He shook his head, looked down at his chainsaw longingly, and then turned away, obviously having been looking forward to some quality time with his saw.
I turned with relief and ran my hands over the ragged gash in the tree where the saw had savaged it. As I did, one of the sharp edges bit deeply into my palm. Instead of reversing direction to pull my hand off the sharp wooden spear, I yanked my hand straight away, tearing more flesh off my palm.
I gaped at my bloodied hand, then at the blood on the vicious spike of wood sticking out from the tree, and swore like a sailor; something I could only do when my parents weren't around. After a short, cathartic rant, I headed in to Doctor Mom.
Hero's Reward
The night I saved my oak tree from my dad’s chainsaw, she thanked me with a kiss.
I sat contentedly on my branch. My oak had many branches, and I'd tried on each of them at one time or another, but this one was mine. Here, the bole at its base cradled me and protected me from falling. The bark of the trunk had split to make room for my spine so I could lean back and bask in the peace of many perfect moments.
Together, the gentle breeze, the bright sun, and the canopy of leaves created dancing motes of light around me. My tree separated me from the world but didn’t isolate me from it. The solidity of the living wood beneath me connected me to the Earth, and through the rustling leaves, I saw a deep and beautiful blue sky, the kind we don't often get in Ohio. I basked in the familiar idyllic peace.
My hand caressed the ridges and whorls of the bole beneath me, polished smooth from years of my attentions. As usual, my fondness for my tree reflected back to me. This time, though, the affection felt different. The tree’s warm presence not only flowed up beneath me, but beside me as well.
Joy filled me along with recognition. I knew her, though not in this form. Her emerald eyes grabbed my attention and held it. I could fall forever into their deep green depths, which were as endless as the blue sky above me.
Unlike the sky, these eyes existed just for me. An exotic pixy-like face framed those impossibly large eyes and set the stage for her full, smiling lips. In turn, waves of luxurious dark green hair, the color of pine needles seen from afar, framed her cheeks and flowed down her back. Her beauty made me catch my breath, and when she saw my reaction, her face lit with mischievous promise.
She leaned forward and kissed me on my cheek. The vital smell of the world after a spring rain, blooming flowers, and green growing things scented her skin and filled me with life. I pulled back to look into her eyes again, but she followed me and kissed me on my other cheek and lingered there.
It was such a delicate and intimate moment, I didn’t want to move for fear of breaking it.
Her soft breath caressed my cheek as she whispered secrets of the world to me. At the time, I understood everything she said, and I still remember the satisfaction of knowing, though her secrets evaporated along with the dream.
I sat in an unmeasured eddy of time until she leaned a little to the right and kissed me on my lips. Hers were like rose petals, soft and delicate, but left behind a burning promise, which spread from my lips throughout my body. I leaned forward for more...
“Finn! It's getting late!” My mother woke me for school. Reality hit, sudden, jarring, and unwelcome. I sat up and looked around.
“Damn.”
“What's that dear?”
“Nothing Mom.” How could she possibly hear me from the bottom of the stairs? “I'll be right down.”
I flopped back onto my bed and looked at the ceiling as I tried to cement the memory of the dream in my mind, and I wondered where it would have gone if I hadn't been...
“Finn!” I leaped out of bed, “Coming Mom!”
Action and Reaction
That dream remains crystal clear in my mind even through all the years and all the crazy things that have happened since, and that morning I had little room in my brain for anything else.
I floated contentedly through the high school's hallways in my balloon of happy memories. I drifted around a corner and ran smack into the thorn of reality. My balloon popped, and with a jarring transition, I stood once again back in the hall of my high school. The thorn took the form of our local skinhead wanna-be, Erik Parmely, and two of his goon-squad, Chester and Ricky, circling someone out for their own special brand of entertainment.
Erik had moved into the area about a year earlier, and he already led what we called the “Quartet of Evil,” even though five of them ran in the pack if you counted him. “Quintet of Evil” or “Pentagon of Evil” just didn’t carry the same je ne sais quoi. Erik resembled a short, bald ape, whose alpha dominance attracted a certain loyal following, but he just terrified me, and I made it a point to stay away from him.
