“Yup. That was the first and only time we’ve ever really spoken to each other before this summer.” I bit my lip as our eyes met.
We had walked through the alley between the school and my street and reached the bleachers of the track and football field. The gate wasn’t locked, so we decided to go in and sit. Frankie needed a rest anyway.
“I heard about your friend’s party the other day. Did you go?” His left hand grabbed my right, and they rested on the bleacher between us.
“Nah. I wasn’t really invited,” I admitted.
“You what? Why?” he demanded.
“It’s nothing. We’re not really in a good place right now. How did you hear about it?”
“Supposedly everyone was there. I heard it got out of hand,” he said.
Dana not inviting me bothered me at first, but we were in a rocky place and I thought that maybe she needed space. But Thad bringing it up made me realize that I was absolutely not over it. She was my best friend, and she chose not to invite me to what I guess was the party of the year. Had those people actually been my real friends? They’d forgotten to invite me several times over sophomore and junior year. And then this.
“So, my dad had a talk with me after our phone call this morning.” He looked away before adding, “Well, more of a yell and a threat.” He took a more serious tone.
A threat? What happened?I straightened up, looking into his eyes.
“He saw me on Thursday night. He saw me getting into your car. And he saw me kiss your cheek.”
“What’d he say?”
I didn’t think his face could have gotten any whiter than it was, but it did. It looked like the life was being flushed out of him. “He made me swear I would never do it again.” Thad inhaled deeply. “He said he would send me away to some camp if this went any further. If I continued to be like this.” He lifted his head for a moment, revealing his red eyes, swollen with tears.
My mind went blank as he spoke. I wanted to comfort him. I wanted to say something to ease his fear but I didn’t know how to put the words together. Maybe my arm around his shoulder would have helped. I dared not to, though. He seemed too on edge as he recounted the interaction with his dad. How could his dad say something like that? My dad wasn’t an easy walk through the park either, but at least he never threatened to send me away.
“I don’t know what to do.” He leaned forward, head between his knees, and unlocked our grip. Sniffling periodically to try to hold in the tears.
I scooched closer to him and leaned onto his side with my arm around his back. I held on to him. He needed to know I was there for him. Frankie moved from where he had been sprawled out and nudged Thad’s left shin. Thad snorted, trying to cover his half cry, half laugh.
“I’m so confused, Étienne. I’m sorry to put this on you. I don’t know how we can…” He lifted his head to continue, but I stopped him before he could finish.
“It’s okay. We don’t have to think about that right now.”
He didn’t have to, but I was thinking about it.
MONDAY 16 JUNE 2008
20
LIKE OLD TIMES
“Hun. Hey. What’s on your mind?” Rhonda asked, peeking through the doorway of the back room. I was on the floor sorting through molds again; there were only two boxes left. But I’m sure Jason would have found more somewhere above the ceiling tiles for me to sort through when he had the time. He was good at pulling stuff out of thin air.
I hadn’t been able to concentrate all morning at work. The thought of what Thad said the day before weighed heavily on my mind. I lay on my bed awake all night as my thoughts circled endlessly. What was I going to do? For the first time in my life, I found someone who liked me for me. What was he going to do? He couldn’t exist as himself in his own house.
“Hey. You with the face.” She stepped forward and tapped my shoulder.
I looked up and tried to force a grin. I really wasn’t in the mood to speak to anyone. I had barely spoken to my mom in the car that morning. Luckily, Jason only came in for a moment before leaving, giving me enough space to breathe. I think I would have had to walk out if he were there pestering me about my hair or the way I sit cross-legged on the floor.
“Hey. Take the floor. I need to do something back here,” she said to the main jeweler.
She grabbed my arm, yanked me from the floor, and pulled up both jewelers’ rolling chairs. It was a slow day and the jeweler’s counterpart decided to leave early. I sat in one of the chairs while she ran to the kitchen for something.
“What are you doing?” I asked. She was carrying two glasses of wine. “Rhonda, we’re at work. I don’t want to drink.”
“Oh who cares. Jason lets us drink a glass every day during the holiday season. Plus, he’s not here and the back-room cameras were disconnected until our new computer comes in. Actually, whenarethose coming in?” She looked up at the corner of the room where a camera hovered over us.