Chapter SIX
A Night to Remember
Late. At least late for Jon.
Having spent the entire week studying for his other finals and getting lost in the art of cinema, Jon focused on Professor Weiss’ paper that was due tomorrow morning, right at ten.
He sat at the tiny wooden desk across from his bed that was pinned against the corner of his dorm room. The white bricked walls were lined with posters of his favorite films. There was a picture of him and his parents that they gave him when he first left for college taped on the wall, too. The only light in his room was a little black desk lamp on the corner of the desk.
Jon typed away on his laptop. He still had about five hundred words to go and that upset him. Most of the time, Jon could crank out these papers and get to watching movies. Tonight, it seemed he had already spent too much time already doing so.
There were also distractions. Whether it be checking his phone, looking for emails, or watching pointless videos on the internet, his essay had hit a brick wall on the last page.
“Alright. I gotta finish this, no more fulling around,” Jon said to himself as he leaned back in his chair and stretched his arms in the air. He yawned.
Jon heard the dorm door outside his room swing open. The brass knob hit the side of the wall with a thump.
“Anybody home?” a deep voice asked.
It was Jon’s roommate, Brandon Ford. He entered the little living area/kitchen of the dorm and into Jon’s room with a big smile on his face.
“Hey man, what are you working on right now?” Brandon asked, clicking on the overhead lights to Jon’s room. He ran his hand through his sweaty, short brown hair. It looked like he had been sprinting. He placed the keys that hung on a black and white lanyard around his neck atop an unwashed pit-stained gym shirt.
Brandon and Jon were good friends and got along fine as roommates, but it was clear that they couldn’t be more opposite from one another. Jon was quieter and more reserved while Brandon was loud and extroverted. Brandon also had an athletic background while Jon was never encouraged to play sports after he was discovered to be a klutz. He always found a way to fall or trip himself which made his parents shy him away from any form of sports.
“Oh, I’m just working on this final paper for Weiss’ class tomorrow. I’m almost done, just a page to go,” Jon said with his arms still extended.
“Listen man,” Brandon said with his grin still gigantic and beaming, “you think you can take a break from that paper for a little while?”
Jon checked the time on the top corner of his laptop. 10:25.
“Maybe for a little bit, why?” Jon didn’t like to work long into the night. It always put him in a bad mood the next morning.
“You might not believe this, but you know Melissa right? Isn’t she in your class?” Brandon asked.
Jon nodded.
“She wanted me to see if you’d want to come with me over to her dorm tonight to hangout. I think her roommate is lonely and looking for a smart young man to keep her company.”
Jon laughed by blowing air from his nose and shook his head. He thought back to when he let her and Skylar out the door from class.
“I’m serious, man. Hey, you never know what could happen. Didn’t I show you what she looks like?”
“No, I don’t even know her name.”
Brandon dug into the pocket of his basketball shorts and pulled out his phone.
“Let me show you. I think she’s just your type.”
After typing and swiping around on his phone, Brandon turned it over to Jon to show a picture of three girls standing together in a dorm room. All of them were pretty, except the one in the middle didn’t look as much. Not ugly, but not hot either. Definitely not his type.
“I’m guessing she’s the middle one?” Jon said in an unenthusiastic tone, continuing to look at the short, chubby girl with curly black hair. She almost looked hot standing next to two better-looking girls.
“You got it. Her name’s Kat and she-”
“Cat? Like the animal?” Jon was allergic to cats and even the mention of it made him upset. How he hated those grumpy creatures.
Brandon grabbed his stomach and gave a genuine laugh in response to Jon’s almost disgust in the name.
“No, no! Not like the animal. It’s Kat with a K. It’s short for Katie. She’s always talking about how she can’t find a good guy around here. You might be the one to change all that if you come with me.”
Brandon now stood as if he was about to run back out the door. He was ready to go.
“Are you coming or what?” Brandon asked.
