Free Live it Again by Geoff North Page B

knock some of that bad shit out early.
    “Your brother’s a goddamn liar! I never
said nothin’ about you!” Fabian’s bloodied mouth spat the words out, it sounded
more like: yer brover’s a goddab lia! I neva sai nuffin bou you! He shot
a terrified glance at Hugh just as another blow landed on his forehead.
    The one-sided fight would’ve lasted the
remainder of the noon hour if Principal Davidson didn’t step in to break it up.
He pulled Gordo off effortlessly by the collar of his shirt with a fist the
size of a soccer ball, just like Bobby McBee, Hugh marveled. The circle of kids
watching fell back in a wave; a super nova of scattering limbs and dissipating
blood-lust energy rippled away. The show was over and it was best to get the
hell out of range before the black hole of Fabian Bren, Gordon Nance and Reggie
Davidson sucked them all in. Hugh followed the three back into school at a safe
distance and he listened outside the principal’s office as the punishment was
handed down. He could hear Fabian crying, his stuttering voice explaining
between wails how he’d been jumped. He exited the office a minute later,
holding a handful of tissue paper to his bleeding nose and mouth. He made a
bee-line for the washroom to clean up and shot Hugh a terrified look on the
way. Fabian no longer posed a threat to him. Maybe a call to his parents would
save his sister a whole lot of pain and suffering, too.
    There was a minute of anxious silence as
Hugh waited to hear what would happen to his brother behind the closed door. A
loud smack made him jump; a quick yelp of pain from inside made him wince. He’d
never gotten the strap himself and he never intended to. Fortunately that kind
of discipline would be banned in all public schools in a year or two’s time.
There was another smack, louder this time, but no yelp. Hugh could picture
Gordo’s face tightened up into a red mask of agony and humiliation. There was a
third smack, and a fourth. After number six Hugh heard the sound of a drawer
being closed. That big prick, Davidson was finished. The door opened and Gordo
stepped out. His face was redder than Hugh had imagined. Tears were leaking
down the sides of his face and his mouth was set in a grim line of restraint.
He looked at Hugh and winked.
    He had to give his older brother credit.
The little bastard was as tough as nails. He’d beaten Bren and taken the strap
more for himself than Hugh, but Hugh couldn’t help but feel proud.
    8, 12, 20, 23, 34, 36
    Hugh printed the numbers on his home room desk.
    On Tuesday, Hugh went down to the river
after school with a group of friends. Heather had stayed in town to try on
shoes for her upcoming graduation. Their mom had arranged to pick them both up
at five. Hugh watched as Caroline Sterling, Billy Parton, Bob Richards, and
Mandy Wood all took turns skipping stones across the slow moving water. It wasn’t
a big river, thirty feet across at its widest point, and some of the better
thrown rocks made it all the way to the other side. Hugh sat down on the bank
and etched the lottery numbers into the damp gravel and sand with a stick.
    “Come on Hugh,” Mandy yelled at him. “Let’s
see what you’ve got!” He watched her throw another flat stone effortlessly
across the water. It skipped two, three, four, five times and finally rolled up
to a stop on the other side. There was a collective gasp from the other kids. Mandy
was one of Bob’s first girlfriends, and arguably the cutest. Even at age ten,
she was way out of Hugh’s league. Her auburn hair bounced off her shoulders as
she spun around and flicked another rock into the air. Her dark, brown eyes glittered
in the sunlight.
    “Nah, you guys go ahead,” he called back. Bob
would love to see him get shown up by a girl.
    Billy came and sat beside him, wiping a
nose full of snot off on his freckled arm. He always had a runny nose and his
eyes always seemed to be watery, as if his entire head were ready to burst with
leaking