The Crazy Horse Electric Game

The Crazy Horse Electric Game by Chris Crutcher Page B

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Authors: Chris Crutcher
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enclosed walkway connecting the main building to the gymnasium. He’s on his way to tell Coach Williams he doesn’t thinkit’s working out too well for him managing the girls’ basketball team. He’s spent the whole morning concentrating, and the positive aspects of his life are worn thin. His parents’ fight rings in his ears and he can’t force the feelings out any longer. He just feels too awful to pretend he can be around athletes of any kind when he can’t be one, too. Let the little shit off the hook. Let you off the hook, you mean . The voices are real. He’s not some car you can take back to the dealer because it doesn’t run right…doesn’t run right…doesn’t run right .
    â€œOh, hi, Willie.” He looks up, startled, to see Jenny and Jeff Rhodes entering the walkway through the side door, from outside.
    â€œHi,” he says quickly, realizing instantly something’s wrong. He looks into Jenny’s eyes, then Jeff’s. Jeff darts a look at him, then to the wall behind his head. “Hi…Jeff.”
    â€œHey, Willie. How you doin’?” Jeff says. He glances quickly at Jenny, then back to the wall. “Look,” he says, “I gotta get to class. I’ll see you guys later.”
    Jenny’s recovered. “Okay, Jeff. Take it easy. Tell Debbie I’ll catch up with her in Algebra.”
    Debbie is Jeff’s girlfriend.
    Supposedly.
    Jenny turns to Willie; touches his arm. “Where’re you headed?” she asks.
    â€œOut…to see…Coach Williams.”
    â€œHow come?”
    â€œJust gotta…talk to her…for…a minute.”
    â€œWant some company?”
    Willie shakes his head. “No. That’s…okay. Got some…other stuff…to do.”
    Jenny smiles and pecks his cheek. “Okay. I’ll see you at lunch.”
    Thoughts of his parents’ fight wash out of his head like water draining out of a bathtub, replaced by the flash across Jeff’s and Jenny’s faces. In the months since the accident Willie has developed radar for hidden meaning; unspoken language. It’s as real to him as anything he can touch or feel. But Jenny wouldn’t do that. She’s a friend. She was a friend before all this; a good one. She said she wouldn’t do that; she’d hang in. Certainly there are times when his intuition is wrong. Cyril said there will be times when he’s particularly paranoid. On the other hand, no one ever tells him anything. Friends are so careful, there’s no way he can trust them. Petey is the only one. Words tumble out of his mouth long before he might even think of censoring them. Everyone else is on guard. Willie feels himselfphysically pushing his stomach back down where it belongs. Whether he’s right or wrong about Rhodes and Jenny, there’s no way to find out. And Rhodes is a class guy. Pretty good athlete. Great student. Funny. Good-looking. Willie feels the black cloud of his worst fear taking shape.
    With a deep breath he continues out to resign his position as flunky for girls’ roundball.
    He skips lunch because he knows he can’t play it straight with Jenny. If she has been seeing Rhodes, she’ll know he senses something and it will be awful. If she hasn’t, she’ll dig out of Willie what’s bothering him and he’ll feel like a fool. He pulls on his coat and snow boots and wanders aimlessly for the lunch period through the neighborhood surrounding the school. If he could just stop the unraveling; finally get to the last of the awful pain seemingly caused by his mere presence. Hell, he knew Jenny was going to go. He’s been saying it all along; but holding a little back, really; holding on to a small spot deep down that said maybe Jenny was superhuman. But he knows that “uh-oh” look Rhodes gave her in the walkway.
    He slips quietly into his desk minutes after the start of

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