Devil’s Night
Six Years Ago
I’d been on edge ever since confession earlier.
Looking over my shoulder, taking second glances at everyone as I walked down hallways and sat in classrooms.
The girl in the confessional, I had to know her, right? She certainly knew who I was.
And steal me? What the hell did that mean? I shot a glance to the girls sitting and chatting in the bleachers, ready and waiting to give the guys on the court some attention after practice. Any one of them could be her. Any girl in this school could be her. While I liked a little mystery, I preferred being on the inside track. The one doing the playing, not the one being played with.
Shooting the basketball over to Will, I jogged to the end of the court with everyone else, twenty sets of sneakers skidding across the floor as the ball changed hands twice more and then came back to me. I caught it, breathing hard with sweat cooling my back as I pushed into the point guard at my back, dribbling, twisting, and then shooting. The ball soared through the air, skidded off the rim, and I clenched my jaw as it missed the basket and fell into Damon’s waiting hands.
He grinned, running back down to the other end of the court, satisfied in my failure.
Anger sat like a brick in my stomach, but I kept quiet. I shouldn’t have missed that. I was thinking about her, and I would until I figured out who she was. I should’ve barged in there and confronted her when I had the chance.
Damon passed the ball off to Michael, and he caught it, his T-shirt hanging out of the back of his shorts as he ran down the court. There was a flash of something off to my left, and I turned my head in time to see the branches and leaves of the forty-foot sycamore outside the gym blowing against the windows above the bleachers.
“That fucking wind is going crazy,” Will said, rushing up next to me. He moved light and quick, keeping one eye on the ball as he cast me a glance, smiling. “It’s gonna be a wild night tonight.”
Yeah, wild. Compared to what?
My friends didn’t need Devil’s Night as an excuse to get crazy. But I did. It was the one night I let myself make really bad decisions. Decisions made out of desire and selfishness and a need to not think methodically over every detail of every movement I made every day. I wasn’t raised to be perfect, but I was raised to do everything with perfection in mind. Slow, careful, focused… showing the same consideration in pouring a cup of coffee as I do taking a math test. Or working on my car.
Or screwing a girl.
And I was more than ready to let go of it all. My rough edges were itching to get out.
But now, instead of anticipating all the ways I was going to get my hands dirty tonight, I was obsessing over her and whether or not I would see her. How would I recognize her?
The best part about talking to her this morning was that I didn’t think she intended to be mysterious or to get under my skin the way she did. She wasn’t working me like other girls tried to do. What she didn’t say was just as interesting as what she did. Her breathlessness, her small voice, the flirtation that slipped out in her careful words as if she wanted something but had no clue how to be bold. I liked her innocence, but I could feel her desire to shuck it. So perfect.
“Hey, man.” Michael nudged my arm. I glanced at him, trying to look like I hadn’t just spaced off again when he tipped his chin, gesturing to my right. “Your dad.”
I turned my head, keeping my scowl but straightening, nonetheless. My father stood on the edge of the court, staring at me with his arms crossed over his chest, his sharp, black suit in severe contrast to the cream-colored walls and the warm wood of the court floor. What was he doing here? He knew I was going out after school.
His black hair, same color as mine, looked as perfect as it had this morning, and his dark eyes and pinched brows leveled on me, telling me he was either happy about the weather, satisfied with last night’s workout, or completely put-out about the state of affairs in the Ukraine. I could never really tell.
Without asking for permission to leave practice, I walked toward him, pulling my shirt out of the back of my shorts and slipping it back on.
“Father,” I said, grabbing my towel off the bottom bleacher and wiping my face.
He didn’t say anything, waiting to have my full attention before speaking. This is where I was both lucky and cursed. While my friends’ fathers were in their fifties, my father was only forty-three. And he took care of himself. He had no trouble keeping pace with me and had the patience of a saint.
Stuffing my towel into my duffel bag, I pulled out my water. “I won’t be home for dinner. Mom told you, right?”
