Chapter 12:
You Don’t Run With the Crowd, You Go Your Own Way
I sat on the
bus, staring out the window and let my mind wander. I thought about how cool it was that all five of us guys were on
choir tour. We were all going to
Chicago together. It would be my last
time, and I was sure that it would be awesome.
I was seeing a little more of the old Alex coming back every day.
Denise
didn’t know if it was a good idea for Alex to come, given everything that had
happened. She only let him go because I
would be there too, and I promised to watch out for him.
Right now,
he was a seat ahead of me antagonizing Nick, who was trying to concentrate on
his Game Boy. “Nicky! Come on, can’t I play? We’re gonna be on this stupid bus forever!” I could see obviously that Alex’s pleas
meant that he just wanted acknowledgement.
But Nick had him pretty well figured out, and was totally into his
game.
I looked
across the aisle where Kevin and Brian were sitting. Kevin was sleeping—he snored lightly and his mouth hung
open. Brian was trying to get different
things into his cousin’s mouth, and watching to see what happened.
I laughed as
he leaned over exaggeratedly and managed to squirt Easy Cheese in Kevin’s
mouth. (Brian had a big supply of
that—he lived on cheese.) He tried to
muffle his giggles as Kevin smacked his lips loudly and consumed the cheese,
moving barely any the entire time.
To my
horror, Alex and Nick noticed what Bri was doing to his cousin and the two of
them crept over the seat the cousins occupied.
Poor Kev had picked a bad spot—the outside seat, and Jay and Nicky knelt
down in the aisle, motioning for the offensive cheese can.
“Hey
fellas,” I whispered, “Knock it off!”
“Shut your
pie-hole, Howard!” Alex hissed, emphasizing my full name.
“You better
watch it, Jay,” I warned playfully, “Only my mama calls me that!”
They were
all distracted now, though. Alex had
the can and was whispering something to Nick.
Grinning deviously, Nick took it and began expertly squirting the orange
string of cheese. I gasped and leaned
over as I realized that Nick wasn’t aiming it at Kevin’s mouth, but just above
his upper lip. Nick was creating a very
fancy-looking moustache. It curled at
the ends and would have looked very formal, had it not been made of orange gunk
from a can.
The boys
leaned back to admire Nick’s artwork.
Brian was laughing hysterically, not even trying to muffle it now. To my surprise, Kevin still lie there, his
head back, looking extremely relaxed and totally unaware that his face was
being sabotaged by a projectile dairy-product.
Alex grabbed
for the cheese, and continued to decorate Kevin. Within seconds, Kev’s eyebrows were the color of macaroni and
cheese. Brian took out his candy stash
and supplied two yellow Skittles, which he placed over his cousin’s closed
eyelids.
Laughing
helplessly, Alex cradled his stomach and tears rolled down his face. “Howie,” he gasped, “Get my camera. It’s on the seat right there,” he pointed.
Sighing, I
picked up the camera and handed it over.
Alex took great pride in snapping pictures from various angles. Mr. J walked a few steps down the aisle
toward us and stopped, trying to hide his laughter. “Guys,” he greeted us.
“Hey Mr.
J! You wanna have a turn?” Nick asked
as Alex took another picture.
“No, Nick, I
don’t believe that’s part of my job,” he smiled a little though, and Brian saw
it.
“Isn’t this
great?” Brian asked, his eyes shining.
All four of
them jumped as Kevin twitched slightly.
“Y’all better run!” he exclaimed, sitting up. The momentum caused the Skittles to fall in his lap.
Brian
scrambled over his cousin and hid out with Nick in his seat, but Alex was
slower to move. Kevin managed to grab
his arm. I laughed watching the two
struggling until I heard Kevin’s voice.
It was low and menacing. I, for
one, couldn’t tell whether he was serious or joking.
“You little
pipsqueak,” he shouted, confiscating the camera. “What’d y’all think y’all were doin’ over here, huh? Answer me, kid!”
“We were
just, um. We were just . . .” I could
tell by Alex’s hesitance that Kevin was scaring him pretty bad.
“Hey,
Kevin,” I called. He looked up, and I
had to stifle a laugh. He was raising
those orange eyebrows—made it hard for me to talk seriously to him, let me tell
you. “Uh, why don’t you go and see
about washing off, or something?” I suggested.
“Yeah, some
fun this is!” Kev touched his face
experimentally to determine the damage that had been done. “Guy can’t get a decent nap if he tries
‘cause the peanut gallery might come and attack him with a can of spray
cheese! Good Lord!” In a huff, Kevin rose and stepped over Alex
and made his way back to the small restroom in the back of the bus.
I reached
out to Alex, who remained in the middle of the aisle. He stiffened at my touch.
“Jay, why don’t you come sit down?” I offered, patting the seat beside
me.
As he turned,
I saw that Alex had gone pasty white and was breathing hard. I scooted over, so he could be near me and
as far away from Kevin as possible.
When Kevin
returned, Brian reclaimed his original spot.
“Kevin, what the hell was that for, huh?” I heard Brian whisper. “We were just messin’ around! Don’t get after Alex for something we did
together! You weren’t there in that
classroom, Kev! You didn’t see how he
was treated! You got no right comin’
down on him like that!” Brian’s blue
eyes were flashing angrily as a mist of tears came to them. “There ain’t no way you’d go after me that
way, so don’t you dare go after him!
Understand?”
Kevin
nodded, his lips pressed in a thin line, and I leaned back in my seat letting
out a breath. We’re in for more than we bargained for, I thought.