Death Screams (3 page)

I finished my thought, "... it just gets him all fired up."

She stroked my skin again and my eyes fell into hers, drowning. She made me want to start kissing her right in the hallway.

She smiled.

"Knock it off, vixen."

She laughed and replied, "Just putting some moves on you."

I released the breath that I'd been holding and kissed the top of her forehead. Keeping my lips against her skin I said, "Just cut him some slack. He's gotta realize on his own that he cares about her."

She nodded, pulling away. "I know. But sometimes Jonesy needs a little push to see what the rest of us are seeing." She shrugged and I watched her sexy top slide a little further off her shoulder, balanced on there precariously. I was thinking about what was underneath the material.

She giggled, blushing. "Stop," she mock slapped my arm and I grinned. She gave me a peck on my mouth and I wrapped my hand on the back of her head, pressing her mouth harder into mine then reluctantly releasing her.

She turned out of the circle of my arms and walked into English without me. My arms felt empty without her in them.

I went to class, my friends' romantic entanglements swirling in my head like messy fog.

****

I walked up the exposed aggregate walkway, passing underneath the rafters of the atrium that signaled the entrance to my house and saw a flash of black in the window.

Onyx.

I smiled, he was faithful. Somehow he knew when I was going to be getting home from school. Some kind of weird dog-wisdom.

The Dog smelled a change in the air, lifting his nose and scenting expectantly. His Boy would be coming through the portal that sometimes opened but he could not see through. The Dog looked studiously at the light level that filtered in through the holes that did not open and sensed that the time was near for his arrival. He stood, stretching from the stiffness of relaxing and caught sight of the fragrant mass that the Boy would throw for him and picked it up, mindful of the sharp things inside his mouth. Soft mouth was important. He was not sure why, but the directive was firmly ingrained. He trotted to the narrow hole that did not open and waited.

The Boy would arrive soon.

Wag-thunk-wag.

I saw Onyx had that gross dog toy and sighed. Mom just had to get a new one. The thing was gray and dingy from reuse, slobber... and whatever else.

I opened the door and Onyx dropped the toy at my feet. I chucked the thing down the hall and he tore after it.

"
Caleb?" Mom asked.

"
Hey," I said, already making my way to the kitchen. I could smell the banana bread from the foyer.

I slung my backpack on the hook in a maneuver to avoid a "neatness rant" and plopped down on one of the stools that lined the breakfast bar.

Mom smiled and the light caught a hoop dangling from her ear. I smiled back. "How was school?" she asked, cutting off a hunk of the delicious bread, slathering it with butter and placing it in front of me.

I stood, walking to the dishwasher and feeling it. It was hot. I turned and went to the cabinet instead, picking out a fave cup. I walked over to the fridge and filled it with milk. I sat back down heavily.

Mom's brows drew together as I shoveled half the slice in my mouth; no girlfriend around to impress and my stomach making the decisions for me.

Mom grinned. "What... not a good day?"

I shrugged. Less was definitely more with Mom. "It was okay. Jonesy kinda got into it with a butt-wipe from that group." I edited my language for her benefit with effort. It wasn't an easy pulse-switch to turn off but I was becoming expert, finally.

"Oh... Carson and...?"

I nodded. "Yeah, that's the one."

"Why?"

I thought about how much she should know about Jonesy.

Less.

"Ah... Sophie is dating this tard... " she raised an eyebrow and I edited again, "this mouth-breather named Buddy."

"That's surprising. I thought she had better discernment than that."

I shifted, uncomfortable, thinking of the AP sex. "Ah... he's AP like her and Jonesy hasn't exactly been..." I didn't know how to finish without making Jonesy into being a jerk. He actually was being one a little. Not that I'd admit that to The Parents.

Mom pursed her lips. "I know Jonesy is in a run of... " Mom paused and it made me stop eating.

She wasn't speechless or something, was she?

"Experimentation," she finished.

"I don't know if that's it. He just seems like he doesn't want to go out with just one girl."

"Sowing his wild oats. Hmm?"

I rolled my eyes. "No, Mom. He likes Sophie, he just doesn't like the idea of being tied down."

"Well what type of girl is he dating?"

Skanks
. Edit: "They're not as cool as Sophie."

"And he's dealing with his baby sister right now too."

"That's right, Helen had her baby and now he's the built-in baby sitter."

Yeah, he was so
into it
. Tiff was having a lot of fun with that.

I smiled and Mom said, "Penny for your thoughts."

"I don't think he's much for the crappy diapers and screaming."

"There is that," Mom said and we smiled at each other.

Onyx knocked my hand and I gave him his morsel for patiently waiting in his beg-spot.

The Boy was the very best master, the Dog thought as he inhaled the deliciously warm People Food. It flooded his sensitive olfactory senses, springing them to life. A little drool began and the Dog tried to camouflage his excitement from the Alpha Female. She would punish the Dog for begging.

He gave a small wag for the Boy.

I noticed Onyx's discreet wag and smiled. He just had to give a small signal of appreciation. I thought at him,
good dog
. And saw his mental dog wheels turning. Must-show-restraint.

Mom interrupted my thoughts, "judo today."

I nodded, thinking, judo every day but the weekend. Sometimes I wondered if it was worth it. But then I'd think back on my life and know that without some basic training, I wouldn't have been able to defend myself.

Jade.

I frowned as I stood with my plate and cup. "Hey Mom?"

