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6
Tony’s hand hit my wrist. My hand was in motion – upward. If it had been static, the blow would have broken my wrist. As it was, it hurt bad. The momentum I’d given my arm carried Tony’s hand away from Kevin. I put myself between Tony and Kevin and looked Tony straight in the face. “No more.”
He gasped. “What the…?” His eyes went wide and he back peddled.
The group around us went silent. Everyone was staring at us. David was across the hallway, no doubt waiting in the wings to help pick up books. His expression was somewhere between horror and confusion.
Rita pushed forward and started to reach for Tony’s arm. I saw him glance in her direction and his expression flickered. Was that fear? He looked back at me. “Dragon Lady.” His mouth slid into a grin. “You’re my kind of woman.”
This was the last thing I expected. A fellow martial artist had once used a similar statement to break my concentration during a contest of push hands. I seldom make the same mistake twice. It set me on defense. “Not a chance.”
His grin deepened. “Really?”
For the briefest moment, I was concerned that he was planning on leaning forward and kissing me. I’m not sure what I would have done. Fortunately, I was spared. Rita made the most exasperated sound. “You are such a jerk!” She whirled and stomped off with her girls in tow.
Tony looked absolutely relieved. The boys around him stood quietly laughing but they were nervous. Tony kept his eyes on me and the grin curled. He was struggling to hold back laughter.
I felt Kevin move away from his locker. He headed for the classroom. I backed up, turned and ignored Tony. I got the math book out, and walked toward the classroom. David was standing next to the door, looking between me and Tony. He shook his head and followed me into the classroom.
Kevin was standing just inside the door. I could see the dampness in the corners of his eyes. I was concerned. “Is it still in one piece?”
He nodded.
I relaxed. “Good.” I took my seat and opened my book. A moment later, Kevin dropped a piece of paper on my desk. The handwriting was beautiful. There was a quick sketch of a rose and the words Thank You. I looked over at him and nodded.
David sat next to me. He opened his own book as Mr. Craig began writing on the board. “I missed something. Didn’t I?”
“Yes.”
Mr. Craig turned around. “Please turn in your homework.” He took mine and looked at the paper. “This is more than I asked for, Ms. Dawson.”
“I just wanted to make sure I understood the concept, sir.” He frowned but moved on to collect the rest.
David looked over at me. “Is your hand okay?”
I flexed it. It hurt.
Mr. Craig looked back at us. “Is there a problem, Mr. Jensen?”
David sat up straighter. “I was just concerned about Erin’s hand, sir. Someone hit her in the hallway.”
I wanted to kick him. Mr. Craig walked back over. “May I see your hand, Ms. Dawson?”
I sighed and held it out. The point of contact had turned a few shades of scarlet to purple. David gasped. I ignored him. “It’s really not that bad.”
Mr. Craig’s eyes went so wide I was afraid they were going to fall out. He pulled a pad out of his pocket, wrote something on it, and handed me the torn off slip. “Let’s let the school nurse be the judge of that.”
I reluctantly got up and left the room. I dropped my books in the locker and walked to the office. The secretary looked up at me. “Back so soon?” I shrugged and handed her the pass. She read it. “Let’s see your hand.” I thought she was going to pass out. She quickly led me back to the nurse’s office.
The nurse was with a student but the door was open. She was giving the student something in a little paper cup. “If that doesn’t help your headache in an hour, come back. Okay?” The student nodded and slipped away. The nurse looked up. “And what have we here?”
The secretary looked at the hall pass. “This is Erin Dawson. She was hit in the hand between classes.”
The nurse motioned for me to come in. “Let’s have a look.” I presented it. “Oh, my. That could be broken.”
I flexed it. “I don’t think so. It’s just a bruise. Our hands just collided in the hallway.”
The nurse looked uncertain. “Let’s put some ice on it. Are you in any pain?”
“No, ma’am. It looks worse than it is, really. It was Mr. Craig’s idea for me to come up here. I really don’t think it’s an issue.”
She insisted that I lay down in one of the booths with cots. I laid there for most of the class period while several other students came in complaining of various aches and pains. The nurse dispensed out pain killers like they were candy.
She finally released me with only a few minutes left of class. I hadn’t even made it back to the classroom before the mad rush for lunch began. I did manage to avoid being trampled. In the stampede, I noticed David make a face at Tony then ducked down a hallway. I consider that asking for it and I wasn’t about to go to his rescue.
Tony slipped away from his buddies, waited until they were out of sight, and followed David. This was not his normal behavior. From what I’d seen, he wanted an audience. My curiosity got the better of me. I slipped through the tail-end of the crowd and went down the hallway.
I heard them whispering to each other. David was obviously upset. “Why did you hit her?”
“I didn’t mean to. She just slipped in. I was aiming for the books. Honest.”
I peered around the corner. Tony was leaning against a locker and David was pacing in the hallway. “You should have seen her hand. It was a mess. Mr. Craig sent her to the nurse and she never came back. What if you broke it?”
Tony looked contrite. “I didn’t mean it. I don’t even know where she came from. I saw Kevin and went for the books, like always. The next thing I know, she’s there. It’s scared the hell out of me.”
David stopped pacing and faced off with Tony. “And what’s the deal with your kind of lady?”
Tony sighed loudly and turned around to put his head against the locker. “Rita is driving me crazy.” There was a metallic thud as his head made contact. He turned back. “It was a spur of the moment. She hates me. I figured I was safe.”
Voices came from the other end of the hall. Both boys looked ready to panic. Tony grabbed David and pushed his head up to a locker as a couple of students came around the other corner. Tony growled. “I don’t really care.” He kicked a nearby locker handle and the door flew open. David struggled. Tony grabbed him and somehow managed to shove him inside.
The two boys who had just showed up laughed hysterically as David pleaded for Tony not to shut the door. Tony made a big play of trying to but David’s arm was blocking it. Tony laughed and gave up. He walked off with the other boys back the way they’d come from.
David waited a moment, then climbed out. His clothes were rumpled but he didn’t seem hurt. He started in my direction.
I was confused. I decided I didn’t want to know. I turned and ran down the hall, slowing only a moment to blend into the crowd. My stomach felt tight. I didn’t want to think about food. I spent the rest of the lunch hour in the library.
The bell rang. I went to Soc-Ec and sat in the back corner. Other kids started filing in. One detached from the group and came toward me. It was Rebecca. She took the seat next to mine and glanced at my hand. “That looks pretty bad.”