{"id":680,"date":"2010-12-23T15:27:40","date_gmt":"2010-12-23T20:27:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.old.caraghobrien.com\/book\/?p=680"},"modified":"2010-12-25T13:33:46","modified_gmt":"2010-12-25T18:33:46","slug":"detention-leon-at-twelve","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.caraghobrien.com\/book\/birthmarked\/detention-leon-at-twelve\/","title":{"rendered":"Detention: Leon at Twelve"},"content":{"rendered":"

The following is a bit story about a character from the world of Birthmarked.<\/em><\/p>\n

Rita tapped on the schoolroom window and Leon looked up.\u00a0 She waved to beckon him out, frowning.\u00a0 \u201cCome on,\u201d she was saying clearly.<\/p>\n

He shook his head, but a moment later she poked her head in the doorway.\u00a0 Leon was alone at his desk in the back, rewriting the words he\u2019d spelled wrong that morning: Attached, barrel, embarrass, necessary, thorough, tomorrow, wrong.<\/p>\n

\"\"\u201cYou\u2019ll miss the race,\u201d Rita said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t come. Not until I\u2019m done. Tell Jack and the others I forfeit.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt won\u2019t be any fun without you,\u201d Rita said.<\/p>\n

He stared at his eraser.\u00a0 It was going to be bad enough when his father found out he\u2019d failed another spelling test.\u00a0 He couldn\u2019t skip out on detention, too.\u00a0 He shook his head again.\u00a0 \u201cI can\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll wait for you,\u201d Rita said.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo. Go ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n

There were footsteps in the hallway, and then Jack showed up in the doorway, too.\u00a0 He had his running shorts on and his new sneakers.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re not still here,\u201d Jack complained.\u00a0 \u201cCan\u2019t you tell time, either?\u00a0 It\u2019s been over an hour.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s two hours today.\u00a0 My dad said to double it if I failed another test,\u201d Leon said.\u00a0 \u201cAnd you\u2019d better go.\u00a0 If Chewels finds you here, I\u2019ll be in worse trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jack came further in.\u00a0 \u201cIt can\u2019t get worse.\u00a0 Come on.\u00a0 What are they going to do?\u00a0 Disown you?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cProbably,\u201d Leon said.\u00a0 He bent his head and began writing again.<\/p>\n

Rita came nearer, so that he could feel her looking over his shoulder, and he covered the words with his hand.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t spell \u2018wrong\u2019?\u201d she said, and laughed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can now,\u201d Leon said, keeping his head down.<\/p>\n

She laughed again and took his pencil out of his grasp, tossing it to Jack.<\/p>\n

\u201cGive it back,\u201d Leon said.<\/p>\n

Jack backed towards the door. \u201cCome and get it.\u00a0 In fact, I\u2019ll race you for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t be a jerk,\u201d Leon said, crossing his arms.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll make it easy for you.\u00a0 Instead of starting at Summit, we\u2019ll start here.\u00a0 Just from here to the South Gate and back.\u00a0 It\u2019ll take fifteen minutes, max.\u00a0 They\u2019ll never even know you were gone.\u00a0 I\u2019ll get the other guys.\u00a0 Just say the word.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leon turned to look out the window to the blue sky.\u00a0 Afternoon sunlight touched the wall on the other side of the playground with a yellowish glow, and a janitor was sitting out on one of the swings having a smoke.\u00a0 The teachers had probably all gone home ages ago.\u00a0 He glanced up at the clock.\u00a0 Thirty-four minutes more.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t,\u201d Leon said. He wasn\u2019t going to explain about his father. Jack ought to know by now.<\/p>\n

Jack tossed the pencil in the air, caught it, and then brought it back to set it precisely in the dip at the top edge of Leon\u2019s desk.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll right,\u201d Jack said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t give up now,\u201d Rita said.\u00a0 \u201cWe almost had him.\u00a0 Come on, Leon.\u00a0 Please?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLeave him alone, Rita,\u201d Jack said.\u00a0 He was backing up toward the door.\u00a0 \u201cHe wants to be a martyr. The guys are waiting. See you, loser.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou go then,\u201d Rita said.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ll wait.\u00a0 I\u2019ll race him when he\u2019s done.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t do that,\u201d Jack said.\u00a0 \u201cWe need you. You\u2019re the fastest girl.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not going,\u201d Rita said.\u00a0 She sat in one of the chairs at the front and slouched back in it.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t stay here,\u201d Leon said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not bothering anyone,\u201d Rita said.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, he\u2019ll get in trouble if you\u2019re here with him,\u201d Jack said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just sitting here.\u00a0 I\u2019m not even talking,\u201d Rita said.<\/p>\n

\u201cRita, don\u2019t be cute.\u00a0 Come on,\u201d Jack said.<\/p>\n

She made an amazed face.\u00a0 \u201cYou think I\u2019m cute.\u00a0 I\u2019m not going to forget that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leon wished they would both just go.\u00a0 He looked back out to the playground and the janitor was gone.\u00a0 He reached slowly for his pencil, but his concentration was completely shot.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow look what you\u2019ve done,\u201d Jack said, his voice lower.<\/p>\n

Leon looked up, and heard the janitor coming down the hall with his pushcart.<\/p>\n

Rita came to her feet.\u00a0 \u201cWe were just going,\u201d she said, as the janitor glanced in the doorway.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019d best be doing that,\u201d the janitor said mildly.<\/p>\n

