The Weight of the World (30 page)

When
all of the work was done, everyone went home and Teddy called the
police to report a panther attack. They were a little too far north
for a panther, but there was just no other way to explain to his
father what had happened to the house.

Frank
went home and showered. Muddy water spiraled down the drain. He
closed his eyes as the hot water pounded on his body. The wounds of
the battle were gone, but the adrenaline still coursed through his
body. He had killed a man. Now he knew how Zach felt.

Frank
was eager to be with Devon. He pulled himself out of his reverie and
got dressed. Frank's motorcycle pulled up outside the hospital three
hours after the end of the fight.

“Thank
God you got my message,” Celene said when he came in. This cover
story had been planned in a hurry when Celene had left Frank to take
care of Atlas' remains. “There was a box in the closet... it fell.
She's alright.”

“The
baby?” Frank asked.

“It's
fine, too.”

There
was a delay, as if Frank had frozen, and then he breathed relief. His
eyes sparkled with tears. He nodded. “Good. That's good.”

Celene
nodded, “You should go see her.”

Lewis
was propped up in bed the next morning, flipping through the channels
on the hospital TV. The news was covering the panther attack at
Teddy's house, and the reporter on the scene at the edge of the
property suggested that a rabid panther was loose in Olympia Heights.

Zach
knocked on the doorframe. “Knock, knock,” he said.

“Who’s
there?” Lewis asked.

Zach
hesitated, “Am I allowed in?”

Lewis
looked up at Zach, brow furrowed. “I don't get it.”

“What?”

“That's
a pretty lame joke.”

“Wasn't
a joke. I'll go if you don't want to see me,” he said. Zach had a
gorgeous purple and black bruise and his cheek looked like he was
trying to hide a golf ball under the skin.

“What
happened to your face?”

“You
did. Do you-- you don't remember the fight?”

“We
fought? I thought I was struck by light-- oh... oh, I see.” Lewis
turned off the TV. “The doctors say I'm going to have memory gaps.
Neurological damage from the strike. I'm lucky I'm not dead or
disabled. And I've got this cool thing on my arm for a few days.”
Lewis pulled up the sleeve on his hospital gown. A branching pink
pattern marked his skin, a perfect map of his blood vessels. It
looked like a lightning bolt had printed itself on his skin. “They
call it a Lichtenberg figure.”

“I'm
sorry, man,” Zach said. “Really. I was being an idiot.”

“What
did we fight about?”

“June,”
Zach said.

Lewis
burst into a fit of laughter. “June? Why would I fight you over
June?”

“Because
she came onto you, and I assumed you had some part in it. Listen, can
we forget it?”

“Clearly,
I already have,” Lewis said. He grinned from ear to ear. “We're
not dead and I got to ugly up your face a bit, so I guess we're
even.”

Zach
nodded. He sat down in the chair beside Lewis' bed. “Your parents
around?”

“They
went to shower and eat breakfast. They want to keep me over the
weekend.” Lewis turned the TV back on. “Did you see this? Teddy's
house got attacked by a panther.”

Zach
looked up at the TV. “A panther? Don’t they live in the
Everglades?”

“Dunno.”

“I
got a text from June last night...” Zach pulled out his phone. “I
ignored it, though. You know, because I was mad.”

“Maybe
you should check it.”

Zach
clicked a few buttons. “Cryptic.”

“What's
it say?”

“'Are
you home? I have to tell you about the panther and the spoon. June.'”

“Weeiiird.”

Zach
sent a text back, “I told her I'm visiting you at the hospital.”

His
phone buzzed.

“That
was fast,” Lewis said.

“She
says she's here with Devon. What happened to Devon?”

Zach
sent back another message with Lewis' room number. Half a minute
later they heard June's quick high-healed click approaching down the
hall. “I'm going to go talk to her outside. I'll come back and fill
you in,” Zach said, standing up.

“Wait,”
Lewis said, reaching out to grab Zach's arm.

“Hmm?”

“Don't
come back without a cheeseburger, okay? Hospital food sucks.”

Zach
smiled. “Alright. See you in a bit.”

Zach
met June in the hallways, his hands buried deep in his pockets. She
gasped at the sight of his face and ran the rest of the way to him.

“Is
that what Lewis did to you?”

“Yeah,”
Zach shrugged, “I fried his memory a bit, so we're even.”

“Is
he gonna be okay?”

“His
memory is just a bit flakey on the last few days. What's this message
about a panther? What happened to Devon?”

