by Tom Twitchel
When I cleared my tray and got up to leave, Justine gave me another hug; that earned me another hard look from Kayla.
All of which did nothing to calm my nerves. I was feeling very conflicted about digging into Baffle’s business with his friends. It was not going to win me any love from him and it was probably going to get me into trouble, but I had decided to make it my last battlefield. If I saved his butt without him knowing, or what I was really risking, it made me kind of noble, right? At least that’s what I was telling myself.
In addition to worrying about that, I still needed to continue to dig into the prank itself. There had been no opportunity to check out the multi-purpose room so another day spent waiting for that went by unfulfilled. I was so preoccupied thinking about it that I didn’t even remember one detail from my classes. As I left the school buildings behind me and walked through the parking lot to the bus stop, my phone vibrated against my leg. I was happy to see several texts from Maddy and that we were on for the evening. At least there was something to look forward to besides investigating practical jokes at school.
During the trip home, I tried coming up with different ways to uncover Munger’s plan and dismissed them all as unworkable. My reluctance in confiding in Mr. Goodturn and asking for his guidance was still rooted in fear. I didn’t want to risk the possibility that he would insist on involving faculty, or worse, the police. As much as he was being a jerk, Baffle was being used and I wasn’t confident that adults looking into it would see it that way. Whatever they had gotten their hands on and their plan for deploying it had probably been Baffle’s doing in some way. That made him an accessory at least. It just seemed like I needed to make a stand and protect someone aside from myself. But, if I messed up, I was going to be personally responsible for whatever happened.
Especially if it went bad.
When I opened the door to my apartment, I smelled cooking.
“Hello?” I called, confused and wary.
A nasally high-pitched soprano voice called from the kitchen, “Welcome home, honey! Did my widdle sweetie have a good day at school with all his widdle fwiends?” which was immediately followed by uncontrollable laughter.
A huge smile came to my lips as I said, “That was terrible Maddy.”
Poking her head around the corner, she grinned at me. “I can’t come over to say ‘Hi’ because this pot is about to boil over.” She disappeared back into the kitchen.
I walked over to the island counter that flanked the kitchen area. Dropping my backpack on the floor and draping my hoodie on a barstool, I took in the scene before me. Maddy was dressed in jeans and a bright pink t-shirt, with an apron tied around her waist. Her short hair was pinned back, which looked funny because with her new ‘do there was very little to pin. Wisps and loose strands stuck out in several directions. Her cheeks were flushed and her green eyes were dancing as she moved pots and saucepans around on the stove and counter.
I sat down on a stool. “Do you want some help in my kitchen?”
Maddy spun in a circle with a wooden spoon in her hand, a big grin on her face. “Silly boy. I’ve seen you in here, what, two times? Stay where you are. I hope you’re okay with spaghetti and meatballs!”
“Sounds great and smells better. How nice are you? I can’t remember the last time I came home and smelled…” my voice caught for a second, as Billy’s and my mother’s faces came to mind.
With her back to me, Maddy didn’t notice my hesitation.
“Smell what? Fabulous cooking?” she laughed. She was in such a good mood, and after our last emotional time together, I didn’t want to break the spell.
“Exactly. This is really nice. Did anybody see you come in?” That would be my constant concern over protecting my living status kicking in. A decision began to take shape in my mind.
“I know the rules. I even said ‘hi’ to your mom when I walked in.” She carried a pot with noodles in it over to the sink and poured it through a colander. Another pot on the stove smelled amazing. Meat sauce and garlic, I guessed.
She moved back and forth in a quick but graceful way. Which pretty much described the way she carried herself no matter what she was doing. Opening the oven, she pulled a sheet pan holding toasted garlic bread out and set it on a cutting board. That smelled amazing too.
“Where’d you get all of the cooking stuff? I don’t have hardly any of that in my cupboards.”
“Brought it with me. My mom helped me put it together. I’m the spaghetti queen at my house. This ain’t my first rodeo, cowboy.”
