18 Weeks of Twoey - 16. Week Three Tuesday September 16, 2014: Crime and Punishment

We have to be prepared to conquer fate.

I read the whole first half of Crime and Punishment today. Fitting, I guess. Anyway, I had to keep a list of all those big Russian names and who they were in the story. I mean, I can keep Raskolnikov and Sonya Marmeladov straight. But then Svidrigailov, Petrovich, Lebezyatnikov? Well, you get what I mean. Maybe if you're Russian. Anyway, I started giving them nicknames like 'Sid' and 'Pete' and 'Lee' only to keep them in my head better, and I hated fucking nicknames!! Jeesh!

Anyway, I was taking notes. You never know when you might need stuff in the next couple of years. It could save me a lot of time as a junior or senior. I always did this with important books. Like a good little Boy Scout, David was always prepared ...haha!

I also spent a lot of time trying to physically work out. I wasn't allowed to run and I’d get feeble lying around all week. Every hour I did a few sets of push-ups and sit-ups. I tried some isometric stuff cuz I couldn’t find anything in my room as a substitute for weights. Running in place was boring. At least I built up a little appetite, so I ate the tuna sandwich she delivered, even if it was made on chemical bread.

Finally XCountry practice must have ended cuz I heard Gary downstairs, showing up with my assignments. Tommy’s mother wouldn't let us talk because--I'm on total grounding or something! She delivered them to me up here in my cell. Anyway, as I was looking over these stapled sheets of my assignments, one was simply a big note to me from Gary. I guess he knew we wouldn't be able to talk. He sent the News of the Day, as he titled it. Gary's super cool!

News of The Day

1. Twoey is OK. He’ll live. He only got a split lip. You can go back to hating him. HAHA!

2. Biggy only has a few bruises and the football guys say he’s OK too.

3. The football guys have been texting Biggy telling him he was being an ass. According to Larry Lewis, they’re trying to clean up their image and Biggy is setting the program back. Not from your fight but from the bullying they say he did to cause the fight.

4. You seem to have a friend in Larry Lewis.

5. Kathy is proud of you standing up for your friend Twoey.

6. Greg told Kathy she has a real special boyfriend who isn't afraid of anything when honor is at stake.

7. Kathy can’t wait for Saturday night and your next date at the movies.

8. Nels said this time he and Lauri will double date with you guys.

9. They’re all hoping you can spend the whole day doing stuff, and end up at the movies. I guess a lot will depend on when you get un-grounded.

10. So don’t do anything to piss off your mother!

11. Mr. Burch wouldn’t give me your assignments. He said you wouldn’t really be punished if you could sit home and do your work. I guess you’ll get them all at once from him when you’re back.

BOYFRIEND???

I was starting to feel sick. Without being able to be there to end this non-relationship or even say anything, it was going to be created for me. This wasn't really very good. Not good at all! It was horrible--out of control! I was certainly out of communication with everyone. Well, I’ll have no choice but to deal with this shit as soon I return to civilization. I fully intend to deal with it. No more worrying about anyone’s hurt feelings!

I was glad Biggy only had a few bruises. I never had any problems with him in the past. I even felt a little guilty. He probably hated me now too.

Larry Lewis is the quarterback and captain of the team. I have a friend in Larry Lewis?

Fuck Burch. I know how to read and prepare. I suppose it would make for a lot of writing when I get back. He’ll probably give me like only one night to get it all finished too. Don't worry fucker, you'll get yours. I can make you look like the idiot you are.

Well, so much for today's News of the Day. Back to Dostoyevsky. Nah, I think I'll give him a rest until tomorrow. I'll do my assignments instead. But first lots more push-ups and sit-ups. Now I had a ton of aggression to work off. Gary’s news had me way too worked up to read anyway. Fuck! Fuckfuckfuck!!

I was sitting on the floor, wiping my sweaty head with my shirt when Tommy stuck his head in the door.

“Hey brother, sucks to be total-grounded! I don’t think you ever been plain grounded before!”

