“Uh, I don’t think I can stay.” Pat started to say more, but Mr. Seneca interrupted him quickly.
“Let me guess! You have a dentist appointment after school? You need to pick up your little sister at daycare? You have to catch the only city bus that leaves you at your house so you don’t have to take the later one on a different route and walk four miles in the barrio? Or maybe you need to get to a job that begins exactly at three-thirty, and if you’re late, your boss will hire his brother-in-law’s primo in your place?”
Javier stared down at his tingling feet. Mr. Seneca’s sarcastic tone made him feel guilty, and he hadn’t even given an excuse.
“Never mind!” Mr. Seneca straightened up and slowly inched his body forward. “We will just start practicing tomorrow during class and finish up after school. Mr. Berlanga, with a day’s notice, can you stay after school tomorrow until five o’clock?”
“Yes, Sir,” Pat answered, but his shoulders sagged like he was getting sent to detention.
“I’ll be here, too, Mr. Seneca.” Javier hated how he sounded. He even imagined kiss-up sounds inside his head.
By this time, the next period of students had filed into the room, at first noisy, then abruptly silent, no doubt when they saw the wheelchair against the back wall.
“You two can leave now,” Mr. Seneca said and reached for the crutches.
Once he and Javier had gotten outside, Pat complained, “Man, I can’t do this stuff. Javier, help me get out of this job.”
He didn’t like the idea much either, but to argue with a teacher like Mr. Seneca seemed pointless. With a shrug, he told Pat, “I think you’re stuck.”
Pat lowered his head. “Mr. Seneca has it in for me, I know it. You just watch. I’m going to look like an idiot, and everyone will make fun of me.” He picked up the pace of his steps. “Man, that’s all a dumb guy needs. I got it bad enough because of my sister, and now this.”
“Your sister?” Javier walked faster, matching Pat’s stride. “What does your sister have to do with anything?”
“Come on, Javier, you’ve seen her. You’ve heard the guys talk. I get it all the time. She’s a ten, and I’m a zero. They step all over me to get to her.” Pat’s voice sounded frustrated and tired. “Why don’t people leave me alone?” He opened the door to the main building. That’s when the tardy bell clanged loudly around them.
Both Pat and Javier cussed as they looked at each other.
Pat’s eyebrows lifted above his brown eyes. “If we tell Mr. Q. it was Mr. Seneca who needed to talk to us, will that save our butts? The guy’s a cripple. Maybe we can use the pity factor to help us.”
Javier took a step back. Bad luck maybe, but to blame Mr. Seneca felt wrong. He replied, “You say what you want, Pat.”
“You talk to Mr. Q., Javier. You’re the smart guy, not me.”
“Stop saying that, Pat. If you just—” Javier didn’t finish the sentence because there was Mr. Quintanilla coming inside the door right behind them.
The Dean of Students used his height to his advantage as he stared down at them. “Why are you two standing in the hall? Didn’t you hear the tardy bell?”
“We heard it, Sir. We were just on our way to get a tardy slip,” Javier said, keeping his voice steady. He prayed his reputation as a “smart guy” could keep him off a detention list. “We lost track of time discussing the new broadcast system.”
Pat stood there, his brown face dotted with perspiration. He gave off a blank look like he had no clue they were both late for class.
Javier looked back at the school disciplinarian. He had seen enough guys get into trouble to know what to say. “I’m sorry, Mr. Quintanilla. Pat and I used very poor judgment. It won’t happen again.”
Mr. Q. gave another glare before he pulled two slips of paper from his pocket and handed one to each boy. “Get to class, gentlemen.”
Javier took the slip and turned away from Pat. He walked rapidly to his next class and had no idea what classroom Pat walked into. Frankly, he didn’t care.
Two classes later, he still felt edgy. By the time he joined Ignacio and Andy standing in the lunch line, he really needed to unload. He described the first-period elective and what had happened after World History class.
“Can you believe Mr. Seneca paired me up with Pat Berlanga?” He put his lunch tray on the table in front of him and sat down across from his friends.
