"I'll fight you. I don't care. I'll fight you," Kevin chanted. With a burst of strength, he tried to shove Howie away.
But he was stronger than Kevin thought. He held onto his shoulders. He couldn't budge him.
"I'll fight you. Want to fight? I'll fight you," he threatened. But the wild light faded from his eyes. His whole body appeared to sag.
He let go of Howie, and his arms dropped to his sides. He stared at him, standing unsteadily, his chest rising and falling under his sweat-drenched black T-shirt, gulping in mouthfuls of air.
Howie didn't back up. He stood with his fists hard at his sides.his pony tail had come apart. His dark brown hair fell over his face. He made no attempt to brush it away.
Kevin shrugged his broad shoulders. "Okay, okay. Forget about the beer." He stepped around Howie. Gave Tyra a hard, two-handed push on the shoulders that sent Tyra stumbling back. Then he strode to the door, a triumphant sneer on his face.
"Some friends I got," Kevin muttered. "Can't even get a lousy beer." He cursed at us and banged the door on the way out.
As the door slammed, Brandie and Brian rushed forward to help Tyra. "I'll get some water. A cold washcloth," Brian offered. He disappeared toward the bathroom.
Brandie led Tyra to a kitchen chair. "You'll have to see someone about that tooth. But the cut isn't too deep," Brandie assured her. "It shouldn't mess up your beautiful face."
That's right Brandie, I thought. Keep it light. I started to feel a little calmer. My hands were still cold as ice. But at least my heart had stopped pounding like a bass drum. I turned back to Howie--and froze.
He hadn't moved from the refrigerator. He stood so stiffly, his hands still clenched into fists. His entire body was clenched. He was staring straight ahead, staring at nothing. And he was biting his bottom lip, biting it so hard that it bled.
"Howie...?" I whispered. He didn't hear me. He seemed to be in some kind of a trance. "Howie...?" Watching him, I felt a chill run down my back. I realized I had never seen so much hatred on his face before. I had never seen so much hatred on anyone's face!
Just how hard a time has Kevin been giving Howie? I found myself wondering. Just how much does he hate him?
_____________________________________________________________
I didn't see Kevin for several days after that horrible afternoon. But I heard from some friends of his that he was suspended from school for two weeks. It's a terrible thing to admit, but I felt glad he couldn't come back to school. It meant I didn't have to be afraid of him trapping me in the hall, demanding my lunch money or my history notes or something.
Howie and I didn't talk about it. But I'm sure he felt the same way. On Thursday, I was supposed to meet Brandie at her house after school. We were doing a chemistry lab project together.
I hoped maybe it would help get a special chemistry going on between us! Ha-ha.
Anyway, I got hung up talking to Jared Bailey and some of the swimming team about helping with some weird fundraiser. So I didn't get to Brandie's house until 4:30.
It was a warm humid day, and I jogged most of the way. To my suprise, I found Brandie out in her driveway, pacing nervously up and down.
"Sorry I'm late!!" I called, brushing my hand through my hair. I felt something kind of dry and flaky caught in my hair. I pulled it out and examined it. A huge, gray moth.
Nothing like looking your best when you're with a girl you have a crush on! Brandie growled a greeting. She stared past me into the street.
I thought maybe she'd notice the sexy new outfit I was wearing. normal baggy jeans and a tight-fitted no-sleeved shirt. I saved it until a time I knew I'd be alone with Brandie.
But of course she didn't even look at me.
"What's your problem?" I demanded. "What are you doing out here anyway? I thought maybe you'd start the experiments."
"Huh? You want me to do all the work?" Grumpy grump grumpy. This wasn't like Brandie at all. What happened to Miss Funnygirl?
"Well, why are you out here?" I persisted. "Just getting some fresh air?"
"I wish," he muttered bitterly. "I'm waiting for Kevin. He's late."
"Kevin?" I couldn't hide my suprise.
"Yeah. That big creep Kevin." Brandie scowled and kicked a small rock across the driveway.
I pulled my backpack off my shoulder and tossed it to the grass. Then I ran my fingers through my hair nervously. "You're waiting for Kevin out here?"
Brandie nodded glumly. "He took my mom's car."
I gasped. "He stole it?"
"No, I loaned it to him," Brandie replied, shaking her head. "I mean, he forced me to loan it to him."
"Oh, wow," I murmured, swallowing hard. Big Kev strikes again.
"He promised he'd bring it back an hour ago," Brandie moaned. "He said he'd have it back by the time I got out of school."
She turned her hazel eyes to the street and searched in both directions. A warm breeze fluttered her long hair. She looked so adorable. I had a sudden impulse to kiss her and tell her everything would be okay.
How do you think that would go over?
"If my parents find out I loaned that jerk their car, they will murder me!" Brandie exclaimed. "No lie. They will murder me."
"So why did you let him take it?" I asked softly. Brandie scowled again. She was always so mellow. It really upset me to see him so stressed.
"I did a really stupid thing," she confessed. "I took my parents' car Saturday night without telling them. They were down the street at a party. I jus felt like getting out. You know. Spring fever or something. So I took the car and cruised around for a while. I guess I was going to fast or something," Brandie continued, her eyes on the street. "I was two blocks from home. I got pulled over by a cop. I got a 50 dollar speeding ticket. Do you believe it? And who comes walking up while I'm getting the ticket? Yeah. You guessed it. The Man. Kevin."
"Bad news," I murmured.
"The cop drove off," Brandie continued. "I told Kev he'd never see me again because my parents would definitely murder me. I mean, I took the car without asking. Then I got the ticket for the big 5-0. I was dead meat."
A high cloud rolled over the sun. A blue shadow swept over the front lawn. Brandie's expression darkened too.
"So Kev says no big deal. He'll help me. My parents will never know."
"What did he do?" I asked.
Brandie shook her head. "He took the speeding ticket and ripped it into tiny shreds. He said the police computers never work. My parents will never find out about the ticket."
"Big help," I muttered.
"Well, maybe he's right," Brandie argued. "But he came over here yesterday and made me lend him mom's car today. He said he only needed it for two hours. He said if I didn't let him take the car, he'd tell my parents I sneaked out Saturday night and tore up a speeding ticket."
"He's doing it to you too," I said.
"What choice did I have?" Brandie moaned. "I let him take the car. But where is he? Mom's office car pool gets home a little after 5. If the car isn't back by then..."
"He'll be here," I said. But I didn't sound real convincing. I didn't trust Kevin. Why should I?
Brandie and I both turned to the street and watched. I tried talking about our chemistry experiments. But Brandie couldn't think about anything but waiting.
We both kept glancing at our watches, watching the time slip slowly toward 5. Then at about 5 minutes before 5:00 we heard a rattling sound from down the street. A clatter of metal against metal.
I recognized Kevin as he turned the car into the driveway. Brandie gasped. Her mouth fell nearly to the ground.
"Oh noooo!" She wailed. "I don't believe it!"
Chapter 7
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