8. Attack of the Giant, Three-Headed Monster

The mutated dragon beast wreaks havoc on Tokyo.

The cityscape of Staten Island is different from the rest of New York in a way that’s a little difficult to explain. It doesn’t have  the humbling perspective of inner-city Manhattan, the unspoken uniformity of Brooklyn, or the mystifying antiquity of Harlem; it’s big and easy to get lost in yet equally easy to feel at home in, the people are less lively and outgoing yet that only makes it more relaxed. Every time I come back I find myself surprised at how new it feels. It was such a change of pace that just taking it all in was enough to pass the time as I waited on that bench outside the subway terminal. After about twenty minutes of me sitting there, a busy looking man in a suit arrived, holding a coffee in one hand and briefcase in other, overly-expensive sunglasses concealing his eyes as he went on about whatever to whoever through the bluetooth device in his ear.

“I’ll call you back.” he said, hitting the button on his earpiece as he got close enough to me to talk. He lifted his sunglasses and grinned at me.

“Richie,” he called welcomingly. “Long time no see, kid.”

“Word,” I greeted. “What’s up, Uncle Keegan?”

“How old are you now, peach fuzz? Fourteen?”

“Still in denial about your youth and prime being over I see?”

“Still wearing hip, edgy clothes to compensate for your empty personality?”

We both bust out laughing. I got up from the bench and gave my uncle a hug.

“It’s good to see you.” he said.

I took a bite of the enigmatic rich-people-sandwich Uncle Keegan had bought me. I couldn’t remember the last time I ate a sandwich with lettuce and tomatoes on it that wasn’t fried and drowned in grease. The place he chose for lunch looked more like a hipster art gallery with tables than it did an actual restaurant.

“You take your SATs yet?” he asked, wiping his mouth with a needlessly fancy napkin.

“Later this week.” I answered, reaching for my drink.

“Scared?”

“No. Petrified beyond reason would be more accurate.”

“Of one little test?”

“Not the test, the ramifications of it. Between you and me I have no idea where I’m going to college or what I’m even going for, now I have to take this test and run the risk of them finding out how dumb I am and closing the door before I even get to decide. This whole system’s screwed up.”

“I hear that, kid. What’s Tobias think about your school situation?”

“Uncle T and I don’t really talk about it.”

“Why’s that?”

“Honestly, we don’t talk about anything that much anymore. He’s always at work and I’m so busy with school, it kinda feels like I live in that house alone sometimes.”

“Don’t feel bad, Rich, it’s only natural the two of you don’t connect as much. You’re getting older, becoming your own person. Toby’s a great guy, but he could never relate to you.”

“How do you figure that?”

“You’re not like he was when we were kids. You got attitude, that’s your strength. Too bad living with him your whole life’s taught you to hide in your shell.”

I bitterly pondered what that meant. Is that what I’ve been doing this whole time, living complacently behind my proverbial shell?

“Uncle Keegan…”

My eyes drifted down to the ice floating in my soda, being slowly eaten away by the fizz.

“Can I ask you about something we’ve never talked about before?”

He leaned back in his seat and loosened his belt a notch.

“I’m a little scared but sure.”

I took a deep breath, trying to find the words. Eventually they came out on their own.

“What was my dad like?” I asked him. “You know… If you had to describe him in your own words.”

Uncle Keegan was immediately taken out of his comfort zone, almost flinching at those words. But it didn’t last long; after a quick moment of thought he took a sip of his water and his eyes wandered nonchalantly.

“I only met your father once,” he reminisced. “At a family cookout back when there still was a family. He was fighting with your mother about bills or something, and Tobias was too thin-skinned to intervene. I got a real good sense of who he was though; a bum. Someone with no drive, happy with getting the bare minimum from life. The only good thing he ever did was stay out of your life.”

He spoke those words so matter-of-factly, I didn’t know quite how to take it. I didn’t get angry or sad or anything, I just got this small, empty feeling in the pit of my stomach.

“It’s a shame, Rich,” he sighed and rubbed his forehead. “What man leaves a kid behind to be someone else’s problem? Back then I wished I could do something, but I was so broke I could barely take care of myself. Thank God my brother had his life together. Even still, sometimes I wonder how it could be if I was ready to take you in back then…”

His eyes looked dreary at the thought, as if seeing all the pain and regret of his life’s mistakes flash by.

“Why’s that?” I asked. “So you could use the single dad shtick to pick up women?”

He laughed and shook his head, looking at me almost curiously.

“You’ve really grown up, huh?”

For a second, in my head, I was seven years old again, shouting and cheering with Uncle Keegan from the stands at my first basketball game.

