THE PICASSO PROJECT

by Carol Anne Shaw

  "I know."

  "Just don't hate me. I don't think I could stand it if you did."

  Eddie looks at his sister. At her pleading eyes. She's terrified he's not going to forgive her. And his heart cracks a little more. "I don't hate you, Princess Little Star," he tells her. "Now get out of here."

  Maya meets Cora at the side door to the school. Cora passes her a grocery bag and fumbles with her keys. As usual, she appears to be full of energy, even at this early hour.

  When they disappear inside the building, Eddie heads across the field to the parking lot. The first few teachers have begun to arrive—the fresh out of University ones—the ones who are still keen and idealistic and who over plan all their lessons. Ms. Huffman, the librarian, walks right by him with a copy of the latest New Yorker magazine tucked under her arm. She nods at Eddie but doesn't really see him.

  Twenty minutes later, the parking lot is mostly full.

  Eddie hears the thumping bass before he sees the black Trans Am pull into the lot. When it comes to a sudden halt by the dumpster, Eddie's heart starts thumping in his chest.

  The window goes down, and Mark cuts the bass and lowers his head. There is a purple bruise under his eye, and his nose is swollen. Wow, Eddie thinks. Nicely done, DuMont.

  "Good to see you here, Eddie." Mark reaches his hand out to shake Eddie's, but Eddie doesn't oblige. "Your sister ditched on me yesterday. Too bad. We had a really nice time together the other day."

  Eddie feels his ears start to burn. Keep it together, man. Keep it together, he thinks.

  "Yeah, a really nice time." He makes a peace sign in front of his lips and wags his tongue through his fingers—a gesture that makes Eddie want to puke.

  "I have your money," Eddie says through clenched teeth.

  "Let me see, dude."

  Eddie holds up two fifty-dollar bills in front of the window, but he doesn't pass them through it.

  "Waiting," Mark says, making a snatch for them. He misses.

  "Not before I hear you say you'll stay away from my sister." Eddie says this calmly, but with a tone he hopes will convey the fact that there's no negotiation to be had.

  "Aw, really?" Mark says. "But I like her, and a little piece of jailbait ass now and then is always—

  Eddie grabs Mark by the neck of his t-shirt with both hands before Mark knows what's hit him.

  "Listen, you piece of shit," he hisses. "I'm not kidding. What kind of a pig are you? I don't care who your father is. My sister is only fourteen!" He lets go of Mark, who sputters and coughs and then grits his teeth.

  As luck would have it, Principal Redman pulls up and parks a few spaces away from the Trans Am. He gets out and eyes the boys suspiciously. "Everything okay here, boys?" He picks up his briefcase from the back seat and aims his key fob at his silver Camry.

  "Yeah," Mark laughs, rubbing his throat. "It's all good, sir."

  "Are we certain about that?"

  Eddie takes a step away from the Trans Am. "Sure thing, Mr. Redman. We're cool."

  Mr. Redman raises his eyebrow and breathes noisily through his nose, then walks away in his customary fast-clipped trot across the parking lot.

  Eddie hands Mark the cash, who snatches it from his hand.

  "This isn't over, DuMont," he whispers. "So, don't think you've seen the last of me." He starts the ignition and the Trans Am begins to roll forward.

  Eddie doesn't move.

  Mark revs the engine. "Oh," he says over the noise. "And for the record?" He smiles like a Cheshire cat. "You're sister was into it."

  ***

  It's still early. The hall is virtually empty, but they see it as soon as they turn the corner: Maya's locker, the word, SLUT, painted across it in big red letters. Maya stops walking and grips her brother's coat. "I...I can't go down there, Eddie. I...let's go. Let's just leave."

  Eddie steels himself. He was expecting something like this. "It's okay, sis. We need to get our stuff first. Then we'll go. I have to get my sketchbook, and I need—"

  "I'll wait for you in the bathroom," Maya whimpers. "I don't have anything I need in my locker. Please. Just hurry."

  But Eddie isn't letting her out of his sight. Not again. Not this time. "No," he says. " Just stay with me. It'll be okay."

