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“Justinas.” Adomas walked toward me, and I backed away again, growing angry. I was angry I was crying and just fucking angry overall.
“Don’t touch me. Fuck! They could be watching and will kill us.” I grabbed my sides again.
“I won’t touch you, but let me walk you home.”
“No. They know where I live. They know Rami is sick.”
“Justinas.”
“Maybe I’m sick!” I gritted through clenched teeth, suddenly worrying if those assholes were right.
“You’re not sick. There’s nothing wrong with us. Those guys were just stupid fucks.”
“They killed a man in front of us!”
“Look, we’re both spooked. We need to get home instead of walking around out here.”
I nodded and started walking again. I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand as we neared my house.
“We can’t tell anyone, Justinas.”
“You think I don’t know that?” I mumbled as we walked. Each time my foot hit the pavement, I felt waves of pain in my stomach and ribs.
“Your backpack is in my house. You can wait on my porch and I’ll go inside and get it.”
I nodded again and followed him to his house. I waited on the porch and kept my eye on the streets until Adomas appeared. My stomach and ribs hurt too much for me to sling my bag over my shoulders. I carried it by the strap and walked down the porch steps without another word.
“I’m going to stand here and wait until you go inside, Justinas,” he hollered.
I nodded and walked home. When I opened the door, I instantly heard Rami reading out loud at the kitchen table.
“Hi, sweetie,” Mom called out.
“Hi,” I barely managed to say.
I dropped my backpack by the hole Rami made in the wall this morning and went to the bathroom. I shut and locked the door before I stared at myself in the mirror. I looked terrible. I raised my shirt and could already see red spots and broken blood vessels from the assault. I soaked a washcloth with cold water and held it over my eyes and face for a few moments. Afterward, I went back out in the hall, picked up my bag, and hollered to my mom.
“I don’t feel good. I’m going to lie down.”
I hoped that everyone would leave me alone for the night. I curled up under my blanket and closed my eyes, wishing that today had never happened. I faced the wall my bed was against and prayed for the pain in my body to go away. I couldn’t get the image of that man out of my mind. I pulled the blanket over my head and sobbed quietly. Even though my nose was congested, I could still smell dinner.
“Hey, man,” Dominykas said when he came into our room. “Mom said you weren’t feeling good. Let me know if I can get you anything.”
Tears poured out of my eyes, and I buried my face against my pillow so he couldn’t see. I heard him unzip his backpack and put his books and notebook on the desk to work on homework. For some reason, I felt safe with Dominykas in the room. Eventually, he left to go eat dinner, and soon after I heard dishes being cleared from the table, Dad came in.
“Justinas, would you like some soup?”
I shook my head, praying he wouldn’t come near me.
“Are you warm? Cold?” Dad asked as he neared my bed. I quickly spoke up out of fear that he’d look me over, or worse, put his hand on my forehead. I didn’t want to be touched ever again.
“I’m a little cold, but am warming up,” I lied.
“Okay. Wake your brother up tonight if you need anything. Love you, son.”
I could barely hold my tears in. When he left the room, I buried my face in the pillow. I thought the coast was clear, but then Dominykas rushed over and sat down next to me.
“Justinas, what’s wrong?”
