String - 2. Sprints

“Jake, time to wake up!” my mom shouted through my bedroom door at me. I rolled myself out of bed and rubbed my eyes. Time for another day of school. Months had passed since Danny and I had had our little encounter on that late Friday night in October. Now it was early April and we were in the home stretch to finish up school after Easter break. Danny and I had both grown about an inch or two since then. I was beginning to need to shave more than once every other week. I took a quick shower and got dressed and met mom at the kitchen table for breakfast.

“Whose weekend is it?” I asked.

“Your father’s. But if he’s going to be late with your child support I’m…”

“He’s trying his best,” I said.

Mom smiled at me. “I’m glad you think that.”

I sighed. A year after their divorce and they were still fighting with each other. Only now they did it through me. I didn’t miss the fights. Things got so bad toward the end. How could two people who once loved each other hate each other so much?

I kissed mom and headed out to the street corner to catch the school bus. When we got to school, I caught up to Danny on the way to homeroom.

“What’s up, Finnegan?” he said.

“Not much, Rossi,” I replied.

“So, you remember a couple months ago when we talked about that club idea?” Danny said as we sat down in our seats in the classroom.

“Barely,” I replied. “That kinda got lost in the other stuff that happened that night.”

“Yeah… Anyway, I haven’t forgotten about it. I know things have been crazy. You’ve been doing your drama thing. I’ve been doing jazz band. But I still think it’d be a good idea. I’ll bet a lot of your drama club buddies would be interested.”

“We’re already in a club,” I replied. “You know, the drama club.”

“Don’t get smart with me, Jacob,” Danny said.

“Okay, Daniel,” I replied.

“Look, I feel bad that I dropped the ball on the whole thing when it was my idea in the first place. It’s just… You know… Me and Kayla kinda hit it off and… I didn’t mean to ditch you.”

“Well that’s nice of you to say, but considering the only time you have time for me is when she’s not around…”

“That’s not true. You’re busy too you know. I’ve called you on weekends and you’ve been busy yourself.”

“Dude, I go to my dad’s every other weekend. You know that! Besides, the play is in two weeks. Of course I’ve been busy! You could have called me any time before Easter to come hang out during break. But nothing. And if you spent all your time with Kayla that’s fine. I get it. Just… You don’t have to forget I exist just because you have a girlfriend.”

“That’s not what happened. I’m sorry you feel that way.”

“I don’t care that you’re sorry. I just want my best friend back.”

“I want that too! That’s why I think the club is so important.”

“Enough about that stupid club. The school is never going to let anyone start a club like that again. Not after what happened last time.”

The bell rang and it was time to head to our first period class. Kayla was in that class, and so that was the last conversation Danny and I would have until gym class when she went to a different class than us. I noticed that Kayla wore baggy clothes that tended to hide the very thing that Danny found so attractive about her. And here’s the thing that irritated me about the situation the most, I liked Kayla too. She was a nice person, and if she knew the way Danny was treating me because of her she would have been upset with him about it. But I didn’t want to do that to my best friend so I kept it quiet.

We dressed for gym in the locker room and our gym teacher, Mr. Williams, had us running sprints that day. Mr. Williams was ancient. I think they built the gym around him when they built the school back in the eighties. Every kid who’d come through Mon Valley High had run sprints for him at one time or another. More than one kid had fainted.

“Come on, Finnegan! You can do better than that!” Mr. Williams bellowed from his chair. “Move that behind!”

I picked up my pace and finished with a decent time. I was exhausted and leaned against the padded wall of the gym, trying to catch my breath. Danny joined me there.

“Good time, dude,” he said.

“Yeah, I’m not dead last.”

“No, Shawn will finish last, but then he weighs as much as both of us put together.”

Sure enough, Shawn waddled up to the starting line and started his effort. The floor shook as he rumbled down the basketball court to the midline.

“So, you know who else might be interested in the club? Kayla.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” I snapped.

“Dude, watch the language,” Danny replied. “If Williams hears you you’ll be running laps for the rest of the period. And yes I’m serious. She really cares about LGBT issues.”

“Oh please, gag me why don’t you,” I said.

“Why don’t you like Kayla?” Danny asked.

“I like Kayla just fine. It’s you and Kayla together that makes me want to barf.”

“What’s wrong with…”

“Rossi! Finnegan!” Mr. Williams shouted. “Enough with the lovers’ quarrel. Five laps.”

“Can he say something like that?” Danny said.

“Oh shut up and get moving before it becomes ten laps,” I said. The two of us jogged along, side-by-side. Shawn continued rumbling down the court, sweat pouring from his body like he’d been in a dunk tank

“So what’s up with you not liking Kayla and me together?” Danny asked.

“Can we not do this?” I asked. “Can we just run our laps and not fight with each other?”

“No. I want to know.”

