Chapter Two
The single fan in the cafeteria of the community center whirred pitifully, pushing the hot air around the room. My leg stuck painfully to the plastic chair as I looked around. There were about a dozen of us in the room, all sitting in a circle. Marci, the leader, sat in between a boy whose eyes were so sunken in I could barely see them, and a girl who kept tugging at the ends of her hair, chewing at her bottom lip. I sat back in my seat and adjusted my shorts. My wooden leg was bothering me and I shifted but it didn't help. The heat was causing unwanted friction between my skin and the top of the prosthetic and the only way I could stop that was if I took the prosthetic off, using crutches instead. But crutches caused more staring than the leg did.
“Welcome everyone to another meeting here today. It looks like we have a couple of new members. Would any of you like to stand up and tell us about yourself?” The others looked around the room, too polite to push us. They probably don’t want to hear any more about us than we want to share. This isn’t circle time, after all. “Anyone?” Still there was silence and someone coughed awkwardly. “Okay then, why don't we just get started? Who wants to speak first?”
“I will.” I glanced over to see a kid with spiked hair and a muscle shirt move up to the edge of his chair. “For those of you who don't know me, my name is Bailey and I started with this group a little over two months ago.” Bailey looked at Marci and she nodded in encouragement.
“Keep going,” Marci said. “We're all listening.” I snickered into my hand. All we need are marshmallows and a camp fire.
“Well, see yesterday I went to a party at my friend's house. Her parents have this giant liquor cabinet and my friend, well… she knows where the key is. Her parents were out of town so she swiped the key from their room and it was a free for all, you know? Anyone could drink anything and she didn't care.” Bailey ran his hand through his spiked hair. The rest of us were silent as we waited for Bailey to continue. “I have to tell you all that I did not have one single drink last night aside from water and pop. There it was, all this liquor and I didn't want to touch a single drop of it. Just the look of all the bottles there, filled and waiting, made me sick. So instead, I left and went to spend time with my cousin at the park.” Everyone clapped and Marci got up from her chair. She walked over to Bailey and pulled him up into a hug.
“I'm so proud of you,” Marci said. “You showed great judgment and it looks like you've really made some positive changes.”
“I have,” Bailey admitted. “I want to be better...for my brother, you know? I want to be the type of guy he looks up to. I don’t want to be the screw up anymore.”
“That is a great goal,” Marci said when she sat down. She gave Bailey one last smile before picking up her clip board and flipping through the pages. Her eyes darted up and locked onto mine. “It's Amber right?” I nodded. “Well, Amber, why don't you tell us a little about yourself?”
“I would rather not,” I said. “I'm not really into this mushy, spill all my feelings, type of thing.
“Well, you have to tell us something, Amber,” Marci said. Her eyes narrowed. “It's the rule at these meetings. Everyone has to say one thing at every meeting. It doesn't matter what you say, you just have to say something.”
“Fine,” I said. I pushed my lips into a thin line. “You really want me to say something?”
“Yes.”
“Are you sure about that?” I hissed. “Because trust me, you won't like what I have to say.”
“Try me,” Marci said, her voice just as menacing as mine was. The rest of the group turned their heads left and right, as if they were watching a tennis match. I slid to the edge of my own chair until my arms were resting on the tops of my thighs and everyone got a nice view of my rack under my shirt. I heard a lot of the guys gulp and I could feel the girls' eyes burning into mine.
“When I have sex, I like to be locked up. I mean really locked up. I love the feel of metal handcuffs cutting into my wrists as I squirm and beg for more. Sometimes, there's even a whip involved.” Marci's hand flew up to her mouth and her eyes looked like they were about to pop out of her sockets. The guys whistled and the girls screeched. “I told you that you wouldn't like what I have to say.” I stood up and turned, ignoring the stares of everyone around me. “See you next week.”
I sauntered out of the room, letting the group gape behind me. When I got to the front of the building, I pushed the door open and let myself out into the street. I pulled the cigarette out from behind my ear