“Come on, Rich,” he said, crumbling his napkins up into a small pile. “Let’s get outta here and see the town.”

The change in scenery I got visiting my uncle was much needed, but returning to my own world wasn’t as monotonous as I expected. We were half a month into the new year already and a new time it was indeed; every part of my life had begun to move around in new ways.

All the grievances with college and future plans I vented to Keegan about were still growing more and more present every day, and in my ever-dwindling social life, new developments were sneaking up on me back to back.

The first thing of note was that Steve McLeary, the nerdy kid we decided to help improve the self-image of, had become almost a regular staple of the group, always being attached by the hip to Theo or Travis or I whenever we were at school, a little annoying but he’s also pretty cool in his own unique, socially awkward kind of way. Travis and CJ started kind of dating but kind of not, depending on which one of them you asked. Theo and I started hanging out just the two of us a lot more, having deep talks about our problems, our futures, girls, family, etc. Grant Peters had gone from wanting to murder me to only strongly disliking me and wanting to murder Travis. CJ stopped sending me those ambiguous texts, but she’s also started acting really awkward and uncomfortable around me, so I was confused as usual in regards to her. And Carrie… Well, where I stood with her was kind of hard to describe at that point in time.

“What the hell is this?” she cried after one sip of her coffee, wiping her mouth and looking as if she was dying.

“It’s gingerbread,” I answered. “Surprisingly they still had some left over from Christmas.”

“Not surprising at all, that’s because no one with any sense bought any of it.”

She lifted her cup and stared at it like she had X-Ray vision and was analyzing its contents or something, before placing it back on the table and sliding it far away from her in disgust.

“That is the last time you pick the surprise flavor of the week.”

I shrugged. “You don’t like the taste of gingerbread but hot nut juice is cool?”

I took a long, proud sip from my cup and she rolled her eyes. When I got done my sip and lowered my head, I noticed she was looking at me. She had her head rested on one hand and almost a hint of a smile as she sat there, just watching me or a second.

“Richie,” she said in a passive yet sincere tone. “Have I ever told you you’re a great guy?”

I raised a brow, genuinely caught off guard. I didn’t know what to say, or even what to feel.

“Well, no,” I mustered. “But any reaffirmation of said opinion is welcome.”

She smiled at me.

“I’m not so good with saying how I feel, so I just wanted to make sure you knew. When I first moved here I was scared it was all gonna be for nothing. I was worried it might suck, I was worried I’d make no friends and be alone, just the shy bookworm in the back of the class the whole time. I got so used to being the person nobody ever noticed and, well... I’m just saying if I’d known I was gonna meet you I’d have worried a lot less.”

She got up from her seat before I could even respond.

“I’ll be right back, I’m gonna go order some real coffee.”

She walked over to the counter, briefly leaving me alone with my thoughts. I realized then that for how easily Carrie saw through everyone she met, she was near impossible to be read herself. For the moment, though, I was fine with that. A record scratch vibrated from my pocket. I pulled out my phone to check my texts, and was a little surprised to see Uncle Keegan’s name.

‘Free SAT study guide I found online. May the force be with you’

Underneath the message he had attached a link to some website. I tapped the blue text and it opened up, a document full o SAT information like he said. I quickly grew uneasy, once again being reminded of the impending real world and this infernal test I kept putting off and trying to ignore.

Carrie returned with a new cup, sitting right beside me on the small bench and setting her drink down.

“CJ again?” she asked, nothing my distraught expression as I looked down at my phone.

“No,” I answered, sliding it back into my pocket. “Just the future, dismal and bleak as ever.”

She nudged my leg with hers. “What’s got you worrying?”

“These stupid SATs. I’ve been studying for it religiously for like a month and I still don’t feel like I know anything. I just wish I was better at school. I mean, I wish this wasn’t so hard for me, I wish getting ready for college didn’t have to be such a crisis.”

“Hey,” she said softly, raising her hand to the bottom of my face and gently turning me toward her. “The future doesn’t have to be scary, you know.”

She leaned forward and sternly pressed her lips against mine. After a moment she pulled away, angled her head slightly, and kissed me again, this time more slow and gentle.

“You’re too smart to let them break you,” she said as she pulled away. “The SATs aren’t the be-all-end-all on the rest of your life, no need to freak. If college and the bleak impending future seems scary, remember I’m still here with you on the same boat. I think maybe we’ll be okay.”

I sighed, now feeling betrayed by my own head once more, but at least more relieved. I looked Carrie in the eyes, almost able to see her optimism and hopefulness in their gleam.