“Too bad he didn’t choose Feliz Berlanga instead,” Andy replied. He tapped his plastic spoon against his water bottle. “Maybe you can get a video of Feliz to show on TV. One look at her, and it wouldn’t matter if you mess up or not.”
Javier sighed at Andy’s stupid idea. He started eating the hot dog and chips from his tray and kept thinking about Pat. He had called himself a “zero,” and then he said nothing when Mr. Q. showed up. What kind of news team would they make if nobody had a backbone?
Ignacio wolfed down his own hot dog before he added his comments. “The best thing is that Pat is related to Feliz. Use this chance to go to his house so you can—you know—practice. Who knows what could happen?”
Nobody got it! In two days, Javier would be on TV with a guy who would prefer to nap rather than talk, and this whole TV program was brand new. Javier and Pat would be the first ones to do it. What if the whole thing was a disaster—a very public, in-front-of-the-whole-school, disaster?
He looked from Andy to Ignacio and tried to explain things another way. “Okay, so what would happen if Mr. Henley suddenly said that for Friday night’s football game, he wanted to change the half-time show? That in four days he wanted the band marching an all-new routine. How would you feel?”
Ignacio wiped his hands down the sides of his sweaty face. “He wouldn’t do that. It took us half the summer to get the freshmen to march without tripping.”
“That’s beside the point. Ignacio, how would you feel?” Javier stared hard into his friend’s dark eyes. “How would you feel about his decision? How would you feel about learning an important program in three days? You’re going to go out on the field in front of everybody and do something brand new.”
“He wouldn’t do that to us, Javier,” Andy answered. “It doesn’t happen that way in marching band.” His spoon tapped rapidly on Javier’s tray. “What’s your point, man?”
Javier slapped down the annoying spoon. “I have two days before I go on TV and make school announcements. That’s my point.” He lifted his hand and pointed from Andy to Ignacio. “You guys get a whole summer to learn a new band routine.”
“Would you relax, man?” Ignacio shook his head. “You got your underwear in a knot over a few announcements. Get over it! How hard can it be to say … ” His voice deepened like a newscaster. “‘Any student who doesn’t turn in his handbook form to Mr. Domínguez by Friday will start serving detention on Monday’ or something like …” His voice pitch changed again. “ … ‘Will the student who stole Brother Calavera’s IQ tests from the filing cabinet please collect them from the urinals in the main building’.”
Andy smiled, and so did Javier. His friends often made him laugh. They also swore he took things way too seriously. And he wondered, Is this one of those times?
“Look, Javier.” Ignacio’s grin changed into a more serious expression. “You’ll be good at this. I’ve seen you up in front of the class. You don’t sweat like me or start shaking pencils or drumming spoons like Andy does. I know you can be Mr. Cool. And as for Berlanga, don’t sweat it. Do your job, and if he comes off like a lump of masa, it’s not your fault.”
Javier nodded. Ignacio was right. It wasn’t up to Javier to change Pat. “Okay. I’ll just take care of my job and leave Pat to worry about Pat.”
Ignacio nudged Andy and grinned at Javier. “But if you get inside the Berlanga house, let Feliz know I’m available, okay, Jack?”
“Yeah, right! You can just stand in line behind me,” Javier replied. Then he yanked the spoon out of Andy’s hand before he could start tapping it ag
ain.
After school, Javier stood in front of his locker, wondering why his stupid lock wouldn’t open. He had done the combination three times. Had Ignacio or Andy switched locks as a joke? Luckily he knew their combinations too, and it was Andy’s numbers that finally worked. They must have done the switch while he was busy helping Mrs. Alejandro take down lab equipment from the shelves after chemistry class. By the time Javier had made it to his locker, few boys were left in the halls, and his practical joker friends were long gone to band practice.
He not only got his lock back, but also switched up Ignacio and Andy’s locks. He had a spare lock from last year’s gym class and switched that to his locker instead.
He had just picked up his heavy backpack when he saw two of the guys talking and pointing at something behind Javier. He turned just as he heard a female voice.
“Hello. Have you seen my brother anywhere?”
Even though she was dressed in a white uniform blouse with a navy blue tie and a uniform blue-gray plaid skirt, Feliz Berlanga had model qualities. She moved gracefully as she walked toward him. Even the silly white socks didn’t detract from the tanned, shapely legs. She was one of the prettiest girls he had ever met.