The mixed metaphors abounded. Cowboy, Italian cooking, royalty.
“Well, I feel pretty special,” I said. And I did too. Who doesn’t like to arrive home and find a meal being prepared for them?
“Yeaaah, you’re special all right!” Maddy giggled.
“What’s the special occasion?” I asked, ignoring the friendly jab.
Dipping the spoon into the sauce, she cupped her hand under it and took a careful sip. Grinning, she gave the sauce a couple of stirs with a wire whisk and set the spoon on a plate.
Hands on her hips, she said, “I figure we need to make every day special, We were sad. Now we need to be happy because who knows what will happen in the future?”
Her brilliant smile warmed me. I smiled back.
“Maddy, the day I met you was one of the best days in my life.”
“One of? Not THE best day?” she asked with a forced frown.
I laughed. “You, know…could be. Let’s go with that.”
While she wrapped up the final touches on dinner, I set the table, which took me all of maybe two minutes. When we sat down Maddy was giddy and her good spirits were infectious. All of my worries were still bubbling in my head, but I couldn’t help smiling and enjoying the meal. It didn’t hurt that she was right; she was the spaghetti queen.
We cleared and cleaned up together, stacking and bagging her mom’s utensils and pans. I felt pretty good, full stomach and safe at home with Maddy. Sinking into the couch, we both let out sighs of contentment.
“Thanks, Maddy. That was awesome. You are an amazing cook.”
She grinned. “Well, yes, I am. And you’re welcome.”
“When do you turn into a pumpkin?”
“Not ‘til late. Ty’s picking me up and my parents didn’t set their usual early curfew. We can hang out all night.”
I nodded, thinking, Good. I have some stuff I want to talk over with you.
She smirked. “Soooo…is today the day?”
“Yes, it is,” I responded, my voice serious.
Eyebrows raised, she turned to face me and tucked one of her legs up underneath her. “Will I need a hanky?”
“Maybe. It’s…it’s tough and I’m hoping we’ll still be friends after I tell you what I’ve been keeping secret from everyone.” I tried to smile, but it didn’t work properly.
She got up and ran into my mom’s bathroom for a box of tissue that was part of the fake window-dressing we had set up in there together. When she got back to the couch, she gave me a small smile, pulled both legs up on the couch and squared her shoulders. “I’m your friend no matter what.”
So I told her all the ugly details of growing up in my dysfunctional household. Dennis, his infidelity and his drinking, my mom leaving. It wasn’t too hard until I got to the night where I ran away. Other than Mr. Goodturn, I really hadn’t discussed the details of that evening with anyone, and even during that talk, I had left out discussing Billy. Her surprise at my mention of him bordered on shock. When I told her about the stairs and Dennis kicking me, she started to cry quietly. I had been tearing up from the moment I had uttered Billy’s name.
I told her about sending him upstairs when I woke up to find him crying over me, sneaking out of the house, the bus ride to Seattle, the hostel, all of it. I didn’t leave out anything, especially not the fact that I was deeply ashamed that I had left him behind. I explained how there were moments where the guilt was crushing and then the lo
ng days and weeks where I didn’t think about him much at all, which made the guilt even more unbearable when I thought of him again. I confessed the fantasy that I often entertained where he had been taken in by my aunt, Barbara. It was a fairytale that I told myself because it helped me rationalize and think that I wasn’t such a heel, but also a prayer that he was okay.
My story trailed off. My throat felt constricted and I had a decent sinus headache coming on. “Are you ashamed of me Maddy?”
Wiping her face with the back of her hand, she shook her head. “Why have you carried this by yourself for so long? Of course, I’m not ashamed of you!” Leaning from her spot on the couch, she hugged me around the shoulders and I held her too.
“Thanks, Maddy. You’re the most important person in my life,” I said as we pulled away from each other.
Scooting closer, she kissed me on the cheek. “Why today?”
