The Freak - S01 E16

3 months ago

The Freak - S01 E16

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 16

to an excellent seafood restaurant in Larchmont with windows that overlooked the harbor on Long Island Sound. We sat at a table facing the water, holding hands through most of the meal which was exquisite. Barbara had a platter of fried shrimp while had grilled scallops with an order of fries that we split. Topping off the meal was a delightful Coca-Cola on ice in lieu of wine. We also shared a hefty slice of cheesecake for dessert, leaving at 8:25 for the half-hour trip to Richie's house only two blocks from the high school.

I drove through two traffic stops on the fifteen mile trip even though was driving five miles below the speed limit both times. My license and registration were checked both times and was asked if had anything to drink that evening. I shared a laugh with the officers both tirnes when I replied, "Does Coke count?" was relieved when I pulled to the curb near Richie's house. I'd managed to elude the drunks so far. Hopefully, I'd have the same success later when I took Barbara home. She was staying over, sleeping again in Carole's bed.

I'd been to Richie's several times before, either for a party or just to watch a football game with our mutual friends. In some respects his house reminded me of my grandparents' apartment. It was long and relatively narrow. There were living and dining rooms and a family room all in a row with the kitchen just off to the left about two-thirds of the way back. Most of my classmates were already there when we arrived and I was pleased to see that Richie's girlfriend Marlene remembered Barbara, welcoming her with Richie and introducing her to our classmates while I dropped our coats behind the couch along with about forty others.

We danced for about an hour, mostly slow ones with my arms around her waist and hers around my neck and helped ourselves to Cokes and pretzels, mostly having a wonderful time, until Barbara excused herself to use the bathroom. It was in the rear of the house and on the way back she was grabbed and groped by someone who shouldn't have been there. She didn't scream, but she did protest loudly enough that I heard her and, when saw who had groped her, my expression turned to steel. Luckily, Marlene had also heard Barbara and she warned Richie and my teammates. Two of them intercepted me while two more walked back to have a polite word with Kenny Maples. Meanwhile, Marlene had rescued Barbara and was leading her back to me. Kenny took one look toward the front of the house and, seeing my anger, took off at the run-out the back door and gone.

I hugged Barbara once she assured me that she was okay. "I was shocked more than anything else. I couldn't believe that a friend of yours would do that."

"He's no friend of Freak's or mine either," Eli told her. "You must know how protective he is with his sisters. Well, last year sometime in the fall, I think, we walked into the cafeteria only to find Marie crying. It seems that asshole Kenny had stolen her ice cream money. We found out later that he'd been doin' it with all the Junior high kids since the opening of school. We wanted to take care of him right then, but the teachers have a table in the cafeteria and we couldn't get near him without getting into trouble.

"Then at the end of the day Freak and I told a bit of a white lie to get out of class a few minutes early. We were waiting at the back door when he walked through. Freak grabbed him by the throat and walked him behind the auditorium. There are some high bushes there and we went behind one of the biggest. Then Freak. told Kenny that he wanted his sister's ice cream money back. Stupid Kenny just laughed and told us that he had already eaten it.

"I still remember exactly what Freak said. "No problem, asshole Then he punched that asshole in the stomach so hard that he lifted him more than a foot in the air. He threw up all over his shirt. pants, and shoes by the time he fell into a heap. Told you I'd get it back; and let me tell you this-you'll think this was a love tap if I ever hear that you've stolen some kid's lunch money again. I'll break every bone in your body. Those were his exact words. Turned out there was no need; stupid Kenny quit school a week later. What a loser!"

Then Eli turned to me. "You need to leave him to us. Elmer, Tony, and live in the Village and we have a lot of friends there. We know you'd like to kill that bastard, but if he's hurt the cops will come looking for you. We'll take care of him. That's a promise. There are plenty of us who hate that jerk and mostly for very good reasons." I looked at Tony and Elmer and they nodded. They were good friends and I knew their word was as good as gold. Barbara thanked them and especially Marlene and we went back to dancing.

Barbara was in my arms when the ball in Times Square fell. Our kiss lasted for more than five minutes. I hadn't yet told Barbara that loved her, but was sure that she knew, just as everyone there knew, as well. I tried to shake hands with my buddies, but they laughed. "You're a little late, Freak...like five minutes." was sure that my face was a little red, but Barbara didn't care. She just

grabbed me again and pulled me into another long deep kiss.