Fairly Tale
It
was a tale of revenge and romance; it was a story with a beginning and an end;
it was plot full of angst and anger; it was about teenagers. It had to be told
by a fool fallen out of luck who had once been wise beyond his years although
he had missed most of them. It could have been fiction but the truth was in
this case better, it could have been entirely based on real people but the
threat of the following lawsuits scared the teller into changing all of the
names even his own. He wants us to call him Mike.
Mike’s
story start in a small town in a small county in a shady state somewhere in the
south- we are going to call the town Knoxville and pretend it is located in
Tennessee. Now Tennessee is in the South but it is not so much south that you
don’t find regular things such as cell phones and republicans. In fact, this
town is teeming with the GOP. This little town also has features of other towns
like gas stations and rabid sports fans. Knoxville which is a metaphor for our
story since every sane person should realize is just the fictional setting for
this town is really a much nicer place to live filled with much nicer and thus
more civilized and rational people than those found in this story. But I
digress.
Knoxville
was where Mike grew up and went to school, however this story concerns Mike’s
life in high school and not the fact that he may have grown up in this
fictional version of Knoxville. Mike is a pretty normal sort of fellow, in fact
he could be said to be a frantic, pimple pushing, always horny, badly dressed
young man which would in truth not make him stick out at all from his fellow
teenagers. What made Mike different is that he truly knew about life and loss.
He had no idea why or how and that made him assume that all teenagers knew the
same thing as him. It took him awhile to figure out that despite claims to the
contrary teenagers are basically clueless to such concepts like life and loss.
When
Mike realized this at fourteen he felt alienated and left out as his fellows
blissfully sped by him on their semi immortal happy course like bottle rockets
in the autumn twilight. This was scarcely odd though since almost all teenagers
feel alienated and left out though many discover ways to hide or ignore the
feelings. Mike could not would not and did not, thus his days were bleak with
truth and despair. That was until he met Rebecca…
The
morning light was warm on the bed in the small room in which he slept, the bed
clothes and white sheets were tangled around his body. He slept with absolute
stillness in the early hours opposite to the restless hours in darkness
troubled by dreams of another life he could almost remember but never quite
grasp. His face had taken an almost serene expression with only the corners of
his mouth recalling the disturbances from hours before. The boy’s name was
Mike.
He
was a tallish boy who tended to slouch enough as if life was constantly
dragging him down. His shoulders had yet to take on the rounded shape of true
slouchers that would have made him like the slackers who gloomed in and out of
A building at DHS. He had shaggy brown hair and a lopsided smile that only
appeared at odd times when nothing was funny to anyone but himself. His
eyebrows were thick and unplucked like most boys who were clueless as to their
own appearances.
Mike
was on the verge of turning sixteen that year, literally in two months and
fourteen days and three hours which he may have been aware of if he had been a
girl or an idiot savant. All Mike knew was that soon he would be able to drive
and freedom would be his at last! Although this would not be completely true
since he had no car nor would be getting one soon. What was worse, his parents
weren’t inclined to give him one or let him use theirs as they had been exposed
to car insurance commercials and MADD commercials displaying what would most
likely happen if they let Mike out on the roads on his own. Still, they had
allowed him to drive them places on his learner’s. Maybe he could talk his
buddy, Ken into letting him drive Ken’s Jalopy- even if the car was older than
any of his friends and most likely their parents to boot.
The
alarm on the night stand shrieked to life with a shrilling ping like an insane
game of breakout. Mike sat bolt upright in bed scaring the cat that had been
asleep in his armpit. The small white and black cat popped shot out like a gray
bullet streaking from the bed across the room and out the cat flap in Mike’s
bedroom door. Mike yawned and stretched as the alarm continued to scream.
“Mike,
shut that damned thing off already!” His sister, Mercy, screamed from the next
room before pounding on the wall between them.
