XIV Behold! The Nightmare

I didn’t get to class before everyone else had arrived and as much as I wanted to raise my hand and go out into the hall with Mrs Jantz I refused to let anyone else, especially Josh, question why I willingly stepped out into the hallway to take to a teacher. Maybe I should have stayed after school, but if I had then I would have had to walk home or get a ride form mom; who probably would’ve have yelled the entire trip home or she would have driven as if she had a death wish. The “oh shit” handle was a Godsend with Alex’s driving skills but when Mom was driving while angry, you had both hands on it as if you’re life depended on it.
I walked out of the school with Christy and Becky at my side. Nothing was said between the three of us until we were past the old greenhouse.
“I haven’t heard anything about the paint.” Becky whispered.
“Doesn’t matter,” I replied as I swung my just about empty bag. There were no extra English or Social Studies books so I was given photocopies. “No, it does matter, but I have no way in hell in finding out.
“I tried to get Chad to tell me. Don’t ask me how far I went.”
“Seriously?” Christy asked anyway.
Becky just nodded.
I didn’t want to ask. I just wanted to get away from the school, go home, lay in bed and hoped that I wouldn’t have to repeat it all the next day.
We walked towards the high school and I could see Alex standing where the car would have been parked, it was gone.
Mom had taken Alex’s keys and it looked like the car too.
Alexis was sitting on the grass, reading a book.
“She actually took it. But where did she park hers?” Alex said as he walked down the sidewalk in front of the school.
“Do we need to take the bus?” I asked as Becky ran across the street to smoke.
Christy looked at me and I shrugged my shoulders.
“I’m not going to,” Alexis replied without looking up from her novel. “Fell free to what you want to”
“We need to write this day down,” Alex said as he walked back to us. “The day mom actually followed through on something. This fucks me strunny.”
I wanted to scream and then cry a river or two. My emotions were out of whack and I felt like breaking down right then.
“I found it! Becky yelled from across the street.
“What?” Alex shouted back.
“It’s at Josh’s!” Becky pointed down the road.
The three of us walked down the sidewalk to get a better view of Jos’s house. Sure enough, the Honda sat on the side of the road next to Josh’s house.
“Fuck!” Alex yelled. “That means the angry asshole giant knows eveything,” and then threw up his arms in surrender. Alex didn’t like dealing with John or Leah or anyone with the last name of Daniels. But it was John that got on his nerves as he would consistently tell Alex how he needed to step up and help take care of things since our dad was gone. Alex agreed the first time but the second time John said it, Alex just nodded his head and John yelled at him about disrespect or something. If mom did indeed say anything, then John would hold it over his head and berate Alex like he didn’t do his own kids, or at least not to the degree I wished he would.
“Okay, we need a distraction. I can then get the car, and pick you guys up later.”
“Whatever, Alex.”
“Hey, we need to deal with Wednesday and Paul, right? Cain we at least attempt to keep a united front for a day?”
Alexis shook her head as Christy waved “bye” to me.
If I had it my way, Alex and Alexis would deck Josh, somehow incapacitate a six-foot five man and I would have the car ready to go in the process.
Alas…
“You didn’t take the bus home?” Leah asked—her gaze was just a little spiteful towards Alex.
“We didn’t know what had happened until the buses left,” Alexis replied.
“It’s okay, dear,” Leah replied as she gave Alexis a small hug.
Alex stayed on the porch and looked towards the road. Probably because if he turned to face Leah he would have told her off, which would signal John to come out of wherever he was and the screaming would escalate until they either got into a fight—it was bound to happen one day—or until the neighbors called the police—that had happened before.
Leah turned her attention to me“Cherry.”
“Hello.”
“Why haven’t you been over lately?”
“Just been a little busy,” I replied.
“Did Josh do something stupid?
I was speechless for a moment. I mean, did she want the whole truth or just enough to get the point across that I would rather see Josh’s head on a pike, coated with honey and fire ants than see him any other more than I had to?
“No, ma’am,” I replied as I admit I was afraid of her. Apparently only Mom and Alexis were imminent to her stares and expertly worded putdowns
“You tell me if he’s done anything at all. I love him, but sometimes I want to murder him.
I felt the same way at killing him at that moment.
I had a hard time believing that she never noticed Chastille at her house. Maybe she did but held out some hope that Josh would come back to his senses and crawl back to me—her dreams, not mine. Well, not quite, I had fleeting dreams, kind of a sprinting hope that one day we could put all of the junior high shit behind us and grow up. I already felt like I was in my twenties by the things I had to do at home. Tragically, Josh could stay a little boy with his mommy and daddy there to take him in and not ask him to live up to a higher standard.

“Hey there, Moonies!” John yelled as he walked into the living room from the kitchen. Alexis and I waved “hello.” Alex didn’t respond and that didn’t set well with John.
“Alexander. Your mom brought your car by.”
“I noticed, John.” Alex replied without looking to the house.
“Turn around when someone’s talking to you.”
“I can hear you just fine,” Alex replied.
“I said, turn around!” John shouted from across the small living room. I took a few steps back as Alexis and Leah sat down on the couch, uncaring of the grudge match that was going to happen.
John stood right behind Alex, his frame completely blocking my brother out of existence.
“Are you going to turn around?
“Nope,” Alex answered without any care.
“Your mom said you got into a fight today.”
“And I’ll get into more, I’m sure.”
“You got a shitty attitude, Alexander.”
“I know. It runs in the family.
“She’s going to come by after work, you can take the car then.
“When is that?”
“After ten.”
“Shit,” I whispered to no one but both Leah and John looked at me like I killed their dog or maybe had told their son to go to Hell.
John turned back to Alex. “You’re attitude’s going to get you in trouble.”
“I hope so,” Alex said as he finally turned around to face John.
“Why?”
“Someone has to fill the role of asshole. I will wear that badge with the highest honor.”