In spite of myself, I chuckled. It sounded wet and phlegmy. “Because…your folks are moving to L.A. and I didn’t want you to leave without knowing what I’ve been keeping from you and I just figured it was time to put everything on the table.” Everything except Baffle’s problem, I couldn’t get her involved and possibly put her in danger.
She nodded. “I’m glad you trust me.” She put her hand on my knee. “But, hey, I’m not leaving for a while. Now that we’ve cried on each other, and I look like a mess, what should we do tonight?”
Our melodrama aside, I thought about how great I felt opening up to her about Billy and no matter what she said about the way she looked, I thought she was beautiful.
“Why don’t you tell me what you’d like to do? We’re usually planning around my schedule. You just made me dinner. Why don’t we do something together that’s all about you,” I said.
She had rented a couple of movies so we curled up on the couch with popcorn and ice cream and when the movies were over, talked about where we were with the whole move thing. We were still sad about it but because it was months away we could almost pretend that it wasn’t going to happen. It didn’t feel real yet.
I couldn’t sleep when she left. Living on my own always gave me time to think. You would think that would be a good thing. So not, when you consider all of the junk I was turning over in my head.
I pulled my phone out of my pocket and brought up the school’s schedule of events for the next week of school. There was a band recital on Tuesday evening at five o’clock in the multi-purpose room. If I attended the recital and hung out afterward, I would be able to search the room. The recital was scheduled for an hour. Allowing for cleanup and last minute stragglers, I figured that the room should be empty by seven at the latest. Getting invited to help the AV group on Thursday night prior to the year end assembly would probably be easy. Russell Chu was one of the key techies responsible for setting up audio for school functions. Considering how friendly Justine’s BFFs had been lately that seemed like a lock.
Thinking of Justine made me wonder again, what had changed that had caused the weather shift in our relationship. I sifted through her social media accounts looking for clues but came up with nothing. Who knows what girls are thinking and what makes them tick?
Since I was cruising around social media, I pulled up Maddy’s favorite site and stumbled across something that set off a warning buzz in my chest. She had put up a post about her moving to LA. Dozens of people had posted comments, ranging from condolences to commiserating on the unfairness of it. Feeling a little queasy, I looked at her friend list and found the one name I had been hoping wouldn’t be there.
Justine. Oh hell no. So, I had the weekend to chew on that.
CHAPTER FOUR
Most days when it rains in Seattle you hardly notice. Seattleites don’t react to light rain the way people in San Diego don’t react to sunshine. We kind of take it as just part of living in the Northwest. Then there are days when it rains in a way that makes you pay attention to it—sideways. Hard, driving, windblown showers that result in an instant soaked-to-the-bone experience the second you set foot outside. Usually, there is at least some advance warning that such a day is coming. Or, on days like Monday, it can show up by complete surprise. I stared blearily out at the deluge and shook my head. I was tired and bummed with the prospect of walking in sheets of water. Naturally, I hadn’t kept my promise to myself to invest in a good raincoat, and the weather had been good-ish so I’d fooled myself into putting it off.
Throwing on two layers and grabbing my largest zip jacket, I headed to the lobby. I stared at the windows for a few seconds hoping for a miraculous break in the rain, but it was coming down so hard it looked more like a giant was using a massive firehose to wash down the building than just weather. With my backpack already on, I draped my over-sized jacket over my head and back and hunched over as I pushed open the door and stumbled out onto the street.
I nearly had the jacket ripped out of my hands by a gust of wind that tore the door violently open. If there was a silver lining to be appreciated, it was the fact that the wind was blowing in the direction of the bus stop. My improvised jacket-umbrella was plastered to my back and blew around my body and head, creating a tunnel-like covering that only allowed me to see what was right in front of me. I couldn’t see the bus stop at all. In fact, I couldn’t see more than five feet in front of me. When I finally got on the bus. I joined all of the other drowned rats, sitting in our mingled puddles of morning misery.