Mike
gazed blankly at the shaking wall until he blinked and turned around and shut
off the alarm. A new silence followed in the wake of the loud little machine.
“Your
welcome.” Mike mumbled as he slowly climbed out of his bed and stumbled towards
the bathroom.
He
paused in the middle of the room to stretch and yawn before continuing into the
small bathroom he shared with his sister. There he washed his face and shaved
what would barely pass for stubble, but that he took great pride in doing every
time the bits of hair appeared.
He
was rubbing his jaw and considering brushing his teeth when he became acutely
aware that the other door had opened and his sister was scowling at him from
it. He looked over at her, despite her scowl, Mercy was quite beautiful even at
fourteen. Tall and willowy and thin she was just coming into her own body- she
also spent time grooming her few blessings but seemed to believe that Mike had
known worth wasting time on. He gave her a lopsided grin and shuffled sideways
as he grabbed his toothbrush and made for the Crest.
She
marched over to stand next to him and glowered as she took stock of her near
flawless image in the mirror. I say near flawless because there was, of course,
one major flaw- a pimple. Mercy’s glowered darkened as she gathered her forces
to do battle with the cursed invader to her near perfect skin. Her hands
involuntarily gripped the sides of the sink and she grimaced as she prepared to
let the little bastard have it.
“Yoush
couldsh coversh its with a bandagesh” Mike said around his toothbrush as his
lazily brushed.
Mercy
turned her glower upon him and snarled. Yes, she actually snarled- which unfortunately
for her was quite cute- since beautiful girls can never carry of a snarl with
anything but a clownish expression. Mike choked on his toothpaste and had to
spit it out in the toilet while stifling his laughter. When he returned Mercy’s
was still half snarling and almost on the verge of tears. She would gather her
reserves and reach up to touch the wicked thing it white cap shining only to
jerk back at the shock of pain it caused her.
Mike
decided that after watching this drama for two days that he must act and act
swiftly or this battle could drag on all week. He put a comforting arm around
his sister and hugged her gently. She relaxed a little and slowly, guiltily
looked over at him.
“Sis,
I am about to do you a favor, one that will end your pain and mine as well.”
“What?
Are you going to move to Mongolia and I can finally get some sleep?”
“Better.”
“What?
Are you going to admit that I was right about the D&D and let me play?”
“Almost
as good.” He turned to look into her suspiciously hopeful eyes.
“What
is it then?” Mercy said a pout forming on her lips.
“I
am going to do…” and he place both hands on her shoulders “this!”
And
with that he swiftly clasped her head with both hands and like his vicious
uncaring mother had demonstrated on his own poor head time and time again, he
placed his thumbs on either side of the pimple and squeezed. Mercy squealed in
panic and tried to pull away much like he had when their mother had first
pulled this dirty trick on him, but he held on until the entire thing was out
and the red blood flowed. Then Mercy punched like she had be taught by their
equally uncool father and Mike let go.
“You!
You! You!” She screamed as spittle flew from her lips. Mike wisely backed away
wiping his hands on his tee shirt as he went.
“Someday
you will thank me.” He said as he got out the other door and closed and locked
it as something large slammed into it. There were screams of frustration, anger
and hurt then some silence in which Mike wrongly assumed that all was well,
then sobs of despair and pain. Mike felt rotten about it- he had gotten over
his mother remonstrations to his face quickly each time and realized that it
was better that way despite the pain and embarrassment. Obviously, Mercy, did
not share in this enlightenment, maybe she would come around to it.
“Michael
Isaac Benjamin? Are you fighting with Mercedes Angelina Grace again?” He hated
how his father used their full names when he addressed them about anything
important.
“No
dad, just a minor misunderstanding.” He replied as he crossed to his closet to
consider his wardrobe options for the coming school day. Should he wear jeans
and a clean tee shirt or jeans and the shirt he slept in. He looked down to see
Mercy’s goo and considered briefly off washing it off but decided on a cleaner
tee instead.
