Unafraid (32 page)

Read Unafraid Online

Authors: Michael Griffo

BOOK: Unafraid
13.2Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
“Yes! Show me the way!”
It was only after the words were out of his mouth that David realized he had spoken them out loud and not silently to his daughter. Finally, every face in the gym was looking at him, but for the wrong reason. They weren't staring at him like disciples eager to drown in his every word, hungry to devour whatever morsels of wisdom he chose to toss at their feeble minds. No, they were ogling him like he was a sideshow act, an abnormality, something that would entertain, something that was ludicrous.
A tiny bead of sweat trickled from his brow and traveled down the side of his face, turning inward when it met the edge of his beard, slipping toward the crook of his mouth. His sweat tasted salty, and it was innately repulsive because it reminded him of the ocean, home of those damned water vamps. That's all that was needed to turn things around. Despite the foul taste that clung to the inside of his mouth, David smiled, broadly, knowingly. He was about to show them all that he was still their ruler, he was still in control, regardless of his momentary stumble.
“In honor of Double A's three hundredth anniversary,” David bellowed, “I challenge each and every one of you to show me the way to victory!”
It was done. He had corralled his hatred to overcome humiliation; he had survived a foe that was more vicious than any he had ever done battle with: his own fear. The battle, however, was only just beginning. As the students began the trek back to their classrooms, one face stood out among the crowd, one face that David knew could not be trusted.
“Headmaster Zachary, I'd like to show you something.”
Flanked by Fritz and Sister Mary Elizabeth, Ruby stared straight ahead, her gaze meeting David's chest. If she had had sight she would have noticed that it was rising and falling in an increased rhythm; it was definitely something that Sister Mary noticed, but Fritz was too busy seeing who was watching him stand next to his girlfriend in front of the headmaster to notice anything important. “Of course, Miss ...” David began, uncharacteristically forgetting a student's name.
“Poltke,” Ruby offered. “Penry's sister.”
“Yes, yes, of course.” David was flustered. He knew the girl was a liar, but there wasn't anything he could do about it, not surrounded by all these people, not now. All he could do was search the gym for Brania, Morgandy, Dr. Sutton, a familiar face that could provide support. In the meantime while he waited he could busy himself by wiping away the additional beads of sweat that were starting to race down his face and make his temples glisten.
“Are you feeling all right, Headmaster?”
Damned inquisitive nun! In the instant that she spoke, David could not honestly say why he had let her live for so long. Religious zealot, fool! He wished he could pluck out her eyeballs with his fingernails instead of having to answer her condescending question, but he had to exhibit self-control, show them all how important it was to maintain composure and decorum. “I feel wonderful, thank you,” he replied. “It is a bit unusually stuffy in here, however.” Turning away from the old woman, David looked down at the girl. “What is it that you wanted to show me?”
Staring blankly ahead, Ruby bent down and placed her tote bag on the floor. She then pulled out a T-shirt and held it up by the shoulders. “I thought all the students could wear these for the Tri-Centennial Celebration,” she said. When there was no response, she thought she was holding the T-shirt the wrong way; she thought the drawing that Fritz had helped her with was facing backward.
It wasn't. David just couldn't believe what he was seeing. Ruby was holding up a red T-shirt with the number three hundred written on it in white lettering, clearly in recognition of Double A's anniversary, except that the zeros in the number were white roses. “Fritz,” she asked. “Am I holding it the right way?”
“Looks smashing, Rube,” he said proudly. “I think the headmaster is just gobsmacked. Ain't that right, sir?”
They were staring at him, even the blind one, waiting for him to respond, waiting for him to give his consent, his approval, that their foul creation could be used as some sort of a school logo. And why not? What reason could he give to thwart their effort? Think, David, think! But David couldn't think. All he could see were the white roses, a symbol of every misdeed, every wrongdoing he had ever committed.
“Headmaster, what do you think?” Ruby asked. “I talked to Mrs. Lorenzo, and she said the art department's ready to silkscreen one for every student. She's just waiting for your official authorization.”
David tried to convince himself that the image was merely a stupid drawing that didn't mean anything, but he knew that it meant everything. “Then Mrs. Lorenzo shall have it,” he finally said.
Before Ruby and Fritz could thank David any further, Dr. Sutton, sensing his leader's discomfort, swooped in and made up some story about an administrative emergency that needed David's immediate attention. Brania waited until Sister Mary left the couple before approaching Fritz and Ruby. Just like her father, she was thrown by the girl's artistic efforts. Proving to be more resilient, Brania found her voice much quicker than David had. “White roses,” Brania remarked. “How incredibly ... clever.”
“Thank you, Brania,” Ruby replied. “I can't think of any image that is more iconic to Double A.”
“How interesting that you would know that,” Brania said, searching Ruby's eyes for a flicker of life. “Even though you've never even seen them before.” Ruby's expression didn't change, but Fritz thought the air between the two girls was a wee bit thick. But Brania was kind of balmy and got along with very few people, so the tension was really nothing out of the ordinary. She just had to speak again for Fritz to recognize Brania was being her normal, prickly self. “It's almost as if someone's doing your seeing for you.”
So that's what she was getting it. “That would be me,” Fritz said. “Also known as the boyfriend.”
Wasn't that perfectly conventional. Brania wondered if Fritz knew the truth about his girlfriend, but from what she knew of the boy, she knew he would never win a blue ribbon for being astute. No, he had no idea what he was dating. “I'm glad to see that Ruby's in such good hands,” Brania said. The truth, however, was that Ruby was much more interesting when she was alone. “Don't forget to save me a T-shirt,” she added as she walked back into the crowd, shaking her head. She would have to remember to add another item to the growing list of things that bored her: mismatched lovebirds.
Mismatched friends, on the other hand, could be quite amusing.
 