“Okay, fine. You become a little bitch whenever she’s around.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means the moment you started going out with her you dropped me like a bad habit. And when she’s not around, all you do is talk about her. It’s annoying.”

“Rossi! Finnegan!! Less talking, more running!” Mr. Williams shouted at us. I picked up the pace, just trying to finish my laps before Danny got me into any more trouble. Danny kept pace with me.

“I don’t drop you,” Danny insisted. “I swear, you’re being a baby about this, Jacob. I’m allowed to spend time with my girlfriend.”

I stopped jogging. “I’m not saying you can’t spend time with her. Why can’t you understand what I’m saying?”

“Finnegan! Five more laps!”

“Aw FUCK!!” I snapped. Unfortunately, the whole gym heard me, and gasped.

“Forget the laps, make that detention for the rest of the day instead! Go get changed and go to the office!” Mr. Williams shouted. I glared at Danny and stormed off. I punched the wall padding on the way to the locker room. I wished I could punch Danny instead of the wall. Now my mom was going to get a phone call and there was going to be drama at home. I quickly changed clothes and was back in the gym in my school clothes just as Shawn was finishing his sprints. I threw my gym clothes in my locker and marched off to the principal’s office.

“What’s your name, son?” the school secretary asked. She looked even more ancient than Mr. Williams.

“Jacob Finnegan,” I replied.

“And who sent you here?”

“Mr. Williams sent me to detention for the rest of the day because I swore in class.”

“Well have a seat, Mr. Finnegan. Mr. Taylor will be with you shortly.”

I sat there for what seemed like decades, waiting for Mr. Taylor, the school’s vice principal to meet with me. Vice principals always get the crap that the principals don’t want to deal with, like discipline. Eventually, Mr. Tylor’s door opened and he asked me to step into his office. Mr. Taylor seemed way too young to be a vice principal. He looked like he was around thirty or so. He had his principal certification and his Master’s degree from Vanderbilt hanging on the wall, so you knew he was important.

“Finnegan… I’ve seen you around but never heard your name. First time in detention?” Mr. Taylor asked.

“Yeah,” I replied.

“It’s always a good thing when I don’t know your name, son. So what brings you here?”

“I swore in gym class.”

“And?”

“And what?”

“All you did was swear in gym class?” Mr. Taylor asked.

“I might have thought a few things about Mr. Williams, but I don’t think that’s a crime,” I replied.

Mr. Taylor laughed. “Okay, Finnegan. You’re my only detention student for now, so why don’t you just sit over there in the corner and work on your homework or something?”

I did as I was told. Mr. Taylor tapped away at his computer.

“Is this a cell phone number listed for your mother?” he asked.

“I guess,” I replied.

“And your father?”

“They’re divorced,” I replied.

“Divorced, huh?”

“Thankfully,” I replied.

“Was there trouble at home?”

“Only between the two of them. They were too busy using me as ammunition.”

“Sorry to hear that, Finnegan.”

“Jake,” I replied. “You can call me Jake if you want to.”

“Okay, Jake. Well, let’s try your mom’s cell phone and see what we get.

Mr. Taylor picked up the phone and dialed my mom’s number. He waited patiently for mom to answer.

“Mrs. Finnegan? This is Ken Taylor the vice principal at the school… Yes, the high school. I’m calling because your son Jacob… No. He’s okay. He got into a little trouble in gym class and swore in class. Yes, it’s a minor violation of the school code… No no… He’ll be in detention for the afternoon but that’s the only discipline we’re issuing at this time… Of course… No, he’ll be on the bus home as usual… No, thank you, Mrs. Finnegan. So long.”

Mr. Taylor hung up the phone and looked at me. “Did you eat lunch yet, Jake?”

“No.” I said. “Well, the next lunch period is starting soon. I want you to go down there, get your lunch and bring it back here.”

“Okay,” I said.

I did as I was told. I stopped at my locker and checked my cell phone. I had a bunch of messages from Danny and one from my mom. ‘Grounded…’ That wasn’t so bad. ‘Disappointed in you…’ Yeah, that one stung. I ignored the texts from Danny and put my phone back in my locker and grabbed my lunch in the cafeteria. I felt silly carrying my flimsy little tray through the hallway. After I ate, I did all the work I was assigned very quickly, but I regretted it when I had nothing left to do and two hours left of my detention time. Mr. Taylor didn’t even stay with me for the whole time. He left me in his office while he went to the cafeteria for lunch duty and then to his own lunch. He came back to his office to find me fast asleep and snoring because I was sleeping sitting in my chair.

“Finnegan…” Mr. Taylor’s voice roused me from my sleep.

I awoke with a start. “Oh! Sorry…”

The rest of the day went by at mind numbingly slow speed. Mr. Taylor seemed like the kind of guy who be a real hard ass if he was dealing with a tougher student, but he seemed to forget I was even there half the time. He was on the phone talking about budgets and student outcomes studies and all kinds of boring things. Toward the end, he got a call from his father. At least I assume that’s who he was calling ‘dad’ on the phone.