So, that’s how my day started. Justine was not in homeroom so that was boring, but I sat with her friends at lunch because I had plans to put in motion.
“Russell, do you need any help with audio hookup for the assembly?” I asked.
Flipping his straight black hair out of his face, he looked at me wide-eyed. “Really? I mean, uh…yeah. We can always use more help. If you want to help, be here right after class on Thursday.” Russell was short and very skinny but had a deep, loud baritone voice that belonged to a professional wrestler.
I nodded. “How long? Couple hours?”
He shrugged. “Depends on how many people flake. It is the last week of school. But, it’s pretty basic. The basic video setup is already done. We’ll just be running cables, taping down cables and testing the connections. The audio isn’t that tough.”
“So, how long do you think it’ll take if most people show up?” I smiled at how he had not answered my question.
Cheeks coloring a little he said, “Uh, like maybe two hours? No more than three. Is that cool?”
“Cool. No prob.”
The rest of the day was mind-numbingly boring, and if it hadn’t been for the massive rainstorm that hadn’t let up, I would have been thrilled when the last bell rang.
As it was, I got soaked on the way to the bus stop. God was at His hilarious best at the bus stop too. The meager shelter provided by the stop’s waiting bench under a tiny awning was rendered useless because the wind was driving the rain right into it. Sort of turned it into a human washing machine on permanent rinse cycle. Or maybe it was just bad planning by the city. Swimming in my clothes once again, I made a route change and spent some time at a department store. Because it was late in the season and they were preparing for spring fashion, my choices were very limited. Overpriced, over-engineered all-weather coat or inexpensive-unattractive-white-raincoat. Me being on a budget, I decided that I loved me some white. What can I say? I’m cheap, and my pride is a sometimes thing.
When I finally got home, it was dark but still pouring like crazy. The coat kept my already thoroughly soaked clothes from getting any wetter. The only drawback, other than aforementioned ugliness, was that to keep the rain out of my face I had to look down and hunch forward. Perfectly doable but it meant that I couldn’t see anything that wasn’t directly in front of me. Scaling the stairs was tricky in the coat and I was too tired to take it off so I just threw back the hood.
I walked right to the dryer, stripped, threw all my clothes in and limped to the bathroom for a shower. Thirty gloriously warm mi
nutes later, I was dressed in a new set of dry clothes and cranking the heat up a luxurious three additional degrees. Live big, that’s my motto, but don’t blow the budget.
Heavy rain and more wind made staying inside an easy decision. I toyed with the idea of running over to Goodturn’s but just couldn’t motivate myself to brave the rain and cold again after finally getting warm and dry. Conflicting emotions tugged me in different directions. Spending time with him always ended up being a positive, but the things I was preparing to do at school made me decide to avoid him.
I decided that I deserved a little relaxation. I rejoined Scout and Jem and their adventures in a less complicated but racially charged time. I drifted off to sleep on the couch. The last page I read was where Scout had to walk home wearing her bulky ham costume because she had lost her dress, and she and Jem were being followed in the woods.
Sometimes, the boogeyman is somebody you know.
***********
On Tuesday, I overslept. Not the biggest problem when you’re headed for a break, but it started off the day with me behind the curve. No breakfast again, frenetic running around and tearing (as fast as my messed up leg would allow) down the stairs and outside. Running as fast as I could, I lurched and galloped to the bus stop where I could see the bus pulling up. My eyes were focused on the bus and I didn’t even glance at Goodturn’s as I swept by.
Missing the first bell is never a big deal, second bell, kind of a big deal, but on the last Tuesday before the break, I just couldn’t generate enough energy to care. I stumbled into homeroom while the class was still yakking and settling in, and Mrs. Sayles gave me a wintry smile and made a point of looking at the clock over the chalkboard. Justine mouthed a “What?” at me as I slid into my seat. I just shrugged and tapped my head.