Dumb Moon
There’s one thing you can count on when it comes to bullies.
They always show.
Why would I think tonight would be any different?
There’s only one way to get to my pathetic trailer park from my pathetic part-time job at the local bar in town. Yeah, I know. Fourteen-year-old me, Mateo Reyes, is way too young to work in a bar. Tell me about it.
It can’t be legal. But that doesn’t stop my mother’s boyfriend from bossing me around and making me work there. Long ugly story.
I sweep, wash dishes, take out the trash, and clean up after men who don’t know how to handle their liquor, like the pathetic boyfriend my mother refuses to kick out of our home. Sure, we live in a rickety old trailer, but it’s the only home I’ve got.
And tonight, just when I thought I could race home in time to avoid these morons, they still found a way to show up and cut me off. I’m so exhausted. All I want to do is crash. I scowl up at the black sky that’s lit up with a full moon.
Is it too much to ask for a good night’s sleep without any bruises for once? Really?
Dumb moon.
Skidding to a stop, I see them. There’s four of them tonight.
They’re blocking my way to the street that crosses the tracks to the trailer park. Because it wasn’t bad enough to live in one of the most poverty-stricken areas of this stupid town. Oh no. I literally get to live on the wrong side of the tracks. And these jerks never fail to remind me of that hideous little fact at school. Beating me up just adds the cherry on top, making them feel even more superior to the poor Latino kid with a single mom that can barely hold on to a job.
I think we still have bags of frozen peas in the freezer to kiss these new bruises coming my way. I hate peas, but tonight we’re going to become besties. My fingers brush against my lucky coin in my pocket. Don’t know why I don’t get rid of this thing. It’s not like it ever brought me any good luck in my miserable life.
“Running somewhere, dork?”
I roll my eyes. Oh yeah. That’s real original.
Jerk wad is the biggest and dumbest of the bunch. Darryl Miller, a junior who just happened to have a locker right across from me and who made sure to welcome me on the first day of school. Friendly too. Especially when he poured his can of soda over my head right before I got to my first class.
Whose dumb idea was it to put freshmen lockers next to upper-class morons in the first place? It’s like the principal said, Hey, Juniors and Seniors, it’s open season on all the new dorky freshmen. Go at it.
Darryl is a big boy for his age. Yay me. He’s over six feet and thick. I’m not talkin’ muscle thick, more like someone likes a little too much syrup on his stack of a gazillion pancakes. He’s so pale he almost lights up the street, and that black spiky hair he thinks is so cool just adds an extra touch to his whole ugly vibe. Nice straight white teeth though. Bet his mama forked over some serious cash for those bad boys since she didn’t have much else to work with.
“What do you want, Darryl?” That’s a dumb question.
I already know why he and his friends are after me. They came around the bar when I was throwing out the trash, trying to scam some beer since they were too stupid to figure out how to get fake IDs like the rest of the teenagers in this town. And to top it off, they wanted it for free. Gotta hand it to ‘em. First-class morons have a style all their own.
They start walking closer, slowly, like they’re trying to be all dramatic and stuff. Oh brother, let’s get this over with. I might be a freshman, but that doesn’t mean I can’t give as good as I get. At five-ten, which is not bad for a fourteen-year-old, thank you very much, and after some training at the community gym, I’ve got a few moves up my sleeve.
I’m thin, but not scrawny by any means. The one positive thing that came from my crummy job at the dive bar was building some home-grown muscle. You know how heavy a keg of beer can be? Rolling that silver barrel around is not as easy as I make it look. You get me?
“You’re such an idiot, Mateo.” Darryl stands in front of his goons with his arms crossed. “All you had to do was get us the beer and we would have gone away. Right, boys?”
Boys? More like ugly creatures that no other planet wanted so they got stuck here on Earth.
Creature number one is tall, but as skinny as a stick. Reminds me of the blow-away inflatable tube man you always see at car dealerships. Creature number two. Well, he’s just sad. Plain and simple. Short, fat, and covered in freckles like a hive of bees attacked him while he was sleeping. Not to mention the acne that makes his cheeks shine like two glowing red balls.
And there’s creature number three. He’s all the way in the back. I squint, trying to make him out, but I don’t recognize him. Wait. He didn’t come to the bar tonight with them.
The guy’s taller than me, maybe hitting six feet and he’s slinking behind the three morons, stalking them quietly, like something you’d see in a crazy ninja movie. He’s wearing a dark hoodie, so I can’t see his face. These jerks don’t even know that he’s back there.
From out of nowhere, I see two more dark figures appear to his side. One about as tall, but much more slender. Same black hoodie, but the slim jeans make me think she’s a girl. The last hooded figure is just as tall as the first guy, but the light catches straight inkjet strands of hair on the side of his face.
Before, when Darryl and his creatures showed up, I was annoyed, but now my get your butt outta here senses are tingling down my spine. This just got scary on a whole new level.
Jerkwad is so bent on hurting me, he still doesn’t have a clue of the three terrifying hoodies that are about to jump us. “Reyes, I’m gonna hurt you. And I’m gonna hurt you real bad. These fists are gonna show you who’s the boss around here.”
