Dismantling Evan (13 page)

I nod, understanding completely.

She goes on, “Asher started playing football and track and field in 8th grade, so he kind of melded in with Spence and Brody who were already athletes. Asher and Brody became really close and by freshman year, they were inseparable while Spence kind of grew apart from them. Spence’s dad pushes him to be the best, but Brody was always better and Mr. Morietti knew this and it only made it harder for Spence. With Brody and Celine going out, we hung; you know... double date crap.”

My skin tingles - Brody and Celine were a couple at one time. I can just picture her in her cheerleading uniform and him in his Braxton Springs Jersey. It’s stupid, but it feels like fire is shooting through my veins just thinking about Brody and Celine dating, like I have any claim over my new neighbor who can’t even look at me. How could he go out with such a... I refrain from even thinking the “B” word.

“Brody and Celine went out freshman and sophomore year, but by the middle of junior year, he got sick of Celine’s crap and dumped her. Celine being Celine started dating Spencer to kind of get back at Brody for dumping her ass, but that didn’t last long. Celine broke it off really quick with him and it left Spence pretty bitter, not only at Celine but with Brody. I wouldn’t have put it past Celine to have told Spence she wanted to break it off because he wasn’t Brody. That is the kind of manipulative crap she does.”

The way Nikki’s voice fills with frustration, I wonder if Nikki had done something to her to make her so angry. I wonder where Gavin fits in this. “You haven’t said anything about Gavin?”

Nikki breathes in, laboriously. “Gavin.” She looks at me, guardedly. “That is a long story. The short of it for now is while the rest of us... progressed, you know finding our own social path and growing up, Gavin kind of didn’t.”

I can see that completely. Gavin was different in social circumstances. That was a no brainer. I wanted to know why Gavin has the challenges he does. Yeah, it is fine to be different, but Gavin is very different and Spencer seems to be a real ass to him for no apparent reason.

Nikki stops walking and looks up behind me. “This is you.”

I have so many unanswered questions. The burning one spills from me though, “Spencer made a comment about Gavin being back. Where did he go?”

Nikki looks down the hall at the clock over the locker and starts to back away. “I gotta go. I will talk to you about it at lunch. Meet you at your locker, all right?”

“Okay.”

She disappears into the sea of people rushing to class and I slip into my chemistry class. Throughout this class and U.S. History I am only partially present as I create a fill-in-the-blanks story about the friends and how their lives might have played out over the years. All of them getting along, much like I did, in elementary school. Middle school they start branching off, trying out sports, spreading their wings and making new friends, then high school... settling into their role in the social fish bowl. Yeah, Nikki’s fish bowl reference is a perfect visual and is sticking.

The likeness of Nikki’s and my own social journey is uncanny. The one I have dreamed up isn’t far off from my own observation back home. Suffice to say, the hope that things here might be different is looking bleak.

I head to my locker after History to meet Nikki. She is already leaning against it when I round the corner. I rotate the combination lock right-left-right landing digits, then pull it open. The halls are full of students putting books in lockers and heading to lunch. I put mine in and Nikki and I start walking. “I have U.S. History with Persyn next, does she totally suck?” asks Nikki.

“Nah, she is all right,” I tell her.

“Cool.”

I look at her. “Do we have any classes together, other than Newspaper?” remembering she had taken a picture of my schedule.

“Yeah, Espanol, “ she says.

I smile at her use of language, and pull my schedule out of my pocket. I have gym at the end of the day which I’m happy about. Last year I had a class after gym and I hated going into it with damp hair. Asher is walking toward us swinging his keys around one finger.
Where is he going?
When we are close enough to him, Nikki jumps into Asher’s arms. He wraps his arms around her and chuckles. “Hey babe. Miss me?”

A teacher is standing in the hallway close by us and he clears his throat, eyeing Asher and Nikki’s public display. “Mr. Vega I recommend you withhold all affections until after school,” the teacher says.

Asher releases his hands from around Nikki, holding them out from his body while Nikki still clings to him a little longer, then slips from him. She turns around to the teacher, “Sorry Mr. Johnson.”

