Why Did You Hurt Me?, Page 2

CHAPTER TWO:

  Change

  Max grunts as he pulls out his suitcase from the trunk of the car. He takes a long look at the surrounding houses. Their house by the trailer park hadn’t been much, but this? Mogis Hills makes their little cottage look like a castle. A loud pop catches Max off guard, and he drops his suitcase. His father runs out of the house in alarm.

  “What happened, Max?” he cries. “What was that?”

  Shortly afterward, three children jump from their hiding place behind a bush. They toss something at Max’s feet, and it pops as it lands on the ground. Max jerks his feet and glares at the children.

  Firecrackers. They’re throwing firecrackers at him. The children look like they’ve been rolling around in dirt, and they have no shoes on. One of them is missing teeth in the front, and they all look around nine or ten. All seem thoroughly tickled by the success of their prank and make sure that Max knows it.

  They look like little demons to Max, with their dark eyes and impish faces, laughing at his expense. Max scowls, picks up his suitcase, and trudges on toward the house. A deep red stains his face as the young children continue to laugh at him.

  “Kids,” Mr. Shaw laughs nervously. “Just some kids.” Max knows already that he is going to hate it here, but they have no choice. Mr. Shaw is broke and unemployed, and they were evicted from their home. The home his mother worked so hard to keep is gone. Max looks up at the porch before entering. There are three other housing units connected to this one. The inside boasts all the luxury of a cardboard box.

  “It’s only temporary, Max,” his father assures him. “Just give me some time to get back on my feet.”

  Max nods, but internally he has his doubts. Who knows how long that will take? By the time Mr. Shaw gets his life together Max may already be out of the house. Still, things have gotten better since his mother died. His father has been receiving counseling for his alcohol addiction, they both go to grief counseling, and he’s been job-hunting more aggressively. Max’s probation officer, Mr. Kent, had explained to him that change doesn’t happen overnight. Max understands it could take his father years to bounce back.

  Max is having trouble coping, too, but he is doing much better than his father. He knows God has his hand on his life despite everything. Max can remember a time when all he cared about was his next party, or his next drink. Now his primary concerns are helping his father, working at the children’s hospital, and getting good grades in school. He hopes, if he works hard enough, he can get a scholarship and go to college. His life has completely changed, and though Max appreciates the wisdom he now possesses, he still misses his mother.

  Max sighs as he looks at the front of the house. There are only two windows in the front, and they both have bars on them. Max can’t think of anything in this neighborhood worth looking at anyhow, but it’s still depressing. It doesn’t look like there will be much sunshine in this place.

  At least he will be distracted by his volunteer work at the children’s hospital. St. Christopher’s is further away now, but Martin volunteered to drive him there after school, and Max can take the bus when Martin can’t pick him up. His community service hours are almost up, and after that Max hopes to get a job to help around the house.

  Max hears another pop, but it isn’t like the firecrackers the little demon children threw at him. It’s louder - much louder - and is coming from somewhere down the street. A third pop prompts Mr. Shaw to grab Max and yank him inside.

  “Get inside the house, Max!” he orders.

  “But all of our stuff isn’t-“

  “We’ll get it later, just get inside,” Mr. Shaw pushes him in further and closes the door. Max prays that this is only temporary.

  •••

  School just isn’t the same without Max. Martin doesn’t understand why Max has to go to Wellis High simply because he lives on the opposite side of the train tracks. He’d pleaded with his father to get the school board to change their policy about jurisdiction, but his pleas were in vain.

  “It’s out of my hands, Martin,” his father had said.

  “He lives in Mogis Hills!” Martin had exclaimed. “I know lots of kids who live in Mogis Hills, and they go to LHS!”

  “Yes, but Mogis Hills is split by the old train tracks, Martin.” his father had replied. “The jurisdiction was drawn based on property to the east and west of those tracks.”

  “The jurisdiction was drawn by bigots!” Martin retorted. “Somebody should do something, Dad! You should do something!”

  Mr. West had sighed. “I’m sorry, Martin. I tried, but I’m not on the school board. I know how close you and Max are, but there’s nothing else I can do.”

  Martin had been angry with his father, but only for a short while. The old Martin wanted to find out who was on the school board and pound them, or maybe their kids instead, but he knew that wouldn’t change anything anyway. And it isn’t as if he and Max can’t see each other anymore. Though Mogis Hills is a rough neighborhood, Martin has been there before with less honorable motives.

