Chapter 1
ONE
SUTTON
“Hey Fatty!”
“Hey! I’m talking to you!”
I tuck my head down, chin touching my chest, hands shoved in my pockets as I try to move faster. I just need to get home. If I can get home before they reach me then they can’t hurt me. That’s what Lena always says. Why did Lena have to be gone today?
“Fatty Farley!”
I come to an abrupt stop as I am yanked backward, the hand on my arm squeezing so tight that I can’t help but cry out at the sharp sting.
“Ah!”
“Look at me when I’m talking to you, Fatty!”
The grip on my arm tightens, squeezing harder until tears fill my eyes and I'm forced to turn around, standing face-to-face with Benny and Frankie. Benjamin Hobbs and Franklin Adler, two of the biggest bullies I know.
Before I can say anything, Benny grabs at my jacket, and I stumble.
“Hey! Stop it!” I cry, trying my best to pull free and catch my balance. “Leave me alone, Benny! You almost made me fall!”
“What’cha gonna do about it, huh?” Frankie taunts, as Benny reaches for me once more. “Gonna go tattle to your Daddy ?”
My lip trembles, and I bite it, trying my best not to cry.
“Ah! Look at the poor baby . You gonna cry? Huh, Fatty? Fatty Farley is gonna cry like a little baby?”
His words are as mean as the look on his face, and Frankie steps closer, next to his friend. Before I can move, he reaches towards me once more, this time pushing me hard in the chest.
“Ah!” I shriek. I’m falling, and I know it’s gonna hurt when I land on the hard ground.
“Oof!” With a thud, I crash. But instead of sharp pain and the scratchy surface of the sidewalk, I feel something soft and warm, and there are suddenly hands on my arms, grabbing me from behind and holding me upright.
“Back off, Benny.”
“Aw, look at that,” Frankie taunts, “Robinsky’s here to save the day again and ruin all our fun.” He smiles at the boy behind me, but it’s a mean smile. “Come on, man. We were just messing around. You know we didn’t mean anything by it.”
A cozy warmth spreads across my back, and the hands on my arms tighten, as Callum steps closer to me, but his hold doesn’t hurt like Benny and Frankie’s had. His touch is careful, not meant to bully me.
“What part of ‘back off’ don’t you understand? You know she’s off limits.”
I can’t see his face, but his tone is just as mean as theirs .
“She’s Coach Farley’s daughter. Besides, she’s m y little sister’s best friend, which means she’s not yours to mess with.”
“Ooo-” Benny and Frankie taunt in a singsong voice. “Someone’s got a girlfriend!”
“Shut up!”
The air shifts as he steps out from behind me, hands slipping from my arms as he comes to stand at my side. Looking down, I see his hands have tightened into fists but Frankie and Benny don’t pay attention as they continue taunting their teammate.
“Callum and Sutton sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-”
Frankie is cut off as Callum’s fist connects with his face, and suddenly there is a mad scramble as the three boys are piling on top of each other, legs kicking and fists flying as they fight to get the upper hand.
I shriek. I can’t help it.
“Stop it! Stop fighting!”
They aren’t listening to me, muffled thuds and grunts fill the air.
“Boys! Stop it right now, or I’m telling !”
They roll on the ground towards where I stand yelling helplessly at them, completely ignoring me.
A sudden crunch, and blood splatters across the sidewalk before a new wail fills the air.
Oh no! Which one is it? Is Callum hurt?
Before any of us know what’s happening, strong hands are yanking them up, out of their dog pile. “Alright, alright. Break it up, boys!”
Mr. Robinsky has Callum by the collar of his shirt in one hand, and Benny in the other. My dad stands next to him, holding up a wailing Frankie who is clutching his face, blood splattering everywhere from his obviously broken nose.
Benny takes a wild swing, trying to hit Callum from around Mr. Robinsky, and Callum makes a wild dive, trying to get at Benny .
“I said break it up!” Mr. Robinsky gives the boys a rough shake, trying to get their attention.
Benny and Cal pull away from each other, chests heaving as they both try to catch their breath.
“Good. Now that that’s settled, wanna tell me what happened here?”
Mr. Robinsky gives each of the boys a hard glare, and I don’t know how they don’t all shrink back from the stern look on his face. Instead, they clamp their mouths shut, refusing to answer as they each look sullenly down at the ground.
“Button, wanna tell me what happened?” Daddy’s voice is soft as he asks me about it, staring at me from the a few feet away.
I hesitate, looking nervously from Benny to Frankie, who each stare back at me with a hard glare while my dad asks his question.
I look at Daddy again; his face is gentle as he looks back at me while trying to help Frankie position his head to slow down the bleeding, but Frankie is determined to keep glaring at me, the blood covering his face and shirt making him look scarier than he normally does.