He looks over his bifocals and closes his classroom door.

“Where are you going?” I ask Asher.

“I have to meet with the counselor. College application stuff,” he says.

Asher hugs Nikki and kisses her on the head. “See you in a bit babe.”

Asher backs away from us, smiling at Nikki. I can tell he is in love with her. It makes my heart swell just seeing them act the way they do together.

“See you after school.” Nikki says as he turns and walks in the opposite direction.

The cafeteria is predictably insane. All the lines are long and the tables are already filled with students by the time Nikki and I get there. Seeing most of the school’s population in one place gives me a clearer picture of how big it really is.

Nikki grabs a fruit cup, container of French fries, and a Coke. I grab the same thing and a few packets of ketchup. Yeah, not the healthiest of lunches but it is about all we can grab without having to get in the long hot lunch line.

Nikki sees two seats across from each other open up and we snag them.

I take a long drink of my coke before I ask, “Okay, so what happened to Gavin?”

She puts a fry in her mouth and chews quickly. Nikki shakes her head as she explains, “Gavin and Brody’s dad. He was stationed in Afghanistan three years ago.” She pops another French fry in her mouth. “Brody had told Asher and me that he was coming home last year.”

“But he didn’t,” I say.

Nikki shakes her head. “Gavin has always idolized his dad.” Nikki smiles. “Mr. Ferguson was always so good with Gavin... all of us really. He would set up games of street hockey in the middle of the road when we were little. He would referee. Gavin wasn’t too thrilled playing.” She looks at me directly, “The contact thing.”

I know instantly what she is talking about. “Yeah, I know about that.”

“Anyway, Mr. Ferguson would hold Gavin up on his shoulders and let Gavin blow the whistle when the ball was out or a goal was scored.”

Nikki looks down at the fry she is holding between her fingers. “We all live so close to each other so pickup games were always happening. When Mr. Ferguson left for Afghanistan, it’s like someone took away Gavin’s hero and a piece of him. He became really withdrawn, more than normal.”

Nikki looks up at me. “Gavin is so proud of his father. He is a living hero for him, even if he isn’t here. I mean, if you ask, he will tell you stories of his father’s tour in Afghanistan. When he isn’t taking about Frodo, Hamlet, or Romeo and Juliet that is.” Nikki smiles, jokingly.

I can’t imagine Gavin producing a chain of sentences, but I take Nikki’s word for it.

“This past April, he was supposed to end his tour and come home. Gavin had been talking about it constantly leading up to February. His mom was planning a huge coming home party. She invited all the families that knew Mr. Ferguson; Celine’s, Spencer’s, Asher’s, my parents, we were all invited to welcome him home.”

Nikki shakes her head then pops a grape from her fruit salad in her mouth. Her smoky lined, bright blue eyes turn grey, suddenly. “They said he disappeared. Just up and left the barracks. Leaving his unit in the middle of the night.”

“Like he went AWOL?” I ask, trying to confirm what happened.

Nikki nods, picking up a piece of pineapple on her fork and putting it in her mouth. “It’s like the Fergusons’ world came crashing down. Poor Asher was the one over at Brody’s when his mom got the call. He said it was terrible. Mrs. Ferguson broke down; Brody was crying; Gavin was screaming. Brody just told Asher to leave. Asher went home and told his parents and that started the chain of calls to us. I remember my mom and dad talking about it and assuming the party wasn’t going to take place. I texted Brody and told him I was sorry. His only response was thank you. He and Gavin were out of school for two weeks. I would look out my window across the street every day after school and it was so still and quiet, like no one was home. Mom and Dad wanted to go over so many times, me too, you know to check on them, but no one knew what to say once they got over there. Word spread quickly about Mr. Ferguson. Everyone had their own theories as to what happened to him. The stories got pretty bad.”

