“Dude, show it to me.”
“Elliot, how many times do I have to tell you? It’s in a bandage. There’s nothing to see.” I made the mistake of telling Elliot that I was attacked by a lion. I wore a long sleeved shirt to cover the beige bandage. For two periods, he didn’t stop asking me to see the ‘battle scar.’ At least we had different classes during 2nd and 3rd period, but by fourth period, I was being tormented again.
During lunch, we grabbed our food and quickly made our way to the library. Fortunately, we had P.E. right before lunch. It gave us a head start on Cameron and his gang. Without my bike, I had no way to get home immediately after school and my dad couldn't pick me up until after 4:00. So I had to finish my weeks worth of detention after school. We checked the detention list each day, and as long as Cameron wasn't in there, we felt it was safe.
We ate quietly. Miss Rodriguez wasn’t exactly strict on the whole ‘quiet in the library’ thing but we didn’t want to risk getting kicked out. We had seen one of the cavemen patrol past the library more than once.
Alan came in about five minutes into lunch with a big box under his shoulder. “I thought I would find you guys in here.”
I waved to him, with a mouth full of pizza. “What’s up?”
“Nothing much,” he said and he dropped a box on the table. RISK was written in large red letters across the top of the box.
Elliot swallowed his sandwich in a massive gulp. “I’ve played this. World Domination!” he roared.
“Keep it down, man,” I laughed. Elliot sat back down.
“Well, it’s true,” he said quietly.
“If we’re going to be spending some time in here, we might as well enjoy it,” said Alan, pulling the lid off the box. He pulled out a large game board that unfolded into a map of the world. There were six boxes of colored pieces and five dice. Elliot grabbed the blue box before the map was even spread.
“Pick a country,” Alan said. I grabbed a black piece and put it on Western United States.
Elliot moved like lightning and put a piece on Greece, chiding, “You fools, he he he.” Alan grabbed Iceland, and we went in circles until the whole world was taken. Alan explained the rules as we went, how one country can attack the other and the goal was to conquer continents and then the entire world.
We started the game with Alan attacking Elliot somewhere in Russia followed by Elliot trying to take Italy from me. I went last, and we went in circles, each of us carving out sections on the map under the control of our armies.
In what seemed like no time the lunch ended and we were nowhere close to finishing the game. “Now what?” I asked. “Who won?”
“Ummm, no one won yet,” said Alan.
“Ha, I have you both where I want you,” Elliot cackled. I shook my head. I thought about it for a second and ran up to Miss Rodriguez. “Do you have any empty counter space?” Miss Rodriguez was a short lady, with light brown hair and dark brown eyes. She looked up from the book she was reading to the game board and then back to me.
“Take it into the office. Put it on the table.”
“Thanks,” I said, turning back to the table. “Grab a side guys.” The three of us picked up the map very carefully. Slowly, we inched towards the librarian’s desk and her office behind it. Over fifty small pieces covered the countries. I watched one wobble a little, slowed, and then started moving again when it settled back down on Argentina. Finally, we made it into the office and placed the board down on the table.
Detention gave me an hour to try to figure out how to pay for the lampshade, but for the life of me I couldn't think of anything. Dad picked me up from school, which at least gave me a break from looking over my shoulder for cavemen, but I was still grounded. Between Cameron, detention, and my dad putting me to work, the only time I had that didn't feel like prison was in the library.
The next day, I got to school early. Without my bike, I was getting dropped off and picked up by my dad from school. He dropped me off at 7:00, more than an hour early. Apparently Cameron didn’t care enough about ruining my face to wake up that early. I grabbed my books, went to the library, and Ms. Rodriguez helped me pull out the game board.
Everyday, before school, during recess, and lunch we were in there working on conquering the world. I figured out part of the strategy of the game, to protect your borders and not let yourself get stretched too thin. Unfortunately, I figured this out right about the time I got hit by both Alan and Elliot. By Thursday morning, I only had two armies left hiding on Madagascar.
“I yield,” I said with a chuckle. “You guys can finish without me.”
