What We Are (And How We Hate It)

February 2005. It’s a cold winter day and the group of best friends stay huddled in the house together. Jack’s mom brings them hot chocolate, then leaves to let them continue on with the band meeting.

They don’t need to continue on with the meeting–the topic of conversation had changed about half an hour ago–but no one wants to go home yet. Their parents wouldn’t need them home for hours anyway.

“Do you think your mom would let us stay over for dinner?” Alex asks Jack.

He shrugs.

“You can go ask. I don’t think she’ll care all that much.”

Rian checks the time again. It’s the fourth time he’d done so since the conversation changed. Despite them all being best friends, he never wants to spend more time than he feels he has to with them. The others don’t question it.

“I think I’m gonna head home, guys,” the drummer announces after a moment.

“You sure? If you wait a while my mom will bring us some food.”

Rian shakes his head.

“Thanks for the offer, but I’ll be alright.”

They exchange some parting words, saying they’ll see him later, and they let him leave. As soon as he left the room, Zack reached into his bag for his book and curled up on Jack’s bed with it.

Before they’re able to busy themselves, yells from the front yard catch their attention and the three of them move to the window to see what’s going on. Rian was trying to shake someone’s dog off his arm, with no luck. WIth no hesitation, the three of them run out to the front yard. Along the way Jack grabs a bat.

Alex and Jack run to Rian while Zack tries to find Jack’s mom. Alex tries to pull the dog’s jaws off of Rian’s arm, to no avail. It’s only when Jack tries to pull the dog away from behind does it let go of Rian’s arm and turns to growl and bite at Jack. In a panic, he swings the bat and hits the dog in the head.

That just makes it angrier.

It lunges at Jack and he hits it again, this time with more force. The dog hits the side of Rian’s car and gets disoriented for a second before running off. He drops the bat and looks over at Rian and Alex. By this time, Zack appears in the doorway with his mom.

“What the hell happened out here?” She asks.

“Some dog just went crazy and attacked me!” Rian says, holding his arm up. Blood drips down from his wound. She puts a hand over her mouth and motions for them to come into the house.

“I’ll call your mom and tell her what happened. Zack, get Rian cleaned up and bandaged.”

With a quiet “yes ma’am” from Zack, the two head off to the bathroom. Jack retrieves the first aid kit for them before going back to the front yard to get the bat. His mother gives him a stern look when he comes back in.

“Did you hit the dog with that?”

“It was crazy, mom! Alex and I tried to make it let go of Rian, but then it tried to attack me!”

She sighs after listening to the explanation and nods.

“Just put it back please, alright?”

Jack nods and she kisses his head before he can move off. Not that he would’ve rejected it; at school he may not show it, but he’s a complete mama’s boy.

Rian hisses a bit as Zack puts his arm under the cold water. He feels the urge to pull his arm away but he doesn’t.

“Sorry!”

“It’s fine, just a bit of a shock.”

Zack stays quiet for a moment as he dries his arm off and begins to wipe the blood away.

“I can’t believe that dog just lost its mind like that,” he says once he grabs the bandages.

“I know! I want to find its owner and ask what the fuck is wrong with them for letting their dog attack people at random.”

Zack shakes his head.

“If they know their dog is that aggressive, they shouldn’t let it run around like that. If you find the owners, your family should confront them.”

“Trust me, when my mom sees my arm, she will. Moms have a way of finding everything out.”

Zack smiles and nods a bit. A moment later he finishes bandaging up the wound and he sets the bandage back in the kit.

As they turn to leave, Alex appears in the doorway. They see his hands covered in Rian’s blood.

"How much blood could Rian have lost in the fight?" Zack thinks.

They step aside and let Alex wash the blood away, and Rian heads to the kitchen where the others gather.

“Oh, Rian, I called your mom and told her what happened and she’s on her way over with your brother.”

“But I can just drive home,” he says.

“That’s not the point. You know how mothers get: when our children get hurt, we need to make sure they’re alright.”

Almost on cue, Rian’s mom and older brother, Chase, pull up in front of the house. The drummer glances out the window and grabs his keys.

“Thanks for the help, Mrs. Barakat.”

“Of course. Let us know how your arm heals.”

“I will,” he promises. He exchanges goodbyes with his friends once more before heading out to meet his mom and brother.

“I think I should get going,” Alex speaks up.

“Me too.”

“Are you sure you two don’t want to stay over for dinner?”

“I’m sure. I think after what happened, I’m kinda eager to get home,” Alex explains. Zack nods in agreement.

“Okay. Get home safe, you two.”

“Thanks, Mrs. Barakat. Bye Jack,” Zack says, waving to Jack as he heads to the door. Alex does the same and after a couple of minutes, the cars in front of the Barakat house are gone.

On Monday, Jack, Rian, and Alex meet up at school.

“How’s your arm?” Jack asks the drummer.

Rian looks down at the new bandages his mom applied the night before and shows them.

“It’s healing alright. My mom put some medicine on the bite and changed the bandages. Should be gone in a few days. Maybe a week.” He shut his locker and they start walking to their first period.

“Did you guys have any dreams about what happened over the weekend?”

Jack and Rian look at Alex as he asks his question. They all share a knowing look.

“What makes you say that?” Rian asks. He did have a dream about the dog attack, but he didn’t want to admit it. He’s convinced that there’s a rational explanation for it.

“I—I don’t know. It was just a thought. You don’t have to answer, it’s stupid.”

Alex’s dream runs through his head.

It starts off in darkness. Then he hears a scream; at first he can’t tell who it comes from. It’s not a scream of terror, but one of panic. He realizes that the scream is coming from Rian. And then he can make Rian out in the darkness, and he sees the dog attacking him. Before he knows what he’s doing, Alex runs over and tries to pry the dog’s jaws off of him. The sight and smell of Rian’s blood are all he can focus on, and the dream fades away. When he wakes up, the scent of blood is still fresh in his mind.

Jack’s dream is different. Over the weekend, when he went to sleep, he could see the dog. It still attacks Rian. Alex runs to help him. Jack holds the bat tight in his hands. He doesn’t want to use it but he knows he will. He doesn’t see how it happens, but the dog turns to him, its teeth bared and pure rage in its eyes. He feels afraid and swings the bat. It makes it angrier, so he swings again, this time harder. Jack looks on with horror as the dog hits Rian’s car with a sickening thud and it doesn’t get up again.

In Rian’s dream, it doesn’t play out the way it happened. Instead of being in Jack’s front yard with his car behind him, he and the dog are in a forest. They’re alone, and he has to fight it off on his own. Somehow it feels more like a fist fight between two kids than an animal attacking him. The dream always ends before he can see the outcome of the fight.

The first bell pulls them out of their thoughts and they rush to their desks. They make an unspoken agreement not to talk about the situation until after they meet up with Zack after school.