Dark Friends

by Mark Butler

  “Let's make that call, Steve”

  Oblivious to the drama unfolding ten feet below her, Amelia sat in her room, pondering Stewie, the red-haired boy who liked her. She didn't feel any attraction to him. Actually, she had never felt attraction to anyone. For her, sex was a male desire, a masculine goal. For women, she believed, sex was simply a tool to manipulate men. Oftentimes, sex was simply another chore, like the dishes or laundry. But now, this boy wanted her. Not necessarily to have sex with, but because he felt an attraction to something about her. Her body? No. Her mind? Maybe. Definitely not her personality and social suave. Either way, she figured she would ask Jennie and Lisa what they thought, then go from there.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Over the following weeks, Amelia never saw her four friends from the park. She saw Jennie at school, though only in occasional passing. Stewie continued to pursue her, and they had even had a brief tutoring session in the library once. But he did not know how to make his next move, and she was not versed in developing an intimate relationship. So they stayed cordial and engaged, but ultimately stagnant. Amelia's parents were acting strangely. They had said they wanted her to see a psychiatrist to facilitate her continued healthy transition. They were unusually insistent, and she considered acquiescing to avoid friction. The more and more insistent that Steven and Catina became, the more Amelia withdrew into herself. She stayed in her room for hours, reading and scribbling furiously in her journal. On one Saturday evening, she decided to take a walk in the park, and to her great surprise, her friends were there, hanging out on the playground.

  “Hey guys!” Amelia yelled, making her way over to them.

  “Sup girl?” Nelson said.

  “Hey”

  “Yo”

  “What's going on? I heard about Stewie Paleston trying to hit on you in Geometry” Jennie said. How did she know about that? Amelia hadn't told anyone.

  “Yea, he's nice enough.” she said, unsure of her feelings for him. Whatever they were, they needed to align with popular opinion.

  “Some twerp likes you? Ha! Why?” Nelson guffawed.

  “Because she's beautiful and perfect, dick” Elbert told Nelson, prompting a brief shoving match that saw Nelson on top of Elbert on the ground, giving him a rough wedgie.

  “What's he like? Is he smart? Cute? Does he have a car” Lisa asked.

  “Yes, kind of and no.” Amelia answered.

  Elbert got back to his feet and straightened himself out.

  “Has he asked you out?” he queried.

  “Not really. We hung out in the library for a little while, but we haven't actually been on a date”

  “I'll take you out, show you how a real man handles his woman” Nelson announced, stepping close to Amelia and draping his meaty arm over her shoulders. Amelia pulled back.

  “A real man would know not to touch a lady without her permission” Amelia said, eliciting a scowl from Nelson.

  “Look, everyone” Jennie announced, “Stewie just wants what all high-school boys want.

  “Ten minutes with you?” Nelson asked. Jennie ignored him.

  “He wants sex! Duh! Amelia you're smart. Find a way to test his motives, discover what he really wants. You should offer to do something sexual with him, or for him. Then, you'll know from his reaction if he is pure or not”

  “What if he is pure, but he also wants the physical relationship?”

  “If he was pure, he would rather wait for marriage” Jennie answered.

  “Yea, sure he would” Nelson announced, garnering angry looks from the clique.

  They had finally found Dr. David Ailez, a renowned pediatric psychologist from the big city. His resume included over ten years of family therapy, marriage counseling and group studies. He had worked with inmates, orphans and the average citizen. He had specialties in schizophrenia and psychosis, and he had even worked pro bono on several abuse cases, such was his passion for justice. His picture on the Internet was that of an elderly man, late sixties, with a trimmed white beard and deep blue eyes. He looked like a fitness-freak Santa Claus, and Steven figured that children probably warmed up to him quickly. He called Dr. Ailez office and scheduled an appointment to discuss a potential patient.

  Steven and Catina McCree's arrived at the doctor's office at nine A.M. They checked in with the receptionist and waited in an anteroom, admiring the décor. He had the works of geniuses decorating his walls, everything from Goya's “Black Paintings” to landscapes by Kinkade. One of the frames was blank; a clear white canvas peered out from a simple, black frame.

