Cindi was right. I was a coward. The word flickered across the blank white page of a newsletter depicting the aftermath of that night long ago. The one night that I knew for certain, I could not have done anything to save my family. The ink faded, drowned out of the crispness of the moment. A faded, ghostly tint of words that I could have imagined said a kinder thing. Coward. I couldn't have imagined a more humiliating name to be called.
Maybe that was why I reacted like that when she called me one. I remembered the pain I felt. How powerless I felt. That matra kept running through my head. "Don't let it happen". As if I had the power in the first place to do anything but watch as what mattered most slipped from my fingers. I was powerless. Although that's true, why couldn't I let go of this constant feeling of anxiety?
This time was different. I may not have had the power, but I needed it. How could I let a little technicality like that stop me from doing something for them? Cindi, Raiden. Was I just gonna let them down? After all they've done to help me?
Lynn stood above Brady with the blackbox in his hands like a pitcher stepping up to the mound. Underneath, Brady squirmed to his feet and brandished the knife. He held it like a child, two-handed and outstretched with misplaced confidence, as if he was afraid of it. It wasn't something I expected to notice coming from him.
"Give it back, thief," Brady spat out.
"Big words coming from you."
Brady pushed off from the ground and charged for him. Lynn quickly glanced at me before Brady slashed at him with the small blade. He backed off and around the side of the recess, placing as much distance between him and himself. Brady followed after him, leaning into the cuts and eyes unmoving from their target, a panther on the hunt. He lunged as soon as he saw that he had closed the distance enough. Lynn dodged it all the same. His predatory poise made him out to be something unhuman.
Lynn swerved, ducked, backed off from each sequential slash, fearful of a direct melee with his increasingly ferocious foe. The blackbox swapped from hand to hand, as if he was playing hot potato with it, keeping it out of Brady's reach.
I cupped my hands. "Throw it here!"
Lynn looked at me. Cautiously, he met my eyes and frowned. Figures he wouldn't trust me. Instead, he tried to gain more ground, making his way up from the amphitheatre. As soon as he turned on his heel, Brady lunged for him again, and this time he managed to land a small but noticeable nick on his elbow.
Raiden was still on the ground by the stairs. If Lynn wouldn't listen to me, maybe there was more I could do to help him. Cindi crouched over Raiden with this battlefield medic look in her eyes. Her hands glided across him with some desperation, floaty and sporadic. It looked like she was wrapping him with something. As I leaned over to get a good look, the blood began to clot. He bled from his sternum and from one of his arms. Nasty gashes.
"Damn," I said, louder than I intended.
"Monty, tell me the truth," Raiden said through puffs of breath, "is it bad?"
"Shut up," Cindi said. I couldn't quite hide the nervousness from my laughter. He didn't seem to care much, though. I got a good look at Cindi too. No injuries, but she had torn some of the hem from her shirt off to tie a makeshift bandage around Raiden's sternum. It reminded me of the gauze that had been laying around the hospital. Blood soaked through like a crushed blackberry. Raiden must have noticed the concern I had.
"Don't worry kid, it's just a scratch." He groaned as he tried to get up. His bones seemed to ache. "Looks like he pushed me down pretty hard though."
"Stop moving," Cindi said. "You're just gonna make yourself bleed again."
"Like I'd listen to advice from you, twerp. If only you were as knowledgeable about medical stuff as you were about baseball. We need to get the hell out of here. Quickly."
"No shit," I said. I noticed Cindi looking at me, guessing what I'd say next. "What?" I asked.
She just sighed and turned back to Raiden. "Quit your bitchin' and moanin'." He laughed harder and winced when he leaned back his head.
"Ah--ah--ah. Stop it! You're making it worse."
"Such a baby," Cindi said. "Come on. You don't wanna look like a wimp in front of Jesse do you?"
I nodded along to the sentiment. "He's busting his ass upstairs." I could hear the scuffle topside. A metal clang here, a shuffle of feet on concrete there. A vaudeville show of sounds played right above our heads.
On the other side of the pit Lynn still played keep-away with Brady, though he had a few more nicks to show for the effort. He moved a little more slower, a little more methodical, relying on his opponent's sloppiness than using his speed to the fullest. It either meant that he knew enough to reserve his energy or that he was getting tired. Judging from the cuts he's already given him, I had to bet on the latter. It was not a good look, regardless. Cindi shifted closer to Raiden.
"Ow--ow--ow!" He cried.
"Monty," Cindi said. I swung back around to face her. She pulled Raiden up, her hands underneath his arms. "Help me get him onto his feet."
"Careful!" Raiden said.
"Any more complaining and that bad boy persona of yours is going in the trash," Cindi said sarcastically. "I'll tell everyone at school how much of a softie you are."
I leaned back down to help. I grabbed Raiden's left arm as Cindi shuffled to the right. She nodded at me. It made me feel a little better after getting called out by her earlier. I was glad she was on our side. If anything, that was a win. We pulled him onto his feet, just careful enough that we didn't go tumbling down the stairs with him stumbling to climb. The both of us let him put his weight over our shoulders as soldiers would do to carry their injured buddy to safety. There was an entire semi-abandoned construction yard between where we were and the exit. So, we would have to book it before Brady made his way around again to intercept us.
"What's the plan?" I asked Cindi.
"We get him out of this damn pit and outside. I saw the exit when we got in here. We can get to Jesse's truck that way, I bet."
Above us, I heard someone curse. I didn't know if it was Jesse or one of the thugs.
"Won't one of Brady's goons get the jump on us before we get the chance to leave?"
Cindi shook her head, bothered by the idea. I realized she was taking it all in stride, just like I was. I felt worse about wanting to leave Raiden behind than before.
