Samantha's Talent (20 page)

He and Elaine had been trying very hard not to let their daughter know what was probably in the offing, and so far he thought they had succeeded. They had, but lately Samantha had begun noticing the number of private conversations they were having and they had been unable to completely conceal their worry from her.

Samantha didn't know exactly what was going on but she was beginning to suspect that whatever it turned out to be, it probably wasn't going to be good. She was just glad she had Shufus almost always nearby to show his affection and to talk to. There was also Shelton. She liked him a lot and she liked it when he put his arm around her at the movies or stole a kiss at school when she wasn't expecting it. That always made her laugh afterward and tell him he was being bad but she didn't mean it. The only flaw she had found with him so far was that Shufus wasn't very friendly toward him. When she asked him why, the big German Shepherd simply looked sad. Sometimes if he was lying down when she asked, he covered his eyes with his paws so he could pretend he hadn't been paying attention or couldn't see her. That made her laugh but Shufus never returned it in the manner that dogs displayed humor. His actions bothered her but she thought he would come around eventually and decide that Shelton was as nice as she thought he was.

"You're wearing your hair differently this morning, Sammie," Mrs. Douglas remarked at the breakfast table Monday morning.

She grinned. "Uh huh. Betty showed me how to braid it like this and I decided to try it for a few days. How does it look?" Her grin disappeared and an anxious expression replaced it.

"It's very pretty, Sammie," her father answered the question. "Of course you're a very pretty girl so just about any hair style would look good on you."

"What do you think, Mom?

She knew her daughter must really be asking how she thought Shelton would like the new style. She really thought Samantha looked better with her naturally wavy auburn hair falling and curling around her shoulders or tresses of it escaping to the front and drawing attention to her small but rapidly developing breasts. However, she had obviously taken some time to get the two braids arranged with bright hair ribbons holding them together and she wasn't going to disappoint her this late in the morning.

"It's just like your father says, honey. You're pretty enough that just about any style would look good on you. I'm sure you'll be noticed by all the boys and envied by all the girls."

She grinned and stuck her tongue out but was obviously pleased by the compliments from both parents. She glanced at her phone and hurriedly finished the last of the toast and eggs on her plate when she saw how late it was. "I've got to get my purse and gym bag. I'll be right back down and ready to go in another five minutes."

True to her word, five minutes later she was back downstairs with her gym gear and purse. Since her school books were all compiled in her text tablet and her phone was in a handy specially designed side pocket of her jeans she was ready. Her parents smiled at her, both of them thinking of how much had changed since they were her age. Back then they would have been burdened with backpacks bulging with school books and writing and drafting materials. The kids their age might have possessed a phone or might not have and even if they did, the phones would have had limited functions compared to the ones today. They were not nearly so universal or necessary--or versatile--then as they were now.

Samantha smiled back, not knowing what they were thinking but glad she had parents who loved her and tried to do their best to see that she got a good education but also had a good time, within limits, while in school and with her friends and classmates. She knew a few unfortunate kids who were allowed to carry phones that were good for nothing but talking and used mostly in case of emergencies. There were also a couple whose parents were so poor they had no phone at all. Samantha sympathized with them and allowed them to use her phone on occasion but only under her supervision. She wasn't about to let anyone use it for anything but normal texting or sharing something from the internet.

She was dropped off by her father a few minutes before her first class. Since she was carrying her gym bag with the newly washed garments, she decided to run to her locker quickly and get the burdensome thing out of the way while she had time. Her locker was one of the last before the hallway broke into a T intersection. She punched in the password while half-listening to conversations being carried on around the bend from her. Suddenly she realized all the voices were from boys and that one of them belonged to Shelton. Her expression brightened immediately.

She was stuffing the gym bag into her locker any old way, anxious to get it secured and her locker closed so she could step around the corner and surprise Shelton. Maybe she could grab a quick kiss when the group of boys he was with broke up and before she had to get to her first class. Abruptly, she stopped what she was doing when she heard her name mentioned. She stood very still as she also realized it was Shelton speaking, and in a manner and attitude she had never heard from him before.

"Sammie? Hell yes, I'm gonna get some of that stuff, just you wait and see. I ever get her alone in the right place, I bet she'll shuck her panties right quick."

"You'd better be careful. That dog she travels with so much would have you for lunch if you ever hurt her."

"Fuck that damn dog. I hate it. If I get a chance I'll feed it something that'll make it too sick to interfere if I'm ever alone in her house with her."

"Yeah? I was at her birthday party and tried to give him a sausage wrap. He wouldn't take it. You ever hear of a dog that wouldn't grab something like that in a New York Second? Hell, most dogs would probably take a couple of fingers with it."

The gang laughed then Shelton responded. "I don't care. It's seen me enough it would take it if I brought it with me, and told her I liked her dog so much I brought it a treat."

"Well, if that doesn't work you could always do what you did to that stray cat."

"What stray cat?" one of the boys asked.

"You didn't hear? Shelton found a stray cat at the park and fed it some bread from his sandwich, then poured some vodka on its tail and set it on fire."

"Oh, yeah!" Shelton brayed. "That was hilarious. You should have seen that fucking cat run! It looked like a damn jet plane with its tail on fire!"

Samantha was horrified. She could hardly believe what she was hearing. And Shelton was
laughing
at the cruelty he'd propagated. Even worse, he had threatened to feed Shufus doctored food in order to make him sick and was going on about how he'd... She listened for a few more moments but the talk only grew worse. She burst into tears and ran down the hall, away from the cruel hilarity and the sexual braggadocio of the boy she had liked so much.
I should have paid attention to Shufus
, she thought as the tears continued to run down her cheeks.
He never did like Shelton.

