The principal called last night and told my dad I’d been skipping for days. Dad was furious. He told me he’d give me one more chance to go back to school on my own, and if that didn’t work, he’d come to school with me and sit in on all my classes.
So I went back to school.
My first class was Home Ec. Alberta had a new cooking partner. She acted like I didn’t exist. I guess I can’t blame her.
My next class was Enriched Math. I wanted to tell Farley I’d still go with him to the GWF Smash-Up Live! in Seattle. I’ve decided that if my mom doesn’t come out in time, Mr. Atapattu can take her ticket.
But Farley wasn’t in Enriched Math.
He wasn’t at school all day.
When I got home and called his house, I found out why.
“Oh, Henry,” Maria said when she heard my voice. “I can’t get Farley to come out of his room.” She started to cry.
“What happened?”
“Farley got beat up.”
“I’ll be right over,” I said.
I hung up just as Dad got home. I told him what Maria had said. He didn’t even take off his coat. “Let’s go.”
We were there in five minutes. Maria let us in. Dad stayed downstairs with her. I went straight to Farley’s room and knocked.
“Farley, it’s me. Henry.”
I heard his bed creak. A moment later, he opened the door.
His glasses were broken. One lens was cracked down the middle, and the right arm was held up by Scotch tape. His bottom lip was swollen and cut, and the palms of his hands were badly scraped up.
“What happened?” I asked.
Farley sat on his bed. I perched on his window seat. “On Tuesday, I brought in all our money, so I could bring it to my third cousin to buy the tickets. I know you said you didn’t want to go anymore, but I thought I could change your mind if we actually had real tickets, you know? After school, I headed to the bus stop to go to my cousin’s place. I walked through one of the laneways.” He paused here and took a deep breath. “Some guys jumped me from behind. They threw me on the ground, and they went through my jacket pockets. They took all of our money, Henry. All of it.” Fat tears started to roll down his face.
“How many of them were there?”
“I’m not sure. It felt like a lot.”
“Did you see what they looked like?”
Farley shook his head. “They poked something into my back. They said it was a gun. And they told me not to lift my head for five whole minutes after they left or they’d kill me. Then one of them said, ‘Hasta la vista, sucker,’ and they ran away. And I waited because I was scared they might shoot me if I didn’t.” He took a handkerchief out of his pocket and blew his nose. “I’m so sorry, Henry. I know you said you didn’t want to go anymore, but half of that money was yours.”
“Farley, don’t worry about it. Seriously. I’m just glad you’re okay.” And the thing is, I really was.
After a while, we went downstairs. My dad insisted we call the cops. I’m sure he was thinking about Jesse in the park that night. I know I was.
A couple of policemen came over, and Farley told them what had happened. The cops were really nice. They wrote out a report, but they said it would be hard to catch the guys responsible after all this time had passed, and that they’d probably already spent the money on drugs.
Maria insisted we stay for dinner, and she let Farley choose because she said he’d barely eaten in the last two days. Farley chose grilled cheese sandwiches with pickles and ketchup, which was an awesome choice.
Afterward, Dad and I drove back home.
I mean it when I say the money doesn’t matter to me. It’s a bummer after all our hard work, but let’s face it: My dream of getting my family back together with a trip to the GWF was doomed to fail anyway.
What worries me is Farley. I saw this look in his eyes when we were there tonight. It was the look Jesse had when Scott threw the Coke can at him. It was a look I’d see on his face over and over again after that, until it just became a part of who he was.
It was the look of giving up.