Dark Places

Ben bikes to the high school for his janitor job. It’s Wednesday during Christmas break; he tries to clean when the other students aren’t around. He thinks about how wealthy Diondra’s family is: She only wears Ralph Lauren socks and has a wardrobe full of them—Ben estimates they cost $400 in all. Diondra is the new girl in school; they met when she hit him with her car one day. They drove to a distant spot and made out, and from that day, they started dating. Ben does not see her much in school; they only hang out on the weekends. Her parents are often away in Texas, her home state, and they don’t care if she skips school. Ben is not popular, but the other kids mostly ignore him rather than picking on him.

While cleaning the gym locker room, he notices there are shoelaces tied on the lockers where locks should be. It’s a sign of trust among the athletes. Out of curiosity, Ben pulls on a loose string and looks into the locker. The wrestling coach, Mr. Gruger, comes in and catches him, thinking he was about to steal something. He tells Ben to get out and that he is not welcome in the locker room: He makes Ben repeat it.