Inherited Magic (7 page)

“I know the type. I have an aunt
who can’t function if she’s single.”

“Well Chuck, his step dad, can’t
stand Vinnie. He is always so hateful. He seems to have genuine contempt for
him.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. I think maybe Vinnie
is a reminder that his wife has been with other men. He is the jealous, control
freak type. Vinnie’s real father was from El Salvador and he died when Vinnie
was three.  I think it bothers Chuck that Vinnie is part Hispanic, too. Chuck
tolerates Vinnie; but he’s never liked anything about him. They don’t even want
him around. They’re more than happy to let him stay over for weeks at a time.”

 “Chuck sounds like a major jerk.”

“He is, but my grandmother loves
Vinnie so much. It all works out because now he’s part of our family.”

“You live with your grandmother?”

“Yes,” she said while playing with
her dry mashed potatoes.

“What about your parents?”

“My mother is dead and my father is
I don’t know where. Too busy to be bothered with raising his daughter I guess.”

“Oh. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have
asked something so personal.”

“It’s okay.”

Soon enough, lunch period was over
and the rest of the day continued just as fast. The last class of the day was
Art. Vinnie, Adam and Allison were all in the same class. They sat together at
one of the long, beat up tables.

“Are you sure about fighting
Siler?” Vinnie asked.

“It’s not like I want to or
anything, but this is how it has to happen.”

Allison looked up from her charcoal
picture, which was almost completed. They had a free day, so she was finishing
the portrait of the man from her dream. The white hair, the eyes and that scar:
even after drawing his features, she could not remove his image from her mind.
Her portrait of the man was lifelike and haunting.  

“I’m going to the park with Adam,”
Allison said.

“So is half the school. Everyone is
talking about it,” Vinnie said, “I’ll come too.”

“You two don’t have to be there if
you don’t want,” Adam said.

“We want to,” Allison assured him.

“Thanks,” Adam said, while looking
at her picture.

“I like it. Who is this?”

“Just a man from my imagination,”
she said. “I should have it done by the end of class. I’m going to take it home
and show my grandma. She is always excited to see my drawings.”

“I can see why. You are talented.”

Allison smiled and thanked Adam.
Compliments about her artwork or anything else always made her uncomfortable.
The three of them were silent for a few minutes, each working on something
different.

The closer it got to three o’clock,
the more nervous Allison became. When the bell rang, and the school day was
finished, Allison grabbed her completed drawing and other belongings and rushed
to her locker. This was one time that she wished school would have lasted
longer. She walked to her locker and began placing books inside. She jumped
when she heard a familiar voice behind her.

“You’re a hard person to catch
alone,” Josh said.

She turned and gave him a weak
laugh, “Yeah, I guess so.”

There was a definite awkwardness in
his demeanor.

“I hate that you and Sam are
fighting.”

“Me too. I just didn’t realize she
was going to get mad over nothing.”

“Yeah.”

He stared at her as if he wanted to
say something more. After a moment, he spoke again.

“I’m sorry for texting you the
other night. It was stupid, but it was true. I would have rather been there
with you any day.”

“Don’t worry about it. I was
probably overreacting.”

His green eyes flashed across the
hallway where Adam stood with Vinnie. They were lingering, waiting until the
conversation with Josh was over before approaching.

“You and the new kid are friendly.”

His voice was no longer apologetic
or sad; instead, there was an edge of bitterness in it.

“Yeah, Adam’s nice. I can introduce
you.”

“No thanks,” he said, before
walking away from her.

Allison watched him walk down the
hall, but she did not have much time to think on their conversation because
Adam and Vinnie were soon at her side. Vinnie gave her a questioning look but
said nothing.

“So, where is this park?” Adam
asked.

“We’ll show you, it isn’t far.”

While they walked down the hall to
get to the lobby, all eyes were on Adam. Students stared with what seemed like
pity. They all knew what was coming, word traveled fast in a small high school.
Jane approached the group.

“Adam, you may not realize it, but
you are making a big mistake. You don’t need to fight Siler,” she said.

