The
Reunion
by,
Dwyndl
L. Nelms
The
Arrival
The
blast of the siren and the flashing blue lights in the rear view
mirror jolted William from his day dream. A frantic reaction caused
him to jerk the steering wheel to the right. He slammed the brake
peddle to the floor and stopped just short of the ditch. Feeling
every vein in his body throbbing with every heartbeat, he didn't
understand what had happened. In his side mirror he saw a policeman
walking toward the car with his hand on his gun.
"Sir,
are you alright?," the policeman asked. "Sir...sir, are you
OK?"
William
sat there almost numb trying to think of an excuse to tell the
officer. An excuse couldn't be found since William had no idea what
he had done. Millions of thoughts rushing through his mind yet he
couldn't remember what had just happened. Why was he being pulled
over? The cruise control was set several miles back so he couldn't
have been speeding. Thoughts continued to race around his mind as he
heard the policeman speaking to him in a very firm voice, "Step
out of the car very slowly, and keep your hands where I can see
them."
Completely
terrified William opened the car door and stepped out of the car.
"What seems to be the problem officer?" William asked in a
shaky voice.
"Please
move to the back of the car and stand facing the trunk."
The
bright light from the officer's flashlight almost blinded William. He
held his hand in front of his eyes and squinted trying to get a
glimpse of the policeman and what his partner was doing.
The
second policeman began to search the car. He didn't find anything
inside the car, so he took the keys and, moving William out of the
way, opened the trunk.
"There's
nothing there," said William. "What are you looking for?"
William
took a half step toward the officer before the first one grabbed his
arm.
"Sir,
you were swerving all over the road and ran through a red light and
two stop signs. Have you been drinking tonight?"
He
tried to hold it back, but he couldn't. Laughter spewed from
William's mouth. He could hardly believe the question. Anyone who
knew William would have been laughing with him, he was very well
known as a man who didn't drink. He was known as a man who never did
anything that might be considered bad for you, immoral, or wrong. His
laughter simply intensified the more that he thought of the question.
William
had a very distinctive laugh. It was a mixture of snorts and whistles
like no one else could even imitate. "I don't mean to laugh. . .
officer. It's just. . . that. . . if you only knew." He could
barely get the sentence out in between snorts.
"Billy?"
the officer asked in a surprising voice. "Billy Patterson, is
that you? Ain't nobody else could have that laugh, I can't believe
it. Wait 'til the guys hear this. They'll n'er believe I pulled over
ole Billy Patterson for 'spicion of drunk driving." As he
thought about it he burst into uncontrollable laughter himself. "Hey
Mark, you remember all those stories I told about that nerd in High
School? This here's the man I was talking 'bout."
"Well,
if what you say is true he can't be drunk. . . He must really be as
ignorant as you said he was, driving like that."
William's
laughter stopped, and a peculiar smirk took it's place while the
laughter of the two policemen increased. He realized that the first
officer was none other than his high school classmate Charlie
Eastman.
"Charles.
. . Charlie Eastman. It's been a long time. I've been looking forward
to seeing you. I never would have guessed that you were a policeman.
Although it does not surprise me that you are still living in
Pleasant Valley," he said in a demeaning tone. "Even though
you always swore that you would leave this town, I didn't expect much
from you."
"Hey,
what's that s'pose to mean?" he said in an angry voice, "You
saying that yo'r better than me?"
"No,
no Charles, I'm not saying that I'm better than you. After all,
'Pride cometh before the fall' and I've fallen too many times in
life. I don't want that to happen again," William said with a
self-righteous grin.
"Well
that's good, cuz just 'cause I'm a cop don't mean I can't still stomp
you in the ground. It'd be jus like ol' times, 'cept nobody'd be able
to save yo' butt dis time."
"Now,
now, now, we're all adults," said Mark. "Let's just forget
about the past and go on with our lives. Come on Charlie, we got to
go and check on Old Lady Morris. If we don't get there before 5
o'clock she'll be calling the Mayor."
