Anniversary Party

[Pigeon Army†]

((Ma'afu Tuigamala continued from Pumping Iron))

Maf pushed the door to the parking garage open with his shoulder and walked into the lot, the door slamming behind him. In his hands were bags of clothes, football gear and Chinese food, all essential for different reasons. Maf opened the bag with the Chinese in it a little and sniffed it, the divine smell of Beef Chow Mein filling his nostrils. He smiled lightly and made his way to his car on the other side of the garage.

The garage wasn't particularly full today, it being a Sunday afternoon, and Maf liked it like this. The mall could be so overwhelming on Saturdays and weekdays after school, people yelling at each other and clogging up the walkways and getting in everyone's face. Shopping on Sundays was relaxing for him, and the near empty mall offered an oddly tranquil environment to wander around for a few hours.

Maf heard the door to the parking garage open and slam shut again, but he didn't pay it any notice; after all, he was nearly at his car. However, the next sound he paid a lot of attention to.

"Oi, Tuigamala!"

Maf froze. He'd recognise that voice anywhere.

"Tuigamala, over here!"

Maf turned around to see Bret Kross wheeling towards him, two of his friends following him close behind. The boy was looking the way he always looked when he was around Maf - angry, bitter and unpredictable.

Bret slowed to a stop in front of Maf, staring at him in a vaguely threatening manner. "Whatcha got there, Tuigamala?"

Maf glanced down at his bags, then back at Bret, not saying anything.

"Not talking, huh? Cat got your tongue?"

Maf stared at the boy. It was hard not to feel guilty for what he'd accidentally done to Bret, but he'd already apologised numerous times - what more could he possibly do?

"You know what day it is next Saturday, right, Tuigamala?"

Maf nodded and glanced over his shoulder. His car was a few meters away - he could just walk over there and ignore Bret, pretend like he wasn't there.

"You do know? He does know, boys. Isn't that great?"

Maf turned back to Bret. "Just go away, Bret," he said quietly.

"You're telling the guy you crippled to fuck off? Jesus, Tuigamala, didn't your parents teach you any manners."

Maf turned around and began to walk to his car. Just go away, Bret.

That's when the Coke can hit him in the back of the head.

Maf wheeled around. Bret glared at him, and his two friends looked equally hostile. Deciding enough was enough, Maf began walking back towards them.

Fine then, don't go away.

[MurderWeasel]

((Jennifer Perez continued from Looking for 'Company'))

Jennifer was walking through the mall's parking garage, not because she had a car, but because it was a nice change of pace. It was less crowded, less noisy, less of a pain in general. She'd been looking around for ideas for a Prom dress, and she was pretty sure she had something all figured out; she just had to raise about thirty dollars to cover fabric. It shouldn't be that hard.

Well, more like twenty dollars, if I can go with a little less lunch next week...

She was planning to just cut across the place quickly, get out on the other side, and walk home, or maybe to some place to eat, as long as it wasn't the Varsity. It was Sunday, and she didn't have anywhere to go or anything to do. Her friends had organized some big movie night, which she'd be heading to later, even though she really didn't want to, because they all expected it of her. Besides, without her there, who would keep them civil?

You should just beg off. If you skipped it, you'd have fifteen dollars more. You'd almost have enough.

Yeah, but everyone would be so disappointed. I'll find twenty bucks somewhere.

All of a sudden, she heard someone saying something up ahead, rather loudly. She glanced over and froze. There was a guy in a wheelchair, with three people around him. Were they harassing him? It didn't exactly look like it, but...

She paused. One of the guys looked really familiar. She wasn't sure, but it looked like one of the guys from school, that big football player with the unpronounceable name. Most of the time she heard him called "Maf", or something like that. Jennifer had been to a good number of football games, but only because her friends went, and she didn't really know much about the sport. She had no idea if Maf was any good at it or not.

She realized that she had been edging closer, unconsciously moving towards the confrontation. She was standing close enough to see clearly as Maf (she was pretty sure it was him; it sure looked like him) turned away and walked towards a car. Then she blinked, and suddenly a can was bouncing off the back of his head. She had no idea which of the three had thrown it. Maf turned away from the car, and she could almost feel the tension. This was bad. There was going to be some sort of fight or something right in front of her, between her and the exit to the parking garage.

Just walk on by. Turn around and go out the way you came in or something. Loop around...

Someone should do something about this. Those people might get hurt.

That was the issue, wasn't it? Someone should do something, but there was no one else here. It wasn't like the other night at the Varsity. There was no one Jennifer could hide behind and pin the blame on. If she left, whatever happened would be on her shoulders.