  “That's my favorite piece. I call it 'The Interpretation of our Self-Reflective view on Reality.” Doctor Ailez said, emerging from a side door. He was exactly as he had appeared online, though the Internet didn't do his youthful vibrance its' due justice. He had a spring in his lengthy stride, and his eyes were clear and sharp. Steven assumed his wits were even sharper.

  “That's a long name for a blank picture. Did you do it yourself?”

  “Ha! I couldn't draw a stick figure if my life depended on it. You must be Dr. Steven McCrees” Dr. Ailez extended his hand, “I'm actually a fan of yours, you should know.”

  “It's always nice to meet a fan” Steven joked, “This is my wife, Catina.” Catina extended her hand and the Dr. bent to kiss it, a custom long-forgotten.

  “These tired old eyes have naught seen such a beauty in many years. Welcome to my office, please follow me.” Dr. Ailez led them through the halls to his workspace, an unadorned, corner office in the back. He gestured for the McCrees' to sit on his plush, patient couch.

  “I understand that you two recently adopted a rather interesting child” he fingered through her file on his desk, though he already knew it by heart, “A child who has been abused. A child who is a genius. In short, a rather complicated situation.”

  “Exactly” Steven said.

  “Well, the first thing to realize and recognize is that she is a fifteen year old girl. She is a messy ball of hormones and emotions. Regardless of her aptitude, she needs the guidance of loving adults.”

  “Yes, absolutely.” Catina answered.

  “Which brings me to my next conjecture. She most likely does not have any intimate relationships and she has no ability to start any. Her very nature, that of an abused, gifted child, directly opposes the nature of a young girl, who subsides off of the relationships in her life.”

  “So, she's at war with herself?” Steven asked.

  “In a very real sense. She's like a plant whose big leaves prevent the rainwater from nourishing the roots. In humans, this inner conflict can manifest in a variety of severe mental illnesses: Hallucinations, psychosis, mild schizophrenia, or even depression.”

  “So, we came to the right place then, huh?” Catina was fascinated, but she was less interested in hearing about more potential problems than about potential solutions.

  “I don't make guarantees here. I will pour my heart into your adoptive daughter's case, but at the moment I have no prognosis, or for that matter, even a diagnosis.”

  “Is there anything we can do?” Catina asked desperately. More than anything she hated feelings of helplessness.

  “If you believe in the power of prayer, then do that. Otherwise, treat her with great patience and kindness. If she displays any extreme symptoms of mental illness, I'll need you both to stay vigilant and savvy to her behaviors. Also, if she has any friends yet, watch them carefully to ensure they don't antagonize her stability. Ideally, friends could prove to be therapeutic.”

  “Thank you.” Steven said, rising from his chair. Catina also stood and Dr. Ailez stood last, shaking both of their hands. The meeting had been brief and to the point, exactly how he liked it. As he watched them depart, he prayed for heavenly guidance over the coming weeks and months. He would need it.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Amelia was eating lunch alone. She had not seen Jennie or Dan at all, and she wondered if they were skipping, having sex in Dan's rusty
old truck in some abandoned parking lot. Amelia glanced around the lunchroom and did a brief head-count. There were between one hundred to one hundred and twenty students. She figured at least seventy were boys. Of them, fifty didn't have girlfriends. Of those fifty, at least twenty were in her grade. Considering that they had to eat lunch, get away from their friends and actually come to talk to her in the span of one hour, Amelia calculated that she would get hit on sometime in the next six years.

  “Hey, can I join you?” A pesky voice said from behind her. Amelia knew that voice, Stewie. He wasn't just unattractive and unpopular. He was relentless.

  “Yea.” she said half-heartedly.

  “If you're not busy this weekend, I was hoping we could go out?”

  “Go out? Me and you?”

  “Yea, go out. We could eat dinner at that Italian joint by Bethe Park, then we could watch a movie or just hang out or something.” Stewie spewed his words in a torrent, forcing them out before his self-doubt stopped him.

  “Umm...I'll have to ask Steve and Catina.”