“Thanks for the concern, but
everything is fine,” Adam said.

Jane placed a delicate hand on his
chest and gave her best pouty expression, “I don’t want anything to happen to
you or your pretty face.”

At that moment, Allison wanted to
do something to Jane’s pretty face. Adam stepped back so that Jane was no
longer touching him.

“Thanks. I’ll be fine,” he told
her.

She turned to Allison, “And you’re
just going along with this?”

“What would you like me to do? This
is not my choice.”

Of course, she was worried. It
wasn’t as if she was excited for Adam and Siler to fight.  Allison wondered if
she could see what was going to happen. Her visions of the future were always
random, or at least they had been up until now. She was not sure what triggered
the images, and she had never tried to have one on purpose. She wasn’t even
sure if she could, but it was worth a try.

Allison focused, thinking about
what was going to happen this afternoon. An image formed in her mind, but it
was Jane, not Adam. She could see Jane dropping books and papers after a kid
bumped into her. That was the only image that Allison had.

“Are you even listening to me?”
Jane asked.

“Sorry. I zoned out.”

She rolled her eyes, “I asked if
you told him about Siler.”

“Of course I did.”

“Just don’t get hurt,” she told
Adam before walking away.

The three of them continued to make
their way through the lobby and to the front entrance. Right before they exited
the school building, they heard a shriek and a crash. Allison looked to see a
frustrated Jane staring down at a pile of books and papers.

“Watch where you’re going,” she
said to the startled freshman.

It may not have been a significant,
life changing vision, Allison thought, but it was something. It proved that she
had some control over whatever was happening to her.

Allison, Vinnie and Adam walked
toward the park. There were other students walking in front of them and behind
them. They were all going to the park to watch the potential bloodbath. In
Allison’s mind, they were all vultures, just wanting to see the new kid get
hurt. She was going for different reasons, to make sure he was okay. If things
got too out of hand, she was prepared to jump on Siler’s back and choke him out
UFC style.

The park was half a mile from the
school, but Allison never wanted that walk to end. They were silent most of the
way. She tried to be calm but her stomach was in knots, she could not imagine
how Adam must feel. He looked calm enough on the outside, but she wondered if
that was just some tough guy facade.

“It’s not too late to back out,”
Vinnie said, “Trust me, no one would think less of you for not fighting Siler.
Do you think any of these guys would fight him?”

“They might not think less of me,
but Siler would and he would make sure I knew it every day.”

Vinnie could not argue with that
logic. The students around Adam glanced back and shared whispers while they
walked. One boy approached him, Danny Mayes. He was a sophomore, super skinny
and timid.

“Good luck,” he told Adam, “Siler
has been my neighbor all my life, and I can’t tell you the number of wedgies
and bruises he’s given me. I hope you do what the rest of us have always wanted
to.”

Adam smiled, “Thanks man.”

They approached the small park
where a group of students was gathered.

“I guess it’s supposed to happen
over there,” Adam said, pointing to the group.

They walked over to the students,
who stopped talking. All eyes were on Adam, Vinnie and Allison.

“When you start a new school, you
sure do make an entrance,” Allison said.

“I guess I do.”

They did not have to wait long for
Siler to arrive. Allison noticed the red car approaching. It belonged to Sydney
Freeman, who was a senior and Siler’s good friend. They went almost everywhere
together. She knew Siler would be in the car with him. They parked and both
boys stepped out. Allison’s anxiety was now worked into a frenzy, but she tried
to appear calm. Siler lumbered toward the crowd. While he approached, Allison
could see a wide, menacing smile forming on his face.

“Wow, you showed up,” he said to
Adam.

“I told you I would.”

“Okay. Let’s do this,” Siler said,
getting right to the point.

Adam raised his hands in a defensive
position and Siler put his fists up. For a moment, the two boys circled. Siler
closed the gap, approaching with a fierce right hook. Adam dodged it and landed
a quick punch with his left hand. It didn’t seem to hurt Siler, but rather made
him angry. Siler rushed as if to tackle him, but Adam moved out of the way
somehow managing to trip Siler at the same time. Siler landed on the ground,
but was back on his feet almost as soon as he hit. He threw another punch,
using his entire body weight. Adam, once again, dodged the punch and countered.

