Rocky had never wanted to risk it all before, but at that moment he threw caution, good sense, and reality to the wind and ran after her.
“Rocky, man, what the hell?”
Axel’s voice slid away in the background, somewhere from a galaxy far, far away.
Keeping his eyes on her long, shiny black hair, he shouldered his way through the crowd crisscrossing the busy street. Part of him wanted her to look back, to see him again, to stop and wait; the other part thought she’d see his determination as insanity and run.
Axel was still calling out from Tatooine, but Rocky kept going, closing in. Ten feet from her, his heart started pounding through his chest, going so berserk he felt it throbbing in his neck. The world beneath his feet swayed as he stumbled. His stomach flipped. And then, he fell.
She turned around as he hit the ground.
Everything went black behind a series of light spots tap-dancing in his vision.
“Are you okay?” she said.
Her face appeared. He took in her brown eyes, thick, dark eyebrows scrunched in concern, and full red lips parting to speak to him.
“Hey,” she said.
“Ah….”
He was on his back. The clear blue sky above suddenly filled with a variety of sunburned faces that were just out of focus in her presence.
“I…I think so,” Rocky said.
He tried to get up. Her hand pressed against his chest.
“No. Don’t get up yet,” she said as she raised her chin. “Anyone got some water? I think maybe he’s got heatstroke.”
She accepted a water bottle from someone, thanked them, and then lowered it to his lips. Under her spell, he opened up his mouth and accepted the cold wet drink. The bottle could have been filled with battery acid or Pepto Bismol; he would have taken any remedy she had to offer.
“There,” she said. “Give me your hand.”
She stood and pulled him to a sitting position. He still felt a little fuzzy, but better than before.
“How do you feel?” she said.
Her face reminded him of someone.
“What’s your name?” she said.
Someone on TV.
“Hey, you got a name?”
“His name is Rocky,” Axel said, as he waded past the old woman behind this dark-haired angel and knelt next to him. “You okay, man?” he asked.
“Rocky?” she said. “Like in the movies?”
“Yeah,” Rocky said.
“And who are you? Apollo?”
“Ha! That’s a good one,” Axel said. “Nah, I’m Axel. I’m his cousin.”
Rocky never wanted Axel to disappear from this planet more than he did at that very moment.
Go to England already!
“Well,” she said, sliding her shades down over those deep brown eyes, putting her hands in her back pockets, and shrugging her shoulders. “Glad to see you’re okay, Rocky. You better keep that water. And maybe you should go back inside the arcade. Stay out of the sun for a bit.”
With that, she turned and vanished into the dispersing crowd.
“Hey, hey!” Rocky shouted. He tried to get up, but moved too fast, and dropped back down on his ass. “What’s your name?”
He couldn’t see her, but out of the static of voices he heard it loud and clear.
“November.”
Chapter Three
He wanted to spend the night at Axel’s. With his cousin leaving for most of the summer, it was their last chance to hang out, but Axel’s dad had said no. He said they were leaving too early in the morning; they had a six a.m. flight. They let him stay over until almost six and then sent him home. He said goodbye to his cousin and aunt and uncle and made the short walk back to his house.
His mother was making dinner. With Dad coming home late during the week, they tended to eat dinner at six thirty most nights. Sometimes, they didn’t have supper until nearly eight. Rocky waltzed through the living room without mentioning his episode of heatstroke that afternoon or the gorgeous girl who had saved him. Instead, he told his mom to call to him when the food was ready and slunk into his room. He tried to play Atari to keep his mind off everything. Unfortunately, Pacman and Galaga were more exciting at the arcade and try as he might, he just couldn’t concentrate.
His gaze drifted to the second controller. The thought of Axel not being here all summer seemed like a strange dream. The impending loneliness crept its way into his head, crawling down into his guts just as his stomach rumbled. Who was he supposed to play games with? Who would stay up and watch Dee Snider’s Heavy Metal Mania with him?
There was November, but he didn’t really know if he’d see her again. And what if she spaced out and avoided him, or worse, what if she had just been messing with him?
He hung his head as Blinky caught up with him, taking his last life.
He dropped the controller to the floor.
“Dinner’s ready,” his mom yelled.
As he shut off the machine, his guts rumbled like an oncoming thunderstorm. He wasn’t just hungry, he was starved. He hurried down the hallway to the kitchen and took his place at the table. His mother had made hamburgers, scalloped potatoes, and green beans – a Clarise Zukas Specialty, if a meal that made its appearance every Monday night could be considered special. Her food was always good, and even with a stomach floundering full of spiders, his mouth watered at the sight of those scalloped potatoes.
“You look worn out,” she said as he pulled out a chair and dove into the meal.
“Where’s Dad? Where’s Julie?” he mumbled through the first mouthful of potatoes.
“Oh, your father made a pit stop over at your Uncle Arthur’s, helping with some project or another. My brother can always find an excuse to get your father over for a drink.”
Uncle Arthur was a beer man. He’d worked for a company in Portland for years until he got hurt on the job. He won some lawsuit and now got to sit at home tinkering on things or tearing them apart so he could put them back together. His uncle was a peculiar guy, for sure, but he told great stories and had a smile that made you feel good to be somewhere with someone real.
“Your sister is out with her boyfriend.”
“Brick?”
“Rocky,” his mother said, cocking her head and giving him her be nice face. “You know his name. And besides, I think he might be a good guy for your sister. He has a job, he has a—”
“A motorcycle.”