Thunderbowl - Lesley Choyce [7]
“It’s just something I have to do.”
Langford looked upset. He shook his head and didn’t say anything else. Then he walked away. I was left alone in a big empty classroom.
That night, driving to The Dungeon with Al and Drek, I told them what I was thinking about school.
“Forget about school,” Drek advised me. “You don’t need it. You’re going to be a legend in your own time.”
Drek had hated school and quit. He had always been a failure in school even though he was smart. Drek could read music and electronics magazines twenty hours a day. But school just never clicked.
“Stay in school,” Al told me. He acted like a father sometimes. “Summer’s coming soon and you won’t have no homework to worry about.”
“Summer’s six months away,” I said.
“Well, hang in there.”
Great advice.
Chapter Seven
You know, I thought that would do it. Quitting school. Or at least my decision to quit school.
But I kept putting it off. Langford knew and the guys in the band knew that I had decided. I wanted to wait for the right time to tell everyone else. Truth time, like Langford had said.
I decided to tell Suzanne, though. She always wanted me to talk to her, but I never felt like I had anything to say.
“Suzanne, I’ve decided to quit school,” I said.
“Jeremy, I didn’t know you were in college.”
“High school. I still go to high school.”
Suzanne gave me one of her goofy smiles. “You’re not telling the truth.”
“No, I’m younger than you. I should have told you. I’m not supposed to be playing here. Or drinking this beer.” I took a long hard swallow.
“I bet you’re a virgin, too,” she said.
“What?”
“Sex,” she said. “I bet you haven’t had any.”
“How would you know?”
“I’m just guessing,” she answered. The conversation had turned weird awful quickly. And I wasn’t going to own up to the fact that I had never had sex.
“Just because I’m young, it doesn’t mean I’ve led a totally sheltered life,” I said, maybe a bit too defensively.
“I believe you,” she said. She bit her lip. “And I don’t care how old you are. I like you just the way you are.”
“Well, I’m glad that’s out of the way.”
“But I think it’s fine you’re quitting school. I never felt free until I was out of school.”
“You finished?”
“Well, yeah. But I didn’t have anything better to do.”
The break was over. Time to crawl back into the music. “Just don’t tell anyone, please,” I said.
“I won’t.” Suzanne went back to her drink. I went up on stage. Thunderbowl began to wail.
Halfway through the set, I noticed that a guy had sat down with Suzanne. It was Ike from the Dogs. He had ordered a whole table full of beer. I started getting worried.
Then I saw Ike pawing at her. At first she didn’t seem to mind. But I did.
Now, Suzanne wasn’t exactly my girlfriend. And I was probably just one in a long string of her favorites. That’s the way she was. But I didn’t trust anyone in The Dungeon. Guys came here to meet girls. Al called the place “the meat market.” And Ike was not among my trusted friends.
I saw Suzanne start to push back from him. Ike wouldn’t leave her alone.
“Drek, let’s take a break now. I need to take care of some business,” I said.
“Stewy won’t like it,” Drek answered.
Al saw what I was worried about and backed me up. “Let Stewy twirl it in his ear.” Al announced our break. I unplugged my guitar.
I walked over to Suzanne’s table, sat down behind the army of empty beer glasses. Suzanne looked like she’d had enough to drink.
“How are you, Ike?” I asked.
“I was fine until you showed up,” Ike answered.
“Sorry to hear that,” I said.
Suzanne started to giggle. Ike grabbed her wrist. Now what? I wondered.
She was pulling back from him, but he wasn’t letting go. Man, I was getting mad. I knew I was about to get in over my head. I started to count my teeth with my tongue.
“Let go of her, Ike, or you’ll be sorry,” I said. I was surprised at how convincingly it came out.
“Who’s gonna make me?” he snapped. I suddenly noticed how much Ike looked like a caveman.
“We’ll give it a try,” said a voice from behind him. It was Al, the steamroller. Alongside of him was Drek.