A family spiraling out of control.
A child forced to grow up too fast.
Is there any room left for a young girl to find herself?


Chapter 2 – False Dawn

 

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~o~O~o~

Author's Note: You may have noticed that I’ve chosen to write a story set in the US rather than my home turf, so, if I’ve messed up a phrase or cultural reference, please forgive me and let me know my mistake as a PM. As ever please be tolerant of my failings, and forthright with your criticism. ~Persephone
 
Photo by  Christopher Campbell on Unsplash
© Persephone 2019

~o~O~o~

On the first Saturday of Spring break Carl almost missed the first ray of hope for his plans. As usual the family was sitting down to breakfast and he was eyeing the last pancake on the plate, wondering if he could safely grab it before Sean the garbage can reached over.

“Honey, you know Mrs. Werrimann?” Marie asked her husband as she dropped two more pieces of bacon on his plate.

“Uhh, sure. What’s happened?”

“I bumped into her at Walmart on Thursday.”

“Uhh huh.”

“You know her daughter in law has been on at her for some time to move into a retirement complex?”

“I didn’t but go on.”

“Well she’s finally decided to move. Claire and she have been looking for a while and…”

“Uhh, who’s Claire?”

“Her daughter in law, Kevin’s wife. Well, widow now. You wouldn’t of thought he would get cancer at his age, or it would take him so fast. Such a tragedy, and poor Mrs. Werrimann…”

Brian gently interjected, “Umm, Sweetheart? You were saying about moving?”

‘Oh yes. Well she’s started to clear out the house and wondered if you and the boys could help her with the garage? The apartment she’s going to is a lot smaller and she obviously won’t be looking after a yard. So she thought you might find a good home for some of the tools and stuff.”

Brian grinned wryly at his wife. He knew when he’d been volunteered and was wise enough to accept gracefully. “So when is she expecting us?”

“Well there’s nothing planned for this afternoon and the weather’s nice.”

Brian turned to his children. “Okay guys we have our marching orders. One o’clock front and center in work clothes. Any questions?”

“Honey, don’t forget I’m dropping Kathleen over at her friend Suzie’s birthday party.”

Jimmy managed to jump in next. “Sorry Dad, with the tryouts in three weeks a bunch of us arranged some kicking practice at school.”

“Yeah, and I promised Jimmy I’d help. Collecting balls and stuff.”

Carl sensed Sean's kick under the table aimed at his big brothers shin.

“Oh! Yeah. We’re gonna need you. And it’ll be good practice for when you’re ready to try out.” Jimmy added, his stare at his younger brother making it clear he was seriously owed for backing up his brothers excuse.

Dad grunted and turned his attention to Carl before he too had a chance to work out an excuse. “Well it looks like it’s just you and me kiddo. One o’clock sharp.”

~o~O~o~

When Mrs. Werrimann opened up the garage for them, it wasn’t anywhere near as bad as Carl had feared. A work bench was set at the back, with tools racked neatly above or stored below. To one side shelves lined the wall with stacked boxes and containers filling the space, whilst a ride on mower and a rotavator were neatly parked to one side.

“Are you sure there’s nothing in here you want to keep Ma’am?” Dad asked their neighbor.

“This was Frank and Kevin's domain. All I did was park the car. No, if you can use anything take it with my blessing Brian. And thank you for coming over to help dear.”

“But some of this stuff could be sold.” Dad pointed out, eyeing the ride on mower that couldn’t have been more than four or five years old.

“You always were considerate Brian, even when you were a little boy trying to keep Kevin out of mischief.” Mrs. Werrimann’s eyes twinkled as she caught Carl trying to hide a smirk. “No, that’s my final word. Now I’ll let you strong men get on shall I?”

Dad went back to the van and pulled out gloves and a pile of heavy duty garbage bags. “Okay sport, let’s get to work.”

Three sweaty dusty hours, and two trips to the recycling center, later, and Carl was lifting the last few plastic cartons down from the top shelves. Wondering why they were so heavy he prised up the lid of one and peered inside. Frowning, he lifted down the next three and repeated his inspection. “Umm, Dad? Do you think Mrs. Werrimann would mind if I kept these for myself?”

Brian paused from struggling to push the rotavator out onto the driveway. “What have you got there son?” He asked, rubbing filthy hands down the legs of his jeans as he wandered over.

“They’re full of old comics and stuff.”

Brian grinned. “Yeah, Kevin was into his comics. So was his dad for that matter. Why do you want them?”

