Break, page 3
Hissing low, so the guys don’t hear me, I whisper shout at her. “That’s not in the Bible!”
She looks up at me again and quickly nods her head, and in the same lowered voice, she tells me, “It’s in Matthew.”
Rolling my eyes, I try to contain my irritation that I have to deal with a goodie-two-shoes trying to quote Bible verses at me. “Okay, Whalemina,” I sneer, ignoring her flinch this time. “I’ll get right on that. Thanks so much for showing me the right path to follow along with all the other bible thumpers your family hangs around with.”
“But Max-”
I cut her off. “No! I don’t need you preaching to me like you have to save my soul or somethin’. Go home, Mina. Mind your own damn business.” I shoulder my way past her and feel a small sense of relief when I hear her footsteps heading toward her house. Now is the time to plan this shit out with my friends who I know have my back.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Next Day
“You ready?” I whisper through the window to Danny’s bedroom. I take a quick look around to make sure no one is around to see me sneaking through his backyard.
“Yeah, hold your damn horses. Mom just went into the bathroom to take a shower, so we need to go now and get back before she finishes.”
Mina doesn’t know how badly she screwed me and Danny over, but she’s about to.
The little weasel ran to her teachers at school this morning and told them that I was carrying a weapon to threaten another student. A ‘weapon’. It was a stinking two-inch dull blade, but apparently there’s a ‘zero tolerance’ policy, and I got out-of-school suspension for three days. Of course, she told them that Danny gave it to me, so he got himself hooked up with a one-day suspension.
Our moms came to pick us up, and the ass chewing I got from my dad when I got home was bad enough that my mom tried to step in and calm him down. My fucking dad, he… I slap the side of my head to shake off those thoughts as Danny lands next to me, having dropped out of his window.
“Ready?” he asks me, eyeing me like I might be crazy for smacking myself.
“Yup. Let’s go make a mess of that little twerp’s shit.” He snickers as we take off and weave our way through Mina’s backyard. It doesn’t look like anyone’s home, thank God.
Danny picks up the mat outside the backdoor and holds up the spare key. “How’d you know it was there?” I whisper to him.
“Mom makes me come over and water their plants whenever they’re out of town.” I raise my eyebrows at him, surprised that he’s watering plants for a bunch of self-righteous pricks. “Shut up, my parents make me do it,” he mutters under his breath. “Come on, let’s hurry.”
After he lets us inside, we tiptoe through the house, opening random doors until we find Mina’s bedroom. What the hell?
“What the fuck is wrong with her room?” I ask, shocked at the pale walls, pale blanket on her single bed with one pale pillow case. There is absolutely nothing out except a paper dollhouse and a brown stuffed rabbit centered on her pillow. Literally, nothing else at all. No pictures, toys, books… nothing. “Why is she so damn weird? Who would want to live in a room like this?” I ask Danny.
He laughs at me before moving over to stand in front of her dollhouse. “She doesn’t ever do anything. They have a library where all the books are. Mrs. Bardot is super organized and cleans all the time. This right here,” he points at the house, “is all she ever does. Constantly folding little bits of paper into pieces for this freaky paper house. Whenever they come over for dinner, or we come here, she sits on the floor with a stack of paper and just folds it. It’s fuckin’ weird, but she loves it.”
“Loves it, huh?” I ask, eyeing up the house with more interest now. Looking around, I search for something I can use to tear into it, but there isn’t even a sharp pencil I can poke it with. Grabbing the roof, I try to tear through it, but it’s layered with so many pieces of paper, it won’t budge. “Shit, how do we destroy this thing?”
Danny doesn’t answer me, instead he hands me another one of his pocket knives. Perfect.
Grabbing it from him, I flip it open and then drive the knife through the top of the roof and curl my lips as the entire top dips down and caves in from the force. Instead of pulling the knife back out, I pull sideways to slice through the papers until it comes free, causing one side to hang awkwardly.
Chuckling, I grin over at Danny. “Well, this works just fine.”
