The Wrong Side

(----------)

"Can I bring Abby?"

"Of course, honey. Abby's always invited. You can even bring your folks if you want."

"That wouldn't be a good idea, but they'd appreciate if I brought them some leftovers. We can't stay too late though. Mom gets agitated if it gets too late and there's no one home but pops."

"I've told you, Henry. I'll take whatever I can get."

(----------)

By the time Thanksgiving came around it had been nearly 3 months since Kelly and Henry became fatefully re-acquainted. He had just had his 18^th birthday and was starting his electrician apprenticeship right at the start of the next year. They had managed to get together most every weekend, and spoke on the phone most every night, usually just in casual conversation while Kelly did her schoolwork. When it was just them they got along great, but Henry was no closer to getting accepted by her friends, and in fact the divide was growing. For a while he was tolerated because he was with Kelly, and her friends probably thought it was just a phase and he'd be gone soon enough. But the longer he hung around the more hostile they seemed to get.

Things blew up the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Abby was home with her parents and Henry had begrudgingly agreed to go to another of Kelly's friend's parties. It seemed like someone was hosting something every weekend. They separated for just a minute so Kelly could use the restroom, but some of the assholes pounced on the opportunity.

"Nobody wants you here, all right. We've put up with you this long figuring Kelly would get tired of you, but you're not welcome here anymore."

"Fine," Henry said. "You guys explain that to Kelly when she gets back and then we'll leave."

"You don't get it. She's not leaving, you are. I'll take care of getting her sweet self back home, once she gives me another taste of that fine ass. You can run along."

"Who's gonna make me, asshole? You couldn't take me on your own, or even with a couple of your buddies. I suggest you run along, big guy, before I have to show all these pretty girls what a wimp you really are."

The first shot came from the side, with Henry focused on the big guy in front of him, and soon there were 3 guys on him. But these rich boys that thought they knew about fighting didn't know who they were messing with. They might have been strong, but they didn't have rage. The rage that comes with a life lived in the sewers of humanity and being looked at like something scraped off your shoes. In that moment Henry was gone, and Sparks showed up with a vengeance. Henry's adrenaline kicked in, and within minutes all his attackers were down or at least on the defensive. It was his father all over again. Kelly had been in the bathroom and heard a commotion but she was being held back from the commotion. In her heart, she knew Henry was involved, and when the noise finally subsided she finally got away.

She found Henry standing over several of the guys in her circle of friends, a fire in his eyes like she had never seen before, daring them to even move, let alone get up and take him on again. Before he even realized Kelly was there, someone was already telling her that Henry had just suddenly attacked these guys out of nowhere, suggesting it was unprovoked. That didn't seem like the Henry she knew but by his own words in the past she knew he had a temper and didn't believe that her friends would lie to her. And so, to Henry's eternal confusion, it was him that Kelly came at with anger in her eyes.

"Henry, you need to leave, right now! I don't know why you did this but you need to go! I'll find a ride home!"

"Kelly, I didn't..."

"I don't wanna hear it. You promised you'd try to get along and this is what I get. Now go!"

They stared at each other for about 10 seconds before Henry turned and headed out the front door, slamming his fist into the wall, leaving a hole behind as he did. He didn't fail to notice the smirks on the faces of the instigators. Their plan may not have been flawless, but apparently it worked anyway.

Kelly heard the squeal of the tires as Henry drove away.

When Henry got home he picked up the phone and called her, getting her voice mail as he knew he would. He left her a final message: "Hi Kelly. I hope you're enjoying the party with your so-called friends. For the record, they started it and I was defending myself. I know you don't believe me. I knew we wouldn't work for this very reason. Eventually you would choose your friends over me, and now you have. Have a good life, Kelly. I'll miss you."

(----------)

Christmas, New Year's, and Kelly's 18^th birthday on January 21^st came and went. Kelly and Henry hadn't spoken since that night and most everyone in Kelly's circle was happy about it: Her dad was positively chipper, the boys that wanted a shot at her were plotting their moves, and the girls (her so-called friends) congratulated themselves for saving her from herself. Kelly was sad, but glad she had found out what he was capable of before it was too late.

