Daddy’s Little Boy, Part 4
I never had been so glad to have Maggie drive me home. After gym, I visited the nurse who gave me an ice pack. Useless. Keri gave me two Tylenol before Algebra, so my head wasn’t pounding by the time we reached my apartment. She came in to help me with the math homework and gave me half of one of her Carisoprodol knock-offs. Forty-five minutes later, I didn’t give a shit about anything. My book was open and Mr. Richard’s hand-outs were spread all over my living room floor. Maggie and I leaned against the couch as we sat on the floor and watched Sponge Bob.
“What was up with that bitch anyway?” She snorted at the television. Her head rested on a couch cushion with her long hair spread out like a fan. She could be so pretty, but I could never figure out how to broach that whole “she’s my friend” thing. I wanted to kiss her, but I was too afraid she’d punch me in the mouth.
“Who?”
“In gym. Seriously. What was her problem?”
“Fuck if I know.” I laughed at Squidworth. I picked up the work sheet, stared at it for a minute and tossed it back on the floor.
“Ever see her before?” Maggie slumped off the couch onto the floor like a cat in slow-mo, pouncing on a mouse. She worked out the first problem and wrote in the answer.
“Not that I know.”
“You sure this isn’t some elementary school girl who had a crush on you or something?”
“Nope. Not unless she dyes her hair or something.”
After working through a couple of problems, she pushed her hair back to look up at me. “I’m gonna ask.”
“Ask what?”
“Tomorrow. I’m gonna ask her what her deal is.”
After I dug out the last Funyon from the bag, I crumpled it up. I climbed to my feet in search of another lunch-sized bag in the kitchen. I yelled back over my shoulder. “I don’t need you to fight my fights.”
“I ain’t gonna fight her.” She shouted. “I’m just gonna ask.”
* * *
Next day at school, I went through the day without a stare, glare or concussion. Homework this and quiz that; nothing out of the ordinary. The pretty, pretty people looked down their noses and everyone else did their clique-thing. I stuck to myself, except for lunch with Maggie and skipping half of fourth period to hang out with Joe in the computer room. He had the latest Final Fantasy game for the PSP. He wanted me to check out the graphics and I ended up on a thirty minute potty break.
The great thing about dressing down and being quiet is no one tends to pay attention to you. When I beat the bell back, I mumbled something about being sick to the teacher, put the pass on her desk and grabbed my books. I don’t even think she noticed. She cleaned the chalkboard and muttered under her breath something about us damn kids and our damn attitudes. It made me feel like I was doing something right.
I stopped at the drinking fountain outside my sixth period: Mrs. Bedford for Algebra. It was the best fountain in the school as the water was cool. I hiked my backpack on my shoulder as I stood. I used my jacket coat to wipe my mouth. I turned – bam! She stood right in my face.
“Hey.” Nikki smiled with her Crest-white-strip teeth. Her perky-and-pastel sweater and skirt raised the hairs on the back of my neck. “Nathaniel, is it?”
I stared. Not that, “wow, pretty girl talk to me” stare that I saw on many of my poor classmates’ faces when a pretty girl talked. My usual “can I go home now” face stayed in hers. I learned long ago that if I didn’t open my mouth, I couldn’t sound like an idiot.
“Nat, listen,” she leaned against the wall. Her finger twisted her long, blond hair in that too-too casual way. “I just wanted to let you know I know.”
“Congratulations.” I stepped to walk around.
She stepped in my way while still twirling her hair. Her head tilted to the side. “I know. I know who you are.”
“Yeah? Who’s that?”
“You’re Daddy’s little boy.”
My jaw cracked when it hit the ground. My black and red backpack dragged my arm down to my side. The hallway twisted in on itself and my hip slammed into the water fountain before I caught myself.
Her smile upped in wattage. Her whirly fingers ran down her chest in a suggestive manner. Nikki lifted her chin. “See you later, Nat.”
She side-stepped me and walk-skipped down the hall. If it hadn’t been for the bell, I would still be standing there.
* * *
“You really think she knows?” He sat on the back of the wooden slate park bench. His mud-covered boots smeared dirt all over the seat. I watched the mud rather than look at him. It was dark enough for no one to notice his ears with his hair pulled back into a ponytail, but he still made me nervous. I don’t know why. It isn’t like I hadn’t seen some nerdy kids wear pointy-ears. I guess the difference was his were real.
“Uh, yeah.” It was close to midnight. I’d had to sneak-out after Mom popped a Xanax and curled in bed with Project Runway. Fall had come. My double jersey jacket kept me warm enough. I hadn’t recognized Mellathion at first until he explained that his hair changed with the season. Streaks of red and brown ran down his back instead of the blonde. I kicked a pebble on the sidewalk. It skittered out of the sphere of light and into the grass of the city park. “What am I going to do?”
“Outside our merry band of compatriots, does anyone else know?” With a small pocket knife, he peeled the skin of a large apple. His fingers looked like mother of pearl. “I mean, besides your father.”
“Well, kind of, but not really.” Way to be Captain Vague. “Showed Mom once, but I think she’s blocking it out.”
Mellathion nodded his head. He sliced a piece of apple and extended it to me on the edge of his knife. I made sure to touch only apple. Knowing him, his blade was so sharp, it could slice an atom. He popped a slice of apple into his mouth and chewed. I couldn’t figure out of he was thinking or scanning the park for potential rapists. He turned his head long before I heard the shoes on the cement.
It was way too late for any sane person to be jogging through park without an AK-47. Yet, the unmistaken footfalls filled the silence. Small, white running shoes appeared first, followed by pretty-in-pink jogging pants. A coat to match entered the light. And I nearly fell off the bench when Nikki’s head appeared on top of the jogger. She paid me no mind as she ran on buy. As quickly as she appeared, she disappeared into the darkness.
“Wow.” Mellathion munched on a new piece of apple. He snorted. “You’re in trouble.”
“What? Why? ”
His hand clamped on my shoulder. He shook me gently in that big-brotherly way I have come to rely on. “She’s a demon slayer.”
All Short Stories by Mary Lewys is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
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