Her choices were crystal clear: walk away, and let nature (or whatever this was) take its course, or go and try to stop it somehow.

It wasn't really a choice at all.

She walked quietly up behind the two boys flanking the guy in the wheelchair and said, not too loudly, "Um... Excuse me..."

[Pigeon Army†]

Maf and Bret's relationship was entirely defined by that game-winning, leg-shattering tackle the previous year. Every time their paths crossed, sparks flew, and not good sparks - vicious sparks, ones that started forest fires and killed woodland creatures. For the first three or four months, Maf had apologised to Bret every time he saw him and had tried to be friendly, but it seemed that this tactic just turned Bret against him even more than he originally was, and their relationship had progressed to one of tense, tangible hostility whenever they were near each other.

That year's worth of hostility and barely-suppressed anger was beginning to boil over, and that Coke can acted as an unwitting symbol of their constant conflict coming to a head.

"Look, Bret, I've got nothing with you. Just go away," Maf said quietly as he walked towards the group of three aggressors.

"You've got nothing with me? Well, I've got something with you. A something I'm never going to be able to use properly again because of you, you fuck."

"Look, I apologised..."

"That's not enough, Tuigamala. You think "sorry" and "I didn't mean to" is going to cover it? You're out of your fucking mind. I have something with you, Tuigamala, and you..."

"Um... Excuse me..."

The group lulled. Behind Bret's group stood a skinny, short-haired girl. One of Bret's friends stepped towards her.

"You talking to us, little girl?"

He laughed, and the other anonymous friend laughed with him. Bret, however, still had his eyes fixed on Maf, and Maf was trying to work out who the girl was. He thought he'd seen her around Bayview before, but he wasn't sure where.

Without taking his eyes off the object of his anger, Bret indicated with his head back at the girl and asked, "Who's this, Tuigamala? Your girlfriend?"

Maf shook his head, still staring at the girl. Get out of here, girl.

Bret grabbed the wheels of his wheelchair suddenly and pushed them, rolling towards Maf. He stopped himself directly in front of him, eying the Fijian for a bit, before turning back to his friends. "Let's go, boys. Remember, Tuigamala, next Saturday."

Bret nodded to his friends and the three moved to leave. Maf glanced at Bret, furious at the boy for putting him in such a position, then back at the girl.

"Get out of here, girl."

[MurderWeasel]

As soon as Jennifer spoke, she regretted it. She was not a particularly intimidating figure in her long, bright skirt, particularly not when compared to the two large guys behind the boy in the wheelchair. Still, at least the tension broke, slightly, as one of them turned and said, "You talking to us, little girl?"

What the fuck? Who do these guys think they are, the mob? They can't be older than I am.

She almost said something, but decided not to, not until she could figure out what exactly was going on.

The boy in the wheelchair then made a snide comment, asking if she was Maf's girlfriend. That one actually made her mad.

Will people stop fucking doing that? Just because I'm near a guy doesn't mean I'm dating him.

"I'm not his girlfriend," she said quietly.

Maf was watching her pretty closely, which was slightly disconcerting. Was he angry at her for interrupting? Had she, perhaps, grossly misjudged the situation? Could it be some sort of bizarre drug deal? Were they making a film for a class? She didn't think so, but she couldn't be sure.

Then all of a sudden, they were leaving, everyone except Maf. The boy in the wheelchair briefly paused, uttering a cryptic statement she could only assume was a threat. Were they going to fight next weekend? She didn't know, and honestly she found it somewhat difficult to care at the moment. She hadn't really thought about it while they were looking at her, but she had just done a stupid (and potentially very dangerous) thing. She was very lucky they hadn't targeted her as part of their strange feud. She uttered a quick sigh of relief, then turned back to Maf.

"Get out of here, girl."

Oh my god, if he's going to be that way then fuck him! Wait... Don't overreact. He's probably just stressed.

"Um, sorry to disturb whatever you had going on there, Maf," she said, "I, um, was just afraid there was going to be a fight or something."

She hoped that the three other guys were out of earshot by now. That would probably have been a good thing to check before speaking.

[Pigeon Army†]

"Um, sorry to disturb whatever you had going on there, Maf. I, um, was just afraid there was going to be a fight or something."

Maf stopped in his tracks. Whatever I had going on? He shook his head. Glancing over to the parking garage entrance to check if Bret and his cohorts had left, he turned back to the girl.

"I'm sorry for being blunt. It's just...this isn't something to get involved in."

Maf walked back to his car and slid his key in the driver's door, but stopped himself before he turned it. He turned back to the girl, and smiled briefly.

"Thanks. I guess."