Abby was also sad. She had really liked Kelly, and really liked what she had done for her brother. But now she was stuck with the same depressed, emotionless brother she had lived with before she came along. In fact, she thought he was even worse now.

And Henry? Well, he was just existing, getting no satisfaction from having been right that it couldn't possibly work out.

(----------)

Kelly was walking toward her car in the parking lot. Valentine's Day was in a few days and she had received no shortage of offers for a date that evening but had accepted none of them. Her heart wasn't in it. She had once thought she'd be spending it with Henry doing something special, but now she expected to spend that evening alone. Just before she got to the car she was intercepted by her friend, Tera.

"Kelly, can I talk to you? It's important."

"Sure, T. What's up?"

"I'm sorry I didn't come to you with this sooner, Kelly. I really am. I didn't know how to say anything and I was afraid of what would happen, you know, with everybody if I did. But it's tearing me up. I can't hold it in anymore."

"What is it, Tera? You can tell me."

"That night, the party. You know, the one after Thanksgiving."

Kelly knew exactly which party: the one where Henry had completely gone off the rails and attacked her friends for no reason. She still got angry when she thought about that night. She was so embarrassed.

"Sure. What about it?"

"Well, the thing is, I saw the whole thing. The fight, I mean. And the thing is...well. Kelly, Henry didn't start it. They attacked him, told him to leave you alone because he wasn't good enough for you. Jeremy told him they'd take you home after he, you know, got in your pants, then they hit him. He was just talking when someone off to the side hit him first and then 3 of them went after him. They started it, not him. I thought they'd kill him. I couldn't believe when he beat them all up. They hit him and it was like nothing happened; didn't even faze him. Kelly, he was defending himself and you. He didn't start it at all. I know that's what they told you but it wasn't true. I'm sorry I didn't tell you before."

Kelly listened to Tera's account and felt awful. He had told her that her friends would never accept him, but she didn't think they'd go that far. And she believed them over him; believed the stereotype that he was just a poor thug who couldn't control his temper. God, what had she done?

She wasted no time picking up her phone and dialing his number. She was glad she hadn't deleted it. He had left a message that night but she hadn't believed him because she thought she knew the truth. He was just trying to make excuses, she told herself. Sure enough, his machine picked up:

"Henry, it's Kelly. Someone just told me what really happened that night. I'm so sorry I didn't believe you. Please call me."

She left her number, in case he had tossed it, and waited.

(----------)

She waited a week and still no call. She tried again, leaving a message. When she hadn't received a call back 4 days later she tried again, and then again 3 days after that. She had about given up hope, believing she had simply done too much damage, when that night the caller ID showed he was calling. Thrilled, she answered the call.

"Henry, thank God you finally called."

"Kelly?"

"Abby? Is that you?"

"Yeah, it's me. How are you?"

"Okay I guess. Is your brother there?

"No, he's at work. Do you think I'd be calling you if he was?"

"This late? It's almost 10:00pm."

"Yeah, he's does pretty much nothing but work these days. He's depressed all the time, even more than he used to be. He misses you. He's started working as an electrician during the day, and he still works on the cars at night. We've got more money these days. Too bad I almost never see him, and when I do he's too miserable to enjoy it."

"I miss him, too, Abby. Did he get my messages?"

"Yeah. He listens to them, gets sad for a minute, and then deletes them. He never says anything about them. I still don't know what happened."

"I was stupid. I believed my friends over him and sent him away. I just found out he was telling the truth, not them."

"Kelly, my brother is nowhere near perfect. You know that and so do I. He gets mad easy, gets insulted easy, has a chip on his shoulder as big as a tree branch, all that. But one thing he never does is lie; ever. You should've believed him."

"I know that now, sweetie, I do. Do you think he'll ever talk to me again?

"I dunno. He's awfully hurt. Maybe if he saw you in person. You know, he works at Art's Garage over on Fourth Street. He'll be there tomorrow night all by himself. Just sayin'."

"Thanks Abby."

"Kelly?"

"Yes Abby?"

"I miss you."

"I miss you, too, sweetie."

(----------)

Henry enjoyed working on the cars at night. Everyone else was gone so he had the place to himself. The quiet allowed him to focus, and it prevented him from sitting around the apartment thinking about Kelly. He'd scale it back soon. They're about caught up on the bills and he missed spending time with Abby.

