Nocturnal Meetings of the Misplaced

by R. J. Garcia

  Reese leaned into me, saying, “This year’s Independence Day Princess is so beautiful.”

  “Yeah. She’s not bad,” I replied, feeling like I had some cool secret. I never had that kind of secret before. I stared at Hailee on that float until she became too small to see. Reese noticed me gawking and teased, “You like her. You like the Independence Day Princess.”

  I shook my head innocently and denied it. Now it was way too late to tell them. It was okay. Even if I lived to be an old man, I’d remember how I went to the dance with her and even kissed her. Who knows what will be fluttering around in our minds when we’re old.

  On the ride home from the parade, my friend Carlos had called. He and Simon were on their way to see me. No one from Chicago had visited me in my six months here. I guess with GPS they could find this small town. I was kind of happy but felt bad that Finn was missing out on things.

  Carlos and Simon participated in the “nice to meet you” banter with Holden and Reese. Carlos shined at this kind of thing. Simon just stayed quiet. Reese talked about Finn getting hit in the head with a shovel. I had already texted Carlos a little about it. Overall, Reese and Holden seemed glad to get rid of me for one evening. I know they wanted me to have fun, just not too much fun.

  Simon was older and a little more dangerous than Carlos and me. He had a car now. I was feeling cool as we walked to a shiny, blue Land Rover, which even sported a sunroof. I rode in the front seat next to Simon and Carlos draped himself across the backseat. The gravel driveway kicked up a bit of dust as we drove away.

  Simon told him, “Hey, give the kid his surprise.” I was always the kid to Simon. I thought of myself like Billy the Kid when he called me this.

  I turned to Carlos. He beamed with pleasure and leaned forward, handing me a joint. “We waited to smoke until after we met your uncle, so we wouldn’t be high.” His eyes were the color of espresso set beneath the ledge of his monobrow. He had a big white smile though his teeth were crooked.

  That was cool of them to wait. It would have been easy to fall into old habits. My promise to never smoke weed again rushed in at me. It may have been superstition or the idea of God stopping me. It might have been common sense kicking in. I’m not sure. “You guys coming here is cool enough,” I said.

  “Light it up, Tommy.” Simon glanced over at me and pushed in the lighter on the dash and again gripped the wheel.

  I paused. “I don’t think we should smoke in the car. What if we get pulled over?”

  “Maybe we should wait,” Carlos agreed.

  First, Simon looked cool like he was assessing the situation. “Light it up. You’ll be fine.” He hit his chest with his fist and let out a loud burp. He was the kind of guy who reeked of testosterone since age ten. He might have been a perfect jock if he had had more legitimate influences or grown up in a different neighborhood.

  I didn’t want to. It wasn’t only because of the promise. I had a bad feeling about it.

  “Thanks, but I think I’m going to save it.”

  There was an awkward pause before Carlos broke in. “So, what are the girls like in Indiana, man?” He was always more about girls than weed. I had the password “Tommy luvs weed” on all my accounts. Girls, on the other hand, made me nervous.

  “I’m not going to lie. Indiana girls are hot.” I almost gloated, thinking about Hailee, which didn’t make sense because she dumped me before we were even together.

  Simon was more into fighting than weed. He liked being in control. It surprised me when he let it go. He took a chug of his Monster. “So where to, Kid?”

  I had an idea. “The fireworks are by the lake, but I was wondering if we could we stop and see my friend first. He’s stuck in the hospital.”

  Right away, Carlos liked the idea, saying he wanted to meet, “His competition.”

  Simon seemed hesitant. “You mean the kid who got hit with a shovel?”

  “Yeah. His name’s Finn.”

  Simon lit up a regular cigarette and said, “I’m not real comfortable around retarded people. I like ’em alright. I dunno how to act around ’em.” He took a slow drag of his cigarette, letting it dangle between his sturdy fingers.

  Sometimes my friends were idiots. “It’s not like that. You’ll like him.”

  He extended the cigarette toward me. “You smoke these, at least?”

  “Nah, I quit,” I admitted.