"Do you have a better idea?"
"The tunnel. It's not blocked by the rest of them. You can get Raiden to safety if you bring him back through."
"Don't talk about me like I'm not here, twerps," Raiden said with a grunt. "Oh, shit. Another one."
At the top of the stairs, a battered and bruised grunt was making his way down towards us. He held a baseball bat--a wooden one--and he tapped the side of his shoes with it. He sneered at us as he came down the steps.
"Look at what we got here. A Couple of runts. Shouldn't have stayed out past your bedtime, kids."
Shit. He wore a beaten up look, but his mean scowl still sent shivers down my spine. We didn't have any weapons. Nothing to defend ourselves with. Maybe there was something I could do to get his attention off of Raiden and Cindi.
I whispered to Cindi, "Trust me on this. In a moment, take Raiden and circle the bowl back the other way. Closer to the tunnel."
"What the hell are you thinking?"
"Trust me."
She peered at me with the same curiosity that a cat would give an outstretched palm. She groaned and nodded.
The grunt taunted, "I'm gonna give you exactly what your buddy gave me."
I watched him descend just a bit more before setting my plan in motion. I slipped out from beneath Raiden and cupped my hands together around my mouth. "JESSE!"
I only needed a single moment. For that split-second gap in which his eyes widened with terror and his head swiveled back to check, I bolted for his bat. The stone steps hurt like hell when I stomped my feet down. I needed the lift to launch me forward. I was almost on him before he turned back around and noticed me. I bet he thought I was gonna try and make a break for it. But, that didn't seem to throw him off too much.
"You lying piece of--"
He readied to swing for my head. The bat hovered over his shoulder, tense, like a spring about to be unloaded. That chunk of wood could split my skull open like a peanut if I gave him the chance.
Cindi cheered from behind me, "Get his ass, Monty!"
Just as she cheered, the bat came down on me. As it came, I was reminded of the beach, when Cindi had said the exact same thing. I ducked, and rolled over my shoulder to the side, away from the direction of Cindi and Raiden. Hitting him head on wasn't my specialty. I wasn't particularly strong or had much reach. If Lynn had tried harder the last time we fought, I was sure he could have beaten me easily. This guy wasn't holding back. He was going to really hurt if I let him. So, I won't. When he swung, I could feel that little spark I felt before, at the ends of my finger tips--a burst of adrenaline, maybe?
"You missed," I taunted. His nose flared up. His face twisted into utter annoyance. I rolled into a kneeling position, then bounced up onto the balls of my feet. I tried to keep the quickness of my movement without suffering from that exhaustion that Lynn dealt with. I had to listen to my own advice, after all. He pressed on me, leaning into another swing. His full attention was on me, now. He seemed to have forgotten about Cindi and Raiden. If I ran, I doubt I could out-run him. Even if he wasn't faster, which I highly doubted, the reach of his bat would probably do some serious damage if I tried that. I glanced across from where we were to see Cindi dragging Raiden up towards the other side. She peeked over her shoulder and watched me, her brows coming together into an inquisitive expression and her eyes glinted. She mouthed something, though I wasn't in any position to tell what. What was that strange look she gave me? Was she annoyed? Curious? Scared? I didn't know, and I didn't have much time to guess. I had a more pressing issue to attend to.
"So, the Saints. Is this like your day-job?" I asked, lightheartedly. He continued to glower as he slunk forward. It didn't seem like he was in a joking mood. "You know, I haven't exactly been to church recently. You'll have to remind me of the part where they say 'go, do crime'. Then again, I've never been much of a believer."
He wound up for a heavy hitter. Before he could release the swing, someone grabbed the bat from behind. Cindi hung onto it for dear life.
"What the--?" His threats stammered off as he realized what had happened.
On her cue, I felt a strange force take hold of me. Adrenaline raced through my gut as I slammed into him. So much for not fighting head on. He slumped toward the ground with the same force of a sandbag dropping from the rafters. Cindi jumped off before he could take her down with him. "Is this like your day-job?" Cindi parroted. "Really, Monty?"
"I had to make do. My audience wasn't exactly moved by my material." I shrugged.
"We can work on your banter later."
Something shiny slipped out from beneath the thug. I picked up a small knife.
I said, "Why did you come back?"
"You think I'd just let you boss me around and show me up?" She smiled. "Fat chance."
I laughed.
She said, "I guess you do have some balls to try something stupid like taking on one of those guys twice your size. But we don't have much time. Help me out with Raiden."
"One second," I said. Lynn tripped over the side of one of the benches and narrowly missed a swipe from Brady. I couldn't believe he's been holding out this long. "Look out for my cue. Expect something coming your way."
She nodded. "Fine. Make sure to give me that heads up this time."
I raced back to Lynn. As he recovered from the scuffle, Brady raced too to take advantage of the opportunity that dropped in front of him. I won't make it easy for him. I held the knife aloft. Brady noticed it and backed off a little. He laughed.
"What the hell do you think you're doing kid? Waving that thing around like a toy."
"Lynn," I said while staring down Brady. Lynn watched me curiously. I nodded towards Cindi. He got the idea, I could tell. His eyes narrowed and lit up with understanding. Brady lifted his head, staring me down with the ego of a star batter. He didn't even try to glance back at her.
"You're that kid, huh? You caught my friend's eye."
"Which friend was that?"
"You'll meet him soon enough." He launched forward at me.
I yelled from the top of my lungs, "Cindi! Heads up."
I didn't even see the blackbox in flight. I just noticed Brady's eyes following it the second it left Lynn's hands.
"Pop up!" Cindi shouted behind me. She caught it with ease.