“So have you given any thought to my suggestion?” Mr. Taylor asked.

He continued his phone conversation. “I really don’t care, dad. This is important to me. What happened back in ’05 was… I know, but the school needs… After what happened, forgive me if I don’t hold you up as the best arbiter of character… I’m going to push for this, whether you like it or not… Whatever. See you later.”

Mr. Taylor slammed the phone down and sighed.

“Nice to see adults still get in fights with their parents,” I said.

Mr. Taylor looked at me, realizing that I’d heard what just happened. He laughed to himself. “Yes. Never work in a job where your parent is your boss.”

“If I had to work for one of my parents I’d shoot myself,” I said.

“Well, my father is very set in his ways, and unfortunately those ways have contributed to the state of things around here. But he keeps getting voted back in as school board president no matter how bad things get. I guess I know a thing or two about being used as ammunition by your parents. Anyway, I think you’ve learned your lesson for the day, Jake. Why don’t you go to your locker and get ready to go home? You’ve got fifteen minutes to yourself. Try not to get into trouble. And stop swearing in class.”

“Thanks, Mr. Taylor,” I said. He didn’t have to tell me twice. I was out of that office like a bullet. I packed my bookbag and hid from everyone until the bell rang. While I had a moment, I checked Danny’s texts. He was sorry and stuff. Didn’t mean to upset me and sorry he got me in trouble. Whatever. I was still annoyed with him.

The bell rang and I was first on my bus. My phone started buzzing as soon as school let out. I didn’t even have to look to know who it was.

“I’m not mad at you,” I said.

“I just wanted to tell you I was sorry about what happened,” Danny said. “If I’d have known you were going to be angry about Kayla I wouldn’t have even told her about the club.”

“I just hate that everything we talk about, you go and tell her about. It makes me feel like I can’t trust you.”

“Jake, you know you’re my best friend. It doesn’t matter if I have a girlfriend or not, that will never change. You know I was there for you last year when things got bad.”

“Did you tell her about what we did in the hot tub?” I asked.

“Why would I do that?” Danny asked.

“You tell her everything else,” I replied. “Have you had her down there yet? Bet she’d like it as much as I did.”

“You know what, Jake? If you’re just going to be a bitch about everything then I’m not going to try to talk to you.”

“How will that change anything?” I snapped.

“Grow up, Jake!” Danny hung up on me.

“Whatever,” I sighed.

When I got home, I cleaned my room and did the dishes and laundry. Those were my usual chores. I didn’t want to give mom any more reason to be mad at me when I got home. I was secretly hoping that Danny would call again. I was still mad at him, sure. But I missed talking to him. That was the whole problem. I missed him. I was growing to hate Kayla for taking him away from me. I needed him more than she did. I couldn’t let her take him away from me.

With my chores and homework done, I knew I had time before mom came home from work. I went to my room and stripped off my clothes. I had some hand lotion in my sock drawer. I spent twenty minutes enjoying myself, thinking back to that night after the football game in Danny’s basement. It was my usual masturbatory visual. Once I came, I cleaned up the mess with some tissues and put my clothes back on.

The house phone rang and I grabbed it.

“Your mother home, buddy?”

“Dad!” I replied. “No, she’s still at work.”

“Can you tell her I called? I’m going to be a little behind on her check this month.”

“Aww dad…” I grumbled. “You know she’s going to be pissed off now.”

“I’m sorry, Jakey. It’ll only be a few days late. Work’s been slow.”

“It’s spring. People should be buying cars like crazy this time of year.”

“It’ll pick up again soon. Tell you what, we’ll do something extra fun this weekend. Alright?”

“Dad, last time you promised that, we went to a car auction.”

“Are you telling me you didn’t have fun?” Dad asked. I couldn’t tell if he was being serious or not.

“I’ll tell mom you called,” I said.

I hung up the phone and sighed. Mom was already going to be pissed with me. Now she was going to be pissed at dad too, not that it took much. I loved my parents, but the way they treated each other… I hated that they couldn’t get along even for something as simple as a birthday party. They each had to have their own, with their own friends. You would think a kid would like having two birthday parties, but it sucked. All they did the whole time was bash each other with their friends. Oh, they thought I wasn’t paying attention, but I heard every insulting comment.

Mom had won the Rossi family in the divorce, I guess. Mom’s case hadn’t been too small for Danny’s dad. He took my dad to the cleaners, and he didn’t even charge mom for his work. Mom got the house, the car, child support, and me, except for every other weekend and holiday and two weeks in the summer. Needless to say, Danny was not welcome on my ‘dad weekends.’ And what really sucked was that mom wasn’t finished and was still going after him and trying to take away what little time dad had with me.

