Ricky

Talking to Blayze

         He wasn’t sure how long he stood there with his eyes closed, but it didn’t seem long before the door next to him opened and there was a knock on the glass Ricky was leaning on. He turned to look and looked straight into his brother’s blue eyes, which appeared concerned until Ricky forced himself to smile. Ricky’s day wasn’t going well and it was starting to catch up with him by the time Blayze arrived. Blayze put his arm under Ricky’s chin and started walking, pulling his brother backwards. Ricky started laughing and fighting against his brother’s hold.
         “Fine, I’ll walk, Blayze! You don’t have to drag me all over the school!” Ricky exclaimed. At that, Blayze stopped and released Ricky, letting him stand and walk on his own. Ricky took his time, readjusting his book bag and pulling on his leather jacket.
         “Let’s go, Ricky. We have to go see Drake,” Blayze informed him, walking away so Ricky had to catch up. As he walked next to his brother with his long strides, Ricky had to walk fast but his day was a little bit better than it had been five minutes earlier. When they reached the office, Ricky opened the door, letting Blayze go in first. Blayze went up to the desk while Ricky sat down next to the same boy, who had still been there ten minutes ago. The girl must be talking to Mr. Conner now, Ricky decided. As Blayze explained to Mrs. Vonner why he was there, his younger brother was putting pieces of Drake’s life together. Okay, so Ms. Wright got married, keeping her maiden name, Drake had the scar that seemed to show physical abuse and two days after the wedding, Drake took off. To Ricky, everything there pointed to Ms. Wright’s boyfriend/husband as the abuser.
         “Ricky, let’s go. We gotta check on the kid soon or I’m gonna make you stay in school for today,” Blayze threatened, pulling Ricky back into reality, as opposed to his guessing. Ricky stood up and slung his bag over his shoulder and followed Blayze out the door. They headed back to the main doors and out into the chilly, brisk breeze that made Blayze pull his jacket tighter, but the cold didn’t affect Ricky. The two walked in silence out to the parking lot. Blayze had gotten lucky and managed to park his black Mustang in the front row. Blayze took pride in his car because he had earned enough money to buy his Mustang brand-new, then he had the entire bottom four inches painted silver, so it stood out. As they walked toward the car, Blayze pulled out the remote and unlocked it.
         “Blayze, you ever notice that scar on Drake’s neck?” Ricky asked as he opened his door, breaking the long silence. Blayze looked thoughtful, stopping when he reached for his door handle. All the sudden, understanding came into his eyes.
         “Actually, yeah. I remember it now. What of it, Ricky?” Blayze asked and he continued opening his door. Ricky simply shrugged as he slid into the passenger seat. Blayze glanced over at his brother when they were both seated, looking curious.
         “C’mon, Ricky, why did you ask? Now I wanna know,” Blayze added, putting his key in the ignition, but he didn’t turn it. Ricky sighed and leaned back.
         “Okay, doesn’t it look like someone tried to cut his throat?” Ricky asked, wanting to have a second opinion.
         “Yeah, it does. I never really thought of it like that. Okay, now I’m really curious. Can you explain this to me?” Blayze questioned, turned to look Ricky in the eye. Ricky glanced over and sighed, debating internally, one part wanting to tell and another part wanting to keep Drake’s secret.
         “Okay, okay. Start the car and let’s get out of here. I’ll tell you on the way to the hospital,” Ricky told him. At that, Blayze started the Mustang and put it in reverse, heading out of the school parking lot. When they reached the end of the school driveway, waiting to turn onto the busy street, Ricky began telling Blayze everything he had found out about their best friend’s life before they met him and Ricky told his brother what he thought had been going on. Blayze listened to it all silently, his expression somewhat indifferent, as he learned what was going through Ricky’s mind and why Ricky was confused and full of questions. Once Ricky had finished explaining, the car was silent, mainly because the radio was off. Blayze was apparently thinking over what Ricky had just told him, so Ricky left him alone to think.
         “So what do you think Drake’s gonna say when his mom shows up at the hospital?” Blayze wondered, breaking the silence. Ricky was glad because quiet tended to get on his nerves.
         “I’m not quite sure,” Ricky admitted, “but I think it was her then-new husband that Drake was running away from, not actually running from her.”
         “Yeah, that’d make sense,” Blayze agreed, leaning back. It seemed as though Ricky had overloaded Blayze with information because he looked more tired than he had before and he was more somber and calm now.
         “Well, I’m sure he’ll be okay now. I mean, he has us now, so it can’t be as bad as before, right?” Ricky explained, but in reality, he was only trying to reassure himself. Blayze caught the unsure tone and decided it was time to be a friend instead of the protecting older brother.
         “Yeah, Ricky, he’ll probably be fine now. Normally, kids like him just need friends to help them. They don’t tend to idolize the scariest kid in school, but I guess it works out that way sometimes,” Blayze joked, confusing Ricky.
         “Hold up, Blayze. How’d you hear about all that?” Ricky questioned, making his brother laugh. Outside of school, the younger Claver was actually quite talkative and didn’t really scare anyone besides those who saw him in school.
         “I have a friend who has a friend who has a little brother at the high school. In other words, I know somebody at the high school who’s scared of you and knows of Drake as the kid who’d do anything you asked him to. How in the world did you manage that one?” Blayze asked, still with a teasing tone, but more serious than he was when he’d brought up how Ricky’s classmates saw him.
         “To tell you the truth, I don’t know, but it’s quite funny, actually. I don’t know why everyone’s afraid of me, but supposedly it’s because I can yell at people quietly and such. I mean, you’ve seen me mad, you’d be more likely to see it from their point of view,” Ricky commented, making Blayze think back. By now, they were close to the hospital, so Ricky’s mind floated back to Drake’s situation. Ricky was hoping that Drake was awake just so Ricky knew for sure that he was okay.
         “All right, Ricky. I know why they’re afraid of you. To tell you straight-up, when you’re mad, even my friends are scared of you. And you know that most of them are fighters,” Blayze added with a smirk making Ricky laugh. Hearing that his temper scared people that even military school couldn’t straighten out amused him, even with how his day was going so far. At least three of Blayze’s friends had gone to military school and got sent back within two months, with letters to their parents, apologizing and saying that their son wasn’t going to change at all. The main reason Blayze’s friends were afraid of Ricky was because, a few years back, the leader of a powerful local gang decided that he wanted Kesta, a friend of Ricky’s, to be his girl. The leader, Rebel, had some of his men kidnap her and he told her that she had no choice that she had to give in. Rebel tried to rape her and she escaped, going to Ricky and she told him what had happened. Ricky went and confronted Rebel, who said that Kesta was lying. They argued back and forth until Rebel snapped and punched the teen. That made Ricky even madder, so Ricky fought back, but he fought harder than he had thought, every punch laced with his anger. Anger is a powerful weapon, especially in the fists of an adrenaline-fueled teenager. Ricky just kept punching Rebel until the gang leader stopped fighting back and simply laid there. Ricky didn’t know what to do, so he just ran to get advice from Blayze. Rebel went into a coma for two weeks, but once he woke, the police convinced him into telling them who had beaten him. If Rebel hadn’t told the cops, his gang might’ve gotten even with Ricky their own way, but as it was, they didn’t touch him. Ricky was convicted, but got no jail time. Blayze and his friends were some of the few that knew about the assault, so they were all careful to avoid pushing Ricky too far.