"Alright
Mark, we'll go." Charlie's angry frown turned into a smile. "Hey
Billy, it's been good to see ya again. Look forward to talking with
ya at the re-union. Don't be such a stranger, shoot, I bet it's been
fifteen years or better since we seen each other. Oh Yea, pay
attention to your driving. You need to be careful. You could've hurt
someone."
As
Mark and Charlie drove away William couldn't help but speak his
thoughts out loud, "What an Imbecile. I can't believe that
idiot is allowed to carry a gun. He hasn't grown up at all. He still
get's mad at the drop of a hat and then ten minutes later acts as if
nothing has happened. The moron doesn't even realize that a twenty
year reunion means that we've been out of school for twenty years"
William
hadn't seen any of his classmates since their graduation, twenty
years ago. May 14, 1976, that's the day William gave his valedictory
speech, accepted his diploma, hopped in his '72 V.W. Beetle and drove
right past the graduation dance to the city limit sign. Once he
reached the sign he stopped the car, walked over to the sign and
swore not to return to Pleasant Valley until he was a success and
could pay them back for what they had done, every one of them.
The
Reason
Twentieth Anniversary. Saturday, May 26, 1996, at 7:00 p.m. in
the High School Gym. The last chance to see the old gym before it
is torn down and a new one is built. If you were in the Class of '76
please make plans to attend."
William
read over the announcement again in his hotel room. This was the
announcement that ran in the P.V. Press. He had been
receiving the newspaper for the last six months anticipating and
searching for the announcement. He knew that his big chance would be
at the reunion. "They won't be laughing at Billy Patterson
this time," he thought to himself. William couldn't wait
for tomorrow night and he knew that his day had finally arrived.
He
carefully folded the newspaper clipping and tucked it into his
day-planner. Taking his high school annual from his brief case he
began to glance through the pages. The first few pages were just
pictures of people standing around or studying or acting silly. A few
made him laugh; a few made him want to cry. Memories began to flood
William's mind as he reached the senior section. Just as he was about
to turn the page to the first page of senior photos he heard someone
speaking to him.
"Billy
Patterson, What are you doing here?" was said in a firm and
angry voice. Billy sat on the bed stiff with fear. The voice
continued, "I thought I told you that I didn't want to see you
here ever again. You just ain't real smart for a smart boy are you?
You need to stay in that science class and keep on getting better at
being a nerd. I guess I'm gonna have to remind you of a few of the
rules around here."
Billy
opened his eyes, turned around and saw the meanest kid in class, Paul
Adams. "I'm sorry Paul. . . it's just that. . . I really had to
use the rest room." Billy said in a small, fragile voice.
"Please let me go, I promise I won't mess up again."
Ring.
. .Ring. . .William was startled by the sound of the telephone.
"H-H-Hello."
"Hello,
Mr. Patterson, this is the Hotel Manager. I want to apologize for
your room. I had instructed the desk to save you a king, but they
made a mistake. We are completely booked up this weekend, due to the
reunion. We will give you a discount to make up for the problem and
if you need anything at all please don't hesitate to let us know."
"Everything
is fine," William said. "The room is just fine."
"Thank
you, Mr. Patterson, and once again, I'm sorry for the mistake. Have a
good night's sleep."
William
hung up the phone and his heart began to slow down. He took a deep
breath and finally looked at page 14 in his annual. The very first
picture was Paul Adams. Fear began to disappear as William began to
speak, "Don't worry Paul, you'll get yours. You all will."
William
continued to flip through the pages of the annual. They were all
there. Charlie, Larry, John, Andrew, all of them in the same spot
they had been every time he had looked in this book of memories.
William
finally turned to the page with his picture, He probably wouldn't
have wanted to look at this page except for one picture. Right next
to William was Brad Parker, the only guy in school who treated
William as a friend. Brad never called William a nerd, knocked his
books out of his hand or even pulled his shorts down in gym as the
cheerleaders came through. Maybe that was because Brad was considered
a nerd also. But that didn't matter. Brad was a big guy. He was not
the smartest kid in class, but was sure the strongest and toughest.
