071. Phone

Jennie called. Wade did not answer. She called many times, but he would not pick up the phone. For her part, she was persistent. For his part, he knew better than to give in. She was upset, angry, confused, and sad. He knew that. She probably wanted to understand, perhaps to make things right. He knew that too. Just as she had known with the pony tail, she must have known now.

But Wade knew better. In his life, there was an angel and a devil to choose between, and he had to choose the devil to save the angel.

021. Alone

For the rest of the school year, Jennie would leave Wade alone. He avoided her as much as possible, and she respected his space with the exception of one time, weeks later, in the lunchroom. That day, Leo was out sick, and Wade sat alone. She very pointedly walked up, set her tray down, and sat across from him. For the entire lunch hour, she would not speak, not even once. He didn’t speak either.

With that act, she highlighted his choice to be alone. The company of a devil was no company at all.

But he made that choice.

066. Money

Leo had paid Wade ten dollars for killing Jennie’s dog. It was a symbol. He hadn’t wanted to accept the money, but he had because he knew that he had to. It had gone into a jar with all of the other money he’d ever earned for his pranks. The money had been for Wade’s pipe dream to own the pet Derrick would never let him have.

But in this, neither Derrick nor Leo would win. Now Wade had the money to adopt a puppy, and he did. For brief hours it was his, until he left it on Jennie’s doorstep.

052. Lost

The end would come when Jennie’s family would move to a better section of town. Someone got a raise or promotion, and that meant escape. Wade would watch from afar as he lost her in slow motion, box after furniture after box loading into a truck. Jennie would be the last to be packed into a car with her puppy. She would look back. She would wave, and he would wave back.

“I thought about killing her, you know,” Leo would say beside him, watching with a serene smile.

Wade would punch Leo in the face. Leo’s nose would shatter.