Libby and the Boys

I got a new job at the bowling alley and Sonny started working at the music store. I managed to buy an old beat up mustang from the guy who was pretty desperate to get rid of it. He said no one wanted such an old car but I took it. I didn’t care what it looked like as long as it could drive me places. With that mine and Sonny’s bikes got retired and I was able to drive us wherever we wanted to go.

We were making some money. It wasn’t a lot but we would save it and spend it on stuff like concert tickets and actual guitars. I got this used Les Paul imitation and was really proud of it. Sonny and I started saying how we wished we could be in a band someday but it wasn’t a very serious idea in our heads yet.

We would drive all over town and we met all kinds of people who were into all kinds of things. My mom couldn’t be bothered to give a crap about me so she didn’t pay attention to anything I was doing. Sonny’s mom wanted what was best for him and always made sure he was enrolled in a school but she didn’t pay much attention to what he was doing outside of school either. I tried alcohol and weed for the first time that summer. We got our first tattoos too.

I was drunk when we got them. Sonny decided to get a sun on his upper arm because of his name so I decided it would be cool to get the same one. I got it my back all the way up under my right shoulder. It hurt and I was gripping Sonny’s hand but when it was over I remember thinking we looked really cool. There were times were I thought maybe it wasn’t the brightest idea but in the end decided no matter what happened Sonny and I would always have a chapter in our lives where we were bonded. Even if for some reason we split up and went different ways in our lives no one could erase all of the important time we had shared together. Sonny definitely made an impact on my life and I like to think I made an impact on his too.

That summer Sonny and I also painted a giant mural on the wall in his bedroom after his mother gave us permission. It was washable paint that if you scrubbed it hard enough with soap and water would come off the wall. No one ever cleaned it off though. We painted clouds and the sun, our initials, hearts, and stars and music notes and guitars. It was a really cool scene if you ask me. He also got his first pet snake which I found fascinating. It would be one of many.

The next school year started and we turned seventeen. School was still a difficult place for us though people started to learn not to mess with me. One day I heard a girl was talking crap about me and Sonny. All I had to do was walk up to her and confront her about it because she ran away as soon as I mentioned what I heard. Another day in our class we had a substitute teacher who decided they were going to tease Sonny. That obviously didn’t go over well. He pushed all of the teacher’s books and papers off their desk then stormed out of class. I ran after him then and we walked right out of school together. Sonny strongly considered dropping out but his mom wouldn’t let him. She wanted him to at least have a high school diploma.

I hated feeling helpless in any situation but there were times it couldn’t be avoided. My mother had always had a problem with alcohol and she was violent when she was drunk. She treated me like crap on a consistent basis but she was the only family I had since my dad left before I was born. She got money from guys she would sleep with. She would yell at me a lot and push me or hit me, lock me in my room but it was all stuff I thought I could handle. I never talked about it a lot but Sonny and his mother both knew most of what was going on. One day though I snapped. I finally broke and I ran away.

I got in my car and I drove myself to Sonny’s house in the middle of the night. I knocked on the door, not even bothering to go through his window. His mother answered and his grandma was sitting on the couch watching television. She took one look at me and pulled me inside. I was standing there in my tank top and spandex shorts getting soaked from the rain and bleeding.

She brought me into the bathroom and sat me down on the edge of the tub. “What happened Libby?” Sonny’s mom asked me.

I was shivering as she started tending to my wounds. I had a bruised jaw, a cut swollen lip, blood leaking from my head where I hit on the corner of a coffee table, and bruises scattered all over my body. “Nothing. I’m sorry. It’s late but I didn’t…I didn’t have anywhere else to go.”

“It’s fine honey,” she said sympathetically. She was always very nice to me. I was her son’s best friend and she always thought I was a good kid. “Did your mom’s boyfriend do this?”

“No,” I shook my head.

“Who was it? You can tell me.”

I didn’t reply.

“Was it your mom?”

