I Rize (16 page)

She began speaking. “Hi, my name is Shandi, and I go to Valley High School. I knew Adny through her stepsister, Terri.”

She stopped when Terri took her seat in the front row, causing a disturbance.

“In retrospect, I have made a lot of mistakes, but no one is perfect. I was raped by my best friend’s boyfriend last year.”

The speech stopped when she saw Terri’s face tense up, and arms begin to fold. She knew Terri long enough to know at that particular moment, the bitterness slowly burned through Terri’s heart creating the deadliest fire.

“Eventually, I found out I was pregnant. I have since regretted my decision to get an abortion.”

She looked down into the audience and saw her mother cover her mouth and start to cry. Terri stood beside her with clenched fists; Shandi realized the bitterness ran its full course.

“I remember Adny trying to help me, but I was too angry. I started the rumor that she slept with Jace and told Terri. And I guess Terri told Madison and a bunch of other people. I’m sorry for everything. I wish I could take it all back, cause I would in a heartbeat.” When her speech was over, she watched Jace look away from the stage as soon as his name was mentioned.

Principal Cooper called for Madison, but received no reply. He then called Mickey, but didn’t receive a reply from him either. Then Jace spoke up in front of everyone and said, “I’ll talk, Principal Cooper.”

There was a lot of chatter amongst the audience.

W
hile everyone waited for Jace’s speech, Terri and Madison sat at the hangout. The hangout was a spot across the street from Valley High where everyone went during the school year to smoke. The principal couldn’t suspend them because it wasn’t on school property.

Madison’s mascara-stained tears fell down her face, while she and Terri sat on the edge of her car. The only strength Madison had left was to numb her inner pain by smoking it away. “These damn tears won’t stop. It’s pissing me off.”

Madison rolled up the blunt saying, “My good friend, Mary Jane, takes away all of the problems in my head for hours upon hours a day. Best fucking feeling in the whole world.”

Terri directed the conversation back toward her. “Rape this … rape that … blah … blah … blah. I can’t trust anyone around my boyfriend.”

Madison handed the last bit of the blunt to her and said, “Mary Jane will never betray you.”

Madison’s hair stood up on the back of her neck. Her heart rate increased as she heard footsteps approaching.

“You two will never change.”

The familiarity of Gracie’s voice made Madison laugh. She stood and said, “Terri, it looks like our little Chubbs is growing up; she finally grew half of a backbone. If she keeps eating, the other half will grow.”

Gracie brushed passed with her head held high, causing Madison’s evil smile to fade. Gracie would no longer be an act in the freak show playing in her mind.

Jace took a deep breath before speaking. “My name is Jace Rivers. I’m not going to talk too long. Adny knew me for who I really was deep down—a love struck, hopelessly romantic kid from Georgia. It’s a shame how heartless some people can be, but she will always be my true Juliet.

He looked down at Michelle before continuing, “Mrs. Storm, when I see her again, I am going to finally ask her for her number.”

Everyone laughed with him as he stepped off the podium.

Principal Cooper got up to greet Madison. “Well, I see Madison has finally made it here.” Madison would usually roll her eyes at his quirky remarks, but didn’t possess the strength. As he stood at the microphone, she gave him an evil glare, causing him to back away. She looked down at the speech her father wrote and decided to rip it up into tiny pieces. The pieces were thrown at him before speaking.

“I don’t need an introduction. Everyone here knows my dad as the perfect principal, husband, and father. Let me tell you, he is anything but that. Everyone knows me as the perfect friend, daughter, and cheerleader. Let me tell you, I am anything but that. He told me what to say tonight. Fuck that.”

He reached up to pull her off the stage when Madison stopped him. “Not this time, Dad.” He sat back in the chair, not causing uproar in response to her deviance.

“I wanted to keep the
Little Miss Perfect
image, so I told everyone Jace was my boyfriend. I got Jace’s number from someone and pretended to text Adny for a very long time. It was fun.

Jace looked her dead in her eyes, as her words became meaningless chatter to everyone around him.