“I really gotta finish this last page, it’s due tomorrow morning.”
“Oh, c’mon dude, don’t do this now. We will have plenty of time to finish your paper. Just think about how much fun you could be having right now. I promise we won’t stay long. If we stay longer than an hour, I will write your paper myself!”
Brandon was a business major and was always trying to negotiate some deal that led Jon out of his comfort zone.
Jon checked the time again. It was now 10:30.
“I bet Melissa and Skylar are probably there telling her all about you,” Brandon said, still looking like he was ready to run out at any moment.
Jon’s eyebrows raised. His heart sunk. Skylar was there? Could she really be there? Doesn’t she have the same paper to write? Maybe she was done. Maybe Jon could ask her about it and strike up a conversation. Forget Kat.
“At least come for me, you know I’m trying to get it in with Melissa,” Brandon said.
They both shared a laugh.
Jon let out a deep breath. The deep breath he always had right before deciding like this. A social decision. This wasn’t the first time Brandon did this to him, but this was different. Jon’s last chance with Skylar was on the line.
“Alright let’s do it. But no more than an hour, you have to promise me ok? I can’t afford to bomb this final. My dad will have my ass,” Jon said.
Brandon’s smile somehow grew bigger than it already was. “Thank you! You got it, man, I promise we won’t be long, I mean unless you and Kat hit it off!”
Jon laughed out of his nose again. He turned to his laptop to save his work, even though he hadn’t typed any new sentences. Brandon ran over to his room, which was across the hall. He fumbled around in the dark until he came back out with a stick of deodorant. “I almost forgot this. Can’t be stinking up Melissa’s place.”
Between Jon and Brandon’s dorm rooms was the bathroom which had the space equivalent to a closet. It had a shower, toilet, and a sink with an oval-shaped mirror all shoved in a tight space.
Brandon painted the deodorant onto his armpits. He adjusted his hair and moved his fingers all around his face checking for any pimples or marks that had to be taken care of.
“You need anything? Any cologne? Perhaps a corsage?” Brandon said to Jon while still checking himself in the mirror. He laughed but kept checking his face.
Jon looked down at his shirt. He was wearing a T-shirt from one of his favorite bands. Twenty-One Pilots. He thought about changing it, but then he convinced himself that it could be a conversation starter. Perhaps Skylar liked them, too. They were a popular group.
The reality was he didn’t have any other clean shirts and the fact that Brandon was wearing a sweaty gym top made him feel more comfortable.
“Nah, I’m good,” Jon replied. He was feeling nervous about seeing Skylar. His heart began to race.
“On second thought, let me just check my hair right quick,” Jon said, almost pushing Brandon into the shower.
Another smile came over Brandon’s face and he said, “I knew you’d be a little interested in Kat. It’s ok to admit you want to impress her.”
Jon didn’t want to explain how he was more interested in Skylar, so he just laughed and said, “Hey man, we will see what happens. I don’t like to go out looking disheveled is all.”
He moved his messy hair aro
und and cleaned off his glasses in the sink, drying them on a towel that looked like it hadn’t been washed all semester. It probably wasn’t.
“How about mints or gum?” Jon asked Brandon.
Brandon fumbled back into his dark dorm room. There were bags being zipped and unzipped until he came back out with a little green packet of gum.
“Here you go,” Brandon said, taking a handful of the sticks out of the pack and giving them to Jon. “You might want to save a few in case things get hot and heavy.” He winked.
“Right,” Jon said as he shoved all but one into his pocket.
They both popped in a stick of gum. He clicked off the overhead lights, leaving the desk lamp as the only light. Brandon turned off the bathroom light. They both headed out into the living/kitchen area and headed out of their dorm.
