The Gunners by Rebecca Kauffman

Author:Rebecca Kauffman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: General Fiction
Publisher: Counterpoint
Published: 2017-03-20T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 19

I was in love with Sally all along,” Sam explained. “From the time I was six to the time I was sixteen. And eventually . . .” Sam paused, shaking his head slowly. “Eventually, I thought, after all those years loving her, I had it in my head that loving her so long and so hard meant that I deserved her,” Sam said, wincing at this word.

Sam cracked his knuckles over his large belly before continuing. “On the night of her sixteenth birthday, I had a gift for her and was going to go to her house to tell her that I loved her. I had it all planned out.”

Mikey glanced at Alice. She ran her fingers through the tip of her dark braid, swirling that black tail around a single bony knuckle.

Sam continued, “But I got there and saw through her bedroom window that she was there with someone. Someone else was in her bed.” He turned to Alice. “You probably remember, I was at The Gunner House later that night. You came and found me there. I told you what had happened. I was burning up with jealousy, turning inside out.” Sam turned to Mikey. “I thought for a minute that it could be you . . . Then I realized it had to be Jimmy.”

Lynn said, “Jimmy and Sally were together?”

Sam nodded. “There had been other things over the years . . . a time I caught her spending the night at his place, in his basement . . . Anyway. I always tried to ignore it, convince myself otherwise, but that night when I saw her in bed with someone confirmed it. I caught up with Sally the next day on the way home from school. Cornered her as she went to her house. I told her I knew what was going on with Jimmy, I had seen. At first I tried to conceal the fact that I was in love with her, tried to make it like I was just angry because they were being secretive, but my emotions got the best of me, and that came out, too. I told her that I loved her and she had hurt me worse than anyone had ever hurt me before.”

“What did Sally say?”

“She was crying. She begged me to calm down. She said, I never knew. I never meant to hurt you. She said she would do anything to make things okay, that she didn’t want anyone to know what I had seen because she didn’t want our group to be busted up.” Sam rubbed his temples before continuing. “We were at her house. Her mother wasn’t home. I cornered her, pushed her against the wall.”

Sam’s voice vibrated as he continued, and his eyes were crammed shut, as though he were in a car and the brakes had just gone out. Awaiting the collision. “I grabbed her by her shoulders,” he said. “We . . . I . . . I told her to kiss me.

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