This is What I Did (4 page)

Patsy: We just don’t trust the school bus system. You know, that old driver had it in for Brucey.

That’s what she told Mom and that was it.

Except then Mom asked: What do you mean, out for him?

They were on the front porch.

Patsy: Well, that man kept harassing Brucey, so I called and complained and had Jack see what he could do. He has a lot of pull around here since he got that city chair.

That’s all she said and Mom and Patsy were pretty good friends by then because of Dad and Jack playing NBA Live, but after awhile Mom said she wasn’t sure what Patsy was up to.

Mom didn’t know for sure if Patsy had “pure intentions.” Sometimes, she said, people will trick you. It takes a while to get to know someone all the way.

A while like almost six months.

That’s when Dad and Jack got in a fight and then Mom found out for sure.

Now Mom drives me to school in the minivan on her way to drop the others back at Mulholland because she thinks I can’t take care of myself.

She’s [
whisper
] scared for me.

I don’t care.

In the hall I see Laurel a lot.

And I won’t look at her or anything because I don’t want her to think I am staring or anything like that.

But then one day I couldn’t help it.

She came to school in a sequiny green dress thing and her brown hair was all up or something.

Like she was in the movies.

She even had these clicky green sequiny heels that looked really hard to walk in.

When she was walking down the hall with her backpack dragging behind her on wheels, everyone sort of stepped back and stared.

A few people yelled stuff like: “Dork!” and “Yeah, right, Laurel. You wish.” and “You’re an idiot.”

She kept walking and that was it.

I wrote this note to Laurel:

But then I thought maybe she wouldn’t know me or think it was dumb.

Plus, if you get caught in school with a note the teacher reads it out loud.

So I just ripped it up.

Once Bruce decided I was crapstock, for some reason everyone else thought I was crapstock too.

It was like a bomb.

It exploded, I mean, and everyone liked to say it.

“Crapstock.”

Zyler and I weren’t crapstock at Mulholland.

At least Zyler wasn’t.

Maybe I was.

Maybe I was and I just didn’t know it.

Here’s how the crapstock bomb went off: I was outside because we had just moved in and I was sick of being inside and my mom and dad yelling for someone to bring something up and someone to bring something down.

I was also tired because my bike was at Mulholland still because I left it at me and Zyler’s spot just in case.

So I hadn’t really been riding around.

That meant I got tired very, very, very easily.

Our house on Judge was really big with a really big yard.

Much bigger than the Mulholland house with the strip of grass for Red light, Green light and hardly any front yard for Mom’s tulips.

Judge was an upgrade.

So I was on the grass picking at it and resting when Bruce and Luke and Toby came walking up. Except I didn’t know they were Bruce and Luke and Toby yet.

Bruce: You just moved in.

Me: Uh-huh.

Luke: Why?

Me: What?

Luke: Why?

Me: Why what?

Bruce: Why did you move here, moron?

I was thinking and thinking and trying to think what to say.

Bruce: Hey, MOOORRRROOONNN, what’s your problem?

Luke and Toby laughed and I didn’t.

I just sat there.

Bruce: Well, that seals it, boys. We thought maybe someone cool was moving in but my hunch was right. You’re crapstock. Once crapstock, always crapstock — can smell the moldy crap clear down the street.

And then I think they left.

I’m not sure because I don’t remember all that well since I was crapstock.

At school I don’t sit with anyone really.

I have friends:

Lael

Ricky

Shaun

Mark

Liza

Tallie

Those are the ones that are sort of my friends because of different reasons, like Lael and I have physics together and math club after school.

But that’s it because he lives really far away and he only does school activities and he can’t go to people’s houses if it’s not school-related.

At least that’s what he told me when I invited him to sleep over once.

Ricky and Shaun are cool in my Life Skills class because we are the only boys and we sit together and laugh at Mrs. Shumway and her waddle.

But then I never see them again.

I think they have second lunch.

Mark is in my choir class and first lunch and he’s okay, but I think he has mental problems because he doesn’t really get what I say and he hates anything about aerodynamics or science or anything like that.

He mostly just likes to draw Manga.

Sometimes we talk about comic books but he really doesn’t even know that much about them.

And Liza and Tallie are in my Sunday school class.

They’re okay, but I don’t really like to hang around with girls.

Except maybe Laurel.

She’s pretty cool.

She’s kind of like Cami in how I sort of like her.

Zyler and I both liked Cami, but in the way where you don’t-really-talk-to-her like her.

And she knew because her friend Macy called us at Zyler’s house when we were having a sleepover and asked which one of us it was.

No girls had ever called us and at first

Macy just said: Who likes Cami? You or Logan?

It was on speakerphone and we didn’t even know who was talking.

Zyler: Well, who wants to know?

Macy: Just answer the question.

I shook my head at Zyler.

Zyler: I can’t spill that kind of information unless I know who I’m dealing with.

Macy didn’t say anything for a while because she was whispering or was muffled and then she said: It’s Macy Clayton. Now answer the question.

Zyler looked at me and I shook my head again. There was no right answer to the question and the whole thing was very shady.

Zyler: That information shall be forthcoming but not anytime soon. Please inquire at a later date.

Then he hung up.

Zyler: How did they know we were at my house?