Nocturnal Meetings of the Misplaced

by R. J. Garcia

  “Yes, Dad.” A hard frown crossed his doughy face.

  Polar Bear eyes moved to me.

  “Yes, sir,” I said, sounding sincere. The truth was when you hit a kid, you make a good liar, at least in my case.

  Polar Bear kept looking at me, his eyes hard and unblinking. “You’re not in the military yet. Call me, ‘boss.’ I told you that, a hundred times.”

  Like a trained seal, I said, “Okay, boss,” and wiped my palms on my jeans.

  He looked pleased with himself. “I got to take this other idiot back to his house and do some paperwork at the station. Tell your mom I’ll be home late. Don’t you touch my beer or cigarettes, you got it, boy?”

  Tommy continued to watch from his yard in a kind of protective alert. Now, what could he do if something did go down?

  Polar Bear noticed this too and shot Tommy another hard glance. “And Finn, stay away from that gay kid,” Polar Bear said, sounding more annoyed than angry.

  I said the, “Yes, sir” thing, quickly correcting myself, “I mean, boss.” I gave him a quarter smile. It was the biggest fake smile I could summon.

  Mudget hunched over and Polar Bear’s chest puffed out as they shuffled back to the car. Something beautiful happened. They drove away. I had a dance to go to. I held my thumb up in Tommy’s direction and really smiled. Tommy did the same.

  I fished my hand under the porch, feeling for my secret stash. I grabbed a pack of cigarettes and book of matches. I heard the hiss of the match as I struck it and lit one up. I took a couple drags, blowing smoke rings to celebrate Polar Bear’s departure.

  Tommy shook his head as he walked toward me. “You know that shit’s bad for your health. Or don’t you watch TV commercials?” he asked.

  “The commercial where the girl scratches her skin off bugs me.” I asked, “Have you seen that one?”

  “Yeah. I hate that one.”

  “Anyway, living with Polar Bear’s worse for my health. Want one?” I extended the pack.

  “The last time I smoked with you, Reese could smell it on me. I don’t want to get grounded again before the dance.” Tommy fanned away a halo of smoke.

  I got the hint and made sure to blow it away from him. We were close enough we didn’t need to run our trap every second. There was a feeling of relaxation between us.

  He smirked, invading the peace and quiet. “So, what happened anyway? Did you and your brother, the Mudget, kiss and makeup?”

  I thought for a second. “The Mudget? Oh, you’re giving him a title.” I realized what else he said, “Hell, he ain’t my real brother.” I blew a smoke ring. It looked three dimensional. I admired it.

  Tommy smiled.

  He said, “I better get going. See you later.”

  I emitted a slow and final trail of smoke before dropping the cigarette and smashing the butt with my sneaker. I kicked it in the cracks of the wooden porch.

  Tommy turned toward me when he made it to his porch, and we both waved.

  Once inside my own house, I told my mom, “I’m going to the dance.”

  “That’s nice, Finn.” She smiled, sitting up in her bed, my four-year-old sister, Celeste on her lap. The boys were running back and forth in their underwear. The TV blared, as usual. “With Silence?” my mom asked.

  “No, not with Silence. She ain’t a freshman. The dance is only for freshmen.” Boy, I just got her out of my head. “I’m going to need twenty dollars, Mom, because it’s ten bucks a ticket. I’m taking this really popular girl named Kelly.”

  My mom “hmmed” me playfully and teased, “Oh. And ya told me ya weren’t popular.”

  “It’s Tommy’s popularity. I think it’s rubbing off on me.” I was feeling better again, pushing the idea of Silence away from me.

  I picked up my little brother, Aaron as he ran past me. He squirmed so much that I set him free.

  My mother smiled like it was funny and decided, “Don’t worry about Silence, honey.”

  I rolled my eyes at the sound of her name.

  “You’re bound to brock hearts with that face,” she added.

  “And it’s pronounced ‘break’, Mom.” I mean, it was plain embarrassing. Everybody knows if your own mother says you’re good-looking, it doesn’t even count. She sure liked to mess with me.

  Anyway, I remembered something that made me feel better and changed the subject. “Oh yeah, and Polar Bear’s coming home late.”

