Short Stories

Once It's Too Late

Warning: bullying, suicide, drugs, alcohol, child abuse

I hate going to school. It's not for the typical reasons. Everyone hates going to school because of the homework, and the lectures, and the classes. That's not my reason. My reason is more personal.

Right now, I am walking through the crowded hallways of H. B. Johnson High. I am trying to make my way to lunch. I am sure that every school has crowded hallways, but ours are worse. There is shoving. There are fights. There is running. There is shouting. Wait, those are typical hallways. There is also teasing. Making my way through the hallways is terrifying.

The average sized person bumps into at least two people in the hallways. I am not the average sized person. I am smaller than the rest of the students. You would swear that I was as big as a truck, because I bump into an unmeasurable amount of people in the hallways. I wonder sometimes if it is on purpose. Who am I kidding? I know it is on purpose.

I finally make it to lunch. I have officially reached the battlefield. There are teachers in the hallways, but not in the cafeteria. I go straight to the line, but I keep my head down. I get my usual, a sub with all the meats, all the cheeses, and hot sauce. The usual lunch lady is there. We talk to each other sometimes and she always gives me extra. Honestly, I spend more of my time talking to her than the other students. I go sit down in the corner of the cafeteria. Marco comes and sits next to me. I don't know what I would do without him. He keeps me sane.

"What's up?"

"Nothing much," he says. Even though I feel like I can trust him, I haven't told him everything. I haven't told anyone everything. No one knows the other side. They only know what they see. That's how they decide. That's why they make fun of me.

The afternoon bus is my favorite part of the day. It's the calm before the storm. No one is home when I get there. I do my homework up in my room. During lunch, Marco gave me a piece of cake for our three year anniversary as friends. I told him I would save it until later because I wanted to show my dad.

Relationships shouldn't be based on lies. All of mine are. This piece of cake will be the only thing I eat tonight. I hear the door slam closed. My dad is home early. Not from work. Not from college or anything productive. He is home from the corner. The corner of Mulberry and James Street. The corner where his life ended. The corner that makes my life a living nightmare.

He storms upstairs. I need to hide the cake. I hear his footsteps outside my room. ¨Dad! I'm changing!¨ I say. He comes inside anyway and sees me trying to hide the cake. I am in some deep trouble. He stomps over to me. He grabs my hair and brings my face to his. I can smell the alcohol on his breath. He screams at me about how everything I get goes to him because he puts this roof over my head. He takes my cake and eats it himself. Now it's my turn to get angry. I scream, ¨I hate you!!¨ in his face. I can feel the sting already.

I am sore the next morning. No one notices the bruises. Maybe they do, and they just don't care enough to ask. I need to tell someone. Who else than Marco? I keep all my emotions bottled up until lunch.

¨M-Marco?¨ I say, unsure if this is a good idea.

¨What's up Alexis?¨

¨Um... Well...¨ I go on to a very long elaboration of how my dad is a drunk, abusive, jerk. I tell him how I have nothing to eat at home. I am almost positive that I made the right choice.

But then all he says is, ¨Oh...¨ We don't speak for the rest of the lunch period. I spilled my guts to him and that was all he said. I told him EVERYTHING. Even the things that I don't even want to know. All he does is give me his lunch. I didn't want his sympathy. I wanted his support. That is the opposite of what I got.

Marco has stopped talking to me. We don't even smile in the halls anymore. This is not what I wanted. It's as if we don't know each other. I have to endure the teasing without the slightest hope that someone will come save me. I see Jayden coming. There is nowhere for me to hide. I am just going to have to take it.

"How do you stay so skinny? You eat as much as the three little pigs combined." She glares at me.

"I-I--"

She looks at her friends and smirks.

"Wait. I know why." She cackles like the villains do in the movies. Yet, it's still girly in her own little way. She struts off.

What was that all about? What does she mean she knows? She knows what? Wait... She couldn't possibly know about...

My thoughts are interrupted by a shoulder slamming into mine. I fall to the ground and all my stuff trickles to the floor. I scramble to get all my stuff. By the time I get everything, my folders have been ripped and stepped on and I have been kicked multiple times. Oh yeah. I also missed the bus.

"Great," I say to myself.

The walk home is long and thought-provoking. It starts to rain when I'm about halfway there. The moisture pulls me down and makes going back to the madness even harder. I think about things you don't normally think about. I ponder about life and things after it. I find some thoughts coming to mind that aren't really the best.

When I get home, my disappointment of a father is already there. I sneak up to my room without him noticing. He probably wouldn't realize if I went missing. Until he needed someone to yell at, that is. I stay in my room all night and listen to music. The music doesn't really help my mood. I fall asleep within the hour and hope not to wake up until this is all fixed. And if it's never fixed...

The next day runs pretty smoothly. My first six periods run as usual. There is the daily teasing, but I don't even hear their words anymore. My teachers stopped calling on me a while ago. It only resulted in ridicule whether the answer was right or not.

Lunch is seventh period. I am starving as usual. I go up to the lunch line and the normal lunch lady isn't there. I ask for her. The person that is there tells me that she was fired because of a complaint filed from one of the students. It was about favoritism. I have a guess about who filed it. I sit down in my usual spot. I see Marco walking to our table. But then he turns right instead of left and walks to Jayden's table. What is he doing?

I eat alone. About ten minutes before lunch ends Jayden and Marco come over. I am happy to see Marco, but a little apprehensive about Jayden. She comes to me and says, "How's your daddy?"

"W-what?" I say.

"Oh, don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about. Everyone in the school knows now. How did you think you were gonna keep this from getting out? You want me to call Child Protection Services for you? Why don't you come live with me?" Everyone in the lunchroom is staring at us. Then she says, You'll have to be our maid, but at least you have something to eat. It's a step up from your life now. Isn't it? You can start now." The whole cafeteria laughs as she takes my milk and dumps it in my pants.

I realize that I was clutching my spork so hard that my hand is red. As if I would do anything with it. After all this, Marco won't meet my eyes. He avoids my gaze like the plague. That's what sets me over the edge. I dash out of the cafeteria and up to the third story. I run into Mr. Gash's classroom. It is empty, but he never locks his door.

I sit under the window and try to dig the spork into my chest. It hurts, but nothing happens. It is plastic after all. This is a sign. Not a sign to stop, but to keep trying. I look up and see the open window. I wonder how strong the screen is. I get up and face the window. I stand there for what seems like an hour. Someone bursts into the room. I hear Marco's voice, but it is distant. I can't really tell what he is saying, but it doesn't matter. He is too late. I lunge forward. My mind is made up.