Chapter 6B

Alex woke up praying to God that it would be a better day than yesterday, which was great up until he got a handful of Emily's breast, without her wanting him to. But it also was a banner day for Henry as he started to come out of his shell. Things were just looking up for him.

A quick breakfast with his Mom and Alex was off to his morning workout. As he finished up, he followed it by a good run with Henry, who was still high from the previous day. Everything was going great until they ran into Stevie and Frankie coming around the corner on the way to Henry's house.

Stevie looked to Alex and back to Henry as a big grin broke out on his face. "Well lookie here, Alex the POS and Fat boy. Man it doesn't get any better than this. So, Frankie, feel like kicking some ass?"

Frankie looked between Alex and Henry "Not today Stevie, we got some business to take care of. So Henry, consider yourself lucky."

This was getting to much thought Alex "You fuck with Henry, I'll kick your ass."

Stevie looked at Alex and laughed. "Any time POS, any time. Henry, nothing is gonna save you."

"What the fuck do you have against Henry?" screamed Alex.

"Fat boy got Frankie suspended before the end of the year. That gets him a beating."

Henry yelled, "He was picking on some sixth graders, so I told the teacher. And then he called the teacher a bitch and got suspended. He would have been fine if he kept his mouth shut!"

"Fuck you Henry! You should have kept your mouth shut, it was none of your business!"

"That kid was my cousin, so it was my business, asshole!"

Alex, Frankie, and Stevie were all taken aback as Henry found his voice, it was shaky and there was still a slight nervousness to it, but nonetheless it was there. And as the words came out his stance changed from one of cowering to one of defiance, almost threatening.

"Oh ho, Henry got some hair on them balls, to bad we don't have the time to kick'em in. Later, Henry. You too, Alex, we'll be seeing you around. Come on Frankie," said Stevie, as he began walking away.

"Catch you later Henry, watch your back, Alex," called out Frankie as he followed.

Alex and Henry watched the two walk away for a few moments before Alex jumped in, "Henry! I'm shocked! Such language! Good for you. Just watch yourself, those two dick heads are looking to hurt you."

Henry didn't look at Alex, he just kept watching the two walk away before finally saying, "Alex, you get me into all kinds of shit. First the girls, and now this."

Alex was stunned, all he did was try to help Henry with his confidence talking to girls, and the stuff with Frankie and Stevie had nothing to do with him. "Henry, I... I don't know what to say. Whatever I did, I did it to help you, you got to believe me"

"Oh I do, Alex, but shit seems to follow you wherever you go. And right now, right NOW, I'm not sure I need this. I mean right now I just want to enjoy life and not have to worry about girls and fighting and any other shit you get into. Shit, I'm just a kid!"

Alex had enough, "No Henry, you're more than that, you just hadn't realized it yet. You see, fear is a fucked up thing, and letting it control your life is what you're doing. So you get your ass kicked, every one gets their ass kicked, you, me, Mr. Wagner, everyone. What you need to do is grow up and face it, face the choice you made when you stuck up for your cousin, be the young man that you can be, not the scared little boy that you are acting like."

"Fuck you, Alex!" screamed Henry.

"You see! That's what I talking about! Stand up for yourself. Don't let fear control you!"

Henry looked Alex in the eye and replied in a cool voice, "You know what, Alex, you're right. And I'll start right now." Henry brought up his hand and extended his middle finger. He turned slowly and walked away.

Alex watched Henry in stunned silence. What did he do to piss Henry off, he thought? Henry was pissed and he didn't know what to do about it. He hated that Henry was mad at him, he was pissed that Stevie and Frankie had been after Henry and him, and he was really pissed that he had to watch his back because of these two assholes. He found himself walking past the Dojo and saw Keith getting ready for class. That's when he got the idea. He turned towards the class and went inside.

Seeing Keith putting on his sparring gear Alex approached him slowly, putting together the words in his mind before he spoke to Keith. "Keith, how you doing?" asked Alex.

Looking up Keith smiled "Alex, so what do we owe the pleasure of your company?"

"I wanted to talk to you about Stevie, Frankie, and Henry."

"Talk away then," as he went back to preparing for sparring.

"Is there any way you can persuade them from kicking the shit out of Henry?"

"Nope, no can do. Henry got himself into it, and Henry is the only who can get himself out of it."

"So, not even a consideration? Maybe a favor?"

Keith looked Alex in the eye and said coldly, "No."

Alex looked long and hard at Keith thinking what was it with him and the other two, it didn't make sense because Keith wasn't like them. Finally losing hope Alex said "What is it with those two?"

Still not looking at Alex Keith replied "That is none of your concern, Alex."