“She did,” he said, his expression stoic again. “But I would prefer that you change your mind. You can spend time with your friends another night.”
“Another night won’t be Devil’s Night.” I popped the top of my water bottle, unable to meet his eyes. “It’s once a year, and it’s the last one before I go off to college. I’ll stay out of trouble.”
He remained still, not arguing or moving as I took a drink and continued to pack up the rest of my gear. The laughter and energy grew louder as everyone picked up their bags, and I heard the locker room door swing open and closed several times.
None of it made the feel of his eyes on me fade.
“You’re disappointed in me,” I stated. “I know.”
I zipped up my bag and swung it over my head. My father never forbid me from doing anything, but he wasn’t stupid. He knew exactly what we got up to on Devil’s Night.
“I wish you made better choices,” he clarified. “That’s all.”
I finally looked up at him. “Your choices, you mean.”
“The right choices.” His eyes turned stern. “This is why respecting your elders is important. We have a lot more experience making mistakes, Kai.”
I couldn’t help it. I smiled. “I never make mistakes,” I replied. “I’m either right or I’m learning. Jaku niku kyo shoku.”
I recited one of the many Japanese sayings he’d spouted over the course of my life.
The weak are meat, the strong eat.
And as much as I knew he wanted to say more, he nodded, letting it go with a barely visible smile on his face. Finally.
“Don’t forget Sunday,” he said.
“I never do.”
And I backed away, turning around and heading to the locker room. Every Sunday morning, I joined him in the dojo at our home for a workout. It was the one thing we did together, and he never failed to be there. And so, of course, neither did I.
“No offense.” Will ran up next to me, sweat soaking through his T-shirt and covering his neck. “But your dad scares the shit out of me. Even I want his approval, and I know he hates me.”
“He doesn’t hate you,” I assured him, smiling to myself. “He’s waiting for the better you. That’s all.”
He simply grunted, and I followed as he pushed through the locker room door.
Frankly, I didn’t care if my father liked my friends. Damon’s father didn’t like anyone, and I’d be surprised if Michael’s father knew my name, even after all these years. My friends were simply mine. That was it. They were separate from what happened at home, in class, or even in my head sometimes. That’s what I liked about them. When we were together, we were a planet.
After I undressed and showered, I walked down the row of lockers, the room suddenly so noisy I could barely think. Everyone was ready, and so was I. I wanted to see her tonight. She had to find me.
I opened my locker and started pulling out my clothes.
“Alright,” Will called out, fixing his hair in front of the mirror in his locker, “the chicks already set everything up, and the paintball equipment is loaded in the cars,” he told us. “We’ll head out and do our shit, kill a little time at the cemetery, and then head to the city.”
“Wait. The city?” Damon spoke up. “We’re not going to the warehouse?”
I grinned. “You’re absolved, right?” I asked him, reminding him of his confession this morning. “You need new sins for next week. Don’t worry. You’ll like it.”
“I better,” he said, tightening the towel around his waist. “Because, holy shit, I need my dick sucked.”
Locker doors immediately slammed shut, and I looked up, all of a sudden seeing three of our teammates vacate the area quickly. Will burst into laughter so hard, he hunched over, shaking uncontrollably.
Damon turned and shouted, “Hey, where y’all going? One hot, wet mouth is as good as another, as far as I’m concerned!”
Smiling, Will shook his head, and raising his hands in the air, he met Damon’s palms in a high-five.
Damon chuckled and stuck an unlit cigarette in his mouth, but then a bellow echoed through the locker room.
“Torrrance!” Coach shouted. And Damon immediately spat out the cigarette.
“Goddammit,” he growled in a low voice.
How Lerner always knew when Damon was about to smoke, I had no idea. His aggravation, though, didn’t stop Will from breaking out in Mötley Crüe’s Smoking in the Boys Room, teasing him.
“Alright, let’s do this,” Michael called out, shutting them up. “It’s time.”
I pulled on my jeans, glancing at the clock behind me and seeing it was nearly two in the afternoon.
Time to round up the party.
