Beast and Dog Boy

Chapter 8 - Saturday

The next morning Valerie called Drew’s house. He picked up the phone after two rings.

“Hi,” she said.

“Hi,” he said back.

“No movie reference this morning?” she asked.

“That come later,” he said. “How you sleep?”

“Eventually a little better than I thought I would,” she said. “Although I was up fairly late.”

“Up fairly late crying?” he asked

“I’m tired of complaining to you all the time, but I’m not tired of lying,” she said. “So, no. I didn’t shed a single tear last night after we hung up. You aren’t worth even one.”

There was quiet on the other end of the phone, and then Drew laughed. “Valerie, that the spirit!” he said. “And that true!”

“No, it isn’t,” she said quietly. “I’m going to get going around here and help my grandparents out this morning. After, I’ll be down there around eleven.”

“I’m so down for you coming down,” he said.

She said, “That sentence was perfect English. And that joke was terrible.”

“When you come down, I go down on you,” he said.

She said softly, “That’s not going to happen, and you are watching way too much HBO…”

“No way too much HBO! I learning a lot! It very educational!” he declared.

“All right, I’ll see you later,” she said, smiling. As distressed as she was, she was amazed that Drew could get her smiling.

“Later, gator,” said Drew as he hung up.


Good to her word, a very exhausted Valerie showed up at Drew’s at eleven. She was so wiped she actually missed the look of concern on his face when he first saw her. He said she needed to get in his bed immediately.

She rolled her eyes and got irritated at him, if not mad. She said, “Drew, that is not funny, I…”

He interrupted her, saying, “No what I mean. You need sleep.”

They got into his bed with their clothes on. He pulled her to him so that her head was on his chest. He slung her arm across him.

“I’m not too heavy for you?” she asked

“You like light feather,” he said. “Hardly feel you now. No like that hardly feel. Make more Valerie on me.”

She put one of her elephant legs over his legs. “More, please,” he said.

She rolled over a little so that her shoulder and part of her body lay upon him more. He was warm and solid and she liked this a lot. Nevertheless, she self consciously asked, “This too heavy now? Am I crushing you to death?”

“No too heavy ” he said. “You still like nothing air. But, in way, you crushing me good.”

She was crushing hard on him as well. She felt so good, all tight on and against him. It felt natural and comforting. She loved it. It was so soothing. He was so soothing. So much so, that soon she fell asleep.


When she woke up, she was still lying on Drew’s chest and he had one of his arms still wrapped around her. Her head was under his chin, so she couldn’t see his face.

“Drew,” she murmured, wondering if he had fallen asleep as well.

“That me,” he said.

“Have you been awake the whole time?” she asked quietly.

“Yes,” he said.

“How long have I been asleep?” she asked.

“Um, two hours?” he said.

She smiled in sympathy for him as she ran her hand along his buff arm. “You must be bored to tears,” she said.

“No bored to tears. I happy to tears,” he said, and it sounded to her like he meant it.

She went to get up, but instantly his arm constricted around her, holding her tight to him. “No go! Want more!” he said, half joking, half serious.

She laughed and said, “I have to use the bathroom.”

Still, he did not relax his arm, and she still could not see his face. So, for a bit, she lay there on him, smiling, and wondering what he was thinking.

“Oh, all right,” he eventually said with mock disgust as he released her. Then she laughed, got up, and went to use the bathroom.


She and Drew made a late lunch - canned chili with rice and more vegetables from Mr. Wezell’s garden. The garden still had corn, lettuce, pumpkins, carrots and zucchini, but the tomatoes, green peppers and everything else were now played out by this time in September. Drew’s frig was getting a little played out too. He was now out of both milk and bread, for instance.

“We should go to the grocery store soon,” she said.

Drew nodded his head.

“Do you want to go now?” she asked.

He nodded his head. He fetched the keys and held them out to her.

“You drive? I no know where store be,” he said. She smiled and took them.

They got in his pickup and she started driving them up the road.

But when they reached her house, she slowed the truck. Her grandfather was struggling with his heavy extending ladder by their barn’s side.

“Good God, what’s he up to now?” she mumbled as she brought the pickup to a stop in the road and watched.

Drew too watched Valerie’s grandfather wrestling with his heavy ladder, and his brow was furrowed.

“Do you want to meet my grandfather?” she asked him quietly.

“Yeah,” said Drew. “And now, please.”