“Don’t tell anyone…please,” I begged. “She’s all I have.”

Sonny walked in then and his eyes widened when he saw me. He walked over and hugged me tightly. I buried my face against him and held onto him.

“How often does your mom do this?” his mom asked me.

She pressed a cold wet cloth to my head wound.

“What?” I scrunched up my face in pain.

“How much does your mom beat the crap out of you?” Sonny clarified. “You don’t fucking deserve to get hit. How the hell can your mom do that? She deserves to get punched in the face.”

“Sonny!” his mom scolded him. She turned to me then. “Why don’t you stay the night here? We can talk about this more tomorrow.”

“Okay, thanks,” I nodded.

I went to Sonny’s room with him and he gave me a clean dry baggy tee shirt of his. I turned my back to him and changed into it, taking off my wet clothes and pulling his tee shirt on over my bra and underwear. Then I climbed into his bed and he lay down with me, placing an arm around me. I felt safe and warm in his embrace. “I love you Lib,” he said. We had been saying I love you in a best friend way for a while by this point.

“I love you too Sonny.”

He kissed my forehead gently. “Go to sleep. It’s going to be alright. I won’t let anyone hurt you. You’re really an awesome girl and you don’t deserve that shit.”

“Thank you,” I whispered then I closed my eyes.

Sonny’s mom let me move in then. I was caught off guard by her act of kindness and offered to drop out of high school in order to work more so I could pay rent. She told me I didn’t have to do that and she wanted me to finish school. “You’re a smart good kid. Finish school and you can stay here as long as you need.”

I was very grateful for that and I still am. I moved into Sonny’s bedroom. The deal was he was supposed to sleep on the couch at night while I slept in his bed but he never did and eventually his mom stopped telling him to. She trusted us together and she was right to. We didn’t do anything except share a bed…at least at first anyway. She always suspected as we got older we may develop some kind of feelings for each other but left us alone to figure things out by ourselves.

My friendship with Sonny started to cross a certain line that year that I moved in with him. Our bond had continued to grow. We loved each other as best friends. I had never felt closer with anyone in my life. He was the most important person in my life. I couldn’t imagine having the same bond with anyone else ever. He understood me and we shared everything together. We had dreams to start a band together and were practically glued to each other we were so inseparable.

One night we were sitting in the park laying in the grass and gazing up at the stars. He had a bottle of vodka in one hand and his other hand on mine. He was talking about this girl who kept wanting to date him but he didn’t want to date her. “Do you date guys? I never see you with guys besides me.”

“I’ve never really dated anyone. I don’t think people want to date me,” I replied.

“Why not?”

“I don’t know…”

“You’ve been with guys though…”

“No,” I shook my head. “Not really. I kissed this one guy but…”

“You only kissed one guy?” he sat up and looked at me surprised.

I knew that Sonny had been with a few girls already but no one had ever paid much attention to me. Most people thought I was a loser and many of them assumed I was dating Sonny. It didn’t bother me too much though. I wasn’t really concerned with dates and stuff like that. “Yeah,” I shrugged. I reached over and grabbed the vodka, taking a sip.

“Wow… we’re seventeen Libby. You should get out more.”

I rolled my eyes at him. “Whatever you say Sonny.”

It was only a week later when it I drove us to this party that was going on by the beach. It went on all through the night. There was a big bonfire and alcohol everywhere. I stripped down to my black bra and panties then dove into the ocean. Sonny stripped down to his boxers and dove in after me. He splashed me so I splashed back, laughing loudly. He lunged forward and grabbed me then. We wrestled a little in the water but he held me to him. I gave in and wrapped my arms and legs around him. He smiled at me then our lips collided.

“Now you can say you’ve kissed two guys,” he said, laughing.

“You suck!” I laughed too.

That would make the first of many kisses but they were all on a friendly playful basis. Even the time we made out in his bed, he was tickling me and I was squirming around laughing then he kissed me and I kissed back. It was all innocent enough.