Just Another Hero (14 page)

MONDAY, MARCH 7

KOFI HAD THE ITCHES. MILLIONS OF INSECTS
crawled on the insides of his arms and legs, it seemed. He couldn't stop scratching. His fingernails left long, ashy marks on his arms as he tried in vain to make the itching stop.

It had started early that morning, and by lunchtime, Kofi wanted to jump in a pool of lotion or salve or something to make the itching stop. After he gulped down a burger, he stopped by the school nurse's office.

“Hey, Miss Thornton,” Kofi said, just peeking inside her door.

“Hi Kofi, come on in,” she said cheerfully. Barely five feet tall, Miss Thornton wore high heels every day, in spite of the slippery hall floors. “Are you feeling okay?”

“Uh, I'm fine—not sick or anything. I just want to know if you got some ice I can borrow,” Kofi said. It took all his effort not to scratch as he stood there.

“Borrow?” Miss Thornton asked with a lilting laugh. Kofi thought her voice sounded like a bird's—almost musical. “It's going to melt, you know.”

Kofi grinned. “You know what I mean, Miss Thornton.”

“Do you have a headache?” she asked, sounding concerned. She walked over to a small refrigerator.

“Yeah. It's nothing serious.”

“Well, you know I'm not allowed to give out meds without a doctor's scrip. Not even colas with caffeine anymore. Just Band-Aids and Jolly Ranchers and ice packs.” She sighed. “I wish I could do more for you kids.”

“I'll take the candy if it will make you happy,” Kofi told her as she handed him a plastic bag full of ice.

She reached into a dish on her desk and gave him a handful of candy and gum. “Now get to class!” she said.

“Can I have a hall pass back?” he asked her.

“You clean me out of candy and ice, and now you want a reason to be late to class?”

“Yep!” he replied, grinning hopefully.

She scribbled off the pass and sent him on his way. “Seniors!” she said with a shake of her head.

Kofi thanked her, waved, and darted out of her office. The halls were deserted. As soon as he was around the corner, he leaned against a wall and rubbed the ice pack up and down his arms. “Ahh!” The ice cooled his arms, soothing the unbearable itching.

But by the end of his last class, the ice had melted and the itching had returned. He didn't have the nerve to go back and ask Miss Thornton for more ice. He waited for Jericho by his car.

“What's wrong with you, man?” Jericho asked as he unlocked the car. “You scratchin' like you got chicken pox or something.” He tossed his books and his trumpet in the backseat.

Climbing into the front seat of Jericho's car, Kofi didn't answer right away. He tried rubbing his arms, but that only made the irritation increase. “It's nothing,” he said finally. “And thanks for takin' me over to the Medi-Center. My car decided it was gonna sleep in this morning.”

“I feel you. Your car and my car together don't make one good vehicle,” Jericho joked.

“I got rotten brakes,” said Kofi.

“And my front fender's more rust than fender,” Jericho continued.

“My radio won't work on Tuesday and Thursday!” Kofi was trying not to scratch.

“How come?”

“Old age. Same reason you've had a CD stuck in your player for the past two years!”

“My back door doesn't open,” Jericho went on.

“And my back door won't lock!” Kofi said with a grin.

“We need to junk both cars and start over. I think I'll get me a Maserati,” Jericho said dreamily.

“A hundred thirty-five thousand to start, my man,” said Kofi.

“Chump change!” Jericho joked. “I plan to be both rich and famous one day.”

“Like Arielle's stepfather?” Kofi kept scratching.

“No, man. From what you told me, he's like the demon seed or something.”

Kofi nodded. “It was plain crazy, man. He stripped the house clean. I never seen anything like it.”

“Yeah, everybody at school's talkin' about it. How's Arielle doing?” Jericho asked.

Kofi glanced over at his friend. “Why? You worrying about her?”

“Be for real, man. You know Olivia's my only squeeze.”

“Just checkin'. Dana told me Arielle and her mom are staying at a homeless shelter.”

“Shut up!” said Jericho. “Must be rough for Princess Arielle.”

“You got that right.” The itching increased, and so did Kofi's scratching.

“Does this X-ray have anything to do with all that scratching?” Jericho asked as they pulled into the parking lot of the Medi-Center on Montgomery Road.

“Nah. My doctor just ordered some more X-rays on my arm—the one I broke when…” His voice trailed off.

Jericho was silent for a moment. “We were so stupid that night.”

Kofi nodded. “My arm is fine, Jericho. And I'm pretty sure my doctor knows that.”

“So why the X-rays?”