He heard a car pull up outside the shop and honk, even though they were closed. He thought maybe it was someone wanting to just drop off and saw the light on, so he figured he'd just take the key and put them on the docket. Then he looked through the window and saw who it was. And worse, she had seen him see her. He opened the door.

"Whattya want Kelly?"

"To talk to you; please hear me out. If after that you don't want to talk to me anymore I'll leave you alone."

"Fine; come on in."

He stood aside and let her in the shop then relocked the door. He led her into Art's office and they sat down.

"How'd you find my shop? You've never come down here and I've never told you where it was. Do I detect Abigail's hand in this?"

"Don't be mad at her. She was just trying to help."

"I don't get mad at Abby, except when she blows off her school work. So, I'm listening."

"Henry, I am monumentally sorry for what happened that night. I chose wrong. I thought that people I considered friends wouldn't lie to me. They told me you started it for no reason and I believed them. You had told me about your temper and I thought maybe they mouthed off a little and you beat them up. I should've believed you. I'm sorry."

"So, what made you come around?"

"Someone who was there broke ranks and told me what really happened. She had been scared about what might happen to her but felt too guilty to keep the secret. That was about 10 seconds before I called you the first time a couple weeks ago."

"Okay, so what do you want? You found out they started it and I told the truth. So?"

"I want you to forgive me, Henry. And I want us to be together again."

"I forgive you, Kelly. No problem; did that a long time ago. But we can't get back together. It won't work and I've been telling you that since day one. Your world won't accept me. Even you fell for the clichés and stereotypes. It'll keep happening. Eventually, sooner or later, something will happen that will make you or me doubt the other, and we'll spiral out of control. Better to not even try."

"You're just gonna give up on me because it's hard? You have feelings for me, I know you do, or you wouldn't be moping your way through life. And I have feelings for you, Henry. I probably even love you. I'm prepared to do whatever it takes for us to be together. Why aren't you?"

"So if I asked you to give up your friends, you'd do it? No more parties; just you and me."

"If that's what it takes, I'll do it. I would hope we could avoid something that drastic but if that's what it takes to prove myself to you then I will. I mean, some of those people are really good friends, though obviously not all. Is that what you want?"

"In a perfect world, yes, but I wouldn't do that to you. But you need to do something about them. I can't keep subjecting myself to their condescending looks and attitudes, like they're better than me just because they have money."

"Henry, I promise that I will. And if they don't stop doing that and accept you, accept us being together, then I'll make the decision to leave them behind since they would be showing that they're not very good friends anyway."

"All right, Kelly. We can try again."

Kelly smiled and walked around the desk, sitting on his lap. Their lips came together, their tongues sliding out, though tentatively at first. But soon they were going at it pretty hot and heavy, and they didn't come up for air for a good 10 minutes.

Kelly spoke first. "You know, I've never seen your place. I'd like to."

"There's a reason for that," Henry answered. "But I suppose you'll need to see it eventually. You better pull your car in here, though, or it may be gone by the time we get back."

Henry opened the bay door and Kelly pulled the car inside the shop. His apartment was about a mile's walk but there was no secure parking to keep her car safe over there. Art let him keep the GTO in the garage as well. Kelly stayed close to Henry, holding on tight to his hand. It made her feel so safe. He walked without fear as if he owned the neighborhood, though based on their first encounter all those months ago it occurred to her that maybe he did, in a way.

They climbed the stairs to his second-floor apartment and he walked in. The kitchen was clean and the TV was blaring.

"Abby, I'm home. Get your butt out here."

He put a little edge in his voice just to make her a little nervous. She skittered out from her bedroom, smiling a bit when she caught sight of Kelly behind her brother. He spoke to her again.

"Young lady, I understand you took it upon yourself to butt into my private business and send Kelly over to my shop."

"Yes, Henry. You wouldn't talk to her on the phone so I thought..."

"You thought you'd stick your nose in where it didn't belong." Abby dropped her head. "I only have one thing to say to about this. Look at me." Abby raised her head and looked Henry in the eyes. "Thank you, Abby. Thank you for caring enough about me to help me out."