  “Good for you. Listen, Tommy, when you’re a hotshot, business guy maybe you can bail me out of jail.” Simon smiled a little.

  It surprised me when he said this. Simon Hall was the guy. He got into more than a few fights, and he won them. He had survived a stint in Juvie, which sounds cool to say. He was taller and older than me. His voice registered a definite octave lower than mine. He talked a little slower. In a way, he was James Dean cool. Simon was a good, bad guy. He didn’t always follow the law, but he also didn’t screw over his friends. He was like a big brother to me.

  “You must be doing good. The car and smokes,” I commented because Simon was usually asking me for a loan.

  His eyes flashed to mine. A different expression crossed his face, a more tentative one. “Yeah. I got a job now.” He blew a long stream of smoke out his open window.

  It probably wasn’t a regular job. I didn’t want to know. “It is cool you came out here. Let me give you twenty toward gas money.”

  “Nah, kid. I’m good.”

  I knew for sure the job wasn’t doing anything legal. Regular jobs didn’t pay high school dropouts that well.

  I got a text from Silence and Annie. They were going to the fireworks and wanted to meet up. I had another idea. I could surprise the girls, and sneak Finn out of the hospital for one night. I told Carlos and Simon a couple of friends would meet us.

  Carlos said, “If they’re girls, invite them.”

  I explained that Silence was Finn’s girl and that Annie was too nice for him.

  “I can make a good girl go bad,” Carlos bragged, laughing a little. That line was cheesy even for him.

  I rolled my eyes at him. Being with them already made me think of Chicago and my mom. Of course, Simon asked about her. The truth was that my mom called me a week ago from the Cook County Jail to tell me happy birthday. The conversation played in my head.

  “Happy birthday, Tommy.”

  “Thanks. My birthday was yesterday.”

  “Sorry. The days run together. It’s terrible here, Tommy. Promise me you’ll do better.”

  She was from the do-as-I-say, not-as-I-do school of thought. I hardly talked. I let her carry the weight of the conversation.

  “I know you’ll do better than me. So, will Izzy, because of you. The way you take care of her is the way Princess looked after me and Holden. Our mom treated her like a slave. One day, she disappeared. It messed me up.” Again, she warned me about my grandparents. “Don’t trust those people.”

  I managed to brush Simon’s question away like crumbs on a table, making it sound casual. “My mom’s getting out of jail soon. She just got sixty days and time spent.”

  I tried not to think of her. Yet despite my best effort, sometimes it hit me. It was like getting off the bus and realizing you didn’t have something important like your backpack. It was a jolt of panic. I was living life without my mom.

  I was supposed to be directing Simon to the hospital but almost forgot to tell him to turn. He made a hard right, causing the tires to squeal. Then I saw the hospital.

  Chapter 33

  The Rescue

  Tommy

  Finn had repeatedly asked me to break him out of the hospital, for at least a night. What better night to be freed than the Fourth of July? Carlos and Simon stood guard by the door.

  I felt buzzed from the excitement of it, as I rescued Finn from those white, antiseptic sheets and unplugged the IV from his thin, bruised arm. A little blood dripped, and I grabbed a Kleenex from his bedside table and held it on the spot.

  “Wait. Are you sure you’re up fo
r this?”

  “Yeah. I’m fine, just bored out of my mind.” He assured me, “It’s cool, Tommy.”

  “Let me unplug it first.” I yanked the heart monitor from the outlet, and he took it off his finger. I handed him his Rolling Stones T-shirt, which detailed the classic picture of lips and a tongue. We weren’t into the band, it was a cool T-shirt. He also had jeans he insisted his mom bring.

  He was kind of limp like a giant rag doll. I pretty much dressed him. Once Finn got up from the bed, he only took a couple steps before his knees buckled. He collapsed in my arms as Simon reached over and planted Finn safely in the wheelchair.

  “Are you sure this is a good idea?” Simon asked, giving me a hard look. “I don’t want this kid to die in my car.”

  I began to wonder if this was a good idea.

  “No, I’m cool,” Finn insisted.

  “We’ll just let him see a few fireworks and bring him right back. It’s all good,” I told Simon.

