My Folks came home the next morning. Curt and I were
waiting for
our bus at the end or our driveway. “Don’t tell them about last night,”
he told me.
“I wasn’t going to.”
“What were you doing hanging around with that
Winslow jerk, anyway? You know what I think about him.”
“He’s a friend or mine. I never say anything about
Harris and Wesley, do I?”
“Harris and Wesley don’t smoke pot. Winslow eats the
stuff. He’s
the worst possible influence a person could have. Do yourself a favor
and stay as far away from him as you can. Mom and Dad would kill you.”
“Whatever you say, Nancy Reagan.”
Curt scowled at me and kept quiet after that. We
heard a bus coming
down the street from the opposite direction. It slowed to a halt in
front of us and the strange bus driver slid his window open.
“Your regular bus broke down. You'll have to get on
this one.”
“Shit!” grumbled Curt as he picked up his duffel
bag. “I knew I should’ve drove today.”
“You mean you should’ve driven.”
“Drove.”
“Driven.”
“Shut up and get on the bus!”
“When we got on the bus I recognized Casey Winslow
and all of his
friends istting in the back. Curt sat in one of the empty seats
near
the front. Isat next to Jeremy Christopher in the seat directly
opposite Casey Winslow. He was wearing his mirror sunglasses and
headphones and seemed to be asleep. Jeremy looked up.
“He’s saving a seat for Sylvia.”
A. J. and Doobie Brother were sitting in the back
seat behind
Casey. Maggs and Wheelie were sitting in the seat behind Jeremy.
A. J.
had a ghetto blaster on his lap and all of them seemed to be meditating
to the music coming from it.
“What are they listening to?”
“Grateful Dead.”
The bus turned left and picked up a few kids.
“How come nobody talks on this bus? Our bus is
always pretty noisy.”
“That’s because the kids in your neighborhood are
excited about
going to school,” Jeremy told me. “Our neighborhood happens to
think
it sucks the big one.”
The bus slowed down again and Sylvia got on.
“I didn’t know she lived around here.”
She paused at the front of the bus and noticed
Casey. Then she
noticed Curt. He moved his duffel bag over and she sat down with
him.
I looked at Casey. He looked at me.
“Did she…?”
“She sat with my brother Curt.”
“Figures,” grumbled Casey.
Jeremy shook his head. “What a soap opera.”
The bus pulled into the school parking lot and took
its place in
the long line of busses that were already emptying their
passengers.
We slowly filed off and walked to the entrance of the school.
Jeremy
gestured to Curt and Sylvia.
“They get along good, don’t they?”
“They’re just friends.”
“Anything going on between them?”
“No. I don’t know. Maybe.”
“You like Casey, don’t you?”
“No! Why?”
“I can tell you like him. Don’t deny it.
This might be your big chance.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Sure you do. You like him. It’s as
plain as the nose on your face. You’re nuts about him.”
“I am not!”
“Then why are you blushing?”
“I’m not blushing!”
“It’s either that or high blood pressure.
Admit it. You have a crush on him.”
“You’re imagining things. He doesn’t mean a
thing to me.”
“That’s too bad,” Jeremy said. “You should
hear how he talks about you.”
“What does he say about me?”
“I thought you didn’t care.”
“Well, just saying I did care. What did he
say?”
“He said he can’t believe someone as good-looking as
you can be related to Curt. He says you’re another Marilyn
Monroe.”
“No kidding! I didn’t know I look Marilyn
Monroe.”
“Coming from Casey, that’s the ultimate
compliment. He’s nuts about Marilyn Monroe.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“Oh yeah, he’s obsessed with dead people. Jim
Morrison, Jimi
Hendrix, John Belushi, James Dean, Randy Rhoads, John Bonham, Bon
Scott, Natalie Wood, Elvis…if they’re dead, he likes them.”
“Why is that?”
“Probably because of his old man. He died in
Vietnam.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“He was a chopper pilot. A chickenhawk.
Casey says his chopper
went down after a rescue mission in enemy territory, saving some Air
Force pilot who crashed. He’s officially listed as Missing In
Action.”
“That’s wild. Nobody told me that.”
“That’s why he’s so crazy. It’s because of his
old man. He doesn’t like to talk about it.”
“You suppose that’s why he hates my brother so
much? He wants to join the Air Force when he gets out of school.”
“It could be. Mabye. I don’t know.
I just know that his mother
had a rough time after he died. She never remarried. I
guess it hit
her pretty hard.”
“Gee, I had no idea.”
“Casey resents your brother because he had all the
things he never
had when he was growing up. That mgiht be part of it. I
don’t know.”
We stopped at my locker. Jeremy
continued. “He gets in some weird
moods once in a while. You have to learn to put up with it.
He can be
a real asshole at times, but when he wants to be, hes’ the greatest guy
you ever met. That’s all I can say. Of course, you could care
less.”
“No, it’s not that. I…well…I do kind of like
him.”
“I knew it.”
“But it’s not what you think.”
“Right. You wish it wasn’t what I think.”
