Marionette (28 page)

Finally, I asked, “How bad was it?”

“Bad.”

“Hospital bad or dead bad?” I peeked out of the corner of my eye to see his reaction.

“Hospital. The guy will never be the same again, though.” Tom didn’t flinch. Didn’t react. He was robot-like.

I sighed and gripped the steering wheel tighter. I needed something firm to hold onto, something I could understand.

Tom leaned forward in his seat and clutched his knees. “Attempted murder. That’s what he was arrested for—‌and he was the ringleader.”

The words hit me hard. My chest constricted. I was able to choke out, “My God,” as I stared absently at the road in front of me.

Jess didn’t speak when we walked in. She just got up and gave Tom a hug—‌no, not a hug, an embrace. She held onto him and Tom broke down. Despite the heavy sobs escaping from him, he made no sound, and Jess’s petite frame didn’t give way. Slowly, she maneuvered Tom to the couch and sat down next to him.

I stood awkwardly, watching Tom as he hid his face in both hands.

“It was on the news,” Jess told me. She motioned to the TV, and for the first time I noticed that it was on.

I hit the off button to silence the clamor, but they had already moved on to another story anyway. A sixth grader had won the local spelling bee. Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah.

Motioning to Jess to meet me in the kitchen, I slipped out of the room. She joined me and gave me a hug. “It’s worse than you think,” I said, nestling my head on her shoulder.

She pulled away to study my face.

“Tom’s roommate was one of the guys arrested.”

Jess glanced towards the room where Tom was sitting.

“Shit!” She turned to me. “He can’t go back. Even if his roommate isn’t there, he can’t go back.”

“I know. But what can he say? He won’t want to admit anything. Not now. How will he explain that he needs a new room? A new roommate? They already turned him down last week.”

“What do you mean?” She pinned me with a stare.

“Tom tried getting his own room. They got along, but Aar—‌” I still couldn’t say it. “Well, let’s just say that he would make comments that made Tom uncomfortable. The administration said no. They don’t have any rooms for him or for anybody.”

“Bullshit. They probably think they’re helping him build character.” I could tell she was angry. Swearing was not her thing normally.

Slogans from the posters hanging in the dorm hallways suddenly popped into my mind:

“We are all one.”

“Once a terrier, always a terrier.”

“Minds and friends connecting forever.”

Yeah. Only if we were just like everyone else. I swallowed, and it felt like I was forcing a pill down my throat.

“Let me think about this. But we should go back out there.” Jess gestured for me to go first.

Tom looked up when we entered the room. “I’m sorry.”

Jess flitted over to him. “Don’t be sorry. I’m glad you’re here.” She nestled on the couch next to him and pulled his head down onto her shoulder. “And thanks for bringing Paige to me. I was worried about her.”

For some reason, this statement brought tears to my eyes. Jess noticed and flashed me a sad, fleeting smile.

“Have you two had dinner?”

We shook our heads.

“I know you probably don’t want to eat, but I have an idea. Santi’s is having an all-you-can-eat tamale night for a charity, and Tom, you look like you need some tequila. I will warn you, the last time I took Paige there, she lost her clothes before the night was over.” Jess brushed my arm lovingly.

Tom let out a snort that was half laughter, half blubber. He wiped his nose on his sleeve. “Sure, why not? But, Paige, I would appreciate it if you kept your clothes on tonight.”

I marveled at Jess’s ability to calm him. And me.

As soon as we entered the restaurant, the smell of tamales and mole sauce hit my nostrils. When Jess had proposed coming here, I’d been certain I wouldn’t have an appetite. Now, I couldn’t wait to pile tamale upon tamale on my plate. Tom eyed me guiltily, and I knew he felt the same way.

“Grab that table over there, Paige.” Jess motioned to a table in the back. “I’m going to say hi to Santi.”

I nodded. Like dancers, Tom and I wove through the buffet line to take the last available table. Santi sure knew how to pack in a crowd. It wasn’t even five in the afternoon, yet people were lined up for food. The rest were half-sloshed on tequila and wiggling their butts on the dance floor, even though there was no mariachi band playing this time.

Jess appeared a few minutes later with plates for all three of us. “All paid up. Now, I’m counting on you two to get our money’s worth.” She winked at me and led us to the buffet line.

Tom and I didn’t want to disappoint her, so we overloaded our plates.

