Natural Disasters

by J. K. Wise

  “By Stina?” Angie asks. That surprises me, and now, I’m giggling again. Angie and Hannah giggle too, and Hannah grabs the back of my sweater.

  “Come on, team, let’s get back to the party,” she says.

  We stumble through the desert. I’m walking on the moon, I think. And then, confused, I say, “How can I be walking on the moon when it’s up there?” I point to the large, full moon over the desert. Angie and Hannah stop walking to look up, and they stop to consider my question before they fall apart laughing again.

  Suddenly, there are arms around my waist. I turn to see Alec’s face close to mine, lit by the bonfire we have reached without realizing.

  “I was wondering where you went,” he says.

  I laugh. Alec was worrying about me?

  “I was with Hannah and Angie,” I say, and the two girls fall into each other, a stumbling, giggling mess. Alec leans in and smells the sweet smoke on me.

  “Wow, I guess you were,” he says, and he gives me the strangest look in the world. The fire reflects off his light eyes, and I stare at him, getting closer to see what else I can see in those eyes. His arm snakes around my waist and hands me a cup of beer. I look back into the bonfire. The flames are higher than before.

  More people are laughing around the picnic tables. My eyes are hazy, but when I see Jared, things snap into focus. Christina sits on his lap, and he sees me across the party at the same time that Christina leans into him and giggles into his cheek.

  When Christina kisses Jared, I have to look away from the sudden fever in my cheeks. I tense up, and Alec feels it.

  “Are you okay?” he asks. He turns me around and looks at my face. He holds me by my shoulders. “Hey, have you ever been high before?”

  “I’ve never smoked a cigarette before,” I tell him. “Or drank a beer before,” I continue, but my tongue feels heavy in my mouth. Everything looks black and white. I can’t feel my legs under me, and suddenly, the world spins.

  Things come back into focus for a second, and Angie is in my face, concerned, as Alec holds me up. “Is she okay?” I hear Hannah laughing distantly, and then, I see him, his face in front of mine, his curls falling into his face.

  “Wow, Mel. Looks like you’ve loosened up,” Chris Robbins drawls at me. He smiles into my face like a giant moon above me, and then, the world turns too fast into black.

  My head is too heavy to lift. My body is upright, but my head slumps over to one side. Open your eyes, I hear a voice say. Open your eyes, open your eyes. I try to raise my head, but my body won’t listen to me. It’s easier to stay still, maybe forever, than find the effort to lift my eyelids. A cold breeze against my cheek. Why am I sleeping outside? Why aren’t I in my bed? I’m not underwater; in the water, I float, I’m light. You’re heavy, not light. You’re so, so heavy. A weight pushes me into the cold seat against my back.

  “Get the fuck away from her,” barks a harsh and familiar voice through my haze. The voice brings me back to my body. With my eyes still closed, I feel the cold, and I shiver. I muscle my eyes open for an instant. Alec’s Jeep. I’m sitting up in Alec’s Jeep. It isn’t Alec’s voice that I heard, though. I struggle to open my eyes again, and when I do, I see Alec and Jared face to face, their eyes locked together a few feet away from the Jeep. Oh God, the party. I’m at the party. My head hurts, and my thoughts are blurred.

  I got high. I smoked a joint with Hannah and Angie. What happened after that?

  Alec says something so quietly I can’t hear his words. I open my eyes and will them to stay open. Jared takes a step closer to Alec. Alec shoves Jared’s shoulder, hard. Then, I see Christina walking up behind them, shaking her head. She looks over at me, and I’m scared. I know she hates me. When she walks over to the Jeep, she takes a good look at me, and she catches her breath.

  “Alec, you’re an asshole,” she spits. For a second, the two boys stop looking at each other, and they watch Christina instead. She reaches into the back of the Jeep, grabs a jacket, and she throws it over me. I’m coming out of my fog now, and I reach up to pull on the oversized jacket. I’m shaking, I’m so cold. I curl up into the seat. I want to throw up.

