meant: “You okay?” “We stand together.” “You’re our girl.”
Last night, Mama called to check on Spence, and his lawyer parents had already whisked him on back to their own oral surgeon in the lburbs.
He’d be okay, I thought. Self-destructive, self-reconstructive rebuilding is what we all do best. Thinking back on the blood and the screaming and the fact that the theater management asked me not to come back, though, let’s just say that maybe I overreacted.
Positive there were plenty of nonviolent means to incapacitate a guy, I swore off my right hook. Whitepath, white stick, peace and negotiation.
Yeah, I decided, give peace a chance.
Wasn’t me that Bobby Wildcat was afraid of. I’d figured that out last night at the game, but I had been right that someone in the world made him jittery. It was that Auley Crow Mocker withCharlie Wagon, of all people, and how could I tell? Well, they were about to wallop on Bobby right there in the high school hall.
Worse, I had a feeling it wouldn’t have been the first time.
Now, this was something of a judgment call. After all, I’d sworn to be all dove, to put my rep to rest. But, you know, Auley’s no good at negotiations, and Bobby Wildcat’s time was running out. Truth was, I didn’t have a whole lot of admirers, a whole lot of fans. None to spare anyway. People moved aside for Gargantua. Freshmen, seniors, didn’t matter. They cleared the way.
It’s the sequel, I thought. Queen Kong Strikes Again!
So, I sped down the hall and, just when Auley folded his right into a fist, barreled into him, like I hadn’t been paying a lick of attention to where I was going. I had the muscle. I had the size. I had elbows, and I wasn’t afraid to use one. He stumbled with a pained “Whoof!” and hit the tile floor.
“I am SO sorry!” I exclaimed. And then I made the kind of noises you do when you’re trying to make things better, but did what I could to make them worse. Used my best teacher voice and best teacher smile on Mr. McReady.
Everybody laughed, and Auley and Charlie waved off my fawning, acting the tough guys. No permanent damage, no oral surgery required. Auley was sweet on my cousin Makayla, had a baby with her. I didn’t need to worry bout those boys messing with me. But they’d forgotten Bobby, at least for now. As for Bobby, he gave me a look that said I had done him no favor.
I wasn’t sure why.
After school, Bobby Wildcat found me at the Starbreak Theater in the screening room. I wasn’t surprised to see him. Every time I looked up lately, there he was.
I’d snuck in wearing my daddy’s Graceland souvenir ball cap backward, hair tucked up, with my letterman’s jacket over a Red Earth T-shirt and faded Levi’s. I hadn’t wanted to press my luck with popcorn or a Coke from the refreshments counter, but Bobby came through with that. Diet and extra butter. Two straws.
“Want some?” he asked.
I did. The show was this vampire flick, all about the penetration.
“Bad movie,” Bobby said.
I nodded, reaching up to adjust my right earring. “Awful.”
“Love it,” he added.
“Me, too.” Which was the truth.
Did Bobby mind me saving him from Auley and Charlie? I wondered. Maybe—boys could be like that. Buying into the idea of “the girl” always being the one who needs saving. It was a disappointing thought about the boy into mind-body balance, from a family warm and supportive and substance-free, like mine.
I knew who he was now, remembered last night after saying my prayers. His gramma Otterlifter had found me once when I, maybe two or three years old, disappeared among the cars and trucks at the enormous Walmart parking lot. Carried me, all teary-eyed, to Daddy, who’d been searching, half-crazed with worry. She’d been my hero.
Bobby, he was a year younger, and I’d never paid the juniors much mind. The year difference wasn’t such a big deal though.Not when you thought about it. I was friends with juniors on the
Last night, Mama called to check on Spence, and his lawyer parents had already whisked him on back to their own oral surgeon in the lburbs.
He’d be okay, I thought. Self-destructive, self-reconstructive rebuilding is what we all do best. Thinking back on the blood and the screaming and the fact that the theater management asked me not to come back, though, let’s just say that maybe I overreacted.
Positive there were plenty of nonviolent means to incapacitate a guy, I swore off my right hook. Whitepath, white stick, peace and negotiation.
Yeah, I decided, give peace a chance.
Wasn’t me that Bobby Wildcat was afraid of. I’d figured that out last night at the game, but I had been right that someone in the world made him jittery. It was that Auley Crow Mocker withCharlie Wagon, of all people, and how could I tell? Well, they were about to wallop on Bobby right there in the high school hall.
Worse, I had a feeling it wouldn’t have been the first time.
Now, this was something of a judgment call. After all, I’d sworn to be all dove, to put my rep to rest. But, you know, Auley’s no good at negotiations, and Bobby Wildcat’s time was running out. Truth was, I didn’t have a whole lot of admirers, a whole lot of fans. None to spare anyway. People moved aside for Gargantua. Freshmen, seniors, didn’t matter. They cleared the way.
It’s the sequel, I thought. Queen Kong Strikes Again!
So, I sped down the hall and, just when Auley folded his right into a fist, barreled into him, like I hadn’t been paying a lick of attention to where I was going. I had the muscle. I had the size. I had elbows, and I wasn’t afraid to use one. He stumbled with a pained “Whoof!” and hit the tile floor.
“I am SO sorry!” I exclaimed. And then I made the kind of noises you do when you’re trying to make things better, but did what I could to make them worse. Used my best teacher voice and best teacher smile on Mr. McReady.
Everybody laughed, and Auley and Charlie waved off my fawning, acting the tough guys. No permanent damage, no oral surgery required. Auley was sweet on my cousin Makayla, had a baby with her. I didn’t need to worry bout those boys messing with me. But they’d forgotten Bobby, at least for now. As for Bobby, he gave me a look that said I had done him no favor.
I wasn’t sure why.
After school, Bobby Wildcat found me at the Starbreak Theater in the screening room. I wasn’t surprised to see him. Every time I looked up lately, there he was.
I’d snuck in wearing my daddy’s Graceland souvenir ball cap backward, hair tucked up, with my letterman’s jacket over a Red Earth T-shirt and faded Levi’s. I hadn’t wanted to press my luck with popcorn or a Coke from the refreshments counter, but Bobby came through with that. Diet and extra butter. Two straws.
“Want some?” he asked.
I did. The show was this vampire flick, all about the penetration.
“Bad movie,” Bobby said.
I nodded, reaching up to adjust my right earring. “Awful.”
“Love it,” he added.
“Me, too.” Which was the truth.
Did Bobby mind me saving him from Auley and Charlie? I wondered. Maybe—boys could be like that. Buying into the idea of “the girl” always being the one who needs saving. It was a disappointing thought about the boy into mind-body balance, from a family warm and supportive and substance-free, like mine.
I knew who he was now, remembered last night after saying my prayers. His gramma Otterlifter had found me once when I, maybe two or three years old, disappeared among the cars and trucks at the enormous Walmart parking lot. Carried me, all teary-eyed, to Daddy, who’d been searching, half-crazed with worry. She’d been my hero.
Bobby, he was a year younger, and I’d never paid the juniors much mind. The year difference wasn’t such a big deal though.Not when you thought about it. I was friends with juniors on the
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