“I better go now,” Tyler said. “I gotta go see my girlfriend after school.” He yawned dramatically. “She misses me; I haven’t seen her much since she started going to that school of yours.” He picked up his gym bag, slung it over his shoulder, and started to walk away.
Just as George was about to breathe again, Tyler stopped, and turned around. “Oh yeah.” He walked back to George and Brian, who were still half-undressed.
“Burke,” he said. “You tell the coach about my magazine?”
“Yep,” Brian said. “I sure did.”
A look of surprise flashed across Tyler’s face. Obviously, he hadn’t been expecting to get an answer so quickly.
But now for the first time, Tyler started to look really angry. His eyebrows contracted, and his voice lowered to a dangerous whisper. “Now, why’d you do that, Burke?” he said. “That wasn’t very nice.”
George stiffened, and inwardly cursed furiously. He was painfully aware of the fact that he was in his underwear. Not the best situation in which to fight people.
Brian didn’t look away. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I mean, I’m sorry that you got in trouble. But I’m not sorry I told. It’s wrong to look at that stuff, and personally I find it really offensive. I—”
“I’m sorry too,” Tyler said softly. “You know what happened last practice, Burke?”
Brian looked a little worried. “No.”
“Well, if Peterson didn’t tell you, I’m not going to ruin the surprise,” Tyler said, and glanced at George with a look of contempt on his face. “But you got a free pass out of it, and that pass is now expired. Understand?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean,” Tyler said, taking a step closer. “That we weren’t going to touch you because you’re black. But now it looks like you need to know who’s in charge here.”
Brian’s face turned crimson. “Excuse me,” he said indignantly. “What do you mean by ‘because you’re black’?”
George suddenly felt cold inside. He had forgotten what he had said to Tyler, and now it suddenly came back to him. He hadn’t even thought there was anything wrong with saying that, at the time. He was just looking for something to say, some way to shield Brian, and that was the first thing that had come to mind…
Tyler saw George’s reaction; and suddenly, a malicious smile came to his face. “Well, Burke,” he said, in a horribly cheerful voice. “Your little friend here told me last week,” he paused, savoring the moment. “That we should go easy on you because you’re black. I guess he thought, you know, that you just couldn’t take the heat. Anyway, I was afraid that you’d sic the NAACP on me or something, so I was going to leave you alone.”
Brian turned to George slowly, an incredulous, angry look on his face. George couldn’t meet his gaze. He had never expected this to happen. He had been dreading the prospect of getting beat up again, or seeing Brian getting beat up, but this was much, much worse.
Tyler chuckled. He slung his gym bag on his shoulder again and waved to both of them. “I really got to go now,” he said. “Keep your noses clean, kids. And Burke…I’ll be seeing you around.” He walked away jauntily.
Crap, George thought. Crap crap crap crap CRAP!
He couldn’t meet Brian’s look. He had no idea on how to explain, or even begin to explain.
A few minutes later they were outside, waiting for Mr. Burke to pick them up. It was cold, and a biting wind was blowing in George’s face. Brian stood ten feet away, facing the other direction. He hadn’t spoken or looked at George since Tyler had left.
George’s stomach was churning like a washing machine. I can’t take this anymore. “Brian?” he said.
Brian didn’t even look over. He looked, if possible, even more upset than before. His face was flushed, and his lips were set in a thin line.
“Just listen to me for a sec, okay?” George asked.
Brian deigned to look in his direction. “What do you want to say?”
“I…you…you see, Brian,” he began. “They did this thing to all the new guys last practice…”
“You mean they hazed everyone?” Brian said coolly.
“Yeah.” George paused and then stared at Brian. “How did you hear about that?”
“I didn’t,” Brian said. “I figured it out. Your mom asked my mom why you were all wet last week after practice, and my mom asked me. What was it, some kind of stunt?”
George felt the shame come back to him, the memory of how he had felt. “Yeah,” he muttered; and for the first time, he felt somewhat justified. And that’s what I was trying to keep you from, Brian.
“What was it like?” Brian said. “What did they do, exactly?”
“They put our faces in filthy mud,” George muttered. “Then they threw everyone in the showers, that’s all.”
“I see,” Brian said. “It was no big deal. So why,” his voice suddenly turned cold and hard again. “…did you think that I couldn’t handle it?”
George opened his mouth to reply, and found that he couldn’t.
“I mean,” said Brian, his voice becoming louder and angrier, “am I that pathetic, that I can’t handle getting thrown in the shower? Is that it? So you had to tell them to go easy on me, ‘cause I’m black?”
George looked down and examined his sneakers closely.
They were both silent for a long moment.
“I was just trying to help.”
