Hate Every Beautiful Day
Chapter 9
By: Makena
Benji forced himself to attend the game. He was a football player now, and he had to graduate high school. Sure, he wished he could just drop out or drop dead - which ever came first - but he knew he would make his mother so happy if he graduated. And playing football was the only way TO graduate.
"Why does my life have to be such a fucking movie?" he asked himself.
He was sitting in the empty locker room, facing his locker. The wooden bench rocked forward slightly as he moved closer to his open locker as he searched his back pack.
"I'm trapped," he muttered with a large sigh.
From his backpack he extracted bottle of liquor. He unscrewed the aluminum cap and took a long swig. He wiped his mouth and let the sweet liquid wash over his tongue happily, welcoming the familiar taste. He'd been to busy the day before to drink, and that night shouldn't have been any different, but he made time for himself to drink and he felt better.
It numbed whatever pain he had been suffering. He took another long drink to numb the pain the first sip hadn't taken away and recapped his beverage.
He finally changed into his uniform and made his way to the field. His team - the high schoolers dressed in red and white uniforms that seemed cleaner than they had before - were on the field, exercising and stretching and warming up. The other team was there. They were in purple and gold uniforms, and their cheerleaders were already screaming something about the "comets" to the crowd. Benji looked over the field and was relieved when he didn't notice anybody he knew - like Joel or his mother. Or Makena. He was sure she was there, but he didn't go out of his way to look for her.
"Combs! COMBS!"
Benji snapped his attention off the slowly growing crowd to the coach who was making his way towards him. He looked angry.
"Combs!" Kleets said again. "Where the hell were you?"
"Locker room," Benji replied, trying to brush past him to join his team. "Sorry I'm late."
"It's unacceptable, Combs," Kleets said. "That is very unacceptable behavior. You need to be here when your team mates are here. You have to be ON TIME."
"Since when did you become such a fucking hard ass?" Benji flat out asked, walking towards his team.
"Excuse me, young man?" Kleets asked, walking with Benji.
"I mean, at least be happy I even showed up," Benji continued.
"Listen up, Combs," Kleets said, stepping in front of Benji. "If you wanna stay on the team and graduate, your attitude better shape up or you're headed for summer school."
"I don't have an attitude," Benji said, trying to find a way around his coach. "I have truth."
"You've got attitude, and a piss poor one at that. Now STRAIGHTEN UP or you're gone."
Benji rolled his eyes. "I'm just so glad I wanted to run out and join the football team, then," Benji said sarcastically. "No pressure or anything - just was SO looking forward to running into other people while holding a dead pig in my arms."
"I'm warning you, Combs," Kleets said. "Now get out there and warm up with your team mates."
"Ay, ay," Benji said, saluting Kleets before shoving his helmet on over his head and walking over to the small circle the team had formed to do their leg stretches in.
"Kleets is always like this on game days," Aaron's voice said.
Benji looked around and frowned as he sat down to do the stretches everyone else was doing. Aaron was on his right, trying to grab onto his left foot.
"You're talking to me?" Benji asked him.
"Well I'm not talking to the grass," Aaron replied. "Although, they probably listen more than you do."
"At least some one listens to you," Benji said.
A loud buzzer went off and Benji looked around for the source of the sound. An announcer came on over the speakers and his team mates began to stand up and form a line near their coach.
"Ladies and gentlemen!" the voice boomed in an excited voice.
Benji rolled his eyes as the announcer blabbed on about football and "what a great season opener it is." They finally began to announce the "star" players from each time and became very sick when they mentioned him.
"For the La Plata Vikings, number 52 - Bennnnnnjamin Combs!"
Benji hung his head and tried to hide his face with one hand as he stepped out onto the field with the rest of the team mates who had already been called. He could hear the audience. There was some hushed whispers he could make out through the parent's happy clapping, and he could defiantly make out a couple of people laughing.
'They don't matter,' he told himself as they prepared for the kick off. 'They all suck - I hate them and they don't matter.'
-----
There was hardly any time left in the game at all, and La Plata was tied with the visitors - who ever they happened to be. Benji hadn't checked and he honestly didn't give a rats ass.
The ball had been passed to him and he had to concentrate on something other than how hot he was or how, no matter how much he thought they sucked, one of the opposing school's cheerleaders looked very nice in her purple and gold uniform and blond highlights.
He had the ball. He looked at it for a second before running towards where he was supposed to. An opposing team member made an attempted tackle at him. Benji jumped out of the way - he had some experience with that.