  “Whatever, Stina. Nothing happened here, and it’s none of your fucking business anyway,” Alec says coldly.

  My stomach turns, and I’m scared I’m going to throw up. Make it go away, I think. Make all of this go away. Make it into a bad dream. Make me be in my bedroom. The sob that I’ve been pushing back into myself all day, maybe for days now, comes up and I start to cry thick tears. But then, I push it down again.

  I curl up into the seat and build the wall. Underwater, no one knows if you’re crying or not. I’m disappearing. I’m floating.

  No, I’m sinking to where things are quiet and dark, and I’m alone with my breath.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Fallout and Fall Down

  What am I doing at Carter’s place? I don’t want to be here. I don’t want to talk to people about what fell down and what’s still standing. My buddies keep talking about the big riot at the Safeway, and I don’t want to tell anyone that I was in the middle of it and have to answer a million stupid questions about what happened. I don’t want to drink beer. I’m cold, but I don’t want to stand by the fire. Every time the wind gusts, I get a lungful of mesquite smoke and ash in my face. Drunk girls are laughing and shrieking, and I want to chuck a beer can at their heads. Someone, and I’m guessing it is one of the DeBrees twins if history is any judge, keeps playing the same Drake song every ten minutes, and I’m about to rip my ears off so I don’t have to hear it anymore.

  Oh wait, there’s another solution.

  I could leave.

  Instead, I walk over to Robbins who leans against a van while he pumps the keg.

  “Hey JP,” he says.

  “Did you get that email from Coach?” I ask.

  He nods and shakes his head, disgusted. “We sweat through two-a-days for months, puking our guts out in 100 degree summer practices, and it’s all for shit. Cancelled.”

  “Our season is over before it starts,” I say. “It’s bullshit. Someone could find a field for us to play on.”

  “Yeah, but who would we play? Our school is a lot better off than other parts of town. People are dead, man.”

  “Yeah. I know.” But that’s all I say, even though it would be so easy to tell him. I watched people die. I pulled bodies out of cars and laid their bleeding bodies on sheet plastic. I heard people scream and then stop screaming when they stopped breathing.

  Suddenly, I can’t breathe either. Chris stops pumping the keg and looks at me, his face strange in the firelight.

  “Thanks for helping out today, man,” he says. “You need a beer?”

  “No. I’m good.”

  “You sure? You don’t look good. You look like you’re going to kill someone.”

  I take the plastic cup from his hand and drink half of it in one gulp. He slaps my shoulder and punches me in the arm. I’m sore from Safeway and throwing bricks. It hurts, and the pain feels good.

  “I’m just pissed about football,” I say.

  “I hear that.” He pours another cup of beer for the girl that hangs off of his back.

  “Hey,” I say, nodding at her. She smiles and leans into Chris.

  “You’re here with Stina, huh? You fixed that situation?” Chris asks.

  I shrug. “Yeah, I guess.” I raise my cup, and he tops it off before I walk back over to the table and sit next to Stina.

  She pulls herself closer to me and takes my beer while she hangs on my arm. She’s been like this since she showed up with her girls, talking too loudly, laughing too loudly, clinging too
tightly. I smell her fear. Stina’s a smart girl. She knows the love is gone.

  Her mouth is inches from my ear, and her laugh sounds like an out-of-tune trumpet. Why is she laughing with Bre after she posted that picture of us fighting today?

  Bre’s voice grates on me, and now she’s talking about how Jenny Hepburn’s house burned down.

  “Hopefully, her whole wardrobe was destroyed. That’s nature doing all of us a favor,” she says.

  That’s all I can take. I stand up and push Stina away.

  “Where are you going?” she asks, grabbing my hand.

  “I’m going home,” I say. “I can’t listen to this shit from her for one more second.” Bre gives me a bored look. I turn back to Christina. “I’m tired, this is lame, and I’m going home.”

  She pouts. “I’m coming with you.” She grabs me and pulls me down again. I fall back to the picnic bench, and she whispers into my ear. “Come on, let’s go to your house.”

