"And then is the purple socks... They get mixed up easy with the brown socks, so you kind of have to break rank here and include them in with the pink ones so they don't end up mixing up with brown... There's nothing worse than putting on one brown sock and one purple sock..." Howie chuckled.
I was praying for an earthquake. Or maybe a tsunami. Tornado? Anything. ANYTHING to make Howie shut up.
"Are you paying attention?" Howie asked.
Howie had been organizing everything in the entire bus since he'd gotten on it three days ago. He'd organized all his crap, then he'd alphabetized the fridge and the pile of VHS tapes that were actually mine and were left behind when Nick moved out. He organized the cupboards of food by which part of the pyramid they went on. I'd watched him fold the toilet paper into triangles and use a little hand held vacuum on his bunk mattress every morning before making his bed. Now, he had cleaned everything else, he was moving in on me and my stuff and he was now color coordinating my sock drawer so that it matched my underwear drawer.
"Brian?" Howie clicked his fingers in front of my face.
"I'm gonna go outside," I answered. I grabbed my basketball out of the bunk and jumped down.
Howie eyeballed me, "Okay but we finish this lesson later, don't think you're off the hook, your socks are a mess!"
"Yeah okay."
I got outside into the fresh air and shook the Howie off me. I felt like I was being infiltrated. I started dribbling the ball. The chainlinked fence that surrounded the buses was lined by pretty girls yelling in some language I couldn't understand. I concentrated on the ball, trying to ignore them. My chest was hurting again.
It had been getting worse and worse. I still hadn't called Leighanne. As much as I wanted to, all I could remember was her telling me to call her only if I was getting my heart fixed and I wasn't doing that. I was fine. It was just a little ache, it wasn't that bad, really.
"GO OUTSIDE, GET FRESH AIR. FRESH AIR IS GOOOOOOD." Kevin's voice carried around the side of the other bus. "It's GOOD for you and it's even BETTER for ME if you get fresh air. Jesus, I swear to God you haven't shut up in the last 3 days, just go outside."
"But Kevin, I--"
I groaned. HIM.
I dribbled the ball away from the bus, planning on going over and talking to the fans. He'd never venture that close to the fans. He was scared of fans ever since the psychotic one had gotten on our bus and taken his manhood with her.
"Brian?" I heard him call, a hopeful tone in his voice. I didn't stop. "Hey, can I play?" he asked.
I turned and lobbed the ball at his face. With lightening fast reflexes, he caught it. "Hey what the hell man, you couldda broke the face," he said, jokingly.
"What do you thinK I was trying to do?" I asked, scathingly.
Nick froze. He stared at me. "Brian, I--"
"Well come on, you wanna play? PLAY then," I held up my hands. Determination was coursing through my veins.
Nick blinked at me. "Brian I dunno if--"
"PLAY DAMMIT."
Nick quickly started dribbling the ball, "Bri you're angry, can't we talk it ou--"
I launched myself at him, and stole the ball from him. With a couple swift moves I slammed it through a hoop that was hanging off the side of the venue. Nick looked stupified. I shoved the ball back to him. "1-0," I said.
"Brian..." Nick started dribbling again, "I--"
Again, I repeated the maneuver, stole the ball and slammed it. "2-0," I said.
Nick gawked at me. "BRok, look I don't care who wins, I just wanna talk to you."
"Whatsa matter? Too fat to play?" I teased, patting his tummy.
Nick scowled. "Brian, I-"
I puckered out my lower lip and spoke in baby-talk. "C'mon, I'll go easy on you, poor baby Nicky..."
A fire lit up in Nick's eyes. I'd gotten him going now. He stamped the ground like a bull. "Fine. Let's do this."
The fans screamed as we played hardcore ball for several long minutes, banging into each other and stealing the ball from one another. Finally I broke away from him and I went to slam it into the net and Nick jumped up and blocked the shot. The ball hit the ground. "TAKE THAT," Nick bellowed in my face.
"I'm still 2 up on you," I snapped.
Nick laughed, "Not for long."
Again, we scuffled and banged into each other. And again I managed to dribble the ball between Nick's legs, bolt around him and grab it and break away. This time, though, when I jumped, something happened.
A shoot of pain went from my shoulder, down my arm and into my hand. "Ummph!" I hit the ground, my chin scraping on the tar. I clutched my chest, wincing and pulling my knees up, rolling onto my side. Blood trickled out of my chin.
Nick slammed the ball through the hoop. "YEAH!! 2-1!! WHOO!" He stopped. "Brian? ...BRIAN?"
I couldn't breathe.
This was bad. Real bad. This wasn't just a 'whoops, I tripped over my shoelaces' kind of thing. Bri was curled up in the fetal position. He had little bits of gravel stuck to his chin and there was blood all over the place. His face was etched in pain.
I didn't even realize I had dropped the ball. I hit the ground on all fours and crawled over to him. Half the girls were screaming; the ones closer to the front had gotten quiet. A few were crying.
"Bri, talk to me," I said. His eyes were kinda glassy. My first thought was that I had killed him with my mad b-ball skills. Then I heard Leighanne's voice come from the recesses of my brain.
His heart.
"HELP!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. "HELP!!!"
I heard three pairs of feet running towards us. Kevin got to us first. He crouched down.
"Don't move him," Kev instructed. He turned. "Call 9-1-1."
"Already on it," Howie said.
"What can I do?" J asked.
Kev looked like he might pass out. If he looked that bad, I hated to know how I looked. I tore off my shirt and pressed it to Bri's chin.
A strange look came over Bri's face. For just a second, his eyes focused.
"What---stinks?" he asked. Before I could take my sweaty shirt off his face, his eyes closed.
"HE'S DEAD!!!" I wailed.
"YOU KILLED HIM WITH YOUR STENCH!" J bellowed.
God, what a horrible way to go. I could just imagine his mom pleading with me to tell her the last words her baby boy ever said.
And I would have to tell her they were 'What stinks?'
"He's not dead, dumbshit," Kevin barked. His fingers were pressed to Bri's neck. "His heart's beating irratically."
"Well raticate it!"
"Nick, shut up!"
"Ambulance is on its way!" Howie yelled from across the way. Security was finally pushing fans back. Someone had found some large sheets of metal that they were putting up as a pseudo-fence. I leaned close to Bri's ear.
"It's going to be okay," I said. I patted his arm, not sure if he could even feel it. "You won the game. It's okay."
"Do you really think he cares who won a basketball game right now?" Kevin asked. I could tell he was one second away from becoming a human sparkler. J was taking slow little steps back.
"Well, what do you want me to say?" I whined. I fidgeted. I had blood on my fingers. Bri's blood. I was sure the ambulance was going to be horse-drawn it was taking so long. Kevin kept listening to Brian's breathing and checking his pulse. Just when I thought I couldn't take it any long, a burst of sirens flew on the scene.
I stood up and watched helplessly as the paramedics loaded Bri up onto a stretcher. His body was so rigid; they had to work to get him flat on his back. J stood by me, hovering uncertainly. Kevin climbed into the back of the ambulance with Bri. I watched the doors close; it seemed to happen in slow-motion. As the medics hopped in the vehicle, I turned and headed towards the bus.
"Where are you going?" AJ asked.
I wiped my face with my shirt. It really did stink. I didn't turn around; I wouldn't be able to stop until I did what I knew I needed to do.
"I have a phone call to make."
