Armchair Pundits

Summer Stock 2005

The Armchair Pundits Summer Stock Series is an evolving short story whereby each contributor is responsible for a section of the tale. Today’s entry marks the beginning of our story. What follows will remain a mystery by design, but feel free to comment on what you think might or should happen as the yarn unfolds. This is a first foray for us, so be gracious and we hope you enjoy this interlude...

Part I

Cal blinked hard, trying to prevent the deluge of tears that were brimming in his eyes. He lay motionless in the playground dirt, silently aware of the warmth and stickiness of his blood, as it issued from his nose and mouth.

“You’ll pay for that,” Cal muttered, enduring for the moment, another of Rick’s interminable taunts. The derisive comments from the gathering crowd of onlookers rang in his ears. Cal drew his prostrate arms toward his body, attempting to rise. As his hands slid across the dirt, Cal drew them into a fist, fiercely clutching granules of earth in his fingers.

Rising to his feet with a start, Cal spun quickly toward Rick, flinging fistfuls of dirt into his face. Rick began to sputter and cough, in an attempt to clear his eyes and throat of the dirt.

Sensing an opportunity, Cal pounced with a fury, striking a quick blow on Rick’s stomach. Rick doubled over, if only for the moment, as Cal brought his elbow straight up, violently connecting with Rick’s chin. The blow yielded a forceful wrenching of Rick’s neck, nearly rendering him unconscious.

Rick stumbled, nearly falling. Confused and shocked, he cursed loudly and spat shards of his bloody teeth onto the grass at his feet.

“Did you see that?” exclaimed a bystander.

“That’s gotta hurt!” replied another.

Sensing that he had lost favor with the crowd of jeering onlookers, Rick skulked away in humiliation and great physical agony.

“That’s right! You had better run--you jerk!” Cal angrily shouted, alight in a new sense of confidence. “Don’t mess with me again!”

Feeling emboldened, by the buzz of adrenaline, Cal scanned the crowd for Annie. Finally, Cal’s eyes came to rest on a solitary figure by the seesaw. There stood Annie, glasses in hand, a shocked and bemused look on her face.

Cal had wanted to tell Annie what he had done, but she seemed to have known, seeing the ugliness of the incident unfold, from her vantage point in the crowd, for the motley crew in the school yard failed to sufficiently shield her from the scene.

Upon seeing her brother, Annie ran toward Cal sobbing.
“Why did he say those things about Daddy Cal?” Annie cried. “Why was he so cruel?”

“His parent’s must not love him.” Cal smarmily replied. This was too much for Annie to process and she began to cry harder.

“They don’t love him?’’ Annie’s voice was choking with the tears that were streaming faster now.

“Uh-oh” Cal thought to himself. “I can’t believe she can still feel sorry for that creep.”

“Your too sensitive Annie” replied Cal. “Anyway, if you really understood what Rick was saying, I don’t think you’d be feeling so badly.”

“What to you mean Cal?” Annie queried.

“Oh never mind. You’re too young to understand any way.” Annie’s innocence was an essential part of her charm. It seemed that people were always commenting to the family, on how sweet and tenderhearted their little girl with glasses was.

Feeling that he had already said more than he ought to, Cal quickly changed the subject. “Hey! Did Krissy end up bringing cupcakes to share with your class for her birthday?” Cal asked. The ruse worked for Annie had been anticipating her friend Krissy’s birthday for several days.

“That was too close,” thought Cal as the two walked hand in hand out of the park and onto the sidewalk. “She’s so tender, if she understood what Rick was actually saying, it would probably crush her.”

The afternoon began to wane, and Cal knew, they had better hustle if they were to catch the next ride home. The pair scurried off to the bus stop. The driver glared at Cal, as the two children boarded the bus. Oblivious, Annie followed her brother to the back where they quietly took their seats, gazing out the window at the lazy afternoon sun, as they headed home.

posted by Grisby @ 3:04 PM