Kofi continued to scratch his arms. Then he looked at Jericho and said, “I been takin' Oxy like a madman, Jericho. Ever since the accident. Even after my arm stopped hurting.”

“Every day?”

“Sometimes several times a day,” Kofi admitted. “I been makin' up reasons for my doctor to give me more pills.”

“That's some serious stuff, man.”

Kofi rubbed his arm. “But the doctor figured out what I was doin', and even worse, Dana found out, so my supply is dry. She made me put them down the garbage disposal.”

Jericho chuckled. “Sounds like Dana. No half-steppin'!”

“The X-ray is so the doctor has medical proof my arm is healed, so I can't ask him for one more pill. But I won't. I'm comin' clean.”

“Is it rough?”

“Well, if you don't count the vomiting and diarrhea, and the chills and the sweats, it's a piece of cake!” Kofi thought back to the sleepless nights, the dizziness, and the deep, gnawing hunger for the drug. He exhaled. “I guess the last step is the itches. If I don't pull my arms off and use them as matchsticks, I think I'll be straight,” Kofi told him.

“You're a better man than me,” Jericho said.

“Everybody got messed up some kinda way because of that night,” Kofi said as he got out of the car. “You. Me. November. Dana. Even Arielle.”

“Yeah, I know.”

Kofi slammed the car door. “You got your issues, and I got mine. I'm doin' the best I can. I'll be out in twenty minutes. Can you wait?”

“I'll be here.”

Kofi disappeared into the huge glass doors of the outpatient treatment center.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9

STARTLED BY LOUD COUGHING COMING
from across the room, Arielle woke up stiff and confused. As her eyes adjusted to the dim light in the room, she remembered where she was. On a thin mattress. Under a thinner blanket that smelled of Clorox. Close to her mother, who slept in the bed beside her. At the Hillside Valley Shelter on Vine Street.

She had seen no hillsides and no valleys since she and her mother had arrived three days ago. Only cement sidewalks. Outside, cars zoomed past, music from the apartments nearby played loudly, and police sirens shrieked most of the night.

“This is just temporary,” her mother had whispered as they had filled out the paperwork to enroll.

Arielle, almost numb, had merely nodded. The walls were painted a bright blue, as if someone had tried to add artificial cheer. But the faces of the women who wordlessly watched Arielle and her mother from the plastic
chairs in the recreation room were drawn. Their children, instead of running and chasing one another with loud games, played quietly and stayed close to their mothers. No amount of color would change anything.

“My name is Sarah Toth,” the gray-haired intake woman had told them. “I want to welcome you two to Hillside Valley.” She shook both their hands warmly. Arielle liked her immediately.

“We just need a place to stay for a few days,” her mother had explained. “We've…we've no place else to go. It's because—”

“Explanations are not necessary around here,” Mrs. Toth had said briskly. “You're here because you're here, and we'll take good care of you. It's not the Ritz, but it's clean and safe.”

Her mother had relaxed then, but Arielle looked around in dismay. A well-worn sofa sat in the center of a recreation room. A TV was chained to the far wall.

“The last television walked,” Mrs. Toth had explained. “I really hate when I'm forced to decorate like the prison of a medieval castle.”

“How many residents do you have here?” Arielle's mother had asked as they walked up a flight of barren stairs.

“It varies, depending on the weather and the date. We tend to get a few more around the first of every month—evictions. And around the full moon—no kidding. Men who batter often increase their violence when the moon is high and full in the sky.”

Arielle and her mother had looked at each other knowingly.

“Ordinarily I'd try to give you two a private room, but we're pretty full this week, and all I have is dorm space,” Mrs. Toth had explained. “Can you share with two other women? Alice and Margaret are kind old souls. They're sisters—both have been battered all their lives. Both of their spouses have been incarcerated. They're too old to get jobs, so I expect they'll be here for a while.”

Arielle and her mother had been introduced to the two elderly women, both in their seventies. Alice was as soft as a pillow when she hugged Arielle in welcome, while her sister Margaret was as thin and brittle as sticks. Except for Alice's constant coughing at night, they were pleasant roommates.

“If you need clothes, we got something called the Clothes Closet downstairs,” Margaret had told them. “Go first thing in the morning before the good stuff is gone.”

“They've got a general store down there too. Toothpaste, deodorant, stuff like that. All free. Set up like a real store, so you don't feel like you're a beggar, you know what I mean?” Alice had explained.

“Y'all runnin' from a bad daddy?” Margaret asked gently.