  Her eyes shined as if an idea came to her. “Let’s order pizza.”

  Chapter 16

  The Dance

  Tommy

  We stood at the front entrance of the school as Finn concluded, “They’re not coming. I knew they were too hot for us,” and went on to complain, “We shouldn’t have bought the tickets in advance.”

  “Yeah,” I agreed. The dance started at 7:30 and they were supposed to meet us at 8:00. I looked at my cell phone. It was 8:25. The music poured out of the building, with the bass pulsating through the walls.

  A black Lexus pulled up.

  “That’s her family’s car,” Finn whispered. First, Kelly got out of the car. I couldn’t help but notice her large endowments bursting out of her tight bubble-gum-pink shirt, along with black skinny jeans that looked painted on. Right after, Hailee appeared from around the car. She popped out of an issue of Seventeen. I felt my throat muscles strain and it was suddenly hard to swallow. She wore a black Tee with a short white skirt that revealed legs that went on for days and a pair of high-heel sneakers, which made her a good inch taller than me. The flutter of anticipation grew in my stomach as they walked toward us. I turned to Finn and we shared a quick smile.

  “Sorry we’re late,” Hailee said.

  “Um, we just got here, too.” I’d have sounded cool if I hadn’t put the “um” in there.

  Kelly hung back, uninterested. I remembered Reese said to tell Hailee she looked nice which she did. “You look nice,” I said.

  “Thanks!” she smiled. “You, too.”

  Reese took me out and bought me some new jeans and a shirt with an actual collar, from the Buckle in a mall, just a town away.

  Finn said hello and gave Kelly the ticket he bought for her and nervously echoed how we had just got here.

  “I know who you two really are. Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn,” Hailee said, as we all walked into the school.

  Finn said, “Yeah, cool. I hadn’t thought of that.”

  “Who’s that?” Kelly gave Hailee a weird look.

  I smiled. Kelly was dumb, alright.

  Mr. Long, our gym teacher, and another guy teacher, I’d seen around, collected the tickets, right outside the gym. They sat in those cheap, metal chairs that fold up into thirds. I handed two tickets to Mr. Long.

  Brandon intersected us right before we entered the gymnasium. He was with a girl who had dark hair sliced into a bob and glasses. But they mainly talked to Kelly and Hailee.

  I started to zone out when I heard Brandon say, “Hey Chicago, are you going to teach us all to dance or what?” in an obvious reference to that old movie Footloose.

  Kelly didn’t get that reference, either, asking me, “Are you a good dancer?”

  I almost laughed. “No, definitely not.”

  Finn broke in, “I’ve been known to trip the light fantastic.”

  Kelly gave him a hard look. “Can you pretend to be normal, for like one night?”

  He shrugged. “I guess.”

  Brandon said, “What’s the fun in that.”

  The memory of a lot of the night would be pieces or fragments of what happened. First, I remembered that Finn made a dash to a steamy vat of sloppy joe meat, which one of the cafeteria ladies was getting ready to cart away. “I thought you ate pizza,” I reminded him.

  “Hell, for twenty bucks, I’m getting a couple Joe’s.”

  The girls passed on a sandwich until Finn pushed and Hailee alone caved.

  She ate hers neatly. Finn bit into his sandwich and it drizzled down his grey hoodie in a zigzag of
sloppy joe juice. He also had an orange sloppy joe mustache.

  Hailee briskly patted Finn’s hoodie with her napkin. The orange stain above his lip almost matched his hair. I motioned for him to wipe his lip, but Finn didn’t take the hint. Kelly wrinkled up her nose at him and shot Hailee a nasty look. Ignoring her friend, Hailee brought her napkin to her mouth and cleaned the area above Finn’s upper lip. I think my date spit-cleaned my best friend.

  Finn said, “Thanks, Mom.”

  Hailee and I smiled.

  A trio of girls hung out next to us. Some guys were posed along the wall across the way. Another group of girls were on the dance floor, along with one couple. I could feel the thumping of the bass in my chest. Most of our attempts at conversation had been swallowed up by the music.

  Kelly checked her phone. Hailee leaned into me and said something in my ear. She repeated it several times before I heard her. “Do you want to dance?” she shouted.

