By David C. Daoust
It was the guilt in his stomach that bogged him down. This weight up through his chest, over his shoulders. He’d felt like he’d been carrying it around ever since… There was that knowledge, that anger at himself- Jace Bram knew that the beating of Sadie Blue was his fault.
It was his eye that first spotted the First Wave girl, strolling through their wrecked lives like she was wandering through a public garden. Jace saw her, all dressed up like she was from Grady. He knew. Everyone knew, she was First Wave. It made him angry, that much was true. First Wave were who brought their homes down around their shoulders. He spotted her. He pointed her out. He said how happy she looked with all the crumbled brick and mortar all around.
His friends agreed- they pushed past him.
When they walked up on her he almost said, ‘Hey, hang on, wait!” as in ‘don’t’.
They looked pretty rigid; they looked hard.
He lost his say, choked it down as he followed along behind. Followed along with the crowd- with his ‘group’, what would quickly become a mob.
Jace didn’t see the first punch, he was too busy looking for where his brother, Dylan, was in the throng. He heard it though, and all the rest that followed. It happened fast, he was pushed further out as more and more rushed in.
He was almost relieved when he heard the steely roar of the old jinn suddenly split the air around them. The roar split the mob, broke their trance; stopped the beating.
Jace had a hold of Dylan’s shoulder when the crowd dispersed, and pulled him along with him when they all retreated. He was stuck playing along as they all laughed, at least until he could break free without them turning on him or his brother.
They were all recounting it, like it was some epic brawl they were going to be talking about ‘til they were well into their adult lives. But it wasn’t. It didn’t sink in yet; they were just idiots trying to figure out what happened. Trying to get a bead on what everyone else thought just happened. Too young, or too dumb, to know what to think.
Jace knew they were dumb. He also knew they would have ignored the girl, not even noticed her, if he had not painted her the way he did.
With the guilt came the fear. Complete recall, again and again, of the event. Any word of the incident, from anyone, seemed to heighten his senses. Like new super-powers, only with the worst origin story imaginable. His mind was able to memorize every word of anything, anyone said, that involved what happened. All so he could repeat it, on a loop, in his mind. Most of which, pointed to him. And his brother. ‘The Bram Brothers’, were suddenly notorious.
The fear was exhausting. The rumination was worse.
Word traveled around town of the Sheriff’s son fighting in the Starport. Right square in the middle of everyone in the whole town. Supposedly, he got away with it scot-free. Everyone knew Jessop was seeing Sadie Blue. Word was, Jessop was looking to take his ire out on anyone. The guy in the Starport, whoever he was, was just the first.
The other guys wouldn’t stop talking about it. Anytime anyone was hanging out, again and again, they’d be talking about finding Jessop before he found them. If there was enough of them, it didn’t matter who he was, sheriff’s son or not, they’d show him- he didn’t matter.
Jace knew they were scared; knew they were equally as exhausted as he was. But he also knew they were dumb. This made them dangerous.
Around the time Jace got summoned by his parents- he found out Wyatt and Voss had had enough talking about it.
They were going out.
Jace had to make a decision.
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