This time they had singled out Jen, my friend and my best friend Gregg’s little sister. Erik puckered his lips as he leaned toward Jen and crooned, “Come on little monkey girl, let me show you what it’s like to kiss a man!”
I was a live and let live kind of guy, extremely inclined to avoid trouble and, more importantly, pain. But, unfortunately for me, I liked her a lot. Thus, she triggered my inner hero, which I had safely packed away under a layer of prudence and enlightened self-interest. Mighty Finn broke free of his restraints and took the helm. Of course, this is not to say I was a unified front. As soon as my stomach figured out what my brain was planning, it threatened to pack up and leave.
Before my stomach or prudence could catch up, I stepped between Erik and Jen and pushed him back. “Leave her alone, Erik. You’re being a jerk!”
His head came up to about my nose, and I could see over his shiny, shaved pate, his heavy brow overhung his glaring, fierce blue eyes. Those eyes went wide with surprise. The malice, which quickly replaced it, told me that perhaps I had been a bit hasty with my shove. I dropped my gaze, and it landed on his mountain gorilla-sized arms. The thought of the damage those simian appendages could do started me sweating. I took an involuntary step back.
Erik stepped into me, and somehow, the fact that he had to sneer up at me didn’t seem to intimidate him at all. His face changed from happy malice to scowling anger.
“What the fuck is it to you, Morgenstern?”
I had just painted a big target on my forehead. I swallowed hard and tried to backpedal. “Uh… Look, Erik, she’s not doing anything to you. She’s just a kid.”
My fear chummed the waters of his inner shark, and he stepped into me with a hard shove. “I said, ‘What the fuck is it to you, fat boy?’ Huh?” He pushed me again.
I tried to back away, but one of his goons slipped behind me and stopped me.
“Are you gonna do something about it, Morgenstern?” Shove. “Huh?” Shove.
The goon behind me slapped me on the side of the head and echoed Erik. “Huh Morgenstern?”
The stinging slap emphasized painfully where this was going. The pack had found better prey—me. Fear clenched my gut, but I did the only thing that popped into my head—take out the leader, and the rest would run away.
Yeah, right.
I charged Erik. His surprised look was comical, but then so was my fighting style. I just tried to grab him and ram him into the lockers. I honestly had no idea what else to do.
Of course, Erik loved to fight and wasn’t discomfited long enough to do me any good. He punched me in the side of my head, but his elbow smacked into the locker behind him and spoiled his aim. It didn’t connect well enough to register through my terror driven adrenaline overload. I stepped back and took a wild swing at him. Somehow, my lame punch landed square on his nose. I don’t know who it surprised more—him or me.
Mr. Schneider, my first year biology (and now favorite) teacher, chose that moment to save me. He shouted at us and pulled me away. I'm sure I hurt myself more than I hurt Erik.
“OK, break it up, boys.” He pulled too slowly, and Erik swung a punch that hit me square in the eye. I staggered back into Schneider’s arms.
Anger and exasperation filled Schneider’
s voice. “Erik, I said that’s enough.”
At that moment, Chester yowled in pain and Erik scowled. “Yeah, well he started it!”
I didn’t answer. The stars floating around my head occupied my attention.
Schneider pushed me upright and looked over at Chester, who had grabbed Jen when the fight started and released her as soon as Schneider showed up. Jen used that time productively to stomp on his foot. She was wearing her favorite black leather boots, so it must have hurt.
Erik took advantage of the distraction as well. He stepped into me and punched me in the gut. The new pain took my mind off my eye, and I doubled over and tried to draw a breath.
Schneider yelled, “I said, that’s enough!” He pulled me away from Erik. “Parmely, back off. That goes for you, too, Miss Washington.”
While I struggled with my uncooperative diaphragm, I heard Jen yell, “Parmely and his limpdickwads started it!”
“That’s a lie. He hit me first. It’s not my fault!”
I finally managed to draw a shuddering breath and Schneider put his hand on my back. “You going to be okay, Morgenstern?”
