That Night

by Cecily Wolfe

  Sarah knew that Cass needed the money, and while she hadn’t done anything to upset the owner, she felt badly and took it upon herself to get Danny out of there.

  “Danny’s going to buy me a peanut butter shake that hasn’t been all over your shoes. Then we’ll leave so you can do your job.”

  Danny tugged a chunk of napkins from the tiny dispenser on the counter and wiped his face with them.

  “You’ll let me buy you a shake?”

  The plaintive tone of his voice made Sarah smile.

  “I let you kick the guy’s ass even though I had him, so why not? I’m feeling generous again.”

  His own smile was small like hers, but as they both turned their faces to Cass, she laughed.

  “I better get the mop.”

  Day Fifteen

  Sunday

  Paul was in the bathroom, making the difficult decision as to whether or not he should take a shower. Every decision was difficult, but after considering how it would keep his parents off his back and most likely give him more time to sleep later because he wouldn’t have to shower then after his mother pushed him into doing it (of course he was overthinking this) he stepped out of his boxer shorts and reached into the shower, turning the cold water on as far as the knob would turn.

  He rubbed his hands over his face and thought of Kayla, how she had teased him the one time they had slept all night together in his bed, he in his boxers, her in one of his longer t-shirts. His mother had been staying over at a friend’s, babysitting while her friend took an overnight shift at the hospital where she worked as a nurse, and Kay’s mother was with Mia for an out of town cheerleading competition, her father tagging along for some sort of networking opportunity.

  Kay was worried that Mia was too young for a competition, but Paul reminded her that she had been kicking a soccer ball around since she could walk, and competitiveness probably ran in Mia’s blood as well. Kay’s parents thought she was having a sleepover with Cass and Sarah, but Cass and Sarah both knew exactly where Kayla was. Paul knew that the two of them were only looking out for Kay, but he wanted her to himself for the night, one night that he foresaw would be many in their future together.

  “Why do you like boxers instead of briefs?” she had asked him, as they lay on their sides, facing each other, the sheet and blanket bunched around their ankles. Her head was resting on his pillow, but his was propped up in his hand, his elbow pressed into the bed. The fingers of his other hand made slow, light strokes down her bare arm, and he watched the expression on her face change as she teased him, then relaxed into his touch, her eyes closing dreamily like those of a sleepy cat.

  She leaned into him, and as their kisses, at first slow and sweet, became more demanding, he pulled away, afraid of what he wanted, afraid of hurting her, or of causing anything to get in the way of her future, their future. There was no hurry, he thought then, but now, as he stood shivering underneath the beating cold of the water in the dark bathroom, he wished he had allowed it to happen, either that night or any of the other times they had been so close, touching in other ways but never making that leap.

  “Paul?”

  His father was knocking on the bathroom door and Paul wondered why he was calling his name. Of course he was in here, who else would it be?

  “Your mother and I need to talk to you when you’re done.”

  Of course they did.

  “So, uh, can you come downstairs when you’re finished?”

  Paul didn’t bother to respond. They were used to him ignoring them, and since he had been going to outpatient therapy all week without giving them any difficulty, they had left him alone yesterday and so far, this morning. No therapy on weekends, because those counselors needed a break, especially when patients vomited into their purses.

  Kay would have been horrified and amused by that, in equal measures, he thought. It wasn’t something she would have done herself, but she would have seen the humor, and the need, for it. While she tried to be positive in the midst of her intensity and lately, stress over college and her injury, she was never what anyone would called perky.

  He dried himself off, patting around his freezing skin indefinitely and leaving damp splotches behind. He found a pair of shorts and a t-shirt in the chair by his desk and put them on. They might have been dirty but he couldn’t be sure. He knew his mother had been in his room several times while he was at the hospital during the week, and she may have taken clothes to wash.

  When he showed himself in the kitchen, his father was sitting at the table with an empty coffee mug in his hand, squeezing it, then letting go as if it was one of those stress balls the guidance counselor gave out before final exams. His mother was standing at the sink as if she was going to wash dishes, but there were none.

  “Ah, well, we have some news. You probably should sit down.”

  As if he hadn’t already had the only news for which he would have to sit down. He dropped into a chair anyway, without a word. His mother kept her back turned to both of them but he could tell that she was nervous.

  “They arrested a man for his role in what happened. A boy, really. Someone from the university.”