Nikki takes pause. “Rumors here at school started too. He got taken... like abducted and he had joined Al Qaeda or some shit like that. The worst was he killed himself because the war became too much. I remember thanking God that Brody and Gavin weren’t at school, because if they were to hear what everyone was saying... it would hurt them so badly. Every class, someone was talking about a theory as to what happened to Mr. Ferguson, like it was a fill-in-the-blank as to who could make up the most gruesome or outrageous story. It was sick and Ash and I got so tired of it. Spencer and Celine were talking shit just like everyone else, which was the straw that broke the camel’s back for us. Ash and I talked to both of them and asked them to stop before Brody and Gavin came back. That it wasn’t right to talk about Mr. Ferguson, a man that took care of us when we were younger. ‘It is wrong. I was defending him. He was a good man. I would never say anything like that about Mr. Ferguson, blah, blah, blah.’ It was just lip service. I knew Celine and this type of rumor spreading was right up her alley. And Spencer, he had it in for Brody with the whole Celine thing and his dad hounding him to always be better than Brody. This was his way of getting back in a warped way. Anyway, our plea fell on empty ears and the day Brody and Gavin came back to school, the rumors didn’t stop. Them returning to school was like someone swatting at the beehive, stirring the rumors up again.”

Nikki leans in closer. “The first couple of days, everyone kept low key with the rumors. I think they were kind of shocked they came back to school. By third day of them returning, they started up again. I didn’t see what happened, but Ash did. He was walking with Brody and Gavin in the halls. Ash kind of took it upon himself to be their bodyguard in a way, which I thought was really cool of him. Bottom line, Spencer couldn’t leave well enough alone and he walked up to Gavin and Brody, stopping them in the middle of the hall and said he was sorry their dad decided to run away from his duty, then he touched Gavin on the shoulder. Gavin immediately fell away from him and hit the ground. He started rocking and crying right there in the middle of the floor yelling, ‘No he didn’t! No he didn’t!’

“Brody pinned Spencer against a locker and started pummeling him with his fist again and again. Spencer got a few punches in, but Brody was relentless. It took Ash, two administrators, and the school constable, Deputy Ralph, to peel Brody from him.”

I can’t believe what I am hearing. It sounds like something out of a movie, but Nikki’s seriousness keeps me present as she continues and I swallow dryly.

“Immediately, Brody was suspended and so was Spencer. Asher and I skipped class and took care of Gavin the best we could until Mrs. Ferguson could come get him.”

Nikki closes her eyes and shakes her head like she doesn’t want to remember what taking care of Gavin having a breakdown was like.

Nikki lowers her voice, “Gavin has seen a psychiatrist for years. Later that day, I texted Mrs. Ferguson about Brody and Gavin. I asked what was happening. She said Brody wasn’t going to return to school and Gavin was going to get some help at a facility nearby.”

She places another French fry in her mouth. “About a month before you moved in, Asher and I saw Brody and Gavin together, out front, sitting in the yard. We hadn’t seen them in at least two months. We went over and talked to them making sure to steer clear of anything having to do with Mr. Ferguson. Even now, it is still too fresh a wound to discuss.”

I can’t believe this happened just before I met them. It seems like their story should span years, not a few months. No wonder Gavin broke like he did. I couldn’t believe Spencer took it that far saying something so hurtful and cruel about Mr. Ferguson to his grieving sons. “What happened to Spencer? Did he get suspended too?”

Nikki tightens her lip. “Mr. and Mrs. Morietti are big contributors to this community and to this school. Spencer got off with a week of in school suspension.”

I am livid. “Seriously!”

Two guys and three girls sitting next to us look at me because of my outburst then turn back to their conversation.

I lower my voice. “That shouldn’t matter.”

Nikki nods. “I know. People said it was because Spencer’s parents were like high school royalty; cheerleader and football shit from back in their day, hell, my mom, Brody’s and Gavin’s mom, and Ashes dad all attended Braxton Springs just like Spencer’s parents. That shouldn’t make any difference!”

“No, it shouldn’t.”

“But it does here,” Nikki says pushing her half eaten container of French fries away from her. “That is the story.”