“What
you doing down here by your lonesome, Marty Martian?” Coming down the hall was Walter Drayton, his broad
body taking up almost half the hallway. As he sauntered closer, I could see
that Stevey Wentworth was hidden behind him on one side, and Donald Granite,
Mark’s younger brother, on the other side. “Wet your pants, Soap Boy? You come down to Home Ec to wash your soiled
undies?”
This
was not good. I analyzed if I could
rush past them. The odds were dim, but it
didn’t matter. I was frozen in
place. I couldn’t move. I tried to speak, and nothing came out.
“Did
you get the message from Mama Tigh?” That’s
what they called Morgan Tigh? Mama Tigh? I can’t see her being thrilled with
that. I guess if that’s what her killer
boyfriend calls her, she just goes along with it. “You shouldn’t be running to hide. You should be going to your Daddy for
confession od all the lies you told about Mark.”
“I…told…no
lies,” I croaked out.
Stevey
guffawed. “See, Walt D, I knew she
couldn’t scare him. I think it’s time
for us to reinforce the message, using our extra special delivery system.”
Stevey bunched his right fist up and smacked into his open left hand.
Donald
stepped up, inches from my face. “You
need to back of my brother…NOW!” He
punched me in the gut. I doubled over,
barely able to stand.
My
standing issue resolved a second later when Stevey unleashed an uppercut to my
jaw. I fell to the ground, the back of
my hard-hitting the hard floor.
The
pain was tremendous, but I did not get the blessing of drifting to
unconsciousness. My damaged jaw's pain,
my squalling gut, my broken crown, soon paled compared to the pain I know felt
by being kicked in the side. I didn’t
even know which one was doing it.
The
wide one, Walter, was kneeling over me. “And
now I'm gonna smash your face in.” I tried to lift my arms to guard my face,
but my body was no longer responding to signals from my fogged brain.
But
the blow never came. His descending fist
was held back by something. “You morons!”
That was Morgan’s voice. It
sounded far away, but it couldn’t have been if she was close enough to hold
Walter back. “You’re just making things worse!”
Walter
stood up. “Your sweet talking meant
nothing. He needs to learn his lesson
the hard way.”
Morgan
was furious. “I had this in hand. And now you’ve left him bruised and maybe
with bones broken, and how is all that going to be explained? You’ve just increased the target on Mark, on
all of you! That’s all you’ve done!”
Stevey
giggled. “Maybe he ran into a door! Or went through the Home Ec’s washer and
dryer trying to clean up his pee smell!”
Stevey started laughing out of control until Morgan abruptly slapped
him.
“Stop
it!” she shouted. “This is not how Mark
would have wanted things done!”
“Isn’t
it?” Walter said, smirking. “I know you’re
his lover Mama, but maybe we know him a little better, having hung out with him
for years, and you are just this year’s squeeze.”
Morgan
balled up her fists, taking a defiant stance.
“Like to test that out? Want to
see whose side he takes?”
That
seemed to deflate their aggression. “Ok, Mama Tigh,” Walter said. They started to leave, and then Walter turned
and pointed at me. “Later, Martian. You should be grateful Mama showed up. Next time you might not be so lucky!”
“WALTER! GO NOW!”
Morgan stood firm, and the three left.
She looked at me, lying damaged on the floor. “You are an extra special
kind of idiot, too, running off on your own just after I tried to warn you.”
“You…you
can’t tell me what to do.” It was all I could do to speak, and it was more
instinct than any rational expression.
“Yes,
I can. And I will,” said Morgan. She took a step toward me and stared hard at
me; her eyes lit up with a combination of anger and fear. “I told you there
were things beyond my control. Now,
maybe you’ll take me seriously.”
She
huffed off, leaving me broken on the floor.
This person, who was a student nurse, offered me no comfort or aid. She just left me, bleeding and bruised.
Beyond
her control? What a lie. What a terrible self-delusion.
She
was responsible. She lit the match, and
I wouldn't forgive her just because she couldn’t control the flame.
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