“No, thanks.” She stood. “I’ll clear the table.”
“No, no, I’ll get it,” said Howard. “I believe Bob has something to say.” He raised his brows at my uncle.
“Ah, yes.” He squirmed a bit in his chair. “I want to talk to you about the three Rs. Revenge, retaliation, and retribution. I think you should let this one slide.”
“What?” Brittany shrieked.
“Even a small mouse has anger,” Howard said over the sound of running water.
“I’m not your mouse,” she snapped, and then waved her arm at me. “They could have killed him. In fact, I don’t know how he’s still alive. And you want to let them get away with it?”
“You know how it is,” Uncle Bob said. “First they do something, then you do something back, then they do something more until finally someone gets killed. I know neither of you want that on your conscience.”
He sounded like he was speaking from experience. Had he hurt someone in anger? I thought about the growl in his voice as he spoke last night. He’d sounded angry enough to want vengeance. Maybe he planned to take action himself.
“I should have called 9-1-1 when I found him in that tree,” Brittany muttered. “I should have let the sheriff see what I saw that morning.”
“But you didn’t,” Uncle Bob said, “and I’m glad for it. There would have been police reports and court dates, and obviously he wasn’t hurt as bad as we thought.”
She turned to me, eyes pleading.
Her outrage touched me. Perhaps it would have been better if she’d called 9-1-1. I was beat up pretty bad. But that time was past. I couldn’t go to the authorities now. They’d never take me seriously. There would be questions about why I was healing so fast.
That left physical retaliation. I saw Uncle Bob’s point. It would go back and forth until somebody died. Even the wolf inside me didn’t want to kill. I was sure that no matter how angry Brittany felt she wouldn’t want that either.
“I promise,” I said slowly, “to try to keep my cool.”
“That’s all we can ask.” Uncle Bob grinned and tapped a short drum roll on the tabletop.
“You’re a better person than I am,” Brittany said, although she didn’t sound like she admired me for it.
“If you’d like to take tomorrow off from school, I’ll understand,” my uncle said.
“Actually, I’d rather go, if I’m able. Show them they can’t keep me down.”
Uncle Bob beamed. “That’s my boy.”
Howard finished rinsing the dishes, and the four of us played Yahtzee. Brittany cheered up after a while. No one brought up my bike or the snow globe, which suited me fine.
I thought about my promise. It was ambiguous as promises go, but I meant every word. I wondered if I would feel the same when I saw Eff.
FOURTEEN
My uncle dropped me off for school the next morning. I felt tired and achy, unsure I could make it through the day. Uncle Bob assured me he would be nearby, and to call if I needed an early pick up. I hoped I wouldn’t have to.
I got a few stares as I went to my first class. That wasn’t too unusual. I’d been gawked at for one reason or another since I started school. However, the snatches of conversation I picked up stumped me.
“He’s such a faker.”
“I told you. It’s been Shopped.”
I was too worn-out to give it much thought.
Those stares were nothing compared to what I received when I walked into PE. Eff and his thugs gaped like they’d seen a ghost. I figured all I had to do was say boo and they would scatter.
I scowled as I passed, savoring the confusion on their faces. I’d toyed with the idea of pretending they’d beat up the wrong guy, but decided to go the you can’t hurt me route.
Fortunately, it was Volleyball Monday. No one wanted me on their team, as usual, so I joined the other rejects on the grass and sat it out. Eff watched me the whole time, even to the point of missing a few volleys. He looked skeptical, angry, and scared at the same time. Maybe he thought he’d be charged with attempted murder. Premeditated since there’d been so many of them.
I didn’t run into him again until midday. Eff and three others stood like an iceberg blocking traffic outside the lunchroom. I faced them with my back straight and my eyes narrow, wondering if I should have stayed home after all. I could handle their glares, but I wasn’t up to a shoving match.
Then someone slipped their hand into mine. It was Brittany. A wave of warmth washed through me. “Hi.” She smiled. “Been waiting long?”
“No. I just got here.”