She smiled at him and she pulled the pick up into her driveway. They got out and went around back. It was starting to lightly rain. Thank God - thought Valerie.

When they neared her grandfather, she called out to him. He turned to them and smiled. Drew introduced himself.

Valerie asked, “Gramps, what are you doing?”

Her grandfather said, “I’m going to paint the barn before winter sets in. Look at how bad it’s peeling. It needs to be scrapped, sanded, primed, and coated twice, but there’s still plenty of time to get that done before the snow flies.”

Valerie cringed, imaging all the time he was going to be standing way up on his ladder doing all that.

“Well, that’s not happening today,” she said. “It’s starting to rain.”

“Yeah well, this is moving through today. Tomorrow’s supposed to be nice and sunny,” her grandfather said. “Anyway, I can set up the ladder today, and scrap some, until it really starts coming down.”

Valerie made a face at him and said, “It’s already too late rain wise for that. You shouldn’t be standing on a wet ladder…”

Her grandfather turned his back on her and started untying his ladder. He said petulantly, “You are worse than your grandmother with all your fretting and bossiness. I’m not so old a man that I can’t work a little in the rain still.”

“This doesn’t have anything to do with being old,” she said, trying to be diplomatic and not hurt his ego. “No man of any age should work off of a wet ladder, and as a wise, old man, you should know better.”

Meanwhile, she noticed Drew listened to all this with his brow still furrowed.

“Blah, blah, blah,” her Grandfather said childishly as he went to raise the weighty, solid ladder. Valerie’s face went ashen.

But before he could attempt to lift it, Drew said, “Mr. Wright, me no never do that. Make ladder go up. Can I do, as you tell me how?”

Valerie smiled inwardly as her grandfather totally fell for it. “Sure son!” he said. “Here’s what you’ll do. You’ll plant the ladder’s feet right about here, and then you’ll put one hand here, and the other here. This hand has to stay locked and strong on this rung, and with your other hand you’ll push on the upper rung to push it up. It takes some ass, Andrew, to raise a big old double ladder like this. Do you think you can handle it?” he added as he noted that Drew, who was above average in height, was still a few inches shorter than he was, and not as heavy.

Drew said hesitantly, “I don’t know…” Valerie now fought from laughing outwardly.

Drew went over to the ladder, picked it up, and moved it to where the ladder’s feet should be planted. He placed his hands on the proper rungs, set the ladders’ feet, and then he began to raise its top end up.

“Heavy,” he groaned as he got it about halfway up. He remembered to breathe harder.

“You got it, son,” said her Gramps encouragingly as he smiled.

When Drew got the ladder’s top end about three quarters of the way up, he started to wobble and shake. Then that ladder’s top end started to wave dangerously around in the air. Valerie’s grandfather’s smile left his face and he stepped to help Drew. Once he was holding the ladder as well, Drew’s shaking stopped and the ladder steadied. Together they lifted its top end straight up in the air. Then they placed it against the barn’s side so gently that it wouldn’t have broken one of their hens’ eggs.

Once the ladder was safely set, Drew bent down and put his hands on his thighs. He gasped, “Thanks Mr. Wright…”

Valerie’s grandfather clapped him on the shoulder and said, “You had it, Andrew. I just jumped in a little to make sure.”

“No had it,” said Drew as he continued to breathe hard. “You save my butt…”

“Hey, even I have trouble getting that bad boy up by myself,” said her grandfather to Drew, to build him up.

And as Valerie watched and listened to all this, she wished to God she could marry Drew so hard. And then she said a little silent prayer to God, thanking him for Drew, for as long as she had him.


She spent some time harangging and henpecking her grandfather, until he finally agreed he wouldn’t start any of the barn prep today. Before she and Drew left, she even made him promise that, to which he did begrudgingly while grumbling.

Then she and Drew got into the pick up and she started driving them up the road more.

“Nice acting,” she said while smiling.

Drew cracked a big smile and said, “Master Thespian!” She laughed and wondered what movie or show he got that from.

But Drew’s smile quickly receded. He asked her if she thought her grandfather was going to get hurt working on the barn.

“Possibly,” she said sadly. “He could even kill himself doing all that.”

Then Drew tossed out an idea to her that made her heart swell. It was brilliant. So for the rest of the way to the grocery store, they schemed and plotted. They firmed up the plan together. By the time they reached the store, she felt relieved and a whole lot better. And as they got out of the pickup and walked toward the store holding hands, she realized this was a recurring theme with Drew. He was relief incarnate.