I struggled upright and mutely nodded my head.
Erik’s face had turned blotchy red with anger. “He hit me first!”
“Lower your voice Erik. We are not deaf.” Schneider locked eyes with me. “Is that true Morgenstern?”
I didn’t trust myself to speak yet, so I shook my head. I shrank back when it looked as if Erik was going to hit me again.
Schneider saw it, too, and he had no problem meeting Erik in the eyes. “Enough, Erik! What have you been told about fighting?”
Erik dropped his head, hunched his shoulders, and tried to look like a kicked dog. “I’m sorry, Mr. Schneider, but it wasn’t my fault.”
Schneider didn't give that story a moment's consideration. “I don’t think that’s good enough this time, Mr. Parmely.” Then he turned to the growing crowd and asked loudly, “Who here saw what happened?”
The only person who stepped up was Jen. Her eyes were red with unshed tears. “These fuckheads started it. Finn was just trying to help me.”
Schneider raised his eyebrow at her command of the seamier side of the English language, and then he rounded us all up and marched us to the principal’s office.
Our school considered fighting a serious offense, especially after the Chardon and other school shootings. We sat in the waiting room for what seemed like forever. Erik’s glare promised bad things. Jen sat still and withdrawn and studied her hand in her lap. Her long, black, colorfully beaded hair hid her pretty brown face. Jen's father was black and her mother was Venezuelan. She had the mocha brown skin of her father and the fine features of her mother with full lips and a contagious smile.
I wished I could somehow go to her and comfort her, but I just sat fiddling with my bear whistle where it hung around my neck. Its familiar solidity and strength helped me in my battle to look calm and collected when my insides were swirling like water flushed down a toilet. Of course, the aftermath of the adrenalin rush continued to make me feel spaghetti-legged. On top of that, the smacks to the head had given me a roaring headache and my stomach churned.
Schneider talked behind a closed door with the principal for about two ice ages.
Without any indication how she knew, the secretary directed Jen to go on in. An agonizing, but short, interval later, she came out of the room of doom, closed the door behind her, and fled the office without meeting anyone's eyes.
The secretary stared at me and nodded her head toward the principal’s door.
I'd never been to the principal’s office before. I had problems with authority figures- they scared me. I tried not to let my fear show as I walked in. But undoubtedly, my pallor and shaking legs almost certainly gave me away. Principal Hayman sat behind his large, ornate wooden desk as if royalty, and Schneider stood like his loyal retainer behind him and to his right. Hayman might have examined a bug with more enthusiasm, but thankfully, Mr. Schneider gave me an encouraging smile. The principal granted me a terrifying but short audience. He let me give my version of the story, nodded to me, and said, “Thank you, Mr. Morgenstern, you may go.”
That took me by surprise. I’m sure it reflected in my voice. “That’s it?”
“Yes. Your story checks out with Miss Washington. This is not the first time Mr. Parmely has been in this kind of trouble. You may go.”
I blurted, “Thank you,” and fled.
When I got into the hall, Jen was waiting for me. She held her books tight against her chest like a shield.
“Finn, are you okay?”
I nodded unconvincingly.
“Thanks for stepping up for me. That was very brave. I hope you didn’t get into any trouble. He's such a jerk.”
I was still shaken but tried to keep my voice even. “Nope, I didn’t get into any trouble.”
“Finn, could you do me one more favor?”
“Uh, sure. I guess.” I prayed she wasn’t going to ask me to help her get revenge.
“Can you not tell my brother about this?”
“I guess so. Why?”
“Because if he hears about it, he’ll go after Erik. He likes to act tough, but Erik would tear him apart, and I don’t want him getting thrown out of school for fighting.”
I nodded. It made sense. “Sure, but if he finds out I didn’t tell him, he’ll kick my ass.”
She smiled and ran her fingers across her lips. “My lips are sealed.” Then she kissed me on the cheek with those sealed lips before bouncing off, with her beaded hair dancing and clicking away merrily.
I stood for a moment in bemusement while her kiss burned on my cheek and then headed to the safety of the science lab before Erik came out of the office behind me. My open period only had about ten minutes left, but I needed to recover.
