"Stuart, we can find you another partner. I'll start looking right away."
"Sam said he would be here!"
"How about you hang out with me and Madeline today?"
"NO!"
"Okay," said Justin. "How about Anna and Harrison then?"
There was no way I wanted to be at Best Buddies with anyone but Sam. And there was no way I was going to stay here without him.
I started running. Right out of that room. My legs took long strides and I pumped my arms and ran as fast as I could out the door and down the hall. By now the halls were mostly empty, so I didn't have to do my football dodges. Footsteps sounded behind me, but I kept running, pumping, pumping. I hit the front door, pushed it open, jumped off the steps and didn't stop.
Outside, there was a whole bunch of kids from school and they were running around the track. Sam was the fastest runner in the school last year. He said I should run track and field. I knew if I stopped and ran with them, I might get caught by Justin and I didn't want to go back to the Best Buddies meeting.
So, I ran away from the track, even though I bet I could beat some of those kids, and out of the school yard. Then I went down one street and up another.
Finally, after who knows how long, I was totally winded, so I stopped running. I bent over like Randy did the other day, and I knew what he meant when he said he wanted to barf. But I didn't barf. I just kept breathing and breathing until my heart wasn't banging against my shirt anymore. Then I stood up and looked around.
Where was I?
I glanced around but didn't recognize anything. Where was the school? I needed to go back to the school. I started walking, hoping I was going in the right direction.
A metallic blue car that had two exhaust pipes slowed down beside me. What a cool car! Like, really cool. Declan loved cars like this, and he had shown me so many photos on the internet, so I knew it was probably a 2015 Corvette Stingray. I couldn't wait to tell him about it!
The driver slowed to a stop and slid the tinted window down. "Hey, kid."
"Whoa. Nice car," I said. I didn't look at the driver because I was still looking at the car. The paint job was like this shiny blue, that shone, and all the windows were tinted, and it had drag wheels in the back.
"It goes like stink," said the guy.
I turned to look through the window, which was now all the way down. The guy leaned across the seat so he could see me out of the passenger side window.
"You like it?" he asked.
"Yeah."
"You want to go for a spin? I could take you around the block." He opened the door for me.
"Sure!"
I got in the open door and slammed it shut. I pressed my hands against the leather seats, liking how they felt so smooth and cool, like cool as in weather, not just funky cool. I inhaled and smelled the leather and also the Christmas tree smell. I saw the little tree swinging from the rearview mirror and a bunch of beads too. All coloured ones.
"My dad has this smell in his car too." I touched the beads, clanging them together. "But none of these."
"Got those in New Orleans," said the guy.
"You're been there? Wow," I said.
"Happening city. Is your name Stuart?"
I glanced over at him. How did he know my name? Oh well. He did.
It made me feel good that he did.
He stuck out his hand. "Donny. Glad to meet you, Stuart."
I looked at his hand, and saw the forest scene tattoo that wound all around his arm. A snake was all twisted in the trees.
"I like your tattoo," I said before I shook his hand.
He pulled up his shirt sleeve and showed me the rest of the tattoo and the snake actually had a tongue sticking out of its mouth.
"Would you like a tattoo of a snake like this?" he asked.
"Sure," I said.
He pulled his shirt down. "One day, maybe," he said. "If you do what I tell you to do, we could get you one. They're special. I only allow special kids to have this special tattoo."
"Can my snake have a tongue like yours?"
"Maybe. You have to earn it. You need a ride somewhere?"
Now, instead of looking at his tattoo I stared at this guy who said his name was Donny, but just out of the corner of my eye, though. I think I recognized him from school, but I wasn't sure. Maybe he just hung around sometimes? He had really blond hair, like, it looked dyed (Declan dyed his hair once and it looked like that), but I couldn't see his eyes because he wore mirrored aviator shades. And he had big biceps. I could see those for sure, even through his shirt.
"I guess I could go back to school." I paused. I really wanted a good ride, not just a ride back to school. I bet this baby could fly. "But first can we go fast?" I bounced up and down in my seat. "How fast does this car go?"
He grinned at me. "You like Death Punch?"
"Oh, yeah," I said, still bobbing in my seat. Five Finger Death Punch was a band my parents wouldn't let me listen to because it revved me up and they swore a lot. He pressed play and with the bass blasting from his speakers, we sped away from the curb, burning rubber. I turned to see if he'd made skid marks on the road and he had.
"Holy F—!" I yelled.
If they could swear in the song so could I. I screamed the word over and over and over. Donny laughed.
His car made this awesome sound, like it was a race car. We drove down a few side streets before we hit the exit for the highway. He made a really sharp turn to get on the highway, and I had to grab onto the side of the door so I wouldn't fling into him.
"Woo hoo!" I yelled.
He revved it up and we weaved in and out of cars on the highway. I opened my window and felt the air flowing through the car. It felt so free to be going so fast, with the music cranked.