  His mind switches gears as he thinks of Johnny Reese, the boy he fought the prior year. A lot of time has passed since then, and a lot of things have happened, but Martin still feels uneasy. Their last encounter wasn’t pleasant, but there’s something else. Something Martin can’t put his finger on.

  “Hey!” Jennifer interrupts his thoughts as she plops her tray next to his. Martin forgot he was in the lunchroom. She gives him an odd look. “Is everything okay?”

  “Yeah, I was just thinking,” Martin replies, glum. Jennifer looks at him knowingly.

  “Is it Max?” she asks.

  Martin nods and Jennifer bites her lip, considering her next words. There is no love lost between her and Max, but she knows that Max and Martin are as close as brothers.

  “Well, maybe it’s for the best!” she replies cheerily.

  “Yeah, I’m sure you’re thrilled about it,” Martin comments without enthusiasm.

  “Hey,” Jennifer says with an injured tone. “I didn’t say that.”

  “But you were thinking it, right?” Martin rolls his eyes in irritation. “Max hasn’t done anything to you, but you still talk as if he’s beneath you!”

  “I didn’t say that!” Jennifer looks at him in surprise.

  “Yeah, well you didn’t have to say anything,” Martin continues. “It’s written all over your face!”

  Martin bangs his fist on the table and turns to face Jennifer. “You know what? You may as well be one of those snobby, self-righteous members of the school board.”

  Jennifer begins to protest, but Martin cuts her off.

  “And do you wanna know something else? You’re all a bunch of hypocrites! You get ahead just a little bit,” Martin places his fingers together to express just how little, “and then you wanna act like you’re better than everybody else! As if you’ve got something that no one else has!”

  Jennifer’s cheeks turn red, but still Martin continues.

  “Let me ask you something? What makes you think you’ve got the right to tell someone ‘hey, you live on the wrong side of the tracks, which happens to be the lower class side, so you can’t go to our school’? Hm?”

  Jennifer begins to reply, but Martin cuts her off again.

  “My parents came from nothing, and they taught me not to judge people by where they come from. And you know something? I wouldn’t trade Max for half of you self-righteous hypocrites!”

  “I am not a hypocrite!” Jennifer’s emotions begin to flare.

  “Oh no?” Martin gives her a sideways look. “I’ll give you a perfect example, Jen. Tammie McLeod.”

  “Martin, that’s not fair!”

  “As soon as she made a mistake you threw her away,” Martin states scornfully. “She just wasn’t good enough to be Jennifer Smith’s friend, was she? You treated her like crap, Jen. You threw away countless years of friendship because she made one mistake. But you know what? The way you treat people li
ke Max is way worse than Tammie having a baby out of wedlock.”

  “And what about you, Martin?” Jennifer responds. “How can you judge me when you–” Jennifer stops midsentence.

  “Go on, say it,” Martin provokes her, but Jennifer remains silent. No matter what, she refuses to go back and forth with him like this. She won’t give him the satisfaction.

  Martin fumes. Jennifer doesn’t have to finish her sentence for Martin to feel the sting. He’d told her everything about him, even what happened with Johnny, and she’d said it didn’t matter to her. Now she’s throwing it back in his face as ammunition. Trusting her was a mistake. Martin clenches his fists as his temper reaches the boiling point. He wants to hit someone, or something – anything. He needs to leave before he finds a target. He narrows his eyes at Jennifer, grabs his tray and walks off. He throws his half-eaten food away and slams the tray into a sink.

  Jennifer looks down at her food, but she can’t see it; her eyes are too blurry with tears. How could he say those things to her? She’d barely spoken six words to him, and he’d launched a nuclear assault against her. For a moment, she thought he might actually take a swing at her. He has a temper; that much she knows, but she’s never seen him act out like this. She hates to let anyone see her cry, especially over a member of the male species. She drums the table with her fingers in frustration, contemplating her next move. A few tears escape and she quickly dabs her eyes with a napkin.

  Seconds later she’s tossing her lunch in the garbage, but she gently places her tray in the sink and smiles at the cleaning staff as she passes by. Her mother taught her, among other things, not to take out her feelings on other people, but to have it out with whoever was really bothering her. She needs to have it out with Martin, though she’s tempted to do the exact opposite and never speak to him again. Deep down, she knows she cares about him too much.

  At least Tammie will be able to talk to her about it. She knows she handled Tammie’s situation badly, but she’s reconciled with her since then. Martin’s words hurt, but he was wrong. And he’d gone too far.