Testing What I Know: Chapter 11- Lucky Witnesses
Chapter 11- Lucky Witnesses
A few ordinary weeks had passed since Matt and Brian had agreed to be friends, and in those weeks neither of them dared test the boundaries of that friendship. They told themselves it was out of an unwillingness to force things unnaturally, but both remained constantly and subconsciously aware it was because they were too chicken-shit.
A routine quickly developed of being around each other on a daily basis during school, and they seized any excuse to socialise on their own time too. So by the time Zack’s eighteenth birthday party rolled around at the beginning of December, it was expected for Matt to ask Brian if he was coming along that night.
Anticipation for the party had been building all day among their friends. Even less was learnt in their Friday classes than usual. November had been a social dry patch for most of the student body, and Zack’s birthday had taken on the form of the light at the end of everyone’s tunnel. Now, the hype for the party had grown so extravagant that it decidedly wiped the possibility of not going from the mind of everyone invited. That was probably why Brian’s morning-time revelation that he “just couldn’t make it” came as such a blow to Matt.
He leant against the lockers next to Brian’s, waiting as Brian loaded books into his previously flaccid backpack.
“...But why not?” A deep mystified frown wore into Matt’s forehead at the unwanted change in his assumed plans.
“Sorry Dude, I got stuff I need to do tonight...” Brian threw out casually, then he registered the dejection on Matt’s face and saw that a more persuasive explanation was going to be necessary. He turned to Matt, having finished with his locker. Automatically Matt reached out to the swinging metal door and gave it a swift powerful slam back into place, convincing the door to stay closed even with its broken combination lock.
With a private smirk, Brian swung his now loaded backpack onto his left shoulder and faced Matt fully. Instinctively his head tilted slightly to the side and his eyes opened slightly wider; he knew full well how to look persuasive.
“Look, I just can’t go tonight. There’s some shit I gotta take care of and I don’t know how long it’ll take. It’s not like I’m skippin’ the party for something stupid,” Under the intensity in Brian’s eyes, Matt submitted and threw his eyes around carelessly, searching for something else to focus on as the point-proving continued.
“...and I’m not trying to snub Zack or anything, cuz I like the guy, you know I do. Honestly I just can’t go.”
Matt begrudgingly surrendered and nodded in acceptance. He had been successfully appeased by the speech, but was now even more plagued by his own curiosity at why Brian wasn’t coming than before he had asked the question. Sullenly, he dragged his feet in the direction of Trigonometry. Even for Matt, it was unusual to be so confused before this class had even started.
Once Matt was out of sight, Jimmy slid into the gap in Brian’s presence, wasting no time before picking up a conversation they had paused a half-hour ago.
“...So Shawn said they’ll all be in the park tonight partying.”
Brian dragged his attention from watching certain parts of Matt’s figure shift down the hallway to focus on Jimmy’s planning.
“Public area, lots of open space, plenty of trees and bushes. Good for hiding behind if you suddenly need any extra coverage in my experience...” Jimmy broke off as his gaze drifted out of focus. A sexy smile danced across his face as he internalised with some pleasing memories, but a sharp purposeful cough from Brian dragged him back into reality. “Sorry, uh yeah if you wanna talk to Brent there’s your opportunity bro”
Brian couldn’t resist his suspicions at Jimmy’s insider information. From what Jimmy had told him so far, a couple of things had gone down the night Brian’s car had met its watery end, one of which may have involved Jimmy ‘accidentally’ replacing some of the contents of a few small plastic bags with talcum powder. In any case, now Jimmy was as unwelcome around Jason’s place as Brian was.
“How’d you get him to tell you all that?”
Jimmy seemed completely untroubled by the inquiry. He was worryingly serene these days, ever since he had found that ancient yoga magazine stuck behind one of the tumble dryers at the Laundromat. His hands flamboyantly twisted around in front of his body coming to meet in front of his chest as he bowed his head. Both hands met from palm to fingertip, as if in prayer. Coupled with the questionable orange bathrobe he had seen fit to wear as a shirt today, he had the demeanour of a lanky, deranged Buddha.
“I’d rather not say dude...”
That did nothing to ease Brian’s suspicions, but he shook his head to try to rid his mind of the premature anxiety. There would be plenty more to stress over later.
“Dude you better not be setting me up for some fuckin’ crazy beat-down from Jason...”
The serenity flooded from Jimmy’s nostrils as he became genuinely offended.
“Look, asshat, I don’t care where you get these fucked up, masochistic fuckin’ fantasies of yours but I ain’t planning nothing, alright!”