  Maya sticks to him like a burr as he cleans out his locker. There isn't much, just his sketchbook and his hardcover copy of Catcher in the Rye, his favourite book. When he's done, they walk over to Maya's locker and Eddie touches the paint. It's still wet. Whoever did this, did it recently. Eddie looks at his sister, who is now crouched near the floor across the hall. She's chewing on her fingernails again; he'd be surprised if she has any left at all by now.

  "Come on, Maya," Eddie says, doing up his backpack. "Let's go."

  But Maya just sits there like she hasn't even heard him.

  "Maya?"

  Nothing.

  He's seen her like this before. Almost catatonic. He crosses the hall and crouches down in front of her. Takes her fingers away from her mouth and holds them tightly in his hands.

  "Hey," he says, squeezing her hands. "It's only paint, Maya. People can be dicks. We'll get through this, okay?"

  She looks up at him from under a curtain of blonde hair. He doesn't think he's ever seen her look so sad.

  "I've ruined everything," she says. "Just like I screwed up before, when Rachel found out about us. We almost had to leave here. If she hadn't moved out of town, we would have had to. And this time, it's worse. And it's all my fault, Eddie. It's all my fault."

  "Like I said, we'll get through it. "

  "No. Your only weeks away from graduation. We don't even have a shitty car anymore."

  "We'll figure something out." Wow, so many platitudes. How can she possibly be buying any of this, Eddie thinks.

  Footsteps sound in the hall and they look up to see Nicole, Paige and another girl, Shelby, walking toward them. When they see Eddie and Maya, the stop and whisper to each other.

  "Hey, Maya," Nicole says sweetly as they pass by. "Bummer about your locker. Hope that's water-based." The three girls burst out laughing and scurry around the corner—a trio of too much makeup and not enough clothing.

  Eddie touches his sister shoulder softly. "Come on, Sis. Let's get out of here."

  CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

  "Okay if Maya and I crash here tonight?" Eddie is sitting near the wood stove, a mug of hot tea in his hand. "Maybe do a little laundry?"

  "You know the door is always open, Eddie," Jim says, but he looks concerned just the same. Eddie and Maya never come to The Arms unless it's Friday. "You guys okay?"

  "Sure," Eddie says. "Just in the neighbourhood, you know." It sounds lame, even to Eddie, but after everything that's gone down, they had to leave sooner or later. Sooner seems better, to Eddie.

  "Anything you want to talk about?"

  Eddie doesn't answer. Jim knows he's crossed over the line. He knows Eddie plays it close to his chest; that if you badger him too much, the kid shuts up. So, he changes the subject. "Guess graduation is just around the corner for you, eh?"

  Eddie squirms and slops a little tea on the arm of the chair. "Yeah," he says, rubbing the liquid into the fabric with the edge of his sleeve. "Sorry."

  "You okay to get to classes tomorrow?"

  "Yep," Eddie says. "We're good."

  A little later, after Maya has gone to bed, Jim leaves him to go and help Leslie with something in the kitchen. The main door opens, and Scooter walks in carrying a box of Tim Horton's donuts. He's clearly sober, and he looks good. Better than Eddie's ever seen him look. His clothes are clean and his hair has been cut.

  "Dude!" he says, collapsing into the chair across from Eddie. "Sup?"

  "Hey, Scooter," Eddie says. "Good to see you."

  "You, too, man. Here. Have a donut."

  "Thanks. Don't mind if I do. You look a hell of a lot better than the last time I saw you, not gonna lie," Eddie says, reaching for an apple fritter from the box.

  Scoot
er throws his head back and laughs. "Yeah. That was a bad time last month. Got pneumonia and ended up spending a couple days in the hospital; lots of time to think, not to mention dry out. I hafta tell you, Eddie, dryin' out really sucks, but if you're gonna do it, the hospital is as good a place as any."

  "I guess it's a good thing I'm not much into booze," Eddie says. "Saw what it did to my dad. Sounds like a rough time, bro."

  Scooter nods and rubs his chin. He still looks skinny as hell but his eyes are remarkably clear.. "Well, it's amazing what a little delirium and no drugs will do for your head. Did a fair bit of thinking. And also, there was this girl who volunteered in the ward, and-

  "Oh, so now I get it. You're going to tell me this is all about the love of a good woman, right?" Eddie jokes.

  "No, not really. It wasn't like that, dude. But Ella - that's her name - said some pretty smart shit to me. Kind of made me think."

