Still in deep thought, his hand went up before he had a chance to formulate what he thought was a good reason to be excused from class. The week before, Fears wasn’t letting anybody out of class for any reason, except on the day of the first game. Naz didn’t know if Fears was just being unreasonable because of his sour mood or paranoid because of Artie’s alleged suicide. Fears saw Naz’s hand go up and surprisingly pointed to the door. Before Fears had a chance to reconsider, Naz nearly turned over his desk getting up to leave.
“Sorry, Coach,” Naz said as he hurried out the door.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
BULLIES
At his locker, Naz watched over the water fountain down the semi-deserted hallway as if it were the fountain of youth and someone was going to steal it. With the exception of a few students taking bathroom breaks and the career-skippers walking the halls like zombies playing on their phones or listening to music on their headphones, there was no one.
He replayed that first day of school when he saw her over and over in his mind. He could almost see her there, her hair, her glasses. He could just make out the water bubbling up to her lips and cascading back down, then suddenly shooting out of the faucet hitting her in the face, and he laughed—what made that happen? He had never seen anything like that before or since. Deep down inside he didn’t really believe she was going to show, and he felt like that was exactly why she didn’t, but he couldn’t help his negative thinking, his skepticism.
After fifteen agonizing minutes, he gave up and decided to send her another text. The time allowed him to think of the perfect message:
Funny how we go 2 the same school have no classes 2gether & never c each other
He wasn’t going back to Fears’ class, not today; he couldn’t take that anymore. He’d just as soon wait it out at his locker for a return text from D or for the school bell to ring, whichever came first. The security guard sitting at her post had a don’t-start-none-won’t-be-none policy as she read her magazine, minding her own business. Naz tried to close the badly bent door of the locker next to his, something he did every day, and it popped back open, royal blue paint flaking off and falling to the floor, something it did every day, and he laughed. Meri had let him borrow her library book on the paranormal and with nobody around to question or tease him about reading it, he figured now was as good a time as any to check it out. He pulled it off of the shelf of his locker, but before he opened the book his phone buzzed. She sent:
Not realy ders almost 1000 of us here & ur gonna get it 4 textn n class
He figured it was no time to play hard-to-get games. He texted her and she texted him right back, so he was going in full throttle as he typed:
Not me remember I’m on the bball team + I just needed an excuse 2 text u
He was so excited that his body moved to the rhythm of his own heartbeat, his shoulders going back and forth as he smiled unconsciously and hit send. Dill and Denali walked down the hallway in his direction. He put his phone back in his pocket and pulled Meri’s book out of his locker again. He didn’t know what to feel, think or do at the sight of Dill and Denali so he figured he’d act like he was reading until they walked by. They stopped in front of him—uh oh.
“Hey,” said Dill.
Naz tried to act like he didn’t hear them, but he knew they were not going away. He had to admit, he was curious as to why they would stop to talk to him.
“Hey you, Naz … or whatever your name is,” said Denali.
Naz lowered Meri’s book and made eye contact with the boys.
“Hey,” Naz replied cheerfully, still not sure what to think. His phone buzzed in his pocket and nothing was more important right now than the text that had come through. He put Meri’s book under his arm, pulled out his phone, and started to look at it when Denali stepped even closer to him.
“Heard you been snoopin’ around,” said Denali as his index finger bounced off of Naz’s chest.
Naz’s confusion turned to anger—am I being bullied? Although bullying was his biggest pet peeve, he had never actually been on the receiving end of a bully—or in this case—bullies before. He had never been bullied at Trenton or Monticello, but he had seen it often and oh how he deplored it.
“I’m not Artie,” said Naz, swallowing his anger. He slowly and cautiously put his phone back in his pocket then moved Denali’s hand away from his chest with the back of his forearm.
Denali put his index finger right back where it was and continued sticking it right in the center of Naz’ chest with even more force than before.
“If you’re not careful, you’ll end up just like ’im,” said Denali.
Naz looked down the hallway at the preoccupied security guard.
“Don’t look at her; she’s not gonna help … and Harvis ain’t here either,” sneered Denali.
Naz looked at both boys in their eyes back and forth until he knew.
Dill chimed in, “Yeah, you watch yourself …”
Without knowing, before Dill could finish what he was saying, Naz reached his right hand up, keeping Denali’s eyes distracted with his own. When his hand was level with Denali’s, in one swift motion, Naz reached over the top of Denali’s hand and squeezed it like a vise grip, causing it to open and collapse, but giving Denali a brief chance to back away.
Denali yelled “Aaargh,” but didn’t retreat.
Naz completed the move by reversing his motion, not releasing his grip on Denali’s hand, which caused Denali’s body to spin one hundred eighty degrees to prevent Naz from snapping his wrist. Naz ended up with Denali’s arm locked behind his own back as Denali struggled to free himself.
“Let me go,” Denali yelled.
“Stop moving or you’ll make it hurt more.” Naz struggled to believe what he had just done.