***
Gregg and Jim sat at our usual table. They were a study in contrasts. Jim was pale and slender with short brown hair and plaid dress shirt while Gregg sported dark skin, dreadlocks, lean muscles, and a Nirvana t-shirt.
When Gregg saw the red ring around my eye, he sat straight up with wide eyes and open mouth. He recovered quickly and said with a gleam in his eye, “Damn, homie. Looks like someone put the smack hand to you, yo.”
Shaking from adrenalin head-to-toe, I sat and dropped my head to the table with a thunk. I mumbled into my arms, “I just got into a fight with Erik Parmely.”
Gregg's face lit with glee. “Damn, who’d a skeened that you got tips, bro?”
I lifted my head to gape at him. “Huh?”
Jim came to my rescue. “Cut it out, Gregg. Are you okay, Finn?”
I dropped my head again and moaned. “No, I’m a dead man walking.”
Sounding excited rather than sympathetic, Gregg asked, “So what happened?”
I related the story, sans name of freshman being bullied, and ended with a sigh. “I’m so screwed.”
When Gregg heard what happened to me, while trying to rescue some random, hapless freshman, he dropped his lame attempts at ghetto slang. “That little rabid freak needs to be put down. Somebody needs to kick his ass.”
Of all my friends, Gregg was the only one even partially qualified to contemplate such a thing. Unfortunately, Jen was right, he wasn’t a fighter, and Erik would mop the floor with him. That knowledge blunted my guilt at lying to my friend, but didn't eliminate it.
“Gregg, don’t even go there. He’s always got his gang with him.”
He scowled. “Then we’ll just have to go after them together.”
“Oh, yeah. That’s what we need, a gang war between the geeks and the jocks; they'll be so scared.”
Jim tapped his pen against the desk and grinned. “We need bigger guns.”
I couldn’t appreciate his attempt at humor. “Crap. You should have seen the way he looked at me while we were sitting in the office.” I groaned. “I am so screwed.”
Gregg said, “Don’t worry, bro. We got your back.”<
br />
Jim nodded. “We’ll make sure someone walks with you between all your classes.”
Gregg seconded that. “If he so much as sneezes at you, I’ll kick his ass so hard, he won’t crap for a week.”
I had to smile at that. “Thanks guys.” Good friends are priceless.
Just before the bell rang the end of the period, Mr. Schneider walked into the room. He strode up to me and lifted my chin so he could examine my budding shiner.
“That’s going to be quite the colorful badge of honor, Morgenstern. I never pegged you for the heroic type.” He dropped his hand. “Are you going to be okay?”
I lowered my gaze and nodded.
“Yeah, well, that's one troubled kid. He won’t bother anyone for a couple of weeks. Hayman suspended him from school.”
I sighed in relief and gave him my own wavery smile. “Thanks, Mr. Schneider.”
“You bet. Now get to class and try not to start any more fights, understand?”
I nodded in wholehearted agreement and headed out. Having Erik exiled would certainly help, but the wrath of the Quartet was still enough to concern me.
After a long queasy day spent trying to figure out a cool way to deal with the comments about my increasingly colorful face, the last bell rang. When I hurried out to catch the bus, I ran smack into Erik. He stepped in front of me, and when I walked into him, he slammed me back into the bricks of the building.
The reddened bruise around his eye from my punch was smaller than mine, and it just made him look more dangerous as he snarled at me. “Morgenstern, you are dead! Do you know how fucked I’m going to be when my father finds out about this?”
Wide eyed and terrified, I shook my head quickly. I was so dead.
“Erik, you bully! Get away from him!”
My heart sank when I saw my protector’s identity. Jen had come to my rescue this time. I examined my priorities and decided that maybe being dead would have been better.
Erik pulled back with widened eyes at the surprise challenge from the slight young woman, and then turned a gaze of mocking disbelief on me. “Christ, Morgenstern! You’ve got your little darky girlfriend fighting your battles for you? You are a freaking coward and a traitor to your race.”
The Dryad's Kiss Page 5