On the Sidewalk Bleeding

Angela’s First Kiss (By little Princess Dianna von Bohn)

Angela sat at her kitchen table, waiting for Freddie to arrive. He had promised to pick her up by seven, and he was never late.

“He probably forgot all about it,” said her agitated mother in a raised voice. “Boys these days, always messing with girls’ hearts.”

“Hush, Ma! Freddie’s different. If he says he’ll be here, he’ll be here. And he promised,” answered Angela a bit defensively.

Just then, there was a rap on the door. Angela jumped up and ran to open it.

“Freddie!” she exclaimed as she flung her arms around his neck.

“You ready?” he asked, trying to pry her arms apart.

“Yes!” she exclaimed. Then, as she was shuting the door she called “Ma, I’ll be home by eleven!”

They ran down the stairs, out the doors and onto the sidewalk.

“Where to, now?” asked Angela. She was excited to be with Freddie.He was the boy of her dreams and she hoped he felt the same about her.

“Well, there’s a jump downtown. And we’re in!” he suggested. Then, he added quickly “But only if you want to, of course.”

“I’d love to,” was all she had to say before they were running all the way to Cosmo’s.

When they arrivedat the club, all they had to do was say “Hey, Snowman” to the fat, bald guy Timmy and, presto, their ears were filled with music. They danced late into the night. Finally, Freddie pulled Angela out of the club. It was ten forty-five, but Angela neither knew, nor did she care. All she cared about was being with Freddie.

They were walking on the sidewalk in silence when it began to rain. Freddie quickly bought a newspaper and handed it to Angela, who put it over her head so as not to ruin her hair. As it began to pour, Freddie and Angela ran into an alley, laughing. To keep from getting wet any more, Freddie pulled Angela into a doorway.

“Man, what rain!” exclaimed Freddie, still laughing. “You could drown out there.”

Angela looked at him, the laughter draining from her face.

“I have to get home,”she said softly. “It’s late, Freddie. I have to get home.”

Freddie looked down at her, and she became lost in the depths of his deep blue eyes.

“We got time. Your people won’t raise a fuss if you’re a little late,” he told her. Then motioning to the weather, he added “Not with this kind of weather.”

Angela looked up at him.

“It’s dark.” She giggled.

“Yeah,” Freddie answered, his voice very low.

“Freddie...?” she began.

“Um?”

“You’re... you’re standing very close to me,” she said, faltering a little because now Freddie was kind of starting to scare her. What, with him leaning in, his face so close to hers.

“Um.”

She could feel his warm breath on her lips, and as she opened her mouth to speak, he took her by the waist, pulling her closer to him, and, just like that, he kissed her. His lips were warm and soft, his breath tasted minty, and before she knew what was happening, she was returning the kiss. They remained like that for some time. Finally, Freddie pulled away.

“Oh,” she breathed. She waited for her thoughts to rearrange themselves, to stop returning to the kiss.

“You shouldn’t,” Angela told him when she caught her breath.

“Why not?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” she replied.

“Do you like it?”

“Yes,” she answered.

“So?”

“I don’t know,” she said again.

Freddie kissed Angela on the cheek. Angela flung her arms around his neck.

“I love you, too, Freddie,” she whispered in his ear before she kissed him on the mouth.

Suddenly, there was a grunt. They stopped kissing. There it was again, but this time it sounded like a hurt animal.

“What was that?” asked Angela, breaking away from the embrace.

This time, it was Freddie’s turn to say “I don’t know.”

“Go look,” urged Angela.

“No. Wait.”

Another grunt came from the darkness of the alley.

“Freddie!”

“What?” he asked.

“I’m scared,” answered Angela.

“I’ll go see,” he said.

Freddie stepped into the alley. He walked over to where the sound had come from. He stopped.

“You all right?” she heard him ask someone she could not see.

“What is it?” she called.

“Somebody’s hurt,” Freddie called back.

Angela walked toward him.

“Let’s get out of here,” she said.

“No. Wait a minute.” He knelt down. That’s when Angela noticed the boy. He was Freddie’s age, with dirty blond hair, muddy green eyes, and a purple silk jacket.

“You cut?” Freddie asked him.

The boy nodded. Angela studied his jacket. Over his heart was the name ‘Andy’, stiched in black thread. Then, her eyes fell on the bright red stiches. THE ROYALS. Freddie turned to face her.

“He’s a Royal,” he told her.

“Let’s... what... what do you want to do, Freddie?”

“I don’t know. I don’t want to get mixed up in this. He’s a Royal. We help him, and the Gaurdians’ll be down our necks. I don’t want to get mixed up in this, Angela,” he repeated.

“Is he... is he hurt bad?” asked Angela.

“Yeah, it looks that way.”

“What shall we do?”

“I don’t know,” he said again.

“We can’t leave him here in the rain.” Angela hesitated. “Can we?”

“If we get a cop, the Gaurdians’ll find out who,” Freddie said. “I don’t know, Angela. I don’t know.”

Angela hesitated a long time before answering. Then she said “I have to get home, Freddie. My people will begin to worry.”

“Yeah,” he muttered. He looked at Andy again. “You all right?” he asked. The boy lifted his face from the ground. His eyes seemed to say “Please, please help me”. Freddie was right. As much as she wanted to help this boy, she couldn’t. Though she knew her choice was wrong, she made up her mind.

“Freddie, let’s get out of here! Please!”

Freddie stood up. He looked Andy one last time, and then mumbled “I’m sorry.” He took Angela by the arm and together they ran toward the neon splash at the other end of the alley. When they were back on the street, Freddie hailed a cab. The whole ride home, Angela couldn’t help wondering if the boy ‘Andy’ was ok. The thought of how she had made Freddie leave him with no help would haunt her forever.

She looked at Freddie. What if it had been him laying there, blood gushing out of his gut? What if it had been that boy ‘Andy’ and his girl who had seen him? Would they have helped Freddie? Or would they, too, just leave to save their own necks?

‘What if he dies?’ thought Angela. ‘If he does, I’ll never forgive myself.’

When the taxi arrived in front of the right building, Freddie and Angela got out. As Freddie payed the driver, Angela thought of all that had happened that night. She decided to talk to Freddie about it. As the cab drove off and Freddie turned to face her, she opened her mouth to speak, but before she could make a sound, Freddie put a finger to her lips.

“I know you’re worried about him. I am, too. But, we can’t let that moment control the rest of our lives,” he told her. “I know you regret leaving him there. I know how you feel. Really, I do. But... we need to continue our lives. This going to be hard to do and it’s a lot to ask, but, could we try to forget about it? Or pretend it never happened? Please?”

Angela knew he was asking her to forget about the incident only to help her. She nodded.

‘I’ll try,’ she thought.

Freddie walked her to her door. There, he kissed her again, and departed. Angela let herself in and walked to the window to look down at the street below. It had finally stopped raining.

‘Oh, well,’ she thought. ‘I guess it’s time for bed.’

*     *     * 

The next morning, when Angela walked into the kitchen, she saw the morning newspaper. She picked it up and began to read. The first thing she saw was a picture of the boy ‘Andy’ under the headline BOY FOUND DEAD IN AN ALLEY.

‘Oh, God!’ she thought.

Her nightmares had come true. Andy was dead. Now, her date with Freddie would haunt her forever.

To this day, whenever Angela sees a murder in the newspaper, she always unwillingly relives that night. The night she had left a bleeding boy to die.