“Good. Let’s go. I’m starving half to death.” Holding my arm, she led me past Eff’s murderous gaze.
Suddenly, everything seemed funny. The floor felt like it was made of some bouncy material, and my head felt like a helium balloon bobbing along. I was grinning for all I was worth, so I kept my eyes on her so Eff wouldn’t think I was taunting him.
Of course, she let go of me as soon as we were through the lunchroom door.
“That jerk,” Brittany said. “I can’t believe I ever thought he was cute.”
My head returned to my shoulders with a snap. “You what?”
“How are you feeling? How’s your arm?”
I grimaced. “It’s like the bone is itching.”
“Howard said it was broken.” She shook her head as if she still couldn’t believe I didn’t see a doctor. “You’d better eat something.”
We went through the food line with Brittany taking charge of the tray. She carried; I paid. We got to our table with a selection of fruits and yogurt, as well as a turkey on pumpernickel that she cut in quarters so I wouldn’t have to open my mouth too wide.
I smiled at that, watching her, pretending we were a couple. I knew I was fooling myself. She probably picked up her nursing skills from her mother.
As we ate, a girl I didn’t recognize came to our table. She ducked low to look at my face. She wore flowered leggings, and her hair flopped from a ponytail on top of her head.
Brittany gave a little frown. “Hello, Jana.”
“Well,” said Jana, “I don’t know if you know about this or anything but there’s a My Space called Cody the Fairy and it has photos and stuff so I saved them.” She held out a wine-colored BlackBerry.
My heart dropped into my stomach.
“Let me see that.” Brittany took the phone. Her pale face turned paler. “When did these go up?”
“Saturday. I got them from Maryann and she got them from Josh. They’re so obviously phony because—” She motioned at me.
I held out my hand. “I want to see.”
“Cody. No.” Brittany held the phone as if protecting it. Her eyes sparkled with tears.
I waggled my fingers. “Let’s have it.”
She handed over the BlackBerry. My mouth fell open. There in disgusting detail was photographic evidence of how badly I’d been beaten. There were close-ups of my face—I couldn’t believe it was my face—and shots of my blackening ribs. Then the pictures pulled back to show me sitting in my shorts with the fairy snow globe in my lap.
Heat rushed through me. I couldn’t look at Brittany.
“It’s been Shopped,” I said, finally realizing what all the talk was about. All I could do was go along with the suggestion that the photos were altered.
I handed the BlackBerry back to Jana. As she took it, her fingers slid over mine. She gave me a smile that would have melted my socks a few weeks ago. Now I was with Brittany.
“Thanks for letting us know,” I said.
“Sure.” She cocked her head, and her ponytail swung to the side. “You’re coming to my party, aren’t you? My birthday party?”
“Oh, you’re that Jana.” When would I stop hearing about the party?
“See you then.” She flipped her tail and strutted off.
I stared at the table. Brittany’s gaze pressed for answers, but I couldn’t look up. I wanted to crawl in a hole somewhere. Now I would hear
the questions. I looked so bad in the photos—how could I heal so fast? She’d figure out I was a freak.
“I want you to know,” she said softly, “that was the sweetest present I never got.”
I was so surprised I met her eyes. A tear rolled down her cheek, making me even more self-conscious. “Too bad it was smashed,” I said.
She nodded. “I saved part of it.”
I blinked. But she’d laughed at the gift. Hadn’t she? “Um, saved?”
“The glass is gone, of course. But I managed to glue one of the fairies back on, and it still plays Wind Beneath My Wings.”
I couldn’t believe it. I’d bought it for her, but I felt like she’d given me a gift. “I can get you a new one.”
She shook her head and wiped her cheeks. “It’s perfect the way it is, even though it reminds me of finding you in that tree.”
“Yeah. In my underwear.”
“At least now I know the answer to that age-old question, boxers or briefs. I also know what to get you next Christmas. Undershorts with Scooby Doo on them.”
“No, no, no.”
“Okay, then how about this? I’ll get a pair with oranges all over them and Welcome to Florida printed on the butt.”
“Or a bull’s-eye.”
