The Summer of Winters (6 page)

When the movie was over, we got caught up in the mass exodus into the lobby. It was doubly packed now, with people waiting for the nine o’clock showing. The three of us wound our way through a maze of bodies, heading for the door. I don’t know if I had full fledged agoraphobia, but being in crowds always made me feel uncomfortable, and I couldn’t wait to get outside.

Before we could make our escape, Paige said, “I need to go to the little girl’s room,” then disappeared through a door to our right.

“I could stand to drain the lizard myself,” Brody said. “What about you, Mike?”

I just shook my head.

“Okay, you can wait for us just outside.”

I watched Brody disappear into the Men’s room then pushed through the glass door onto the sidewalk. There was a metal bench just to the left and I took a seat, watching the other departing movie-goers dash across the street to the parking lot. Fact was, I did need to pee but I had a thing about public restrooms. I just couldn’t
go
with other people around. It was only a five minute drive back home, and I could hold it until then.

The night was warm, but a refreshing breeze blew the hair off my forehead and cooled the sweat on my brow. Despite my tepid reaction to the movie, it had been a good night and part of me didn’t want it to end. There was no telling how long it might be before I was able to see a movie in the theater again, probably not until the next time the school gave out free tickets.

I was just sitting there musing on what a pleasant night it was when the night took a decidedly unpleasant turn. In the form of Dennis Winters.

I heard his voice before I saw him.

“Well, lookie who it is.”

I froze on the bench, not wanting to turn my head, as if I thought ignoring him would make him go away. Which was stupid since past experience should have taught me otherwise.

“I’m talking to you, dork-wad,” the bully said, thumping my ear so hard it brought tears to my eyes.

I ducked my head down like a turtle trying to retreat into its shell and mumbled, “Leave me alone.”

And perhaps if Dennis had been on his own or with his folks, he might have left me alone. As it was, he was holding court for his two best buddies—Marquis Jefferies and Brian Dawkins—with his kid sister once again trailing along at his elbow.

“What are you doing here, Guthrie? Thought your mama was too poor to even give you an allowance, so how’d you afford a movie ticket?”

“Maybe his daddy gave him the money?” Brian said.

Marquis laughed. “Nah, didn’t you hear? His daddy run-off with that tramp from Fast Fare.”

“Can’t say that I blame him,” Dennis said. “You seen his mama? She’s got the fattest ass in the Southeast. And he probably couldn’t stand having a little faggot for a son. I’d have run off, too.”

I felt tears rising and tried to hold them back, but I knew it was a losing battle. And Paige would be out here soon to witness my humiliation, and that brought the tears even closer to the surface.

Dennis thumped me in the ear again, then twice more for good measure. “Ain’t got nothing to say, faggot? Cat got your tongue? Can’t even—”

Dennis’s words were abruptly cut off as a hand grabbed his arm and jerked him back. I looked up to see Brody standing there, glaring down at the bully. He held the arm behind Dennis’s back, wrenching the shoulder.

“Let go of me,” Dennis said, trying to pull out of Brody’s hold.

Brody twisted the arm higher, causing Dennis to cry out. “You like picking on weaker kids, huh? Bet you think that makes you tough. Well, I’m here to tell you, you ain’t shit.”

I stared with my mouth hanging open—
fly trap
, my mother always called that expression—as Dennis started to cry. I’d never seen him cry, didn’t even know he was capable of such a thing.

“If you don’t let me go, I’m gonna tell my daddy on you.”

Brody knelt down on the pavement in front of Dennis. He did let go of the boy’s arm, but he also grabbed him by the chin, holding his head still. “You’re not gonna tell nobody, and if I hear tell that you’ve been picking on Mike again, I’m gonna pound your ass into the ground. You and your little pals.”

Marquis and Brian had backed up several steps and looked ready to bolt. Sarah watched her brother’s torment with a strange smile on her lips, twirling a strand of her stringy brown hair around one finger. There was no one else on the sidewalk at the moment, no one to come to the bully’s aid.

Still Dennis tried for defiance. “What are you, Guthrie’s boyfriend?”