“Once the lie started, more lies had to be told to keep up the act. Hurting Adny gave me a sense of high and pride that was lacking in my life at the time, even now.”

A tiny, sly smile formed on Madison’s face when she saw Michelle covering her face in her seat. Loving every moment the confessional was too much to handle. “The party was a set up by yours truly. I spiked her drink with ecstasy. I pushed her down and everyone else joined in. Adny kept saying
stop
repeatedly, which made me hit harder.”

When Michelle left the area, Madison chuckled a little under her breath.

“I would be lying if I said I feel a sense of remorse for my actions. I don’t. I would be lying if I said I missed Adny. I don’t. This is me.”

Madison took a step back from the microphone and waited for a response, but all was silent. In that moment, silence became the loudest noise.

As she stepped down, Detective Miller approached her. “You still insist on putting on a false act for people. I saw you cry. I know there is some remorse within your heart because you’re human.”

Madison gave a half smile, not responding to his remarks. She pulled a blunt from her purse and walked away.

When Gracie walked up to the podium, the bright lights reminded her of the dance stage. “Hi, my name is Gracie. A lot of you have no clue who I am. Many of you might have seen me in the school plays, when I wasn’t in tears. Adny’s presence could be felt anywhere she went; she had such a grace about her. It is amazing how our brief encounters have had a huge impact on my life.”

She looked down, noticing her parents encouraging her to sing. “Adny was the only person at school to hear me sing, and I would love the rest of you to hear it.”

She closed her eyes while her cousin began playing the guitar. The music mixed with her joy as she sang her heart out. When the song was over, everyone stood to clap in her honor. For the first time, she enjoyed being the center of the spotlight.

Before stepping offstage she ended with, “I hold no grudges toward anyone who wronged me throughout high school. Next week at graduation, we all will begin a new chapter in our lives, hopefully for the better.”

Mickey was called next. Everyone watched as his legs shook while walking up to the podium.

As he struggled to begin speaking, Junior sat in Adny’s room replaying the first video that changed his life. He couldn’t bring himself to speak in front of everyone. His best friend needed a new heart, and he would do anything in those desperate moments to give her a second chance for a bright future.

He left Adny’s room and went into her stepdad’s office. The gun was in the same spot where it was used weeks prior in the cabinet. It was the same gun Adny held in her hands. The revolver was placed up to his temple while praying out loud.

“God, please give me a sign that everything is going to be okay.”

His fingers tightened around the handle. A few practice shots were taken without pulling the trigger.

“Please, God.”

His heart raced. The heavy breathing made it impossible to relax. “Please.”

The gun started shaking sporadically in his hand. His index finger pushed down slightly on the trigger.

The ringing of his cell phone nearby distracted him. When he answered, the unrecognizable voice asked, “Hello, may I speak to Junior?”

“This is Junior.”

“I am the current nurse on duty. I can’t get in touch with Adny’s parents, but you were listed as one of her emergency contacts. We have found her a new heart tonight. She and the donor are being prepped for surgery right now.”

Junior dropped the phone out of shock, not realizing he hung up on the nurse.

He immediately got into his car repeating, “Thank you, God,” on his way to the gathering.

M
ickey inhaled a long, deep breath in, then a long, deep breath out. “I’m Mickey Torres. I was the innocent bystander, the enabler, watching Adny die slowly from the inside out.”

He stopped the speech in mid-thought when Junior stood in front of the stage.

“I watched while she was being hurt, juxtaposed against pure evil. But sometimes our lives become like a game of Russian roulette—you pull the trigger. Sometimes you’re given a second chance, and sometimes that’s not the case.”

Mickey turned to leave from the stage when Junior walked up and grabbed his hand. Junior motioned for him to continue talking.

“The morning after everyone left, Adny called me to come over. The gun was sitting on her desk. She asked me if I wanted to play Russian roulette, and I stupidly agreed. She pulled out one blue and one yellow die from her pocket and said she was going to roll first. Whoever rolled the highest had to pull the trigger. Neither of us ever handled a gun before. The single bullet was ready to claim the next victim. She rolled the highest.”