No one, not even Paul Adams, or Bubba Wilson would mess with Brad. He
showed up just in time many days to keep Billy from being beat up. If
it were not for Brad, William might not have made it.
Looking
at the picture of Brad made William proud to have such a friend, but
it also made him very sad. Brad was killed in a farming accident
about two years back. They had written each other up until then.
William didn't find out about the accident until the funeral was
over. He never got to say goodbye. He had plans to stop by the
cemetery tomorrow. "I sure do miss you Brad. Tomorrow night is
for both of us."
William
continued to look through the annual and remembered lots of kids and
the mean things they had said or done. He finally came to the last
page of the seniors. There they were. "It should be a sin for
Leslie Wilson to be on the same page as Mary Lou Anderson,"
William declared. Leslie was better known as Bubba, and was nothing
more than a bully in William's eyes. He was voted most popular, most
handsome, most likely to succeed, and was even Senior Class
President, and of course Captain of the football team. However, to
William he was scum. He was the leader of all the ones who had made
high school life for Billy Patterson a living nightmare. In William's
eyes he deserved what was coming more than anyone.
Rage
was taking over William's mind as he looked down at Mary Lou
Anderson. The most beautiful girl in school. William instantly turned
to mush just looking at or thinking about her. In William's mind she
was perfect. Never had God made a more glorious creature. As his mind
raced, thinking of every kind word she had ever said to him, he began
to fantasize of what might have been if he'd only had the courage to
ask her out. Instead, she ended up with Bubba Wilson. This made
William angry again. "Life just isn't fair," screamed
William as he slammed the book closed.
The
room began to appear smaller and as if it were moving as William
paced around the room in anger so he took a drink of water to calm
down and re-opened the book. Turning to the teacher's section. There
he was, Dr. Blakeburn.
Everyone just called him "Doc." He was the science teacher
and most kids liked him, but hated his class. William was different,
He loved both the teacher and the class. Science class was the one
place were Billy Patterson could be on top. He always had the highest
average and caught on to everything faster than most of the others.
Doc was the one who showed Billy how exciting science could be. He
also pointed out the money that could be made if the right field was
chosen. Doc always encouraged Billy to do his absolute best and
become something great. Even in the back of the annual, where most
kids had lots of signatures, Billy had just one, it was from Doc.
"Billy, never give up on what you believe. You have the
ability to be great. Don't let the crowd get you down. If they
control you, they win. With lots of admiration, Doc." These
words always stuck with William. He would never forget Doc.
The
Prepartaion
The
next morning William woke up early with excitement about all he had
to do today. The cemetery would be the first stop in order to see
Brad's grave site. He noticed the headstone right away placed on the
very edge of the cemetery just a few feet from the road. As William
sat and talked to his old friend he looked and saw a beautiful white
kitten crossing the road from the woods on the other side. He then
noticed a car speeding down the curvy road and yelled for it to stop.
It didn't even attempt to stop, but the cat scurried along and
somehow made it across the road. William must have closed his eyes,
because he was certain that the cat had been hit.
He
ran and lifted the kitten into his arms and stroked it as he asked if
it were alright. "Don't worry little kitty, I'll take care of
you," William said in a sympathetic voice. "You won't have
to be afraid anymore, I'll take you home with me. I couldn't bear the
thought of you getting hurt." William said his good-byes to Brad
and stroked the back of the kitten as he carried her to the car.
His
next stop was "Herrington's Men's Store." He was determined
to look good for the party tonight. He bought all new clothes, a new
suit, shirt, shoes, socks, tie, and even a matching handkerchief. He
was going all out for tonight. The money was not an issue for William
anymore and he was not going to be a tightwad tonight. Those days
were over.