***
Jon and Brandon walked down the outside steps of the dorm building, out into the big circle that had walkways leading to the surrounding dorm buildings. The quad. A large section of grass sat in the middle of the walkways where students were sitting crisscross applesauce and talking. There were other students hanging around smoking cigarettes under the orange streetlights that followed the trails. A few guys were kicking a soccer ball around on the other side of the circle under one of the streetlights. Two of them looked like they were having a wrestling match. Sounds of sirens were playing in the distance.
It was a warm night as the semester was ending and summer was getting closer, making the students rowdy. A couple of loud screams and yells came from the dorms, followed by laughter. Loud music came from another dorm on the opposite side of the quad.
“People are already partying before the semester is even over it seems,” Brandon said.
“Guess they got all their papers done early,” Jon replied.
“Hey, did you hear anything else about that girl? Jessie?”
The thoughts of heroin, heroin, heroin, found their way back into Jon’s mind. Except, Trevor found out from Jordan, who found out from his girlfriend Natasha, there weren’t any needles, or any evidence of heroin discovered on the bathroom floor. Jessie was probably still in the hospital. Her health status still a mystery.
“Guess it wasn’t dope after all, at least not what they could tell. Trevor told me the bathroom was clean. Could’ve still been heroin. Sometimes they want to keep that under wraps. That other girl who was screaming behind her could’ve quick stashed it, but who knows. I don’t want to assume anything I know nothing about,” Jon said.
“Maybe she was anorexic? I knew a girl once that had that, she would go for days and days without eating anything but a single frosted flake. Sometimes she would pass out, just collapse on the floor. She came around though. I think she’s working to be a counselor or something for other anorexics,” Brandon said.
“Yeah, in high school we had an anorexic and a few bulimic girls.”
“What’s bulimic mean?”
“That’s when you throw up everything you eat to stay skinny. You know, how they say models do it.”
“Jesus. I don’t think that’s even worth it.”
“Yeah, crazy stuff. Rots your teeth. It’s amazing the mental disorders people can get that turn physical like that. Those girls would run into the bathroom after lunch and start heaving. You could hear it in the hallway sometimes.” Jon chuckled. “Sometimes I’d hear it and start gagging myself.”
“Speaking of crazy,” Brandon said. “How about that brawl you saw the other night? Any word on that? I know they arrested those guys. Steve Wilkins was a dude I had statistics with.”
“Not that I’m aware of.” Jon was trying to forget that night. The thought of what happened still made his stomach crawl. He wondered if Ashley was ok. He hadn’t seen her again since that night. Part of him was pissed he never asked for her number or anything. Not even a Facebook request. She seemed sweet, but perhaps the night shook her up too much.
“I couldn’t believe it. I knew Steve, too. That guy was a big clown. Never would have thought he would punch someone in the face, let alone a chick. Damn,” Brandon said after nodding at some guys passing by. “And what about the library? You see what those guys did at the library today?”
“No, what happened?”
“These dudes were fooling around on the second floor of the library. I guess they were pushing each other, fighting or some shit. One of them slammed into the window and somehow knocked it loose. The whole pane of glass popped out and nearly fell off the side.”
“Jesus. I didn’t hear about that,” Jon said. He thought the students were getting too rowdy for the end of the semester.
“Yep. Pretty nuts. They pulled it back inside though. Could you imagine if that fell off outside the building? It could’ve destroyed somebody. Forget heroin and starving yourself. If that glass falls on you, you’re fucking toast. Would take your head clean off!”
“Yeah… Holy shit…” Jon uttered.
“The librarian was pissed, and they had to call a guy to put some plastic covering over it. I bet if you go to the library tomorrow, you’ll still see that giant piece of glass up there leaning against the wall. It’s so big they can’t get it down yet.”
“Did they catch who did it?”
“No. I guess they ran off before anyone could see what they did. No one has fessed up, but it’s pretty dumb to do it so close to the end of the semester. Especially if they’re going to be graduating. Could you imagine having to tell your parents after spending thousands to come here that you can’t graduate because you were being a fucking moron?”
“If that was me and I got caught, you’d never see me again,” Jon joked, but there was truth behind it.