Abby broke into a big smile. "Are you guys back together, then?" They both nodded. "I knew it! I knew if you saw her in person you couldn't stay mad. I knew it."

"Yeah, you knew it, smarty pants."

He took Kelly's hand and led her into the living room, where his parents were camped out in their usual spots.

"Mom, pop, this is my girl, Kelly. Kelly, that's my mom, Glenda, and this here, is my dad, Frank."

"Damn boy, why didn't you tell me you were bringing a pretty girl over? I coulda cleaned up a bit."

Henry's dad tried to get up out of his chair but his body, particularly his knee, wasn't cooperating. He had to settle for her walking over to him and giving him a handshake. She was going to walk over to Henry's mom as well but Henry pulled her back.

"She doesn't like strangers approaching her. She'll get upset. Sorry, I shoulda warned you."

Abby piped in. "C'mon Kelly. I want you to see my room." She grabbed Kelly's hand and led her down the hall into her bedroom. It was sparsely decorated but the furniture was nice, and very distinctive.

"I like your bedroom set, sweetheart. I've never seen anything like it. It's really nice."

"Henry built it for me. I like it, too."

Kelly turned to look at her guy leaning against the door frame.

"You built all this? Even the dresser?"

"Yeah. Couldn't afford to buy her anything nice but I was able to pick up some scrap lumber for next to nothing. The hardware cost some but we made it work. It should hold up so she can take it when she grows up."

"Is there anything you can't build or fix, my man?" They smiled at each other.

He showed her the bathroom they all shared. It was about the size of the smallest bathroom in their house. Kelly realized she was getting a real education in just how good she had it, and it helped her understand how someone could develop something of an inferiority complex. It also helped her understand Henry's desire to show he could take care of his family and that they didn't need, nor want, help from her or anyone else.

"So," Kelly said to Henry. "Can I see...your room?"

The meaning in her voice was clear to Henry, though he hoped Abby didn't pick up on it. He tried to play it as cool as he could.

"Sure, sure. Uh, Abby it's getting late. It's time to get into bed.

"Okay bro. G'night, Kelly. I'm glad you're back."

The look on her face suggested she was not nearly as naïve as he hoped. They hugged tight, and then Abby hugged her brother before heading to her room.

Henry and Kelly walked into his room, and if Abby's room could be described as sparse, Henry's was positively Spartan. His twin-sized mattress sat directly on the floor, and his clean clothes were stacked on shelves made of pieces of wood and cinder blocks. She again realized how much he sacrificed for his sister.

"It's not much, but it's all I need. I don't spend much time in here anyway."

"I like it," Kelly said. "It's straightforward and simple; just the necessities." She smiled at him. "Why don't you lock the door?

He did as suggested and she took his hand and they came together in the middle of the room. Her arms were around his neck and his were around her waist. They were kissing softly, gently. After a few minutes, they pulled apart, smiling and looking in each other's eyes. Kelly broke the silence.

"Henry, I want us to...begin being intimate, but we need to talk a bit first."

"Sure, baby."

"Henry, I don't know what kind of...experience you have with girls, and I don't need to know. I just want your word that we are exclusive; just you and me. I don't have anyone else that I'm seeing and I wouldn't be okay with you seeing another girl. Are we agreed on that?"

"We are. There's no one else but you."

"Good. The most important thing, honey, is that I'm a virgin, and I intend to be one on my wedding night. Most of my friends aren't, but I am. It's important to me and I need it to be important to you. That doesn't mean we can't do stuff, or that you can't touch me there when the time comes, but we can't do that. We can't go all the way. Is that a problem?"

"Not a problem for me, Kelly; not at all."

"Good. So, I think we should get comfortable over on that mattress of yours."

"Shouldn't I, I mean, should I take a shower. I've been working in the shop and all. My hands are clean but not much else."

"Actually, that's a nice idea. Thank you for being considerate. I'll wait here. We don't have much time before I have to be home so please be quick."

Henry was quick, indeed, making it back to his room in about 10 minutes. He noticed that in that time Kelly had located the spare sheets and changed the bed, as well. Henry hadn't thought of that and was glad she had. She was on the bed waiting for him. Her clothes were still on, but he couldn't help but notice the bra now casually lying atop his shelf.