He
stopped by Ray's Barber Shop for a new hair style, one that didn't
look nerdy. Next he was off to Dr. Malone's for a new pair of
contacts. He had gotten a pair several months ago, but had
accidentally torn one of them and lost the other just recently. He
was not taking a chance on being called four eyes tonight. His final
stop would be the post office to retrieve a package awaiting him to
pick up. He was praying all the way there that it had arrived. If it
were late it would ruin his whole plan. He was excited to see that
the package was there and everything going perfectly. It began to
sink in that in a mere three hours his big plans would come to
fruition. It seemed he'd been waiting forever, but 20 years is a long
time to plan and wait.
The
Decision
William
walked into the high school gym looking the best he had ever looked.
Nothing could compare to the feeling of tonight, not the numerous
awards he had received for his contributions to science, not his new
promotion to the head of the science department of Adriel Industries,
not even the half of a million dollar bonus he had received for his
latest invention. This was the night he had been waiting for for
twenty years. Nervous butterflies could be felt be he was certain
they would disappear as soon as he saw everyone again.
"Sir,
have you signed in yet? I guess not, we have a name tag for you so
that everyone will be able to recognize you. You know how everyone
has changed. It's so hard to tell who is who. Just come with me and
we'll get you all fixed up. So, what is your name anyway?" Asked
a very beautiful blonde woman who talked exceedingly fast.
William
had no doubt who this gorgeous lady was when he heard her talk. No
one else in class ever talked that fast, but Lisa never looked that
good. "Lisa Taylor, you're looking great. You probably don't
remember me, but I'm William, well, Billy Patterson."
"Billy
Patterson?" she said in a surprised and screeching voice. "I
never would have recognized you. Of course I remember you, but it's
not Lisa Taylor anymore, it's Lisa Bolton. Yes, you guessed it, I'm
Married to Larry Bolton. Isn't it great. Boy you look absolutely
wonderful. I can't believe it. How in the world have you been? What
kind of work are doing now anyway? No one has heard from you in so
long. I just bet you're doing something incredible aren't you? You
were always so smart."
"I've
been fine. Things are going rather well for me actually. I've just
been promoted to the head of the science department in the company I
work for, and I'm receiving an award for a new invention of mine. But
everyone will know about that in just a little while. . .Well, like I
said, you look great, Lisa, I'll talk to you a little later. I want
to get around and see a few more people."
William
looked around the room and saw each person whom he felt had it
coming. "There they stand, each one of them looking happy and
carefree, just like in high school. They have no idea what's about to
happen. Bubba, Charlie, Larry, Paul, John and Andrew, they all
deserve what they're about get. I bet they're all just like they were
in high school. They probably haven''t grown up at all."
William thought to himself.
William
went into the rest room to prepare for what was to come. He entered a
stall and locked the door. Taking two separate bags from his jacket
pockets he began to go to work. He had just finished a new invention
a year ago that would revolutionize the weight loss industry. It
would be released in less than a year from now. Just adding this one
chemical to any food, in the right amount, would allow the fat in the
food to be broken down to one eighth the amount of fat normally in
that food. To make things even better, it had no distinct taste or
smell, the food keeps it's flavor.
What
William's employers did not know was that by adding a second
chemical, that only he knew how to create, this miraculous new
invention would cause intense pain and uncontrollable nervous
reactions at random time intervals. Anyone taking the two chemicals
together, even in the smallest amounts, would be in agony for several
years. William was very confident that it would not cause death, but
whoever tried it would wish it did.
"This
will teach you to pull down the shorts of a nerd," said William
as he slowly mixed the two bags together. "You think I was
embarrassed, just wait until you begin to have fits wherever you go.
You won't know when it' coming; just when you think you're OK, it'll
hit again. Vengeance is mine." There was a smirk on his face
showing pride of his accomplishment and at the opportunity for
payback.
