A Homecoming Dance To Remember

Mickey stood staring in disbelief at the shattered glass on the pavement. His father was going to kill him. He had only had the new truck for two days and now he would have to buy a new driver's door window. Maybe he could get it fixed before Dad found out about it. No, that never worked, he always found out somehow. That was one of the biggest drawbacks to living in such a small town. Everyone seemed to know everything about everyone. It was all Jason's fault but Mickey would end up paying for it, he always did.
Jason was Mickey's twin brother. Mickey was just five minutes older than Jason, but it might as well have been five years according to the difference in the way their dad treated them. Mickey was always the responsible one. If anything went wrong, Mickey got the blame for it while Jason got off without even a warning. Jason went on partying, playing around, and avoiding any opportunities for responsibility. This situation would not be any different. Jason broke the window, but Mickey will be held responsible. Dad will say that Mickey should have kept a better eye on Jason. The broken window would be considered Mickey's fault because he was the one who asked Dad to borrow the new truck to go to the homecoming game and dance.
Mickey had heard the commotion earlier at the concession table, but now he wished he had paid closer attention. A friend had told him it was a senior football player having an argument with an under classman, no big deal. Jason had just been on the dance floor a second before so he never thought about him being involved in the argument. He had been dancing with a senior girl named Cassie. Up until last week she had been the star quarterback's girlfriend. The chaperones had broken up the incident and everything settled down quickly. Mickey had turned his attention back to Billie Jo; his date for the evening, and never gave the argument another thought. At least he had not thought about it until now. When Travis had come rushing up to him and Billie Jo on the dance floor and told him to come outside quick, Mickey had panicked. He was terrified that something bad had happened to Jason. He never expected to find this situation. Mickey knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jason was responsible for this; question was, where was he and was he okay.


Jason sat on the bleachers facing the football field with his back to the parking lot. His head was pounding almost to the point of exploding, at least it felt that way, and he could not get the gash on his arm to quit bleeding. He was getting really dizzy and felt really tired. Mickey would be irate when he saw the window, not to mention Dad, when he finds out. They will never believe that this time it was not his fault. He had not done anything wrong this time. Yeah, he had accepted Cassie's invitation to dance, but that was why they came to the dance. When that big senior football player had gotten in his face at the concession table he had backed down and even apologized if he had done anything wrong. Cassie had asked him to dance, but David didn't want to listen. Jason walked away from the fight this time, which was unusual for him. He had noticed lately, though, that it didn't matter whose fault it was, Mickey got the blame for it. It was really unfair to Mickey, but Dad always seemed to blame him for everything. So he had decided to calm down a little bit and try to be more grown up and responsible. It didn't matter; they would never believe him that he didn't do anything this time. He felt so tired, maybe if he lay down on the bleachers for a minute his head would feel better and then he could go find Mickey and try to explain what happened. That was a good idea; he would lie down on the bleachers, but only for a minute.


Where could Jason be? Mickey and his friends had been searching for 30 minutes. The police had shown up at the school in response to a call from one of the teachers about the broken window. Jason would not have left the school without at least telling Mickey. He might be irresponsible about some things, but he always told Mickey if he was leaving with someone else. He had to be here somewhere, but where, and why hadn't he answered him.
Mickey rounded the corner of the bleachers getting angrier by the minute. He had been really concerned at first, but now Jason's lack of respect and responsibility was just making him angry. He was tired of the childish antics and "who cares" attitude that had become Jason's main characteristic of late. Mickey stopped dead still and his heart plummetted from his chest when he saw Jason. He was lying on the bleachers, ghost white, in a puddle of blood. Mickey started screaming for anybody to get an ambulance and rushed to Jason's side. All former thoughts of anger and irritation were forgotten. Mickey was terrified as the police officer and several others rounded the corner of the bleachers at a run. The police office said the ambulance was in route and should be there momentarily. Mickey was in tears as he thought about the harsh feelings he had been harboring toward his brother when he couldn't find him, and here he was lying here almost dead.


At the hospital, Mickey and his dad sat staring quietly at Jason lying in the hospital bed. He looked like a little kid in that big bed. The monitors were beeping regularly and he lay there not even stirring, and breathing so shallowly that you had to really look to even see him breathe. Mickey had told his dad about the window, but it all seemed so pointless now that neither of them even seemed to care anymore.
The police officer that had called the ambulance from the school parking lot stood quietly in the doorway. He gently cleared his throat and both men looked up simultaneously. They rose quietly and stepped out into the hallway to speak with the officer. After a brief conversation on how Jason was doing the officer told them that he had on eyewitness account of what had happened to the truck window and that the responsible party was presently in jail.
Cassie Roberts had been in her car and had seen the whole incident. She told them David Johnson walked up behind Jason and hit him in the head with a baseball bat. A blow that also shattered the truck window. David then started yelling at Jason while he was laying on the groudn and proceeded to cut his arm with a knife he had taken from his pocket. The officer said they were already charging him with Felonious Assualt and Criminal Destruction of Private Property. He told them any additional charges were dependent upon Jason's condition and his recovery.

Jason made an amazingly complete recovery after several months in the hospital and rehabilitation center. The blow to his head had caused some brain damage and he basically had to relearn everything all over again. They all learned a lot through this experience, and their family was stronger than ever. The situation had given Mickey and his dad the opportunity to really talk about a lot of things and get some things settled. He no longer blamed Mickey for everything, he took the time to really find out what happened in something before laying the blame on someone.