All American Boys

16. The Binding of Isaac

All American Boys

Chapter 16: The Binding of Isaac

"He did what?" Emily asked. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me."

We had stopped at a red light. Emily had offered to carpool to school together on Tuesday when school reopened, since our lessons ended at the same time. I had nothing on that afternoon as well, so we could go home together. And as usual, the moment I stepped into her Cadillac, she started shooting questions at me. To save her breath asking question after question, I told her everything.

"Yeah, he just up and disappeared," I shrugged. "I don't know how to feel about that. Feels like a scumbag thing to do."

"Maybe he felt awkward about what happened at the party," Emily said. "As messy and complicated as that was."

"Yeah, and I had plans to talk things out with him," I replied, folding my arms. "Guess who ruined those."

"Well whatever you do," she told me. "I hope you stay civil."

We were approaching the intersection between Lavender and Ellesmere. Within a few moments, as per routine, Emily would switch to the farthest lane to prepare to turn left.

"You can just go straight ahead," I told her.

"Are you sure?" she asked. "It's Lavender Street, you know?"

"Yeah," I grunted in reply. "I'm over it."

Emily stayed silent as we crossed the threshold that used to be there – that intersection between Ellesmere and Lavender. That boundary that used to separate me from the fateful events of that afternoon a year ago. Emily even lowered the volume of the radio as we drove past that exact spot.

But this time, unlike the time on the bus with Isaac, I never closed my eyes. On the contrary, I stared straight at it. Right at that blue mailbox in front of the convenience store. The pavement had been scrubbed clean and the mailbox given a fresh coat of paint. Where her lifeless body lay was now an empty spot by the street. It was if it never happened.

"So, what are you gonna do when you see Cyril?" Emily asked once we were well past that stretch of Lavender Street. "He was looking quite sad and dejected after you left. Well, I didn't even know you'd left until I asked him where you were."

"Well you were too busy getting Aaron drunk," I rolled my eyes at her.

"Which turned out to be a mistake since him and yours truly ended up fighting and we saw how well that went," she replied. "Well, with concern to you at least."

That just confirmed my suspicion that Aaron was the one who got into the fight with Isaac. It was the first time I learned about what happened at the party, since no one told me anything, so I pressed Emily for more.

"So who started the fight?" I asked as we approached the parking lot.

"Well, you know how your boyfriend can get with that loose tongue of his," Emily replied. "And when he's drunk it gets so much worse."

"Ugh," I groaned. "Tell me about it."

I immediately remembered that incident in the hallway when he told me I should just 'get over' Alicia's death before being punched square in the jaw. Well good to know that classic Isaac still hasn't changed.

Asshole.

"Basically he went up in Aaron's face and told him that the Beauchamps were nothing but a bunch of leeches or something like that -well, which is honestly true if you ask me- but of course Aaron wasn't having any of it," Emily told me.