“Same, man. My dad would beat my ass six ways til Sunday. I wonder what the hell has gotten into these guys. Everyone’s getting fucking crazy all of a sudden.”
Jon wondered if Brandon’s dad could rage as much as his father. A few times while growing up, Jon felt the wrath of Big Jon. Those moments would stay with him, being a constant reminder not to screw up around his old man. It was a flip of a switch. One moment Big Jon was happy-go-lucky, your best pal. Then, once he caught wind of trouble or disobedience, he became someone else entirely. Screaming and ranting with a shout that did more damage than a slapped bottom could ever hope to. A real Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde situation.
One time, Jon had forgotten about an English project that was due. Seventh grade it was. Mrs. Roberts’ English class. Jon had the assignment to create a poster board for the book To Kill a Mockingbird. Unfortunately, Jon had spent the entire weekend playing video games without a thought to break out some poster board or scissors. It was out of his mind as virtual blasters and aliens were more interesting.
The poster was due on a Monday and Jon showed up to class after the weekend dumbfounded. Surprised to see his classmates bringing in large, colored pieces of poster board plastered with pictures of Atticus Finch and Boo Radley from the film adaption.
Oh, shit Jon had thought to himself as his stomach sunk deep down inside of him. His grade was surely going to suffer, but that wasn’t what upset him. He could get a day’s extension if he pleaded with Mrs. Roberts to prevent a big fat F, but it was the fear that if his father found out about this on the next progress report, he was fucked. Royally fucked.
Progress reports were like report cards but weren’t the final grades. They were little updates to show parents what their child had been doing in the past month and how they performed on tests and assignments. Even though Jon would get his poster board in, the report had a bold LATE written next to the assignment. It would come out to a D. A goddamn D?
He pleaded with the teacher, but she was adamant that not only did Jon turn in the poster late, but he misread the assignment guidelines, failed to cite references, and, for whatever reason it mattered, the size of the poster board was too small.
His father seeing the progress report was inevitable and it was only a matter of time until Little Jon would feel the pain.
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The time for pain fell on a Friday afternoon after school. Early April. The reports were mailed out at the beginning of the month. Big Jon had it almost crumpled in his hand as Jon came through the front door.
“What the hell is this?” Big Jon said with the tone of trouble’s coming.
“What’s that?” Little Jon asked, acting as if being oblivious would get him anywhere.
“Your progress report. I got it today in the mail. What’s this D all about in English?”
“Umm, well. . . ” Little Jon’s mouth went dry.
“Hmmm? It says LATE next to this assignment here, Mockingbird Poster Board. Why the hell does it say late?”
“Dad, I just forgot. I-”
“You were playing games, weren’t you?” Big Jon had a way of asking questions when he was angry and then not allowing the other person to answer. Even if they did, no matter how they answered, it wouldn’t calm the beast. This is how the rage builds up to a tipping point. Little Jon knew there was nothing that could save him now. “Jesus Christ!” Big Jon slammed the paper down on the kitchen island, creating a loud SLAP.
Little Jon shuttered.
“Dad-”
“Do I have to take away your Xbox to make sure you're getting your GODDAMN homework done, huh? Do I have to go upstairs and sit in your room until I’ve seen that every one of your FUCKING assignments is completed? Do I? Am I going to have to waste MY TIME to make sure MY SON isn’t being a FUCKING, PISS POOR STUDENT? Getting Ds in English. NOT IN MY HOUSE, not while you’re under MY ROOF!”
The sound of his father’s yells were so pure. So rage-filled. They came from the depths of his soul, blasting from his mouth like cannonballs. One after the other. Striking and knocking down Little Jon internally. They hurt. Every word was another hole through Little Jon’s chest. He wanted to cry but couldn’t now. It would only make matters worse for him. Crying came later tonight when Little Jon was alone.
When the Sky Goes Dark Page 3