“Don’t worry, this will be over shortly,” Elliot remarked staring at Alan.
“Yup, Greece always knew how to lose a war quickly, that is when they finally picked a side.” Elliot grabbed the dice. I sat back and watched them, but by lunch on Thursday, they were still going at it. I couldn’t take it anymore. I needed to move, to think. Afternoons of chores and dusting were getting to me and I still had no idea how I was going to pay for the lampshade. I felt like if I stayed in that library any longer I might just snap and go insane.
“Guys, I’m going for a walk. I’ll catch up with you in Art.”
“Are you sure?” said Alan. He quickly stood up from the table. “We can start a new game.” Elliot chuckled something about Alan’s imminent destruction, but I saw the concern in Alan’s face. He didn’t care about the game, at least not that much. He was worried about me running into Cameron and his gang alone. In that instant, I got the impression Alan would go to war for me if he had to. I felt pretty good about that. He was a good friend.
I looked at the clock. Lunch was almost over. “No, I’ll be fine. I’ll be careful, and the cavemen won’t do anything in front of everyone. I just need to stretch my legs and move a bit.” Alan nodded. Elliot waved, never looking up from the board, grinning evilly.
I walked out of the library for the first time in three day’s worth of lunches. It was odd being back outside. It seemed like the school should be different or something, but everything was still the same. The eighth graders played on the center basketball courts and walked around the school like they owned the place. The seventh graders moved along the edges or sat at the lunch tables. Sixth graders tried to avoid everyone else.
I don’t know what it’s like for most kids who get grounded, but for me, it means my dad picks me up and I spend the afternoon with him at work. He sits me down at a hundred year-old desk until I finish my homework, and then I get to dust. You have no idea how much dust can gather in a two-story room full of statuettes and junk. I’ve had pleasant dreams of taking a baseball bat to all of them just so I never had to pick up a feather duster again. Needless to say, walking in the sunlight felt like a rare privilege.
I started to walk towards the basketball courts to watch a game, when I saw the pine trees just outside the fence, standing tall and straight like prison bars. A sick feeling came over me and I saw Cameron and his gang heading over in that direction. I turned left instead of right, and headed out towards the portable classrooms. It wasn’t a popular area to hang out. There wasn’t much there except for a couple tables and Mr. Chavez stayed in his classroom during lunch, keeping an eye on the area.
It was a warm afternoon, beautiful weather in October. I rolled up my sleeves and walked along the soft earth, enjoying the stretching feeling in my legs and the subtle smell of the ocean when I heard something. At first I wasn’t sure if I was imagining the sound. I stopped walking and listened for a second. It wasn’t noise; it was music, both happy and sad at the same time, both bitter and sweet. The tune grabbed me like the smell of honey taking a bear and I walked towards it.
I turned the corner and saw Aaliyah playing some instrument, something like a flute or recorder. Aaliyah was an average looking girl with straight brown hair and soft hazel eyes. Aaliyah wasn’t gorgeous, but she was pretty. You know, just a girl. She wore blue jeans and a black shirt with no logo on it. I stood there watching her, and listening to the beautiful melody that worked it’s way through the instrument. Aaliyah’s fingers moved back and forth across the small holes that lined the top of it like an artist with a paintbrush: delicate, precise, and perfect.
I must have made a sound or something because she turned and glanced at me. She didn’t stop playing, but raised one eyebrow at me somehow asking can I help you?
I felt my cheeks warm up a bit. “Oh, I’m sorry. I… was just listening. What instrument is that?”
She gave a half smile. “Clarinet. Mrs. Marcel runs a Jazz band class after school 3 days a week.”
“It’s beautiful, at least… how you play it is.”
She smiled, widely this time. “Thank you. I’ve been playing since I was six. Mom insisted on it. It was either this or the Tuba, and this was easier to carry.”
I nodded. “Makes sense I guess.”
I looked around, trying to think of something to say. “So…why are you hiding out here?”
“Do you mean, is there a group of cavemen chasing me around campus too?” she laughed as she said it.