  Not a chance. As I’m standing back up, I look away from her and through the fire.

  Melanie. She sees me, but she doesn’t smile. Stina sees her too, and she turns my face to hers and kisses me on the lips. I lean to get away from her. When I look back over, Alec Newton turns Mel by her shoulders. She falls into him a little, and Chris Robbins walks over to where they’re standing. I want to jump up and pull her away from both of them.

  Stop it, I tell myself. So she’s dating Alec. That’s none of your business. But then, she rolls over to the side when her knees buckle, and Newton tries to catch her. He drops her, and she hits the ground, hard. Angie Colman screams when Mel goes down, and Chris looks over to me. I’m already on my feet and halfway around the fire by the time they pick her up.

  “What’s wrong with her?” I ask Newton as he struggles to get her upright. I take hold of one of her arms. Mel is out cold.

  “Here, put her arm over your shoulder,” he says. We get her over to the picnic table and sit her down. I watch as the other party people look over with amusement, then go back to their laughing and drinking. Drunk girl passes out at party. Not exactly headline news.

  “What’s wrong with her?” I ask Newton again. Angie answers.

  “We got high, like one joint, that’s it. And she had a few beers. We were having fun. She was laughing. What the hell?” Her voice climbs higher. She’s stoned, and she’s freaking out. Robbins stands back and watches me with this smile on his face like he knows everything in the world, and it’s all so funny.

  Melanie starts to open her eyes. Alec holds her chin up.

  “Melanie, are you okay?” Alec asks. I want to punch him just for the stupidity of that question. Her eyes open, and her head wobbles on top of her neck. She lifts a hand to her side.

  “Ouch,” she says.

  “Come on, you need to get out of here,” Alec tells her. “I’ll get you water and something to eat, okay?”

  “I can help you,” I offer.

  “I got this,” he says. I don’t like the look on his face. I have to force myself to stand back while he helps her off into the shadows towards his parked Jeep.

  Once they’re out of sight, I stand by the picnic table with Chris.

  “Your neighbor, huh? Like a little sister? You were off that picnic table faster than a fucking bullet. I think you actually hurdled the bonfire to get to her,” he teases.

  “Shut up, Robbins.” What else can I say?

  “So you’re into her, JP. What’s the big deal?” he asks.

  I scowl. “She’s with Newton, clearly, and he let her get all messed up.” I don’t want to talk about this with Chris. What was I getting ready to do before I saw Melanie? Oh, right. Get the hell out of here. I kick a red cup into the fire.

  “I’m gone. This sucks.” I start to walk away.

  Chris calls back to me. “Portillo? You should check on Mel, right? Make sure Newt can handle getting her to the Jeep?”

  I scowl and wave him off, but I still walk off to where I saw the Jeep earlier.

  When I see Alec over Melanie in the shotgun side of the Jeep, I’m over there in three steps. Alec’s on top of her. Her eyes aren’t even open, and her head is slumped to one side. I feel like I’m going to be sick, but I’m going to kill this asshole first.

  “Get away from her,” I growl.

  Alec climbs off her and stands in front of me, his eyes furious.

  “Fuck you,” he mutters, quietly, and one second later, without any hesitation, my fist connects with his skull. The crack of my fist into his face becomes the crack of the beam, and it feels good, really good.

  Newton flings back against the hood of the Jeep. I hunch over, trying to catch my breath. Christina’s voice is behind me. I don’t want an audience, but one way or another, I’m going to rip Newton’s head off. I stand and take another step toward him, but Christina walks between us, right up to where Alec holds his bleeding head in his hands.

  “Alec, you’re a dick,” she says, and she spits on him. She grabs something from the open back of the Jeep and throws it at Melanie, whose eyes are open now.

  “Whatever, Stina. Nothing happened here, and it’s none of your fucking business anyway,” he says. His hand holds his jaw, but he’s a tough guy. As soon as he can see straight, I know he’ll crack back at me. God, this guy is a dick. What kind of a sick douchebag gets on a girl when she’s so out of it, she can’t keep her head up?