“You’re one of Pat’s friends, right? I think I saw you with him,” she said and then offered an apologetic smile. “Sorry, I’m terrible with names.”
“I’m Javier Ávila.” He cleared the squeak out of his voice. “We met last week.”
She breathed a laugh and pointed at him playfully. “Oh, yes! I just forgot. Any chance you’ve seen Pat today?”
“We have morning classes together, but I haven’t seen him this afternoon.”
Feliz looked from side to side. “I know I’m not supposed to wander around the school alone. I don’t want to get into trouble, you know?”
Javier nodded. “Yeah, I know.”
Her light brown eyes sparkled with touches of gold. “But you’re one of his friends, right? Could you look for him? My car’s near the baseball field.”
What else could he do? He smiled at Feliz. “I’ll try and find him.”
“Great! I owe you one!” She stood up on her toes and gave him a finger wave. “See you later!”
As she turned away, he could only fantasize about what a girl like Feliz might “owe” him. He walked in another direction, searching through empty classrooms. Could Pat have fallen asleep and no one bothered to wake him up? He walked into two of the bathrooms, and finally went toward the administration wing. Maybe Pat got into trouble and was sitting up there.
As Javier reached the main hall, Pat walked out of Brother Calvin’s office. The guy’s brown face drooped from eyelids to lips. He saw Javier and shook his head. “I tried to get into a different elective. Brother Calvin won’t let me switch. Sorry, man, you’re stuck with me.”
Javier wanted a different partner, sure, but he didn’t want Pat to feel like a total loser. “We’re stuck with each other, Pat. I don’t know anything about broadcasting either. At least you had the guts to ask Brother Calvin to change your schedule. I just let things happen and go along. I hate dealing with the man unless I have to.”
Pat nodded. “Me too.” His eyes widened as if he had just remembered something. “Oh, man, I bet my sister’s waiting for me. I didn’t expect Ol’ Calavera to start lecturing me about college after I asked for a schedule change.”
“I saw Feliz. She said the car’s by the baseball field.”
“You talked to my sister?” He gave Javier a pointed stare. “Just stay away from her. She doesn’t need guys like you sniffing around her.”
Javier stepped back, hurt and insulted by Pat’s quick judgment. “I’m not some horny dog, Pat. I was trying to help keep your sister out of trouble. Feliz broke the rules by coming inside the building, so I said I would look for you … and just for the record, I have two sisters myself.”
“So where do they go to school?”
“They both work in Lubbock. They’re older than me, but they’re just as pretty as your sister.”
“Then you know how it is, Javier.” Pat’s glare diminished but not much. “Guys just want to be your friend so they can meet your sister. I never knew any guy who wanted something different.”
What could he say? Javier was interested in Feliz. “Uh, well, you’d better go find your sister, Pat. She might come back inside and get into big trouble with Mr. Q.”
Pat looked at Javier for a long moment. “Okay.” He turned away, took a few steps, and looked back at Javier. “Where do you live anyway?”
“Across from Woodlawn Lake. Why?”
Pat’s face brightened up. “Yeah? My abuelita lives near there.”
Javier felt a sudden itch under the toes of both feet.
“I live with my grandmother during the week,” Pat said. “You need a ride home?”
Javier’s fingers wrapped tight around the strap of his backpack. He thought of his itchy feet, his algebra homework, and his weekend job to wash the work trucks for his father—anything to keep a goofy grin from spreading across his face. He even tried to sound bored when he said, “Thanks, Pat. Anything is better than the school bus.”
Pat gave a sly smile. “You might change your mind later. Come on.” He motioned to Javier, and the two of them walked out of the front door of the school.
The August heat slammed down on them, so aside from “Man, it’s a living hell out here,” Pat and Javier didn’t say much as they trudged around the buildings toward the large parking lot behind the school. By the time they got close to the classy black sports vehicle, Javier felt like he was Ignacio’s sweaty twin.
The car hummed in its space, engine purring and windows rolled up. As soon as Pat opened the front passenger door and Javier opened the door behind it, the air-conditioning rushed into their faces.