With a sad smile, she walked around the table and gave my shoulders a hug. “I have to go to class. Try to stay out of trouble.”
I watched her walk away, feeling a dazed grin on my face. Then I realized I had to get to class, too.
My uncle picked me up after school. He’d bought a couple of T-bones for dinner. He planned to break out the grill. But I fell asleep before he had the chance. I slept until dawn.
We had the steaks the next night.
The night after that, we ordered pizza with double pepperoni and sausage. Evidently, my uncle felt that eating meat would help me get my strength back.
I bundled the empty pizza box with the rest of the trash and carried it outside. The breeze was cool, and the sky held an early sprinkling of stars. My stomach was full, and I felt more like myself than I had in days. As I approached the garbage cans behind the shed, I hummed to myself, trying to remember the tune Brittany’s snow globe played.
“I know what we did to you,” someone said from the darkness.
I froze, recognizing Eff’s voice.
“It wasn’t Photoshopped,” he said. “We beat you to a pulp. And yet, here you are taking out the trash like nothing happened.”
Memories of the assault thrummed through me—visions of faces and fists, echoes of pain. I felt fear, a haunting terror that I would be attacked again. Why hadn’t I smelled him waiting there? I had all kinds of extra perceptions. Why hadn’t I put them to use?
I tipped the pizza box into the can, wondering if I should run. Did he have a gun? Would a gun kill me? Maybe he needed silver bullets.
The sheer stupidity of that thought struck me, and I almost laughed. Silver bullets? Really? He was alone. He wouldn’t shoot me without an audience.
“Where are all your football buddies?” I asked. “Aren’t you afraid to come after me without back up?”
“I’m off the team.”
“Oh?” Good, I thought. Double good. May your life be as screwed as mine. I looked at him. He was a shadow behind the shed, but I could see him clearly. “What’d you do, tell Coach what happened? They say confession is good for the soul.”
“I didn’t confess!” His shoulders slumped. “Coach had us turn in our cell phones. Anyone with your picture on them got the boot.”
“Must’ve been half the team.” I thought about Jana and her BlackBerry. Most of the school had seen those photos.
“Me and four others.” His eyes met mine. They seemed wide and solemn in the darkness. Hurting. Then his voice hardened. “You ruined my life.”
“Yeah? Well, you tried to end mine.”
“That wasn’t the plan. I got carried away.”
“You could have stopped.”
He hesitated. “I know.”
“Is that an apology?”
“No.” He sneered.
“Fine. I’m going back inside.” I turned to leave.
He spoke to my back. “No one can heal that fast. There’s something weird about you, and I’m going to find out what it is.”
I scoffed and walked away.
The next morning, my uncle caught me staring out the kitchen window at the shed. “Anything wrong?” he asked.
I hesitated, not certain I wanted to tell him. “Last night when I took out the trash, Eff showed up.”
“He what?” Uncle Bob nearly dropped his coffee cup. “Why didn’t you yell? I would have heard you.”
“He didn’t try to hurt me, or anything. I think he just wanted to talk.”
“That kid’s dangerous,” Uncle Bob said. “Stay away from him.”
I knew he was right. Eff was a piece of work, and I hated him. But deep inside, part of me felt bad for the guy. His entire future must have been tied into becoming a professional football player, just like I was going to be a doctor. Both our futures had been taken away from us.
Then I remembered Eff saying he would find out what made me different. The idea felt ominous. But it wasn’t very likely, was it? I mean, who was going to follow me around on just the right night and see me shift into a wolf? I read comic books. I knew how to handle a secret identity.
I also recognized famous last words when I heard them. I’d better be careful.
I went to school in a thoughtful mood. As usual, when there was a juicy bit of gossip to spill, Maxwell and Lonnie met me at the drop off out front. “Hey, when did you become a snitch?” Maxwell wailed as I hopped down from my uncle’s truck. “What were you thinking?”
“Not cool, man,” Lonnie said.
“Hold on,” I said. “What’s not cool?”
Maxwell sighed like I was in second grade. “Are you saying you didn’t get Eff kicked off the football team?”