The two of us spend the next five minutes pulling the house apart while I cut through sections of it. There’s no way she’ll be able to tape or reassemble it. By the time we’re finished, the entire thing is laying in a pile of sliced up slivers of paper that doesn’t show any sign of what they were supposed to be. I stand over it, breathing heavily from the exertion of releasing my anger into this ridiculous pile of scraps. But I still don’t feel like we’ve done enough.
“Give me the knife quick,” Danny orders me, holding his hand out for it. Slapping it into his palm, I watch as he fists it while walking over to her bed and picks up the rabbit. “She’s carried this thing around for years. Wherever she went, she’d be hauling it behind her. Bet she loves it.”
He doesn’t explain anymore as he lifts the knife and stabs it into the center of the rabbit’s chest and drags it downward, spilling the stuffing out all over her bed. Dropping the now empty carcass into its filling, he turns to me. “You ready to go back?”
Looking around the room, I see a full glass of water on her side table between her bed and the wall. “Hold on,” I tell him. Picking up the water, I move back to her desk and empty it over the top of all the paper I’ve just sliced up. I enjoy the sound of water dripping to the floor for just a minute before I grin at Danny. “There. Now I’m ready to go.”
Nodding his head once, we slip out of Mina’s room and hurry back to his bedroom window. I hold my hands together so he can use it as a step and heave his ass up back through the window. Turning back to me, he asks, “Why’d you pour water on it?”
Smirking, I shrug like it’s no big deal, but I won’t lie to myself; I’m proud I had the idea. “It’s paper. She could have tried to salvage some of the scraps to reuse them. This way, she can’t. It’s all warped and will be a pile of mush by the time she gets home.”
Danny snickers and holds his fist out to me. “Badass. Later, dude.”
“Later,” I say and then make my way back home, feeling a lot lighter than I did an hour ago.
Chapter 4
11 years ago
Ethan
“I don’t understand why you want to leave here and join the fucking army, man. You’re a smart dude and you’re better than that. Besides, didn’t we have a plan?” Rolling my eyes, I let Danny just continue with his anti-military, anti-war rhetoric. I’ve heard it so many times I could recite it word for word at this point.
Vincent has never been one to avoid an argument and willingly jumps in to my defense. “There’s absolutely nothing wrong with Ethan wanting to serve his country. His dad did it and his grandfather before him. It’s pretty badass that he’s going to continue the family tradition. Besides, if anyone is going to join up, it should be Ethan. He’s built like a bear.” He stresses his point by smacking me on the shoulder, instantly making me regret sitting next to him in the front.
Vincent was the first of us to get his license and a car. His parents got him an older SUV, which, luckily for us, leaves plenty of legroom in the back for four guys to ride comfortably. He’s a decent driver too, especially right now since it’s pouring rain out. The windshield wipers are on high, and are barely keeping up with the sheet of water across the glass.
“I wouldn’t mind joining up and shooting some bad guys,” Max mumbles while staring out the window from the back seat. “It doesn’t matter, anyway. The plan for all of us to leave this shithole together and go to college is crap. We talked about that when we were like, what, twelve years old?”
Danny scowls at him, but Max doesn’t notice. He has seemed pretty negative about most things lately, like he’s just not happy in life overall. He won’t talk about the shit that’s bothering him, but I wish he would.
“The troops are used and abused to only further the objectives of political assholes that are looking to make more money.” Danny snaps at him before shoving his finger in the back of my shoulder. “YOU know that’s what it’s for and it’s bullshit because it’s been proven over and over that war doesn’t ever get them what they want. They just end up spending taxpayers’ money and wasting our troops’ time sitting in the desert, eating overpriced shit food, and wearing uniforms that are made of shit material and cost $200 a pop. You all go out there and sweat your asses off to fight a war we shouldn’t even be in while these politicians and lobbyists sit on their fat asses and get richer. You really want to be a part of that shit?”