And because of this, she tried to hide her tears from him. Tears that came from knowing that his relief would not last.


An hour or so later, Drew parked the pick up in Valerie’s driveway and shut it off. It was raining harder now. “Ready?” he asked.

“Ready,” said Valerie.as she looked into his water blue eyes.

They leapt out of the truck and ran to where Mr. Wezells tool bins were in the back. They opened one up and retrieved four bags out of it.

Then they ran into her house. Nevertheless, they were both pretty wet before they got inside.

They went into the kitchen and her grandmother was making lunch for her grandfather. Drew introduced himself.

“What do you two have there?” her grandmother asked.

“Groceries,” Valerie said as she started to throw some deluxe frozen steaks into their near empty freezer.

“Why?” asked her grandmother.

“Because Drew and I have been wiping you guys out of food with our lunches for school,” she said, which was a half-truth, at best..

“That’s silly,” said her Grandmother, although she didn’t protest further.

Valerie whisked around the kitchen, putting away a bunch more healthy and somewhat pricey stuff, as they had focused on those in the store. When done, she said, “I’m going to show Drew my room, then we’re going to Mr. Wezell’s and his house, to put their groceries away too. I’m eating dinner there again tonight, if that’s alright.”

“OK,” said her grandmother as she smiled. She loved that Valerie had a new friend.

But when Valerie and Drew left the kitchen, they went into the living room instead. Valerie looked around to make sure the coast was clear. She quickly opened one of the desk's drawers, pulled thirty dollars out of her jean’s pocket and added that to the money that was already in there. Then she closed the drawer.

“You are fucking coming up with the best ideas today, left and right,” she said to Drew under her breath. “OK, we can go now.”

“Can I see Valerie room anyway?” asked Drew, almost reverently.

“Sure, if you want,” she said shyly. “It’s upstairs…It’s kind of small and dull, and it’s not anything special.”

“Yes, it special. It has to be,” said Drew.

She looked at him questioningly. So he said, “It where you sleep every night.”


As she led the way up her stairs, half way up, she said in shame, “Don’t look at my fat ass, please…”

Drew growled a little, as he could no longer suppress his pleasure. He said from behind her, “Sorry, too late to say that…”


Fifteen minutes later they sat in his pickup in his driveway. It was pouring even harder now. “Ready? he asked her.

“Ready,” she said as she took one last moment to drink in his beautiful blue eyes again, all nice and close.

They got out and ran to the back of pick up, then they retrieved more bags of groceries from Mr. Wezell’s other cargo box in the back bed.


Once those groceries were put away, Valerie shivered as she was now soaked. Even after Drew retrieved a towel for her and she mopped herself off as best she could, her hair and her clothes were still wet and she was chilled to the bone.

“Can we make a fire in the fireplace?” she asked him softly.

“We can make whatever you want,” he said.

They made that fire in the fireplace together. They squatted before it, watching it dance and crackle, and warming them, she asked him, “Do you want to watch some TV.”

“No,” he said as he gazed at the fire with a smile on his face.

“No?” she asked him.

“You more entertaining to TV,” he said.

“What do you want to do?” she asked him as she snuck a look at him.

But then he caught her red-handed as she ogled him, by lifting his eyes to her.

“I don’t know,” he said as he looked into her eyes. “We do more talking, like this.”


Sometime later Valerie stood before Mr. Wezell’s old timey record player and next to all of his albums in the corner of his living room. “Drew, I’ve been wanting to show you this, but haven’t had the time, until now. This is Mr.Wezell’s record player,” she said, smiling. “It plays music.”

Drew gasped dramatically as he squatted by the fire, and his hand went to his heart.

Valerie laughed as he arose, then happy-child-bounced over to her. “I’ll show you how to use it,” she said as she smiled more.


About an hour later Drew sat across from her at a small folding table that had a chess set on it. They had set it up right in front of the fire. They were sitting on Mr. Wezell’s comfy cushioned kitchen chairs. She was all dry now, and cozy. Mr. Wezell’s record player dropped another album and that album's first tune started playing softly.

She showed him the basics of chess. He was a quick study and he asked her some good questions, which she answered. They practiced for a time. Then Drew said he wanted to play a game and for her to play her best. So naturally, she won the first game easily.