“I heard there are people who collect them? Some pay five to ten dollars if they’re in good condition. There must be hundreds here; some of them must be worth something.”

“Uh huh, and how would you plan on selling them?” Brian smiled at his son’s sudden enthusiasm.

“We could set up an eBay account. It doesn’t cost anything. Take pictures and all that and post out any that people want to buy. C’mon Dad, it’ll be fun, and you’re always reminding us to stand on our own two feet.”

“And you’ll do all the work? No coming to Mom or me for help?”

“Promise. And if it makes money I’ll even be able to put some aside for college. Deal?” Carl looked up at his dad hopefully.

Brian narrowed his eyes for a long moment. “You would be responsible for all costs. You keep on top of any orders and give good service. Your grades don’t slip and at least half goes into your college fund. Agreed?”

Number three son bounced up and hugged Brian tight. “Yes! Deal! Thanks Dad.” Then hefted one of the boxes to start loading up the van with his booty.

For the rest of Spring break Carl was busy. Between swimming practice and chores he was down in his makeshift office and storeroom in one of the old house’s cellars, steadily photographing and cataloguing his haul. With his dads help and approval he had set up both eBay and PayPal accounts, raided his savings to buy stamps, labels, envelopes and clear plastic sleeves. He researched prices then uploaded the first fifty comics he’d catalogued for sale.

“So, how’s our little entrepreneur doing? He’s looking a lot happier.” Marie snuggled in to her husband on the couch, finally allowing herself to relax now all the kids were in bed.

“I wouldn’t have believed it but he was right. He’s sold six of those comics already. Ninety five bucks! I was worried he’d get bored and we’d have more junk cluttering up the cellar, but he’s kept his nose to the grindstone.”

“And you’re keeping an eye on the money? Making sure it doesn’t go to his head? He’s only twelve and you remember what Jimmy was like.”

“Don’t worry honey. I had to sign up for the PayPal account on his behalf and its linked to my checking account. If he wants to get money out he has to come to me. And remember, he agreed that half of it goes to his college fund. Relax, I’ve got my eye on it.” Brian gave his wife a hug and turned his attention back to the TV.

He would have been rather less relaxed if he knew that his child had also been thinking hard about the very same problem. It had taken Carl three days to catalogue the four hundred odd comics and another four to research the titles to see which might sell. On the second day his jaw dropped. “No, freaking way!” He whispered, then gingerly picked up a slightly dog-eared comic and placed it reverently in his drawer. By the fourth day it had been joined by two more and Carl started to worry about how to keep his secret treasures, and the opportunity they represented, safe.

‘Now,’ she told herself. ‘Now, I might just survive.’

~o~O~o~

Spring break was over much too fast as Carl continued to prepare for the upcoming Swim team tryouts. When the day finally came both Mom and Dad were as nervous as he was, offering lots of conflicting advice right up until he walked out the door that morning.

“Jeez! I thought they’d never shut up. You’d think it was something important.” Sean snarked.

Carl just ignored him as usual. He’d do what he could and it’d be good enough, or it wouldn’t. On the bus he headed for a seat as far from Sean as possible and pulled out a notebook. He had to get through the day first.

There was no disguising the massive grin on his face as Carl jumped down from the school bus and almost skipped round to the back door of Casa McCarrick. “Hi Mom!”

“Hi sweetheart. Looks like someone had a good day at school.” Marie smiled fondly at son number three as he bounced into the kitchen looking like a bottle of fizzy soda about to burst. “If you’ve got any homework I suggest you get right on it. Dinner will be ready in an hour.” She saw his shoulders droop. “Then you can share your news with everyone.” She paused, “of course, if it’s good news, we might just break out the Ben and Jerry's.”

“Chocolate Fudge brownie?”

“Umm maybe,” her attempt to frown was ruined by the smile tugging at her lips, “but it would have to be really good news.”

“Ohh Yeah!” Carl dropped his school bag and dashed upstairs to change.

“…With bread of life our souls supply, That we may live with Christ on high.” Kath finished the grace Mom had given her to learn, proud she’d remembered it all.

“Amen.”

Silence reigned for a few minutes as the family dug in, until Dad laid down his knife and fork.

“So kiddo, how was school? You got any news for us?”

Carl finished mopping up his gravy. “Um, not sure. Oh yes! I managed to get an A in my math test.” He bit his lip to keep from grinning like a loon whilst Dad frowned in bewilderment.

“But I thought today was….”