  "Right."

  "No. For reals. Her brother OD'd last year. Died in the bathroom of Ming Li's - that Chinese restaurant over on Ingram Street. Fentanyl. Jesus, that stuff is pure fuckin' evil. And he was only four months older than me. It kinda freaked me out, especially when Ella started crying."

  "Yeah," Eddie says, "I hate it when girls do that."

  "I hear you." Scooter runs his hand thoughtfully along the side of his cheek. "Anyway, she said I kind of looked like Mitch - that was her brother's name. She made me promise to clean up my act. So, I told her I'd give it a shot. I still don't know why I told her that. I guess I let her get to me. What the hell, so far, so good."

  "Well, that's great to hear, Scooter. Where-

  "Scott."

  "What?"

  "Scott. That's my real name. I figured it was time to lose the whole "Scooter" thing, you know?"

  "Scott," Eddie says quietly, trying the name on for size. "I like it. It suits you."

  "Maybe it does," Scott says, stretching out in his chair. "So...it isn't Friday. Thought you only came to The Arms for Pizza Night?"

  "Hah," Eddie says. "Needed to get out of Dodge tonight. Maya and I are heading out tomorrow. Probably going to hang out in big town for a while. We need a change of scene."

  "Oh?" Scott says, feigning nonchalance. "What about school?"

  "Yeah, well, school isn't going to happen," Eddie tells him. "Only don't say anything about that to Jim or Lesley. They'll get all parenty and stuff."

  "That sucks, man," Scott says. "You're almost done, aren't you? Thought you were stoked to graduate."

  "Yeah. The operative word is 'was'," Eddie says.

  "You can't stick it out?"

  "Nope."

  "Time to run again, eh?" Scott scoops up a handful of nacho chips from a bowl on the table sitting between them.

  "What's that supposed to mean?"

  "Whoa. Relax, Ed. I get it. Running was what I did, too. And for a pretty long time. You're not telling me something I don't get, you know?"

  Eddie frowns. He's not sure he likes Scott being all self-righteous in the chair next to him. Sober or not, the kid is only sixteen.

  "It's not running," Eddie says.

  "Bullshit you're not," Scott laughs. "Lemme guess; some shit went down. Your cover was blown, so now you have to peace out, so you can fool a whole bunch of new people into thinking you have a normal life. Am I right?"

  Eddie doesn't answer.

  "I am right, aren't I? You're running because you're scared of what might happen if people find out the truth about your life. And I'm not buying the whole, "We have to hide till I'm nineteen" crap. Your birthday is in a couple weeks so you're as good as safe now. You're ashamed, and you're chicken shit to face it."

  Eddie remains silent but starts fidgeting in his chair. He needs Scooter-Scott-to shut up and then he needs a shower; a long, hot shower.

  "But what about this," Scott says slowly. "What about if you could say 'up yours' to the dickheads and finish school anyway."

  "You don't get it," Eddie says finally. "It isn't just me. It's Maya. I don't want her around assholes like-"

  "The world is full of assholes, Eddie," Scott says. "Your sister is going to have to face them at some point. And you should give her some cred. Besides, if you run again, you're just teaching her to put her head in the sand. You're teaching her that assholes have power over her. It think that's called Ostrich Syndrome or something. Ella said that-"

  "Jesus," Eddie says angrily. "Who do you think you are? Friggin' Yoda?"

  Scott shrugs. "I care about you guys. I'm just trying to help."

  "Well, do me a favour," Eddie says, "and mind your own business."

  Scott raises his hands like he's trying to stop traffic. "Sure. We're cool. No worries, man."

  That's when Eddie sees Maya standing in the shadows in the hallway.

  ***

  "Where will we go?" Maya says the next morning at breakfast when everyone has left the table. The Arms was pretty empty last night, but even still, Jim and Lesley have made a huge stack of French toast. "Do we have to hitchhike?"

  "No. We have bus fare," Eddie tells her. He still has the extra fifty-dollar bill he stole from Randall, tucked away in his pocket.

  "But where to?"

  "I don't know, Maya. I was thinking Trafford. It will be better there. It's bigger; more room to be invisible. Maybe these hick towns are just too damn small."

