Rebels Never Smile

Elvis

Elvis: Realization

I met the boys by the burger joint along with Gene and his date. Her name was Paris and I was glad that Gene had found a girlfriend, after all he had been protecting his brothers all these years, the guy deserved a break. As we were walking we saw Junior walking towards us, his jacket filled with beer bottles. "Damn, I'm tired. I jus walked from the store to here with all them bottles." The other boys happily took some from his hands and all stuffed it in their jackets. Beer ain't allowed in the theaters.

Just as we were about to enter the theaters I glanced up and saw June. She looked so beautiful in her dress. It was simple but complimented her body dearly. I couldn't help but stand and stare as George grabbed my shoulders and forced me back into reality. " Hey man, hurry up or we gonna miss the beginning." And I shrugged and snorted. I walked in and saw that the rest of the crew was sittin in the back. I sat with them but a seat away from the closest guy. I wanted to sit alone and the others respect that. I saw the girls enter the theater, and another girl joined them, that girl I think her name was Skylar, she got a real nice ass. They sat in the front and I kept tryna look over at June. She sat in the middle left. She was so pretty every time she smiled in the dark. I was sort of jealous that she smiled every time James came on screen. Even if he is my favorite actor.

The scene where James was protecting himself from the hoodlums, the crowd got real rowdy, cheering so loud that the girls got uncomfortable. I wanted to tell them to be quiet but that wasn't possible. They was all drunk. I could see Paris and Gene hugging in the corner, not bothered at all by the noise.

I hadn't noticed that the movie had ended, mostly because I didn't hear it. We started leaving when I noticed that the girls had disappeared. I hadn't even seen them leave. We all filled out and Gene walked Paris home. Most of the boys went home and I stayed behind to hang out with George. It was clear he was drunk and didn't know what he was doing so I took him home. Last I saw him, his mama was telling him she was tired of him coming home drunk in the middle of the night.

I walked home in the darkness with my hands in my pocket. All the stores were closed and most of the lights burned out. As I was passing an empty lot, I heard screams. It wasn't a normal scream. It was a scream that a very frightened and terrified person makes. I hurried, walking towards the sounds and it was coming from an alley. There was pearls in the street, very much like the ones I saw on June. "JUNE." I whispered in terror. There in the darkness, was June with her dress up to her waist, her face sweating and unconscious. The man behind her was none other than Junior, who had walked home 20 minutes ago.

Suddenly, fury I had never known overcame me and I screamed his name. " Junior! Stop!" And I pushed him away from her. She slumped to the floor and I tried to walk towards her when a fist connected to my mouth. Junior had gotten back up and punched me in the mouth. I hit him back but he hit me in the stomach. I dropped to my knees when he kicked my face. I fell to the ground, my head throbbing. Junior advanced towards her once again and I tried to get up. Junior had his pants around his knees and was touching June. I don't know if it was from the fear or from the anger but I stood up once again and advanced towards Junior. Distracted, he didn't see me behind him and I punched his temples. He landed on the ground but unsatisfied I kicked his nose down to knock him out. Tired, I fell to the ground trying to catch my breath.

Over my struggle to breathe, I heard June whimpering. She was calling her for her daddy. I walked over to her, and pushed her hair behind her ear. I pulled her dress down, not looking at it and her dress was muddy, or was that blood? I put her in my arms and carried her. She wasn't as heavy as I imagined but her weight was enough to make me groan. My back was hurting. I was almost home when I heard someone call " June!" Her father came running and took her from my arms. They immediately felt empty. I kept my head down. Her mother and the girl, Lady came out of the house. He ran in the house with her and all the while, they were crying and yelling. I walked to her doorway and everything was still the same from the last time I was here.

I felt hands around the collar of my shirt. " Who are you? Give me one good reason why I shouldn't take you to the cops right fucking now!" He grabbed me roughly and threw me out of his house. By now, most of our neighbors were outside and from the corner of my eyes, I saw daddy with mama in his arms, mama trying to run to my rescue as always. I got up, wiped the blood from my mouth and walked slowly towards him. In a harsh whisper I told him " I helped her. And I helped you. So your welcome." I turned to walk away when I heard him say " You little-", he again grabbed my collar and was about to punch me when we both heard " STOP!"

There in the doorway was June. She had a bruise on her forehead and had a blanket covering her. Relief washed over me and almost immediately I wanted to walk to her and ask her if she was okay. She wiped her tears away and walked towards me. Her dad moved out of the way as she stood almost an inch away from me. Slowly, she opened her arms, and wrapped her arms around my back. Her blanket was now covering both of us and she was a little warmer than one should be. "Thank You." She whispered softly. It was so soft I could barely hear it, but if there was ever a softer voice, I wouldn't have ever known. She then let me go without looking at me and walked back into her house.

I then turned around and walked up the stairs to hide my tears. On the second stairwell, I was overwhelmed and I just fell. My feet wouldn't listen but the tears came. I don't care if somebody sees me. All I could think about is how much I care about June. How scared I was when I saw her unconscious. How angry I felt when Junior was touching her. How relieved I was to see her standing there, in the doorway. And how absolutely perfect her body felt, pressed against mine, like her arms were made for me. All I could think about was how much I care about June. All I could think about was how I had no clue, how much I loved her. How much I loved June.