Dying Wish

[34]

Midnight marked the start of November. Winter was early this year. And we had plenty to ready ourselves for. Like what? Uh, God? I'd say that's a pretty big one. Alice's interim status would end after He collected the Death Coin. It would be any day now. Still, that didn't make waiting any easier. In fact, waiting was the hardest part.

The tension of when continued to build. Toss in the sudden and strange disappearance of Alpha's 10th grade English teacher and the "gas main explosion" under the local cemetery, Alice and I were eager to put all this behind us.

Another concern occupied my mind: the upcoming volleyball game. Alice's first. I had to get her on that court. The weekend before the first game, I talked to Hannah about it. After the kickoff party. What's a kickoff party? Well, every year, football hosted a house party to celebrate the start of their season. It was the first big party of the school year. Other teams copied the idea. This year, volleyball hosted theirs on the 12th. Alice was so excited to go.

That night, I traded my invitation to the party for movie tickets. Me and my friends went. I had my reasons. Gotta love those comfy recliners. So relaxing. Usually. Not tonight. No, that night, my eyes kept pinching in the shadows. The mortars and car crashes were concussive. Someone named this movie Backlash.

Action movies never bothered me like this. I preferred them, actually.

I left the theater drained.

There were gripes about riding the train this late. We shivered coming here and that was hours ago when it was warmer. My body must've realized this, it did whatever it could to delay. My lips told them, "You guys go on ahead. I've got to use the bathroom." Kyle did, too. Peter and Aaron took the escalators up to the entrance.

Civilized bathroom etiquette is every other urinal. We followed protocol. There's nothing more soothing than squeezing the lemon. While this happened, a curious question from Kyle reached me.

"What's the deal with you and Alice?

I raised my eyebrow. Me and Alice?

"You guys fighting or what?" he added.

"Fighting?" I repeated confusedly. "I don't think so." Were we?

"Oh, all right. I'm just asking. Me and the guys were all geared up for the kickoff party. But then you called out of nowhere about going to the movies. I just figured maybe you two were beefing and needed some space."

Both toilets flushed. We went over to the sinks.

"Nah, it's not like that," I told him. Soap lathered my palms. Warm suds swirled down the drain. I explained, "Hannah's been going through a rough time lately. Alice told me her parents have been putting the clamps on her super tight this year."

"I heard that, too," Kyle said. "She barely goes out these days. I didn't see her at Halloween. Did she even go? I get it's junior year and all. Grades for college and stuff. And Hannah's aren't exactly the best. But still. Feels kind of cruel locking your kid down like that."

If only he knew the half of it. I did. From Alice.

Part of Alice's job was to Facetime her best friend whenever things got rough. Sometimes, those calls lasted hours. See, Emily continued to refuse her future. There was no way this could go on forever. Soon the college would rescind Emily's admission. The prospect of this made Hannah's parents, how should I put this? Uncomfortable. I would've been jealous if it wasn't so strangling.

That's why I skipped the party. I knew Alice wanted to be with her favorite teammate. Outside of school, that is. Away from the court. They still had volleyball. Thank God universities loved extracurriculars and athletics. Otherwise, Hannah's beloved team would've been chopped. That would've been our fault. Mine and Alice's. Giving those two a night alone was the least I could do to make amends.

See, many suspected what happened on the Fourth of July would've been enough to make Emily quit being a police officer. Seeing her partner get shot would spook anybody, especially a well-bred rookie like her. Instead, the incident and Stan's subsequent death, emboldened her. I imagined that being tough for Hannah. Being proud of her sister and dealing with the ramifications of Emily's guts.

Tonight would be a perfect example of Hannah's dilemma. I found out the party was over from Alice's text. Well, the party was over for her, Hannah and two other girls on the team. They all were piling into a borrowed station wagon and driving to Hannah's. They had to sneak her back in. I had a light bulb moment.

"Kyle, hold up," I said. "Let me see if I can get us a ride."

"Clutccch," he cheered. "I'll tell the guys."

Kyle left. I started to type.

Me: Can you pick us up?

Alice: From the movies?

Me: It's cold

Me: As hell

Alice: I'll ask

Alice: Give me a sec

Seconds later. PING!

"All right, they're coming."

The instant those words escaped my lips, several coughs followed. Dry and raspy, there was an achy burn in my chest. I kept a fist to my lips, despite being alone in the bathroom. Flu-season was here. If only that's what this was. I ended up hunched over a sink, hacking. I looked down. A sticky red glop was on my tingling knuckles. This was only the beginning. 

More splatter stained the sink bowl, in the spots beyond the reach of the hissing water. I splashed the fluid around to clear away as much as possible. The coughing was gone but left behind was a bouncing chest and tired eyes. I palmed this face in the mirror, to get the dizziness to go away. Both hands went back on the granite countertop, to keep myself propped up. Not good. Not again.

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