They loudly bickered, inconsiderate of the ears around them as they slowly sauntered down the hall in the general direction of a likely classroom.
“You better fucking not be! Cuz then I’d have to get you back and it’d start this whole thing and then...”
“Man, I thought we were past all this shit already?” Jimmy beseeched, emphasising each word virtuously.
“We are, I’m just sayin’...”
“Man, fuck you. I said I was sorry like a bazillion times already... like, build a fucking bridge man, y’know?...” Jimmy halted in front of the vending machine, propped one hand over the top of the machine and pressed at various combinations of buttons with the other hand, checking the prices hadn’t changed since he’d last used the machine; which was only yesterday.
His voice now dropped to a softer level “...man, you got a dollar I can borrow?”
Brian, having continued walking while Jimmy stopped, now hastily doubled back down the hall and pushed two dollar notes into Jimmy’s outstretched palm.
“Get me a Coke too, would ya?”
Jimmy nodded co-operatively. “So don’t do anything stupid tonight man, alright?”
Brian had never had Jimmy say that to him before, it was always the other way around. He laughed lightly at the irony, and then caught on to the actual significance of what Jimmy was saying to him.
“You’re not coming?” Brian frowned as his previous assumptions faded.
“Nah they’ll definitely know something’s up if they see me there.”
He was right. Brian nodded resolutely, mostly in a bid to convince himself that he had no problem with going in alone. He just had to; there were things he had to do tonight.
****************
Two shirts lay outstretched on Matt’s bed. The blue shirt was pretty standard, made from cotton, well used at this stage, clean (-ish) and pattern-less; the colour provided its only design. The black shirt was just as simple, but somehow seemed more excessive. Its stitch was tighter than most decent shirts, and its thicker material shone when the light hit it. It would have looked good on Brian.
Fresh out of the shower, Matt stood looming over the edges of the mattress, his toes restlessly stroking at the carpet beneath his bare feet. His teeth tugged at his now familiar lip-ring, as his eyes weighed up his options.
Now that a certain someone wasn’t going to be there, there really wasn’t much point in making any unnecessary effort for the party; yeah the blue shirt would be fine. Satisfied with his decision, he took up the blue shirt and buttoned it absent-minded as he thumped down the stairs and towards the kitchen. Without putting any focus into where he was going, Matt collided straight into his mother as she was coming out into the hallway, coffee in hand.
He yelled out sharply as the steaming russet liquid streaked down his chest, seeping through his clothes. The sharp shock of the coffee’s temperature sent the nerves of his skin into a shallow pain. Although mentally damning the world to an overdramatic oblivion, he outwardly tried to retain his respectability, groaning out soothing replies of “no honestly Mom, its fine” as he peeled off the sopping wreck that had been his effortless outfit.
He had changed into Plan B by the time he called to Zack’s door a half-hour later.
Zack, the birthday boy, threw the front door open with more enthusiasm than Matt would have imagined possible, even for the ever-cheerful Zack.
“Hey Matt!” Zack beamed excitedly. “Man, tonight’s gonna be fucking awesome...” Zack lost interest with being at the door and sprung back down the hallway.
As Matt stepped inside and closed over the front door behind him, one of the many doors leading out into Zack’s hallway flung open rapidly, revealing a devious male midget wielding a can of silly string, but Zack’s older-brother reflexes were faster than his younger counterpart had anticipated. Zack slapped his palm on top of the crown of his little brother’s head and effortlessly pushed the kid back into the couch, slamming the door closed again and sealing the youngster within the living room.
Then started a tug of war between the brothers, using the door handles instead of the rope. As his brother bashed angrily on the other side of the door, Zack’s attention flitted over to Matt’s dress sense briefly, and he seemed impressed at the change in direction.
“Huh, nice shirt dude!” he complimented sincerely.
“Man, shut up” Matt snapped out grumpily, but the irritability was completely overshadowed by the smile playing on his lips. Zack’s firm grip on the door handle had slipped momentarily, and his brother came crashing out of the living room, tackling Zack to the ground via his shins. The minor battle was heart warming.
**************
Under the cover of darkness, the senior class congregated in the centre of their local park, letting their wild sides out to shine brightly in the dimly-lit clearing. The makeshift venue for most teen parties was a badly kept secret within their town. All the adults obviously knew what happened there, but were happy enough to let it continue as long as the minors kept their activities confined within. After all, they had gotten up to the same shit in all the same places when they were that age.