Dill started toward Naz. “Let him go or I’ll—”
“Back off, or I’ll break his wrist.”
Dill hesitated then forged ahead. “Whatever.” Dill moved to grab Naz.
“No,” screamed Denali.
Naz had struck Dill in the throat with the V between his thumb and index finger without loosening his grip on Denali’s wrist. Dill brought his hand up, gagging.
“I told you to back off,” said Naz. “Don’t try to talk; you’ll just start coughing … or worse, throw-up. That’s more like it.”
Naz looked down the hallway to see the security guard approaching. She talked on her two-way radio. He didn’t have much time.
“Now what happened to Artie?” demanded Naz.
“He committed suicide,” whined Denali.
“Wrong!” Naz twisted his wrist.
The rusty, royal blue locker door next to Naz slammed shut on its own with a clang, causing Dill to jump and Naz to look at it in confusion. Naz refocused as he saw the security guard had stopped short of them and was still talking on her two-way radio, calling for backup undoubtedly—does she think I’m that lethal? That would buy him some more time.
“I’m gonna ask you again, and this time, if I don’t like your answer, you’ll be left-handed for the rest of the school year. What … happened … to Artie?”
“I don’t know. We just got ’im to write the letter,” Denali pleaded.
“Is that true?” Naz looked into Dill’s eyes.
Dill nodded, still holding his throat.
Naz knew immediately that Dill was telling the truth. “OK … and then what happened?”
“That’s it,” said Denali. “We were just following orders.”
“Orders … whose orders?” snapped Naz.
Denali was silent.
“Whose orders?” yelled Naz, flexing Denali’s hand to the breaking point.
“Roffio!” blurted out Denali in agony.
“Shut up, Denali,” coughed Dill.
“Roffio?” asked Naz.
Another security guard ran in their direction and Naz turned to see the first security guard approach them. “Let him go, son.”
Naz immediately relea
sed Denali and put his hands in the air as if he were under arrest. The security guards didn’t carry weapons, but to Naz it seemed like the thing to do. The security guards escorted the three boys to the office.
Along the way Denali taunted Naz, asking, “Why don’t you ask Ham about it?” as he nursed his aching limb.
“Can it, young man,” said one of the security guards.
Ham? Why am I not surprised? Naz looked back at his open locker and Meri’s book on the floor in front of it—Meri’s book … that locker door … how’d it close?
In the office all three boys would face Principal Pauling and likely be suspended. Lincoln had a zero-tolerance policy when it came to fighting.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
SCOLDING
Naz never thought much about cars, but then again, he’d never sat in a Rolls Royce either. He marveled at the way the seats felt as he rubbed them with his fingers—it looks like leather, but feels like cloth, even softer. Butter came to mind, and it distracted him from what had just happened.
Naz felt bad about disappointing Dr. Gwen, who had left her office to get him from school and was fuming as she gave a severe look forward, stoned-faced through the front windshield, her lips pursed, haired pulled back in its usual tight bun. Naz looked at the emblem on the front of the car and wondered what it was—an angel, or just a woman with wings.
“It’s called the Spirit of Ecstasy,” she said coldly, as she drove. “And it’s not an angel; it’s a woman and they’re not wings, but a cloth billowing in the wind, and her name is Eleanor Velasco Thornton … and what were you thinking, Naz?” she snapped.
He jumped, then paused at being taken by surprise. “I-I wasn’t … thinking.”
Naz was suspended for five days for bullying, of all things. In Pauling’s office Naz didn’t say much in his own defense. The security guard and surveillance camera confirmed Dill and Denali’s story. To make matters worse, Pauling informed Dill and Denali that because of the severity of the assault, they could file charges against Naz and, at the very least, Naz would be expelled from Lincoln for good. But in an unexpected turn of events, Pauling also told them if they did file charges he would have an assembly in front of the whole school making an example of Naz, showing what happens to students who bully other students at Lincoln. The problem was, in the process the truth would come out about what Naz did to Dill and Denali, forever tarnishing their reputation as thugs at Lincoln. So they were content with a five-day suspension.
It was obvious Pauling was trying to protect Naz—but why? Maybe because I’m good at chess and basketball. Nothing made sense anymore.
“It was because of Artie’s suicide, wasn’t it?” she asked.
He sat silently looking out the passenger window.
“Well, what did you get out of them?”
He looked at her, perplexed.
“Dill and Denali.” Her face softened as her anger subsided.
He still didn’t want to say anything, not yet. All he had was the name, Roffio—and Ham.
“Why were those boys at your locker in the first place?”
“How did you know we were at my locker?”
“The security guard told me when she gave me this.” She pulled Meri’s library book from between the buttery soft seats.
Naz still wouldn’t answer her questions. He only maintained that he didn’t start it; they did.
“Naz, we all must be held accountable for our actions. You need to think about that before you act the next time.”
He was thinking about what he could have done differently, but no matter how many times he turned it over in his mind, it always came up the same way, and he had no regrets.