  "But what about school? What about your art stuff? And graduation?"

  "What about it?"

  "Well, you have to finish."

  "Maya," Eddie says, trying to be patient. "Do you really think we can go back to Bridgeman High now? After everything that's happened?"

  Maya looks thoughtful for a moment but she doesn't say anything.

  "Running is just a band-aid, though," Scott says, appearing in the kitchen. He's got Spock, the resident orange tabby in his arms, and is scratching the big purring cat between the ears.

  "Scooter!" Maya says, brightening. It's the first real smile Eddie has seen since all the shit went down.

  "Hey, Maya Skye," he says back. "And it's Scott now, by the way. That's my real name."

  "I know. I mean, Lesley told me that." Maya blushes. "And that's cool! I like it."

  "Maya and I were just getting ready to leave," Eddie says abruptly.

  "Eddie," Maya says. "Don't be a jerk. Scoo...I mean, Scott...he's our friend."

  "A friend who needs to mind his own business," Eddie mutters, placing his plate in the sink.

  "Eddie!"

  "It's okay, Maya," Scott says. "He's probably right."

  But Maya's blue eyes are flashing. She stares at her brother furiously.

  "Come on, Maya," Eddie tells her. "Get your stuff. It's time to go."

  "No," Maya says. "I want to talk to Scott. I don't know when we'll see him again."

  "That right?" Eddie challenges. "And how's that working out for you, Maya, you and your...friends? Why don't you tell Scott about your awesome group of solid friends? You know, how they've totally got your back?"

  Maya slams her plate in the sink and for a moment looks as though she might cry. But she doesn't. She takes a deep breath and stares hard at her brother. "So, what, Eddie. It's still better than being like you! You hate everyone. You don't ever give anyone a chance. Ever! Your life is always going to suck if you shut people out. Scott is right. You're a bigger chicken shit than any of us!"

  She storms out of the room in search of Jess, who is working this week.

  Scott sits down at the kitchen table beside Eddie. "Harsh," he says.

  "Yeah."

  "So," Scott says. "You gonna tell me what went down? I mean, I'm not prying or anything. If you don't want to talk, that's cool."

  "I don't want to talk."

  "Sure. Okay. But maybe I can help."

  "You can't."

  "Okay," Scott says, getting up again. "If you change your mind, I'm going to go and annihilate a few suckers on Portal of Doom before I head into town."

  "Knock yourself out," Eddie
says, not looking up.

  Scott stops at the door but doesn't turn around. "You think you're protecting her, but you're not. If you really want to look after your sister, you need to face the music, man. Show her you aren't scared. She thinks you're a friggin' hero. Maybe you should start acting like one, even if you have to fake it."

  Scott leaves the kitchen. A moment later, Eddie hears gunfire and explosions coming from the big screen TV in the common room.

  CHAPTER FORTY

  JOURNAL ENTRY (June)

  "Action is the foundational key to all success." - Pablo Picasso

  I dunno. Scooter...pardon me...Scott, kind of pissed me off, coming off so self-righteous. Don't get me wrong, I'm really happy to see that guy has pulled himself together, and his story is pretty cool. But he's a sixteen-year-old kid giving me life advice.

  I'm not gonna lie, though; I did get to thinking about some of the things he said—mostly how running would be sending my sister the wrong message. So, Pablo? Taking action is key, but I guess you really have to consider the action you're about to take.

  But...maybe it's time to be pro-active for once. Running again would get us a brand-new view, maybe what we need is a brand-new perspective instead.

  And here's the weird thing; I just talked to Maya about it. I didn't try to keep it all together like I always do. I told her I was as confused as she was about our future. Told her I didn't have a solid plan or a solid answer. I don't think I've ever told her I was pretty much lost. I've always tried to be strong...for her. Tried to be that anchor that she doesn't have. But you know what she did, Pablo? She didn't freak. She listened. And then she hugged me. She hugged me so hard. And she said we should stay. Because I'm almost nineteen. They can't touch us now. So, we're going to face the music. And as for the punch I threw at Mark? I don't know how that's gonna play out but I guess I'm gonna have to face that, too. So...maybe the best action to take right now, is no action at all.

  How's that for obscure, Pablo?

  CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

  "You're sure about this?" Eddie asks.