I guess that’s why I clung to Danny like I did. I couldn’t bear to lose him. Danny had been there for me when my world was falling apart. I needed him. I needed his talks. I needed his cute little smile when he thought of some mischief for us to get into. I wished he knew how much it hurt me when he’d dumped me for Kayla.

I grabbed my cell phone and called him. He didn’t pick up and it went to voicemail. I sighed. I sent him a text.

“Just want you to know I’m sorry about being a little bitch today.”

I set my phone down and went to the bathroom. When I came back, there was a text from Danny waiting for me.

“It’s cool, bro. 😊 Kayla and I were just talking about how we might get that club started.”

I sighed again.

“Is she with you?” I texted.

“Yeah,” Danny’s text replied. “We were just about to head to the hot tub. 😊 Wish me luck!”

“Aw, fuck you!” I said aloud. I texted him a thumb’s up emoji, even though what I really wanted to send him was a middle finger. I went to the refrigerator and made a sandwich, then I sat in front of the television and flipped through the channels.

“He’s probably trying to get her out of her shirt right now,” I thought to myself. “He’d do anything to touch her stupid tits. Fucking asshole.”

The front door opened and mom came in, carrying a few grocery bags with her.

“Hey, no television, mister,” she scolded. “I want to hear about what happened today.”

“It’s not a big deal. Mr. Williams is a senile old nut sack.”

“Your principal never did tell me what word you said. I can take a pretty good guess though. I’m sure you hear it at your father’s place all the time. You know, saying words like that doesn’t make you sound grown up. It makes you sound like you have no class.”

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t aware that our extravagant lifestyle conveyed just how fabulously wealthy and influential we are.”

“You don’t have to be a smart ass about everything. I told you things were going to get tougher with your father gone.”

“No, you said they’d get better!”

“And they would get better if he’d stop trying to get out of making his child support payments.”

“Well maybe if you’d stop suing him he’d be able to…”

“Jacob… Don’t you start again.”

“I know he cheated on you, mom, but he’s not a total monster. Your marriage died long before the divorce.”

“He didn’t just cheat on me, Jacob. You didn’t see everything. You saw what your father wanted you to see. You didn’t see the insults, the threats… He’s cheating on you every time he’s late with those payments. I can’t replace the money he made for us on my own. We got a good settlement, but he’s so inconsistent with his payments that…”

“Yeah yeah yeah…”

“I really don’t know what you want from me, Jacob. You don’t have to disagree with every single thing I say. I put up with it from your father. I won’t put up with it from you.”

“If you weren’t so stupid I wouldn’t…”

Mom slapped me in the face before I could even finish the sentence. She instantly put both her hands to her mouth, shocked by what she’d just done. I held my hand to my cheek. It took a moment to register what had just happened. Then I got pissed off.

“No no no… Jake…”

“Go to hell,” I snapped. I stormed off to my room and slammed the door and locked it. Mom followed me and I heard the doorknob rattle.

“Jacob, please! Open the door.”

I turned my stereo up to an obnoxious level and sat on my bed. I didn’t cry about it. I was too old for that shit. But I was hurt. Hurt and angry. It would serve her right if I called dad and told him what she did. But I really didn’t want to do that either. I didn’t want to play the two of them against each other anymore than they already were.

It kinda scared me to realize just how much I sounded like my dad when I’d said what I did too my mom. I’d heard those fights so many times. I’d heard the names he’d called her. I’d heard him threaten her. I never saw him hit her, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. I’d suspected he was cheating on her years before it came out. I think I was ten years old when I knew my parents weren’t going to make it. I mean, it doesn’t take that long to drive a babysitter home. By then I knew what was going on. I think mom did too, but she was in denial. By the time Mr. Rossi was through with him, there were no secrets left uncovered.

After about a half hour, I turned my music off and opened my bedroom door. I found mom in the kitchen. We didn’t even say anything, we just hugged each other and cried.

“Sorry I was a jerk,” I said.

“Oh Jake!” mom cried. “I’m so, so sorry I slapped you. I just…”

“I know,” I replied. “I forgive you.”

Anyway, after all that, I avoided being grounded for swearing in gym class. Ha ha! If all I had to do was get slapped a little bit to avoid being in trouble I’d do that all the time. It didn’t even hurt when she slapped me, it just caught me by surprise. At the end of the night, I got kissed more times than I could count as mom tried to bury her mistake with love. I returned to my bedroom and found my cell phone. Danny had texted me a ☹

“What happened?” I texted.

After a few minutes he texted me back. “She accused me of trying to get her to take off her top and dumped me.”

“Did you?” I asked.

“Well yeah, but come on! That’s no reason to dump me!”

“Sorry, dude,” I texted back. Gee, I felt really bad about Kayla dumping him… 😊

“You doing anything this weekend?” he asked.

I smiled.