He winked at me and walked down the hall to his own
locker. I opened my own and tried to hide myself in it.
My secret was out!
* *
* * *
I ran into Jessica later on that day. We were
sitting in the main
lobby after lunch when she noticed Curt standing with a bunch of
preppies. “Looks like he and Katz are history,” she said.
“Yeah. He doesn’t seem to be taking it very
hard.”
“Sylvia and Casey aren’t doing too hot, either, from
what I’ve heard.”
“Weird, isn’t it? It’s like some kind of
coincidence.”
“I wouldn’t say it’s a coincidence. I think
she’s up to something.”
“Maybe. I don’t know.”
“There’s a dance tonight. Are you going?”
“A dance? I didn’t even know there was one.”
“My folks never let me go to them, but this time I’m
sneaking out. All the cheerleaders are supposed to go.”
I thought about it. “I think I will.”
Casey came by. He nodded to me and sat down at
the end of my bench. “What’s up?”
“Hi, Casey. Do you know Jessica?”
“Yeah. You’re the chick J. D. wants to stick
his meat monkey into.”
Jessica’s face lost all its color. “What?”
“Jeremy Christopher…the dude with two first
names. You know, the singer in my band. He’s got a major
Jones for you, baby.”
Jessical looked like she was trying to swallow her
tongue. “Here
comes Sylvia,” she managed to blurt. Casey turned around slowly
as
Sylvia walked over and sat down at the end of Jessica’s bench.
“What’s up?” she asked.
“Just in from the cheatin’ side of town?” asked
Casey.
“Smarten up, Casey.”
“What’s the big idea sitting with Curt on the bus
this morning? Trying to make me jealous or something?”
“He’s just a friend. Don’t make such a big
deal out of everything.”
“You make me look like a jerk whenever you hang
around with him.”
“You make yourself look like a jerk. You don’t
need any help from me. This jealousy of yours is so juvenile.”
“It ain’t jealousy…it’s pure hatred.”
“You don’t even know him.”
“I know him enough. He’s stuck on
himself. He’s a show-off. He thinks he’s God’s gift to the
entire human race!”
“You just described yourself. You’re the exact
same way.”
“I am not!”
Curt and his wingmen came strolling into the
lobby. He noticed the argument and approached us casually.
“What the hell do you want?” Casey sneered.
“Just wanted to say ‘Hi.’”
“Say it and get the hell out of here.”
“What’s your problem, anyway? Someone tries to
be nice to you and you swear at them. That’s so junior high.”
“Nice to me? You only want one thing, and
that’s a piece of my old lady’s ass!”
Sylvia slapped Casey’s across the face. It was
the slap heard
‘round the world, because everybody in the lobby turned to see Casey’s
face flash bright red. But instead of reacting to her, he pounced
off
the bench and tackled Curt. They both went sprawling across the
floor,
knocking Harris and Wesley off their feet and into a crowd of my
hapless freshmen classmates. Casey and Curt were on their feet in
a
flash. Curt swung first, missing Casey by inches. Casey
tried to kick
him, but he also missed. Curt had used one of his boxing tricks
and
faked him right out. He punched Casey twice with his left and
three
times with his right. Casey staggered backward and suddenly did a
perfect backflip, landing in a martial arts stance. Curt rushed
him,
but Casey kicked him in the face before he could land another punch.
A wave of bodies rushed forward to pull them
apart. Even the
principal came running out of his office to jump between the two of
them. “Break it up!” he yelled. “Break it up!”
“You’re a dead man!” Casey yelled. “You
hear me, Larson?”
“You’re just lucky they broke it up, Winslow!”
“Shut up! Both of you! Into my
office! Now!”
Sylvia looked at me as the principal grabbed both of
them by the
scruff of the neck and led them toward his office. “This is so
embarrassing…”
Jessica shrugged. “I thought you’d be
flattered to have two guys fighting over you.”
“This is driving me crazy. I can’t handle
this. It’s like a nightmare or something.”
“Forget about it,” I told her. “They’re just
trying to get attention. Most toddlers are like that.”
Jessica smiled. “Still think they could be the
best of friends, Sylvia?”
“Why not?” I said. “Godzilla teamed up with
Rodan, didn’t he?”
“That’s true!”
“I really wonder about those two guys,” Sylvia
said. “They’re obsessed with each other. It’s almost sick!”
“There’s a dance tonight,” Jessica said, changing
the subject. “Are you going?”
Sylvia was still staring in the direction of the
principal’s office.
“Sylvia?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe. It depends on
what Casey wants to do.”
Jessica looked at me with a raised eyebrow.
Sylvia got up and
looked around the lobby. “I’ve got a class. I’ll see the
two of you
later.”
As she got up to leave, I asked her, “Are you coming
over to my house tonight?”
“Aren’t your parents supposed to be home?”
“You can still come over.”
Sylvia thought for a moment. “I think I will.”
Jessica shook her head as Sylvia walked away.
“She sure likes to play with fire, doesn’t she?”
I picked up my bookbag and slid my arms through the
straps.
She’s not the only
one.