Soon, though, he took an exit then wheeled around until we were back on the highway going the other way. Man, were we cruising fast. I banged on the side of the car and kept yelling swear words.
He laughed. No one laughed when I did this kind of stuff, so I liked this Donny guy already. I think he liked me.
Again, he slowed down and pulled off the ramp, driving with one hand on top of the steering wheel, like guys do in movies. Like The Fast and the Furious.
"I'd better take you back to the school," he said. He braked at a stop sign. "But I can't go too close. Maybe a few streets away."
I glanced at my watch. "Too late," I said. It was past 4:00, the time when my mother was supposed to be there.
He shrugged and gunned it again. "Do you want me to take you home?"
I grinned because I thought of Declan losing his mind when I showed up in this car. "Yeah! I want my brother to see this car. He loves cars."
He suddenly slowed down. "Hey, Stu, it's probably better that you don't say you were with me. If your mom thinks I'm the one who made you late she might not like me too much. I know what moms are like. And I like you and don't want your mom not to like me. You should tell her you were somewhere else."
"Okay," I said. He just said he liked me. Did he like me? I thought of all those other kids outside the school. "I could tell her I was at track-and-field practice," I said.
"Good thinking. You're such a smart kid." He held up his hand for a high-five.
I slapped it. He said I was smart. I liked that.
"I can drop you off on the corner by your house. That be okay, Stu?" I shrugged. "Sure." Did he really like me? He was calling me Stu. I liked that too.
"But, I'll take you out again if you want."
I turned and grinned at him. "When?" My cheeks hurt I was smiling so much. "Tomorrow?"
He lowered his aviator shades and winked at me before he pushed them back up. "It's a deal. I can pick you up after school but let's not meet in front of the school grounds. How about that street behind the school by the recycling bins?"
I knew where those bins were. I nodded.
He held up his fist and I gave him a punch with my fist.
"Don't forget," he said.
"Don't tell anyone you were with me. Better that way. Then we can be special friends. Have a secret, y'know? And tell your mom you were at track-and-field practice. That's a good one." He looked ahead at the road. "Now, tell me where you live."
He dropped me off two blocks before my house and I got out of the car.
"See ya tomorrow, Stu."
I gave him a thumbs-up.
"Remember, you were at track-and-field practice." He gave me a thumbs-up back and sped away from the curb, his engine roaring.
I watched him drive away. Man, that had been sooo awesome! I ran all the way home. When I got into my house, my mother came right to the mudroom to meet me.
"Where were you?" She had that look in her eyes that meant I was in deep trouble. "And don't tell me you were at the Best Buddies meeting because I talked to Justin."
"Sam wasn't there."
She put her hand on my shoulder. "You still have lots of friends in the group, Stuart. Those kids like you."
"I don't care. I don't want to do Best Buddies if Sam isn't my buddy." "You need to understand he's just been in the hospital. Maybe he'll be back soon. Justin said there's a great event coming up called I Can Play and he said it would be perfect for you. It's going to have a lot of running."
"I don't want to go to that."
She exhaled, which meant she wasn't happy with my answer. Who cared? Not me. I had a new friend now. A secret friend who had a car. Even Sam didn't have a car. He had to walk to school.
I had to say I was at track-and-field practice. Donny had told me that was a "smart" thing to say.
"I was at track and field," I said. Then the words just came out of my mouth. "I saw the kids on the track and thought it looked like fun, so I ran with them."
She squeezed her eyebrows together so the lines in her forehead stuck out like wires. "You went to a track-and-field practice?"
"Yeah," I said. "It was fun."
"Well," she said slowly, kind of nodding her head. "I didn't go around the back, so that is possible." She stared at me. "Did you enjoy it? Should I phone the coach and see if you can join track and field?"
"Why would you phone?" I glared at her. "Why can't you just let me do something on my own for once? I can do this by myself."
She nodded. "Okay." She blew some air out. "Point taken. I just hope you're telling me the truth."
"I am telling the truth. You never believe me. I was at track and field."
****
The next day at school I was allowed to go to the cafeteria for lunch instead of staying in the little room to do work. As soon as I entered I looked around, hoping to find a spot at a table with people who wouldn't tell me to "get lost." Today, if they said that to me I would tell them to f— off. I would.
The basketball players were all together, but I didn't see Sam sitting with them. I was standing and looking around at all the tables, trying to figure which one would be best to sit at, when Sam came up beside me.
"Hey, Stuart," he said. "You wanna eat lunch together?"
"Yeah," I said. "Did you bring cards?"
I saw Cecil stand up and wave to Sam and he waved back, but he didn't go over to him. I wished he would because then I could sit with the guys too. We used to sit with them all the time when Sam played basketball and we were both still in Best Buddies. Instead, he pointed to a table that had a couple of empty seats at the end of it.
"Of course I brought cards," he said. "Come on, let's sit there."
#34;We're not going to sit with the guys?" I asked. "Play cards with them?"
