Lone Wolves by John Smelcer

Author:John Smelcer
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Leapfrog Press
Published: 2013-06-24T16:00:00+00:00

Letter

Wolf

10

Gistaani na’aaye’

February

That Friday night there was a party at Mary’s house. Of course, her parents were away, visiting relatives in another village. All the high school kids were there, even a couple from junior high. By eleven o’clock, only Denny, Mary, Norman, Johnny, and Silas remained. Like always, Mary was drinking, which was really making Denny angry. Silas was sitting on the couch watching a movie.

When Norman and Johnny stepped outside, Denny snatched the beer bottle from Mary’s hand.

“Seriously! You have to stop drinking!” she snapped.

“What do you care?” asked Mary, reaching for the bottle.

“Because it’s a human being. It deserves better than to have you screw up its life.”

“I don’t care about none of that. I don’t want this baby.”

Denny tried to swallow her anger. She knelt on the plywood floor and gently took Mary’s head in her hands.

“Listen to me,” she said, forcing Mary to look her in the eyes. “You can’t change the way things are. I know how you got pregnant. I know who did it to you. Everyone knows. I know how frightened and alone you must feel. But this baby didn’t do anything to anybody. It’s not responsible. It just is. Drinking may make you forget how bad things are for a while, but it’s destroying this baby. Every drink you take is erasing its future.”

“Her,” said Mary softly.

“What?” asked Denny.

“The baby,” said Mary, running a hand over her belly. “She’s a girl.”

Mary started crying.

“I don’t know what to do,” she sobbed. “This baby is ruining my life.”

Denny held Mary, who resisted at first.

“Your life isn’t ruined,” Denny whispered. “It’s just beginning. I know you got a raw deal. Life isn’t always easy, especially here in the village. Things don’t always work out the way we want them to. But you can help this little girl to have a better life. You can give her all the love that you never got and teach her to make better choices in her life. She depends on you. She needs you. Don’t ruin her life. This is a chance for both of you. If you . . .”

Just then, Norman Fury burst through the door in a panic.

“I think Johnny’s dead!” he yelled. “You gotta do something!”

Denny and Silas ran outside.

Johnny was lying in the snow beside a knocked over garbage can and with a rag clutched in his fist. A red one-gallon gas can with the cap off was nearby. Johnny was still and his lips were blue. Denny unzipped his jacket and listened for a heartbeat and breathing.

“He’s not breathing! Go get help!” she shouted at Norman, who was just standing there. “Go! Hurry!”

Norman ran off down the street, dogs barking at him, the tops of trees swaying in the wind coming off the river.

Denny began CPR. She had taken a short course at school one summer, and she remembered the basics. She squeezed Johnny’s nostrils shut while breathing into his mouth in long, drawn breaths.

“Get down here and help me,” she said to Silas.

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