69 Short Stories

Part 27: (no.6) Fred the Fighter

I  pressed my knee against Brad's chest as he coughed hysterically. 

I raised my fist.

He coughed, with some blood this time.

I lowered my fist.

I stood up, re-rolled my sleeves, patted my pants and looked around at the stunned audience. 

I'm so used to the staring it doesn't matter anymore.

I flipped on my cap and gave each of the remaining ones a murderous glare before making my way out the alley.

"Ha, scared now?" Brad's voice followed. I turned around and threw a punch at the concrete wall. 

"You think?" I sneered my reply, swinging my fringe backward on the way.

Brad rolled his eyes. He opened his mouth to curse back, which led to another deep cough. Fresh bloodstains decorated the bitumen alongside a bloody spit.

 "Brad, another day," I waved my hands as I spun around to leave. 

Again, no point beating a defeated man. 

"How was school, Fred?" Maggie greeted me in the driveway. I shrugged, the bruise on the back of my neck ached. 

"I see," She answered with a sympathetic sigh. "Come over for dinner?"

I hesitated. 

Subconsciously I looked through the kitchen window for a trace of Beth or Sis. 

"I already asked Beth and Mo," Maggie sensed my hesitation and added a wink. "Plus, we're having pizza."

"Sure," I nodded. I reached out for my keys as she walked back down the driveway. 

Ha. Roomful of females. 

Beth sat next to Molly, who faced Maggie, leaving me awkwardly looking at Dean.

Molly giggled as Maggie shared a joke. She's been less and less happy recently. 

Our stepmother, Beth, on the other hand, focused on her phone as Maggie got up to get the food. In the meantime, my sister retreated to her phone as well. 

"So...Dean," I coughed, starting a conversation. 

"You were in a fight again," She looked up, her thick fringe covering her dark coloured, but deep and bright eyes. "Brad?"

"Yeah." I admitted. This girl knows me too well. Beth erected with the sensitive word 'fight' and suspiciously narrowed her eyes at me.

"Fred, I thought you said you're not going to..." I knew exactly what she's going to say before she even twitched her lips. 

"Yeah yeah," I rolled my eyes the way Brad did. "He was assaulting me, okay? Called me a bastard, loser, all those curses you can think of."

Beth fell silent. 

"Fred!" Molly swang her chestnut fringe to her left and turned to stare at me. "Why didn't you tell a teacher, or at least, tell me or...?"

Again, this is a conversation we've been through too many times. 

"You think those stupid teachers can do the slightest thing?"

"What do you mean?" Maggie frowned. She's an angelic neighbour, too naive for a 17 year old in my opinion. 

"It's a street fight," Dean answered for me. She spends enough time with Lola Hayes to know what I'm up to. "What can the teachers do with it? Throwing the punches, then what, suspended? expelled? Those people don't give a damn about school anyways!"

"But their parents?" Maggie looked at her sister as if she just realizing how unangelic her little sister is. The plate of pizza resting in her hands.

Beth looked up from her screen at the word 'parents'. I snickered in my mind. More like a computer, automatically reacting when highlighted words are mentioned. 

"Most of them don't care, to be honest," I replied, as Dean left the kitchen table towards the bathroom. 

Maggie served the pizzas, Molly and Beth thanked her as they started eating. Maggie sat down on the other side as if she didn't notice Dean's absence. 

I stopped sharp halfway through my slice and stood up. The metallic leg of the chair screeched against the tiles. I excused myself and went looking for Dean. 

"Took you long enough," Dean commented as the night breeze blew her dark hair around. I walked into the bathroom, stepped over the bathtub and onto the window sill. 

"It's much easier to get around when we were smaller," I noted, as my feet struggled to keep balance. But like I've done plenty of times before, I slid down the branch onto the main junction, where Dean sits. 

"Yeah."

We look up at the scattered night sky through the gaps of rattling leaves. It's a clear night. 

Only if everything else is as clear as the sky.

"You know the sky is much deeper than you think," Dean sighed, reading my mind. "So many stars out there that you don't know about, but yet you think it's plain and simple."

"Well, look," I crossed my arms in front of my chest. "I..."

Dean turned to look at me. Her dark eyes are plain and simple, but I know they can be deep, much deeper than they seem.

"Like you." The words slipped between my lips.

"What?"

"Nothing." I turned away.

"Is Brad still troubling you?"

"He's got no power." I snorted at the mention of him.

"Do you need a friend?"

"Friends only make it worse." I tidied my fringe. It's true, you never know when they can be used against you. 

"What about me?" Dean laughed. I turned, her face's only inches away. 

deja vu

Probably because I've been in this place with her plenty of times before. This is where she practiced her poker face as it got better and better over the years.

"You're not a friend."

the poker face.

"You're a best friend."

"Ha," she looked away. "You too."

I took the comment seriously. It's known throughout our whole primary school journey that Dean has never claimed anyone her BFF or best friend in general. 

Well, this is a change.

Back then, I didn't realize that a change can be bad as well.

  

Too weeks later, Dean and I were there when the blood escaped their vessels through the wounds......

...Maggie died.

(to be continued in the upcoming George's chapter)