That Year Read online

a box cutter from his pants pocket. He opens all the boxes. “What is this,” Leo asks holding a clear zip lock bag with orange powder substance. “I have no idea what that is,” the man responds. “How does 15 years in detention sound. You tell us everything and I’ll make sure you don’t spend a second in detention.” “You have no idea what you’re doing kid. Put down the bag and walk away, and we’ll all get on with our lives,” the man says. Leo stares the man down. The man stares back and takes off. He runs into the school from the back entrance. Leo and I follow behind. We chase the man in the kitchen of the cafeteria. I come to a halt when I notice ladies in school cafeteria uniforms packaging what appears to be more orange powder on the counter tables. A drug lap and operation right in my own school. I’m disappointed and angry in what I’m witnessing.

  “I got him by the way,” shouts Leo. I walk toward Leo whose sitting on his knees on the man responsible for carrying out the smuggling. “Get that radio from that table and call the hall monitors down here,” he demands me.

  Leo and I follow the hall monitors as they transport the delivery man and lunch ladies to the detention cell. The detention cell is made up of cell blocks with one desk screwed to the floor facing out. The delivery man sits in the desk staring at us as we stare right back. “You’re going to be in there for a very long time unless you tell us about your operation. That goes for you too ladies” says Leo. Leo walks down the aisle of cell blocks. No one says anything. Leo storms out. I follow. “We don’t need them anyway,” he tells me while we walk through the hallways.

  11

  Mrs. Snow asks me to stay after class again. “People are going to start getting suspicious if you continue to ask me to stay after,” I say. “Are you happy,” she asks while I’m pulling a chair up to her desk. “With that girl,” she adds. “Yes, I like being with her.” “So people could be happy in their relationships,” she asks. “Of course,” I respond. “I want a fresh start, a chance to redo my life.” Tears gradually stroll down her cheek. I would tell her again that she doesn’t have to be so sad, but I have told her that many times and it seems to have not registered with her. “Why don’t you believe me when I say you don’t have to be in your unhappy relationship,” I ask. She wipes the tears from her eyes. “I’m sorry I brought you into my misery, you don’t care about my pathetic life. It was nice having someone to listen to me though. I thank you for that.” “Mrs. Snow I care about you, but you don’t want to do anything about it, and.” “Please leave,” she interrupts me. She turns away from me, so I get up and head for my next class.

  “Let’s see if anybody is in a mood to talk today,” Leo tells me as I walk in to meet him in the abandoned classroom. We make our way through the school halls toward the detention cells.

  “This is the last time I ask.” Leo stops in his tracks while looking into a cell block. I catch up to him to see why he stopped. The lunch ladies and delivery man for the Pyramid Company who all assisted in running the drug operation in the school are dead. Blood drips to the floor from the mouth of one of the lunch ladies. Her wide dead eyes stare back at me. Leo advances deeper into the detention room while I stand in shock. I have never seen anything like what I’m witnessing outside of television before. “Mike’s dead,” Leo informs me. I turn in his direction. “Mike,” I ask. “The hall monitor on watch,” he says. Blood covers the concrete floor in each of the occupied cell blocks. I rub my forehead. “I need to go,” I tell Leo.

  I lay in my bed talking on my cell phone to Kayla. After natural silence in talking with her a part of me wants to tell her what I witnessed today. I want to tell someone how I feel before my feelings overwhelm me. Another part of me is scared. Scared because the connection is clear who is responsible. Joey Fontane. There is no question that Leo and I now have gotten the attention of a monster. I want to protect Kayla from this harsh reality, so I decide not to tell her anything. “I love you too,” I say back to Kayla before ending the call. I slip out of my bed and look out my window as snow flurries float in the cool night air. The street lights outside illuminate the sidewalks. It’s 10 pm and outside is silent. I imagine moms and dads lying in their beds holding hands under their warm blankets watching television, readying themselves for another day. I imagine the younger ones sleeping comfortably in their beds dreaming of faraway places. I close my curtains, shut my light and slide myself under my own warm blanket and let my dreams take me to another reality.