I open my mouth to speak, but pause again, looking over to Cal.
He isn’t glaring at me like the other boys, just looking at me with somber eyes and a look like he is ready to accept being in trouble.
But he wouldn’t be in trouble if he hadn’t come over to help me when they were picking on me.
I clamp my mouth shut, lips pressed tightly together as I shake my head ‘no.’
“Button?” My Daddy presses, looking at me quizzically.
I have never told Daddy ‘no’ before. I’m always honest with him when he asks me a question, and guilt fills me.
My chest gets tight, my lower lip trembles, but I look over at Callum again who just keeps staring at me silently and I bite hard on my lip to stop the trembling, and shake my head again.
Daddy’s eyebrows raise and he looks surprised, but he just sighs, shaking his head. “Come on boys, let’s get you home and cleaned up.”
He grabs Benny’s arm, and Mr. Robinsky lets go. “Carl, you get our two home and cleaned up while I deal with this and go talk to their parents, yeah?”
Daddy looks over at me, “We will be having a conversation about this when I get home, okay Button?”
I just nod, unable to get any words out, watching as Daddy turns and walks down the street in the other direction, leading Benny and Frankie down to their houses at the end of the block.
Mr. Robinsky sighs, shaking his head, and lets go of Callum. “Let’s go.” He doesn’t even look at us as he leads the way to the end of the cul-de-sac to our houses which are side-by-side.
Callum doesn’t say anything to me as we walk, but he slows down from where he had been walking so that he’s walking by my side, and he leans closer to whisper in my ear, “You ok, Shorty?”
Callum always calls me ‘Shorty.’ Most of the time it makes me mad, but I look up at him, his eye is swelling and turning different colors, and his lip is already fat and bleeding from a long cut.
I reach out a hand to touch the blood, and Callum stops walking but he doesn’t flinch away from me.
He lets me touch his face which has to hurt, even as his dad walks ahead of us.
Today, I’m not mad that he called me ‘Shorty.’
“I’m ok.”
My voice is quiet, not wanting his Dad to hear. I open my mouth to ask if he’s ok, since he’s the one who was fighting because of me, but he just nods at my answer and then continues walking, not looking at me even as he slows down so that I can keep up with his longer steps.
“Go inside, Callum. I’ll deal with you in a minute.” Mr. Robinsky’s tone is firm as he nods towards their porch, and he watches in silence as Ca walks quietly into the house.
“Sutton, it’s time for you to go home, too, kiddo.” He nods over at my house, indicating I should go inside too.
I start to turn, walking towards my house, and I can feel Mr. Robinsky watching me, his eyes burning into my back, and my cheeks flush. I stop, turning to look at him once more.
“Uh . . . Mr. Robinsky?”
“Yes, Sutton?”
My mouth opens but no words come out, my mouth is dry and I have to close and swallow. Mr. Robinsky is Callum and Lena’s Dad. He is not a bad man, but he has always been very stern with both of them, and he makes me nervous.
Not like Daddy.
Daddy has soft eyes and is always gentle with how he talks to me. I always get nervous when I have to talk to Mr. Robinsky. Usually when I need something, I just ask Lena’s mom.
“Mr. Robinsky-” I try again, swallowing hard.
“Please. . . please don’t let Callum be in too much trouble. It wasn’t his fault.”
Mr. Robinsky just looks at me silently, an eyebrow raised at me with that stern look on his face.
“I – I know he was fighting, but it was my fault. Callum wasn’t even around when it started.
See, Lena and I usually walk together home from school, and Benny and Frankie sometimes follow us and pick on us on days when they don’t have a later practice.
I think because they get bored, maybe? But Lena was gone, and I - when I was walking home by myself today, Benny and Frankie wouldn’t leave me alone.
They followed me and were picking on me. ”
I stop, not sure if I should say more. I don’t want Callum to get in trouble, but if I tattle on Frankie and Benny they will for sure get mad at me and pick on me more than they already do.
I look up at the house behind Mr. Robinsky.
Callum is probably in his room by now, it faces my room, across our yards.
Swallowing hard, I force myself to continue.
“I don’t know why Callum was there, but he stopped Benny from hurting me.
Benny grabbed me really hard and wouldn’t let go.
He was saying really mean things and I was scared.
Callum tried to get them to stop but they wouldn’t, so he made them leave me alone.
So really, it’s my fault. So please don’t let Callum be in too much trouble. Please, Mr. Robinsky.”
Mr. Robinsky just stares at me, and I can’t tell what he’s thinking, but I shift uncomfortably under his gaze. After what feels like forever, he finally nods once.
“Thank you for telling me, Sutton. Now it’s time for you to go home. Your momma will be wondering where you are.” With a raised arm, he gestures for me to walk over to my house. With one last nervous glance back at their house, I turn quickly and hurry home.