Midway through Jeremiah’s song, Cam and I walked out—without even looking, I knew Conrad was watching us.
Cam and I sat on the staircase and talked. He sat on the step above me. He was nice to talk to, not intimidating at all. I loved the way he laughed so easily—not like with Conrad. With Conrad you had to work hard forevery smile. Nothing ever came easy with Conrad.
The way Cam was leaning into me, I thought he might try to kiss me. I was pretty sure I’d let him. But he’d lean in and scratch his ankle, or tug at his sock, and then shift away, and then he’d do it again.
When he was in the middle of a lean in, I heard pissed off, belligerent voices coming from the deck outside. One of them was definitely Conrad’s pissed off, belligerent voice. I jumped up. “Something’s going on out there.”
“Let’s check it out,” said Cam, leading the way.
Conrad and some guy with a barbed wire tattoo on his forearm were arguing. The guy was shorter than Conrad, but stockier. He was packing some serious muscle, and he looked like he was, like, twenty-five. Jeremiah watched, bemused, but I could tell he was alert, ready to jump in if he needed to.
To Jeremiah I whispered, “What are they fighting about?”
He shrugged. “Conrad’s wasted. Don’t worry about it. They’re just showing off.”
“They look like they might kill each other,” I said uneasily.
“They’re fine,” Cam said. “But we should probably get out of here. It’s late.”
I glanced at him. I’d almost forgotten he was standing next to me. “I’m not leaving,” I said. Not that I could do anything to stop a fight from happening. But it wouldn’t be right to just leave him there.
Conrad stepped up close to the tattoo guy, whoshoved him away easily, and Conrad laughed. I could feel an actual fight brewing, like a thunderstorm. Just like the way the water got really still before the sky broke open.
“Are you gonna do something?” I hissed.
“He’s a big boy,” Jeremiah said, his eyes close on Conrad. “He’ll be fine.”
But he didn’t believe it, and neither did I. Conrad didn’t seem fine at all. He didn’t seem like the Conrad Fisher I knew, all wild and out of control. What if he got himself hurt? What then? I had to help, I just had to.
I started walking over to them, and I waved off Jeremiah when he tried to stop me. When I got there, I realized I had no idea what to say. I had never tried to break up a fight before.
“Um, hi,” I said, standing between the two of them. “We have to leave.”
Conrad pushed me out of the way. “Get the hell out of here, Belly.”
“Who is this? Your baby sister?” The guy looked me up and down.
“No. I’m Belly,” I told him. Only, I was nervous, and I stuttered when I said my name.
“Belly?” The guy busted out laughing, and I grabbed Conrad’s arm.
“We’re gonna leave now,” I said.
I realized how drunk he was when he swayed a little as he tried to swat me off. “Don’t leave. Things are justgetting fun. See, I’m about to kick this guy’s ass.” I’d never seen him like this before. His intensity scared me. I wondered where Red Sox girl had gone. I kind of wished she was here to handle Conrad and not me. I didn’t know what I was supposed to do.
The guy laughed, but I could tell he wanted a fight just about as much as I did. He looked tired, like all he wanted was to head home and watch TV in his boxers. Whereas Conrad was running on all cylinders. Conrad was like a soda bottle that had been shaken up; he was about to explode on somebody. It didn’t matter who it was. It didn’t matter that this guy was bigger than him. It wouldn’t have mattered if he was twenty feet tall and built like a brick. Conrad was looking for a fight. He wouldn’t be satisfied until he got one. And this guy, he could kill Conrad.
The guy kept looking at Conrad and then back at me. Shaking his head, he said, “Belly, you better get this little boy home.”
“Don’t talk to her,” Conrad warned.
I put my hand on Conrad’s chest. I had never done that before. It felt solid and warm; I could feel his heart beating fast and out of control. “Can we please just go home,” I pleaded. But it was like Conrad didn’t even see me standing there, or feel my hand on his chest.
“Listen to your girlfriend, kid,” the guy said.
“I’m not his girlfriend,” I said, glancing over at Cam, who had no expression on his face.
Then I looked back at Jeremiah helplessly, and he ambled over. He whispered something in Conrad’s ear, and Conrad shook him off. But Jeremiah kept talking to him in his low voice, and when they looked at me, I realized it was about me. Conrad hesitated, and then he finally nodded. Then he half jokingly made like he was going to hit the guy, and the guy rolled his eyes. “Good night, douche,” he said to the guy.
