Chapter 18: My Homecoming Date

Mrs. O'Toole called in for Molly on Tuesday, too. Josh told me that Molly was feeling better, but she didn't want to come to school limping so badly, so she wanted to wait until Wednesday. I had the feeling that she also didn't want to face Joey or Jilly, either, and I couldn't blame her. All the Bulls were walking around the school hallways like puffed-up peacocks, telling tall tales of glory and conquest to any fool that would listen.

Josh also said that he wanted us to meet again at his house, after dinner. He was hoping that Molly would talk to all of us about what she wanted to do.

Jake and I got over to Josh's house around seven that evening. Tessa and Austin were already there, and Andrea pulled up and parked behind Jake's car, just as we were knocking on the front door.

Josh and Molly were sitting in the family room together. They had a fire going in the fireplace, and it warmed and cheered the room, a nice change from the rainy, cold evening. Molly was wearing a heavy sweatshirt and baggy cotton pants, almost like pajama bottoms. She kept her arms crossed, hugging herself, as if she was cold. Fuzzy slippers with bunny faces were on her feet.

Mrs. O'Toole came in and offered sodas and chips, and then discreetly left us to work on how we were going to get Molly back to school safely.

Andrea came in after hanging up her jacket, and walked over to the couch, where Molly was sitting. She put her arms around her, hugging her. I could see Molly tense up a little at the touch, but then she relaxed, and gave Andrea a weak hug in return.

"How are you feeling, Moll?" I asked. Her right eye was a rainbow of colors, red and blue and black and purple, but there was not much swelling. She gave me a small, sad smile, a smile that only barely touched her eyes, but she only gave me a slight shrug in reply.

We all settled down on the floor, loosely surrounding Molly and Josh on the couch.

Josh began the discussion. "We need to set up a schedule among us, so that Molly will be accompanied by a friend all day at school, from class to class." He glanced at a pad of paper in his hand. "Molly and I have listed the classes that she has with all of you guys, and I think this can work. I'll bring her to school with me, and I can be with her to her first class. Tessa, if you could meet her after her first period class, you can walk with her to second period, since you're in the same class. Then, Sean can pick her up and take her to math. Okay? After math, Tessa will meet her again, and I will take over from her. Andrea and I will stay with her during lunch, and then Andrea will walk her to the next class. Jake, can you meet them then?"

And so it went, until we had Molly accompanied for the whole day. All during the discussion, Molly just sat there, silent and looking inward, paying us little mind.

"Okay," continued Josh, "that will work for the whole day. Andi and Tessa will come home with her, and that will be that." He handed out tentative schedules for each of us.

"This weekend will be harder, because of Homecoming, but if we need to add people to help out, I'm sure we can find plenty."

"Molly?" Tessa touched her friend on the knee to get her attention. "Are you going back to cheerleading practice at all this week?"

Molly shook her head slowly. "I... I don't know," she whispered. "Do you think I should?"

"Yes, I do," said Tessa emphatically. "I'll stay there with you, and get you home afterwards."

"And I can be there, too," said Andrea. "I think you should, too, Moll. The activity will do you some good."

"Okay," said Molly quietly. "If you think I should..."

"There will be a lot of kids and adults around for the parade and the game on Saturday," said Josh, "but I'm kind of worried about after the game. Jake and I are on the team, so we can't be with her."

"That's okay," said Andrea. "Tessa and I," and she looked over to see Tessa's nod of confirmation, even before she finished her own thought, "we'll be there, right by her side. Okay, Moll?"

Molly looked at her and nodded, even though she looked a little scared, just thinking about it.

"And we'll bring you straight back home," finished Tessa.

"But right after that, we might have a problem," said Andrea. "We've got appointments to get our hair done for the Homecoming Dance. Josh, will your parents be home then?"

"Hey," I said, "why don't you see if you can get an appointment for Molly at your salon?"

Molly glanced over at me, and then looked down again. "But I'm not going..."

"You aren't going to want to spend Homecoming Saturday stuck at home with your parents, Molly, are you?" I asked. "You'd probably feel safer at the dance, with lots of kids around you, than you would by yourself here. Besides, I don't have a date, either, so we can go together."

That earned me another glance, this one with some pain in it.

"That's not a bad idea, Porter," said Josh. "What do you think, Molly?"

She took a big breath, and, keeping her head down, said, "If you think so, Josh, I guess it's okay with me."

And, just like that, I found myself with a last-minute date for Homecoming.

On Wednesday, we carried out our plan. Josh walked Molly into school, and right to her first class. The rest of us were there, also, for moral support, and she looked like she needed it. She was very nervous, and kept glancing around anxiously, perhaps checking faces in the crowd for Jilly or Joey or any of the other Bulls. As we got to the door of her first-period class, she turned, and with tears glistening in her eyes, thanked us all.

"I don't deserve to have you guys as friends," she said, her soft voice wavering. She turned to Josh. "And I don't deserve to have a brother like you, Josh. I love you." She looked back at Tessa, Austin, Andrea, Jake, and me. "I love you all so much." With that, she turned and she walked to her desk in the classroom.