“What?” I didn’t consider anyone would blame me. “I didn’t have anything to do with it.”
“That’s not what the school thinks,” Maxwell said.
“Seriously,” said Lonnie.
I stared at them, amazed at their anger. For weeks, we’d been laughing together at Eff’s expense. Now they defended him? “He must have broken the rules. Coach wouldn’t have banned him otherwise.”
“But who told Coach?” Lonnie asked.
“You guys are giving me more power than I have.”
“Aw, come off it,” Maxwell said. “Everyone knows you hate each other.”
I wanted to slug him. “You hate him, too.”
“Look, I’m not an Eff fan, right?” Maxwell said. “But even I know he’s the backbone of the team. We won’t win a game without him.”
“It’s not okay, man,” Lonnie said.
I shoved my fingers into my hair. “But it’s okay for him to beat me up?”
“Did he?” Maxwell yelled in my face.
“Does it look like he did?” I yelled back.
“No.” He scowled. “But it sure looks like we’ll be in last place next season.”
He and Lonnie stormed off. I gazed at the street. My uncle was gone. If he’d still been around, I would have gotten back in the truck and left. There was no sense in staying in school. I was never going to fit in, never going to have friends. If it weren’t for the prospect of not seeing Brittany again, I would have gone into the Everglades and become a hermit.
As I walked into school, I found the curious stares had turned to glares of animosity. I wanted to make a big sign that said I Didn’t Do It. Jana said hi twice as we passed in the halls, but I was so angry I didn’t answer. Even lunch with Brittany didn’t cheer me up. She seemed tongue-tied and distracted.
“They say one of the kids’ parents is appealing the coach’s decision. Says it’s circumstantial.” She spoke in a low voice, like we were at a funeral. “So, maybe it will blow over.”
I couldn’t look at her.
She was the one who voted to get even. I guess the prospect of losing a few football games changed her mind.
By the end of the day, I was in as bad a mood as I could get. I jumped into my uncle’s truck and slammed the door. Uncle Bob kept glancing my way as he drove. Finally, he asked, “Do you want to talk about it?”
I hadn’t planned to tell him, but it tumbled out of my mouth anyway. “Eff and a few others were kicked off the football team for having pictures of me on their cell phones.”
“Well, that’s good. Isn’t it?”
“No. Because now every game they lose will be tacked up to me.”
“Ah,” he said. “Football season is a long ways away. They’ll calm down by then.”
“No. They won’t.”
We didn’t speak for a while.
As we pulled into the drive, he cleared his throat. “I hate to do this to you, but I have to go back to work. I won’t be home until late. The project I’m working on is running into overtime.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
He shrugged. “Got to make a living.”
“Yeah.”
“I’d feel better if you stayed indoors. In case Eff is still nosing around.”
“Right.” I wanted to yell I can take care of myself. Though, obviously, I couldn’t. That’s what everyone thought.
I climbed out of the truck and up the porch steps. I didn’t relish going into an empty house. I was afraid of being alone. For a moment, I imagined having a dog to greet me at the door.
Who was I kidding? Dogs hated me. Everyone hated me.
As usual, I’d finished my homework in class while the other kids asked questions. That left me with nothing to do. I decided to wash a load of clothes. Uncle Bob had a laundry room, but I’d never seen him use it. He seemed to prefer buying replacement clothing from Howard. I’d never done laundry before, but I knew enough to separate lights from darks. I started the machine, and then played Internet solitaire while it washed.
As dusk fell, someone tapped at the door. It startled me, and my thoughts went immediately to Eff. The smart thing would be to ignore it, but that made me feel like a coward. So I stomped to the living room and wrenched open the door.
Brittany smiled at me from the porch. She shook a bag. “I brought peace offerings. I realize it seemed like I wasn’t on your side before, but I was only trying to make you feel better. Lame, I know. Anyway, I was at work today and I saw this movie, and I thought I had to get it for you because I know you like werewolves, and can I come in?”
The Amazing Wolf Boy Page 12