Great. Everyone knows that Cameron is trying to kill me. “Ha ha,” I said without humor.
“I thought it was hilarious. He looked like a really bad Easter egg. But I doubt he’s going to let that go easily.”
I shrugged. “Well, we know why I’m here then. Who’s looking to beat you up?”
“No one,” she said. “I just like it here. It’s quiet.”
Her eyes went wide and she asked, “What happened to your arm? Did Cameron…” She didn’t finish the sentence.
I looked down at the bandage around my arm and realized what she meant. “Oh, no, this was, well it was a mountain lion, but it’s not as bad as it looks. It was a just a scratch.” She looked at me like I just said I had dinner with Bigfoot. “I’m not lying,” I said defensively.
Aaliyah stared at me, unconvinced. I sighed, walked over to sit next to her, and started picking at the edge of the bandage. It was long, running the whole length of my forearm. It came loose slowly and I peeled it back from one side. Two long gashes sliced across my arm diagonally, a third one started but was only half as long as the others.
“Davey,” she gasped, looking at the cuts.
“Only the middle one needed stitches,” I said, trying to make it sound unimportant, like I got wounds like this every Monday afternoon. “I almost got out of going to the hospital, but my dad dragged me down there.”
“That’s why I’m a dog person,” she said.
“Oh yeah, they never attack people,” I chided. “Perfectly peaceful animals.”
“Mine are. I have six, and have never even been nipped.”
“Six dogs?” I asked.
“Yeah, and a couple rabbits, and a bird. My family is big on animals.”
“Wow,” I said. “My family is big on low rent, so we don’t really do the pet thing.”
She paused for a moment. Then, “When I saw the bandage I thought my cousin did something stupid.”
“Who?”
She sighed. “Cameron. He’s my cousin… and a moron. Yeah, Aunt Carol said it took three hours for him to get the dye off.”
I just stared at her in shock. “What?” she asked. “Is it that strange to think we are related?”
“No... I'm just amazed he has a mother.”
“She barked out a laugh. “Step-mom, but yes, the Caveman does actually have parents.”
That made me chuckle. “He’s your family and you call him Caveman?”
“I gave him the nickname,” she said with a grin. “It fits. I don't know what to call you though.”
I didn’t know how to take that. “What's wrong with Davey?”
She squinted at me, like she was studying. “I can do better,” she stated flatly.
“It’s not going to be Cro-Magnon is it?”
She grinned. “I could go with cat food…but I‘ll wait and see what makes sense.”
The bell rang out of nowhere. We got up and headed to class. It felt good talking to Aaliyah. With most of my friends, it was hard to go three sentences without a really sarcastic remark by someone, especially Elliot and Alan. Aaliyah still had a sense of humor, but there was nothing cutting in it. I liked that. Right before she turned to go to P.E. I said, “I’ll be in the library tomorrow if you want to join us: Elliot, Alan and me. We have been spending a lot of time there lately.”
She nodded slowly and turned, walking away without a word.
The grin had not left Elliot’s face by the time we reached Art. He had finished off Alan with a push across Asia, cornering him between Australia and North America. He never stopped gloating through the entire class.
The next day before school we decided to start up the second game of Risk. We had just grabbed the armies when Aaliyah stepped through the door to the library wearing blue jeans and a black shirt. I couldn’t tell if it was the same one or different. I guessed she had a lot of black shirts.
I waved at her and smiled.
“Can I join your game?” she asked, looking at the board.
“If you desire a quick and painful defeat…yes you can join the battle,” chided Elliot. I shook my head apologetically.
Aaliyah grinned. “I think I’ll risk it,” She hooked her backpack on the chair and sat down.
“Terrible Pun,” complained Elliot.
“Ladies first,” said Alan, handing Aaliyah the black box of pieces. She pulled one out and placed it on Greece. I tried, I really tried not to laugh when Elliot jumped out of his seat sputtering. He squinted his eyes, and painted a fearsome scowl across his face. He pointed at Aaliyah and then straight at the ground, not saying a word. He sat back down and put an army on Italy. Aaliyah smiled.