Brody thumped the boy hard between the eyes, leaving a red mark. Dennis stumbled back, his feet tangling together, and fell back on his rear.

Brody came over to the bench and sat next to me. “I think we’re done here.”

Dennis scuttled on his hands and knees over to his friends who helped him up. They hovered over by the marquee on the other end of the theater. Sarah stayed where she was for a moment, smiling her gap-toothed grin at Brody, then went off to join them.

I looked up at Brody, my face burning with shame, wanting to thank him but not knowing the words to express both my appreciation and my embarrassment for needing him to swoop in and save me like a damsel in distress in the first place. He stared back at me, his expression blank. Finally he said, “You shouldn’t just sit there and take it like that.”

I nodded, ducking my head down again, my humiliation complete now that Brody thought I was the world’s biggest wuss. A few seconds later I felt his hand settle lightly on my shoulder, followed by a gentle squeeze. I felt tears close again, but for an entirely different reason this time. A reason I couldn’t fully understand.

It was at that moment that Paige exited the theater. “Okay guys, I’m ready to go.” She paused, looking from me to her brother then back to me. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing,” Brody said, getting to his feet. “We were just complaining about how long you girls take in the bathroom, that’s all.”

“The only reason you boys are so quick is because you don’t bother taking the time to aim.”

“Hardy har, aren’t you a regular Elayne Boosler. I don’t have all night, you know. I’m dropping you two off then heading out to the bowling alley in town, see if anything’s happening there.”

“That’s my brother, always wanting to check out other guys’ balls.”

I thought Brody might get mad at this, but he just laughed, took his sister’s hand and started across the street. He glanced my way, and he actually smiled at me, a sight that burned away my shame and left me feeling warm inside, like I’d just drunk a cup of hot cocoa. I smiled back and followed.

As we reached the other side of the street, I looked back at Dennis and his friends, but they weren’t paying us any attention. Sarah was whining, “But you promised Mom you’d walk me back home.”

“We got things to do, pipsqueak,” Dennis said. “It’s only six blocks, you can make it by yourself.”

Then Dennis turned to his friends and walked away from his sister. I’m sure he had no way of knowing it would be the last time he’d ever see her.

I would see Sarah Winters only once more, but she would be dead by then.

***

I dreamt about Brody that night. In the dream, I was at the Central Elementary playground, only it had a merry-go-round like the one in Thompson Park. I was on the merry-go-round while Dennis Winters pushed it round and round, only he never jumped on. He just kept pushing until the thing was spinning so fast that I had to hold tight to the handrail to keep from flying off. But after what felt an eternity, my fingers went numb and I found myself hurtling through the air. I landed by the flag pole, skinning my knees as I skidded across the ground like a rock skipping along the surface of Broad River.

I lay crying, curled up in a fetal position, as Dennis approached me, evil intent in his eyes. But suddenly Brody was there, standing between me and my tormenter. Dennis took one look at the older boy, burst into tears, and ran away down Montgomery Street.

Brody came over to me and squatted down, putting a hand on my shoulder. “You okay? Can you walk?”

I wiped my leaking eyes with the back of my hand and said, “I don’t know, it hurts.”

And so Brody lifted me in his arms and started carrying me out of the playground. I wrapped my arms tight around his neck, and though it was only a dream, I could have sworn I could smell his hair, a mixture of shampoo and sweat. He placed a hand on the back of my head and whispered, “It’ll be okay, it’ll all be okay.”

And I believed him.

Of course, I now know that dreams are nothing but lies.

Chapter
Five

The next day
my mother had one of her headaches. She’d suffered from migraines for as long as I could remember, but they’d gotten much worse since my father had left. When they hit, she pretty much spent all day in bed with the lights off and a damp washcloth draped over her face. I’d bring her aspirin and water and try to keep Ray quiet.

And occasionally run errands for her.

That Sunday morning she called me into her room, and I crept as softly as I could, keeping my voice to a whisper. “Do you need some more aspirin?”

She shook her head, which was covered with a green washcloth. “Cigarettes. I need some cigarettes.”