He asked her more questions, while wearing a big, interested smile on his face. She answered those questions and gave him more advice. They played another game and she won again.

“One more?” asked Drew as he was obviously enjoying this game.

“Sure,” she said, as she was loving every minute of this as well.

Drew was improving rapidly and this game started off even. Then Valerie realized that Drew was actually pinning her back and currently she was on the defense. She went deep into thought and battled him, looking for any advantage, and a way to get out of her bad position.

Then Drew made a mistake and she took his rook. That snowballed into her taking his bishop, and then his queen.

“No need finish this game. You win again, you too good” said Drew, giving up.

She looked at him as he smiled, arose from his seat, and stretched. “You ready for dinner?” he asked her.

Her eyes went big and she shot her finger out to him. “You just threw that game!” she all but screeched.

“No threw game,” he said carelessly. “I lose fair and square.”

Valerie’s eyes squinted and she said, “Drew, I want you to think about what you’re saying right now. You’re lying to me…”

Drew’s cavalier attitude evaporated and he froze up at this.

“You could have won that game, couldn’t you of?” she asked.

“I no want to beat you,” he said sheepishly. “We same team, not opposing team…”

Valerie said quietly to him, “Drew, this is just chess. It’s not a big deal if I lose to you. But right now, it is a big deal that I know how good you are, so fast. I want to know. Listen, I’m really good at chess. I’m the best one on our school team. I beat everyone on our team consistently. I’m ranked number one. Being number one on our team means when we compete, I play the other school’s number one players too. I don’t beat all of them, but I do beat most of them pretty consistently too.”

“That because you so smart,” he said, smiling.

“One more game,” she said to him.

“No want play another game,” he said. “And that the truth.”

“Cause you don’t want to beat me,” she said softly.

He said nothing to this.

“If you play another game with me, after dinner I’ll take off my clothes and get into your bed. And you can do whatever you want to me in bed. When you weren’t looking, I bought condoms when we were at the store. So, you can even have sex with me,” she said as she began to set the board back up and knowing that Drew would want to play her again now, for sure.

But what Drew said next shocked her, and wounded her deeply.

“No want that, Valerie,” he said quietly.

She froze as he said this, the white queen arrested in her hand mid air.

She asked in shame, “You don’t want to get in bed with me?”

“Yeah!” Drew exclaimed. “I always want that! That stupid! I ready for that right now!” Then his voice quieted and he said, “But I no want beat you, and that…deal…that bad deal. You get in bed no clothes, have sex for playing chess.”

Valerie nodded her head and she was relieved that Drew still found her attractive. And she saw his point, it actually was a really disgusting proposal now that she thought about it. But from her perspective it wasn’t that crass a suggestion, as she was ready for that with Drew now anyway.

She smiled as she thought of Drew. She loved him so much that currently she could barely look him in the eye. And the fact that he might be able to beat her in chess, just fascinated her with him all the more. She suddenly got crafty, and devious. She thought of the delicious comforting power she had over him. Because of her being what would be the next queen of his world. And because of how much he loved her too.

“Drew,” she said softly.

“What Valerie?” he asked suspiciously

“We are going to play one more game before dinner,” she said in a happy, sing-songy voice.

He groaned, and then he reluctantly sat back down.

As she held out her two hands to him, one that held a white pawn, and one that held a black pawn, she said, “And you are going to play your best.”

Drew looked unhappier than he had ever looked to her before, but he nodded his head. He picked her closed right hand.

Valerie revealed, and then handed him, the white pawn.

“Perfect, I’m black,” she said while smiling. “Because I totally feel like the bad guy right now…”


About an hour later Valerie studied the board carefully and in deep thought, as she had done throughout the whole game.

She leaned back and smiled, as Drew looked completely morose.

“You have to say checkmate now,” she said beaming.

“No want say that,” said Drew quietly.

“That’s how the game is played,” she said.

“Checkmate,” said Drew as he looked pitiful.

“Drew!” she said, trying to wake him from his stupor. He looked dolefully up at her.

“You’re supposed to make me happy. right?” she asked him.

He nodded his head. “That part why pick picked,” he murmured.

“Mission accomplished! Fucking brain food! You wrested control of the middle of the board first, you forked me with your knight so sneakily that I never saw that coming, and then you used complicated multiple piece attacks to smoke my ass. And you did all that while not making any defensive mistakes. You did what I usually do to other people, but better. I just left my best game on the table there, and lost,” she said as she enjoyed his blue eyes for the umpteenth time.

