Awakening: Part 1

Billy walked on the edge of the sidewalk. It was the third time Meryl had told him to stop doing it. Cars were passing by real slowly in the vicinity of Gregory Elementary School. Billy tried to stay on the edge but he kept having to put one foot down, so that he wouldn't trip and fall. His hands were extended, as if that was the way to keep your balance. Meryl didn't much care about balance, just that he might get hit by a car. It felt weird to be accompanying the loud-mouthed Meryl to school. He'd been nearly as unaware of her as she had of him, until a recent group of bullies started hanging out near the corner of the neighborhood, gauging the young kids. His dad had agreed but his mom had tried to argue with Mrs. Kinson that her son had nothing to do with her daughter's safety. Billy didn't care but he didn't see why he should play the role of bodyguard to Meryl. Couldn't he have played that roll for Karyn? No. She had an older brother.

Then, the sidewalk changed. It was painted red now and there was a garbage can he had missed. It hit him on the knee. Billy got up and argued with the garbage can. "Stupid thing, what the heck, didn't you see me coming?" In his mind, the fact that he had walked onto the thrash can because he hadn't been paying attention didn't hold much merit. That thought was downright wrong.

Meryl stopped walking, looking back at him. Her long strides kept her a good distance ahead. She was nearing a large house with an open gate. It had a large front yard, green grass shining against the glimmer of the sun. It shone so brightly, then, that people did anything to keep to the shade. Rumor had it that the world was coming to some sort of end, or, at the least, headed toward some very bad things. The heat that summer gave Billy a hint of the end. Not that he cared much. He was happy playing video games or going up a tree and sniping innocents with a bag of rubber bands at his sides.

A large boy came out of the gate. His name was Cal Richmond. He had the look of a rough tug with his black leather jacket and wavy blonde hair. He was about five feet tall, which was tall for an eleven year old and he had on blue jeans and black boots. He was regarded sometimes as the school bully and sometimes as the school hunk. Billy couldn't guess how those two fit. He was probably attractive to the lady's, unlike Billy, whose belly denied him even a look. At least, Meryl looked at him but she had the most awful voice. It had to do with her braces, or so she said. Still, the Cal boy approached her. He was bout to shove her with the heel of his black boot.

Then, he saw Billy coming with a thrash can lid in one hand. Billy was already upset, so there was no need to further aggravate him on the matter of Meryl. Yet, he came across a problem. Did he care if Meryl got hurt, if she was bullied around by Cal with his blue eyes? Maybe, she'd like that sort of thing. Well, she hadn't said anything to him about the thrash can thing and Billy felt that was quite descent of her, almost human.

"Lose something, Cal?" Billy asked him, tentatively.

"You...again. No one was about to boot you in the butt, huh?"

Meryl turned back around in shock. She hadn't even heard Cal approach. She smiled at him for some reason. Idiot.

"The girl has some contract with my parents. If it were up to me, I'd care less what you did to her but my pops ain't exactly fair when it comes to certain things."

Cal laughed. "So honest all the time, Billy. Maybe, you should keep your little stories about being poor to yourself." Still, he shoved Meryl toward him. Billy was forced to catch her in his arms before she fell. He could have let her fall but then that would have resulted in some kind of deduction to his allowance. Not that he was broke. Cal was dead-wrong on that sore debate. It was his father that was stingy or, rather, as he had put it, not prone to having a son spend his days wasting his father's "hard-earned" money. The old man had over two million in the bank. It was just sitting there, too. Billy didn't get more than five dollars a week, if that. The agreement came with clauses, just like every part of Billy's life. If he could eat chocolate cake, then he had to take out the thrash but then if he had to play video games, he couldn't be a bully because that's not what bullies did. Man, was there a fair in-between that Billy could step on? Strange as it seemed, Meryl smiled up at him too, with her green eyes. Billy held her up. And made her stand away from him. At least two feet.

"Follow," he said, "But not too close."

Meryl had a book in her hands. It was the worst thing to have in your hands in that neighborhood, what with all the bullies competing for favor within each other's groups. This is why there was a neighborhood watch but then, the watch was mostly bullies themselves. Huge, bulky fellows, ex-wrestler-types had taken over the watch just one week back, having won the initial choose and pick out of a hat process by cheating. Billy didn't know about it much. The local people rumored about it and it trickled down to Billy by the school's kids. Billy had bullied some kids before himself but it was for a sandwich or for a piece of candy. Then, he found, it was just less hassle to ask...in a menacing way with a bit of hunger in the eyes. Less teachers sent you to detention for asking.

Cal eyed Billy for a second before closing his gate and walking off. They were descending down hill now so the walk seemed less troublesome. Billy hated any sort of exercise. It was tiring but he had to do something about the weight. People still thought he was too tough. Why put it on him to be a security, when he could just as easily be a nerd? Still, the video games weren't as fun as the rubber bands.

"You were rude to him," Meryl said, quite amused.

"That sounds about right," Billy said.

"Well," Meryl said, "I can't have you be rude to everyone just because of me. In fact, I would prefer you not walk me home or to school anymore. Your lack of care for everyone and anything around you just disgusts me."

Billy was about to say the most irrational thing to her. Damn it all, he just grabbed her book and threw it on the sidewalk. A car swiftly ran over it. Meryl was fast to retrieve it carefully but now there was a brown tire mark running across its very fine white cover. It had the picture of a three and in the background was a C delicately drawn in white. It was smeared in brown in places. It looked more like a straight line now.

"Well," said Meryl, "I guess this is my proof. And you can bet my mother is going to hear about this."

Billy sighed and continued to walk downhill, ahead of her. He looked back from time to time. For the moment, he had still made a bargain. Even if he had other, better things to do like asking Simon for his peanut butter and jelly sandwich, he had still promised to protect the girl, annoying as she was.