“Where have you been? Some of us have a life, you know!” Feliz’s angry voice raised high above the noise of the air conditioner.
“Sorry. Hey! Javier lives near Welita’s house. He needs a ride home,” Pat said as he climbed inside the car.
Javier tried to see Feliz’s expression, but she turned away and said, “Whatever! Let’s just go!”
Javier didn’t want to make Feliz angrier, so he quickly tossed his backpack on the floor, then pulled himself into the vehicle. He had never seen the luxury of ashgray leather seats, a monitor for each person in the backseat to watch his own movie, and cup holders on the doors and between the backseats.
Wearing narrow, dark sunglasses, Feliz raised her head and looked into the rearview mirror. “I get off on Woodlawn to go to my grandmother’s house. Where do I have to take you?”
Have you already forgotten you owe me? Javier thought, and just said, “I live on the corner of Woodlawn and Lake streets.”
Feliz adjusted her sunglasses. “Close the door, Pat. I need to get home.”
Pat cranked up the music. The harsh guitars of heavy metal thundered inside the car. Javier felt invisible and stupid, not worthy enough for a girl like Feliz to remember.
He clicked his seatbelt into place just as Feliz shifted the vehicle into reverse. The mighty vehicle rolled back, back, back then stopped with a jerky lurch. She stomped on the brakes, propelling Javier forward. The seatbelt slapped him back, scraping across his throat. The car jerked back, backwards right into a thump-gump. Rolling forward, lurch, rolling backward, th—thump, up, up, back … thump-crunch!
Javier didn’t look out to see what she had hit, twice now. He just stared down at his fingers, squeezing tight around his knees. He seemed to be sweating again, despite the full blast of the backseat air vents. The car rolled forward again, then lurched into reverse, but this third time, Feliz managed to avoid whatever she had hit before. Javier started to breathe normally again.
As the big vehicle finally backed out of the space between an older truck with a bumpy fender and a minivan with a scratched door, Javier could only hope the worst was over. Shifting forward, Feliz sped the car through the
parking lot toward the exit gate. The car jerked to a sudden stop as she hit the brakes. The seatbelt cut across his throat a second time. The rise and fall on the asphalt speed bumps rolled and jerked, ja-bump, ja-bump, zoom, stomp, ja-bump, ja-bump … to the last zoom, jerk, jerk, ja-bump, ja-bump just before she stomped on the gas at the front gate and drove into the street with a loud car horn blaring behind them at her too-wide left turn.
Javier gripped the side door, feeling a little comfort in the fact that the vehicle he rode in was heavier than the cars around them. In case of an accident, he could—would—should be protected, right?
She drove up the freeway entrance and sped up even faster as she passed freight trucks, small cars, long cars, and even a park ranger’s car without slowing down. Javier looked around the front seat and realized Pat had fallen asleep. How did he do that?
Feliz wove between cars, never once using a blinker as she changed lanes to pass up vehicle after vehicle. She drove right past the Woodlawn Street exit like she was heading for the mall instead.
“Feliz!” He didn’t mean to yell, but the music was loud enough that even his tone-deaf uncles could have sung along.
“What?” she shrieked. “What’s wrong?”
“Didn’t you miss the exit?” He hated to yell, but it was hopeless to speak naturally in the speeding, music-throbbing car.
Feliz screamed curses that Javier had never heard a girl use. She swerved the black car toward the right lane, three sets of horns honking around them.
Javier’s shoulder hit the door with enough force to scare him. Even Pat woke up and yelled, “What the heck are you doing, Feliz?”
She pulled off at the next exit and raced the car toward the signal light on the access road like she was trying to beat a world record. Javier looked toward the front window and saw the signal turning yellow. Was she going to try to beat the light? No one needed to get home that bad, right?
In the split second the light turned red, Feliz pressed on the gas and raced forward. The tires squealed as she battled the steering wheel to make the turn under the bridge. Javier stared at the two lanes of cars speeding in the other direction toward them. He repeated the profanity he had heard from Feliz. Who’d hear him over the noise anyway?
The F Factor Page 4