  “You mean your parents? You call them by their first name?”

  “Yea, that's just how I was raised. They always said they wanted me to feel comfortable around adults.” Amelia lied easily.

  “OK. Well, I hope they say yes. That new movie about the cowboy who turns into a zombie should be really good.”

  “Yea, well, if they let me, then I'll go.” Amelia said, strangely unable to give Stewie bad news. As the words crossed her lips, Stewie seemed to deflate, the tension going out of him like a hot-air balloon. Amelia realized that the fear of rejection had been manifesting itself physically, and now that it was over, he looked tired.

  “That's really awesome. Well, just let me know what they say. I'll keep my fingers crossed.”

  “Me too.” Amelia said, wondering what she had just gotten herself into. She had done this before, been over-generous and kind to someone who she actually pitied. It hadn't worked out back then, and she hoped the universe aligned itself differently for this adventure.

  They finished their lunches in silence, not wanting to disrupt the fragile agreement that they had made.

  Amelia walked home from school that day, crossing through the park. Perhaps inevitably, she saw Elbert, Nelson, Lisa and Jennie lounging on a bench by the trail. They saw her as soon as she saw them, and they hailed her over.

  “Hey guys. Jen, I missed you at school today.” Amelia said. Jennie blushed and Elbert and Lisa pointedly looked away. Nelson didn't, though. He mimed eating a banana, and Amelia looked at him strangely.

  “What's up Jen, what happened?” Amelia persisted.

  “I just had some alone time with my man. Nelson here is jealous that he'll never a girl who wants to be alone with him.” Jennie responded.

  “Hey, girls like me! I've got a couple right now who can't stop writing my name in their notebooks.” Nelson retorted.

  “Your little sister and her friend don't count, fag.” Elbert said, instigating another wrestling match between the two. The three girls edged themselves away from the tussle, whispering.

  “So, where were you? What happened?” Amelia pressed.

  “We just hung out at his parent's house, mostly. His older brother bought us some beer and we mostly hung out on the couch and drank and talked. It was really cool.”

  “You are leaving out some crucial details, Jen.” Lisa said.

  “We made out and stuff, too. We went to his bedroom for awhile and took our clothes off, but we didn't have sex.” Jennie continued.

  “And?”

  “I sucked it. It wasn't bad, kinda salty. He really liked it, and I let him touch me down there.” Jen looked ashamed at first, but when she mistook the shock on her friends' faces for admiration, she smiled proudly.

  “How did it feel?”

  “Really good. You should try it sometime.” Jen said in an authoritative, instructional tone.

  “Wow. I can't believe you did that. Y'know, Stewie asked me out this Saturday night. He wants to have dinner and a movie.” Amelia confided.

  “He might try to do something to you. Play hard to get, and if he really wants it, he'll work for it.” Lisa said.

  “I don't know. I'm not ready for all that stuff that you did, Jen. I think maybe we'll just go to dinner and a movie. Maybe if we become boyfriend and girlfriend, then we'll do that stuff in a couple of years.” Amelia said. She was not a virgin, though that was against her will. When she finally did decide to be intimate with a boy, she wanted it to feel right in every way. Nelson and Elbert walked back up, dusty and sweaty.

  “What are you ladies blabbing about? Make-up? Your hair?” Nelson asked, getting a laugh out of at least Elbert.

  “Things you'll never understand, doofus.” Jen answered.

  “Hey y’all, I gotta get home. I'll see you later, though.” Amelia announced, turning and leaving them on the trail. She didn't know it, but when she left the group, they didn't stay together.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  “Where have you been?” Catina asked Amelia as soon as she got home.

  “I walked home. I stopped by the park and chatted with some friends, too.” Amelia answered, irritated.

  “Y'know, I would really like to meet your friends sometime.”

  “Why? They're just people like anyone else.”

  “Because it's important. Don't you wanna meet some of my friends?” Catina asked.

  “No.”

  “Well, never mind then.” Catina said, pretending to be disappointed. To her surprise, it worked. Amelia kept talking.