We quickly finished dressing, pulled on our black hoodies, and grabbed our phones, wallets, and keys, leaving everything else behind. The bell rang, signaling the start of the final period of the day, and the four of us stepped out into the empty hallway, hearing the faint chatter of teachers carrying on with their final lessons on this Friday afternoon.
I wish you made better choices. That’s all.
I looked left to right, seeing the dim afternoon light barely igniting a glow on the blue and green lockers. The dark corners lurked beyond, and we all stood quiet for a rare moment, enjoying the calm before the storm.
“Let’s do this,” I said, still staring down the hallway and seeing the branches with red and orange leaves outside the front doors going wild in the wind.
I heard the shuffle of the bag, and knew Will was pulling out our masks one by one. Damon pulled on his black skull, the teeth in the mouth looking like claws. Will handed Michael his red one with deep black gashes across the face that were just as vicious as the gnawed lips. Will tossed me my metallic silver mask with slits for the eyes that were small and dark, and the gouges in the skin mean and hard. Then he slipped on the white one with a red stripe down the side of the face. All of us looked like some post-apocalyptic death squad, which suited the egos of a bunch of spoiled, rich boys who never really knew danger.
Will tossed the duffel back into the locker room, and I pulled my mask on like a helmet. I closed my eyes, savoring it. In here, I was invisible. I could be whomever I wanted.
In here, I wasn’t hiding.
Pulling out my phone, I texted Kylie Halpern in the front office, cueing her to play the music. Within ten seconds, Sister Machine Gun started beating out of the speakers down the halls and all around, and I slipped my phone in my back pocket, taking a deep breath.
Michael stepped forward, looking left then right. “Now,” he said.
“Go, go, go!” Max Cason shouted into the wind, his head sticking out my passenger side window.
A half hour later, fourteen cars, trucks, and motorcycles were on their way, packed to the breaking point with every player on our team, some of their girlfriends, and a few just along for the fun. The school didn’t stop us or anyone from leaving for what had quickly become a Devil’s Night tradition to boost team camaraderie and morale.
Storming the school at two in the afternoon to kick it all off had turned into one of my favorite parts of the night. Barging into classrooms, grabbing my fellow basketball players—and whomever else we wanted—and dragging everyone out of school was like an amphetamine to the brain. We had everyone’s attention, their awe, and sometimes, their fear. It was power, and for one night a year, we enjoyed a limitless supply of it. Teachers didn’t stop us, cops stood aside, and for a while, I really loved being me.
Everyone wanted to be us.
Will’s black Ford Raptor drove in front of me, and all the guys in the bed of his truck laughed and shouted out with beers in their hands already. Some of them had water bottles filled with a clear liquor, which was an interesting tactic to drink in class. As long as it looked like water, teachers never knew the difference.
With my mask tucked on the console beside me, I shifted into sixth, racing ahead and following Will. Damon led the motorcade, and I glanced to my left, seeing Gavin Ellison speed past on his motorcycle with his girlfriend sitting behind him and her arms wrapped around him.
Damon must’ve seen him coming out of his rearview mirror, because just as Gavin sped up to overtake Damon’s BMW, Damon swerved left, blocking his path. I laughed to myself, but then I spotted a kid on a bike, inches from Damon’s car, swerve and fall to the side of the road, and my face fell.
“What the hell?” I barked, pressing my foot lightly on the brake to slow down.
The kid tumbled to the ground, spilling down the small incline, and his bike crashed into the grass.
And Damon and the motorcycle just fucking kept going.
Goddamn him.
I broke harder, slowing the Jeep to a stop and seeing Will’s brake lights glow red ahead of me. I shifted into neutral and yanked up the parking brake, hopping out of the car.
I glared at the road ahead, seeing Damon and the motorcycle still racing in the distance. Did it even occur to him to fucking stop?
“Damon’s such an asshole.” Will looked back at me, jumping down from his cab and taking a bite of the beef jerky in his hand.
A few of the guys from the bed of his truck hopped out, too, and Will walked up to where the kid fell, bending down to help him up.
