Point of View: Nick
Sitting in the yard that afternoon, Eric seemed high-strung. He reminded me of the chihuahua Brian once had, Lil Tyke. Tyke had been a ball of nerves. I frickin' hated that dog, but I did feel bad for Brian when it died. But I really hated it. It bit me in the first five seconds of my having met it. I don't like little yappy things like that. Like Jeff Dunham said once in a skit - if it hops around involuntarily when it barks, then it's not a real dog. But anyways, Eric reminded me of Tyke. Tyke used to just sit in a corner and shake for no apparent reason, his paw lifted up and vibrating like a frickin' massage therapy thing. Eric was metaphorically doing this.
He was sitting on the tabletop smoking again, but he was very carefully sitting directly in front of me. He had his legs crossed like he was doing yoga, with both his feet stuck out on his knees, and the cigarette hanging from his mouth like he was James Dean or something.
I studied Eric as he talked - he was telling me about his family - and realized for the first time that Eric had a very feminine face, and long, thick girly eyelashes.
It turned out we had a lot in common family-wise, too.
"My mother won't talk to me," he said, blowing smoke in little puffs. "She says I'm going to Hell."
I rolled my eyes. "That's so stupid."
"Well, she's Christian so."
"Brian's a Christian," I said, "He wouldn't say you're going to Hell."
Eric laughed. "He's different."
"Brian just doesn't judge people," I said, shrugging. "I mean he believes what he believes and stuff, that's what I respect about him, but he doesn't shove it down people's throats either."
Eric smiled. "He sounds nice."
"He's great," I answered.
We were quiet a moment, an awkward silence falling between us as I thought about how different my best friend "out there" was compared to my best friend "in here". I tried to picture Eric "out there" and wondered if we ever would've been friends if the situation was changed. No, I admitted.
"Sometime I'll introduce you to him," I suggested.
Eric smiled, but I could tell he didn't believe me.
I didn't really believe me, either.
"So tell me about Kayla," Eric suggested. He pulled another cigarette out of his pocket and offered one to me but I shook my head no.
"Kayla," I said, a smile spreading across my face, "Kayla is this amazing, beautiful girl I met. She's gorgeous, and she's an aspiring singer, but she can act, too, I mean this girl's the full package, really."
Eric smiled, "How'd you meet?"
"Well, its a long convoluted story," I said, laughing, thinking of everything that happened over the past couple months. "But Kayla's the daughter of my rehabilitation driving instructor." My mind traveled to Zoe and I smiled, "Zoe. And Zoe's like a replacement mom."
I'd told Eric about my family already. He'd been somewhat aware of my situation - he'd seen House of Carters. "Was that really real?" he asked the night he'd mentioned it.
"Most of it," I'd said, "But I won't lie. The girls, especially, played up to the camera. Especially Angel. She's not that colossal of a bitch usually. I mean she's a bitch, don't get me wrong," We'd both laughed.
Now Eric just nodded at the replacement mom, just understanding what I meant. I found Eric easy to talk to for this reason - I didn't have to explain everything. He closed his eyes. "You worried about her being alone out there?" he asked.
"How do you mean?" I asked.
"If she's so gorgeous, aren't you scared she's gonna be gone when you get out?" Eric reworded the question.
I hadn't thought about it. But I tried to picture Kayla with someone else... tried to picture me without her. I couldn't imagine either. I shook my head, "Nawh, not Kayla," I answered. "I know she loves me."
Eric nodded, "It's good to have that."
"Yeah." I rubbed the side of my face absently. The scruff was growing more and more. I'd never been able to grow much facial hair, but suddenly it was coming out quite a bit. If I wasn't in jail, I'd have been bragging like hell to AJ about it, who always called me a baby face and said I had no facial-hair-growing abilities. Evidently going to jail made my face realize I was a man now, not a boy, because it was coming in thick and coarse.
It was like Eric read my thoughts, "Its weird, seeing you with a beard."
I nodded.
"Are you going to keep it?" he asked, "When you get out, I mean?"
I shrugged.
"I can't believe you're leaving in a week," he added quietly.
The weirdest feeling came over me when he said that. A mixture somewhere between excitement and remorse. I hadn't thought of it, to be honest, I'd been so caught up with teaching Eric to stand up for himself. The trial was a mere ten days away, and once the trial happened... Well, hopefully, I 'd be out.
But Eric would still be in.
"It's gonna be lonely around here again without you," he said remorsefully.
"I'll write you a lot," I said. I'd sent Kayla's letter first thing in the morning. Mail, it turned out, was very popular there. I'd stood in line for an hour to get it mailed out and missed most of the morning excursion to the lawn. Eric had willingly sacrificed his time outside to stand with me in the line.
He nodded now. "Okay. I'll write back."
I smiled. "Cool."
"It won't be the same, though," he said.
Some part of me felt guilty, like I would be abandoning him. But I still couldn't wait to go home, to see Brian and Zoe and Kayla and AJ and Howie and to call Kevin and my sisters and brother...
But I would miss Eric.
"I'm gonna do what I can to help you get out, buddy," I promised him. "I'll visit you when I can, too," I added.
Eric smiled. "That'd be nice," he said. "But I'm never gonna get out of here, no matter what you do."
"Sure you are," I answered.
Eric looked sad. "I'm gonna die in jail, Nick," he said, shaking his head. "I'm not stupid. I know it's only a matter of time."
"Stop saying that," I demanded, frowning.
Instead of responding, Eric jumped up off the picnic table and threw the cigarette into the ash tray, moving quickly to stand behind me. "Go the fuck away," I heard him say sternly.
I turned around.
Eric's two bullies were standing a couple feet away from us, sinister grins on their faces. I stood up, too. They laughed. I looked at Eric. He was tense as hell...
