Chapter 13: Cindy

It was now the second week of November. Larry had caught up with his schoolwork after his temporary withdrawal from Morehead High School. On this morning, Barry was walking to school on his own, because Larry was going to a medical appointment.

He turned the final corner on his route and discovered Cindy, a 12 year old middle school student, sprawled on the sidewalk. She was crying and bleeding from a gash on her leg; she had apparently tripped and fallen into a ragged steel fence.

“Oh, I see you’re hurt, can I help? My name is Barry Milton, what’s yours?”

“Cindy, Cindy Lopez. I was going to school and I fell—my leg!”

Another girl came rushing up. Barry recognized Diane, a member of his high school class.

“Cindy, I’m Diane Moore, you were going to Emerson?”

(Emerson Middle School was located inside the same school district property as Morehead High, their front doors were a few hundred steps apart from each other.)

“Tell you what, Cindy. I’m going to carry you the rest of the way to Emerson, it’s not that far, so they can take care of you in the office. Diane, would you bring her bag with us please?”

“Carry me?”

“Sure, piggyback. Promise you won’t laugh at me. Diane, not you, either.”

He smiled at Cindy and waggled his finger at Diane, playfully.

“Get on my back, put your arm over my shoulder, the other through my armpit, and grab your hands together so your arms make a circle. I’ve got your legs, that’s right, here we go.”

Barry rose up to a standing position and began striding towards the door of Emerson School with Diane trailing behind them.

“Cindy, did somebody push you into that fence?”

“No, I just tripped, the sidewalk there is all broken and uneven.”

“I see. I guess we need to sue the city, then. What’s the name of your lawyer?”

“My lawyer? I don’t have a lawyer!”

“You don’t? Why not?” asked Barry.

In her best “how can you be so silly” voice, Cindy said, “Because I’m 12, Barry.”

“Oh. When I was 12, my mom said I should be a lawyer. Do you know why? Because, she said, I argued over everything!”

“You know, Cindy, since the sidewalks here are so bad, I think you should start driving to school instead. That might be safer.”

“You’re crazy. I can’t do that!”

“Why not? Don’t you have a license?”

“You already forgot, I’m 12. Diane, what’s wrong with this guy?”

“I’m not sure. Besides, he also forgot to ask you, ‘Do you have a car?’ Even if you have a license, you need a car in order to drive. Everybody knows that.”

“If both of you go to this high school, maybe I need to go somewhere else. You two don’t understand anything!”

“Oh, look, here we are. Now, which way is the office?”

A few minutes later, Diane and Barry were walking between the schools. After Cindy was relinquished, Diane had wisely asked for written notes excusing them for arriving late.

“Barry, that was smart how you had your hand over the laceration in Cindy’s thigh to stop the bleeding while you were carrying her. Plus all that silly patter to distract her from the pain. Well done!”

“Thanks. I was thinking of my little cousin Chelsea. And, I noticed you joined into my little comedy distraction routine as well, with the car. Thank you for that.”

“Wait a minute, I know who you are. Don’t you always hang around with that guy Larry, uh, Larry Mason?”

“That’s right. Larry and I have been best friends for years.”

“He was gone for a few weeks, and now he’s back. What is that about?”

“Oh, that’s a long and unbelievable story. You wouldn’t be interested.”

“Barry, they are making us read about fifteen hundred pages on the fucking Roman Empire. Instead, you can tell me about Larry Mason. I’m going to find you two at lunch today, and you’re going to explain.”

Diane then turned and walked away. Barry studied her retreating figure and smiled. In her middle teens, she was average in every way: medium height and weight, moderately curvy. She might have been bra-less judging by the motion going on under her shirt. Barry allowed himself a momentary fantasy of holding her tit, fitting into his hand perfectly.

What really drew his attention was her face. When she smiled at Cindy with her blue eyes he had to pause for a minute. She was so pretty; he felt an almost magnetic attraction.

“I hope she will smile like that at me,” he had thought.