  “This boy at school wants to go on a date with me on Saturday night. He wants to eat at some Italian place and go watch some cowboy movie.”

  “Wow. Well...Steven! Come down here!” Catina said. Steven came ambling down the stairs a moment later, appearing concerned.

  “What's up Cat? Hi Amelia, welcome home.” Steve said.

  “Amelia was asked on a date this weekend. What do you think?”

  “I think she's mature enough to take care of herself. The real question is, do you want to go out with this boy?” Steven said, making Catina feel overly punitive and anxious. She had not even asked Amelia the boy's name, if she liked him, or anything. Swearing to herself, Catina figured she had a lot to learn.

  “I like him, and I want to go.”

  “Does he drive?” Steve pressed.

  “No.”

  “Well, if he comes by the house so that we can meet him, then you can go, and be home before eleven.” Steven sounded like he had planned his instructions out in advance, Catina thought.

  “Thanks!” Amelia said, bounding up the stairs.

  “How do you do it, Steven?” Catina asked once Amelia was out of earshot.

  “My hair? Lather, rinse and repeat. Always repeat.”

  “Shut up.”

  “Hey, do you think that Amelia could be attracted to the wrong type of guy because of her abusive past?” Steven asked, “You know more about women's tastes in men than I do.”

  “I don't know. She could go either way, I suppose. At least we'll get to meet the kid before they go anywhere.”

  “You're welcome for that.”

  “I didn't say thank you.” Catina said, hugging her husband.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  On Saturday night, Stewie arrived at six thirty sharp, wearing khakis and a buttoned-up polo shirt. His hair was combed neatly to the side and he held blue roses in one hand. Taking a deep breath, he rang the McCrees doorbell. Steven answered.

  “You must be Stewie. I'm Steven, Amelia's...guardian. Please come in.”

  “Thank you, Mr. McCrees.” Stewie answered, slightly intimidated. Her guardian? What did he do, follow her around with a black cape and smite the evildoers who crossed her path? Just then Catina rounded the corner, her eyes piercing Stewie.

  “You must be the young man whose infatuation is targeted at my daughter.” Catina said by way of introduction.

  “I'm
Stewart Paleston. Pleased to meet you, ma'am.” Stewie answered formally as a huge bead of sweat formed at his hairline.

  “And just where do you plan on taking Amelia tonight?” Catina inquired.

  “Da Vinci's on second street, just past the north end of Bethe Park.”

  “I know Da Vinci's. Is that all?”

  “No. We're gonna go see “The Zombie Hunter” at the CinePlex.”

  “What time did you intend to bring our daughter home?” Steven joined the interrogation.

  “The movie ends at ten.”

  “Do you two need a ride?”

  “No.” Stewie responded, praying that they had no follow-up questions. Steve and Catina gave each other a sardonic smile. The boy seemed completely harmless, if a bit queer. They could have grilled him for much longer, but he was utterly guileless.

  “Well, have a good time then.” Steven said, cutting off the inquisition. After another minute, Amelia descended the staircase wearing form-fitting jeans and a shirt that said “What are you looking at?” in bold letters on the front.

  “Hi Amelia. I've just met your parents.” Stewie said.

  “Great. Let's go.” She replied, not bothering to acknowledge her adoptive parents existence. The young couple left the older ones standing on the front porch, watching them meander down the street unhurriedly. They had about a mile to walk to the restaurant.

  “Do you wanna follow them?” Catina asked.

  “No. One of the most difficult and rewarding parts of being a parent is being able to trust your child and loosen the leash. She'll be fine.” Steven said.

  “It's not her I'm worried about.” Catina replied, eliciting a snort of laughter from Steven.

  Amelia and Stewie walked down the residential block, not speaking. Stewie was not shy, but he was forcing himself to only say mature, relevant things that evening. If he were honest with himself, Amelia was a very unsettling person, and that was attractive to him. Around girls he usually felt like an ugly, too-smart-for-his-own-good kind of guy with no appeal. With Amelia, he felt attractive, yet intellectually inferior. She had such a quick tongue, such perspicacity that Stewie was thrown off balance around her.