  “Let’s bolt, man, before someone sees us,” Carlos said, and asked Finn, “Hey, can I drive you out of here?”

  Simon and I followed them. Somehow, we made it to the elevator without anyone noticing us. Once inside the elevator, I realized I might be making a mistake. Finn didn’t look so good and he was panting. My heart thudded and thumped in protest of my own poor judgement. I studied Finn. His face remained pale and bruised. “Maybe we can watch the fireworks from your room,” I said to Finn.

  “No way, Tommy! Don’t go all pussy on us,” Carlos snapped.

  Simon looked equally irritated.

  “Are you sure you’re okay, Finn?”

  Finn sounded cool. “I’m fine. I just look like shit is all. Hell, I was never pretty like you, anyway.”

  That made Carlos grin, before he asked Finn, “What’s that in your ear?”

  Finn brought his hand to his hearing aid. “It’s so I can hear. The cool thing is if my stepdad starts on me, I can turn it down and not have to hear a thing.”

  The elevator door opened. Every step we took seemed to echo and made our sneakers squeak.

  A lady rushed up to us. It was Jana, Finn’s mom. “And whar are you goin’?” she asked with a thicker-than-usual accent, her voice louder and sharper in surprise.

  “Mom?” Finn’s eyes grew big. “C’mon, Mom. Tommy is just taking me to the fireworks. Please?”

  “No,” she said simply, crossing her arms. “I’ll watch them with ya from yur room.”

  Carlos stepped aside, clearly checking out Finn’s mom. There was something wrong with him.

  Jana took control of the wheelchair.

  Her maternal instincts had kicked in, big time. I also heard from Reese that Finn’s mom was planning on divorcing Polar Bear and getting him out of the house before Finn returned home. I decided not to tell him, in case it fell through like before.

  “Okay, let’s take off, Tommy,” Simon said, clearly annoyed at the way the night was progressing.

  “Call me later, Tommy!” Finn shouted, as his mother whisked him away.

  We jumped back into Simon’s car and I directed him to the lake.

  After we met up with the girls at Hidden Lake, Simon played the big shot, slinging his arm around my shoulder, slapping a twenty-dollar bill in my hand with his other arm, telling me to get a couple of Cokes and nachos for the girls.

  Carlos went with me. We were making our way to the concession stand, among a steady stream of people, mainly families and groups of teenagers, when I caught sight of Hailee. She stood next to a lady who looked like her mom, and a guy who I guess was her dad. My eyes strained to see him. He had one of those square jaws that projected authority. Not knowing my dad made me wonder about other people’s fathers. He wasn’t only some dad, but the freakin’ mayor. There were a few kids with them, two boys and a girl, maybe Hailee’s younger siblings.

  I hoped Hailee didn’t see me. I couldn’t help but steal a second glance at her. It was one of those things that almost happened. It was the closest I’d been to having a girlfriend.

  Once we passed, Carlos did a U-turn, asking me, “Did you see that girl?”

  I dragged him away.

  We went back to our spot for that evening that consisted of a couple of old beach blankets stretched out on the grass. I made sure to stay close to Silence, so Carlos couldn’t make a move, strategically inserting myself between them. Simon noticed Silence too, saying she was hot, but lost all interest when I told him her age. He also asked about Annie, saying he thought she was adorable. Simon wasn’t the type of guy to use that word. I took a new look at Annie. It seemed like, I had never seen her before. Holy crap, she was adorable. I could feel Simon and Annie exchanging glances across me. I made sure to tell him she was only fifteen. I also pointed out he was eighteen and did the simple math for him. “That’s three years which equals jail.”

  To my relief, Silence wasn’t very friendly or interested in Carlos or Simon. She joked a little with Carlos and even smacked him. Silence was just the type of girl who hits boys. But Annie told me, “Your friend Simon’s really cute.” They had been talking on and off. This was weird because the girls always noticed Carlos. It was weirder, yet, that it bothered me.