Marie took pity on her husband. “He’s winding us up dear. Go on, tell us Carl.” She encouraged.

“Yes!” The shout exploded from a beaming Carl. “I’m on the squad. Training starts next Tuesday.”

“Way to go slugger!”

“Yay!”

“Congrats li’l bro.”

Carl sat back enjoying the praise and congratulations of his family as Mom went to fetch the celebratory ice cream. Oh yeah, Chocolate Fudge brownie.

“So Jimmy, no pressure for a week Saturday then?” Dad clapped his eldest on the shoulder.

“Hey, if the squirt can do it, I can.” Jimmy declared with a wink to Carl.

“I’ve seen him training. He should be a shoo-in.” Carl offered, grateful for his big brother’s praise.

“So, Carl, is there any special kit we need to get you?” Mom asked as everyone settled back down.

“Uh, I’ve got a list in my bag. Racing goggles, team track suit, bag and speedos.”

At that Sean had to butt in. “Speedos? I thought only queers wore those?” He smirked.

“Sean!” Mom warned.

“I was just saying.” He grumbled and returned his attention to the ice cream.

After a suspicious frown Mom turned back to son number three. “If you need it, you need it. How much is it? I’ll send an envelope in with you tomorrow.”

Carl reached round to snag his schoolbag and retrieved a couple of pieces of paper. “Oh, you guys need to sign this for permission, and… here it is, seventy four, forty.” He watched as mom’s smile froze for a moment. Then he decided.

“Dad?”

“What son?”

“You know the money I’ve been making from the comics? I was thinking. You know, about being expected to stand on our own two feet? Could I use some of it towards the kit?”

The lines around his father’s eyes crinkled. “Yes son. I think that’s a fine idea.” He replied proudly.

On the other side of the table no one noticed the look of calculation that crossed Sean’s face.

~o~O~o~

With the demands of the swimming squad, his comic business and the end of year tests looming, Carl had little time to pay attention to what was happening outside his immediate world. He knew that Sean had gotten into trouble at school for something, and that Mom had had to go see his teachers about it, but Dog breath was largely staying out of his way now that Mom and Dad were riding his case. Carl even managed to ignore the routine insults and snide remarks. He had too much important stuff going on to be bothered with the idiot.

That all came to a crashing halt one Tuesday morning in May.

“Mom? Have you been tidying down in the cellar?” Carl asked as he grabbed a bowl of melon.

“Me? No. You promised you’d keep your work area clean yourself remember? Why do you ask?”

“I laid out some comics for posting yesterday afternoon. A couple of them have vanished.”

“Are you sure you didn’t misplace them?”

“No, I put them in the middle of the table before dinner last night just so I wouldn’t forget.”

“Well you haven’t got time to search before school. We’ll look for them this afternoon okay? I’m sure they’ll turn up. The bus will be here in five minutes so make sure you have everything.”

“Okay Mom.” Carl gave his mother a quick peck on the cheek and went to collect his stuff.

By the time he and Sean got to the bus Carl was certain he hadn’t made a mistake. They’d definitely been right there in the middle of the table. “Sean you didn’t see them did you?”

Sean sneered. “Why the fuck would I? I’m not interested in your stupid comics Runt.”

Carl worried about the mystery for the rest of the day, and when he got home after swimming he rushed through his homework. “Did you find them anywhere Mom?” He finally asked.

“Sorry sweetheart, I didn’t get a chance to look.”

Carl went through his work room three times without success. He also checked that his secret treasures were safe, and breathed a huge sigh of relief when their hiding place hadn’t been disturbed. He checked his bedroom, the lounge and even in his school bag. Nada. His questions over dinner met with the same result.

He sighed, “Dad, I’m going to have to pay a refund.”

“Okay, sadly these things happen in business. Just make sure you explain what happened to the customer and tell me how much.”

“‘kay Dad.” Disconsolately he grabbed a soda from the fridge and headed down stairs.

It was nearly bed time when Carl reappeared. He’d made sure that tonight’s orders were already put into envelopes, stamped and addressed. He handed the completed orders over to his dad to drop off in a mailbox tomorrow. “Thirty seven fifty Dad.”

“I’ll sort it in the morning son. Now off to bed.”

“Night Dad, night Mom.”