She turned and looked at me, her hands already washing the bread pan, the soapy water sliding off and uncovering her wedding ring.

"
What kinda progress has Dad made on that restraining order for Jade's dad?"

Her face told me the news before she said a word. "Let him talk to you about it."

I shook my head. "No way. The suspense would kill me and I wouldn't be able to get it outta my head during judo."

"
Out of," she corrected and I stared at her until she responded.

"
There's been a snag."

I raised an eyebrow, like
elaborate
.

"
Since she's sixteen and this is a permanent order, she has to have five character witnesses." I opened my mouth to protest and she held up her hand. "No, it can't be you and the gang. It has to be others that are also sixteen and over."

"
The J's, Mom. And me in about two weeks," I said, giving an unconscious glance at the set of wheels that hung in the driveway. Impatiently waiting for my driving greatness. Yeah, that.

She nodded. "Yes, that makes some sense but it's not as clearcut as all that. Your father can elaborate on the specifics, sweet pea," she said, stepping to ruffle my hair and I did the lean.

"
Thanks for the banana bread, Mom," I said, seeing the hurt riding her eyes. I just wasn't up to the daily maul anymore. I was older now, I didn't want the Mom love-fest anymore. She wasn't getting it though. I felt a stab of guilt and said, "Gotta get to judo or my sensei is going to ride my butt."

That was an understatement, I thought, grabbing my gear pack and shoving my pulse into it. I gave Onyx a pat and another crumb I'd stolen and slammed the door closed behind me.

As I sailed past my car on the way to my bike I was tempted to stroke its sleek sides (sleek to me) as I hunkered down on old faithful. This bike had gotten me to more yard jobs than I cared to admit. Of course, that'd been on the days Bry couldn't pick me up. It had been our group. Pimped out for the rich folks all summer, to landscape their yards.

It had been sucky to get assigned the Hamilton residence. Big time. Dad had needed to give me The Lecture that I remembered as I rode:

*

"
Caleb, you understand that you're sometimes going to have to work for people that you don't like, right?"

I nodded, responding, "Like Carson's stupid dad. Yeah, I gotcha on that one."

Dad frowned. "I didn't say anything about IQ son."

My brows sailed up and he did a small chortle, covertly looking around for Mom. "Alright, alright," he held up a palm to ward off the inevitable, "he isn't going to win any chess matches."

I barked out a laugh and he continued, "This will be a real challenge but as long as he doesn't require anything illegal from you, it will be a terrific way to prove that you have the internal fortitude to see a task through to completion. Regardless of the personal undertone."

Personal undertone!

I folded my arms over my chest. "K, but I don't know if I can do it."

"
Just keep us abreast of whatever transpires, are we clear?"

"
Yeah, Dad. Crystal."

"
Caleb, swivel your hips, move with fluidity. Too jerky," Sensei Anderson said.

I wanted to kick his ass. Sweat was dripping all over the mat and he was drilling me on turns. I was completely past that.

He saw my look and smiled. "Think you can take me?"

I looked down at my instructor and knew I couldn't. Maybe he was five-nine. But he was two hundred pounds of muscle. What Gramps would've called a brick shithouse.

"
No, sensei," I said through my teeth.

"
Then you better hustle your ass on the mat... " he folded his arms across his chest and got beside me, mirroring my moves, both of us moving together, side-by-side in synchronicity. "What do I have to do to make you passionate about this? Do you need some incentive, Hart?"

I nearly growled, my stomach on fire, my nerve endings raw. He'd really been riding me lately. Bleating like a sheep about excellence and all that happy crap. I was tired. Couldn't he see I was trying?

"
Keep going," he said, stopping beside me.

As I moved I saw with each turn his grin growing wider. Finally he let up on the suspense of his thoughts. "Heard you got a girlfriend."

My step faltered and I jammed it back into place with an effort.

"
Yes, sensei." Where was this going?

"
Hear she's a real hottie," he said with feeling.

Without thinking, I swiveled into sensei, taking my forward momentum and jabbing my hand like a plank into the soft tissue of his throat. Not a death blow, no. But a nice, sharp jab.

He came at me in a flurry of defensive jabs, the breath locked in his throat. Even without breathing-

He came.

I blocked what I could but he was faster, stronger, older. He foot-swept me and I landed flat on my back with a resounding smack that echoed in the dojo. The other kids stepped back.

Sensei Anderson sucked in a lungful. "Take a break, students." His hand palmed the tender part of his esophagus where a red welt had blossomed. He'd have a mark I thought with some satisfaction.

He reached a hand out to me and I hesitated, then took a cautious grip. He jerked me to my feet.

"
Now that's what I've been talking about, Hart."

I got right in his grill, a flavor of pissed off beating in my brain with a steady rhythm.

He smiled again. "That was just to show you what kind of intensity I'm wanting out of you," he pointed to his head. "It's mental with you, Hart. You've got the physique." He walked a circle around me, looking at me from head to toe. "How tall are you now, kid?"

I shrugged. "Six foot something..."

He cocked a brow. "You're sixteen?"

I shook my head, embarrassed a little as I thought about my
hottie
girlfriend picking me up today because she was that month older than me, license already in hand.

He studied my expression. "Soon, though?"

I nodded. "Yeah, Halloween."

"
Really," he said on a chuckle. "That's the height of irony."

"
Yeah, hilarious," I said, scowling at him.