Chapter 6 – The New Girl
Ash and Sky slowly drifted down the hallway toward the art class. A large group of boys leaned against the wall near the door. As they approached, Sky explained the breakdown…
“We’re green stripe, so that’s the only real democratic gang here, The Iron Fist. There’s a bunch of them right up ahead. The kid talking, that’s Kazimov.”
Sky lowered her voice. “He’s lead striker on the district punchball team. And he’s not stupid either. He’s honor roll, aiming for a sponsor. He’ll get it too, if he doesn’t get hurt or anything. Technically, he’s not in the gang,” Sky whispered. “Hambone runs everything. He and Kaz have been tight since grammar school.”
“No man, that's not what happened," Kaz said. Taller and stronger than most adults, Kaz glanced up and caught Ashley’s eye as she approached.
"I was there, fool," Hambone, a well-fed teen with thick sideburns, pointed out. He wore district issued clothes, but several sizes too large, sporting expensive sneakers and a track jacket. Off-district items were a hot commodity, standing out amid the otherwise standard-issue apparel.
"Yeah, so? We all were," Kaz reminded his rotund partner.
"Really, Ham. What the hell?" Rudy asked.
“That’s Rudy and Taylor,” Sky explained. “They claim to be twins, but no one believes it. They arrived at the orphanage on the same day, but the similarities end there.” Rudy was black. The teen was wearing an extravagant derby cap, colored in red, green and orange swatches. He wore a full beard and boasted a gut that rivaled Hambone's. His brother, Taylor, in stark contrast, was white, tall and thin. He wore an electric guitar strapped across his back and couldn’t shave if he’d wanted to.
Jones, whom Ashley met earlier, also stood nearby. The lightly muscled teenager wore a double zero basketball jersey over a t-shirt. She hadn't noticed the off-district shirt earlier; all she’d remembered was his perfectly spherical hairstyle. Jones smiled as the girls approached.
Ash and Sky crossed in front of them and, predictably, the boys stopped talking. The girls kept moving, gliding past. Ash and Sky entered the hall and after a moment they heard the laughter, sighs and awes.
Inside the vast hall, Ash was overwhelmed by the variety of artistic activities available. There were literally dozens to choose from. A group of students were sketching, gathered around a live, tastefully clothed model. In another section, teens practiced making pottery, the wet, spinning clay splattering across tiled floors and aprons. Several painted on canvases, set up over drop cloths. Most of the students sat, scattered around various desks, peacefully doodling.
Sky looked at Ash. "What do you want to do?"
"I don't know. I never did this kind of stuff."
"They didn't have art at your school?"
"They did, but I took different electives."
"What's an elective?"
"It's… We just… It wasn't like this."
"So you don't have an artistic hobby?"
"Not really."
"Wanna draw up some t-shirt designs with me? You can make good money selling custom shirts and stuff," Sky said.
Ash nodded. Sky led her toward a supply cabinet.
"If you design something really cool you can sell it online for like twenty bucks. If you're really good, or you have an idea people like, you can sometimes get thirty or forty."
"No way," Ash said, genuinely excited.
Sky smiled. "Everything we need is here," Sky opened a cabinet and carried baskets of markers, pencils, paper and brushes to an empty table.
Ash followed, noticing the guys' hungry sidelong stares. If they were anymore obvious, they would be drooling.
Rudy wiped the back of his hand across his mouth, just to check.
Ash laughed.
Sky ignored the flirting, still unsettled after her run-in with Carver. "You can draw anything on a t-shirt,” she said. “Sometimes I just draw different symbols. You know, musical notes, hearts, stars and stuff." Sky set down the supplies, taking a seat before the pencils, markers and paper.
"I had a few that were bars of music from famous symphonies and then I would put the composers name under it, like a quote, you know. They sold pretty good, for awhile."
"You did that? That's cool! I remember those. Some of the girls in my class had them." Ash smiled, genuinely impressed.
Sky blushed and looked away. "Yeah. We only sold maybe two hundred before some big label copied us and everyone had one. No one wanted mine anymore."
Hambone turned out to be the one who approached the girls first. "Looks like we're drawing today, gentlemen," Hambone spoke to the guys over his shoulder as he walked toward Sky and Ashley.