Carl wandered into the kitchen and dropped his empty soda can in the trash. Then stopped and looked again. A colored scrap of paper stuck out, almost buried under the scrapings from tonight’s dinner. Carl’s eyes narrowed and he reached down into the garbage bag and pulled. Out came a crumpled, torn and soggy comic book. He checked, yep it was one of the missing ones and Carl knew exactly who was the thief. Dog breath had been on KP duties every night this week as part of his latest grounding. Now he just had to prove it.

“Good morning dear. You’re up early.” Marie exclaimed as son number three bounced into the kitchen.

“Morning Mom. I forgot to order some new sleeves and stuff last night. All done now.” Carl plonked himself down at the table, making sure he could see right down the hall to the stairs down to the cellar. He was ready for Sean to emerge.

For the next few days Carl did his best to make sure he kept Sean in sight at all times when he was home. Then on Friday his order arrived.

“There’s a package on the side for you Carl.” His mom called out from the kitchen when he got back from school.

“Thanks Mom! Back in a few.” He shouted as he grabbed the box and vanished downstairs before she could remind him to do his homework.

It was nearer to half an hour than the ‘few’ he’d promised when Carl re-emerged, but he quickly settled down to his homework opposite Sean.

“So, what was the package all about young man?” Mom queried.

Carl grinned. “I got an order for a couple of high value comics; sixty bucks each! Anyway the buyer wanted extra protection when they shipped, so I needed some specialist supplies. Anyway, now I’ve got what I need I dug the comics out and will package them up in the morning. I’ll drop them in the post tomorrow afternoon.”

That evening Carl made a point to stay in the living room right up to bed time, watching TV with Jimmy and his dad.

On Saturday afternoon as the football game finished Brian was surprised to be summonsed to the kitchen by his youngest son, who then made a point of closing the door behind him.

“Mom, Dad, you remember some of my comic books went missing on Tuesday?” Carl asked his parents as he worked on his laptop at the table.

“Uh, yes son, did you find them?”

“Yep. They’d been ripped up, crumpled in a ball, then shoved under Tuesdays bolognese sauce.” Carl pulled open a plastic sack to display his evidence. He watched as both his parents began to frown.

“Mom, do you remember yesterday afternoon when I told you about a special order? Two comics at sixty dollars each?”

“Umm, yes dear, but what has that got to do with this?” She pointed at the plastic sack.

“Mom, I’m really sorry but I told you a lie. Two lies. The comics I left out were pretty much worthless, and the box that came yesterday contained a motion sensor security camera. I set it up before dinner in the work room and left the comics on the table. Then I stayed away from the cellar until an hour ago. This is what the camera saw.” Carl hit play and watched the color drain from his mom and dad’s faces.

Carl was curled up in a corner of the couch, trying to concentrate on the TV over the shouting coming from the kitchen, when Jimmy plonked himself down beside his little bro’.

“Jeez Carl, you really set off a shit storm of epic proportions didn’t you?”

Carl shrugged. “He trashed forty bucks worth of my stuff and tried to trash what he thought was another hundred and twenty. Before I left Mom and Dad to it, I also spotted Mom checking her purse.”

“Yeah, but he’s family. You shouldn’t have dropped him in it.”

“So? If he’s family he shouldn’t have been stealing from family either.” Carl turned to look at his big brother. “If it had been your gear what would you have done? Kicked some sense into him and made him pay you back?”

“Uhh, yeah, probably.”

“And how am I supposed to do that? You and Sean are a bit bigger than me, remember?”

Jimmy sniggered. “More than a bit.”

The two of them settled down and cranked up the volume. A few minutes later Carl prodded Jimmy in the side.

“Oh, I forgot to ask with World War Three kicking off when you walked in. How did your tryouts go?”

Jimmy puffed up with pride. “You’re looking at one of the JV wide receivers.”

“Hey! Way to go big bro!”

Despite Jimmy’s good news the atmosphere in the house that weekend made the Arctic look like the Florida Keys in July. Carl got told off for lying to his mom and for spying on his brother; but he also got an apology and the promise of forty dollars from said brother. However, when Dad tried to have another go at him about trust in the family, Carl had to fight to keep his temper.

“Look Dad I agree! I really wish there’d been another way but this was the least worst option I could see. I couldn’t go running to you and making accusations without proof; you taught us better than that. So I got proof. I’m not proud of setting a trap for Sean but I work da… really hard selling those comics and I trusted Sean not to mess with them. He did. I could have pretended nothing happened, but you also taught us to stand up for ourselves. And if I had let Sean get away with this now, what next? Wouldn’t you rather deal with this within the family? Or wait until a cop comes knocking at the door, or you get a call from downtown asking you to post bail?”

