Boys Will Be Boys (v.2)

chapter twenty - weird

chapter twenty — weird

I COULD HEAR THEIR LAUGHTER IN THE WIND. The temperatures had suddenly dropped, Mum whipping out the heavy blankets and shutting the windows like she was preparing for the end of the world. Mum adored the autumn, but she couldn't handle the cold too well. Sometimes she'd wear double layers of sweaters, her normally thin figure puffing out like a cinnamon-scented Michelin Man. She'd tripped in the driveway once last fall, and though the layers had protected her like a car's airbags they'd let Mum roll until the mailbox. She probably would've kept rolling too had Ms. Keisha not been following behind to drop by for some tea.

I laughed quietly to myself, the sound whispering off my lips. It sounded hollow without the normal background of my friends'.

Weird.

The metal of the fence surrounding the community court was cold and brittle this time of year. My cheek was pressed up against it, my hair plastered against my forehead in alternating sheets of sweat and strands, like a disgusting lasagna. The fence was gonna leave a mark, thick, red indents running geometrically on my face, but I didn't mind.

"Lukas! He's gonna throw up!"

Babies sounded scary when they laughed like all the air was being squeezed out of them and they were simultaneously evolving into banshees. Rooster was no different, a high-pitched, screechy squeal powering through his tiny lungs every time Lukas pushed him in the baby swing. Nadine didn't look like she would be joining the two hyenas anytime soon, her face sour and twisted up as she pulled on Lukas' shirt roughly.

She's what? Fourteen now?

Nadine wasn't big on going outside: that, I remembered. She was usually tucked in a corner with a fat book and a grim line instead of a normal kid's sticky grin. She wasn't a nerd though; Lukas had told me that they were having trouble with Nadine in school. She didn't do homework. She didn't do socializing. She didn't do school.

I would've liked her had she not told Lukas that I was a delinquent. The pot calling the kettle black. I had no idea how he could put up with that many headaches in one day.

The fence creaked slowly as I experimentally pushed more of my weight into it. It bit into my cheek a little harder, the cold starting to burn and fizzle. My basketball rolled at my feet sadly, nudging against my foot. Little bits of gravel were embedded in my knees and I slowly rubbed them off, tiny red indents mirroring the shade of those now on my face. My basketball looked lonely, and a little deflated. I left my air pump at home though, so I was resigned to putting a little more force behind each dribble to get the ball to move how I wanted it to.

I turned back to the playground, easing my cheek off the fence.

"Stop staring at him, it's creepy"

Jesus motherfucking Christ.

I jumped back, wincing as I slid on my elbows. The ground was unforgiving and my skin scraped roughly against the tiny little pebbles decorating the border of the court.

Lukas' other sister leered at me from above, a wide grin on her face. Which one is she?

One of Lukas' old baseball caps was backward in her messy hair and she clutched a basketball close to her hip. It was a girl's basketball, for kids too, small and a weird neon green color.

Hannah?

"Teach me how to do an underhand layup, jerkface"

Yeah, that's Hannah.

Lukas had six sisters and it was hard to keep track of them sometimes. They were all different, sure, but I couldn't be bothered to remember their names. I never forgot a face though.