  I didn’t. I didn’t want to at all. A slow song started, and the lights dimmed and that changed everything. “Yeah, I do want to dance,” I told her.

  For a moment, everything else faded. Our bodies were getting closer and closer. A prickling heat grew between us. It seemed natural. I smelled her hair. It smelled like strawberry and whipped cream. My heart was skipping around my chest. I was practically dizzy over how good she smelled, how good she felt.

  Finally, we realized they started playing a fast song and we were still slow dancing. We smiled. Kelly whispered to Hailee and abruptly, pulled her across the gymnasium by the hand. I spotted Finn and grabbed him by his arm and we were a pace, or two, behind our fleeing dates.

  “What happened?” I asked.

  He said something, but I couldn’t hear him over the music. We followed the girls out the side door to the parking lot. The air was fresh and the music distant.

  Hailee came up to me and whispered in my ear.

  “Finn!” I turned to scold him.

  He shrugged. His eyes looked big and innocent. “I didn’t mean to touch her boobs.”

  “You are a loser!” Kelly snapped.

  Even Hailee scowled at him. “I thought you were a nice guy.”

  I tried to smooth things over. “It was an accident. Finn, tell her you’re sorry and it was an accident.”

  Finn mumbled, “I bumped them. I mean you. Sorry.”

  “Kelly texted her parents. They’re coming to pick us up. They live in Lake of the Hills. It’s only a few minutes from the school,” Hailee said, sounding upset. She walked away from Finn and Kelly and I casually followed her.

  It may be my one shot at having a girlfriend and an awesome one at that.

  “I guess, I will see you at school, Tommy,” Hailee said, which wasn’t too promising. Then, unexpectedly, she leaned in and kissed my cheek. It wasn’t a peck. No, she pressed her lips against my face for a few precious seconds. I consider myself a hard, cynical guy, but I may have fallen in love. I’m not sure, but something happened. I swallowed hard and kept my mouth shut, not wanting to ruin the moment.

  She admitted, “It was kind of my fault. Kelly didn’t really want to go with Finn. I pushed it. I’m only allowed to double date.”

  Wow. She really wanted to go with me? I felt a jolt of confidence. “I’m glad you did.” For once, I took the lead. “I want to get to know you.”

  Her eyes got wide, and she grinned. “Oh really? Well, you could call or text me. Remember, I gave you my number.”

  “I will.” I leaned toward her, and she leaned toward me. Our lips briefly met, and eyes closed. After, I must have been kind of beaming and I’m not really the type to beam. We seemed to be in sync with one another as we moved in and kissed a second time. My lips twitched into a smile. She smiled, too. I rubbed my nail-bitten fingertips against the smooth surface of her cheek and took in the moment.

  Kelly’s parents arrived in a flash. Hailee walked away but stopped and waved. I smiled with my hands in my pockets, hoping to look cool.

  Finn’s practically invisible eyebrows rose, and he leaned in to inform me, “You kissed Hailee Palmer.”

  I grinned, “Yeah.” I narrowed my eyes at him. “Please don’t tell me you did it because you paid a lot for the tickets.”

  Finn smiled. “The tickets were expensive.” He became more serious. “It was an accident. Hell, my mom raised me better than that!”

  I knew he was telling the truth and was thinking only one thing, I kissed Hailee Palmer.

  Chapter 17

  Darker Hours

  Finn

  Reese drove slowly through a fog that shrouded everything from the trees, the GoLo sign at the gas station, and the street light at the intersection in a soft, gauzy glow. Even though it wasn’t raining, the windshield drizzled with mist and Reese put the wipers on. I slumped down in the passenger’s seat, riding shotgun. I glanced at Tommy in the backseat, hating the way he wouldn’t say much the whole car ride. After all, he was the one who had a decent night.

  “Come on, tell me something about your night?” Reese asked for the zillionth time.

  “It was fine,” Tommy replied.

  I should say something since he wouldn’t, show some gratitude or share some highlights from the night. “They had good sloppy Joes,” I said. “Thanks for taking us.”

  “Yeah thanks, Reese,” Tommy said, piggybacking off my good manners.

  Soon Reese’s parked and we all got out.