“You okay?”
The kid sat on his hands and knees, and I approached, catching glimpses of him through the guys’ legs as he moved around, grabbing books that laid strewn on the side of the road. I didn’t hear him answer, and I couldn’t see his face.
Will scooped up two books that had fallen, and I caught sight of a basket on the front of the bike.
“I said I’m fine,” the kid spat out, and I stopped, seeing a baseball cap fall to the ground.
Long, dark hair suddenly went wild, blowing in the high winds, and I made out a slender face and full lips.
It was a girl.
Dressed kind of like us, though, wearing jeans and a navy blue hoodie.
She reached over, keeping her head down and her eyes shielded by her hair as she grabbed the books out of Will’s hands.
She seemed fine. We could go.
“I’ve seen you around before, haven’t I?” Will asked, bending over to pick up her bike. “You live around here? We can take you home. Get in.”
“No.” She shot out her hands, stopping him from touching her bike. “I said I was fine. Just leave. Please.”
I narrowed my eyes on her, stepping closer.
Just then a couple guys picked up some of her books and showed them to each other, laughing. She stilled, staring at the ground. Her jeans were filthy. Dark smudges covered the knees, but I didn’t see any blood. I didn’t think she was hurt.
“We should just bring her with us, man,” someone joked.
“Yeah, can we give her a bath first?”
“Enough,” I barked, cutting them off. “Get back in the truck. Your beers are getting warm.”
They dispersed, and Will walked back to his cab, casting one more look at the girl, who was quietly and quickly gathering up her books, ignoring us.
She had to be about our age, but she certainly didn’t like any attention. Especially judging by the ratty clothes she wore and the old Vans shoe that laid on the ground. It must’ve fallen off her foot in the fall. Why wasn’t she wearing socks? It was cold.
I squatted down, picking up a pedal from her bike, which had broken off.
“You can’t ride this bike, kid,” I told her. “The pedal is broken.”
I held it under her face, showing her.
“I’ll manage.” She stood up, her arms wrapped tightly around all of her books, avoiding my gaze.
She was a curt little thing, wasn’t she?
I didn’t know if she was afraid of us or pissed off about what happened, but she definitely didn’t want to engage.
“Will said you live close?” I asked. “I can toss the bike in the back of my Jeep and take you—”
“I said I’ll manage,” she spat out, still keeping her head down. “Just leave.”
I couldn’t help but smile a little. She seemed so desperate to have us gone. Like she was afraid something bad would happen. What did she think we were going to do to her?
I turned around to leave but spotted a paperback on the ground, nearly stepping on it. I leaned down and picked it up, doing a double-take at the redhead in an emerald gown on the cover. Her tits were busting at the seams as some hard-muscled guy in a blouse held her to him dramatically, rivers of his hair and her dress both blowing in the wind.
I snorted as I turned around and handed it to her.
“Shut up,” she mumbled, seeing the smile on my face and snatching the book back.
I squatted down once more, grabbing her shoe off the ground, and then pulled up her foot.
Her skin was freezing, and I jerked in surprise. Her jeans had holes everywhere and no socks. Why wasn’t she dressed properly?
She pulled her foot away, grabbing for the shoe. “I can do it.”
But I held firm, giving her a defiant look as I pulled up her foot.
“God, can’t you take a hint?” she snipped.
“Your skin is freezing,” I remarked, slipping the shoe on. “Maybe you should—”
“Hands off,” someone ordered behind me.
I whipped my head around and saw that several men had arrived, their sport bikes parked in the middle of the road. Over Will’s truck engine, I hadn’t heard them pull up.
I stood up as they came around, and I watched as they placed themselves right in front of the girl, standing between us.
What the hell?
“Excuse me?” I looked around them, trying to see her.
“She’s fine,” said the one in the middle with the shaved head who was dressed in a white, sleeveless T-shirt. “We’ll take it from here.”
I let out a little laugh, feeling Will inch closer at my side and seeing Michael approach.
