Armando Ramos

Dr. Margaret Mitchell

ENGL 3200 – H

October 6, 2008

Not So Bad

            “Who do you think you are?” Chris snarled

“Who do you think you are?” Jack snarled back. His t-shirt was ripping from Chris’s hold. His legs were several inches above the floor, flailing as much as they could with his pants down. It didn’t help though; Chris was strong enough not to notice.

            “I’ll tell you who I am. I am the man who will stop you.” He then whispered so softly only Jack could hear him. “I’m also the man that will kill you if I have to. Trust me, I don’t give a damn about you, kid. Give me a reason… Come on, just one… I would love to drive my fists through your skull… God, how I’d like that.”

            Jack stared. His body started shaking. Chris’s eyes were dark but fiery. He’d never met anyone who could give him such a scare. He wanted to run, to hide. But he never could do that. He would never live it down. It would haunt him, not having taken a challenge. He’d never live it down.

            “Fuck you”, Jack grunted.

            Chris laughed sarcastically. “I’d like to see you try”, he said. He then pushed Jack further into the wall, breaking some of the dry wall.

            “Chris, please–“ Lily began

            “No”, Chris said calmly. “I’m not giving him another chance. He either gets it and leaves, or he gets a fist through him. No middle ground. Not this time.”

            Jack began to look around the room. He took notice of the baseball bat at the end of the locker room. It was too far away, though. The benches were bolted to the floor; he wouldn’t be able to move them. All the other walls were layered with posters, some of naked chicks, others of famous athletes. The office around the corner was locked; he’d seen the coach lock it. The supply room was also locked by the same man. He turned to look at Lily, who was covering herself because her scattered clothes were ripped to shreds when Jack attacked. All she had was her thong, which was the only thing she was wearing when Chris had barged in. She looked worriedly at Chris.

            “Let me go or I’ll –“ Jack began, but just then his t-shirt finished ripping off and he fell to the floor. He was about to bolt over when Chris grabbed between his legs and pulled him up again. This time Chris held Jack up through his sheer body strength, pushing him against the wall. He moved his other hand away from Jack’s groin, and used it to help him hold Jack up.

            “Bet you liked that, didn’t you?” Jack said with a high-pitched, terrified voice. He now realized the Chris could really tear him like he tore Lily’s clothes.

            Chris stared. Disgust filled his mouth. “No, you sick fuck.”

            “Don’t lie to yourself; you liked it. All you gays do. Wanna touch it again, huh? Be the sick fag-“

            Jack didn’t get the chance to finish that sentenced. He was halfway down the room by the time he noticed. He hit the floor hard, rebounded, and landed several feet away from where he first fell. He moaned in pain. Chris picked him up by the last pieces of t-shirt he could grab, and shoved him against one of the lockers. The lock dug into Jack’s back, making him scream. Jack looked at Chris. Chris’s face was dark red. His veins were popping out.

            “Wanna repeat that?” Chris growled. He then used his body to pushed Jack even more against the lock. Jack wailed in agony. The pain was making him dizzy. He could barely see; his breathing was becoming arduous. He started to cry.

            “Please…  Please… Let me go… Please…” His words were barely audible between his sobs.

            Chris stared hard at Jack, and then dropped him to the floor. Jack curled into a ball and wept. He kept muttering “thank you” and didn’t bother with moving. Chris looked at him in disgust, and spat at the floor next to him. Jack shrank back, and continued hysterically crying.

            Chris turned to Lily, who was still trying to cover herself. He looked around, and saw several clean towels in a shelf to his left. He grabbed the biggest one he could find, folded it, and covered Lily with it. She wrapped it tightly against her own body. She turned to look at him, saddened.

            “Let’s go,” Chris said softly and began to walk towards the door. Lily followed suit, keeping close. Right before going around the corner towards the office and the door, she turned to look at Jack. He was still curled up, bawling. Her eyes pitied him, and then she walked out. Outside, the playing fields were grey. The sky had turned cloudy during her time inside the locker room. Everyone had left. The only cars left where Chris’s beaten up Tercel and Jack’s brand new Mustang. Chris and Lily walked towards the car, and got in without a word.

            During the drive home, Lily looked out the window. She couldn’t look at her brother, who had so constantly warned him about Jack. Instead she opted to look out to the world. The houses flashed by. In the interstate, other cars raced past theirs. Nearer their home, they passed several stores and parks. The city’s suburbs were depressing looking under the cloudy sky. The town houses all looked sad, and bitter. Their monotone hit Lily like a brick. She was staring.

            Finally they pulled up in their driveway. The decrepit home was all they had left. Their mom had died of cancer some years earlier. Their dad had refused to see them again after Chris came out. Lily had stuck with Chris because that was all she knew, but she had resented him. She had thought he was selfish for making them go through such hardship. She met Jack then. He was attractive, and rich. At school he was the most popular because of his wealth. Everyone knew him. When he first asked her out she thought she was the luckiest woman alive. She couldn’t resist his charm. Chris heard about Jack from several of his co-workers. He was known to have many girlfriends, all of which he’d left pregnant and destitute. He warned Lily about it, but she didn’t listen. He then told Jack to stay away, but he also didn’t listen. So while Chris worked hard three jobs to keep him and Lily alive, she had left school and ran away with Jack. Jack had promised her a fortune and not a single tear in her eyes. She hadn’t known how to resist. All she wanted to do was run away. Jack quickly turned nasty, and wanted to make her his. She had refused. So, that day he had taken her to his game and waited until everyone had left to force her to have sex.

Chris had learnt about Jack from several of Lily’s friends, and had gone to find them. He’d seen them go into the locker room. He didn’t go in until he had heard Lily scream. Now he was looking at Lily from the driver’s seat. She wasn’t moving at all. He waited with her in the car without speaking for half an hour. During that time he was wondering what he was going to say to her, what would happen. He was worried sick for her. When she had left he frantically looked everywhere for her. He took time off work, and looked around for days until he managed to catch her friends. He thought he’d been lucky. He didn’t want to consider what would’ve happen if he hadn’t come then…

Lily finally moved when this thought crossed Chris’s mind. She opened her door slowly and walked towards the entrance. Chris was shocked to see her move, and quickly got out and followed her. She stopped at the door to wait for him to open the door. He opened it. Inside, she looked at their old furniture. The living room was dark. She sat in the sofa. Lily began to cry loudly. She couldn’t control it now. Her arms were wrapping the towel tightly against her body again. Chris immediately went to her side and hugged her. She put her head on his shoulder and continued crying.

“I’m so stupid…” she said.

“No, you are not,” Chris said.

“I shouldn’t have left school.”

“It’s alright.”

Lily kept on crying. They stayed like that for about an hour. Lily slowly let off. Her weeping became sobbing, and her sobbing became soft sighs. Chris’s shirt was soaked at the shoulder, but he was still hugging her. When she finally finished crying, they didn’t move for a second. Chris was worried again. He didn’t know what to say.

“You’re not as bad as they say you are,” Lily said. Chris stared. She turned to look at him, and smiled a little. “They’re wrong. They’ve always been wrong. I just wanted to let you know that. Dad deserves to burn in hell.”

Chris didn’t know what to say. He sat there, befuddled. His big body was almost locked in position. His mouth was slightly opened. His arms dropped to his sides and didn’t move. Lily laughed a little. She thought he looked like a cartoon.

“Thank you,” she whispered softly and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Chris’s head barely turned towards her. “I’m going to change.”

Chris watched her go upstairs. Lily had a slightly skip to her steps as she went up. Chris sat there unmoving for a minute. Just as the sun shined through the window a tear rolled out his eyes.