[MurderWeasel]

Sure enough, she'd been right. Just stress. Totally understandable. Hell, he'd apologized; she could even forget the "girl" thing.

Maf had made his way to his car, and looked like he was about to head out, until he turned around and thanked her. He actually thanked her. Jennifer suddenly became happily aware of the poor lighting in the parking garage: with any luck it was hiding her blush.

"Hey, um... No problem. Really."

Was that a stupid way to accept thanks? Maybe, but right now she didn't really care. She'd done the right thing, and someone had appreciated it. She almost left her statement at that, but it just seemed a little... incomplete somehow.

"Look," she said, "you don't need to prove anything to anyone. You can just, um, let them go or something. Graduation's coming up, and you'll probably never see them again."

Way to sound patronizing... Fuck.

[Pigeon Army†]

"Hey, um... No problem. Really."

Maf allowed another brief smile to flit across his face, and then turned back to the door and unlocked it. Throwing the bags of clothes inside, then gingerly placing the Chinese food in the cup holders and the empty ashtray between the front seats, he turned back just to catch the end of the girl saying something else about never seeing them again. Maf grimaced - she didn't know their history, she didn't know just how wrong that sentiment was.

After a few seconds, he realised he was gazing at nothing in particular, and turned to the girl. She'd extended her hand and offered help, and Maf wasn't the kind of person to let that go unacknowledged.

"Do you...want a lift?"

[MurderWeasel]

Maf tossed his stuff into the car, and seemed just about to drive off, bringing their little encounter to an end. Then, out of nowhere, he turned around and offered her a ride. Just like that.

Say no...

Jennifer normally never took rides from classmates. Most of the people her age weren't exactly good drivers, and the thought of getting in a wreck made her very nervous. She didn't plan on dying anytime soon, so why take stupid risks?

Still, Maf was being extraordinarily kind. It would be rude to turn his offer down. Besides, he was probably a good driver, and she lived quite near the mall.

"Um, sure," Jennifer said, "Sure. Thanks a ton. I mean, if it's not a hassle or anything. I, um, I live pretty near here."

She took a few steps closer, making sure not to seem too pushy. It could have just been a token offer, but she didn't think so. Besides, a ride would be nice for a change. It would give her a little time to rest before meeting her friends that night.

[Pigeon Army†]

"Um, sure. Sure. Thanks a ton. I mean, if it's not a hassle or anything. I, um, I live pretty near here."

"Not a hassle," Maf mumbled as the girl hesitantly made a few steps toward the old 1990 Honda Civic. Maf walked over to the other side of the car and opened the door for her, then walked back over to the driver's side. He jumped into the driver's seat, which was never a wholly comfortable fit for the large footballer, and grabbed the bags of clothes and football gear from the passenger's seat, chucking them on the back seat. He shut his door and started the engine, waiting for the girl to follow through on her acceptance of the offer.

[MurderWeasel]

Rather timidly, Jennifer walked over to the passenger side of Maf's car. She wasn't quite sure what the protocol for accepting rides was. Should she just get in, or should she wait to be formally invited? Well, he had opened the door for her.That was a pretty direct invitation, right? She waited for a second, considering, then just got in.

That wasn't so hard, was it?

Immediately upon sitting down, Jennifer buckled the seatbelt. There was no point taking silly risks, after all. She then looked over at Maf and said, "Um, hey, thanks again. My house really isn't very far at all. Um, let me give you directions."

She explained the quickest route she knew, talking rather slowly to make sure she got it right. The last thing she needed was to get Maf lost.

[Pigeon Army†]

The girl got in, shutting the door behind her and buckling up. She thanked Maf for the ride and began to rattle off directions. She didn't live far from the mall, and Maf knew the area fairly well, so he wasn't too fussed about catching half of them. Pulling his seatbelt over his shoulder and clicking it into position, he shifted the stick into reverse and slowly backed out into the near-empty parking lot. Easing the gearstick back into first, Maf pushed down on the accelerator and let his foot off the clutch, the Civic moving smoothly out of the parking garage. Maf turned left into the street, and began the journey to the girl's place. The girl...

"What's your name?" Maf asked quietly.

[MurderWeasel]

Maf got started driving, moving the car along smoothly. Jennifer was able to relax a little. This wasn't as bad as she'd been expecting. It wasn't even that awkward. Maf seemed nice enough.

Then he asked her name. That took her by surprise. Of course, it made total sense; not everyone in school would know her. Heck, most of the Senior class probably had only a passing idea as to who she was. She felt a little bad for Maf. Asking people's names was always awkward, especially if they knew yours. She considered asking his name in return, but abandoned the idea, as she couldn't remember if she'd already used it. If she had, well, that would be about as awkward and stupid as things could get.