June
took Zach's hand. She looked over her shoulder before pulling him
into a dark, empty hospital room. She stood close to him in the dark,
keeping her voice low as she explained what happened with Adam and
the lion. She finished up with how Frank and Penny hid the body and
how, on-the-record, only Teddy was at the house.

“Man,
wish I could have been there to fight,” Zach said. “I could have
fried the guy.”

“There
have been enough suspicious lightning strikes in this town for the
next ten years, Zach.”

“Everyone
is safe?”

June
nodded. “Astin's at home in bed recovering. Frank doesn't have a
scratch on him. Devon and the baby are fine.”

“And
you're alright?”

“A
bit squicked from watching Valerie magic Frank's blood off the floor,
but I'll survive. And you missed Dr. Livingstone telling Nick to keep
it in his pants.”

He
laughed, “Did he, now?”

“It
was a chewing-out of epic proportions. I don't think one person left
that room feeling innocent. We're all going to have to think about
being more responsible.”

Zach
stood quietly, looking down at her. He started counting his pulse as
it twinged through his swollen face. After ten steady beats had
passed, Zach spoke again, “I'm sorry... for how I treated you all
of these years.”

“I'm
sorry, Zach,” she said, “About playing you and Lewis off of each
other like that... and for... for being... well...” June trailed
off, unable to articulate anything she needed to say without showing
weakness.

Zach
got what she was trying to say, “It's still no excuse for what I
did to you.”

“No,
you're right. It's not.”

He
nodded. “You know, I had my fun. I thought it was going to be a
blast, being the single stud. Truth was, I got bored, and then I just
missed you.”

June
closed her eyes and looked down at the floor. Zach nodded. “Well,
I've got to go get Lewis a cheeseburger, and then my Mom needs her
car,” he said. “See you around.”

June
took Zach's hand before he could turn to leave. She stretched up on
her toes and pressed a gentle kiss to his lips. Zach stopped for a
moment, staring down at her, before making up his mind, wrapping his
arms around her, and pulling her close for a much more passionate
kiss. June dissolved against him. Zach's face ached from the
pressure, but he didn't care. He had her back. Pain was temporary.

“How
about you meet me at your house,” June said when the kiss was
finally broken. “We'll take my car and go get Lewis that
cheeseburger together.”

Zach
grinned. “Sounds great.”

“
There
are many statues of men slaying lions, but if only the lions were
sculptors there might be quite a different set of statues
.”

-Aesop

xxv.

The
sons of Iapetos faced each other.

Atlas
and Menoetius joined with the Titans.

Prometheus
and Epimetheus stood

by
Mount Olympus.

The
two generations locked in ten-year war.

Then
Zeus unbarred the prisons of Tartarus.

The
three Hundred-Handers and three cyclopes

were
released to fight.

Prometheus
and Epimetheus fell

back
to let their monster allies lead the fight.

Menoetius
and Atlas were soon overwhelmed.

So
the Titans fell.

“
When
at a loss how to go on, cough.
”

-Greek
Proverb

XXV.

The
lobby doors stood open at Olympia Height's Senior High for the first
time since final exams. School buses idled outside, unloading swarms
of new freshmen and sophomores without parking permits. The parking
lot itself was full of return students who had new clothes, new
shoes, and new stories to share. The lot fell quiet, however, when
Zach pulled up with June in his new birthday present.

Zach's
wealthy father was absent most of his life, so when he remembered
that he had a son, the presents were pricy. The Thunderbird had been
insured and this new car came with a huge environmental tax credit,
but what Zach's father had spent on the car still could have bought a
small house in Florida. Zach and June were riding in style in a new,
“Lightning Green” Tesla Roadster.

“Oh
man, you weren't kidding. This thing is hotter than those pics you
put on Facebook!” Lewis shouted, running over to Zach as he opened
the driver's side door.

“The
old man hasn't made it to a single one of my football games. I can't
feel too bad about how much he paid for it, right?” Zach locked the
doors twice to hear the keyless entry beep.

“It's
gorgeous,” Lewis said, staring at the car.

“I'll
take you for a ride in it after school,” Zach said.

Zach,
Lewis, and June walked in to school. “Senior year,” Zach said.

“For
you,” Lewis grumbled.

“For
me,” Zach grinned.

Lewis
spotted Diana at the water fountain. Astin was next to her, but she
shot him a dangerous look and he turned to high-tail it to homeroom.
“Hey, I'm gonna go see Diana. See you guys later,” he said before
dashing off to try and cheer Diana up.

“I'm
going to drop in on Doc before homeroom,” Zach said, pulling June
close for a goodbye kiss. She let him do it, though she was still
sure to stop him before it got inappropriate.

“Tell
him I said hi,” June said.