After that nothing more was said to Carl about what had happened, and by Sunday evening a proper lock had been fitted to the work room door that only Carl and Dad had keys to.

The Siberian atmosphere continued through to Monday morning with Sean and Carl utterly silent from getting up until getting on the school bus. Then they separated.

Carl tried to forget about his slime bag brother, and by morning break had focussed his attention back on getting ready for the upcoming tests. Every teacher was in revision mode and the homework was piling up so much that Carl quickly detoured to his locker to swap out some books.

Out of nowhere a rabbit punch slammed into his back, even as his face was shoved inside his locker and held there.

Dazed and hurting Carl tried to struggle, but he was held tight against the lockers as a gust of bad breath washed over him and a voice whispered in his ear. “This is just a friendly warning Faggot. Next time remember ’Snitches get stitches.’ fuckin’ Runt.”
Unseen hands finally released Carl to drop to the floor, before a boot smashed into his side with an audible crack.

~o~O~o~

Even as Carl saw Mom rushing into the recovery room he knew she was seriously worried. Mom never went anywhere without getting made up and into something smart. The fact she was in jeans and tennies with her hair in a messy ponytail told its own story.

“Ah, Mrs McCarrick, I’m Doctor…”

Mom overrode him, her voice spiking in panic even as she tried to push to the side of the bed. “What happened? Who did this? How is he?”

“He got attacked in school Mrs McCarrick.” The Doctor kept his voice low and calm. “As for who did this, that is for the Police. Now that you are here they should be coming along to interview young Carl shortly. Carl has a fractured rib and some bruises, so he should be all healed up in under a couple of months. He’ll be uncomfortable for the first few days, and won’t be able to do any strenuous activity for the next six weeks.” The Doc turned to Carl and gave him a wink. “However he should be fine to be back in school by Wednesday.”

“Gee, thanks Doc! You’ve just blown my plan for a week off right out of the water.” Carl tried to mock growl, but the pain from his side made it come out more as an annoyed whisper.

The doctor’s steady voice, and Carl’s attempt at a joke, achieved their aim as they soothed Marie down from her earlier near panic.

“Oh, I’m so sorry Doctor. That was terribly rude of me.” She held out her hand, embarrassed. “I’m Marie McCarrick.”

“Trent Alderson ma’am.” He shook her hand gently. “As I said, he’s not in danger. He has to take it easy for six weeks. He can be in school on Wednesday, and he should be all fixed in under two months.” Doctor Alderson watched carefully to make sure each message was getting through to the distraught mother as his steady cadence and low voice visibly calmed her.

There was something more though, he noted. A slight gauntness of the cheeks and tiredness under her eyes. Probably stress. He released her hand. “Well, now that you’re here I can leave this youngster in your capable hands.” He glanced across at Carl with a grin. “I’ve got lots more invalids to mock.”

“Jeez Doc, if you make me laugh again I’m gonna throw another bed pan at you.” Carl groaned.

Marie was shocked “Carl McCarrick! Don’t be so disrespectful!”

Behind Marie’s back Doctor Alderson winked at his young patient, knowing exactly why he had riled his mom, and laughed out loud. “You gotta catch me first!” He retorted and slipped from the room.

The interview with the police officer was far less lighthearted. “So Carl. May I call you Carl? Can you take me through exactly what happened?” The officer stared unblinkingly, pen poised above her notebook, as she waited for Carl to marshal his thoughts.

And Carl did exactly that. He knew Sean was behind it. He strongly suspected that a couple of Sean’s buds had carried out the attack. He also knew that Sean would get away scot free, even though an official investigation, and dragging his name through the criminal justice system, would cause his mom more pain and humiliation than she deserved, than any parent deserved, no matter how much of a slime bag Sean was becoming.

“Uh, officer, I didn’t see much. I was changing out some books between classes when they grabbed me from behind and shoved my head inside my locker.”

“They?”

“There were at least two of them. No, I think there were at least two of them. Someone gave me a rabbit bunch and knocked my head against the locker. Then I fell down and someone kicked me in the side. I didn’t see anyone’s face.”

“What about clothes?”

“Jeans, a blue tee, a hoodie, grey I think. Oh yeah, some cross trainers, they were sorta green. Can’t remember if it was all on the same guy.”

“So it was definitely a boy or boys who attacked you?”

Shocked at the implication Mom interrupted. “But girls wouldn’t do anything like that!”