By eleven, it was clear that even Zack’s best hopes had underestimated how many people were actually gonna show up. Matt drifted around for a while, drink in hand, mingling like any good co-host, until he felt he had talked to enough randomers to fulfil his obligations. He easily caught sight of his closest friends gathered at the top of a mound overlooking the playground and wandered up to them, lifting Zack off a bench by the shirt collar to steal a seat for himself. Zack shot him an evil glare, but quickly lost interest in reprimanding Matt with all the extra female attention his birthday was earning him. Matt knew he was off the hook as he slouched against the back of the bench and surveyed the party at ease, swigging on the fresh beer in his grasp and waiting patiently for the alcohol to start taking effect.
Even Matt hadn’t expected this kind of crowd, and he had been the one to invite most of ‘em. So many people had turned out for the party that Matt decided to mentally congratulate himself; he took some time to recognise his talent for hosting. Then he noticed one unexpected guest in particular, one who had insisted he wouldn’t be there. A deviant smile spread across his damp lips as he stood up from his resting place on the bench and began striding forwards eagerly, suddenly magnetised.
“I thought you said you couldn’t make it!” Matt called out, elation lacing his voice.
“Matt? What are you doing here?”
Brian puckered his brow in confusion as he paced in Matt’s direction, taking a quizzical look around the park. He now realised why he had the annoying feeling he recognised everyone there; they were mostly from school. “This is Zack’s birthday?”
Matt nodded slowly, lost in the sauce. He could feel the alcohol coursing through his body, and already it was making him slightly shaky. And Brian wasn’t being dense enough for anything he was saying to make much sense.
“Uh, yeah? Did you get lost or...”
“Dude, I’m not here for the party, I’m looking for somebody...”
“Well ya found me!” Matt threw his arms wide open from his torso, jolting his left foot out slightly in front of him to steady his pose.
Brian smirked dismissively. “Nah, somebody else dude...”
Matt made no effort to hide his disapproving frown. “Who?” he demanded sloppily, throwing a sceptical eye around at the other guests.
“It don’t matter Matt, you won’t know him”
“WHO?”
“His name’s Jason, alright!” Brian folded unwillingly.
Matt regained some intelligence at recognising the name. He pointed across the yard, at a particular section of the large chanting crowd gathered around the swing set. Brian followed the direction of Matt’s elongated finger to where Jason leisurely swung. Miraculously, it was the Jason that Brian had come to deal with.
“That him?”
“Uh...yeah. You invited him?” Brian accused incredulously.
“Yup, he’s Zack’s cousin. Not my cousin too though...that’d be craaazy...” Matt focused intensely on Brian’s face for a few moments, and then seemed to realise himself how bizarre his thoughts were coming out. He frowned angrily at the beer in his hand and tipped the remaining liquid out into the grass.
“This stuff tastes like piss...” He belched quietly, and then he remembered his manners. “Oh, do you want one? I’ll get you one if you want...” His every slight movement exaggerated under the influence of his fourth beer in the space of an hour.
Brian firmly shook his head. “Nah, I’m good thanks. Listen Matt, I’ve gotta go take care of something alright? I’ll catch up with ya later...”
“You need any help?” Matt offered while automatically striding forward even more.
“Nah, thanks I can handle it”
“But you’re coming back, right?”
“Uh, yeah. Sure I will”
“Swear?”
“Alright, I swear!” Brian couldn’t help but laugh. He swiftly patted Matt’s forearm to validate his promise. That’s when he noticed Dean, closely surveying their conversation from a half vacant bench a few feet behind where Matt was trying to stand.
Matt gave a satisfied nod. “Good, cuz this party’s no fun without you man, I’m serious...” he frowned at Brian’s laughter.
“No seriously! I’m serious man, it seriously sucks balls...” and then broke out in laughter himself.
Brian irately nodded in the direction of the bench. “I think Dean wants you to help him enjoy it...”
Matt glanced back at the bench and then shook his head adamantly. “Nah man, it’s not like that! He’s just a real friendly guy...”
Brian nodded vaguely and began pacing down into the playground.
“Later, man” he called back over his shoulder.
Matt nodded unhappily and walked back over to the group gathered on the mound overlooking the playground. He slid onto the bench next to Dean and sunk down within the stiff collars of his good black shirt.
*******
For around fifteen minutes, Brian hung around the edges of the group. Some people worried about blending into a crowd and having the desire to stand out, but Brian always felt like he was too noticeable. Blending in was the ultimate goal, especially now in his present company. If Jason saw that he was standing there it’d be game over.