As Dr. Gwen pulled in front of Higginbotham, she obviously decided she was getting nowhere and a change of subject was in order. She looked at Meri’s book. “Now what’s this all about? I thought you hated reading.”
“I do. It’s a library book that Meri brought home.”
“Out of the mouths of babes,” she mumbled as she looked at the cover.
“What?”
“Nothing … why do you have it?”
He reached into his pocket, pulled out the folded Wikipedia page, and opened it. “This is my dad.” He beamed.
Dr. Gwen didn’t seem surprised or impressed, which baffled Naz. She knew he had never seen a picture of his father before—why so nonchalant? She must have noticed Naz’s disappointment and immediately gave a half-hearted attempt at looking the picture of excitement and surprise, but it was too late; Naz knew there was something she was keeping from him again.
“Meri thinks my dad and the weird things that are happening to me are related. That’s why she got the book, I’m guessing.” Naz looked at the page and then up at Dr. Gwen suspiciously.
“Smart girl.”
“What do you mean?”
“Nothing … what do you think … about all of this?” she asked.
Naz paused; he knew Dr. Gwen was editing again, keeping something from him. “I think you and Meri are crazy,” he said, gesturing his index finger around his ear.
“Don’t say crazy, Naz.”
“Sorry, Doc.”
“Naz,” she started cryptically, “would you be willing to take some tests?”
“What kind of tests? Like the one I took the first time I came to see you?
“You remember that?”
“Yeah, of course. You never told me how I did either.”
“You never asked. These tests are different, actually a lot of fun.”
“OK, if you say so, Doc.”
“Good, I’ll need to get you and Miss Tracey to sign the consent forms. I can bring them by later tonight or tomorrow morning.”
“Miss Tracey!” blurted Naz, as if he just remembered. “How did she sound when you called her?”
“Well, she wasn’t upset if that’s what you’re asking.”
“Does she know I’m suspended?”
“For five days.”
“She’s still acting weird,” mumbled Naz. “When are the tests?”
“Right away … this week, since you won’t be going back to school until next week, it appears we have plenty of time. Tell my little firecracker I said hello. I’m late for my next appointment.” She looked at her watch.
“Aight! I’ll see you tonight, Dr. Gwen … or tomorrow.” Naz got out of the car.
As Naz waited for Meri he realized there was another reason he was not fully engaged during the interrogation in Pauling’s office and Dr. Gwen’s car. He had more pressing matters: D’s text message. Now, he finally got a chance to check it out.
U dont need an excuse 2 txt me
Naz smiled from ear to ear and sent back:
Outstanding
Naz decided he would take his time on his errands for the rest of the week. He definitely wouldn’t be in a hurry with no school. He would go to Dr. Gwen’s office in the morning and take the tests as if he were going to school, then run his errands for the Market Merchants in the late afternoon, a little earlier than usual. He actually looked forward to the break: no boring classes, and no grueling practices, but he would miss the game—no … two of them, and that’s not good. Basketball! It just now struck him—what will Fears say … my teammates? Will I be kicked off the team? A text came in.
Wut took u so long?
Awww … she’s anxious. He twisted some of his hair. Just the thought that she was on the other end of these words, impatiently waiting, made him anxious, and he couldn’t get enough. He sent back:
Srry bout dat :(
Before he could think to breathe again she sent:
U get caught txtn or somthin
He typed:
Or somthin like dat
Before he could hit send, another text came through. He sent his text and then read:
Way 2 go tin man
What does that mean? Only one person calls me that. Naz looked at his phone sideways and then it occurred to him that the text wasn’t from D, b
ut Soul. Naz sent back to Soul:
?
Soul sent back:
Herd u put down dum and dumer
Naz laughed out loud, as he walked his route—what great nicknames for Dill and Denali. He sent:
Lol … from who
Soul sent back:
U know good news travels
Clearly the security guard had been working overtime. But there were others in the hallway then as well, obviously not minding their own business. Naz sent to Soul:
Tru story…is fears pissed?
Soul replied:
Yea, but he’ll b aight by the time u get back
And then:
Remember wut I told u!
This time it wasn’t D or Soul; it was Harvis. Naz remembered what Harvis had told him that day at tryouts, about giving his opponent too much information. Had he done that with Dill and Denali? He responded:
K
That evening, as promised, Dr. Gwen brought the forms for Naz and Miss Tracey to sign. Dr. Gwen would start the tests the next morning. On the first day, no consent form was necessary. Dr. Gwen told Naz she would test a hunch she’d had for quite some time now. On the next two days, Naz would take part in an experiment in the area of dream research. On the final day, Naz would undergo mesmerism, which Dr. Gwen explained was a higher form of hypnosis where unlike the hypnotic state where the mind slumbers and dreams, Naz’s senses would slumber but his mind would be awakened and fully liberated.
Meri was so excited about the tests that she begged to be excused from school so she could observe. Although Dr. Gwen considered the opportunity for Meri, in the end, everyone decided against it.
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