By this point, the crowd was
cheering Adam. If Allison had to guess, she would bet at least half the
students gathered had been bullied by Siler. Everyone except Sydney was happy
to watch someone stand his ground with the muscular football player. Sydney was
watching with his mouth open, his expression one of utter disbelief.

Siler grabbed onto Adam’s waist,
spearing him and forcing him onto the ground. Allison dreaded what would come
next. Maybe Adam could dance while they were on their feet, but on the ground,
it was something different. Siler had brute strength.

While they grappled and rolled
around, Siler landed a forceful punch. The thud made Allison sick to her
stomach, but Adam seemed unbothered. As they wrestled and fought for position,
Adam somehow wiggled out from Siler’s grip. Adam took Siler’s back, wrapping
one arm around his neck. He applied pressure and Siler jerked around, trying to
shake him. He fought and flailed at first, but then much less. Within a minute,
Siler was asleep on the ground. The crowd of students laughed and cheered; for
them, it was David defeating Goliath. Adam released him and stood up. Sydney
rushed to check on his friend, and Adam joined Allison and Vinnie, who were
both stunned.

“Where did that come from?” Allison
asked.

“Well, I’m a military brat. We were
always moving from base to base, so I couldn’t participate in seasonal team
sports. My father enrolled me in martial arts and boxing instead. Those things
you can pick up anywhere, as long as there’s a gym or dojo. It also helps with
the occasional bully who likes to pick on the new kid.”

Siler sat up while they were
talking, still looking a little dazed. Adam crouched beside him.

“Are we good now?” Adam asked. “I
am sorry I said anything about your mom. I don’t blame you for wanting to beat
me up.”

Siler looked at the ground, his
face and ears bright red. Allison was sure this must be the first time he had
ever been beaten in a fight.

“Hey, you did get me good though,”
Adam said, touching the puffy area underneath his eye.

Siler looked up at Adam and smiled,
“It’s already turning purple.”

“Yeah, you got me,” Adam said
before he stood up.

He extended a hand to Siler, who
grabbed it. Adam helped him to his feet.

“We’re good,” Siler told him.

“Good.”

Adam walked back to Vinnie and
Allison.

“So is there anyone in this school
you do get along with?” Allison asked in a teasing manner; remembering when he
had asked her the same thing. 

“Well, Siler now.”

“You should come over and hang
out,” Vinnie suggested to Adam.

“Yeah, I guess I could. I’ll call
my dad and let him know.”

He pulled out a cell phone and
dialed his father.

Allison and Adam were sitting in
the living room. When they arrived at Ruby’s trailer, Vinnie had decided to go
into his bedroom. Allison was sure this was to her and Adam give some privacy,
though she wasn’t sure why. Allison still had no idea if Adam even liked her
that way. Regardless, she made it a point to sit next to him on the couch.

“I can’t believe you beat Siler up
like it was nothing,” she said.

“It was no big deal.”

She started to say something when
her phone vibrated. She tapped the screen and had a new text message. When she
opened the message, it was from Josh. She scanned it, aware that Adam was
peeking over her shoulder.

Josh had sent the words, “Sorry for
walking away like that earlier.”

She didn’t want to text him back
where Adam could read it, so she stood up.

“Do you want a drink?” she asked,
“We have Pepsi, Sprite and water.”

“No thanks,” Adam said.

She walked into the kitchen to
retrieve her own soda. Before opening the refrigerator door, she sent a message
back to Josh.

“Don’t apologize. It seems like
that’s all you’re doing lately. Idk what’s going on but I miss the way we used
to be able to talk to each other. Now everything is all messed up.”

She grabbed her Pepsi and walked
back into the living room, returning to the couch.

“Everything okay?” he asked,
looking at the cell phone in her hand.