  Simon was a lot of things, but cute wasn’t one of them. His hair had a cresting wave with a hint of Elvis. Yeah, he was James Dean cool, alright, but James Dean hit in the face once or twice with an ugly stick. He stood about six feet tall and was more than a little built up, with tribal-looking tattoos laced around his biceps. His nose looked flat like a boxer’s nose, and he had a little acne on his chin and a nasty scar on his left eyebrow.

  It wasn’t Simon’s looks that worried me. I didn’t like his way of life for Annie. They started talking and exchanged phone numbers. Annie beamed. I couldn’t take my eyes off her until two small kids knocked into me in the process of chasing one another. The boy said, “Sorry,” and started running again.

  This made Carlos reminisce. “Man, sometimes I miss playing tag and on the monkey bars and piñatas! Kids got it made.”

  I agreed. Carlos and I had been friends since third grade. We had a lot of good times. In a way, we seemed like two old men thinking about the good old days.

  Carlos admitted he wasn’t as good with the girls as I thought. “Now I just have to chase after girls who go for the guy with a car.” His gazed over at Simon.

  The fireworks started. Everyone fell to attention. Explosions carried me away. Luminous ovals and spheres exploding in colors took the night sky. I looked up at the beautiful flashes of light. They were two-dimensional shapes in various hues with pops and bangs. The sky exploded in a cobalt blue, trickling down in softer shades like dingy ocean waves. I again looked at Annie, who remained mesmerized by the fireworks. Her dimly lit profile looked amazingly delicate under the bursts of lights. It could have been the face on a cameo, or an old-time painting.

  Carlos elbowed me and asked if I liked her.

  “No, of course not. She’s my friend.”

  I saw Simon go over to Annie. I kept glancing at them. I probably seemed like a jealous boyfriend. I told myself she was like a sister. Toward the end of the night, I watched in horror as Simon swept in and kissed Annie, his hands on the hollow of her back, right above her skinny jeans. The word, “What?” spilled out.

  Soon Annie’s mom came and got the girls, taking them home. Simon dropped me off. My old life and new life had come together, like a brief eclipse. Hanging out with them stirred up memories that made me feel like shit. To make it worse, Finn’s mom, Jana, told Reese about me trying to sneak Finn out of the hospital. Reese immediately grounded me. I tried to do all the right things. I didn’t even get high. And Simon sticking his tongue in Annie’s mouth, what was that about? This wasn’t some random girl we were talking about. This was Annie. It wasn’t right. Life was so unfair.

  Chapter 34

  The Alpha

  Finn

  I’d heard the fireworks all night, each pop reminded me how life was going o
n without me. The celebration had ended hours ago around the same time my mom left. I knew it was getting late, when Polar Bear entered my hospital room. I sat up. He looked strange, as if a spark had gone out in his eyes. I reached for my call light, but he jerked it away. “If you need anything you can just tell me, son.” He let it drop to the floor.

  My stepdad sat on my bed and leaned toward me. I pulled back and snarled at him. He started talking, “There are crack heads and whores out there. I could kill them, and no one would bat an eye, but I’m bolder than that.” He cupped my face in his enormous hand. “I don’t mind making eyes bat. Do you understand? I am the alpha, the omega of this town.” He let go. His face suddenly looked calm under a bony layer of control. “Your mom puts me out again and you can say goodbye to her. Understand?” His features twisted and cut creases into his big, potato forehead. “You better make her change her mind.”

  My mom kicked him out? The blood rushed to my face. It took a minute for what he said to register. The quiet room seemed to hum in shock. I mumbled in disbelief, “What?” My words got stronger, becoming fierce. “You better not touch her, you psycho. I’d kill you.”

  His voice became thick and phony, sounding like a two-bit actor. “I can’t lose her, that’s how much I love her. And you have my word, I won’t bother you again. You can come and go like the wind.” He stood up, briefly lifting his hands up in mock surrender. “And your mom will live a long and happy life, lying around in that bed, and making babies.”

  A faint rap on the door broke in as the nurse entered. She was chubby and young for a nurse. She had one of those faces that was all cheekbones and hair her was ginger like mine. Hers was a glossier red, like from a bottle. I had cataloged her face into my brain. I knew she was always here at night. “Visiting hours are over, sheriff,” she said.