“I'm free after school if you want a rematch,” Saoirse offered. “I know I probably bruised your ego winning all those games.”
How this one was related to Ronan and Ciaran, Nakano had no idea. She actually had a sense of humor. “Don't get too comfortable wearing the tic-tac-toe tiara,” Kano replied. “That was only the warm up.”
How this one could be one of Them, Saoirse had no idea. He actually was fun to be around. “Bring it on, Kanosan! I'll even give you a handicap. You can start with an extra ‘o'.”
“I don't need charity,” Kano said. “But if you fancy being a loser, I accept.”
“Perfect! The tic-tac-toe tournament will resume in St. Martha's at three o'clock today,” Saoirse announced. “Oh bollocks! Don't you have swim team practice for the big meet?”
Biting his tongue, Nakano made a decision to go against his nature and be upfront, tell the truth. “I think I'm bagging the swim team.”
“Won't that be a little redundant?” Saoirse asked, as gently as she could. “You already quit once before.”
Nakano felt weird, not because Saoirse had added an even deeper level of honesty to their conversation, but because he didn't feel the urge to run from her or to lash out. He really just wanted to talk. “Ever since I got bumped to the B team, Blakeley hardly knows I'm alive,” he explained. “The swim team used to be fun and always a challenge to try and be as good as Ronan.”
“And now?”
“It's turned into a couple hours waiting around for my turn to swim a lap or two,” Kano admitted, surprised that it was so easy to be honest. “I guess part of it's not being on the A team, but the main thing is that I just want to have some fun again. And swim team isn't doing it.”
Boy, did Saoirse know how that felt. Well, not the stuff about the swim team, but the wanting to have some fun. As they were about to leave St. Sebastian's, Saoirse saw two of her St. Anne's classmates, and she actually saw a lightbulb appear in a cute little thought bubble in front of her very eyes. It was a stroke of inspiration, and she couldn't wait to share it with her new friend. “You want to have some fun, Kanosan?” she asked rhetorically. “Then follow me.”
 