Despite her praise, Drew still looked unhappy.

“Hey boy! That was wicked fun!” she continued as her eyes danced. “We’re doing this again another day. It will be good for my game.”

Drew nodded his head, then he finally smiled a little. “It’s a date,” he said quietly.

“You ready for dinner now, my master?” she asked him.

He said, “Yes.” Then he smiled a little more.


After cleaning up after dinner it was getting late. She said to him apologetically and guiltily, “I’m sorry, Drew. I screwed up today, time wise. No bed or sex time tonight.”

“That OK,” said Drew easily and magnanimously. “Not your job anyway. You do when you want. Or even not at all.”

Valerie sighed. She had spent almost the whole day with Drew and still she wanted more of him. “Tomorrow,” she said to him. “I promise.”

“No need promise that,” said Drew.

“But I want that,” she said.

Drew nodded his head. Then he smiled and said, “No matter when. I be ready. Anytime!”

She laughed, and then they dug out a few of Mr. Wezell’s flashlights from a drawer and headed out the front door.

The rain had stopped by now, but the sky was still pretty overcast, so they used their flashlights to light up their dirt road, so that they didn’t step in any puddles. They chatted and giggled as they joked about dumb, light stuff.

“C’mon,” said Valerie. “You’re handsome as hell, and I’m extremely gross. And my nickname IS Beast for God’s sake! Case closed!”

“No, you very beautiful!” Drew retorted, all pretend angry. “And I growl, I no speak good. I so stupid. And MY nickname is Dog-Boy. So there! You da beauty, and I da beast! Checkmate!”

“Checkmate, my fat ass! Who are you trying to kid, Drew?! With your situationally selective dumb act!” said Valerie accusatorally, while laughing. “You know what’s funny, Drew?”

“What funny Valerie?” asked Drew eagerly, as he already couldn’t contain himself giggling wise.

She snort-laughed and said, “It’s funny - when you are trying to sound all dumb on purpose, your th’s magically drop into d’s…”

“Valerie, dat nonsense!” said Drew, leaning into her joke “Dat not true! You take dat back!”

As they neared her house, they caught a glimpse of a car's headlights swinging around to make the turn off the oil and stone road and onto their dirt road. Then those lights disappeared behind trees and brush. Her laughter stopped, and she got a bad feeling about this. Few cars ever came down her isolated, dead end road.

“Drew, click off your flashlight…” she said as she turned hers off. Drew did so as well.

He looked at her questioningly. She said, “Who would be coming down our road at this late hour…Let’s get off the road and watch…”

They both got off the road, just across from her house and each hid behind a large tree.

Seconds later those headlights re-emerged from around the bend. Then a big SUV drove quietly past them and headed toward Drew’s house.

“Stay hidden Drew,” Valerie whispered. “Let’s stay right where we are and listen.”

The SUV continued down their road, its headlights disappearing every so often behind trees and turns. Valerie could just barely make them out as it pulled to a stop in front of Drew’s house.

Valerie heard the SUV’s doors open and close. Then she heard many, many thump, thump, thumps. Those SUV’s occupants were pelting Drew’s house with something, she knew. Laughter erupted from whoever was doing it. The laughter of big, dumb, high school, guys who were obviously drunk.

The laughter continued as the SUV’s doors quickly opened and closed again. Then those headlights came back up the road at a much faster clip.

Drew and Valerie looked at each other from behind their trees as the SUV speedily bounced up the road, toward them.

“Keep staying hidden,” said Valerie very nervously to Drew. He nodded his head. But unlike her, he now looked calm and cool, partly because he had recognized some of those laughs.

The SUV’s headlights appeared clearly now that it was nearer and no trees or turns blocked them. It stopped in the road between them and the front of her Grandparents’ house. Four guys jumped out. Valerie now saw that one was Carl, one was Zach, one was Cody (the humongous nose guard on Drew’s team who hated Drew), and the last was Anthony (the almost equally humongous center whose position Drew had “taken” from him).

Each had a carton of eggs in one hand and a single egg ready to be thrown in the other. They were trying to stifle their laughter, as Valerie’s house was about to get a dose of what Drew’s house just got.

