The Cold Days of Summer - Episode 11
A temporary peace from the hoods is shorter than Drew or Rick wanted, but Rick has a plan…
Previously in The Cold Days of Summer: in the alleys of Odessa Rick meets a new friend and the first days at Bonham Junior High. For all of the details see: Episode 10 of The Cold Days of Summer.
New to the story? Start here: Episode 1 of The Cold Days of Summer.
A temporary peace
Not long after meeting Rick in that alley I began to notice some annoying aspects of his personality. The most obvious one was his tendency to tell the cold, hard truth, particularly when no one, absolutely no one wanted to hear the cold, hard truth.
So it was that first Friday of the school year, just three days after we met. We were eating lunch in the Bonham cafeteria.
“You know they’re going to get even.”
“What, what are you talking about?”
“The hoods, they’re going to get even and it won’t be long. They can’t afford to not get even, and it’s gonna hurt.”
“Shit, Rick, thanks for ruining my weekend! Maybe they won’t, maybe they’ll forget.”
“Maybe it’s going to snow tomorrow.” Considering that today’s high was going to be in the 90’s, the odds were rather low that it was going to snow Saturday. “Come on, Drew, you’re not that stupid. They’re going to get even and they’ll keep getting even unless we do something about it.”
“What are you saying? Yeah, I know they’ll try to get even. Hell, why do you think I’ve haven’t slept worth a crap this whole week? But what do you mean about doing something about it?”
“What I mean is we need to be ready. In fact, we need to be thinking ahead. The good thing is there has never been a smart hood, or at least I’ve never come across one before. That’s where we’ve got the advantage. We just need to get going on it before they strike back. I’ve got an idea that just might work.”
“Rick, you’ve lost me. I don’t have the slightest idea what you’re talking about.”
“For now, leave it up to me. I only need one thing right now. I need twenty dollars. Can you get me twenty dollars?”
“Twenty dollars? Man, that’s a lot of cash. I don’t have that kind of money.”
“I don’t need it today. Next week ought to be soon enough. Let me work through an idea that’s been bouncing in my head and I’ll let you know on Monday if I still need the money.”
I had a bad weekend. I had been worrying about the hoods getting even since the incident in the alley. Now that I knew Rick felt the same way my imagination went wild. Sunday evening I rifled my Mom’s purse and took the twenty dollars Rick said he needed.
The hoods get even
Monday Rick wasn’t at school, neither were the hoods. Late that evening Rick called me.
“Drew, they got me on the way to school this morning. They got me pretty good.”
He paused for a moment, maybe he was waiting for me to say something but I couldn't think of anything useful to say. He waited a moment longer, then sighed.
“After they worked me over I made my way back home. ‘Bout scared my Mom to death when I stumbled in the back door. She took me to the emergency room. They busted a rib, broke two of my fingers, blackened both my eyes and I’m banged up all over, but I’ll live.”
“Man, what did your Mom say?”
“Never heard her use such colorful language. She would have taken on both of those hoods herself. I just told her I got jumped in the alley for my lunch money. After we got back from the hospital she called my Dad. He was pissed too. Pissed at me when he got home from work, pissed at the hoods, just pissed.”
“What did Robert do when he found out?”
“Well, even though he was stoned, he actually got worked up about it. Actually felt like I had a brother there for a little awhile. Hey, enough about me. Did you think it over? Did you get what I asked for?”
I knew he meant the twenty dollars. “Yes, I got it.”
“Good, because I’m going to put the plan in action tomorrow.”
“What’s the plan?”
“Can’t tell you. But, look, you need to watch out. The plan will take a week or more to pull off, if it works at all. Now that they’ve dealt with me, they’ll be looking for you.”
“Shit, when do you think they’ll come after me?”
“They don’t know what the word means, but they’re sadists. They want you to suffer for awhile. You’ll see them, you’ll wonder when they’re going to get you, but they’ll take their time. They want to see if you’ll crack. Hold onto your books in the hall, because they’ll try to knock them from your arms. Expect to get tripped and if I were you, I wouldn’t go to the bathroom at school for awhile. Keep an eye out and don’t let yourself get trapped in a corner.”
“Why do you think they’ll act like that?”
“Because that’s what I would do if I were them. They’re like a cat with a lizard or a bird, they want to torture you for awhile before they hurt you.”
With that he told me I would see him tomorrow and said good night. I don’t think I slept a bit that night. I’m not sure what bothered me most, the dread of the hoods or that Rick could so easily think like them.
The next morning Rick looked rougher than what I had imagined. I gave him the twenty dollars and immediately started saying prayers. Yeah, I said prayers even though I hadn't been inside a church for years and my belief in anything running this world was about zero. Hell, I was desperate and I figured it wouldn't hurt.
The next two weeks were hell. Rick was right, they enjoyed torture. One day I would be tripped walking down the hall. Another day I would have my books knocked out of my arms in the hallway. Some days I would be frogged in a crowd, one quick hard punch to my upper arm. Some days they would stare at me down the hallway, then cooly point their finger like a gun and act as if they had shot me. Every day it was something, and the weight of it all began to wear me down. Every day I asked Rick about his plan and every day he told me “Don’t ask me. You don’t want to know.” He was right, I didn’t want to know what he was going to do, I just wanted some assurance he was going to do something and whatever it was, that it would work.
Two weeks had passed since Rick had been jumped and the pressure was building. The hoods’ game was escalating and I had a feeling not another week would pass before I would get jumped hard.
Then it happened. On Tuesday, just over two weeks after Rick had been jumped it happened. Maybe the biggest thing that had ever happened at Bonham happened. Jake and the other thug were arrested at school during second period. The assistant principal found in their lockers a dime bag of marijuana, and a loaded pistol. They were shipped off to reform school and were never heard of again. They were in serious shit. Possession of marijuana was a felony and a loaded pistol at school was definitely not cool.
Rick had done something, but he wouldn’t tell me what. I kept asking and every time he would say “Don’t ask. You don’t want to know.” Week after week I asked until one day he got pissed off, looked at me, laughed and said “You can’t handle the truth.” I asked what was so damn funny. He said “One day, not for a long while, but one day, you’ll understand and I’ll think you find it just as funny as I do today.”
Fine, keep secrets from me. Do you think I care?
I do.
The next episode of The Cold Days of Summer is now available at: Episode 12: another woman disappears and Drew’s school days become a little more challenging