She found a girls restroom and an empty stall where she sat and cried with soft, heart-rending sobs. Finally she stood up and exited the stall. She examined her face in the mirror. She made a few half-hearted attempts to fix her face before giving up. When she left the privacy of the restroom she headed directly toward the office of the school nurse instead of class. There she complained of being too sick with menstrual cramps to remain at school, although in truth she'd never had much trouble with her periods. Instead of accepting the offer of a place to lie down until the sickness passed she insisted that her mother come to the school and take her home. A half hour later she was in the car with her mother. Almost immediately, she burst into tears again.

"What is it, Sammie? Do we need to take you to the doctor or emergency room?"

"N... no. It's just... S... Shel... " She put her hands to her face, unable to say anything else and unable to stop the tears.

The moment she realized Samantha had tried to talk about Shelton, Elaine at first thought something had happened to the boy, an injury, or even worse, but then her daughter shook her head when she asked. She knew then it was a matter of the heart and that she would probably tell her about it once they were home.

Cuddled on the couch with her mother and with a cup of hot chocolate on the end table, Samantha managed to get most of the story told, even if some of it didn't include the exact wording. As close to her parents as she was, there were some things she couldn't bring herself to mention.

"Mom, he was saying awful things about me... and he was saying he was going to poison S... Shufus! How could he be like that?"

"I simply don't know, Sammie. All I can tell you is that some people aren't like they appear to be on the surface. Some of them can lie and pump themselves up so convincingly that we believe them until they make a misstep and we discover the truth. Just be glad you found out in time, honey."

"Could he really poison Shufus?"

"I doubt it. You've done well to teach him never to accept food from anyone but us. Have you told him not to eat anything he finds outside, too?"

"Yes. I'll tell him again, though. But how could anyone be so mean? Setting a poor defenseless cat on fire after giving it some food. That's horrible!"

"It certainly is and if we could prove it I'd report him to the Juvenile Authorities."

"Mom, I
heard
him admit it! Oh, I
hate
him!"

"It's not good to hate, Sammie. Just stay away from him and if anyone asks you why, tell them. It will serve him right if some of his classmates begin ostracizing him."

She nodded, then said, "I think I want to go up to my room and lie down for a while. I really don't feel good now."

"That's fine. I'll be here if you need me." She gave her daughter a long hug and kissed her on the forehead. "Go on, now. Lie down and try not to think about it too much."

"I'm sure not going to think about
him
anymore!" She brushed at new moisture on her cheeks, then left her mother and trudged up the stairs. Shufus followed at her heels and when she lay down he jumped up onto the bed beside her. She hugged the dog and wished again that people could be as kind and loving as Shufus was.

Samantha hated to go to school the next day but knew she had to. She had stopped riding the school bus when Mr. Douglas opted to teach early classes so that he could take her. Sometimes he was able pick her up after school but not always, in which case she rode the bus. When her father dropped her off at school he kissed her cheek and said, "Just face whatever comes along, Sammie. Your mother and I know you can. You're a brave girl and we're both really proud of you."

"Thanks, Dad. I'll be alright, I promise."

"Okay, just always let us know when you need any help. We'll be there for you."

She smiled for the first time since hearing that devastating conversation by Shelton and his buddies and opened the passenger door. She stepped down to the curb, waved to her father and squared her shoulders. She walked up toward the wide front entrance of the school. As usual, she headed for the student lounge where Betty should be waiting for her. She hadn't looked at her phone at all the evening or night before. She didn't want to know yet if the subjects she had overheard were being passed around. She soon found out that they were.

Betty saw her coming and stood up to greet her, but instead of simply saying "hi" or "hey, Sammie" like she usually did she greeted her with sympathy. "I heard about Shelton talking so mean and nasty, Sammie. You ought to give him a good slap in the face."

"I'd like to slap him somewhere it would hurt more--with something besides my hand."

Betty chuckled. They sat down together and Betty recounted what she had heard. Samantha found it had grown in the telling and that apparently another girl had overheard parts of the same conversation she had, then repeated it to others. By now the gossips were working full time, abetted by a few of the girls who had wanted Shelton to pay attention to them. They were repeating stories they'd heard, whether they knew they were true or not. All they cared about was that Samantha was out of the way.

"Any girl that gets close to him will regret it," she said. "He is hateful and a creep. Anyone who'd set fire to a cat would do the same thing to a person if he got mad enough."

"You really think so?"

She waved her hand as if brushing away an annoying insect. "Oh, I don't know and I don't care. I'd rather not even talk about him anymore."

With that, the morning conversation turned in other directions and soon it was time for class. Even though Shelton was a year older than her he was in two of her classes where he had failed and was having to repeat them.

She avoided him as well as she could but inevitably he managed to corner her. "We need to talk, Sammie," he said.

"I'm not interested in talking to you ever again, Shelton Brady," she said forcefully. "I heard you talking about setting that cat on fire and I heard you talking about
me
!"

"I was just kidding, Sammie. Honest, all I--"

"Bullshit!" she interrupted, using a word she hardly ever uttered to do so. "Just get away from me or I'll have you charged with harassment."

His lip curled cruelly. "You do and I'll do the same thing to your stupid dog as I did to the cat, smarty pants. How would you like that?"

"How would you like to wind up in juvenile detention?"

"You can't prove a thing!"

"Alright. Remember the tiger? How would you like to become the object of its intentions? Or maybe I'll tell every stray dog I run across to find you and bite you in the ass like you deserve!"

His face paled at the thought, letting her know she had struck home. He, like almost everyone else in Lufkin had seen the video of her leading the tiger back into the zoo. Not only was he cruel, he was a coward at heart, she thought. She wondered how she could ever have thought he was a nice person, then told herself to stop thinking about him at all. She walked away, leaving him standing wordlessly by himself.