  His father spoke quickly then stopped, as if he expected Paul to respond in some way.

  Arrested?

  He blinked before narrowing his eyes. His father let go of the coffee mug and shifted back into his chair, as if he wanted to get farther away from Paul.

  “He’s a friend of the older boy who lives in that house. He’s the one with the drugs. The one who gave them to her.”

  He could see now that his mother was crying soundlessly, the tears falling from her chin into the sink, and his own breathing sped up before he knew what was happening.

  “Where is he?”

  It was the first words he had spoken to his parents voluntarily since the party, and they both took notice, as if he was a toddler taking his first steps. It was humiliating, to have so much attention for so little effort. He stood up and stepped closer to his father.

  “Where is he?”

  His father looked towards his mother as she stared at Paul.

  “He’s at the police station. His parents and lawyer are talking with the police today, and they should be charging him soon. We aren’t sure what they’ll charge him with.”

  She spoke to him as if he was another adult, and not the little child she had tried to force him to remain over the past seven years. Her eyes were full of tears still, but her voice was clear and firm.

  “I hope they put the bastard away for a long time,” she asserted, then walked by Paul, barely touching his arm as she went past.

  “Ah, um, I need to tell you something else,” his father said warily. He wiped his palms on his jeans as he spoke. “I’m going home this afternoon. I have other responsibilities, and . . .”

  Paul cut him off with a glare.

  “Go. We don’t need you here anyway.”

  When Sarah’s father had returned from the meeting the night before, he explained that someone had been arrested for providing drugs to Kayla at the party, and that was what the meeting was about. The city council felt as if the community should know before it was publicized. Sarah and Cass were sitting by the pool, their feet dangling in the cool water, and they looked at each other carefully before Sarah spoke.

  “Yeah, we heard.”

  Her father hadn’t asked how they knew, or how much they knew, but just nodded and went back into the house. Cass’s concern for the girls at Mia’s game had been unwarranted during the first half, as the football team had played without incident and the cheerleaders on both teams had treated Mia kindly.

  Hugs were exchanged, tears fell openly, and Mia jumped and yelled much as she had in the past. She looked to Sarah and Cass often, as if seeking their approval, and the two of them, sitting down front in case Mia needed them, applauded and smiled as much as they could manage.

  “You think these kids know that if they mess with her we’ll kick their asses?” Cass
asked as halftime approached, and a group of girls shuffled by, headed towards the concession stand.

  Sarah sighed.

  “Yeah, probably. I guess we both have a bit of a reputation now.”

  She frowned, her eyes on one of the cheerleaders who was looking up into the stands, and followed the girl’s gaze to a woman with a duffle bag at her side. Her mother, most likely. The woman was shaking her head firmly, and the girl looked down, clearly disappointed.

  When the second quarter came to an end and the players dispersed, the cheerleaders rushed to take a sip of water from their bottles, lined up on the plank beside Cass, and she heard two of the girls talking about a birthday party.

  “Lanterns? Really?”

  Someone was having a party and releasing lanterns? Well, it wasn’t very original but she could see the appeal, and thought that Mia would probably be excited over it, too.

  “What about lanterns?”

  Mia had reached over to take her bottle, and after she asked, took a swallow. The two girls looked at the girl who had been exchanging expressions with her mother and she shrugged as if defeated.

  “Oh, uh, nothing.”

  They walked away, leaving Mia standing alone, holding her water bottle as realization dawned on her. Cass saw the moment Mia understood that she was being excluded, and the younger girl looked away as if she was embarrassed for Cass and Sarah to witness the cut.

  “Hey,” Cass began, but Mia carefully placed her bottle back on the plank and returned to the field, moving into formation for the first halftime cheer.

  “That bitch,” Cass hissed at Sarah, as they both kept their eyes on Mia, who moved accurately yet mechanically through her steps and jumps, her smile fixed and perfect. The red lipstick, bought by her mother specifically to hold up under exertion as well as the press of the water bottle, was visible even from where Cass sat, and made Mia look like a little doll.

  She would look like Kay when she was their age, Cass thought. She could already see it. What would that be like, to see her then? What would it be like for Mia, to see her sister in the mirror?

  Sarah was watching the girl who had been denied, however, and could see how the mother’s decision had made her unhappy, as her smile faltered and her concentration lagged. She was a beat behind the other girls during a dance number, and struggled to keep her head up.

