The Fugitive Grandma

Chapter 15 - Bruised

When Johnny returned to school a few days after the fight, his eyes were still puffy, and there were cuts and bruises across other parts of his face.

Shuffling from class to class, he kept his head down and avoided eye contact. The kids in his class watched him secretly with wary faces. All wondered whether they had underestimated Johnny. He was always considered to be a loner. But there’s a difference between a loner who gets trampled on and a loner who commands a certain grudging respect because he fights back.

Johnny realized the other kids were a little more cautious with him, and thought maybe something good had actually come out of the terrible scene in the lunchroom. The Maguire twins also kept their distance.

When classes finished, Johnny waited on the school steps for his father to pick him up. Past the driveway in the athletic fields, a crowd was forming for the weekly girls’ soccer game. The teammates jogged out to the field, their blue-and-gold-uniformed bodies bobbing across the grass.

Since Johnny was grounded, he could not attend the soccer game. He was letting Sabrina down. He was angry at the situation. He thought back on Sabrina’s asthma attack at the earlier game and how lucky it was that he had stood at the edge of the field, ready to bring her inhaler. If Sabrina got sick on the field today, who would be there to help her in his absence?

Johnny stood up and waved to Sabrina and she jogged toward him, detouring away from the field.

“You’re not coming to the game today?” she said with obvious disappointment.

“I’m grounded. My dad’s punishing me for the fight. I can’t do anything outside the house except go to school and come right back.”

“I’m sorry about what happened, and sorry I couldn’t do more to stop it.”

Johnny shrugged. “It’s not your fault. It was going to happen sooner or later. Now everyone can have a good laugh about how I lost the fight.”

“What are you talking about? You didn’t lose the fight. Don’t you realize, Johnny, everyone is on your side?”

“It sure doesn’t seem like it.”

“Nobody likes those Maguire brothers. They’re just afraid of them. You were the only one who had the guts to stand up to them.” Sabrina paused for a moment and swallowed hard. “You’re different from the other kids, Johnny.”

“I know.”

“I like that.”

Johnny shook his head and tapped his ear, wondering if he heard her correctly.

“I have to go to my game now,” she mumbled, heading back to the field where her team was assembled.

Johnny had the sensation that firecrackers were going off in his chest as he watched Sabrina jog to the field. He remained on his perch on the school steps, watching the soccer game get started in the distance, until he received another visit. This time it was the Maguire twins.

“What do you guys want? Are you going to try to beat me up again?” Johnny voice was thin with frustration. “Two against one? Go ahead and try. I am not afraid anymore.”

“What were you and Sabrina talking about?” Tim demanded.

“That’s none of your business. You just wish she was talking to you.”

The twins made a sudden move and their hands formed fists. But still they held back, showing restraint that would have been unimaginable before the lunchroom fight.

Tim raised his backpack and pulled something out. It was the stolen Captain Justice comic book. He tossed the book on the step in front of Johnny.

“Take your book back, Johnny. Our father said we should give it back. He’s mad at us about what happened and says we better not get caught fighting again. So you’re safe for now. But let me tell you something, we’re still going to get payback, sooner or later. And when we do, it will be a lot worse than the bruises on your face right now. Those will heal. The thing we do next time is never going to heal. It will be something so bad that it changes your life forever.”

“What are you going to do?”

“You just wait and you’ll find out.”

Copyright 2013 Dmitri Ragano