The kitchen door opened and I turned to see Josh walk-in with Chastille at his side and holding his hand.
I wanted to do a few things at that time:
I wanted to have us mend that bridge between us-even though I knew he would never meet me halfway, especially in front of his parents and Chastille.
I wanted to tell him what had happened, which would cause Leah to scream and for John’s face to turn red and contort.
I wanted to beat his face in and the only thing stopping me at that moment, since I was the closet to him at the time, was Leah.
“Josh, who is this?” She asked him with a subtle curiosity mixed with with contempt.
“Mom, this is Chastille,” Josh replied as he squeezed Chastille’s hand.
I tried to look every other way except at the three of them.
“Hello, Mrs. Daniels,” Chastille said with a bright grin.
“Hello, Chas-steel, right?” Leah asked as John walked past use and into the kitchen.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Welcome. Josh, can I talk to you?”
Josh rolled his eyes as Leah got up and they walked out of the living room and down the small hall off to the side that lead to the master bedroom.
There was a slight silence in the room with the only sounds being John doing something in the kitchen; Alexis turning a page in her book, a car or two passing on the highway and my now heavy breathing.
Alex turned around and his eyes met up with Chastille.
She gave a small wave in his direction. Alex responded with a double wave.

“Joshua Elijah Daniels!” Leah’s voice echoed through the walls and everyone brushed it off, except for Chastille who flinched and looked at the wall as if Leah was about to crash though it like The Terminator.
“Everyone good for hotdogs?” John called out from the kitchen.
“Do you need any help, John?” Alexis asked as she got up from the couch and walked into the kitchen.
“Thank you, Alexis.”
Alex walked inside the house and closed the door. He closed his eyes and muttered something under his breath, a something that no one else but mom could hear, even though she was over thirty miles away.

Josh came back into the living room, followed by Leah. He walked past me and stood next to Chastille.
“You got the dogs boiling, honey?” Leah asked as she walked
“Yes, dear. Alexis is helping.”
I wanted to get out of the house—not only because I couldn’t stand to be next to Josh, knowing that he probably said something about me to his mother, which she did yell at him for saying, but she yelled at him a lot so, nothing new there—but because the smell of boiling hot dogs somehow made me feel nauseous .
“Dinner’s ready!” John yelled, and with that there was the sound of pounding feet as Josh’s brothers ran down the steps and flooded into the kitchen. Josh went in as well with Chastille. I stayed in the living room and looked at Alex as he stood on the patio. I wanted to walk over to him, not to talk, but to just get out.
“Cherry!” Leah shouted from the kitchen.
“Yes?”
“I have a plate for you.”
“Thank you.”
The last time I had told Leah that I wasn’t hungry she sat me down for twenty minutes about health eating and how when she was younger they had like, only rice, lentils and damn sawdust to eat so I was lucky that there were people out there looking out for me. I took that as a slight jab at my parents’ “fend yourself, your hands work” policy at cooking.
Leah sat a plate at the table and pointed for me to come and sit down. I nodded and sat down, only to have Josh sit next to me, with Chastille on his other side. We looked like guests at a Jerry Springer dinner party.

“Sorry to hear about your locker, Cherry” Josh said and then he took a bite of his hotdog.
“Really? Nice of you says that, now.”
“What does that mean?”
“Short memory from lunch?
“Maybe.”
“Not the only thing that’s short,” I muttered.
“Fuck you!” Josh yelled.
“Joshua!” Leah shouted.
“You mean you wish you still could!” I yelled.
Leah then turned her attention to me. “Cherry!”

I shoved my plate off the table, onto the floor. I then ran out the front door and into Alex’s car. I locked the doors and laid against the window on the driver’s side, in some way to avoid being seen. I hoped that no one would come to look for me and since the only person in there who might have cared was Chastille—since she was an outsider to the group. I didn’t want to talk to her anymore than I wanted to talk to any of them. If there was a way to willingly end my life at that moment, I would have traded my soul to do it.

I closed my eyes, only to open them when I heard someone unlock the door.
“Shit!” I yelled in my head as I thought it was John, but instead it was Alex.
“Could you unlock the door?”
I sat up and looked around to see anyone else was watching us, before I reached over and unlocked the driver’s side door.
“What do you want?” I asked as Alex opened the door.
“Nothing really, I just told everyone I’d go and talk to you.”
“Everyone pissed?”
“Not as much as you seem to be,” he replied as he closed the door. “Want to talk about it?”
“Nope,” I replied as I flung myself back across the backseat.
“Fine with me,” Alex replied as I heard the dangling of keys. “However, we need to appear like we’re having some kind of conversation or intervention. I guess you and Josh are on the train to Splitsville?”
“Train to Shitsville is more like it.”
“All aboard,” Alex said as he released the parking brake, pushed his foot on the clutch and started the car.
“Alex, what the Hell?”
“That was a great distraction, Cherry. I love it when a plan comes together.”
Alex gunned the engine and rocketed towards the high school, turned sharply to the right and blew through two stop signs. I sat up and looked behind us, wondering if John’s car, or just John, running, would appear in pursuit.
“Mom’s going shit a brick.”
“I know, right?”