Crossing the Barrier (23 page)

“Get her out of here,” David said, releasing him and pushing him toward Lily.

Malakai took a step toward her, but the way she looked at him stopped him. She had the eyes of a deer caught in the headlights, the eyes of a deer that knew terror just before being hit by a car.

“Lily,” he whispered. He felt a prickling sensation behind his eyes and closed them. “Lily,” he said again.

As he opened his eyes, Lily collided into him. He encircled her with his arms, taking calming comfort in knowing she was now safe.

“Come,” he said, pulling her toward the stairway.

He hadn’t been in her house before, but he knew her bedroom was on the second floor, facing Sandra’s. He wanted her there, away from those people.

Once they were up the stairs, Lily opened a door to the right. Malakai, still holding her against his side, walked in and found himself in a big green and cream room that smelled like a teahouse, a teahouse that only served green tea. In the middle of the room was one of the highest and biggest beds Malakai had ever seen. It was in fact so high he wondered how his petite girlfriend got on it without a step ladder. It was covered with fluffy pillows, lots of them.

On the wall above her bed was a small shelf with an old clarinet. Next to it stood a framed picture of a man who looked just like Charlie, playing the instrument.

Lily, shaking against his side, regained his attention and he looked down at her.

“Lily,” he said, gently caressing her hair. “Are you all right?”

“No,” she said, then began to cry again, hard sobs that rocked her small body.

Malakai just held her against his chest, as hard as he dared without choking her. His cheek against the top of her head, he closed his eyes and let her cry, fighting his own tears at the thought of what had almost happened.

How could someone want to hurt her so? He just didn’t get it.

Then the horror of it all slammed into him, choking him. He hadn’t been there to keep her safe. He hadn’t been there for her, to prevent this from happening to her. He felt so guilty about it all he could barely breathe. How could he ever keep her safe?

He was still thinking about it when the door opened behind him. Quickly putting Lily behind him to shield her, he turned around and faced the door, ready to pounce, ready to protect.

He would not let her down like this again.

But it was David and Sandra.

David had his fists clenched at his side and his face was a dark shade of red. Sandra was frowning, her eyebrows drawn together.

“Lily,” she said and went to her. “Are you okay?”

Lily nodded, wiping the tears from her eyes.

Malakai looked at David, a question in his eyes. David shrugged, his jaw clenched tightly.

“What happened? Are they gone?” Lily asked from behind him.

“Yes, but not their parents,” Sandra answered. “And we found this,” Sandra added, putting Lily’s cell phone on her bedside table.

Lily shuddered, and Malakai took her in his arms again. She hid her face in his shirt and he held her, willing her to be all right, hoping he could take her away.

“Lily, come to my house tonight,” Sandra said. “I…we don’t want you to stay here.”

Lily nodded against Malakai’s chest, and Sandra went around the room, gathering things and putting them in Lily’s bag.

Five minutes later, they were crossing the street.

Chapter Forty-Six

MALAKAI

Three days after
the incident at Lily’s, Malakai was still furious she hadn’t wanted to call the cops. He wanted to see Wes arrested so badly he had almost hit the wall with his fist when she asked them to keep the entire episode quiet. He hadn’t wanted to scare Lily more than she already was, so, his fists solidly clenched at his side, he had taken a dozen breaths to calm his temper while Sandra and David argued with her about the stupidity of her request.

The only thing that had calmed his anger some since then was to find out the word had gotten out anyway, and the band members were now in the know. They rallied behind Lily, and every time he had seen her in the last twenty-four hours, one of them was nearby, watching her back.

It was lunchtime now, and as he had done since the beginning of the week, Malakai would join Lily for the duration. He was anxiously making his way to the cafeteria to buy food when he was suddenly pushed against the wall.

Wes.

It was the first time the quarterback had come anywhere near him since the last weekend, and Malakai believed it was better that way. His anger at the boy who used to be his friend hadn’t faded away, and it was best if he kept well away from Malakai.

If only Lily had let them call the cops…

Wes looked a right mess. His eye was black and his lip busted from when Malakai had punched him.

“What the bloody hell?” Malakai exclaimed, clenching his fists at his side. “What did you do that for?”

“You told,” Wes spat.

“No, I didn’t. You’re bloody lucky Lily asked me not to,” Malakai growled, taking a step and standing an inch from Wes’s face.

Everybody in the corridor stopped to look at the confrontation.

“Yeah, you’re fucking lucky,” David said, walking up to them and standing next to Malakai, arms crossed over his chest.

Despite his bravado, Malakai was glad to see the center show up. Wes was livid, and even if Malakai was angry in his own right and had beaten the boy before, he didn’t know if he would end up on top in a fight with someone who was bigger and a good four inches taller than he.

“You told what happened at that band geek’s house,” Wes accused again.

“No, but I should have,” Malakai said.

“Did you really expect no one would talk?” David asked, shaking his head. “Needless to say, you’re the one at fault here, not us.”

“Then it’s one of those tramps,” he accused.

“Whoa, careful here. You’re talking about my sister and her best friend. And honestly, if they said something to anyone, good for them. But let me remind you of something. Zoe was there too, and three other people. Who’s to say one of them didn’t talk?”

“Zoe wouldn’t betray me,” Wes said hotly, his face turning red.

“Oh, really?” David asked with a frown.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means don’t be so sure.”

David’s words proved to be more than accurate the next day at lunch.

Malakai walked into the cafeteria to find half the student body in an uproar. At the table next to the one where he usually sat, Zoe was in tears in the middle of her group of friends. Wes was nowhere to be seen.

“And…and he touched her chest,” Zoe said between sobs. “It was horrible.”