“Yes, he was pretty bad,” Arielle's mom replied. She gave no further explanation.

“Understatement of the year,” Arielle muttered.

“We all been there. Talk when you got a mind to,” said Alice, touching Arielle and her mother on their shoulders.

Arielle's mother had thanked them and immediately began covering their plastic mattresses with the clean sheets they'd been given. Arielle, still stunned at where they had landed, checked out the room.

Four beds had been set up, with a small wooden table next to each. A pair of windows let sun into one side of the room. The bottoms of the pale yellow curtains were frayed, but they were clean.

No rugs decorated the floor. No pictures hung on the blue walls.

The whole far wall had been divided into four sections, with two cabinet drawers at the bottom and poles for hanging clothes at the top of each area. Arielle had nothing to hang.

She sighed deeply.
This is so unreal. I want to go home.
But she didn't even know what that meant anymore. Home, for now, meant breakfasts of runny oatmeal and powdered eggs sprinkled with parsley, a shared bathroom, a cold linoleum floor, and nothing, not even her underwear, to call her own.

Arielle got up and squeezed into the narrow bed next to her mother. “You smell like baby powder,” she whispered.

“You sleep okay?” her mother asked softly as they snuggled.

“Yeah. Alice needs to get that cough checked,” Arielle replied.

“I hope to get us out of here in a week or two,” her mother promised. “I'm so sorry, Arielle.”

“It's not your fault, Mom. This is all Chad.”

“Chad. What a huge mistake
that
was!”

“I'm not gonna fight you on that one.”

“You and I started here, you know,” her mother admitted. “Well, a place just like this. I feel like such a failure,
bringing you back to a place like this once again. It's like I'm going backward instead of forward in my life.”

Arielle bit her lip, aching over her mother's pain. She thought for a moment, then said, “I don't really remember it much. But as long as I'm with you, Mom, everything is gonna be okay.”

Her mother hugged her close. Then she said, “Gee, you feel thin.”

Arielle pulled away from her mom a little. “I haven't been eating so good, I guess. I'm just so glad it's over, Mom.”

“I put up with that man way too long.”

Arielle sat up on one elbow. “Mom, you're a grown woman, and you let a smooth-talking, good-looking man put
you
on punishment! How messed up is that? What was
wrong
with you?”

Her mother sat up on the bed. “Even moms make mistakes, sweetheart,” she said finally.

“I'd rather live forever in this shelter,” Arielle said with finality, “than ever have to see the face of Chadwick Kensington O'Neil again.”

They slapped palms. “For real!” Then, her voice serious, her mother promised, “We'll be out of here soon.”

“I don't care, Mom. They have hot meals and free toilet paper!” They both laughed a little.

“And I want my Kiki back,” her mother added. “I'm getting her out of that place as soon as I can. She needs her mom.”

“So do I,” Arielle whispered.

Her mother kissed her forehead. “You've got to go back
to school today, Arielle. They'll provide a bus for you.”

“I know. I know. What will I wear?” Arielle asked grumpily.

“Let's go downstairs and do some early morning shopping at the Clothes Closet,” her mother suggested. “I hear they're having a big sale!”

“May as well,” Arielle agreed, getting up and slipping into an oversize sweatshirt. She and her mother crept down the steps, arm in arm, trying their best to pretend they were heading to a fancy boutique. At the bottom of the stairs they met Mrs. Toth, who was just unlocking the door to the clothing area.

“Good morning, ladies,” she said. “I'm glad someone is in a good mood today. How can I help you?”

“I need something to wear to school,” Arielle said quietly. She glanced at the piles of faded T-shirts with the logos of various stores or sports teams or cartoon characters, at the rack of dresses that she'd seen old ladies wear to church, and the slacks that were cut too high, or too wide-legged, or too plaid to be worn by anyone she knew.

Mrs. Toth looked at Arielle's face and said, “I'm afraid that when people give clothes to shelters, they give up the ugly clothes first, then the old-fashioned stuff, then the ridiculous items.” She picked up a gold feather boa. “Now, who needs this to keep her warm on the streets?” she asked.

“I guess if she wanted to feel fancy for a few minutes, it might help,” Arielle offered.

“You're right, my dear,” Mrs. Toth said with a wink.

“Does anybody ever give away cute jeans or tops that
teens would wear?” Arielle asked, her voice only faintly hopeful.

“Have you ever donated any of your nice clothes to us?” asked Mrs. Toth gently.

“No, ma'am,” Arielle admitted. “When I had a closet full of sharp outfits, well, I just never thought about a kid like me who might need something to wear. It honestly never crossed my mind.” The realization made her feel like pond scum.

