the team came to ask me what happened.”

  Malakai looked at David. He hadn’t heard that, but again, he had very few classes with the rest of the players.

  “They know?”

  “Yeah, they heard,” David answered, shaking his head. “Man, this is fixing to become very bad, very quickly. I mean, what are we going to do? Half the school wants to kick his ass right now. I mean, should we tell the coaches?”

  “I don’t know,” Malakai said, looking at the table. “I really, really don’t know. Where is he anyway?”

  “I don’t know, but he better be somewhere else.”

  “Yeah,” Malakai said, glancing at the girls behind them. “I reckon you’re right.”

  David got back to his lunch, looking as worried and angry as Malakai felt.

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  MALAKAI

  “Hamilton, what’s wrong with you?” Coach called after Wes threw a bad pass to Malakai for the fourth time that afternoon. “You’ve practiced badly all week and now you’re even worse. What’s got into you? We have a game tomorrow.”

  Wes didn’t answer. He just glared at Coach, then at Malakai, as if it were Malakai’s fault he practiced like a beginner.

  “Now get with the program.”

  The practice resumed, but most of Wes’s passes continued to be off. By the end of the practice, Malakai was frustrated, and most of the players stayed far away from Wes. When they got back to the locker room, no one talked, which was highly unusual for the team.

  “Now care to tell me what’s going on?” Coach asked as he walked into the quiet locker room.<
br />
  No one answered.

  From the corner of his eye, Malakai saw David glance his way. Lucas was doing the same from across the room. Most of the other players were looking down except for Wes, who, nostrils flaring, was throwing daggers at whoever looked at him. As for Coach, he was looking at the offensive line players, splitting his stares between Malakai, the other wide receivers, the quarterbacks, and the running backs.

  “No one?” Coach prompted again.

  The room was so silent Malakai only heard the buzzing of the overhead lights.

  “Well, if tomorrow you play like you practiced today, you can kiss that game good-bye,” he said, and, without adding a word, he walked out of the locker room.

  The other coaches followed more slowly, then left the team alone. The players all remained where they were, silent for a few moments until Luis stood up and walked over to Wes. Wes was still glaring at Malakai, his jaws clenched.

  “What the fuck did you think you were doing?” Luis asked so quietly Malakai wouldn’t have heard him if it hadn’t been two seats down from them. “How the hell did you think we wouldn’t find out?”

  “She deserved it.”

  Malakai’s blood boiled, and his vision turned red. How could anyone deserve being assaulted the way Wes had Lily? He didn’t remember having stood, but in the next moment, David was in front of him, holding him back.

  “No, Malakai, don’t,” David said quietly, using all his weight to restrict Malakai. “I know you want to beat his ass again, and frankly, he deserves it, but don’t. You might lose your spot on the team, and we can’t afford it.”

  “How can you think any girl deserves what you’ve done to her? What the fuck did she do to you?” Luis asked loudly, bringing Malakai’s attention back to the ongoing confrontation. “You’re supposed to be our captain, dude. You’re supposed to be the example. Do you expect us to go around and grope any girl who makes us mad? We’re in fucking high school! Girls are going to make us mad; that’s what they do. But that doesn’t give you the right to hurt them. You’re lucky we didn’t tell the coaches. You’re lucky one of us is not giving you another black eye.”

  Tristan, Lucas, and more than half of the team were now standing in front of Wes, silently supporting Luis, their arms crossed over their chests.

  “As far as I’m concerned, you’re no longer our captain,” Luis said, then walked away, the group parting to let him through.

  As one, the team turned their back on Wes and also walked away. David let go of Malakai, and Malakai returned to his locker.

  A moment later, the door opened, and Wes walked out with all of his things.

  “This is not good,” Tristan said.

  He was standing next to Malakai, looking at the door by which Wes had left.

  “No, it’s not,” David agreed from Malakai’s other side.

  Malakai glanced behind him; the rest of the team was looking at him.

  “We need a captain,” Luis said, across the room.

  “Yes, we do,” Lucas agreed.

  Malakai looked at Tristan.

  “Don’t look at me, dude. I just made varsity,” the sophomore said with his hands up. “You’d do a lot better job than me.”

  Malakai glanced around the room again. All the players were now looking at him, some nodding approvingly, most of them waiting to see what he’d do next. Malakai sighed, closed his locker door, and walked to the middle of the room, scratching the back of his head. He looked at the floor in front of him for a moment, searching for what to say.

  “I’m not officially the captain,” he said, still looking at the floor. “But we’re a team,” he added, looking up. Slowly, he glanced at each one of the players in turn. “I know the expression says a rotten apple can rot an entire barrel if it’s not removed—or something like that anyway—but let’s not have that rotten apple get the best of us. I mean, guys, we may need to work extra hard to compensate for what Wes will or won’t do tomorrow, but we can do it if we work together,” he said calmly.

  “What do we do about Wes?” someone asked.

  Malakai glanced at David, hoping his friend would hint at an idea, but David shook his head and looked away.

  “I don’t know,” Malakai said honestly.