“Never mind you were smiling the whole time,” Andrea said.

“Shut up!” Zoe snapped. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. He played me.”

Malakai opened his mouth to support Andrea when the girl shook her head at him. Throwing a murderous glare at Zoe, Malakai took his seat next to David.

“Where’s Lily?” David asked, looking around with a frown.

“At the library,” Malakai answered, unwrapping his lunch.

“Sooo, you heard that, didn’t you?” David asked between clenched teeth, pointing behind him.

“Yeah.”

“She broke up with Wes, saying she’s as much a victim as Lily,” David said, his eyes on his lunch. “That’s messed up, man. Andrea wouldn’t let me intervene. On top of it all, he’s ruining practice.”

“I know. He didn’t pass me a single good one yesterday. The coaches are beginning to notice.”

Malakai’s BLT didn’t look as appetizing as usual.

“Not just the coaches. Half the team came to ask me what happened.”

Malakai looked at David. He hadn’t heard that, but again, he had very few classes with the rest of the players.

“They know?”

“Yeah, they heard,” David answered, shaking his head. “Man, this is fixing to become very bad, very quickly. I mean, what are we going to do? Half the school wants to kick his ass right now. I mean, should we tell the coaches?”

“I don’t know,” Malakai said, looking at the table. “I really, really don’t know. Where is he anyway?”

“I don’t know, but he better be somewhere else.”

“Yeah,” Malakai said, glancing at the girls behind them. “I reckon you’re right.”

David got back to his lunch, looking as worried and angry as Malakai felt.

Chapter Forty-Seven

MALAKAI

“
Hamilton, what’s wrong
with you?” Coach called after Wes threw a bad pass to Malakai for the fourth time that afternoon. “You’ve practiced badly all week and now you’re even worse. What’s got into you? We have a game tomorrow.”

Wes didn’t answer. He just glared at Coach, then at Malakai, as if it were Malakai’s fault he practiced like a beginner.

“Now get with the program.”

The practice resumed, but most of Wes’s passes continued to be off. By the end of the practice, Malakai was frustrated, and most of the players stayed far away from Wes. When they got back to the locker room, no one talked, which was highly unusual for the team.

“Now care to tell me what’s going on?” Coach asked as he walked into the quiet locker room.

No one answered.

From the corner of his eye, Malakai saw David glance his way. Lucas was doing the same from across the room. Most of the other players were looking down except for Wes, who, nostrils flaring, was throwing daggers at whoever looked at him. As for Coach, he was looking at the offensive line players, splitting his stares between Malakai, the other wide receivers, the quarterbacks, and the running backs.

“No one?” Coach prompted again.

The room was so silent Malakai only heard the buzzing of the overhead lights.

“Well, if tomorrow you play like you practiced today, you can kiss that game good-bye,” he said, and, without adding a word, he walked out of the locker room.

The other coaches followed more slowly, then left the team alone. The players all remained where they were, silent for a few moments until Luis stood up and walked over to Wes. Wes was still glaring at Malakai, his jaws clenched.

“What the fuck did you think you were doing?” Luis asked so quietly Malakai wouldn’t have heard him if it hadn’t been two seats down from them. “How the hell did you think we wouldn’t find out?”

“She deserved it.”

Malakai’s blood boiled, and his vision turned red. How could anyone deserve being assaulted the way Wes had Lily? He didn’t remember having stood, but in the next moment, David was in front of him, holding him back.

“No, Malakai, don’t,” David said quietly, using all his weight to restrict Malakai. “I know you want to beat his ass again, and frankly, he deserves it, but don’t. You might lose your spot on the team, and we can’t afford it.”

“How can you think any girl deserves what you’ve done to her? What the fuck did she do to you?” Luis asked loudly, bringing Malakai’s attention back to the ongoing confrontation. “You’re supposed to be our captain, dude. You’re supposed to be the example. Do you expect us to go around and grope any girl who makes us mad? We’re in fucking high school! Girls are going to make us mad; that’s what they do. But that doesn’t give you the right to hurt them. You’re lucky we didn’t tell the coaches. You’re lucky one of us is not giving you another black eye.”

Tristan, Lucas, and more than half of the team were now standing in front of Wes, silently supporting Luis, their arms crossed over their chests.

“As far as I’m concerned, you’re no longer our captain,” Luis said, then walked away, the group parting to let him through.

As one, the team turned their back on Wes and also walked away. David let go of Malakai, and Malakai returned to his locker.

A moment later, the door opened, and Wes walked out with all of his things.

“This is not good,” Tristan said.

He was standing next to Malakai, looking at the door by which Wes had left.

“No, it’s not,” David agreed from Malakai’s other side.

Malakai glanced behind him; the rest of the team was looking at him.

“We need a captain,” Luis said, across the room.

“Yes, we do,” Lucas agreed.

Malakai looked at Tristan.

“Don’t look at me, dude. I just made varsity,” the sophomore said with his hands up. “You’d do a lot better job than me.”

Malakai glanced around the room again. All the players were now looking at him, some nodding approvingly, most of them waiting to see what he’d do next. Malakai sighed, closed his locker door, and walked to the middle of the room, scratching the back of his head. He looked at the floor in front of him for a moment, searching for what to say.

“I’m not officially the captain,” he said, still looking at the floor. “But we’re a team,” he added, looking up. Slowly, he glanced at each one of the players in turn. “I know the expression says a rotten apple can rot an entire barrel if it’s not removed—or something like that anyway—but let’s not have that rotten apple get the best of us. I mean, guys, we may need to work extra hard to compensate for what Wes will or won’t do tomorrow, but we can do it if we work together,” he said calmly.