Ronan was convinced he was not going to have fun, but he still followed Michael into the movie theatre. He really didn't have any other choice; Fritz and Ruby were waiting for them, and Fritz especially was looking forward to his large popcorn and soda. Ronan knew that if he snuck out the side entrance he would never hear the end of it from Fritz. Sometimes you just had to suck it up and like Saoirse said, grow up.
“Thanks, Ro,” Fritz said, grabbing the tray from him. “Did you make sure they sprinkled it with three layers of butter and didn't just smother it on top?”
“Yes, Fritz.”
“Did you watch them do it? Because they don't like special orders,” Fritz revealed. “They're not the bloomin' Burger King.”
“Yes, Fritz, I supervised.”
“And did you make sure they only used a half a cup of ice in the sodas?”
“I measured it myself,” Ronan replied tersely.
“No need to get snarky, mate,” Fritz scoffed, though he softened his attitude when he saw Ruby was laughing at their exchange. “It's a dodgy practice, Rube, a trick they like to play on their customers.”
“And what trick would that be, Fritz,” she asked, sounding remarkably as if she actually wanted to know the answer.
“You see, what they do is they fill the cup to the rim with ice—sometimes the cubes stick out like a tiny replica of the bloody Arctic Circle—just so they can shortchange you on the soda,” he explained. “Well, if I'm paying for a full cup of soda, I want a full cup of soda!”
“Well, you didn't bloody pay for it, Fritz,” Ronan corrected, “so be happy with your Arctic Circle!”
“Boys, boys, you're both pretty,” Michael joked. He held onto Ronan's arm tightly, not because he was afraid he was going to punch Fritz, but because he was afraid he was going to try and leave. “But Ruby and I are prettier, so we demand you stifle it.”
Smiling at Michael, Ruby agreed. “Which translates to ‘shut up, mates' because the previews are starting.”
At that very second the lights in the theatre dimmed, and the first preview was projected onto the screen. “How did you know they were going to start?” Michael asked.
Leaning her head closer to Michael, Ruby whispered, “You know us blind girls; we have a sixth sense for these things.”
Michael had no idea if the preview was for a foreign language art house movie or an animated cartoon. He was too shocked by Ruby's comment.
“Did you hear her, Ronan?!”
Michael asked.
“She just admitted she's got a sixth sense!”
“Easy love, it's a figure of speech,”
Ronan replied.
“Now if she said she had six toes on one foot, that I would find interesting.”
Luckily the darkness of the theatre concealed Michael's smile, so he could continue to act as if he was annoyed with Ronan.
“I've said it before, Glynn-Rowley, you've got no sense of humor.”
Ronan's hand found Michael's and their matching rings clinked in the darkness as he replied,
“Which is why I have you.”
 
Fritz had given himself a goal: He was going to kiss Ruby by the time the previews ended. But the third one had started, and he still had not made a move. Maybe this double date thing wasn't a good idea after all; there was so much added pressure. If he made a fool out of himself when he was alone with Ruby, she wasn't going to tell anyone, but if he did something stupid in front of Michael and Ronan, they might tell everyone. Then again, Ronan really didn't gossip and Michael was his friend, but Michael could slip when he was talking to Saoirse, and she had the biggest mouth of anyone he had ever met. Oh God, why was he thinking about Michael and Ronan and Saoirse when he was sitting in a darkened movie theatre holding hands with his girlfriend? Just stop thinking and kiss her.
“That was nice, Fritz,” Ruby whispered, the taste of butter still on her lips.
“Yeah, it was,” he replied, his voice a bit gruff.
“I wouldn't mind if you did it again.”
Sassy! Fritz Ulrich had found himself a sassy girlfriend, and he couldn't have been happier. The feeling, however, wasn't universal.

Other books

Boys in Gilded Cages by Jarod Powell
The Street of the City by Grace Livingston Hill
Amy's Awakening by Cameron, Alexandra
Under Fishbone Clouds by Sam Meekings
Fully Restored by Delaney Williams
The Keeper by Darragh Martin
Six Suspects by Vikas Swarup
Olivia's Trek (1) by DM Sharp