Chapter 25

By the time Beth Ellicott made it over to Zach’s house that Saturday it was nearly dark. There were no lights on in the house, or at least none that she could see from her vantage point at the front door. She paused before knocking, almost as if she were still deciding what to say and how to say it.

The door swung open and Beth was face to face with the woman that could only be Zach’s mother. “Mrs. Bowie?” she asked.

“Yes,” the woman answered. “I’m Mrs. Bowie.”

“I’m Beth,” Beth said. “I’m a friend of Zach’s from school.”

“Nice to meet you,” Mrs. Bowie answered without showing much emotion.

“Is Zach here?” Beth asked.

Mrs. Bowie sighed. “He’s here but something’s wrong,” she said.

“I know all about it,” Beth said.

“You do? Come on in,” Mrs. Bowie said, pushing the storm door open and stepping aside. “Let’s go into the kitchen.” She closed the door behind Beth and then led the way. “I don’t want him to hear us. He’s in his room,” she explained as they walked. “I’ve been home from for a couple of hours. I talked to him through the door but I haven’t seen him. He won’t come out. That’s not like him at all. Something must have gone wrong at his match today. I know he’s lost a few matches. Maybe he lost again.”

“It’s worse than that,” Beth said. “He didn’t even wrestle today.”

“He didn’t?” Mrs. Bowie asked. “What happened?” she asked again.

“Well, Zach didn’t make weight this morning,” Beth said. “He couldn’t have wrestled anyway, with his wrist, but the coach was pretty upset that he didn’t make weight.”

“His wrist?” Mrs. Bowie asked. “What about his wrist? Why am I always the last to know?”

“He hurt it last night,” Beth said. “He said he slipped on some ice but nobody believed it. That’s part of why he’s in so much trouble, Mrs. Bowie.”

“Zach’s in trouble?” she asked, looking more alarmed with every word.

“The coach suspended him from the team today,” Beth said.

Mrs. Bowie gasped. “What? Why? What happened? I guess you just got done telling me.” She put her head in her hands. “This is what happens when a mom tries to raise a boy all alone.”

“They think he was out partying when he hurt his wrist,” Beth said. “And they kind of lost the dual meet because he didn’t make weight. At least that’s what somebody told me.”

Mrs. Bowie stood up. “The first thing I need to do is find out if he’s hurt,” she said. “And get that taken care of.” She started walking but stopped suddenly. “Will you help me?” she asked. “Maybe he’ll listen to you.”

“I’ll try, Mrs. Bowie,” Beth said. “That’s why I came. I really like Zach. I’m worried too, just like you are.” They walked down the dark hall to his bedroom without another word.

“Zach?” Beth called after Mrs. Bowie pointed to a door. “It’s me. Beth.”

After thirty seconds of silence Mrs. Bowie spoke up. “Zach, Beth came out to see you. Come out and say hello, at least.” She reached around Beth to flip a switch, filling the hallway with fluorescent light and a faint buzzing sound.

“Leave me alone,” said Zach’s voice from the other side of the door.

“At least we know he’s in there,” Mrs. Bowie said. “I was beginning to wonder.”

“Zach, come on out for a minute,” Beth said. “Please. Just for a minute. We’re worried about you.”

He considered staying quiet until they went away but decided there was no point to that. He would eventually have to face up to what had happened. He opened the door halfway and peeked out of the dark room, squinting because of the hallway light.

“Oh Zach,” Mrs. Bowie said, gently pulling him into the hall and putting her arms around his shoulders. “Are you okay? What happened, Baby?” Beth put her hands in her pockets and looked at the floor without saying anything.

“Mom, I screwed it all up,” Zach said. He bent his head down until it rested in his mother’s hair and tried not to cry. “I thought I could do everything but I screwed it all up. Now it’s all gone.”

“What’s gone?” Mrs. Bowie asked as she squeezed her son tighter. “And how’s your arm?” she asked. “Is it hurt bad? Beth told me everything.”

“It doesn’t matter anymore,” Zach said. “The only things I wanted to do were wrestle and play in the band. Even if my wrist were okay I can’t do those things anymore, anyway.”

“It isn’t too late,” said Beth. “That’s why I came by, Zach. Mark sent me to tell you not to give up.”

“Easton?” Zach said. “He doesn’t care.”

“Isn’t he the team captain?” Mrs. Bowie asked. “He’s the guy you beat out, isn’t he?”

“He’s the guy who calls me ‘Burnout’,” Zach said. “He hates me.”

“No he doesn’t,” Beth said, reaching out and putting her hand on Zach’s back. “He doesn’t hate you at all. He feels bad about everything that happened. On Monday he’s going in and talking to the coach about it.”

“About me?” Zach asked. “I don’t think so. Why would he do that for me?”

“Because he respects you,” she said. “And he likes you. But he was worried you’d gain all your weight back. It might take a few days to convince the coach. That’s why he told me to come and tell you to keep working out.”

Nobody said anything. Zach was shocked to hear Easton was going to stick up for him. He never would have imagined that the opinion of somebody like Easton could matter so much but what Beth told him changed everything. Maybe there was something to be hopeful about.

“Are you sure?” he asked Beth. “Why would he do that?”

“I already told you why,” Beth said.

“What would I do about the band?” Zach said. “I let them down too by dropping out.”

“One thing at a time, Zach,” Mrs. Bowie said.

“Yeah, I know,” Zach replied. “But what if the coach lets me come back? It wouldn’t be right if I went back to the team and still ditched the band, or the other way around. If they still want me. I don’t think it would be cool to do one without the other. I screwed them both.”

“This is getting way too complicated,” Beth said. “At least stay in shape until Monday. Will you promise me that? Otherwise I’m in trouble with Mark.”

“Yeah, I promise,” Zach answered. He put one arm around his mother and the other around Beth. “Cool,” he said. “I don’t feel like jumping off a bridge anymore, at least.”

“I better go,” Beth said. “Would you mind if I came by tomorrow?” she asked. “I’m kind of worried about you, Zach.” She smiled when he looked at her.

“I’d like that,” Zach said.

“Thank you, Beth,” Mrs. Bowie said. “You’ve done a lot of good here.”

After she left Mrs. Bowie gently tugged at her son, guiding him into the living room. “Tomorrow we’ll see about getting you to a doctor, after you show me that wrist. Right now, I want you to tell me everything.”