Mickey was ready to run off the stage when Michelle came back. He turned to leave again, causing Junior to tighten his grip even more.

“The gun went off, and the impact jolted me back. No one was shot, but I think the sound freighted both of us. She held her heart, gasping for air. I panicked and called 9-1-1.”

Mickey's eyes trailed the podium floor, looking for a way to escape from Michelle’s eyes. Junior continued to tighten his grip on Mickey’s hand, when he took over speaking.

“Hi, everyone. I’m Junior, Adny’s best friend. I have some great news to share. The nurse called and told me a heart was found for Adny. I am glad she will be with us again.”

There was an uproar in the audience, and no one knew how to contain their excitement, especially the family. Darla jumped up in her mother’s arms, exclaiming cries of joy.

Junior forcefully released his grip on Mickey’s hand and stepped away from him, toward the back of the platform.

“Junior, are we back together?”

“I held your hand so that you wouldn’t make an ass of yourself in front of everyone, not to get back with you. That’s what friends do.”

Mickey walked off the stage with his head down toward his parents in the audience. The rest of Adny’s family joined Junior on the platform to thank everyone for coming.

The nurse on duty ran into Dr. Andrews’s office, hitting the door against the wall in a panic. “Dr. Andrews, Adny’s vitals are really low; maybe the surgery is not a good idea.”

Dr. Andrews gave her a stern look. “I promised myself, I would never fail this girl again. Finish getting her prepped.”

The ER staff wheeled the donor’s body into the hall alongside Adny’s stretcher. The donor’s body resembled a female. Dr. Andrews placed his hand on the bed, whispering under his breath, “I’m sorry, Nora.”

Every nurse and doctor surrounding the stretchers stopped in motion as an unrecognizable voice yelled, “Stop!”

There were so many people in the hallway making it difficult to tell who yelled until Dr. Andrews felt someone tugging on his pant leg. It was young Piper. She had somehow escaped from her mother while they were in the waiting room and entered a place where only hospital staff was allowed.

He kneeled down to her level and asked, “Are you lost?”

Piper waved sandpaper in his face while jumping up and down. “Mr. Doctor, I forgot to give Adny her sandpaper ‘cause she need it to protect her now. I don’t.”

Piper walked up to Adny’s bed and placed the sandpaper under her pillow. Before her mother approached to pull her away, she leaned beside Adny and quickly said, “You need it to protect you now. The mean kids at school don’t mess with me no more.”

Piper’s mother grabbed her by the hand and dragged her back to the waiting room. Piper picked up a block while looking into her mother’s eyes. “Umm … Mommy, after Auntie Nora gives Adny her heart, who gonna give Auntie a heart?”

She handed Piper another block without answering. “Build Mommy the biggest house. She felt a hand touch her shoulder. When she turned, it was Michelle.

Adny’s family joined them in the waiting area. Darla got down on her knees in front of her chair to pray. “God, please make the new heart work so she can love us again. Amen.”

Piper saw Darla on her knees and leaned down beside her. “Can we pray with Sunshine?” Darla pulled out her teddy bear to place it in the prayer position between them.

When Dr. Andrews arrived in the waiting area, Adny’s family joined hands. “Mrs. Storm, the surgery went well. Her body needs time to accept the new heart.”

Darla was still on her knees when the doctor told them the good news. “Thank you, God, you’re the best.”

In the moment, no one cared about the logistics of heart rejection. All they cared about was seeing Adny. Piper ran up to the doctor, tugging at his pant leg again. “Mr. Doctor, did you make Auntie’s heart warm again. She was cold before.”

Everyone fell silent when she asked that question, not knowing how to explain the reality of her aunt not coming back. He picked her up to talk more on her level. “Your auntie is up there, with God, looking down on you.” They both looked at the ceiling for awhile as if they were searching for the universal mysteries of death.

Jace greeted both families when he walked in. The nurse agreed to take him back to Adny’s room. He placed a single white rose and a bucket of Reese’s candy on the stand beside the bed. The dream catcher was placed above her head. He kissed her forehead, whispering “Sweet dreams,” in her ear.