  I talk to Kayla before my first period class begins. I hear the door open, but it isn’t Mrs. Snow. Instead Principal Burns and Assistant Principal James walk in. The class goes silent and looks at them. “Students there is no easy way to say this, Mrs. Snow was reported dead last night. It was said to have been a suicide,” Principal James tells us. The class is so silent I hear the sound of my own heart beat. “Guidance counselors are always available if you want to talk,” Principal Burns adds. “We were unable to get a substitute teacher due to the timing, so you may stay here and complete any work that you have until second period or you could go to the gym. Again we’re sorry to have to inform you of this tragic news. She was a valuable member of this school,” Principal James says.

  I stand in the distance shivering in the cold air. I lean against the fence squinting. I barely make out who looks to be Mrs. Snow’s husband with a boy and a girl that both look around the age of four or five. Because of me that little boy and girl will never have their mother growing up. I’m filled with guilt. I watch the ceremony occasionally wiping wet snow from my eyes. I should have done more. I should have never left her. It was ten minutes of my life. I should have just continued to listen to her. I shouldn’t have upset her by pushing her. She was so young, so beautiful with her flowing blonde hair, but always a sadness about her. Her sad face is imprinted in my brain. I may have not technically done anything wrong, but I’m no hero either. I will now always be filled with this regret. That is the one thing that I do know. I watch her family and friends leave the area when the ceremony is over. I lean my head against the fence. “Mrs. Snow I’m so sorry. I pray that you find the happiness that you deserve.” I let the tears slide down my face.

  It’s the last day of school before Thanksgiving break. Leo is talking to me about a revolution to bring down Joey Fontane in our usual meeting spot in the abandoned classroom. “We need to show Joey Fontane and his gang that together as a united school we will not easily bend.” A loud bang and rumble of the floor beneath alert us both. “What the fuck is going on,” I ask. Leo runs out of the classroom. We follow the shouts and screams of terror. I’m afraid of what just happened. Judging from the screams and shouts I fear the worst. A dark cloud of smoke is seen coming from inside the cafeteria. I look around at the students around us. Their faces are bloodied and severely burned. I step over fingers and limps to get a look inside the cafeteria and notice that the roof at the other end is destroyed. Shouts come every direction. The cafeteria has the appearance of a warzone. Leo and I attempt to assist the students severely injured into the nurse’s office for assistance. I look inside the cafeteria once more. There are dead bodies scattered all over. Chaos has arrived with a message from Joey Fontane, giving the student body something to ponder over during Thanksgiving break.

  I feel relieved when I see Victoria walking to her bus at the end of the day. I was fortunate the ones close to me did not die in the explosion. 60 fellow students are dead however, with over 100 in critical condition. The cause of the explosion is not yet known. That is only by technicality though because I know, Leo knows, and the rest of student body knows who was behind the attack. Joey Fontane either because Leo and I put a stop to his drug smuggling and drug lap or because he wants to crush the spirit of the school that believes together could defeat him, or maybe both.

  12

  Before I left the school for Thanksgiving break I took from the main office Joey Fontane’s file. Inside the file listed an address. I’m now on my way to that address. I didn’t tell Leo about w
hat I was planning to do. I need to know more about Joey Fontane.

  “How long are you going to be,” Steve’s older brother asks. “I don’t know. I appreciate you driving me,” I say handing him thirty dollars. “I don’t want your money.” I put the thirty dollars back in my pocket. I didn’t think he would take it.

  “Try to be quick though. The roads are getting bad and its Thanksgiving,” he says. “I know,” I say before closing the car door behind me. The house is small in size, and in terrible condition. I leave a trail of footprints behind me on the snow covered driveway.

  I knock on the front door. I hear someone inside, but no one answers the door, so I knock again. This time an old lady opens the door just enough so I could see her face. “Yes,” she asks. “Is Joey Fontane here?” The old lady looks at me. “The snow is really coming down, come on in.” She opens the door allowing me in. I close the front door behind be. The sound of the loud television startles me. An old, chubby shirtless man sits in his wheelchair four feet away from the television. The old lady limps slowly into her kitchen. The