The Spoken Truth

Chapter Eight: Chad Dubois

I walked up to the line of mustangs to see Clyde leaning up against the red one looking down at his phone. I thought about telling him about Maggie's new boyfriend, but then again it was a secret that I promised to keep. Clyde peeked up to see who was there.

"Oh... hey," he muttered.

"What's up?" I asked as I glanced over his shoulder to see what was so interesting.

"Nothing really," he spoke in udder sadness. I looked at him with an are you sure look.

“OK,” he said, “I guess I just don’t really know what to do next. I mean my parents are trapped in the hands of the French and my siblings can’t help—“

“But I can!” I interrupted. I was certain I could help him, but I didn’t know how.

“No, that’s not going to happen. I’m not going to put you in danger like some sort of bait.”

“Fine, I guess you’re never going to see your parents ever again…. ever,” I said walking toward my first class.

“Wait, I’m sorry.” His eyes told me the truth; he wasn’t sorry for not telling me all the facts.

“Ok, well, I have to get to class.”

I walked by myself to English, thinking of the many ways I could help Clyde. I sat beside a boy named Derrick. He was a nice kid who spoke out a lot in class. He was one of the many people who I met at the beach every summer when I came up to visit my mom. He was also a good friend of Clyde’s. They met at a surf competition.

         When English and Math were finally over it was time for lunch. I asked Clyde where he wanted to go eat today, but he said that he wasn’t feeling well.

“Is there anything else bothering you?” I was still worried that he was becoming permanently depressed.

“No,” he barked and walked to sit with his surfer friends; I followed him to the table filled with all boys and no girls what so ever. All of the boys were seniors, except for Clyde. This table was also the popular boys table so I wasn’t allowed, but Clyde convinced them that I could stay. So that day I eat cafeteria food.

By the end of the day Clyde wasn’t talking to anyone. He wanted to drive me to my house so I went to the line of mustangs after last period. He was leaning up against the red one just like this morning. I decided he needed a distraction from his deep sadness. I told him about Maggie and I asked if he knew who Chad Dubois was.

“Of course I know who he is. We went to the same training camp back in middle school.”

“So do you know a lot about him?” I asked truly curious.

“Yes, we were the best of friends until… his dad pulled him out to move to France. Which is the hated country in the spy world.”

“So he’s a spy too?”

"Yes," he said not looking up.

“What should I do? I mean Maggie can’t stay with him. Can she?” I was worried for Maggie.

“No of course not. And you can’t tell her either. We just need a way to break them up,” he kept his eyes on the road.

It was quiet the entire way home. He stopped at my house and didn’t go into the driveway. I said bye and hugged him. It was a little attempt to make him feel better. I don’t think it did, because he didn’t look at me he just kept his head down.

 I walked to my front door alone hoping that he would follow, but he didn’t. He just sat in his red Mustang looking down at his phone. I thought of more ways to cheer him up. I stopped in my path and stared around I walked back to the car and opened the driver’s seat. Clyde turned to look at me and I looked at him. I leaned in and kissed him; it was the same as the first kiss we shared. It was astonishing, mind-blowing, breath-taking, astounding. All of those things combined, and also indescribable. I loved his kisses; they always seemed enchanted with individuality. I couldn’t say enough to describe it.

         “I’m sorry, I’m just really sad. I shouldn’t take it out on you.”

         “ It’s OK. Do you want to stay?” I asked hoping he would.

         “Sure. It could help me,” His head was still down facing the ground.

“This might help,” I said smiling. I placed my fingers under his chin and lifted his head up to look at me.

We wandered inside and sat down on the couches. I made nachos and poured two iced teas with lemon.

 It was my favorite afternoon snack. It usually distracted me from the drama of school. I put the nachos on a plate and placed them on the coffee table. I arranged the coasters on the table so the drinks wouldn’t leave a mark.

“My mom won’t be home until late, so you can stay as long as you’d like,” I said gazing at my drink. It was sort of awkward; he wasn’t talking to me. So I babbled on.

“I loved lunch today. All of the guys at the table were so funny and nice,” I looked for a reaction, but there wasn’t one so I tried harder, “I sat next to Derrick today in English. He really does talk a lot. I also had a test today in History—“

“Do you know Chad personally, because if you do I don’t ever want to see you with him. Do you understand?” I looked at him with shock, but he kept his eyes on his empty glass. He sounded like my father, so strict and hard.

“Tell me what you know…. you know more. Tell me,” I pleaded.

“OK, after his dad took him away he didn’t want to stay. He wanted to go back to training. He said that he wasn’t ready for any action yet—he was only thirteen at the time. It was only a matter of time before he would be of on his first mission,” his voice trialed off in deep thought.

“Is that it,” he looked at me in a funny way, “is that all you know?”

“ OH, yes, that’s about it. That is all my dad told me about the other side. I just wanted to know what happened to Chad.”

“I understand know. Thanks for telling me,” I said smiling, this time he did smile back. It was the first time I saw him smile in a really long time. It was very reassuring.

We sat there talking about what we did today. He told me that he likes to listen to me talk. It makes him feel good to have someone talk to him and he doesn’t care if they are listening or not. So I talked about the weather and all my favorite sports—volleyball, soccer, tennis. I talked about where I grew up and who my best friends were in L.A. I talked about whom my best friends here were and I talked about my family and my cousins, aunts and uncles. It really felt good just to spill all of my information out to someone who wouldn’t do anything at all to hurt me I felt protected, I felt safe and I never wanted to be away from that feeling. That feeling was Clyde. Clyde was the one protecting me; Clyde was the one keeping me safe.