"Why would they be stupid enough to pass me the damn ball?" Benji asked himself, knowing nobody could hear him. "They think I can win this for them? They think I'm good?"
'No, Benji,' the far corner of his brain screamed. 'They're trying to prove you're worthless and you should stick to alcohol and suicide.'
"Oh," Benji said. "You're right."
He ran and threw the ball to what looked like some one from his team. Number 83 - Aaron.
"Well, shit," Benji muttered.
Aaron caught the ball and ran for his life. Suddenly, some one - or SOMETHING - made impact on Benji from behind and he fell to the grassy field. He suddenly felt a couple more people pile on top of him and he couldn't tell what was going on. He listened to the uproar of the crowd in the stadium as the buzzer went off, signifying that the game was over.
So... who won? Benji wondered. Did they, or did we?
The Comet players struggled to get off Benji and offered to help him. up. Benji declined and got up himself, trying to brush the grass stains out of his uniform. He looked over at his team, who were waving and jumping up and down and screaming obscenities. Benji frowned and made a quick glance up at the score board. 20 - 26. Aaron had made a touch down.
"Well done, Combs!" Kleets yelled, running over to Benji. He seemed to be in a much better mood, and was smiling.
Benji frowned and shrugged. He didn't want a "good job, Benji" or a "well done, Combs." He wanted a shower and a bed and maybe that cheerleader he had seen earlier.
-----
Benji walked down with his team after the game and changed into his normal clothing. He skipped a shower again. The boy who had asked him about the shower the day before - who's name, he found out, was Josh - ridiculed him again and poked fun about him. Benji only rolled his eyes at him and left, taking a swig of his liquor once he was alone.
Benji limped out into the parking lot where students and parents and teachers and friends were walking to their cars, laughing and talking about the game. Dragging his back pack behind him, Benji suddenly found himself regretting the walk home. A green ford pulled up next to him and the passenger's window was rolled down.
"Yo! Benji!"
Benji stopped and looked into the car. Aaron was sitting behind the steering wheel and Makena was in the passenger's seat. "Need a lift?"
Benji shook his head. Nobody but the bus driver and maybe a small handful of kids knew where he lived - and that was too many people as it was. They didn't know how poor he was.
"Oh, come on," Aaron said. "I know you don't have a car."
Benji groaned and rolled his eyes, but limped towards the car and sat himself in the back seat. Aaron took off once Benji had settled into the car. He turned left from the school and seemed to know where he was going.
"Good game, huh?" Aaron asked Benji, looking at him through his rearview mirror.
"Sure," Benji said, glancing at Makena. She sat silently in the passenger's seat with her arms crossed. He rolled his eyes at her and looked out the window as houses and trees and other cars went by in a blur.
Aaron turned into a grocery store and parked close to the front entrance. "I gotta pick something up for my mom," he explained. "I'll be back in a few."
"Aaron..." Makena began, but Aaron shut the door and whistled as he walked away.
She groaned and put her feet up on the dashboard. Benji unzipped his backpack and carefully took his liquor out again, hoping the girl in the front wouldn't notice. He silently unscrewed the cap and began to take a drink when Makena turned around.
"So... good game," she said, trying to make the uncomfortable silence go away with words.
"I guess," Benji said, continuing to take a drink. "Not like I care."
"What... you have no school spirit?"
"Oh, I'm just full of school spirit," Benji replied sarcastically. "Can't you tell?"
"Why do you have to be such a jerk all the time?" Makena asked.
"Why are you so fucking nosey?" Benji retorted.
"I'm just curious! And I'm trying to be your friend - is that so wrong?"
"I don't want any friends," Benji replied, emptying his bottle and shoving it back into his bag.
"You should have some friends," Makena said. "Maybe then you wouldn't drink."
Benji narrowed his eyes at her. "How do you know I drink?"
"Well, I'm guessing that wasn't apple juice in there," Makena began. "And you and Joel had a fight over your "secret stash" of vodka - which, by the way, I figured out was vodka when I asked you for directions to my class. You're drinking isn't as secret as you hoped."
"Fuck you," Benji shot as the driver's door opened and Aaron sat down in his seat.
"What happened now?" he asked with a sigh. He had obviously heard the "fuck you" part.
"Benji's a jerk," Makena replied.
"Really, can't I just leave you two alone for a minute?"
"No," Makena said, crossing her arms. "Don't ever again."
Benji scowled and sulked back in his own seat, letting Aaron take him home in silence.