Brian turned away again, his face taking on a stony expression. “I don’t need that kind of help.”
Brian didn’t speak to George, or even look at him, the whole ride home.
It was almost 10 pm. Thank God, Nikki was online. Allie had plenty to say about the recent happenings at John Paul 2; and Nikki was actually interested in hearing about it. Allie was grateful.
angelgirl785: so thers little bugs
angelgirl785: ALL OVER the floor
angelgirl785: then one lands on my SHOE
Jokerbabe: lol
Jokerbabe: wat did u do?
angelgirl785: screamed
Jokerbabe: thats wat I thot
Jokerbabe: u r such a baby w bugs
angelgirl785: I m NOT!!
angelgirl785: well their so disgusting
angelgirl785: its not evn funny
Now that she thought of it, though…
Allie found herself giggling. She typed:
angelgirl785: the funniest thing was
angelgirl785: mrs simonelli saw the crickets
angelgirl785: she screamed so loud
angelgirl785: it was like she was getting murdered
angelgirl785: AAAAHHHHEEEEEKKK!!!!!!!
angelgirl785: hehehe
Jokerbabe: wait a sec
Jokerbabe: CRICKETS?
angelgirl785: yeah
Jokerbabe: crickets r cute
angelgirl785: thats what celia said
Jokerbabe: whos celia?
angelgirl785: principals daughter
Jokerbabe: o yeah
Allie felt a twinge of guilt. She wondered if George had talked to Celia yet. She hoped so.
angelgirl785: shes all right shes nice.
She sat back in her chair, absently chewing her fingernail. How could she describe Celia?
What would Celia fit at Sparrow Hills? Probably with the really smart kids… but not the loser crowd. Celia definitely wasn’t a loser… but she probably wouldn’t be extra popular, either… not in the way that Madison and Tyler were popular. She was too nice? Or maybe she just didn’t care about that sort of thing. “Hmm,” she said out loud, and leaned forward to the keyboard again.
angelgirl785: celia is cool and supernice
Jokerbabe: really maybe we can
Jokerbabe: hang out some time
Allie thought about the things that she and Nikki did together: hang out at the mall, go shopping, talk about boys. She couldn’t imagine Celia doing any of those things. Still, she typed half-heartedly:
angelgirl785: maybe
/>
Jokerbabe: this school is good 4 u
Jokerbabe: I can tell
angelgirl785: ?
A new IM window opened up. The message was from…? Allie peered at the screen.
veritatisplendor: Is this allie?
Allie blinked, and looked closer at the strange-looking screen name, trying to spell it out. Ve-ri-ta-tee-splen-dor? What the heck is that?
angelgirl785: whos this?
veritatisplendor: this is celia from jp2 High. Is this allie?
angelgirl785: yes
veritatisplendor: HI ALLIE!!!!
Allie arched her eyebrows. What do you know? She switched back to Nikki’s window and typed:
angelgirl785: guess wat?
angelgirl785: celia just IMed me
By the time she had finished typing, Celia had already written some more.
veritatisplendor: sorry to surprise you.
veritatisplendor: My dad had your email address so
veritatisplendor: i thought I’d say hi. whats going on?
angelgirl785: nottin much
veritatisplendor: how did you like the homework for
veritatispendor: history?
Allie groaned. History homework that night was thirty pages from Christ the King: Lord of History, all about ancient heretics. She found it incredibly confusing; but she didn’t want to criticize Mr. Costain; she also didn’t want to look dumb.
angelgirl785: it wasnt that bad
veritatisplendor: YEAH RIGHT
veritatisplendor: I lost track between Simon Magus and
veritatisplendor: Montanus…
veritatisplendor: Maybe you could give me some
veritatisplendor: pointers?
Allie gulped. Oops. She considered trying to make up some facts, maybe look something up. But Celia probably knew all about this stuff, and could tell if she was faking it, Then she’d look even dumber…suddenly, the whole thing just seemed ridiculous.
angelgirl785: actually
angelgirl785: i havent started yet
veritatisplendor: ah hah!
veritatisplendor: i WAS kind of surprised
veritatisplendor: anyway…
There was nothing more for a long space of time. Allie quickly switched back to Nikki’s window and typed
angelgirl785: im talking 2 her right now
angelgirl785: did I tell u
angelgirl785: I thot she and george were dating
angelgirl785: but theyre not?
angelgirl785: so now I like her :)
Just as Nikki answered,
Jokerbabe: george sounds like a cutie
Jokerbabe: 2 bad ur dating Tyler
another message from Celia popped up:
veritatisplendor: I just wanted to apologize for laughing at
veritatisplendor: you last week.
