“Are you suddenly suffering from amnesia?”
He didn’t say anything.
Fine. I was mad because I knew his dad hurt him again.
“If I had shown up to school with a bright red handprint on my neck, I’d hope that I would have remembered how I got it.”
“Sawyer, don’t.”
“Then tell me what he did.”
Mike started telling me about his parents yelling, but I interrupted him.
“I don’t care about that part. I know that part. I want to know what happened after we got off the phone.”
I took hold of his sweatshirt sleeve and kept my hand on it as I led him to the boys’ restroom. I pulled open the door and nudged him to go in ahead of me. There were a couple of other fifth grade guys messing with their hair.
“Get out,” I said to them. They looked at me, and when they realized I was serious, they left immediately. As soon as the door clicked shut, I turned to look at Mike. “Show me.”
He pulled his sweatshirt and undershirt up and turned so his back faced me. Bright red marks lined his back up and down. His skin looked dry and raw around the marks. Some were raised welts, and some had tiny, busted blood vessels showing through the skin.
“Does it hurt?”
Mike laughed. “Yeah.”
“Want me to press some wet paper towels over them?”
“No. I just want you to not tell anyone,” he said as he lowered his sweatshirt and t-shirt.
“I won’t. I promise. What did he use?”
“The phone cord after I got off the phone with you.”
I nodded.
“Did you eat dinner last night or breakfast this morning?”
He shook his head.
“I wasn’t hungry.”
“Did your mom drop you off?”
“Yeah.”
“Didn’t you tell her you were hungry?”
“She’s got other problems.”
“I don’t care. She’s your fucking mother.”
“I don’t have parents like yours, Sawyer.”
“Come on. There’s still some time before the bell rings.”
I led Mike to the cafeteria and walked through the line with him as he picked out a box of Rice Krispies and some juice. I paid for his breakfast, even though I knew he had money. I found us a seat and sat with him while he shoveled food in his mouth. The entire time he ate, I watched how gingerly he swallowed. I hated his father. And soon, I was going to be big and strong and would give his dad a taste of his own medicine.
I woke up and quickly looked at my surroundings. I was on the TCF jet. I rubbed my eyes and then looked at Jensen. He was still sleeping in my coat. I looked across the aisle and saw Taylor was sleeping too. I tried to keep my eyes open and stay awake but ended up giving in to the exhaustion and closed my eyes to rest.