And the little fucker laughed before he said, “It’s OK, I been total-grounded lots ...you’ll recover. Hey, you’ll be glad to know the fight is bouncing all over middle school! My friends say my brother is badass. I’m proud of ya!”

OMG what kind of a reputation was I getting?

Of course, one of the worst things about being grounded was not being able to go to Kory’s for real food. She didn’t even care when she came up to retrieve my virtually untouched plate. After my near brush with dinner, Dad came in and had a private little talk with me about the fight. He also explained to me a bit about adrenaline and what it does to your body. Now I think I get why it was hard for me to remember the details of what happened. At least he sort of understood, although I never could understand the guy much. I mean how he thinks.

Twoey

“The plan’s already in motion!” He was crowing during our morning run.

“Gary, you’ve gotta be careful! What if David doesn’t want a relationship with Kathy. Did you ever think of that?”

“Don’t be stupid! Of course he does. He’s been complaining to me about not having a girlfriend for a month now. Kathy’s pretty, he likes her, she obviously likes him, this is only natural. We’re simply pushing him along a little. You know how he is. He’ll over-think this thing to death before he even gives her a first kiss. Nah, he wants this, but he’s plainly too shy to even get out of the gate.”

No way was I going to be able to change his mind.

A terrible thing happened as I walked into math today. Terri entered right behind me. She mentioned the fight and checked out my injury, but I didn't think that's what she was doing at all. She was hitting on me. Her hands were all over my body as she examined my face. She even told me I should find someone to kiss, to make my lips all better! Oh God! All I needed was another football player to be mad at me! Especially a junior! Sitting down, I put my head right into the math book and started to read. I didn’t even dare look at her! Maybe without the distraction of David next to me I'd be able to do better in math, but I didn’t need the distraction of Terri!

It was rather hollow in school today without David. I could see now how much of the vibe of the lunchroom revolved around him. You know, just when he was opening up to me and even invited me to his room and really talked to me, suddenly he’s grounded and on ice for a whole week. We’ll probably be back to square one when he returns next week. And speaking of ice, Danny is definitely playing it cool with me, almost cold. Maybe he got some of the hate out of his system Saturday and doesn't need me anymore. Whatever. I didn't know if my body could take too much Danny anyway. He was too strong! But I couldn't help the feeling I was falling for the little redhead. No, who am I kidding? It’s not a feeling ...I was!

Erik reminded me tomorrow was Wednesday. I think I've recovered enough to have a little 'Erik time.' In a way, I sort of missed him. The groping in gym didn't count. We could only go so far in there. Poor Matty was like a dog who lost his toy. I tried to talk to him a bit more at lunch. Danny looked pissed off with everyone at lunch.

I wondered if Danny was pissed off at me because I didn’t come out as clearly against Gary and Nels as he had. He’s gotta realize I have no influence, being the outsider. Look how much luck I had with Gary this morning! Maybe it would be different if it was next year or something, but I’ve only been here like two weeks! I didn’t really get to vote on stuff. But I knew they’re wrong and might even hurt David in some way. I was briefly tempted to find a way to interfere with their dangerous little plot, without them knowing. Ungh--bad idea; it even gave me the chills. It could become even more dangerous. I could cause endless problems between me and these guys if I tried and something backfired. No, the more I thought about it, the more convinced I was I’d have to be a sad witness to a slow-motion train wreck. It depressed me.

In gym, Matty had no partner. Mr. Cyrnn teamed him up with Erik in helping teach me the wrestling unit for the week. I can’t tell you how much more enjoyable this unit was now. I wished Matty would give up on David and maybe devote a little of his attention to me. I think I’d like to get to know him a little better. No, I’m certain I wanted to get to know him a little better. It would give me three boys to play with every week. I bet I’d get a lot of needed practice then!

I sat in the stands to watch XCountry practice, and got a lot of homework done. No David to ogle and Erik had to go right home after school. I simply did homework and quietly walked home with Gary. Maybe I should have asked Matty to join me in the stands. I wonder if he knew about the secret place?

I have a filthy mind. Was I becoming a slut?