Then, to their shock, Drew appeared out of nowhere from behind them. He knocked the carton of eggs out of Carl’s hand as he deftly snatched the egg out of Zach’s raised hand as well.

Then, to their shock, Valerie stepped out from behind a tree as well.

“You guys are such assholes,” she said.

They all looked at each other and then Carl said coldly, “This is even better. Let’s get him.”

By the light of the SUV’s headlights Valerie saw; Cody smile and nod his head, Anthony took a step toward Drew while raising his fists, and Zach looked scared, but he was on board as well. She also saw Drew’s face. He looked super pissed, as he crouched among them, while raising his fists as well.

“Drew!” she said, which froze them one and all. “You can’t maim them!” She just barely saw Drew nod his head to her in the near darkness.

Then she said, “Sorry guys, as once again, I don’t think I can stop him now.”

Then Carl threw a punch at Drew, while the others closed in to pile on.


Moments later Carl lay sprawled on his back in their road, moaning. He held his nose as blood came gushing out of it. Anthony sat dazed on their muddy road, as he held his one arm awkwardly with the other. Zach whined and almost cried as he was currently hung up in the middle of what had to be the biggest pricker bush Valerie had ever seen.

But four against one isn’t two against one, so now Cody finally landed a vicious punch solidly on Drew’s left eyebrow. Drew wobbled and woozily took two shaky steps backwards from the punch, while Cody immediately swore and held his hand. His hand hurt so bad he wondered if he had broken it on Dog-Boy’s face.

Drew was the first to recover. He stepped toward the half bent over Cody and gave him a quick, sharp punch in his ribs. Cody wheezed from this and bent over further, and now he wondered if Dog-Boy had cracked some of his ribs to boot.

“That’s enough Drew!” said Valerie quickly and in concern. Her stomach was churning and she was scared. Drew, looking mad while simultaneously still looking cool as cucumber, stopped on a dime at her words.

“I swear…next time…you are fucking dog meat…Dog-Boy,” gasped Cody.

Valerie went from scared to mad. With more speed than any of them suspected of her, she stepped to the bent over Cody and shoved him as hard as she could. He stumbled, lost his balance, and then he landed face first in a mud puddle in their road that was about as deep as the Pacific Ocean.

“Dat was da awesomest,” said Drew smiling, as he imitated Ashley, the small girl with a big heart on their bus. “Now kick him when he’s down,” he said, encouragingly Valerie on.

Valerie did not smile. A light went on in her house. “Nice going, dicks,” she said. “You assholes woke up my grandparents.” Meanwhile, Drew’s smile evaporated.

Her house’s porch light went on. Then the front door opened. Valerie said to the egg chucking crew, ”Try to rope in your sniveling and crying…”

Valerie’s grandmother called out, “Who’s out there?!”

Valerie called to her, “It’s me and Drew, Grams. And a bunch of his friends…”

“Oh, that’s nice!” said her Grandmother. “But it’s all wet and chilly out there. Why don’t you all come in for some cookies and milk?!”

“No, Grams, thank you. We're just going to hang out here for a bit,” said Valerie, and as scared and nervous as she was, she smiled a little.

“Alright,” said her Grandmother. “I’ll leave you be.” Her grandmother started to close her door, but then she stopped before she closed it completely. She called out, “Why is that young man laying in a mud puddle?!”

Valerie froze, not knowing what to say. Everyone was silent.

“He lose a bet, Mrs. Wright,” Drew called out cheerfully.

“My word!” said her Grandmother. “Valerie and Andrew, I expect better of you than that! That’s not nice! Valerie, we will talk about that tomorrow!” Then she closed her door.

Valerie said to the gang, “Alright, lucky for you all that’s smoothed over. You can recommence with your moaning and groaning, just keep it down. And speaking of not nice, that was Drew being nice. Jesus, you guys still don’t get it. He still took it easy on you, tonight. He could of killed you all here, if he didn’t restrain himself.”

“I not all that,” said Drew, smiling at her.

“Drew, you’re not helping here now,” she said. “Anyway, we are all done here tonight, because while you guys don’t have to go home, you can’t stay here.” She hoped they would leave quickly, because she badly wanted to look at Drew’s now bleeding eyebrow.

Then, as Anthony, Carl, and Cody started to painfully pick themselves up, and as Zach whimpered and retook to trying to get out himself untangled from his massive pricker bush, Drew growled a little, and he said low, “No, we all not done, not yet.”