  “What was that?”

  The girl’s mother must have seen her daughter’s failure as well, and she waited now, at the fence where the girls walked through to the area where they cheered during the game. As soon as the girls finished their halftime performance and returned to the fence, she began to hiss at the girl, berating her efforts.

  Sarah started to stand up, but Cass beat her to it.

  “Back off. If you’d let her choose who she wanted to invite to her party, maybe she wouldn’t be distracted.”

  The woman squinted at Cass, then at Sarah, who stood beside her, realizing suddenly who they were.

  “Oh, how could they let you in here? There are children present! Where is the coach?”

  Mia looked at them both, confused.

  “What’s happening? What did you do?”

  Cass shook her head.

  “We didn’t do anything.”

  The girl backed away from her mother and started to cry just as Mia turned towards her, wrapping her arms around Mia and sobbing loudly. The other girls fell into the two of them, arms outstretched, then holding on to each other, and the mother, stunned, sat down in silence. Cass took Sarah’s hand in hers and swallowed hard to keep her own tears in check, but Sarah let hers fall.

  “How was the game?” Sarah’s father had asked after he had heated up some leftover Chinese and returned to the patio that night.

  Sarah sighed.

  “Some bitch didn’t want her daughter to invite Mia to her birthday party, so there was some drama.”

  Her father flinched a little at Sarah’s use of the word bitch. He didn’t use profanity himself, and he hadn’t heard Sarah use it before, but he didn’t say anything.

  “We were worried about how the girls might treat Mia, but we should have been worried about the mothers,” Cass offered as she and Sarah sat together by the pool again the following night, discussing the incident further.

  Sarah’s father sat on one of the higher stools at the Tiki bar, an addition to the patio that had been Sarah’s mother’s idea long ago.

  “Unfortunately, yes. We always hear about kids and bullying, but sometimes, adults are just as bad. Even worse.”

  The doorbell rang and Sarah’s father frowned.

  “Are you expecting someone?”

  Sarah and Cass shook their heads. Maybe the girl’s mother had come to complain, although she had kept her mouth shut after all the cheerleaders rallied around her daughter and Mia. It was hard to stand against a crowd of bawling ten year old girls.

  Sarah stood up but her father shook his head.

  “Wait here.”

  Cass stood up too, and the girls watched the sliding glass door, which was open, leaving only the screen separating them from the inside of the house. They could hear voices as they grew louder, and as Sarah’s father became visible, the figure of a boy, taller than the older man, came into view. Cass hardly recognized his thin frame and pale, sunken cheeks.

  “Paul?”

  Day Sixteen

  Monday

  Sarah’s father let her take the car to school her first day back. Back when she had passed her driving test and Cass and Kayla had teased her about her serious face on her license photo, Cass asked her why her father didn’t buy her a car. It wasn’t meant to be obnoxious, or a dig at the fact that Sarah had money and Cass didn’t, but to Cass, it just made sense that Sarah would have her own car.

  “Oh, he offered, but I don’t really need it. We can share. He’ll let me use the car a lot, I know, but it doesn’t make sense to spend the money when his insurance is going up just because I have a license now.”

  Cass had shaken her head, but Kayla had laughed. It was so like Sarah to be practical, when so many of the kids at school would have jumped at the chance to have a car of their own if their parents offered.

  Cass was glad that Sarah was driving them, because she didn’t feel like talking to her parents any more than she had to. They had tried to talk to her about the arrest on Sunday, when she returned from Sarah’s, but she didn’t want to hear it, or what they thought of it.

  “I know, I know,” she turned away from them as she spoke, but they kept talking as she walked away and headed to her room.

  “Do you know the boy? Has he ever offered you drugs before?”

  Her mother’s voice had faded away as she closed her door behind her and fell onto her bed, her face mashing into her pillow. If she could just live with Sarah and her dad for the rest of the year, just until she left for the Air Force, her life would be so much easier.

  As easy as it could be without Kay.

  Cass blew out a breath as she sat beside Sarah and rubbed her eyes.

  “You’ll probably be hassled by the guidance counselor, just so you know. Since she didn’t get too far with me, she might think you’re an easier target.”

  Sarah shook her head as she slowed down for a red light.

  “Target. Isn’t that her job, to guide or counsel or something?”