Tessa followed her into the room, knelt down next to Molly, and said quietly, "After class, you can just wait right here. I'll come for you as soon as I can. Okay?"

Molly nodded.

Surprisingly, the day progressed pretty much as Josh had planned. I met Tessa and Molly after second period in the hall, and Molly and I walked to our math class together. Looking at us, you would have probably thought we were just another couple of high-school kids, but a closer examination would have revealed two flawed, wounded people, leaning on each other for support and comfort.

By the end of the day, everybody in school knew what we were doing, and rumors of how Molly got her black eye were running rampant through the hallways. Nobody confirmed or denied anything anybody told us, or asked of us. Our story was that Molly needed a little assistance because she was recovering from an illness, and that was all we had to say about it. Even though we heard some pretty outlandish rumors that day, all the stories and all the attention paid to Molly and her escorts kept Jilly and the rest of his gang away from her all day long.

The next afternoon after lunch, I was walking through the crowded halls to a class when I saw Joey Amonte, Vinnie Arilio, and Harold Barnes swaggering toward me. Unfortunately, they saw me, too, and Joey grabbed me and shoved me back against a bank of lockers. His forearm was tight against my neck, lifting me up onto my toes. I could feel a combination lock digging into my lower back.

"Hello, Porter," Joey said quietly. He was leaning close to me, and his nauseating halitosis washed over me like a breaking wave of onion and garlic water.

"Let me go, asshole," I gritted.

"Asshole?" He turned to Harold, leaning insolently against the lockers to my right, blocking the view from casual eyes. Vinnie took up a similar position on my left, effectively boxing me in. Joey leaned his arm in a little harder against my throat. "You ain't in no position to be tossing out ugly names, Porter."

He had a point there, but I was having a little trouble breathing, so I couldn't answer him.

"What are you and your pussy friends doing with my girlfriend, Porter?" he asked. He loosened his grip just a little, enough for me to take a ragged breath so I could explain our actions to him.

"What girlfriend?" I said, perhaps unwisely. "I thought Del Toro took her away from you."

He popped me back up hard, against the lockers. His face turned a mottled red. Through gritted teeth, he snarled, "You thought wrong, pussy boy."

"Okay, okay," I croaked. The lock was starting to scrape the skin away on my back.

He loosened up again. I thought maybe he liked having the opportunity to jack me back up against the wall.

"So? What the fuck do you think you're doing? Protecting her?"

On either side of me, I heard both Harold and Vinnie chuckling. Vinnie gave me a vicious poke in the ribs.

"No, man," I managed, "we're just friends, walking down the hall."

He threw me back up against the lockers, getting some lift with his legs this time. I thought my feet were dangling off the floor, and I knew I was having trouble breathing.

"Wrong answer, pussy boy," he growled. "Let's try again, motherfucker." He let me down again, but kept too much pressure on my throat. I couldn't talk.

A voice from behind Joey startled us all. "Mr. Amonte?"

Joey whirled around, careful to keep a firm hold on me, pressing me back with his arm. Standing there was Coach Neville, his glasses lowered until they were propped on the tip of his nose, and he was staring at us over the frames. He wasn't a very big or imposing man, being a little soft around the middle, but his arms were muscled. This was particularly evident as he lightly tapped the baseball bat he was holding in his hand.

"I would suggest that, perhaps, you would like to let Mr. Porter go," he said, almost nonchalantly.

Reluctantly, Joey let his arm drop. I sagged back, grateful to be free of his grasp. I rubbed my throat, trying to get some feeling back into the area.

"Aren't you supposed to be going to class?" asked Mr. Neville, looking at Vinnie and Harold in turn.

"Yes, sir," mumbled Harold, as he turned to walk down the hall.

"Yes, Mr. Neville," said Vinnie. With a sour look, he turned and followed after Harold. Joey took a step toward his friends, but Coach pointed the bat at him, just touching his chest with the end. Joey acted as it he had been hit with it, falling back against the lockers. Coach pushed against him with the bat a little harder, and Joey's elbows hit the lockers, making them rattle and clang.

"Where are you going, Mr. Amonte?" he asked quietly.

"I... uh, I was just gonna go to class..." mumbled Joey.

"And what class is that?" asked Coach.

"Um, wood shop," replied Joey.

"Fine," said Mr. Neville, dropping the bat suddenly. Joey slid sideways along the lockers, away from Coach and me, watching us watching him. Just as he thought he would make it away clean, he turned to walk away, adjusting his collar.

"Mr. Amonte," called out Coach. Joey stopped dead in his tracks. He turned back around with a worried expression. "I expect to see you in my office exactly two minutes after the final bell today," said Coach.

"Yes, sir," said Joey unhappily. He waited a moment, perhaps to see if Mr. Neville had any more to add, and then he turned and stalked away.

"Thanks, Coach," I said, once Joey had gone.

He just grunted, already thinking of something else. I headed down the hall toward my class.

"Mr. Porter?" he called.

I turned. "Yes, Coach?"

He walked up to me, a concerned expression on his face. "For whatever reason you have gotten involved with Mr. Amonte and his ilk, I would strongly suggest that you sever those ties," he said.