Thinking back to something Jennifer said Alex replied "Was it something to do with your neighbor Gary McKenney?"

Before the last name was out of his mouth Keith was up in Alex's face. This though was not what startled Alex, it was the look of pure hatred that shone from the eyes of a deranged maniac previously known as Keith.

Through gritting teeth Keith spate out "Ok chief, there are only two words that I expect from you, Yes or No. A yes means you will no longer mention that name or bring up in any way shape or form ANYTHING that pertains to said name. A NO means that I will dedicate my life to making yours as painful as possible. Got it Chief?"

The adrenaline began flowing through Alex's veins, infusing itself within his muscles which were begging for the call to release. He began to feel the tingling in his arms and hands, the oh, so familiar feeling the came before sparring. Straining to keep control of his will that begged for its violent release quietly and calmly Alex responded, "No."

Keith slowly backed away from Alex, never losing eye contact until he was back to the bench where he started from. Alex still feeling the effects of the adrenaline flowing through him began a calming routine he used after sparring, allowing the tingling feeling to dissipate. Bringing his attention back to Keith, Alex watched as he finished dressing, and noticed a barely imperceptible shaking of his hands. It seems this confrontation impacted Keith much more than it had Alex.

But Alex wasn't going to let it end this way. He slowly made his way to Keith, scraping his foot on the floor, a silent signal to Keith that he was approaching. Alex bent down and whispered into Keith's ear "Next time you get in my face like that you'll be eating through a feeding tube, CHIEF. Consider this a 'get out of jail free' card." With that, Alex turned his back to Keith and walked away.

Keith chuckled, "We'll see chief, we'll see."

Alex didn't bother to look back, he knew that there would be no retribution from Keith, if anything he would come at Alex face to face. Somehow Alex felt that Keith was incapable of sucker-punching him.

The walk home was silent and reflective for Alex. He racked his brain on what to do about Henry, but because he couldn't figure out what Henry was mad at him about he didn't know what to do. How could he apologize for something when he didn't know what he had done? He couldn't think of what to do next, and as he walked home he became more and more agitated.

He walked in the door and kissed his mom before heading upstairs to change to go into the pool. He dove in and swam from one side of the pool to the other, underwater. The water was refreshing, a calming effect that he allowed to overtake his body as he broke the surface and began to do laps. His mind, now free from the thoughts of the past day, drifted from one failure to another, the date, Henry, and Keith.

He tried to push these thoughts from his mind but inevitably they all came back. After an hour in the pool Alex got out of the pool and lay down on the chaise lounge.

Slowly all thoughts fled his mind as he drifted off to sleep in the warm afternoon sun. Imperceptible thoughts and fragments of past realities floated past him in his dreams. Back to those times of simple reasons and ever-flowing friendships from dearly missed boyhood adventures. He found himself back at his old home watching himself Neil, Garry, Joe, Lisa, and Megan laughing and playing in the backyard. As he looked around, he clearly remembered the time, the summer before the start of eighth grade.

His Mom came out of the kitchen carrying a picture of cool refreshing lemonade and several glasses for them as they stopped for the welcome refreshment. The playing died down but the laughter kept coming, which brought a smile to Alex's face.

"Do you remember these times fondly, Alex?"

Surprised Alex looked around but was unable to determine where the voice came from or whom it belonged to. Giving up looking for it he responded "Yes, I remember. These were the best of times. I wish I could go back."

"Why would you do that?" it said in a surprised voice. "Why would you go back to the past when there is more for you in the future?"

Choking up a little Alex responded "Because I miss these times. I miss my friends, I miss Lisa."

"Silly boy, Lisa is right here with you, and she will always be with you. But what you don't realize is that there are new friends all around you, they are there for you as you are for them."

"No you're wrong, they hate me."

And then everything stopped and got quiet. Movement to his right caught the attention of Alex as a somber Lisa began walking towards him. "Do you know me, Alex? It's been a long time? Do you still remember me?"

"What? How could I ever forget you Lisa!" he cried.

She looked down at her feet and asked, "What if you lived to be a hundred years old, and had a million friends, would you forget me?"

"No Lisa, never," he said shaking his head.

Still looking away from him she asked, "Did we ever fight Alex? Did we ever get mad at each other?"

Alex looked away from Lisa and softly said, "Yes, we did, Lisa."

Lisa's hand touched his face and brought his face to see hers, "Did we forgive each other?"

With tears in his eyes he said, "Yes."

And with a smile, Lisa said, "Then your new friends will forgive you."

Alex shook his head, "No, they won't Lisa."

"Oh Alex, have I ever steered you wrong?" she said pleadingly.