My friends are silent while waiting for me to reply. It’s pointless to argue with Danny. He’s so close-minded and opinionated that there’s no way I’ll ever change his mind. So, I choose to just give him the answer that I know will piss him off, but hopefully end the lecture. “Yup,” I say, popping my ‘p’ and chuckling when Vincent bites back a smile.
“You’re such a dick sometimes, you know that? You’re not even listening to what I’m trying to say,” Danny argues back.
Before I can respond, Max cuts in. “Is that Mina?”
Danny leans over him to look out the window. “Sure is. She stays after school for some club and has been walking home from school when they have meetings.” Then he laughs. “Look at her. She looks like a drowned rat in her church clothes.”
Max huffs out a breath that sounded a bit like laughter, but he doesn’t comment further. Vincent side-eyes me quickly before watching the road. “Do you think we should pick her up? I mean, we’re going to be right in front of her house,” he throws out to everyone.
“We have room,” I offer. It was the wrong thing to say. Danny is still pissy with me about the fact that I have plans to join the military after high school.
“Fuck her. I’m sure she has some rule about not getting in the car with boys. Did I tell you that my parents actually bitched at me when I dated Sophia and told me I should find a nice girl like her? Fucking Wilhelmina Bardot.” I look up at the roof of the car, just about done with his incessant bitching and mouth.
“Probably the best you’ll ever get since you’re such an ugly fucker,” Max quips, and Vincent reaches his hand back to bump fists with him.
“Fucker,” Danny mutters before leaning forward between the front seats to watch her as we approach where she’s walking.
She’s on my side of the car. Her skirt is wadded up in her fist and she’s holding it above her knees to avoid the rivers of water pouring from the gutters, draining the buildings on the strip.
“Speed up, man,” Danny encourages Vincent, a flash a malevolence lighting up his eyes.
I look back at him, but he doesn’t notice. He’s focused on her willowy frame as she picks her way through the sodden walkway.
“What? Why?” Vincent asks.
Danny starts slapping his shoulder to get him to listen to him. “Just fucking do it! Speed up right now and get closer to the side of the road.”
“Come on, Danny.” I want to argue more, but I know when he gets like this, there’s no stopping him. Vincent’s foot presses on the gas and he picks up speed until we’re right behind her. There’s a massive puddle in the road right in front of us, probably from a clogged drain or something, and we plow right through it.
I watch in horror as the wave created by the tires sprays up and completely drenches her as we pass by. She had no idea it was coming, and she stumbles sideways against a building. Her hand that’s still holding her skirt reaches up to help catch her from falling. I get a brief glimpse of a dark smattering of marks along the backside of one of her thighs.
“What the fuck?” Jerking my head around, I stare at Vincent as he tries to maneuver his way back into the center of his lane, looking a little uneasy with the way the water hit her. “Did you fucking see that?” I ask him, then look back at Max, who’s got his head twisted around to watch her battle with her now drenched clothes.
Danny is laughing his ass off. He settles back into his seat as he puts his hands behind his head like he’s relaxing after a long day at work. “Damn, man, I didn’t realize that puddle was so deep! Did you see how much water sprayed over her?”
“Who cares about the water? Did you guys see her leg?” I ask all of them. Vincent only shakes his head in denial, eyes staring straight ahead on the road in front of us. “Max?” I ask him, wanting to know if I’m just seeing things.
He slowly turns back around and faces forward, his face impossible to read, blank of all thoughts and emotions. “Yeah, I saw it.”
Danny scoffs. “Saw what? A pathetic girl who’s about four years behind growing into her tits and ass?”
Max twists his head to stare blankly at Danny, then turns away to continue looking out the window, saying nothing.
“Danny, you can be a real dick sometimes, you know that? I’m talking about her leg. It was all bruised up!” I explain.
Why the hell did she have bruises on her leg like that? Did she fall or something?
Danny just waves me off like it’s no big deal. “She probably got the belt from her dad or something.” At his response, Max whips his head back around to stare him down.
“What do you know?” Vincent asks him. I’m not sure if he truly didn’t see what Max and I did, but I can hear the curiosity in his voice.
