The Nights Were Young (18 page)

XX

“Marie? Marie?”

              Eighteen year old Marie woke up with a jarring shake from her classmate.  She looked around.  Some students were staring while others hardly paid attention.  She was in Ms. Halliway’s English class.  The woman looked sternly upon her and frowned. 

“Marie?” Ms. Halliway asked.

              “Yes, hello,” Marie said.

              The teacher rolled her eyes. “Would you care to try and answer the question?”

              Marie looked around as if someone might tell her what to say.  No one cared, and Marie realized that she did not either. “I don’t know the question.”

              “Well maybe if you’d stay conscious you would know it,” Ms. Halliway responded.  She waited for Marie’s answer.

              “Alright,” Marie muttered. “I’ll remember that.” She folded her arms and looked away.

              Ms. Halliway sighed and resumed the class.  Marie zoned out immediately into her own thoughts.  The day before replayed in her mind.  She could see Travis, crying on his couch, and she could see his mother hit him. She wanted everything to be like it had been before winter, when they were at the lake watching the waves roll easily in. She wasn’t prepared for where all of it had led her to now. It scared her. It felt too much, too intense.

              The bell rang and woke her from daydreaming. 

              She moved fast to Travis’s locker at the end of the hall where the light above it was broken and flickering.  Travis was leaning against his open locker, texting on his phone. 

              “Hey,” Marie said, smiling.  “I’m glad you’re here.”

              “Yeah, well… new leaf right?”  He grinned. 

              “What happened last night?” she asked.

              “You mean with my mom?”

              “Yeah.” 

              “Nothing unusual. Same old bullshit.”

              While he spoke Marie peaked into his locker.  There were a few books and pieces of trash; there was no water bottle. 

“What are you looking for?” he asked.

              She startled and quickly responded, “Oh, nothing.  I’ve just never seen your locker before.”

              He laughed. “Well it’s pretty awesome and all.” He moved closer and put his hands on her hips. He spoke quietly. “But I’ve got something special for you.”

              Her eyes lit up. “Really?  What?” she asked eagerly.

              “You’ll see later.  I don’t have it yet.” 

He leaned forward and kissed her.  It shocked her, being right there in front of others; her eyes remained open to look out for Ms. Halliway or anyone else that would tell her mother.  He stood up straight and adjusted his jacket. 

“Sorry about that,” he said.  “Just habit I guess.”

              She smiled. “It’s okay.”

              “You haven’t seen Brandon have you?”

              “No, why?”

              “No reason,” he said. 

He put everything in his locker and shut it.  He smiled as he walked away. “I’ll see you later with your surprise.” 

              “What was that?” she whispered when he was gone. 

He just left her.  She waited to see if he would turn around and check if she was following.  There was not so much as a slight glance back at her.  He kept straight down the hall until he was out of sight. 

**********

              The cafeteria was quieter than usual.  Maybe it was the cold creeping in through the glass windows, through which Marie saw rain pouring down.

              “This has been the worst day ever,” Kate said, sitting down with her food and with Joey.  Marie had a binder open in front of her, but she wasn’t the least bit motivated to do the homework that was already late. 

“I feel like shit,” Kate said.  “I have a cold.  I know it.”

              Marie noticed Brandon glancing at her from his table. When he caught Marie’s eye his glance darted away.

              “You want to go to the Crossfalls Winter Festival with me?” Kate asked.  “I usually don’t go, but I was thinking you and Travis could come with me and Joey.  It’d be like a double date.  Or like that party, which wasn’t really a party ‘cause only four people were there.”

              “Have you seen Travis at all?” Marie asked.

              “No.  Maybe he’s in detention again.”

              “No, he hasn’t done anything today,” Marie said. 

But Marie had spoken too soon.

              Travis walked into the lunchroom. He was stepping fast, flying forward with purpose, his fists clenching, his eyes narrowed, and his brows low.

              “Travis?” Marie stood from her seat.

              He charged to Brandon.  He was suddenly yelling something loud, something Marie could not make clear.  Brandon yelled back and stood up, and soon their voices roared at each other. 

Travis threw the first punch.  He struck Brandon across the jaw.  Brandon recovered and body slammed Travis backwards into the air.  They landed on the tile.

              The lunch room lit up in a frenzied blaze.  People crowded faster than Marie could run to Travis. 

              “What the hell is happening?” Kate screamed.

              “I don’t know.” Marie shoved and pushed her away past the bystanders.  She could hear grunts and hits and screams and curses.  Finally at the front, she saw the fight.  Travis was on top of Brandon, pinning him to the tile and raising his fist.

              “Travis!” Marie screamed.

              He threw his fist down, but before it reached Brandon’s face, Brandon grabbed his arm and threw him off.  Travis scurried to his feet and charged forward.  He collided into Brandon and they flew across the floor into the crowd of people that backed away quick. 

Marie was close enough to reach Travis.  She grabbed the hood of his jacket.  Though she tried her hardest to pull him off, he tore off the jacket and returned to beating the hell out of Brandon. 

              Brandon grabbed Travis by the neck and rammed him backward into the table where he had sat.  They hit it so hard that it broke in half and crashed to the floor with them. 