“Who the hell are you?” I asked.
But he just ignored me, turning his head to her and whispering, “Pull your hood up.”
She followed directions, quickly covering herself and keeping her chin down. Two guys flanked Shaved-Head, as Michael and Will did me, all of us walls.
“Leave,” the one in the middle ordered me.
“Yeah, no way.” I tilted my head, trying to make eye contact with the girl behind them. “Are you okay? Who are these guys?”
They could be her brothers, but they damn well didn’t look anything like her.
She stole a few glances up, and then I noticed it. A small smile pulling at her lips and an amused look crossing her features, her shyness all of a sudden disappearing. “They’re far more of a handful than you are, Horsemen.”
Her new pals broke out in a laugh, looking smug.
I lifted my chin.
“Let’s go,” Shaved-Head told her.
They all glared at us as they walked past, and the young woman followed, brushing my arm as she slipped by. I inhaled her faint scent. The energy in the air was suddenly so thick you could take hold of it. There was something familiar about her.
She handed her books to the tall one with blond hair and a silver chain around his neck, while the other one hooked her bike over his shoulder as he straddled his motorcycle.
She climbed on behind Shaved-Head, and I narrowed my eyes, watching her circle her arms around him.
I stepped forward as their bikes all roared to life.
She looked back over her shoulder one more time, and I finally saw her eyes. A beautiful green with touches of gold. “Thought you had some people you wanted to scare tonight,” she said.
What?
She turned away but not quick enough to hide the smirk on her face, and off they went, all three sport bikes whirring down the road as they sped away.
What the hell did she say? How did…?
I clenched my jaw, realization hitting.
The night is young. Maybe you’ll find someone else to scare tonight.
The girl from the confessional today. Fuck, that was her.
I watched her and those pricks disappear from sight, everything I’d told her today playing in my head again. How did she know who I was? And why had I never seen her before?
She was playing with me.
How confident and bold-as-fucking-brass she got when they arrived. She thought those guys—whoever the hell they were—could put us in our place. We were playing at being bad and they were the real thing. Is that what she thought?
“Do you know her?” Michael asked next to me.
I focused down the road, not sure how to answer that.
“If you want her, she’s yours,” Michael said.
I kept my smile to myself. Michael talked about women the same way he talked about cheeseburgers. It really was as easy as that.
“Want her?” Will cut in. “What the hell would he want with her when we have top-shelf chicks in our cars right now? Didn’t you see how she was dressed? No make-up, guys’ clothes… She’s a feminist.”
I closed my eyes, laughing to myself. Jesus. “I thought you liked the hard-to-get ones?” I joked, looking over at him.
But he just twisted up his lips, the secret object of his obsession no more primped up than the girl who’d just left. “Yeah, well…you want me to call Damon, or what?” he asked. “Someone said she worked at his house.”
She did?
“No,” I reply. “I don’t want him telling me anything about her. I’ll find out myself.”
He was already gone anyway, probably at the cemetery by now.
“So, are we going to get her then?” Michael probed.
But I just stared ahead, thinking.
She’d challenged me, hadn’t she? She’d made it a point to let me know who she was before she made her little escape with those assholes. To let me know she got me today only when she thought she could get away from us.
I barely nodded, every muscle in my body tight as a rope. “I kind of want to scare the shit out of her first.”
I heard Michael laugh softly and then saw him twist around, shouting, “Hey, Dayton!” He called to one of the cars, and I watched him throw his keys down the line. “Switch cars with me. And clean yours out! I need the trunk.”
Will cooed excitedly and rubbed his hands together, suddenly very much on board with this plan.
We turned to hand off our keys for others to take our cars to the cemetery, so the three of us could go on this run together. This was more over the top than my usual taste in pranks, but I couldn’t stop myself.
I didn’t want to stop myself.
I wanted to slam through every wall in my head and race so fast I wouldn’t have time to think. Right now, as far I was concerned, this night would never end.
She fucked with me today.
Now I was going to fuck with her.
