his orange and white school jacket and matching knit hat and gloves. His face is red from the cold and he is shivering a little.
Brian is the last person I want to see right now. Not only am I still angry with him, I am still suffering from the embarrassment of my outburst yesterday. Why is he here? Does he want to check up on me because I stayed home from school today? Does he have some sort of news from school about the incident? Sure I am curious, but I still don’t want to see him. I wonder how long it will take for him to give up and go away? I stand quietly at the door as he knocks three times, hard against the wood, and calls out my name.
‘Dawn!’ He shouts it loud enough so that I would hear him even if I were upstairs in the shower. ‘Dawn, please. I need to talk to you. Please open the door.’
He sounds so polite and sincere. I feel a small pang of guilt for making him wait outside in the cold. I’m sure the temperature is in the single digits out there. And here I am in my nice warm house… Okay, fine. I’ll let him in and see what he has to say. The least I can do is give him five minutes of my time. Five minutes and then he’s out of here.
I open the door with some attitude and step back, motioning with my hand for him to come inside. He seems surprised that I let him in – but not as surprised as I am. I close the door and stand facing him, crossing my arms over my chest, looking at him. He has with him a familiar backbag in one hand. When he steps inside, he drops it off next to the door.
‘Perry left this at school. I told Mr Dubois that I would return it to him.’ He looks at the bag and back to me. ‘When I didn’t see you in school today, I was worried.’ He grabs the orange hat from his head and pulls off his gloves. ‘Are you okay?’
I sigh and turn to walk over to the couch. Without looking back, I know he is following me. I sit down on one end of the couch and he sits down on the other end. I am grateful for the space. I’m not ready to sit too close to him. I can’t even look at him when I speak.
‘I’m not feeling too well.’
He bobs his head, thinking, listening, hesitating. I can tell there is something else on his mind. Something that I don’t want to talk about. He looks over at me a few times, I catch his glances and look away.
‘We need to talk about what happened yesterday.’
‘I don’t want to talk about it.’
‘We have to,’ he says more urgently. ‘Dawn, I wasn’t involved in what happened yesterday. By the time I found out, it was too late. I went there to stop it.’
I look at him, trying to read his face. Is he telling the truth? He wasn’t one of theboys beating on Perry and he did try to help Perry when he was down. I want to respond, but I feel my throat tighten and am afraid that if I speak, I will break out crying. I know that Brian isn’t a bad guy; he just needs to be more selective about who he calls his friends.
‘Perry didn’t deserve that.’ I mumble.
‘I know he didn’t.’ He inches a little closer to me. ‘Have you spoken to him?’
I shake my head. ‘I’ve been trying to get hold of him for sometime now. He won’t answer the door or return my calls.’
But I haven’t tried since yesterday. I should have gone to the medical room with him, or gone by his house again or called again. I should have done something to show Perry that I still care.
The phone rings and it startles me. First thoughts are of Grandma in the hospital.
‘Could that be him?’
‘No.’
I jump up and walk to the kitchen.
‘My Grandma’s in the hospital. My mom is keeping me posted on her condition.’
On the third ring, I snatch the phone off the wall. ‘Hello, Mom?’ For a moment there is nothing but silence. Maybe I let the phone ring too long and she hung up or maybe there is a bad connection. ‘Hello?’
‘Hey, Dawn.’
The male voice at the other end of the line sounds only too familiar.
‘Perry?’
‘I’m not disturbing
Brian is the last person I want to see right now. Not only am I still angry with him, I am still suffering from the embarrassment of my outburst yesterday. Why is he here? Does he want to check up on me because I stayed home from school today? Does he have some sort of news from school about the incident? Sure I am curious, but I still don’t want to see him. I wonder how long it will take for him to give up and go away? I stand quietly at the door as he knocks three times, hard against the wood, and calls out my name.
‘Dawn!’ He shouts it loud enough so that I would hear him even if I were upstairs in the shower. ‘Dawn, please. I need to talk to you. Please open the door.’
He sounds so polite and sincere. I feel a small pang of guilt for making him wait outside in the cold. I’m sure the temperature is in the single digits out there. And here I am in my nice warm house… Okay, fine. I’ll let him in and see what he has to say. The least I can do is give him five minutes of my time. Five minutes and then he’s out of here.
I open the door with some attitude and step back, motioning with my hand for him to come inside. He seems surprised that I let him in – but not as surprised as I am. I close the door and stand facing him, crossing my arms over my chest, looking at him. He has with him a familiar backbag in one hand. When he steps inside, he drops it off next to the door.
‘Perry left this at school. I told Mr Dubois that I would return it to him.’ He looks at the bag and back to me. ‘When I didn’t see you in school today, I was worried.’ He grabs the orange hat from his head and pulls off his gloves. ‘Are you okay?’
I sigh and turn to walk over to the couch. Without looking back, I know he is following me. I sit down on one end of the couch and he sits down on the other end. I am grateful for the space. I’m not ready to sit too close to him. I can’t even look at him when I speak.
‘I’m not feeling too well.’
He bobs his head, thinking, listening, hesitating. I can tell there is something else on his mind. Something that I don’t want to talk about. He looks over at me a few times, I catch his glances and look away.
‘We need to talk about what happened yesterday.’
‘I don’t want to talk about it.’
‘We have to,’ he says more urgently. ‘Dawn, I wasn’t involved in what happened yesterday. By the time I found out, it was too late. I went there to stop it.’
I look at him, trying to read his face. Is he telling the truth? He wasn’t one of theboys beating on Perry and he did try to help Perry when he was down. I want to respond, but I feel my throat tighten and am afraid that if I speak, I will break out crying. I know that Brian isn’t a bad guy; he just needs to be more selective about who he calls his friends.
‘Perry didn’t deserve that.’ I mumble.
‘I know he didn’t.’ He inches a little closer to me. ‘Have you spoken to him?’
I shake my head. ‘I’ve been trying to get hold of him for sometime now. He won’t answer the door or return my calls.’
But I haven’t tried since yesterday. I should have gone to the medical room with him, or gone by his house again or called again. I should have done something to show Perry that I still care.
The phone rings and it startles me. First thoughts are of Grandma in the hospital.
‘Could that be him?’
‘No.’
I jump up and walk to the kitchen.
‘My Grandma’s in the hospital. My mom is keeping me posted on her condition.’
On the third ring, I snatch the phone off the wall. ‘Hello, Mom?’ For a moment there is nothing but silence. Maybe I let the phone ring too long and she hung up or maybe there is a bad connection. ‘Hello?’
‘Hey, Dawn.’
The male voice at the other end of the line sounds only too familiar.
‘Perry?’
‘I’m not disturbing
Similar Books