              The security guard had finally fought off the students in the way and got to the two.  He grabbed the bloodied Travis and put him in a head lock.

              “Son of a bitch!” Travis screamed.

              The football coach grabbed Brandon and forced his arms behind his back.

“What the hell is going on?” the coach bellowed. 

              “He’s crazy!” Brandon yelled.

              “Screw you, you piece o’ shit!” Travis roared. 

The security guard forced Travis’s arms around his back and put handcuffs on him.               “You’re dead to me!” Travis yelled.

              Brandon spit Travis’s way. “Why don’t you just go overdose?”

              Marie’s hands clapped over her mouth.

              “Jesus,” Kate cried.  “What happened?”

              Travis looked at Marie.  His left eye was bleeding too badly to open.  His nose and his lips were bleeding onto his shirt.  He was sweating and panting, and when his one opened eye met her the animal aggression disappeared from it.  The way he looked at her – he already regretted what he had done. 

              Brandon was still yelling, but the anger in Travis was gone when they were led out of the lunch room. 

Travis looked back at Marie.  His mouth opened like he wanted to say something, but the guard whipped him back around too soon.  His head turned around and looked at her one last time before he was taken out of sight.

              Words and rumors spread for the rest of the school day.  Texts bounced fast and the story changed countless times.  A flood of questions crashed over Marie from everyone who saw her.   

              Marie texted Travis as soon as she could.  There was no response.

              ********** 

Marie did not expect to hear from Travis for days as she drove home that afternoon.  After the fight that day between Travis and Brandon, she feared the worst.  Travis might have been back at home breaking into whatever his mom had lying around.  She didn’t believe he would stay sober after what had happened. 

It was cold, and her stomach was churning, and she could feel herself losing him. 

The rain had stopped, leaving everything damp and frigid while she drove home. When she turned the corner in Crossfalls Estates, she arrived on her street.  The lake was out in the distance, and she stopped in the middle of the road when she saw Travis’s truck.  It was parked at the bottom of the hill, on the side of the road in front of her parent’s house. 

Marie parked behind it, and out came Travis.  He had changed shirts, a plain white T, and he smiled through a beaten face.  He was holding something behind his back.   

              Marie stepped out and approached him.

              “Hey,” he said softly.

              “Wh-what are you doing here?” she asked nervously. He wasn’t supposed to be there; her mother might see him at any moment.

              “I figured I owed a payback surprise at your place since you keep surprising me at mine,” he said, smiling with cracked, punched lips.  “Plus, I uh… still wanted to give you that something special.”

              “Travis, I --”

              He revealed what he was holding: three yellow flowers, lilies, and a thin, silver chain wrapped around them. 

“It took me a while to save up for this,” he said. “They’re lilies, your favorite.”

              She looked at the flowers and smiled. “I know.” 

She took them from him and smelled them.  She slipped the chain off their stems and let it hang from her finger-tips.  Hanging from it was a charm, a silver music note. 

              “I saw it at the mall when I was skipping class a while back,” he said casually. 

              She sighed and laughed a little.  Travis was sweet, but he was still Travis.   

              “Let me put it on for you,” he said.

              She turned around.  He gently moved her hair over her neck and slid the chain around it.  Marie caressed the music note in between her fingers. 

              “Took about three jobs at that construction company to save up the money for this,” he said.

              “I like it,” she said. 

She turned to him; she ran her fingers along his jaw and looked at his swollen eye. 

              “So I’m suspended for the rest of the week again,” he said.

              The thoughts of what had happened earlier came back into her mind. She hit Travis in the chest. “What the hell was that with Brandon today?” she demanded.

              He stepped back in surprise. “Ouch! Don’t worry about it.”

              “Damn it.  Do you want to get kicked out of school?”

              “Marie, come on.”

              “You acted like an ass,” she scolded. “Brandon was just trying to look out for me.”

              “Really?  Then why don’t you have sex with
him
then?”

              She paused for a moment. “You
are
an ass.”

              “I actually did something nice for you and you’re mad at me?” he asked. Then he mumbled. “I feel drinking now.”

              She became silent. 

              Travis slapped his forehead. “Marie… I --”

              “Don’t talk anymore,” she interrupted, and she looked away from him. “You know, I’m tired of worrying about you all the time.”

              “What the hell does that mean? Marie I told you I was gonna change.”

              “Oh yeah and the first thing you do is beat the hell out of Brandon?”

              He raised his hands. “Yeah, well guess what?  I haven’t even had a cigarette all day.”

              “That’s not the point,” she said.    

              “I don’t get it.  I’m stopping drinking for you,” he said as he started pacing.

              “Don’t do it for me,” she said.  “Do it for yourself.”

              He stopped, and he kept looking down. 

Marie took a deep breath. 

“You’re a better reason,” he said quietly. 

              Marie’s mother pulled up behind them in her car.  Marie quickly looked at the flowers in her hands then back at her mother, immediately seeing the cold, angry expression on her face. 

She swung around and looked at Travis in panic and warned him, “You should probably go.”