Mrs. Toth patted Arielle's back. “Well, fortunately for you, somebody
did
think about it. We just received a large donation from a high school across town. Jeans and tops and such. Not new, but they'll do. They also give us prom gowns every year for kids who don't have one.”

Arielle's eyes grew wide. Man, in all the years of spending Chad's money, she only ever thought of herself and her own racks of clothes. She felt humbled when Mrs. Toth unlocked a small area in the back room. “Oh, my,” she breathed. The small closet was full of up-to-date, stylish clothes for teens.

Mrs. Toth looked pleased. “I saved these back here for you. I had a feeling you'd be needing school clothes pretty soon.”

Arielle thanked her profusely, then picked out a pair of blue denim capris, a red top with only a few of the sparkles missing, and a neat white sweatshirt—just her size. She even found some socks and a pair of tennis shoes that were almost new. The soles weren't even scuffed.

“Oh, thank you, Mrs. Toth,” Arielle said again, giving the woman a hug.

Mrs. Toth shrugged her off. “Just remember us when you get back on your feet, kid.”

“Oh, I will!” Arielle told her.

“You sure you don't want the feather boa?” Mrs. Toth asked, teasing.

“Maybe tomorrow!” Arielle replied with a laugh.

Her mother dug through boxes and found underwear for Arielle, and Mrs. Toth brought her a nice-looking canvas book bag.

“Now hurry and get dressed and grab some breakfast. The bus will be here at eight!” her mother reminded Arielle.

The bus, a battered yellow one with the words
HILLSIDE VALLEY SHELTER
on the sides, stopped at several elementary schools, dropping off the younger kids who lived at the shelter before it lumbered to the high school. As Arielle got close to her school, she knew that she was probably the guts of everybody's gossip this week. But she didn't care anymore. She was grateful for the smallest things these days. Shoes. Deodorant. Underwear.

Arielle hesitated before she stepped off the bus. She hoped she wouldn't see anyone she knew, but standing right by where the bus pulled up were November, Dana, and Olivia. She cringed only for a moment.

“Hey, Arielle. What's up?” Dana greeted her.

“Believe it or not, I feel great,” Arielle told her. “Better than I've been in a long time.” And she wasn't kidding.

“You sure you're handlin' all this?” asked November.

“I'm taking one day at a time, but I'm okay. Really. Thanks for asking. How's Sunshine?”

November grinned and pulled out a new picture. “She sat up yesterday! All by herself! I must have taken a million pictures. She sat there grinning, like she knew she'd done something special.”

“That's really great,” Arielle said, smiling at the tiny face in front of her. “One day she's gonna be running all over your house, and you'll need track shoes to keep up with her!”

“I sure hope so,” November told her, tucking the picture back into her purse.

“How is it at the shelter?” Olivia asked carefully. “You hanging tough for real?”

Arielle furrowed her brow. “You know, the ladies who end up at a shelter for battered women have been through so much—tons worse than me and my mom. I've learned a lot just by listening to their stories.”

“Deep,” Olivia said. “Is it, like—depressing?”

“It's not as bad as you think,” Arielle replied as they headed toward the school. “It's real basic, kinda like the army—no frills. But my stepfather's not there, so it's like heaven!” The other girls relaxed as they laughed with her.

“But you're not battered, are you?” November asked.

“No, but I guess we've been abused—mentally, the woman who runs the place says—big-time. Mom's had time to see things differently. She said she never dreamed she'd be staying at the place she only thought about once a year when she wrote a check to support it.”

“Um…so…what's it like there?”

“Small, but clean. As soon as Mom gets a couple of paychecks under her belt, we're gonna look for an apartment.”

“For real now, Arielle,” Dana told her. “I was serious about letting you borrow some clothes. I just didn't want to, you know, embarrass you.”

“I think I could walk in here butt naked and not be embarrassed after all that's happened,” Arielle said with a laugh.

Roscoe, who'd been walking near them, hollered out, “Go ahead, baby cakes! Do your thing if that's what you need to do.”

Olivia, Dana, and November all groaned and popped him on the head at the same time.

“Pervert!” November said.

“No, I'm just a healthy boy!” Roscoe called as he ran toward the building.

“It feels so good to have friends again,” Arielle told the girls. “And I
really
appreciate your offer of clothes. I might take you up on it this weekend.”

“Just say the word.”

“How about that green suede outfit?” Arielle asked, her tone playful.

“Not a chance. That's Kofi's favorite!”