Allie was stunned. Why is she apologizing to me?
veritatisplendor: i didnt mean to aggravate you
veritatisplendor: i know it must be hard,
veritatisplendor: moving to a new school and all
veritatisplendor: and i didn’t know you
veritatisplendor: had a phobia about bugs…
This is ridiculous, Allie thought. She typed quickly:
angelgirl785: don’t be silly
angelgirl785: i was a TOTAL jerk
There was a pause. Allie grinned, imagining Celia with a baffled look on her face.
veritatisplendor: i could have been a little more nice,
veritatisplendor: though.
No, you couldn’t. Allie chuckled. There was no possible way you could have been more nice.
angelgirl785: celia
angelgirl785: i said your school was a trash heap.
angelgirl785: i felt so bad about it all week
angelgirl785: im really really sorry.
Suddenly all her emotions from the week seemed to well up and out of her, and she breathed a deep, heavy sigh. She didn’t know how to describe the feeling that followed. It wasn’t happiness, exactly, but she didn’t feel sad anymore. She felt lighter.
veritatisplendor: i forgive you.
Huh? Allie thought. That was odd. She’d been hoping for ‘that’s okay’, or ‘no big deal’. But ‘I forgive you?’ That was weird. She pondered the words for a moment. Weird. But not in a bad way.
angelgirl785: thanx
angelgirl785: seriously
angelgirl785: hey do you want to meet my friend Nikki?
angelgirl785: shes from SH
angelgirl785: I mean SPARROW HILLS sorry
There was only the slightest pause, and then:
veritatisplendor: yeah!
veritatisplendor: i would LOVE to
Allie smiled, and pressed the “invite” button, letting Celia and Nikki into a new conversation box. She typed:
angelgirl785: hey nikki
angelgirl785: theres someone I want u 2 meeeeet…
George couldn’t sleep. It had been a long and strenuous day of school, exercise, and chores, but still he tossed and turned in his bed, his mind churning with unsettled thoughts.
There was the thing with Brian. The thing with Tyler. The thing with…Allie.
‘I’m going to see my girlfriend after school. She misses me.’ Tyler walking out arrogantly. The Playboy in the locker. ‘Kind of reminds me of my girlfriend.’
The more George got to know Allie, the more he was bothered that she was dating someone like Tyler. She can’t really know what he’s like. When will she find out?
But there was still a twinge of guilt and fear. Was he, George, that much better than Tyler? Had he stood up for what was right, when it came down to it?
What could he have said? Allie is a daughter of God, creep, not a Playboy centerfold. Keep your dirty thoughts to yourself. Maybe then he wouldn’t be in this fix.
Or maybe he still would be.. No matter what he did, someone seemed to get mad at him these days…
It was only after almost an hour of sleeplessness that George gave up. He got up and went to the bathroom. when he came back to his room, on a sudden impulse, he knelt next and said a prayer. Okay, God, I’m sorry I screwed up. Help me to figure out what the right thing to do is, and help me do it and not give in to…whatever.
He took a deep breath. Maybe he just wasn’t tired enough. Push-ups might do the trick.
He got on the floor, lying with his face and chest hugging the thin ragged carpet. Then with a heave of his arms he pushed himself up, and then down. Up, and down.
One…two…three…four …
The next morning, George got out of his mom’s car weary and cranky. Before he got inside, the Burke’s van rumbled up and dropped off Brian. As the van zoomed away, the younger boy glanced in his direction, then quickly walked past him into the school.
George restrained a surge of anger and resentment. He was getting used to this. Brian hadn’t spoken to him since last practice; this didn’t encourage George to try to apologize again; not something that he was inclined to do anyhow.
He walked into school, and was opening his locker when Allie Weaver bumped into him, dropping a folder and scattering pages of loose-leaf on the floor. “I’m sorry!” she said.
“Don’t worry about it,” George muttered, and knelt down to help her pick up her papers. He grabbed at a paper and felt a soft touch on his hand. Allie had grabbed the same paper.
George’s heart leaped into his throat. He uttered an embarrassed grunt and stood up quickly.
“Sorry.” Allie snatched up the remaining papers and stood up.
George stared at her, thunderstruck. Allie was blushing. She’d never looked like this before. Cold, aloof, bored? Yes. Bashful? No.
They stood in awkward silence until George managed to say, “How’s it going?”
“Okay!” she said, smiling. “How ‘bout you?”
George was again thrown off; this time by that smile. She was dressed to kill, as usual, the white blouse and black skirt looking infinitely more
sophisticated on her than on the other girls; but her expression was friendlier than usual. A wild thought flashed though his mind: she’s happy to see me.
Catholic, Reluctantly (The John Paul 2 High Series) Page 10