Something About Sarah

Chapter 14

Benjamin

My shoe came in contact with the soccer ball, sending it for the fourth time into the eastern wall of the garage. I did this whenever I got angry. The paint on that wall had been chipped and I learned to not park in this garage when I got mad. 

The ball flew, ricocheting off the wall, and flying behind me into some gardening tools, knocking them down. I kicked it again, but before it could hit the wall again, it was in Derek’s hands. 

“Hey” he said.

I nodded in response. It was warm out and my jeans were sticking to my legs. 

“Wanna tell me what’s bugging you?” 

“No,” I said, reaching my hand out for the soccer ball. 

He just stared at me, expecting me to spill everything. Not happening. 

So we remained standing there in silence. Well, it would be silence if I hadn’t put on the radio, which was blasting screamo music. It sounded like a dog chewing on something metal. 

He grabbed my arm and pulled me. I tried to stand my ground, but it ended up failing. I was pretty strong, but Derek crushed guys just by looking at them. He pushed me into the rusty truck and slammed the door. 

“Where are you taking me?” I asked. 

“Nowhere, but you probably won’t let me in your house if I’m trying to worm information out of you, and this is the only place where I can keep you locked in.”

I pushed my door open and was about to climb out, but Derek’s arm shot out and held the door closed. 

“Speak,” he said. 

“I don’t want to talk,” I tried to say calmly. 

He just shook his head. In an instant of impulsiveness, I rolled into the back, where I climbed out of the non-existent window in the back, and out of the trunk, into my driveway. There used to be a window in the back, but Derek had a tiny surfboard fiasco in ’03. 

I sprinted towards my door, trying to get in and lock the door before Derek could get there. But he was faster than me, and he had me pinned, face-down, into the hot gravel.  He was sitting on my back, knocking the air out of me and crushing my internal organs. 

“I will get off of you, if you let me in your house, and tell me what’s wrong.” 

“Fine,” I said, but it came out muffled. 

Opening the front door and walking in, I told Derek everything. 

***

After having a tell all that would make Oprah proud, we went swimming. Or actually, it was more like Derek shoving me into the pool and jumping on top of me. 

I walked in, my hair now plastered to my forehead, and my t-shirt heavy from the water it soaked up. Derek had to go see his cousins or something and was going to be late.

As he was walking out the door, he said something. He said it so casually, it freaked me out. “Oh yeah, Sarah’s in the hospital.”