Tortured Dreams

I finished my cigarette, dropping it into a mostly empty Coca-Cola can to keep from flicking it off the 7th floor balcony onto the passing crowds below. For another minute or so I stood there. I was debating with myself. How much could I tell them about Malachi?

  “Remember I said that I might be Malachi’s only friend?” I asked, coming back into the room.

  “Yeah,” Michael said.

  “I think that’s because he can only afford one friend. Malachi has his own unique code that he lives by. It doesn’t make sense to anyone but him. One of those things is fierce loyalty. And he is, loyal, I mean, at least to me.” I sat back down and looked at them.

  “I met Malachi when I was in the first grade. I had just started at that particular school. It had been in session maybe two months. I know it was starting to get colder, but it wasn’t the holiday season yet. It was recess. Our school had a big tree that we could play under. I sat under it every day and read a book at recess. That particular day, I was reading The Count of Monte Cristo. Only time I ever read it, didn’t really enjoy it. Too much revenge for me. Anyway, some of the sixth graders came over and started picking on me. One of them grabbed the book and started tearing pages out. Malachi came over to see what the commotion was about.

  “When he saw it, he stopped it. He got my book back and picked a fight with the sixth grader. Malachi was in fifth grade at the time. They both ended up suspended. As his parents were escorting him home, I happened to be in the hallway. I ran up and thanked him for not letting them destroy my book entirely. I have always been a bibliophile. It was the first time I saw Malachi smile. Anyway, I thought long and hard about how I could repay Malachi for helping me. When he returned to school the following week, I had a gift for him. It was a signed baseball. Nothing extraordinary, my brother had taken me out and helped me get it from some sports store in town. It cost me fifty dollars. I forgot to take the price tag off of it. I wrapped it up and gave it to him at recess his first day back from suspension.

  “After that day, Malachi and I were thick as thieves. We went everywhere together. Malachi was popular, I wasn’t. It didn’t matter to him though that I preferred books to people. What did matter was that I had been so thankful for his help, that I had bought him something and let’s face it, fifty bucks to a first grader is a ton of money. Shortly before Christmas that year, he and I were talking about how I could afford the baseball and I admitted that I had been saving up to buy a leather bound edition of Poe’s complete works. I had been ten dollars short when I spent it all on his thank you present.

  “Malachi has been my friend since then. As a result, he is fiercely protective of Nyleena and my mom. Not because he has any significant attachment to them, but because I do. A few years ago, when Nyleena had a contract taken out on her by some cartel she was prosecuting, Malachi asked to be put in charge of her security. He took a bullet for her. He also killed the would-be hit-man who had taken the contract. He doesn’t do this for her. He does it because he can’t bear to watch me lose her. When the press was hounding my mother after my brother did his thing, Malachi camped out at our house and escorted us to and from the car, made sure they couldn’t get to her or me.”

  “Just like the jackass at the concert,” Lucas said.

  “Just like the jackass at the concert.” I parroted and pursed my lips together. I rubbed both eyes.

  “Ok, so why would this girl hold a grudge against you?” Michael repeated.

  “Because Malachi could and would have killed the jackass, but I stopped it.” I shook my head.

  “And that matters?” Michael asked.

  “It does considering the circumstances. Malachi reached a point where he couldn’t stop himself. I saw it. I walked over and put my hand on his waist. He instantly stopped. It was like it brought him out of the calm. He dropped the guy, who was unconscious and leaned back against a car. He just stood there, waiting. The police were only a couple of blocks from us. They showed up and arrested Malachi. We all had to give statements at the scene. The guy’s sister said…”

  “Jessica Thompson, sister of the victim, age 19,” Michael interrupted me. “She said the following in her statement. ‘The girl with the assailant could have stopped the fight earlier. All she did was touch him and he stopped beating on my brother. Had she stepped in a few minutes earlier, my brother might not have lost his teeth, let alone all the other damage the maniac did to him. She should be arrested with him for not doing anything about it. She should have known my brother was not in his right mind and not let her goon beat him to a pulp.”

  “That would be correct. At the courthouse, during Malachi’s sentencing, she threw a brick at me. She missed thankfully, but she still tried.”

  “The police report also notes that Malachi was sober and not on drugs, while Eric Thompson tested positive for PCP, LSD and alcohol. That’s some combination. Tests conducted on his hair proved him to be a frequent user of PCP and LSD as well as cocaine.” Everyone turned to look at me.

  “Malachi took on this guy, bare handed and won?” Xavier said.

  “Yes.” I let out a breath I had been holding.

  “That’s sort of amazing and absolutely terrifying.” Lucas commented.

  “And the sister held Nyleena and me responsible for the beating her brother took.”

  Chapter 39