"Man, oh, man. This is gonna be good." Jones laughed and sat at the closest table.
Hambone seemed to have second thoughts and veered off in his direct approach. He did smile at Ashley and Sky, before turning to Kaz and the others, proclaiming, “Let’s get some supplies. What do you say?”
Sky watched the boys rummage through the various supply cabinets. After a moment she looked back to Ash. "So, you never took any music lessons or art classes, huh?"
"No, I was mostly into dance. And school, you know. Grades."
"Yeah," Sky said.
"How long have you been here?" Ash asked.
"Oh, uh, well... " Sky scratched her head.
"Sorry," Ash said.
"It's okay. I've been here, since the middle of second grade... Almost eight years."
The girls sat quietly for a moment as Hambone and his friends loudly raided the supply cabinets.
"Hey," Sky said. "I didn't say anything earlier, but I heard about what you did to Paulie last night. You know they had to wire his jaw shut? That was you, wasn't it? You broke Paulie the Parrot's Jaw?"
Ash lowered her head. "Paulie the Parrot?
"Yeah, that's what they call him. Anyhow, I'm sure he deserved it; the guy is a total asshole, just like Carver. Thanks again, for that, by the way."
"You don't have to keep thanking me." Ash looked up at Sky.
"No. It's okay. I mean, I'd heard that a new girl beat him up and, when I saw you in the lunchroom, I knew it was you. I mean, I thought it was."
Ash looked at her and flashed a warm, conspiratorial grin.
Hambone stepped forward. "Hey, Sky," he said. "Can we sit by you guys?" he asked, sitting before Sky could answer. Hambone waved the rest of his friends over to the girls' otherwise unoccupied table.
Hambone sat next to Sky, across from Ashley. It was Kazimov who sat down beside her.
"Hey Hambone. Guys," Sky said.
The rest of the crew filled in the table. Some of them raised their hands and offered grunts in lieu of proper greetings.
"What, um, happened to your face?" Hambone asked.
"Nothing," Sky replied, unwilling to share the details.
"That nothing that must have really been something."
"What do you want, Hambone?" Sky asked.
"You know, liberty, equality, the good stuff. So who's this?" he asked, gesturing to Ash.
"Guys, this is Ash." Sky gestured to Ashley, introducing her to the guys. "Ash, this is... Hambone, Kaz, Li, Rudy, Taylor, Max, Liam and…" Sky pointed, "that's Jones."
Ash recognized him and waved. Jones smiled and winked.
“Pleased to meet you.” Hambone reached out for Ashley’s hand and she instinctively withdrew.
Kaz laughed.
Hambone held his hands up, smiling. He turned to Sky, “So, what are we drawing today, Blue?”
Ash raised an eyebrow.
“I call her Blue,” Hambone said, looking at Sky, who was blushing. Ham turned to Ashley, “Since fourth grade or so, I think. She’s my little sister.” Hambone put his arm over Sky’s shoulder. “And when I find out who did this…” Hambone brushed some of the hair away from Sky’s battle-damaged face. He looked at Ashley.
Ash met his stare and changed the subject. "So, can any of you guys draw?" she asked.
"Li's a gaddamn genius." Kazimov said, gestured to the smaller boy sitting on the other side of Hambone.
Ashley smiled and nodded to Li. "I want to put a drawing of a Fox on some of my shirts," she explained. "But I don't want him all cutesy and weak."
"You want me to draw you a fox, but you don't want him to be cute?" Li asked.
"Yes, please. Can you make him cool? Maybe a little dangerous?"
The boys melted. Sky rolled her eyes.
"Sure, um…" Li leaned over a piece of paper and went to work with a marker. In moments, he finished and lifted the paper.
"Like this?" he asked.
The image was shaped like an inverted star, with the top points, the ears, flared out. The bottom points on the right and left curved up, like whiskers. The bottom, narrow chin was squared off. In the center, he drew narrowed eyes and sharp peaked brows.
The fox looked wicked dangerous.
"Damn. You are good." Ash said, impressed. Without thinking, she nonchalantly pulled her t-shirt over her head, and handed it to Li. Beneath the tee she wore a sleeveless white tank top over her bra. Her shoulders and arms were tightly muscled and toned.