Brian had no trouble picking Brent out from among the group. He was the idiot in the middle of the circle of people, guzzling down bottle after bottle in some jackassed record breaking attempt, encouraged by the chanting of the crowd that surrounded the basin of the swing set. Clearly Brent didn’t take after his brother. He had no voice in his head telling him to blend in. He took after their Dad; a complete and shameless show-off.
Watching the pitiful scene made Brian embarrassed at having to share DNA with the immature idiot. But he didn’t have to watch for very long. It only took a few minutes for the alcohol to decide to come back out of the green-faced fourteen year old. Marked by the squeals of some of the more feminine characters watching, Brent pushed a parting into the crowd and dashed out and away towards the bushes, providing an easily followed sick trail behind him.
With his head lowered to avoid any extra attention, Brian broke away from the mob and slunk after his brother, who had managed to make it far enough into the woods to be out of earshot from the party. By the time Brian had caught up with his brother, he lay hunched on his knees, doubled over and discharging the watery contents of his stomach into an unfortunate patch of grass. Brian followed his little brother’s path through the trees, coming up behind him and stopping with his feet in Brent’s line of vision. The younger Haner wiped his mouth on his sleeve and made a move to stand up, but his body didn’t play along. He collapsed back to the ground and continued to heave violently.
Brian shook his head disappointedly, but decided not to lord over him. He dropped down to kneel beside his brother, trying to gesture that he wanted to call a truce.
“Don’t worry about it dude, better out than in...” He brought his hand up to pat on Brent’s back as he continued to heave, trying to alleviate some of his younger brother’s discomfort.
But Brent gripped the hand and chucked it away, turning to glare at his nurse. His eyes were red rimmed and watering from straining. The alcohol was seeking its revenge, and it was forcing Brian to look upon his brother in a new, unflattering light.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” Brent managed to struggle out, pausing constantly to gulp in warning of the possibility he could blow at any minute.
Brian’s brow furrowed in annoyance “I came to talk to you obviously”
“About what?” The venom in his brother’s words was all too familiar to Brian. He had gotten a lot of use out of that venom over the years. He recognised too well the fury behind their dual inherited eyes.
“About why you’re hangin’ out with these asshole, maybe? Not coming home? Pulling this shit, acting like a fucking retard? Am I ringing any bells?”
Brent spat repetitively into the grass to clear his mouth before responding.
“You know what bro, just fuck off! You don’t know what you’re even taking about...You know nothing about what’s going on with me, alright!”
“Only cuz everything you say to me’s a lie!”
“So? I been lying for months Bri, and you didn’t even fuckin’ notice I wasn’t there most of the time! It was too fucking easy!” Even in the near pitch darkness that fell around them between the trees, Brian could feel the hurt glazing Brent’s eyes. Maybe it was the pitch in the boy’s voice, but it sounded like tears were now being held back as well as vomit.
“Alright, I’m not perfect. Maybe I should’ve been more...suspicious? I don’t know. I should have looked after you better, kept an eye on you more, dude, and I’m sorry if I haven’t been there as much as I should’ve been...” Brent shook his head vigorously, immediately regretting the unwise sudden movement, but Brian ignored him.
“...But I can fix it, you know? From now on, we can both just d-”
“Just stop, alright! I’m not coming home and you’re not gonna change my mind...”
“You can’t honestly wanna stay with that douche rather than your own family”
“You wouldn’t understand! They get me, they’re glad I’m there...”
“Dude you can’t just switch cuz you’re mad at me, that’s fucking stupid! They’re not your family...”
“They’re more of a family than the one I’ve got! Our family don’t even fucking like each other!”
“You’re not meant to like your family dipshit, that’s why you’re stuck with ‘em! You don’t get to choose whether you’re in it or not...”
“Mom did, why can’t I?!”
Brian couldn’t give an answer to that one, he didn’t have one. Instead he changed his approach.
“Brent, I know it might look like they want you around, but you don’t know what Jason’s really like. You don’t know him! He doesn’t care about what happens to you. Right now you’re useful, but once that’s gone you’ll be gone too. They won’t look out for you if you need them. They care about what you can do for them, but they don’t care about you Brent.”
As the anger rose in Brent, it seemed to supply him with the strength to return to his feet. He shot up into a stand rapidly, towering over his older brother. His voice hardened to a tone that didn’t suit his youth.
“Fuck you! Stay away from me, Brian. Jason’s gonna hear about it if you don’t leave me alone...” Brent threw back the weak threat as he strode out from the trees and immediately disappeared back into the party’s congregation.
With a deep sigh, Brian straightened up from his crouch and walked forward to find an alternative route out of the trees than the path taken by his little brother.
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