Here in this Sorrow Chapter 2

Jake Anderson

I rushed to Mr. Jefferies class this morning to feed him an excuse for not having my Calculus homework done, which he was threatening to collect yesterday. I told him that I tried, but didn’t understand, and asked him if I could come in before class to get some help with it. This is my only free period though, and he has a Course II class. He told me he would cut me a break if I turned in something.

That “something” becomes my next problem. I didn’t even try the homework last night, because I was over at Warren Boyd’s all night.

After I break away from Mr. Jefferies, I head down to the computer room. Most periods, there is a class in the ground floor computer room, but the one downstairs is normally empty. I’m not doing bad in Calc, and if I had tried, I probably would have done fine. I think I can come up with some kind of “attempt” in the next half hour.

We usually go over to Warren’s after baseball practice, because there is rarely anyone home. His mom works late, and his dad hits the bar early. Most of the time, we just sit around and watch porno. Sometimes, we’ll even sneak some beer, but not often, because his dad watches them like a hawk.

We had taken some last night, just one six-pack. Jim Smitt and I were each only having one, while Warren and Ben Tramer were having the other four. Jim wanted to drink more, but he was going over to Ashley's later, and she can be such a cunt when he drinks and drives. We were just sitting around, drinking beer and watching this John Holmes porno from the seventies that Warren stole from his dad in eighth grade. John Parker had been there for a while, but had left to go snort cocaine. Ben had asked to try it, but John never shares. He told us that he was quitting last night, but we’ve all heard that one about a thousand times.

It was about seven o’clock when his dad crashed through the front door. He must have gotten thrown out of a couple bars, because that’s the only time he ever comes home before closing time. He took one look at us and the beer and said, “That had better not be mine.” He stumbled into the kitchen and we heard the refrigerator door get yanked open.

“Oh shit,” Warren said, jumping out of his seat. He is one of the fastest runners I’ve ever seen, but somehow, he couldn’t get away from his dad last night. His father caught him at the front door and just fell on him. It was almost three hundred pounds of muscle, fat, and greasy hair pounding those meaty fists on Warren. I’ve heard that the old man doesn’t care who he beats on if his beer has been touched, so we all scrambled for the back door. It was one of the scariest moments of my life. I seriously thought he was going to kill Warren, or at least put him in the hospital. When I saw him this morning, he acted like nothing had happened. Ben told me that stuff like that happens all the time.

Stephen Joyce is in the computer room when I get there. I sit down next to him and he starts telling me about the computer program he just hacked into.

For a guy who smokes as much weed as Stephen, he’s a fucking genius. He’s still a junior, but already is planning to go to college for chemistry. He’s read more books on his own than I have for any class. I think Steve is one of the coolest kids in this school, because not only is he one of the smartest kids I’ve ever met, but you can also have a conversation with him about real things, and he’s usually the first one to break out the weed. The only problem with him is his clothes. He wears things that were barely in style years ago. He’s friends with everyone though, so I guess it’s okay.

I talk to Stephen while I’m scribbling down some notes for Calculus. Then I print out the paper that’s due today in my sociology class. I never read through it, so I’m sure there are a ton of errors. I’m not really worried about it though, because Erica Tanning is in my class. She has got to be the stupidest person I’ve ever met. Anything I turn in is going to look like genius compared to hers. Up until this year, she thought there was a moon on either side of the Earth. She announced this one day in the middle of class, and Clark Golding went nuts. He started yelling at her and calling her stupid. Chuck Egan beat the shit out of him in the hall as soon as class was over. Clark can be such an asshole sometimes.

When I leave the computer room, Andy McCarthy is walking by, so I walk with him. We were really good friends up until about seventh grade. He’s also friends with Clark, Christian Duke, and Shannon Donahue. The weirder the three of them got, the less I hung out with Andy. It’s too bad, because he is so normal. He doesn’t dress anything like his fucked-up friends. I ask him if he’s going to the party after the baseball game tomorrow, but he’s going to some concert on Thursday, and has to be in school on Friday. I ask him who he’s going to see, but it’s some band I’ve never heard of. I bet it was Clark’s idea to go.

Jim Smitt is standing outside the door of Miss Cataran’s classroom, where I have sociology this period. As Andy leaves, Jim tells me he’s going to kick the shit out of Andy’s friend Christian. He asks me if I want to come help. I don’t like Christian, but I have no real reason to fight him, so I decline. I tell him to go easy on Andy. He gives me a high five and I go into class.

Erica Tanning is talking to Nick Caufield. I hear they’re fucking. It’s too bad that she hooked up with trash like Nick. I bet I could have gotten her. I was going to ask her to the prom, because that would have been a sure-fire method, but then she got with Nick. I hope she doesn’t get pregnant, because they would be the stupidest children the world has ever seen. Either that, or they would be the only three-year-old’s with more intelligence than both parents.

Go to Erica Tanning.