The boy's mouths fell open.
Sky rolled her eyes, twice.
Li picked up the marker and drew directly on the shirt. A moment later he held up a carbon copy of his earlier design. The fox was perfectly centered, sharp and black.
"Thanks." Ash said, pulling the shirt back on and then admiring the design from her inverted perspective. "Thanks a lot," she said, beaming.
Sky suddenly felt crowded by the boys but didn't make a scene. They were oblivious, utterly captivated by her fearless new friend. They didn’t even know anything about her yet.
Sky knew nothing about her either, but she knew this girl was something different, someone unique.
The boys peppered her with questions, the more personal of which she artfully dodged or inverted on the questioner. Their chief interrogator was Hambone, he steered the conversation; effortlessly engaging, including and complimenting everyone. He was the consummate showman, selling the air itself, with hints of laughter, friendship and good cheer.
Sky kept her head down, doodling, as Ash remained artfully vague. Sky knew her new friend would only succeed in making herself that much more mysterious and thus captivating the imaginations of her new fans.
"And so it begins," Sky muttered to herself.
A couple hours later, Ashley and her entourage stood at the center of a large gymnasium.
The instructor, wearing a referee's jersey, blew his whistle. "Alright. Single file line and let's get a head count. Count off, 1, 2, 3, 4. Remember your numbers. Today, no one is a Zero."
This last bit had endeared him to the children. Mr. Zee, once an orphan himself, didn't play favorites. He treated the children with respect and got the same from them.
Eager to get to the games, the children started their count and quickly finished. "102," the last child yelled.
"102, huh?" Mr. Zee did some metal calculations.
"All right," he yelled. "Numbers 23 and 24 end game one, Numbers 49 and 50 end game two, Numbers 75 and 76 end game three, the rest, court four. Evens versus odds, move now!"
Sky and Ash, standing next to each other found themselves assigned to opposing teams. Kazimov was also assigned to the team opposite Ash. He smiled at her as they separated. Ash didn't get a chance to smile back before he looked away.
Mr. Zee walked the perimeter of the room and dumped baskets of red rubber dodge balls across the floor. "You know the rules. Get hit, you're out. Catch it, the thrower's out and you get a buddy back."
The kids carried the balls to the center, setting up a line of rubber projectiles and returning to their respective sides of the court.
"Stay behind your line, cross it, your out. On my whistle, come and get 'em. One each." He blew a short blast on the whistle and a hundred kids sprinted for the centerline of their courts.
Ash, Sky and Kaz each grabbed a ball and turned back to their own sides. Ash smiled at Kaz, who blushed as he ran back to his own side.
Hambone, who started off close to the center, reached the line of balls ahead of the others. He ran down the line and rolled balls toward his teammates, away from the opposing team, successfully denying the other team half their opening firepower.
Rebound punished him with a well-aimed blast to the shoulder.
Ham rolled with the hit and jogged off court, amid cheers from his teammates. On the sidelines, he waited for someone to catch a ball and bring him back into the game.
Ham didn't stay lonely long. Three kids on each side went down with the opening volley.
One kid kicked an incoming ball and Mr. Zee called him out. "This is dodge ball, not kick ball."
As the game progressed, more kids got hit and make their way to the sidelines.
Ash danced through the incoming shots. Kaz displayed terrific aim and a powerful arm, but he couldn't hit her. Ash, just as fast and accurate as Kaz, often fired while he stepped in, scaring him out of the zone.
Finally, the game came down to just the two of them.
Ash didn't realize it, but the boy was the star striker of the punchball team and considered the district’s premiere athlete. Professional agents and scouts had already inquired about his college and professional interests.
Ashley and Kaz were the only two players left on the court, the ammo theirs for the taking. They each held two balls.
Tired of waiting, Kaz hurled his first.
Ash dodged it.
Undaunted, he threw the second; she dodged again. Kaz stood empty handed. He could move for a ball, but he'd have to look away from Ashley.
She didn't wait, without warning she threw the first directly at him, but it was just a little short and it bounced before it reached him.
Kaz looked up from the first throw, just in time to be hit with the blistering-fast second ball.
Mr. Zee blew his whistle. "Court 2, Switch.”