“You must get tired of always picking me up all the time when I lose my head, huh?”

She smiled at me again. “Tired? No. But I do think I’m getting pretty good at it.”

“Think Trav and CJ are doing anything for Valentine’s?” Theo asked, steering the wheel with one hand and grabbing his drink with the other.

“Doubt it,” I replied. “Celebrating said holiday denotes definitive commitment, which CJ isn’t a fan of.”

“Word. Who knows when they’ll figure their stuff out.”

I took the last bite of my meal and reflected for a moment. It was like greasy burgers and fries were the dietary standard now; more iced soda had entered my body than eggs and bacon for breakfast or spaghetti for dinner my senior year.

“Why the sudden interest in Valentine’s Day, anyway?” I asked. He sighed, as if anticipating my response to what he was about to say.

“I been thinking…” he began.

“Never a good sign.”

“I think I wanna get back with V.”

“Woah, woah, woah…” I said, doing a ‘timeout’ motion with my hands. “Did you get some kinda head injury at practice I don’t know about?”

“What’s wrong with that idea?”

“Aside from the increasingly unhappy final months you spent with each other, the public agreement between the two of you that your lives were better off separate, and the fact that you two haven’t interacted in any way for like a year now?”

“I know, Rich. We didn’t work out before, but people change. I have and I bet she has too. Why sit around wondering what if? And what can I say, I miss her.”

He had a sincerity in his tone that threw me off. It’s been so long since I’d seen them together that I’d forgotten how deeply they cared for each other at one point.

“I mean,” I conceded. “If you really think it’s a good idea, go for it.”

“For real?” he replied excitedly. “Cuz I need your help?”

“Mine? For what?”

“Well, V and I haven’t said nothing to each other for like a year. If we just jump back to talking like nothing happened it’ll be all awkward.”

My mind was nearly blown by that mental image; the infinitely smooth Theo Barnes being awkward talking to a girl. It was like a fish drowning.

“What do you want me to do?” I asked.

“I figured for the first time seeing her again, maybe it’ll be better if it’s not just us.”

“You want me to come? Ever here of the ‘third wheel’ concept?”

“Nah, not like a third wheel… More like… A double date.”

He reached a red light and looked over at me, his eyes almost showing desperation. I didn’t know what to say.

“Come on, Rich,” he persisted. “At least talk to your girl about it.”

“Carrie? We’ve never been on a date or anything like that before. We never really did anything beyond hanging out as friends.”

“But you like her don’t you?”

“I mean…”

I sighed my eyes drifting out the window as the car set in motion again and the neighborhood continued passing by.

“Why not ask Trav and CJ?”

“Bruh.” he said sternly, taking his eyes off the road for a second to shoot me a look. All was communicated.

I drummed my fingers on the table as I waited, preparing my mouth not only for Carrie’s mystery flavor this week, but also what I would be saying to her upon seeing her. I wasn’t really sure where we stood at this point. I mean, it was clear (at least to me) that we were slightly more than friends, but exactly what stage we were at I had no idea. I’m at least 65% sure she likes me. I realized then how Carrie could sometimes be the easiest girl in the world to talk to while simultaneously being just as hard to read as CJ. When she finally did show up, my confusion grew even stronger. Not at anything in particular she did, but at the leash in her hand and the spastically jumping puppy on the other end of it.

“What’s new?” she said casually as she sat beside me, not acknowledging anything out of the ordinary. The dog immediately ran up and placed its paws on my leg to stand itself upright and furiously licked my hand.

“I didn’t know you had a dog.” I replied.

“I didn’t until this morning. And I technically still don’t.”

“I ever tell you how bad you are at explaining things?”

She grinned and proceeded, “I stumbled upon this little guy digging through trash during my morning walk.”

“And you threw a leash on him to bring him here and get his trash-spit on me?”

“He was alone, lost and clearly hungry. The tag with his name fell off his collar it looks like. So I couldn’t just leave him out there.”

The little dog lost interest in us and darted off to chase after a woman who walked by, only to inadvertently choke himself with his leash.

“So you’re letting him stay with you?”

“Of course not, my mom hates animals, as she does most living things in general.”

“Then what’re you gonna do with him ’till you find his owner?”

Her eyes awkwardly shifted away, then looked back at me.

“Remember that time you and Theo and Travis ditched that pep rally and I totally covered for you and we mutually agreed you owed me one?”

I wanted to order a coffee just to drink from it and spit some out in reaction to that.

“Carrie are you serious!?”