No point fucking up a relatively successful bit of social interaction with some half-baked failure of an attempt to put him at ease.

"I'm Jennifer," she said.

Then, as an afterthought, she added, "Perez, not Romita."

[Pigeon Army†]

Maf slowed up at the traffic lights, wind whistling lightly past the car. He chuckled lightly as Jennifer clarified that she was not Jen Romita, as if Maf was somehow going to mistake her for one of the most prominently...sexual girls in the whole school.

The traffic light turned green, and Maf turned right. They were a few blocks away from Jennifer's house as traffic began to back up, causing Maf to let out a small disapproving murmur. There was no way they'd make it to Jennifer's house with any degree of speed now. Maf reached into the bag of Chinese food, pulling out a small box of sweet and sour pork and some chopsticks. He opened it up, and as the long line traffic slowed to a stop, Maf began to eat. He gestured to the bag, indicated to Jennifer that she could take some, and stared at the backed-up road.

Suddenly, there was a knock on his window. Maf jumped a little - though, luckily, not spilling any of the fantastic sweet and sour pork - and turned to see a police officer standing there. He wound down the window and smiled. "Afternoon, officer."

"Afternoon. I'm just informing everyone that there has been a crash up ahead, and traffic won't be moving for at least another twenty minutes while we clear everything up and make the road safe again. I apologise for the wait."

The officer went to leave, but Maf stopped him. "Officer," he said somewhat forcefully, "was anyone hurt?"

The officer turned back to look at him. "One driver has a few broken bones, but that's thankfully all that happened. The other driver was lucky to escape." The officer walked off, and Maf wound up the window. He turned to Jennifer, smiled, and then resumed eating his sweet and sour pork.

[MurderWeasel]

The drive was going really well, until they had almost made it to Jennifer's house. Then, out of what seemed like nowhere, they encountered a traffic jam. Their progress slowed to a crawl, then to practically a dead stop.

Oh, just fucking great. Now I've really gone and inconvenienced him.

Fortunately, Maf didn't seem to be taking things too badly. In fact, he took the opportunity to dig some food out of his bag. The smell as he opened the package was absolutely delightful, and, to Jennifer's great and pleasant surprised, he gestured to the bag, offering her some food as well.

"Um," Jennifer said, "Thanks a ton."

She helped herself to some of the food as they waited. She was about to say something when a sudden knock on the window startled her. She wasn't holding anything at the moment, which was fortunate, as she'd have probably dropped it, though she did choke on her food for a second and cough rather loudly.

There was a police officer outside the car.

Oh god oh fuck I hope Maf isn't going to get arrested for driving while eating or something.

Even as she thought it, she knew it wouldn't happen. Doing so wasn't illegal, as far as she knew, and what they were doing could only loosely be considered driving, anyways.

The officer explained that there had been an accident, and that they'd be stuck for twenty minutes or so. He was about to go, but then Maf asked him whether anyone had been hurt. That took Jennifer by surprise. Maf seemed like a nice guy, yeah, but that level of caring for strangers... That was something pretty unique in their age group.

As the officer left, Jennifer considered offering to get out and walk the rest of the way home, but decided not to. It wouldn't make things any faster for Maf; he was stuck here until the jam cleared anyways. Still, she needed something to say.

"It's, um, it's really nice of you to care about the drivers," she said.

Don't just say something awkward like that without anything to follow it! Think of something.

"I hope that they're, um, alright too. Broken bones don't sound fun."

[Pigeon Army†]

((OOC: Sorry about the wait. Law is a foul mistress.))

Maf plowed through the sweet and sour pork - he was a demon with chopsticks, graceful yet speedy, and he had already gotten through about a third of the box when Jennifer spoke up.

"It's, um, it's really nice of you to care about the drivers."

Maf looked up, slowly chewing the piece of pork he had just put in his mouth.

"I hope that they're, um, alright too. Broken bones don't sound fun."

Maf chuckled, swallowed, and smiled at Jennifer. Her awkwardness was endearing, in a funny kind of way, and he felt that he should probably respond before she started feeling like she'd just said something even worse.

"Yeah. At least it wasn't anything serious, though. Got to thank God for that."

Maf looked back out at the line of cars, which hadn't moved any, and then turned back to Jennifer.

"Oh, and thanks."

He gestured to the food she had previously been eating and choking on, as if to ask if she liked it, and then chuckled as he remembered her coughing on the food when the police officer had come to the car. She's a funny girl, he thought to himself, and then turned back to his pork, looking to finish it off once and for all.