William
walked back into the gym knowing that all he had to do was slip just
a little of his magic mixture onto the food or into the drinks of
these jerks and he would have his revenge. He looked to the far side
of the room and saw all of them standing in a circle talking about
old times. "This is perfect," he thought to himself.
"Hi
guys," said William as he walked up to the gang. "How are
you fellows doing tonight?"
"We're
doing great Billy boy. How 'bout yourself?" asked Bubba.
"Actually,"
said Larry, "We hear that you're doing pretty good for yourself.
Lisa was telling us that you had a good job and was even getting some
award. That's really great Billy."
"Yes,
well, things are going good for me. It seems to be getting better all
the time," responded William while wondering why everyone seemed
to be so nice toward him.
"I
ain't doing bad myself," said Bubba. I had one of the best years
ever down at the farm. I shore do miss that there Brad though. He was
the best worker we had before the accident. Dang shame for that to
happen."
"Brad
worked for you, Bubba?," William inquired. "He never
mentioned that in his letters. He just always said that his boss was
a big farmer who treated him well. I never knew you were his boss."
"Yep,
I took over daddy's farm when he died. Brad was a pretty good
feller. I shore do miss him."
Charlie
nervously spoke up after a short pause, "Hey William, I'm not
good at this but I want to say that I'm real sorry 'bout givin' ya a
hard time and gettin' mad at ya last night when me and Mark pulled ya
over. I jus' let my temper get away sometimes. Hope there ain't no
bad feelin's, man."
"No,
everything is fine. I didn't think anything about it," William
said while feeling somewhat perplexed.
Paul
Adams, the bully himself, walked up to William and put his hand on
his shoulder. He stood gazing into William's eyes and had a strange
look on his face. William wasn't sure what to expect, was Paul mad,
worried, confused, what was he about to do. His eyes widened and he
swallowed deeply as memories of High School brought fright to
William. Then suddenly Paul took a deep breath, swung his arms around
and gave William a great big hug. "Hey man, I'm sorry about all
the stupid stuff we did when we were kids. I wish I could go back in
time and change it all. Lots of things have changed in my life and
I'm not the same stupid kid I was. I hope that you haven't let all
that stuff keep you back in life. You're a smart dude and I really
respect you. I wish I could have been more like you in high school
and not waited so long to grow up."
"Hey.
. . It's OK don't worry about it. I turned out alright and it looks
like you did also. We all have done stupid things in our lives."
William stood there not really sure what was going on. This was not
what he expected when he came to this reunion. Finally, he spoke up
again, "I'm going to go and get us all some drinks. Let's have a
toast to old times."
All
the guys thought that was a great idea. William made his way to the
drinks while stopping and talking to a few people along the way.
Everyone seemed to be so nice and happy to see him. He was more
popular tonight than he had ever been. He didn't know what to do. As
he stood at the table all alone he remembered all the mean and nasty
things that had happened in high school. He then remembered all the
nice things that had just been said to him. "What should I
do?," He thought to himself. "I've been planning
this a long time. Do they deserve to get off just because they
apologized after twenty years? . . .They still made my life a living
hell in high school. They made me refuse to return to my home town
because of shame and hatred. They tried to take away my dignity. . .
But on the other hand they do seem to have changed. They appear
sincerely sorry for what they had done. Paul even hugged me. I just
don't know what to do."
As
he finished gathering the drinks he looked across the room and saw
Mary Lou Anderson. She was even more beautiful than in high school.
William's knees began to shake. "I can't believe that I
missed out on her and Bubba got her. That just isn't fair."
Envy raged within as he watched her walk up to Bubba and give him a
great big kiss. All the guys were smiling as they watched. William
felt the bag in his jacket pocket just as he heard John yell for him
to hurry up. Calmness began to set in but confusion remained. He
watched the guys smiling and calling his name, then he looked at Mary
Lou and she smiled and waved at him. Looking around the room once
more he looked down at the drinks. He knew it was now or never and he
had to make a decision.
No comments:
Post a Comment