Jack made a quick apologetic face toward Leon, and then took Rita\u2019s arm.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m coming,\u201d she said, pulling free.\u00a0 \u201cSee you later, Leon.\u00a0 You\u2019d better not be in detention for the next race.\u201d<\/p>\n

He watched them go, hearing Jack\u2019s new sneakers squeaking on the clean floor.\u00a0 The janitor came in with a wide broom, weaving it slowly among the desks and chairs.\u00a0 Leon returned to his spelling, aware of the man\u2019s movement up one row and down the next, until he turned around behind Leon\u2019s desk and started up along the windows.\u00a0 At the front, the man emptied the garbage can into a larger bin, and then tucked the can back beside the teacher\u2019s desk with a hollow clang.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you fast, then?\u201d the janitor asked.<\/p>\n

Leon looked up again, surprised. \u201cNormally.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have the look of it,\u201d the janitor said.<\/p>\n

Leon looked at the clock again.\u00a0 Nine minutes yet to go.\u00a0 The other kids were probably starting about then.\u00a0 He scrunched his forehead into this hand and gripped his bangs.\u00a0 He hated his life sometimes.\u00a0 W-r-o-n-g.\u00a0 He wrote it again and again.<\/p>\n

He didn\u2019t notice when the janitor left, but when he next looked up at the clock, the time was up.\u00a0 He sifted his papers together, rose slowly from his desk, and put his work on the teacher\u2019s desk.\u00a0 He took the spelling test with the F, folded it small, and stuck it in his back pocket.\u00a0 His father would ask for it later, he knew.\u00a0 He walked slowly down the long hallway, following the long white reflections from the open door at the end, and when he reached the entrance, the janitor was waiting for him there, having another smoke.<\/p>\n

\u201cTime\u2019s up,\u201d the janitor said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s your name, Mabrother?\u201d Leon asked.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m Leon Quarry.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI know who you are.\u00a0 You can call me Ben.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBen, then. Thanks,\u201d Leon said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t do nothing for you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leon shrugged.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou going to run?\u201d Ben asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe race is over,\u201d Leon said. He wondered if Jack had won, or Rita.\u00a0 He hoped it was Rita. \u201cIt\u2019s no big deal.\u00a0 There\u2019ll be another one next month.\u00a0 It\u2019s just a thing we do.\u00a0 There isn\u2019t even a prize.\u00a0 It\u2019s just for pride, to see who\u2019s the fastest.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re still going to run, though, aren\u2019t you?\u201d<\/p>\n

Leon frowned, looking up at the man. \u00a0Ben drew on his cigarette again, squinting down at Leon.\u00a0 A puzzling lightness began inside Leon.\u00a0 He glanced down the hill.\u00a0 He couldn\u2019t see the South Gate from this angle, or the wall, but he could see the unlake stretching toward the horizon, pale blue with distance.\u00a0 He could run.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t need a race in order to run.<\/p>\n

Ben laughed quietly.\u00a0 \u201cOn your mark,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Get set.<\/p>\n

Go.<\/p>\n

Leon flew out of the school yard, banked left, and raced down the cobblestone road.\u00a0 At the next corner, he grabbed a lamp-post to spin hard to the right and pushed downhill at top speed. He had to weave to avoid a man with an empty cart and then a boy on a bicycle with loaves of bread, but he didn\u2019t slow down.\u00a0 Grinning, he flew even faster, while his lungs burned and the air whipped past his face.\u00a0 He nearly collided with a door when it opened suddenly before him, and instead ducked under a shop awning and leapt over a barrel there.\u00a0 By the time he could see the South Gate before him, he was running faster than he ever had before.\u00a0 He knew it.\u00a0 He could feel the sprinting power in his knees, and he made no attempt to slow, not until he\u2019d passed the invisible finish line, and then he let himself slam into the archway of the gate and lean over there, laughing and gasping for breath.<\/p>\n

None of the others were there any more. He looked around for them, but they were all gone, and only a couple of soldiers were watching him as if he\u2019d lost his mind.\u00a0 Leon blinked, his mouth still agape as he sucked in breath, and then he lifted his head to look out the open gateway, to the roofs of Wharfton and the unlake beyond.\u00a0 He put his hands on his hips, swallowing thickly.<\/p>\n

Someday, he thought, he\u2019d be good at something, and not just running.\u00a0 He\u2019d be able to look at his father and know he wasn\u2019t disappointing him.\u00a0 He touched a hand to his back pocket to be sure the spelling test was still there, and then he turned.\u00a0 The top of the obelisk was partially visible between the nearest buildings.<\/p>\n

His muscles were burning in a good way, and his heart pumped hard, making him smile.\u00a0 He started up the road toward the Bastion, and all of the world was slow and breathtakingly clear around him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The following is a bit story about a character from the world of Birthmarked. Rita tapped on the schoolroom window and Leon looked up.\u00a0 She waved to beckon him out, frowning.\u00a0 \u201cCome on,\u201d she was saying clearly. He shook his head, but a moment later she poked her head in the doorway.\u00a0 Leon was alone […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[9,10,11],"class_list":["post-680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-birthmarked","tag-birthmarked-2","tag-leon","tag-tie-in-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.caraghobrien.com\/book\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.caraghobrien.com\/book\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.caraghobrien.com\/book\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.caraghobrien.com\/book\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.caraghobrien.com\/book\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=680"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.caraghobrien.com\/book\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/680\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":683,"href":"https:\/\/www.caraghobrien.com\/book\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/680\/revisions\/683"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.caraghobrien.com\/book\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.caraghobrien.com\/book\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.caraghobrien.com\/book\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}