  I grab him and throw him onto the ground. He’s still reeling from the first punch, and I push him onto his back pretty easily and punch him in the jaw. He bucks up now, though, rolling, and I’m trying to get back on top of him so I can break his face in two. He climbs over me, digging his elbow into my throat, and I can’t breathe.

  “Stop it, you guys!” Christina yells. “Alec, get off of him,” she screams. I hear people yelling and running over to us. I turn to look, and Alec pushes off of me and jumps up.

  The whole party stands around us, the crowd loud, jeering and cheering. I take one step toward Alec, nailing his face with my elbow. He’s bent over just long enough for me to hit him right in the ribs. I hear another crack, and I hope it’s his bones breaking.

  “Eat shit, motherfucker.” I push him, and he stands to try to catch his balance. I throw one more punch into his mouth, and when it connects, he reels back and falls onto the ground. Through a fog, I hear the crowd freak out. Now that he’s down, I just want them to get away from Melanie. It’s really dark, and she’s turned away from where I’m standing, holding the jacket that Christina gave her close around her body.

  Christina tries to put her arms around my neck, but I shake her off. I try to walk away, and people make a path for me away from the circle where Newton still lies in the dirt.

  No way, he’s not getting off that easy. I turn around and walk back to where he’s moaning. I lift my foot to stomp on his face, and girls scream. Then, I’m pushed back, and guys hold me before my foot can connect. The twins pick Newton off the ground. I twist and fight against the guys who are holding me back. One of them is Dave Wilson, and he’s all pumped up and shouting in my face. Robbins is next to me, talking quietly in my ear now.

  “Come on, look at him, it’s over. Walk away, Portillo. You’re done; he can’t even stand up,” Chris says, pushing me back.

  “Get your hands off me.” I push away my friend. I can’t see past my anger and adrenaline. The layer of fight in my eyes is red. Stina’s trying to talk to me, but her friends grab her. People wander back over to the fire, and Chris and Kevin pull me out of the way. I can barely talk, I’m breathing so hard, and every muscle in my body is shaking.

  “I need to help Mel. She’s alone in his Jeep right now.” I p
ace and hold my throbbing hand. “He was on her, and she’s wasted. He’s sick.” Just saying the words makes me want to find him and pummel him some more, and I take two steps toward the tree where I saw him and then turn back. I can’t think straight.

  “Let’s go find Melanie. Robbins and I’ll get Portillo if he’s still around. You’re bleeding, dude,” Kevin tells me.

  For the second time today, I lift my hand to my mouth and find blood there.

  The three of us walk back to the Jeep. Someone must have helped Newton up and away, because he’s nowhere around. Mel is alone. Chris and Kevin nod at me and take off toward the bonfire to find Alec.

  “Mel.”

  She doesn’t say anything, but I can see that her eyes are open, and she’s crying.

  Jesus, my hand is throbbing. I reach it out to her. “Come on, Mel, let’s get out of here,” I say.

  She takes my hand. When she stands, I have to support her with my arm around her waist. I try not to cry out when she leans into me. I’m sore and beat up from fighting and riots and every screwed up thing. That’s not why I wince, though. It’s Newton’s jacket that she holds around her that makes me scowl.

  “Are you okay?” I ask, just like Alec asked her a few minutes ago. Stupid. Of course she isn’t okay.

  “You’re face is bleeding.”

  I reach up and touch the split in my skin on my cheek. “I’m better off than Newton.”

  Melanie leans over, like she’s going to throw up.

  “Hey, you’re okay,” I say, trying to mean it. I wait with my arm around her waist. We stay like that for a few minutes until she gets over it, and then, she stands. “Come on, I’ll take you home.”

  “What about Christina?” Melanie asks.

  “She came with her friends. She can leave with them,” I answer.

  Mel shakes her head and sits up straighter. “You didn’t have to get into it with Alec like that.”