Santi chuckled when he saw how many tamales I had on my plate. “Señorita, if you finish all of those, I’ll give you as much tequila as you can handle.”

“It’s a deal.” I tried shaking his hand to seal the deal, but almost upset my entire plate.

As Santi steadied the plate, he said, “Hurry up if you want more. The buffet line closes at six.” He playfully patted my back, not in the least concerned that he’d lose the bet.

“If she goes back for more, Santi, I’ll buy you all the tequila you can drink,” said Jess.

“Careful, Jess. I can drink a lot.” Santi patted his belly and grinned.

“Oh, I know.”

I wondered how often Jess and Santi had gotten drunk and danced together.

“Paige, how much food can you actually eat?” Mel said, as she walked up to us, her nose wrinkling in disgust.

Before I could respond, Jess asked, “Santi, can you add another plate to my tab?”

“Sure thing.” He gave a half wave and waddled off to greet other customers. Even from the other side of the room, I could hear Santi’s booming laugh, which matched his imposing presence.

“I wasn’t expecting to see you, Mel. Did you leave work early just for this?” I asked, sitting down and following my question with my first bite. Exquisite. I rubbed my belly and then dug in. “Jesus, these are good.”

Tom nodded, but he was too busy shoveling in bite after bite to speak.

Mel looked at me and then at Tom and shuddered. “Jess, we may need to get separate tables.” She crinkled her face in disgust as she watched us eat. Then she finally answered my question with, “I had the day off, and Jess was kind enough to invite me.”

“Wow, I can’t remember the last time you took a day off,” I mumbled through a mouthful of tamale.

Mel caught Jess’s attention and they both joined the tamale queue.

As Tom and I continued eating, I watched Mel’s expression as she spoke to Jess. She was animated, and Jess was doing her best to quiet her. What in the world where they talking about now? Finally, Mel stood still—‌completely still—‌and listened to every word Jess said. I couldn’t hear the conversation, but it looked serious. Mel glanced over her shoulder at me and then turned away quickly. Jess continued to talk rapidly. Once Mel had finished gathering a measly four tamales, they returned to the table.

“Four, that’s all? I ate four while you were in line.”

“Not sure you should be bragging about that, Paige.” Jess smiled and turned to Tom. “I had a feeling you’d find your appetite here.” She nudged his arm.

Tom remained silent. He took his tamale-eating seriously. He never stopped chewing or shoving more in, and I sensed that as long as he focused on eating, Aaron and everything else was pushed from his mind.

“Paige, Jess was filling me in on your day.” Mel set her fork down. “I’m really sorry.” She peeked in Tom’s direction.

He glanced up from his plate and then looked away, resuming his eating.

Mel and Jess exchanged a look, the meaning of which completely escaped me until I saw Mel quickly glance at my wrists. Were they worried I would try to off myself again? Would that fear ever dissipate, or would everyone panic every time I had to deal with life?

“Where’s Weasel?” I steered the conversation away.

“Working. He’s been working nights lately.” She laughed. “And I have to admit, it’s been wonderful having him gone while I’m home. How long are you in town?”

“Just the night, I think. I have a French final tomorrow.” I caught Jess’s eye to see if she had any solutions for Tom’s situation yet.

She looked away.

Nope.

“Can’t you postpone the test, considering?” Mel offered.

“Doubt it. My French teacher doesn’t mess around when it comes to following the rules. No wonder so many people hate the French.” I tried to joke, but it fell flat.

Tom continued eating, but I felt his unease. He didn’t want to go back either, not to his room. Not to school. He needed a break.

“You can always drive back after your test,” Jess chimed in.

“Of course.” I looked at Tom. “You can stay here. I don’t have any exams on Wednesday, so we can stay for a few days. Jess, you won’t mind, right?”

“Not one bit. In fact, I might be a little insulted if you didn’t stay longer.”

Tom looked slightly relieved. Mel motioned for the waiter and ordered four beers.

No one spoke. That’s when I heard it.

“Paige! What the fuck are you doing here?”

I looked up and saw Karen with some guy. How in the world had she managed to run into me here?

“Uh, I’m eating tamales,” I responded glibly.

“I can see that. And I see Tom’s with you. How come you didn’t invite me?” She sounded hurt.