  “This conversation isn’t over, guys.” Reese jokingly said before going inside. Tommy started to follow her.

  “Hey wait,” I said.

  Tommy stopped by the door, turning to me; the porch lights illuminated the three front steps.

  “It’s still early. I’m going to Silence’s house. Do you want to come?” I asked, in a hopeful whisper, not really wanting to walk there alone after the Mudget thing.

  Tommy chewed his thumbnail, thinking it over, with a slightly pained expression.

  “I’m going to swing by my house and get her bat. Now’s our chance to sneak out. Everybody’s going to check on us Saturday,” I reasoned.

  “You’re right. I’ll meet you in fifteen.”

  I had Silence’s bat with me to return to her. She had been on my mind all night. It was chilly outside. The half-moon showed like a profile of a man with a pointed and wicked chin. We headed straight for the trees, which looked creepy as hell because of the fog.

  We both accused the other of being scared, as we walked deeper into the woods, but laughed it off. We kept moving, not talking much until we made it to Silence’s house. The grass and weeds were as high as wheat. Her yard was never attended to.

  We went over to the side of the house where a large treetop spilled over an old, dilapidated roof. Dull veins of leafless ivy scaled a broken trellis. Up close, you could see the paint on the side of the house was peeling. The second-floor window had a flowered, blanket draped over it. It was Silence’s window.

  I leaned the bat against the house and searched the grass for a pebble or small rock to throw up, as Tommy grabbed my arm and pulled me back behind the tree. Polar Bear’s cruiser was parked in front the house. I sucked back a startled gasp. I didn’t understand. What would he be doing here?

  We watched from the cover of the elm tree as Polar Bear came out of the house. Tommy and I exchanged a look.

  “Why’s he here?” I whispered in between confusion and rage. We peeked around the corner and watched as the cruiser drove away.

  “Let’s not jump to conclusions. Let’s talk to Silence,” Tommy said. “Maybe they had to call the police. He’s the sheriff.”

  That made sense. I picked out a small rock from the grass and pitched it. It hit the window with a soft, glassy ping. No one came. I whispered, “If Polar Bear hurt Silence, I’ll kill him.”

  Tommy found a pebble, too, and backed away from the house and hurled it at the window. Again, the ping and then nothing. The only thing that stirred at all was the breeze.

  I was starting to cl
imb the tree, when Silence appeared at the window, gesturing for me to get down. She held her finger up to say she would be down in a minute.

  I climbed back down. We waited a couple minutes and Silence came out the back door.

  She wore her hoodie, as always, and her tattered jeans, tossing me a look that had none of its usual playful come-on. “What are you doing here?”

  I didn’t know what to say.

  “Hey,” she mumbled to Tommy.

  “Are you okay?” Tommy gently asked. “We saw Polar Bear leave your house.”

  “No. He wasn’t here,” she said.

  Tommy’s voice became soft as he asked, “Did he hurt you or anything?”

  She shook her head. “He wasn’t here. If he was, I didn’t know he was.” She rubbed her nose. Her hair blew around with the night breeze.

  Why was she lying?

  “Maybe he knows your mom?” Tommy suggested, but I didn’t think so.

  I asked anyway. “Does he know your mom?” I wanted to believe this.

  “He might.” She stuffed her hands into her pocket, looking down. “I don’t feel like hanging out tonight. I was ready to go to bed,” she casually said. “Wait, is it midnight?” she asked.

  Tommy checked his cell, “Yeah. It’s exactly 12:05.”

  “Happy birthday, dumbass,” she said and punched me in the arm, returning her hands to her pockets.

  “Yeah, Finn, happy birthday,” Tommy mumbled.

  She smiled and rolled her eyes, asking, “Do you want your present?”

  My eyes twitched, almost like a stutter. I felt funny inside like I’d come out of a movie that I couldn’t understand. I didn’t want to ask about things. Yet, I wanted her to explain it to me, so I could feel normal again. I began to study Silence, her every breath, her every gesture.

  She rubbed her little nose again. “Earth to Finn,” she said with an irritable edge to her voice, though she never sounded more like a little kid, asking, “Well, dork, do you want your present, or not?” Though there was only moonlight, I could see her eyes got misty.