“Was it really that bad?”
The question was asked with such obvious concern, such solemnity, that Ed couldn’t be sure he heard it at all. He understood what Sammy meant. He just couldn’t believe Sammy knew to ask. Especially since Ed had always partly believed that Sammy lived in a different world, one far removed from Ed’s. Their worlds intersected in a few places, and at a few times, but ultimately their paths were divergent.
Except, Sammy had apparently not been given that memo. Sammy had apparently noticed Ed, even when Ed wanted nothing more than to be invisible.
“It was. I had a scholarship to the University of Wyoming. It covered tuition, but not room and board. And I know it’s not the greatest school in the world, but it was something. Enough to keep me from being drafted.”
“What happened?”
“My old man wouldn’t help. I couldn’t delay the scholarship for a year. So I lost it and now…”
“Yeah. Right. And now…”
“I’ll go when they call me,” Ed quickly added. “Of course, I will. But before I do, I want to see the beach. I want to be somewhere other than Wyoming. I want to live a little bit.”
“Me, too.”
A new silence, deafening like the roar of the storm outside. Fat drops of water landed on the windshield and the hood before bouncing off again. They almost reminded Ed of gunshots, but they were too small. Too muffled. Maybe the air rifle that shot pellets. The one he always used to keep the magpies out of the garden. A semi-truck sped by, a huge wave of water splashing over the car in its wake.
“Shit,” Ed muttered. “We should have tried to flag him down.”
“Don’t worry about it. It’s probably not going to rain for very long. And we have food in the back.”
“You really don’t mind being stuck on the side of the road?”
Sammy shook his head. “I’ve been stuck worse places. Besides, it’s not too bad. Actually, it’s kind of nice out here.”
Ed smiled. “You know, I don’t really know what to think of you. I mean, I thought I knew you. Or at least knew what I needed to know about you.”
“Now you’re not so sure?”
“No, I’m really not.”
“Why?”
“Because you…what are you going to do in California? You drop everything to join me, you leave a note for your parents, but you haven’t actually told me what you think is going to happen once we get there.”
“I figured I would keep an eye on you.”
“Really? That’s your reason?”
“Yep.”
Ed stared at him. “But that doesn’t…really?”
Sammy offered a soft smile. It wasn’t nearly as wide or as shiny as his other smile, but it was still enough to send a funny flutter through Ed’s chest. Neither of Sammy’s parents were particularly good-looking people, but somehow, their genes had created somebody like him. Even Sammy’s brothers and his sister didn’t have the same perfect symmetry, the same bright eyes. Sammy was one of a kind.
“Yes, really. I’ve been doing it for years.”
“You’ve been keeping an eye on me for years?” Ed didn’t know what to make of that. It didn’t make any sense, for one thing. If Sammy had been keeping an eye on him for years, why weren’t they actually friends? And furthermore, why would Sammy even bother? Why bother with him over anybody else?
“Yeah. I’m a little surprised you never noticed.”
“I never knew to look. Why?”
“It wasn’t anything I planned. But…look it’s going to sound silly.”
“I don’t think it will.”
“Do you remember Josh Miller? That kid who moved away when we were in fourth grade?”
Ed nodded. Not too many people moved away, and since there weren’t many people in the area to begin with, everybody always noticed when somebody disappeared from the school.
“Well, we all hung out in second grade because we were all in Ms. Bonner’s class. Me, Josh, Tim Delaway, and that Preston kid.”
“Anthony?”
“Yeah. Anyway, we used to think it was great fun to target some of the smaller boys and drag them into the girl’s bathroom. And since Josh was already like five and a half feet tall when he was eight, he also liked to give them swirlies if he thought he could get away with it.”
Ed grimaced. “Yeah, I remember. It was like he never got in trouble for that shit.”
“He got in trouble a few times. We all did. But before we got it through our thick skulls to stop, Josh suggested we…dunk you. But I didn’t want to do that, because, well, it didn’t seem like a fair fight. You know?”
Ed knew. Due to an unfortunate combination of genetics and circumstances, Ed had been a particularly small child. Several bouts with pneumonia had him hospitalized for most of his young life, and his mother hated the thought of him spending any real time outside. Until he was twelve, he was only allowed outside at recess if he promised not to “overexert” himself. That on top of the fact that his parents were beanpoles, and Ed supposed he made an easy target.
Except, barring a few minor taunts and scuffles, he had pretty much avoided getting targeted.
“Wait…did this have something to do with you getting sent to the principal’s office?”
“Yeah. We got in a fight. It was actually pretty brutal. As brutal as two seven year olds can be, I guess. And it wasn’t the last one. We kept at each other like a couple of wild dogs for the rest of the year. He was determined to get you, and the more Ms. Bonner punished him, the more determined he got. But I managed to keep him away from you, and then the next year, he basically forgot. Then he moved away.”
Ed gaped at Sammy. He didn’t know what to say. It seemed a little too late to thank him. “Sammy…I had no