Even though those hoodies terrify me, I just can’t let Darryl’s stupid remarks fly without saying something. “Are you kidding me? Do you ever listen to how dumb you sound?”
“That’s it, dork.” He turns to creatures number one and two. “Get him.”
I roll my eyes again. Of course, he sends his goons to come and get me. I know the drill. They grab me, and then King Jerkwad pulls all the punches without the fear of getting hit back.
But not this time. Just as I get my stance in place, ready to fight back, the first hoodie I saw, speaks, “No one is going to hurt him tonight!”
The three idiots whip around and stop right in their tracks. They even have the nerve to glare back at me like I set this whole thing up. Which would have been way cool, had I known I was getting jumped tonight. Too bad I can’t take the credit, especially if those hoodies are after me too.
“Reyes, you did this?” Darryl’s got his fists balled up, ready to go.
“Did what? I don’t know who they are.”
Darryl turns back to the Main Hoodie and slams his fist against the palm of his hand. “This is not your fight. Leave. Unless you want to feel the wrath of my fist.”
Wrath? Who talks like that? I crack up at his stupid lines again, fueling his anger up a notch. Bad habit of mine. Which is why I keep the freezer stocked with so many bags of frozen peas.
Darryl throws me another huge pale-faced glare. I shrug. “What? You’re just funny. What can I say?”
Main Hoodie and his friends walk closer and reveal themselves. The first guy has light brown wavy hair and big brown eyes that look like they want to slice these morons in half. Eeee. Don’t ever want to get on this guy’s bad side.
Hoodie number two is a girl. Just like I thought. Her long brown hair is held back in a ponytail and she’s pretty. She’s not as scary mad, but she’s not happy either. You can tell by the way she’s scowling at Darryl and his friends.
And last, Hoodie number three comes forward and crosses his arms. He has dark skin and straight black hair that reaches his neckline. Gotta say, it’s a cool Indian exotic look.
He runs his hand through his hair, tipping his head down, giving the morons the same mean glare as the first guy. He seems older than the other two. Oh yeah. This guy is definitely in charge.
He walks toward us, with his head held high, calm, without a flicker of fear in his eyes. “As my friend just told you. No one is hurting him tonight. Trust me. You don’t want to experience the wrath of what we’re capable of. It is time for you to leave.”
Bam. In your face, Darryl.
I bet this guy was royalty in another lifetime. A prince, maybe? When this guy speaks, you know it would just be a smart move to do whatever he says or else.
But looking at Darryl, stupid should be plastered across his forehead, because he moves closer to Prince Hoodie and gets in his face. “Who’s gonna make me? You. India boy. Why don’t you go back to where you came from? We don’t need your kind around here.”
Oh yeah, did I forget to mention what racist bigots these guys are?
The guy smiles at Darryl, like with that whole cool—I’m about to shake up your world smile—and not in a good way. “No. I’m not going to make you do anything.” He puts his hands behind his back as if he’s in deep thought. “She will.” He nods to the girl. “Katrina, shall we demonstrate?”
She nods and takes a deep breath. “Luna. Shadow. Zamir.”
The air quiets around us and then I hear something that can’t be real. No way. I—can—not—be hearing that. Growling? But it doesn’t sound like it’s coming from a dog. Wolves, maybe. What the heck? Next, I hear the thunderous roar of a tiger. And it is not the sound of a happy tiger.
My mind begins to race. Get out of there, dummy! But there’s so much shock and terror pumping into my veins, this dummy just stands like a frozen statue stuck to the asphalt. I can’t move. Then, as if the tiger’s roar wasn’t bad enough, the next sound I hear is enough to make my mind explode.
Howling! I was right. Definitely wolves. Not one, but two of them.
I look back up at the moon, already apologizing for calling her dumb, because if this full moon brought out some magic hungry wolves, I really want to be on her good side. But instead of fear ripping me apart, I feel something else. It hurts like crazy. Like someone broke my heart. Longing. Despair. I shake my head. What the heck is that all about?
The moron’s heads are spinning around like pinballs, trying to gauge where the sounds are coming from. Their eyeballs look like they’re about to fly out of their sockets with terror.
Inflatable tube man grabs Darryl’s arm. “What is that? Is that real?”
I look down and see some little streaks coming down his pant leg. You know the saying, he got so scared he—well you know the saying. Not his finest moment and just so you know, I am soooo storing this little moment away for future use.
But until then—all I can do is pray to get out of here alive. Time to do what I do best. Run!
Yeah, that’s a good idea. That’s actually a full-blown brilliant idea. My brown butt is outta here. Back to where I belong, across the tracks and away from these hoodies. Away from all the noise of these animals that might be hiding, ready to eat us.
But just as I find a sliver of an ounce, not the whole ounce, ‘cuz I’m not that brave, but a tiny sliver of an ounce of courage to move, thinking that this can’t get any worse, I see them.
A monster of a tiger and two massive, tall wolves saunter slowly toward us.
I’m so dead!