The police office gave her a pitying look. “Ma’am, I’ve seen it,” she said, before turning her attention back to Carl.

“Yeah, I mean yes.” He glanced over to his mom, “I’m pretty sure it was boys.”

“Was there anything else? Did they say anything? Did you see anyone nearby? Teachers? Other students?”

“Not that I recall ma’am.” He paused and frowned. How much more to give her? “There was one thing though…”

“Go on.”

“One of the guys had really, like really bad breath.”

It was gone four when Carl and Mom finally got home. Carl was put straight to bed in the guest room, “to stop you being disturbed,” was the explanation he was given. Like he believed that. However he was left alone and managed to doze for an hour or so before he heard a knock.

“Come in.” He croaked.

His dad poked his head round the door. “Hiya sport. How are you feeling?”

“Not great.”

“You want to talk about it?”

Carl sighed. If Saturday’s shit storm was bad, this one was going to be a tornado of crap. “Come in Dad and close the door behind you. You’re not going to like what I have to say.”

By Tuesday afternoon Carl was up and moving, ever so carefully, round the house. Dad had agreed to everything he had suggested, especially not worrying Mom. Carl spent an hour or so clearing a few outstanding orders and checking the funds available. There was enough there to get everything started he decided proudly, but his regular stock was beginning to look a bit thin. Hmm, he’d have to come up with some new ideas for his online business.

Kath was the first one home that afternoon, and after a very gentle hug he sat down to help her with her homework, then allowed her to snuggle up on his good side as they watched cartoons. She waited hand and foot on her wounded big brother and wouldn’t let him move, until he laughingly explained there was one trip she couldn’t do for him.

Dinner that night was quiet with Sean barely lifting his head from his plate. Finally, Dad took charge.

“What happened on Monday has been a wake up call for all of us, and I thank the Lord that Carl wasn’t more seriously injured.”

“Amen” Mom quietly agreed.

“The police are still investigating, and with the schools CCTV footage, think they might be able to identify the attackers.”

Carl was watching Sean like a hawk, so caught his slight twitch.

“But there’s more we can do. So there’s going to be some changes round here. First, I’ve been thinking about this for some time. As soon as Carl is recovered, he and Kathleen are going to start self defense lessons.”

Kath grinned and leant over to nudge Carl’s shoulder.

“Second, until Carl is fully recovered, he is going to keep using the guest room to avoid getting ‘accidentally’ jostled. There’s to be no rough housing, pushing, shoving or even touching him on pain of losing your allowance for a month. Does everyone understand?” Dad waited until he had received nods from all the children.

“Finally, Sean. You are Carl’s big brother and it’s your responsibility to look out for him in school. I’m placing you on notice right now that if Carl so much as stubs his toe in school, or on the bus, I will hold you personally responsible. Do you understand me young man?”

For a moment Sean looked as if he was going to complain, but one look at the anger in Dad’s eyes made him back off.

“‘kay Dad.” He mumbled with the smallest of nods.

“And Sean? That’s on top of everything else we have discussed.” Carl bit his lip to keep from smirking. Sean was not going to be having a fun summer.

On Wednesday Mom drove both Sean and Carl to school and as soon as they walked in the door the whispers started. Carl picked up the work he had missed on Monday and Tuesday as he slowly moved from class to class; in many cases accompanied by a teacher. As usual he ate lunch by himself and tried to get started on his homework, only to give up when many of the students who had previously avoided him came over to ask how he was (generally the girls), or if the police were any closer to catching who attacked him (almost always the guys). He was heading for study hall instead of PE when Coach Andrews caught up with him.

“McCarrick, wait up.”

“Sir?” Carl hunched his shoulders when he saw who it was. He had been dreading meeting Mister Andrews all day.

“I guess you’re out of action for a while?”

“The doctor said six weeks Coach.” He’d tried so hard to get on the team, and now that shit of a brother had stolen his chance away.

“Damn! And you were flying.” Coach Andrews paused as he saw the unasked question in the boy’s eyes. “Listen kid, you make sure you heal up okay? You’ve already made your grade for PE this year, and your place on the squad is safe you understand? It’s safe.” He watched the stress drain from Carl’s face. “Now off you go and make sure you ace your finals as well.”

For a moment he watched young McCarrick heading slowly down the hall with a slight frown. There was something about that kid. As if older guarded eyes occasionally looked out from his youthful, almost pretty, face. That kid was growing up much too fast. Coach Andrews shook his head. Hopefully he’d at least be allowed to be a child over the summer.