Mom had announced just two weeks ago that she was going to quit smoking, but I wasn’t surprised that she was starting up again. My mother was always quitting, and it never lasted long. The longest I could recall was a month.

She waved her hand toward her closet. “I’ve got a ten dollar bill in my purse. Run up to Buford Street and get me two packs of Marlboro Lights.”

Dutifully I took her purse from its “hiding place” behind a box of old sweaters and rummaged through it until I found the ten. I started to leave the room, but my mother called my name softly.

“While you’re there, get a candy bar for you and Ray.”

For once my younger brother didn’t pester me to tag along. He was still smarting from not being able to go to the movie the night before, and I left him in a pout. The Buford Street Drug Store was only a block and a half from our house, closer than the Fast Fare convenience store (and without the unpleasant associations), so I didn’t really need my bike. However, I decided to run next door and see if Paige wanted to come with.

I stepped up onto the stoop and rapped on the screen door, which rattled in its frame as if it were about to fall off. That had happened to our screen door, and Mr. Mahaffey never replaced it. I waited a minute or two then knocked again. Neither Mr. Moore’s Chevrolet nor Mrs. Moore’s lime-green Pinto were parked against the curb, and I was starting to think no one was home. I had just turned away when the door opened.

I turned back to find Brody standing in the doorway, wearing a pair of faded jeans and a T-shirt with noticeable pit stains. He leaned against the jamb and stared down at me, not saying a word.

I didn’t say anything at first either, like we were just participating in some weird staring contest, then I stammered, “Um, is Paige home?”

“Nah, she went with my mother to Big Lots to pick up some curtains and stuff for the house.”

“Oh, I was just gonna see if she wanted to walk with me to the drug store.”

“Well, I’ll tell her you came by when she gets back home.”

I nodded and headed back toward the sidewalk but then Brody called out, “Hey wait. I need to pick up a few things myself. Let me throw on some shoes and I’ll walk with you.”

***

We didn’t speak for the first block, just walked side by side up Jefferies Street. My mind kept turning back to the dream I’d had the night before, and it left me with a weird fluttery feeling in my gut. I wondered if this was what people meant when they said they had butterflies in their stomach. When we turned right onto Laurel Street, I blurted, “Did you have fun bowling last night?”

Brody’s whole body tensed for a second, and he shrugged with one shoulder, kicking at a rock and sending it careening into Ms. Poole’s yard. “It was okay…not as much fun as I’d thought it might be.”

“Well, the movie sure was fun.”

Brody stopped abruptly, placing a hand on my shoulder to halt me as well. I looked up at him, but his eyes weren’t on me; he was staring at his shoes, shifting from one foot to the other. “I, um, I want to thank you for joining us last night.”

I was stunned and not at all sure what to say. After all, he was the one who’d done me the favor by taking me to the movies; why on earth was he thanking
me
?

Brody grimaced as if he were in pain, then said, “Really, I’m glad you went along. It was…good for Paige to have you there.”

Good for Paige? I had been wondering all this time why Paige would bother hanging out with a friendless geek like me; was it possible that in Columbia she’d been friendless as well? She was my first real friend, but maybe I was hers, too.

We didn’t speak the rest of the way. The cigarettes were kept behind the counter right up front, but I followed along as Brody headed into the store. The pharmacy was in the very back, the rest of the store filled with all manner of items. Household tools, paint, sodas and candy bars, a paperback rack, and even a toy aisle. We went to the candy aisle. Brody looked over the selection of bubblegum while I snagged a Snickers for Ray and a Zero bar for myself. I looked longingly at the bin of individual Hershey’s Kisses. Sometimes when I was here alone and there was no one else in the aisle, I’d unwrap a few and eat them quickly, depositing the crumpled silver foil wrappers back in the bin. I always felt guilty because I knew it was stealing and therefore wrong, but the little chocolate drops proved too tempting for me to resist.

Tearing my eyes away from the Kisses, I looked back to Brody, who had taken a pack of Hubba Bubba and was now sifting through the packs of Garbage Pail Kids cards. He grinned sheepishly and a blush crept into his cheeks. “Paige loves these things. Thought I’d buy her a couple packs. She’s trying to get an Adam Bomb.