“Come on, it’s not like it’ll be hard…”

“Easy to say when you’re not the one bringing a strange, dog into your home. How do I know he doesn’t have some crazy disorder or rabies or some other rabid disease?”

She narrowed her eyes and motioned her head over to the small dog, who was now relentlessly chasing its tail beside us.

“Does that look rabid to you?”

I scrambled for excuses to dodge my fate.

“Why’s it have to be my house?”

“My mom won’t allow it and you’re the only one I trust.”

“Why would you do that?”

“Come on, Richie! It’ll only be for a night or two.”

She picked the puppy up into her arms and raised him close to her. His tail wagged excitedly as his face got comfortable on hers. She gave an innocent-looking pout and her eyes sparkled accordingly through her big glasses.

“Do you really want him out on the streets by himself?” She asked in an obnoxiously sweet and tender tone. I sighed.

“I guess not.” I muttered begrudgingly. The dog, as if understanding my words, leapt from Carrie’s arms and onto my lap.

“See,” Carrie laughed as he tried to lick my face. “He already likes you.”

She reached over and gently scratched the back of his head.

“You’ll be fine, little guy. Superboy’s gonna take good care of you, isn’t he?”

“What do you call him anyway?”

She shrugged. “I’ve been sticking with ‘dog’ so far.”

“How motherly of you.”

“Any suggestions then?”

“I dunno, what’s the procedure for naming a dog?”

Carrie stared up at the ceiling and tapped her finger against her chin, as if remembering some course she was taught on the subject.

“Well a starting place could be turning defining physical attributes into names, like Spot or Fluffy.”

“He isn’t very fluffy, and there’s not a spot on him.”

“Then something cute like Bow Wow or Barky.”

“You wouldn’t name a baby boy ‘Speaky’ would you?”

“Then how about a timeless dog name. Fido?”

“Way to think inside the box. Why not a dog name with some class, meaning.”

She scoffed, as if growing tired of my criticism.

“How about Cerberus,” she suggested dryly. “The three-headed hound of hell.”

“Nah,” I dismissed. “If we’re gonna name him after something three-headed why not… Got it! King Ghidorah.”

“That’s a reference to something dumb isn’t it?”

The dog leapt back onto the ground and started shaking his head all around for some reason.

“Little KG here doesn’t need your negativity.” I said snidely.

“What, I don’t get to reject your name suggestions?” Carrie replied.

“He’s staying at my house isn’t he? That means my name sticks.”

She looked at the dog, who was of course utterly content and completely oblivious to his situation.

“Well,” she said. “If you have any trouble with him just give me a call. I’ve never had a dog before, but I skimmed the hell out of a puppy care blog.”

“And so begins another exciting night in my life.” I sighed. She shrugged and gave one of her slight grins.

“Hey, Carrie,” I began, trying my hardest to not be weird about it. “After this whole dog thing blows over… Do you wanna hang out with me and Theo this weekend?”

She raised a brow, seemingly not understanding the proposal.

“Just the three of us?” she questioned. “Why not the other two of the group?”

“I mean, well, it won’t just be the three of us. Theo’s bringing V.”

“V?”

“His ex-girlfriend. Well, he’s trying to work things out and get back with her.”

“And the four of us will just be hanging out.”

“Well yeah, so it’ll be less awkward for them since they won’t be alone. We can like see a movie and go out to eat or something.”

“You mean like go with them on a date?”

“I mean, not exactly but… More, you know, like a-”

In the midst of our conversation, we had both failed to notice neither of us was holding onto King Ghidorah’s leash. He had seized the opportunity to run off after a little boy eating a chicken sandwich, who then clung to his mother’s jacket for dear life. Carrie and I shot up from our seats and ran after the little, furry deviant.

“Is it too late to take back that deal?”

As soon as I closed the door to my room and let go of the puppy’s leash, he immediately took off, running in circles around me as fast as he could with no apparent goal.

“Uh, sit.” I tried. With no slowing of velocity, the dog leapt onto my bed. I sighed. Maybe one day some living thing will take what I say seriously.

My phone buzzed. I checked it to see Theo asking about the status of the date. I wasn’t quite sure what to answer back with. I didn’t have any time to think about it, though, because right at that second I received an incoming call. The contact name ‘Carrie’ hovered above a photo of us at the highest point on the ferris wheel. Maybe she was calling because she was also eager for the date.

“Yo, what’s up?” I answered.

“Richie!” screamed a familiar crying voice that wasn’t Carrie’s. “Carrie’s in the emergency room!”

My heart nearly stopped. The nearly-hysterical woman on the phone was Mrs. Thompson, and that was the night Carrie Thompson went to the hospital for appendicitis.