“Dude, it’s nothing. Who hasn’t gotten their ass whooped by their parents from time to time? Maybe she fell or something. Why do you even care, Ethan? You got the hots for little miss church loving Mina?” Danny sneers at me.
Rolling my eyes, I look away from him. I don’t have a crush on Danny’s 14-year-old neighbor. Is she cute? Kind of, I suppose. I’ve never felt right about how Danny and Max go at her all the time, and now Vincent with this stunt. I’m not interested in dating her, or anyone, for that matter. Not only that, but I plan on leaving this place the moment I graduate, and I need to focus on that.
“Oh my God! You do, don’t you?” Danny slaps his thigh, laughing maniacally. “Ethan, man, you cannot go for her. First off, she’s like the biggest loser that goes to our school. She’s boring as hell and weird as fuck. Avoid at all costs if you know what’s good for you.”
Growling under my breath, I narrow my eyes at him. “I don’t have a goddamn crush on your neighbor. I just think it’s fucked up that we did that and she’s hurt.” Chewing on my lip, I look over at Vincent. “Maybe we should turn around and see if she’s alright?” I ask hesitantly.
“I’m sure she’s fine, Ethan.” Vincent doesn’t seem convinced, just resigned. “Look, we’re almost at Danny’s anyway. She’s only got a few more blocks to go.”
“Fuck that. I want to get home already. She won’t want to get in the car with us anyway,” Max argues.
I can tell Vince is still unsure, but fighting it out with those two dicks in the back isn’t appealing. “Yeah, you’re probably right. It was just a bit of water and she was already soaking. Plus, who hasn’t had a few bruises from time to time? Remember when we were riding our bikes over that dune behind my house and I wiped out? Fuck, that bruise on my hip was there for weeks!”
I listen to the three of them change the subject and reminisce about the shit we used to get up to back in middle school. Staring out the window with a pit in my stomach, I feel like we’ve made the wrong decision.
All I know is that my dad would never have approved of me just brushing off a concern without looking into it. Internally, I remind myself that he won’t even know.
Turning up the music on Vincent’s radio, I drown out the voices of my friends as we drive our way through the partially flooded streets. I try to ignore the way those bruises looked on her leg. Vincent punches my shoulder, and asks what I think about the next football game and how certain I am that we’re going to kick their asses. It’s not until he distracts me that I stop envisioning the way her body hit the wall.
Chapter 5
10 years ago
Vincent
Shouldering my backpack, I nod at Max to let him know I’m ready after swapping my books out for my afternoon classes. I prefer carrying them rather than stopping by my locker after every hour since I found that I’m easily distracted and end up late more often than not.
“How do you get away with never bringing anything with you to class?” I ask Max, scowling at him.
He simply shrugs like he has no worries. “What are they gonna do? They aren’t going to dock my grade every day and fail me. My grades are practically straight A’s. How would they explain failing me just because I don’t have my book?”
“Still. Fucking lazy ass. Some of us have to work a little harder around here, and I think it’s crap that-” I’m cut off when Danny comes peeling around the corner. He slams into the locker and then jogs straight for us once he sees us.
“GUYS! Jesus Christ… You have to come with me. It’s fucking glorious!” He’s almost out of breath by the time he reins in his excitement.
“The hell are you going on about?” Max asks, crossing his arms over his chest.
Ethan, who’s walked up behind Danny at a slower pace, simply rolls his eyes before muttering, “The girls are messing with Mina and he’s overly excited about it. It’s honestly nothing. They’re just running their mouths at her like usual.”
A screech in the direction that my friends just came from has all of us turning our heads that way. I catch Ethan’s eye when he looks back at me with some concern. None of us move until a maniacal laugh bursts from Danny as he darts back toward the sound of feminine shouting.
“Goddamnit,” Ethan mumbles as I shove past him and follow Danny. Max is to my right as I shove my way through my classmates, all looking toward the sound of high-pitched screaming. His eyes are dancing in interest, but he doesn’t seem to be in as much of a hurry as the rest of us.