“Y-you were studying for your chemistry test.” I tried to sound convincing.

“And you were studying for your French test,” she accused.

The guy she was with held out his hand. “Hi, I’m Karen’s brother, Jake.” I shook his hand, and Tom and Jake nodded at each other.

“Would you two like to join us?” Jess was amazed that another one of my school friends had magically appeared.

“Sure, I’m starving.” Karen plopped down on a chair that Jake had pulled over for her.

“You better hurry, then,” I said. “The buffet stops at six.” I motioned to the line, which grew with each passing second.

Karen sprang out of her seat like a hundred-meter sprinter and pulled on her brother’s arm.

Tom looked at me and said, “Shit!” under his breath.

“Hold on, you two. She doesn’t know anything. Tell her I’m your cousin.” Jess flashed a supportive smile.

The thought repulsed me. It was okay to “date” Tom at school, but this was my territory with Jess. Lying seemed reprehensible here.

Tom shook his head. “That would probably work with Karen, but not with Jake. Besides…” His voice drifted off.

Jess nodded in agreement and Tom’s eyes welled up as he said, “Not today.”

When Karen and Jake sat back down, Mel scrutinized Karen, which made me grin. Was she afraid Karen was her replacement?

I started to laugh uncontrollably.

“What’s so funny?” asked Karen.

I continued laughing. “This.” I gestured to the table.

“What, eating tamales?” Karen looked baffled.

Tom howled along with me.

“N-no!” was all I could get out.

“We came here to get away from all of you, and here you are.” Tom choked the words out.

Karen frowned slightly, suggesting she was hurt.

“I didn’t mean it that way,” said Tom. “It’s just that this has been a difficult day.” His laughter halted.

“Why, did you two fight?” inquired the clueless Karen.

Jess placed her hand on my arm to stifle my laughter at Karen’s expense.

Jake broke into the conversation with, “Karen, I think they are referring to the beating on campus.”

“Oh, you heard about it.” I could tell she was ready to gossip about it.

“Tom told me what happened,” I replied.

“How did you find out, Tom? Jake called me and told me. I didn’t feel like staying the night there. Who could do such a thing?”

I dropped my fork onto my plate. It clattered, and everyone stared at me. “You don’t know, do you?”

“What? I don’t know the guy, but I feel bad about it.” She searched my face for an answer.

Tom cleared his throat. “Aaron was one of the…”

“One of the what?” asked Karen.

Jess sat up straighter. “Karen, Tom’s roommate was one of the guys who beat up that student.”

Karen’s face went ashen. Then she shook her head and said, “No. I know him. That can’t be…‌How? Why?” The words came out so fast that it seemed as if she was chasing away the answers before they had time to take root in her mind.

Jake shifted in his seat. “You okay, Tom?” His voice said it all. He knew Tom and I weren’t dating.

Karen looked to Jake, and then to Tom, and then her eyes finally settled on my face. Slowly, her gaze made its way down to Jess’s hand, which now rested on mine.

“Shit, I feel like an ass,” was all she said.

“Oh, please, Karen, don’t feel that way,” Jess reassured her. “Tom and Paige have tried to keep it quiet from everyone. Not just you.”

Karen sucked in her breath. “And you didn’t mind? You didn’t mind that they pretended to date?” Honest Karen couldn’t wrap her brain around the deception.

“She didn’t tell me, actually. We ran into Tom and his boyfriend, ex-boyfriend now, at an art show. I’ll admit that it rattled me some.” Jess turned to me. “But at least Paige picked out a gay guy for her fake boyfriend—‌and she didn’t even know it.” She patted my cheek tenderly.

Karen fixed Jess with a defiant stare. “What do you mean, didn’t know it? Didn’t they plan it together?” Her tone was accusatory.

Mel laughed; this was the first time she had heard the full story. “Oh, that’s perfect! Paige has always been clueless.”

I feigned being hurt.

“You mean that Paige and Tom both thought the other was straight and used the other for cover?” Karen burst into laughter.

Jake joined in, chuckling, but all the while his eyes stayed on Tom.

Jess nodded. “Yes! You should have seen the look on Paige’s face when she found out. I thought for sure she was going to have a heart attack, or faint.”

Tom stabbed the air with his fork. “Now, hold on, I suspected it about Paige all along.”

I waved that idea away. “Liar!” I accused.