They all froze at Drew’s growl and at his terse words, including Valerie.

“You no never menace Valerie and her Grandparents again,” he said quietly, but deeply, as blood ran down his face. “You want piece of me again, that OK, so you do that somewhere else. But you no never bother Valerie or her grandparents again. You leave trouble between us guys. And you no never come down this road again. You leave the peace that be here, here.”

The guys all were quiet and still at this, and so was Valerie. And she was both warmed and chilled by this as well.

“Well, what you say?!” cried Drew, breaking the silence. “If you no agree, we have more things to work out tonight!”

The guys nodded their heads, but Drew said, “I want you word on that. All you.”

Then all of them said they wouldn’t bother Valerie or grandparents ever again. They promised that they wouldn’t come back down their road again, ever.

“Good men,” said Drew as he nodded his head. “I believe you. I know you guys keep your word.”

And Valerie, to her shock, believed them too, because when they promised not to do all that, they sounded like they meant it. They were going to keep her and her grandparents out of anything in the future. She ruefully mused that even sexism and chauvinism had their advantages.

As the beat up crew made their way to Carl’s SUV, Drew called out to them, ”Have Zach drive, he no even look drunk.” They all went quiet at this, and then, to Valerie’s surprise again, Zach got into Carl’s SUV’s driver’s seat as the rest piled in.

“Drive safe!” Drew called out to them cheerfully. “And thank you promise no bother Valerie or grandparents no more! I see you guys at practice on Monday! You can try beat me up more then again, if want!”


Once they were gone, Valerie examined Drew’s left eye. It was getting black around it, and his eyebrow had a big cut on it.

“It looks awful. I think we should go to the ER,” she said as she gently wiped away his blood with clean tissues.

“No ER,” said Drew. “It look too scary on TV.”

She was about to say something, but Drew said seriously, “No ER. I fine.”

“How’s your vision?” she asked in concern.

He covered his uninjured eye with his hand while he looked about with only his punched eye. “I see trees waving in breeze, see moon half be half light under clouds, I see…Valerie…what the hell that?!

She turned around and just barely made out by her front porch’s light, some creature scurrying off their road and into the roadside brush.

“Some small animal,” she said. “I don’t know what it was…”

“It have no fur on tail,” said Drew quietly.

She smiled and said, “Then it was probably an opossum or a rat.”

Drew was still holding his hand over his one eye. He said, “It creepy. I scared. Hold me.”

She laughed and said, “OK, apparently you still have your amazing thirty ten vision intact and unimpaired. But I still think we should go to the ER.”

“No ER, I see fine. No damage done,” Drew said quietly while still holding his hand over his right eye. “ER make questions, Wezell good with Drew story, but not know if he be that good.”

Valerie nodded her head, knowing an ER visit would be sticky and dangerous and might cause digging and phone calls. But she was still unconvinced and troubled. Drew said, “Eye be bother tomorrow, we go ER then.”

She nodded her head reluctantly.

“Eye fine. I see like always,” he said. “I see you burn fire now. I see you still beautiful,” he ended as he let his hand drop from his right eye.

She nodded her head more, although she sadly took note that while his left eyebrow wasn’t bleeding anymore, it was starting to swell.

“Put some ice in a plastic bag and then put that on your eye when you get home, until it feels better,” she said, knowing that she couldn’t invite him in. “And call me tonight, at any time, if your eyebrow starts bleeding again, or your head hurts, or if your vision’s weird or blurry, or if anything starts to bother you more. Got it?” she said.

Drew nodded his head to this.

And then because Drew was so sweet, and so kind, and so perfect, she said quietly, “I love you, Drew.” Then she thought she was going to cry.

But Drew instantly said, “I sorry. What you say?” as he cupped his hand behind his left ear. “I no hear that clearly. I think Cody maybe clock me in ear too. What Valerie say? I miss it. Speak up, girl!”

So those forthcoming tears were quickly stopped by Drew’s humor. She smiled and said, “I said I love you.”

“Come again, I still no hear,” said Drew with his hand still cupped behind his ear. He leaned toward her expectantly, all happy, and with a huge smile.

“I love you, Drew” said Valerie.

“I love you too, Valerie,” he said, now serious. And then he pulled her to him very gently, wrapped his arms around her nice and tight, and then he laid his lovely, sweet, and presently clean, tooth-brushed mouth upon hers to kiss her perfectly.