  “I’m glad she got a message to you,” one of the defensive players Malakai didn’t know that well said.

  “Yeah, from what I heard, it could have been a lot worse,” Luis said. “Mind you, it was bad enough as it was.”

  “You’re really into that girl, aren’t you?” one of the tight ends asked with a mischievous grin on his face.

  Malakai’s face became hot. He hadn’t expected that one. He looked down and scratched the back of his head again.

  “Yeah,” he muttered.

  He then looked up; the entire team stared at him with grins or smiles on their faces.

  “Well, no one’s going to touch your girl now, that’s for sure,” Luis said, standing up and walking to Malakai.

  He presented Malakai with his right fist, and Malakai bumped it.

  “But a band girl, dude?” he continued with a grin.

  “Why not? He’s paving the way for the rest of us,” Tristan said, walking to Malakai and doing the same fist bumping Luis had done.

  “Yeah, have you seen some of those girls?” another player said, presenting his fist to Malakai. “Some of them are hot.”

  The rest of the team got to their feet, and some gave Malakai their fist to bump while others slapped him on the back.

  “We’ll be fine,” Malakai said to his teammates, who were now all standing in the middle of the room with him.

  “Malakai, if he ruins the game, tell Coach,” Luis said seriously.

  “Yeah, okay.”

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  LILY

  The band had just finished getting to their seats in the stands when the introduction of the senior class football players began. Lily searched the row of players, looking for number fourteen, and found Malakai. Next to him stood a man as tall as he, dressed in a military uniform. The man had light-brown skin, darker than Malakai, and a shaved head. Malakai and he were talking and smiling.

  “What are you looking at?” Sandra asked from next to her.

  “Malakai.”

  “Duh! Why did I even bother to ask?” Sandra said, rolling her eyes. “Who’s with him?”

  “I don’t know. His father maybe?”

  “Mmm, interesting.”

  As the players were introduced, the band members cheered and applauded, but when Wes’s name was called, no cheer or applause was heard from the band or the dancers. The cheerleaders were also unusually quiet.

  “Uh-oh,” Sandra said under her breath.

  Lily followed her glance; the head coach was looking at the stands with a puzzled expression on his face. She then looked at Wes, who was having his photo taken with his parents, and she felt bad for them. Hopefully, they hadn’t noticed the lack of applause and cheering when their son’s name was called out.

  “We should have applauded,” Lily said.

  “No way,” Sandra said, shaking her head. “I know you. You feel sorry for him.”

  “Not for him, for his parents.”

  “Well, don’t. He brought it upon himself.”

  Lily looked down at Malakai, who had just been called to the wild cheers and applause of the band members. The man with him was introduced as his father. They both stood for the photo and, once it was done, Malakai looked into the stands, directly at her. He smiled, waved, and then turned away, guiding his father toward the locker room.

  “Now we know,” Sandra said.

  “Yes, we do.”

  Half an hour later, the game began.

  And it was catastrophic.

  Wes made mistake after mistake. The team’s first time on offense, Wes’s pass was intercepted. The other team almost scored, but the Warriors’ defense regained the ball a few plays later. The second time on offense, Wes dropped the ball when D
avid snapped it to him, then ended up kicking it toward the defensive line. Lily was amazed at that mistake and so was everybody else. That fumble cost them the ball, again. They had been only twenty yards away from scoring, which made everyone pretty mad. The next time Wes had the ball, he fumbled again.

  The pattern continued throughout the second quarter.

  By halftime, everybody was on edge, and the players were shaking their heads. The score was seven for the opposing team and zero for theirs, and no one understood why the coach hadn’t replaced Wes. Everybody was puzzled since even the junior varsity team would have scored against the opposing team’s weak defense.

  As for Lily, she was beginning to have a spectacular headache. The crowd felt nothing like it usually did, and the emotions were a lot less mindlessly positive. In fact, the crowd had begun to lose interest, which meant the emotions were all over the place, just like at the cafeteria. Thankfully, Sandra was there, and Lily kept continuous contact with her.

  “What the heck?” Sandra said, watching the team disappear into the locker room as she and Lily stood on the sideline, waiting to perform the halftime show.

  As he walked toward the locker room with David, Malakai glanced at Lily. She tentatively smiled at him, but he didn’t smile back.

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  MALAKAI

  “Coach, you have to get him off the field,” David said when he reached the sideline after Wes had fumbled again at the beginning of the second quarter. “His head’s not in the game.”

  Malakai walked away before he heard the answer, but by the way David stomped away, Coach was probably giving Wes yet another chance.

  “We have to tell Coach,” Lucas said, standing next to Malakai. “We can’t continue this way. If Tristan doesn’t get on the field, we’re going to lose this one. And everybody can see their defense sucks. There’s no reason why we shouldn’t have scored at least forty points by now.”

  Malakai looked at him, thinking the same thing. He then looked at the bleachers, spotted the sergeant, and wished he could run up there and ask for his advice. But he hadn’t gotten it in the last two years, and like for everything else, he would have to figure it out on his own.