He shook his head. "Not today. They're talking about track and field and spring basketball tryouts. I don't want to talk about all that stuff." He slung his arm around me. "Anyway, I said I was sitting with you."
"You're the fastest runner in the school," I said.
"Not anymore."
We sat down and I opened my lunch. I had a turkey sandwich, carrots and broccoli with ranch dip, and a couple of oatmeal cookies. Boring. I'd rather have pizza or fries from the cafeteria kitchen. I was only allowed fries on Friday. And my mother wouldn't give me money during the week because sometimes I spent it on other stuff like chips and candy, or even buying something off someone. Once I'd bought a joint. That freaked her out.
Sam pulled out a container with something really weird. He often had weird food to eat. Said his mother cooked it. But he ate sandwiches too.
"How was the Best Buddies meeting last night?" he asked.
"Okay," I said.
"You going to the I Can Play day? It sounds as if it could be fun."
I looked at him. "If it's gonna be so fun, how come you're not going with me?"
Sam ran his hand through his hair and he didn't look very good.
He actually closed his eyes for a second before he opened them and said,
"Stuart, I'm sorry. There are some things I just can't do anymore. Like I Can Play events. But we can still do this…." He pulled a deck of cards out of his pocket.
"I wanna play Blackjack," I said.
"How about we play Snap?" he said. "Last time we played Blackjack with the guys, we got in trouble. Remember?"
"Oh, right. But only 'cause I won money off you and Mr. Nelson found out." I grinned.
We played a couple of games of Snap (and I won both of them because I was way faster snapping my cards down) before Tony showed up. He stood at the end of our table.
"You ready for math class?" Tony asked, smiling.
"I hate math."
Sam stood and gathered up his trash and books and put the cards away in their cardboard folder. "Tomorrow, dude. Same time, same place." Then he held up his fist and I hit it so hard with my fist that he laughed and pretended like it hurt, shaking it and making funny faces.
Last night, my new friend, Donny, didn't make funny faces. I wondered if I should tell Sam about Donny. Maybe they could be friends too, since Sam didn't have basketball friends anymore. I was about to say something when Tony handed me my books. I snarled at him. He was always wrecking everything with school work.
****
After school, I didn't see Sam again, but I saw Declan. He was looking at his phone and he was scowling. "I want to work at Best Buy," he said. "But I have to fill out an application."
"Best Buy! You'd get to play video games all the time."
He looked at me like I was stupid. "That's not how a job works. You just don't get to play all the time. I'm going home now. You coming?"
I really wanted to tell him about Donny and his car but I didn't. Donny said not to tell anyone we were friends and to say I was at track and field. I shook my head. "I'm going to track and field. Tell Mom."
"K. See ya at home then." Declan shoved his phone in his back pocket. I went one way and Declan went the other way. As I walked out the back door, I saw all the kids stretching and getting ready to run in the track-and-field club. It kinda looked like fun. But I wanted a ride in the fast car. Way more fun. And Donny was my friend and I really liked having friends and no one on the track team was my friend. They probably wouldn't like me anyway.
I went back to where the recycling bins were and saw the car. He'd come! Just like he said he would. I ran over to the car and he opened the door for me. I hopped in and said, "Are we gonna go fast again today?"
"Sure," he replied. "But first I have to run an errand."
We drove down a few side streets, hit a main road, and drove for a bit, going by Walmart, Safeway, Shoppers Drug Mart, Taco Bell and even a McDonald's. Finally, he turned and that made me happy because on the main road there were so many lights that we had to keep stopping. We were in a neighbourhood I'd never been to and a lot of the houses didn't look like my house. My dad always cut our lawn and made me keep my bike in a special place in the garage. Rusty bikes were just thrown around on these lawns.
Donny slowed down until the car was almost crawling, and we were in front of a grey apartment building that had a basketball court off to the side. Guys were playing basketball. I knew
none of them would be Sam, that was for sure.
Donny pulled over to the side. He handed me a McDonald's paper bag, the kind you get at the drive thru.
"Run this over to that guy in the baseball hat," he said. I looked out the window and looked at all the guys playing.
"Is he hungry?" I asked.
"You got it, Stu. He knows you're coming. And he's been dying for this burger all day."
"Okay," I said.
I got out of the car and ran over to the basketball court. The guy in the red hat saw me coming and walked toward me.
"Hey, kid," he said. "Thanks." He took the bag and handed me money. "Give this to Donny."
I took the money and walked back to the car. I messed up money all the time when I tried to pay for things. But I looked at the money he'd given me and saw a ten and a five and a one hundred dollar bill. Wow! Now that I knew was a lot of change back.
When I got to the car, I handed Donny the money. "That's over a hundred bucks!"
"He owes me for other things." He took the money from me, counted it, and put it in his pocket. "Good job," he said.
Had I done a good job? All I'd had to do was run to the basketball court. So often people told me I didn't do a good job, so I liked that he had told me "good job." Maybe now we'd go fast again. "Can we go on the highway now?"
A Time to Run Page 6