The Anniversary

Carl was startled out of his thoughts when his cell phone, which was on the bedside cabinet, starting ringing. He groaned, hoping it wasn’t Charlotte. She had tried calling several times but Carl didn’t pick up. He didn’t need to have her crying down the phone and saying they needed to pay Jason back. That wasn’t going to end well. Carl knew Jason’s friends and they were a nasty lot; up against them he would have no chance.

Charlotte had gone onto Facebook and tried chatting to him through there but Carl then clicked off the page and got rid of it. She would eventually understand that he wanted time to himself. He would talk to her in the morning but not now.

His cell phone rang again. Carl glanced at it but saw the number wasn’t Charlotte’s. It didn’t even have an ID. He swallowed. In the back of his mind he thought it was Jason ringing to taunt him. It would be something he would do. Carl didn’t want to answer but he found himself reaching for his phone and picking it up, swiping his finger across the screen and putting it on loudspeaker.

“Yeah?”

“Do you always answer the phone like that?”

The soft female voice with a slight laughing lilt to it had Carl relaxing immediately.

“Louise. How did you get my number? I thought you didn’t have it.”

“I didn’t. I swiped it from your phone when you were with the doctor.” Louise paused. “I’m sorry if that was forward.”

“No, that’s fine.”

Carl had no problem with that at all. He found himself smiling, shifting his laptop onto the bed and lying back, propping his head delicately on the pillows.

“Good. How are you feeling now?”

“Head’s still sore.” Carl closed his eyes as the pressure weighed down between his eyes. “I feel like it’s been pulverized.”

“It looks like it had been pulverized.”

Carl grunted.

“Great. Nice way to impress a woman.”

He heard Louise laugh again and felt a warm feeling in his stomach.

“Are you going to school tomorrow?”

“No, the doctor’s told me after you left that I needed to stay off school for a couple of weeks. Dad’s going to call the school to get me a home tutor until then.”

“That’s good of him.” Louise paused, now sounding awkward. “I’m so sorry about what happened.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“In a way it is. Jason attacked you because of me.” Louise sighed. “He could never keep that jealousy under control.”

“This is more about control than having problems with his jealousy.” Carl gingerly rolled onto his front, putting his phone on the pillow. It didn’t do his head any good but at least it didn’t feel like he was going to drop the phone onto his face. “If not with me, then with someone else.”

“Everyone’s scared of him. Even the police are reluctant to go near him because of his connections and his family.” Louise sounded bitter. “He thinks he can get away with anything.”

“He won’t.”

“It sounds like you’re scared of him. You refused to have the police come and talk to you.”

“I’m not scared.” Carl lied. “But if a mixed-race boy goes to the police and says a white boy attacked him, do you think they’re going to do anything to the white boy other than a slap on the wrist?”

“Of course they are. They’re not stupid and it’s assault with a deadly weapon. It’s their duty.”

“Not around here.” Carl muttered. He sighed and pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose. “Listen, Louise, thanks for staying with me and keeping me company. I didn’t want to admit I needed it and Charlie would’ve been too furious. That would’ve wound me up even more.”

“That’s okay. But I was angry, too.”

“You were calm, which was what I needed. I love Charlie but she has never been calm in her life.”

Carl could see Louise in his mind’s eye, lying on her bed as she spoke on her cell phone, her lovely smile on her mouth. The warmth began to spread throughout his body and his jeans suddenly felt tight.

“That’s good to know.”

Louise paused. Carl had a feeling she was going to ask him for something and braced himself. Could she be about to ask the question he had been dreaming about? It was too much to ask.

“Listen, Carl, I know it’s probably not the right time to do this but do you wanna hang out at some point? Just the two of us?”

Carl couldn’t stop the smile. He wanted to jump up and down and punch the air but he didn’t think his head would manage the jumping.

“I’d like that.”

“Great.” Louise sounded more chipper. “I’ve got Saturday evening off. No work for me. Do you want to meet up somewhere?”

“If you’re sure? My dad got into trouble with my grandparents because Mom is a different color. I don’t want your parents getting angry at you.”

“I’m sure. There’s nothing to be angry about.” There was a rustling at the other end and then Louise came back on. “I’d better go. Dinner’s ready. I’ll text you with more details in the morning.”

“Okay.”

“Goodnight, Carl.” Louise’s voice softened. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

Carl knew he wouldn’t be able to stop smiling for a while now.