He learned the legend when he was supposed to be learning English. Or Chemistry. Or Geometry. Whatever class it was, it had been less enticing then smoking pot out in the woods that surrounded Wilson High School (and the few other parts of Wilson that humans hadn’t found yet). His friend, John, was–even before the drugs kicked in–shocked to hear that Sam hadn’t heard it, had never heard of ‘Tommy & Maris‘”. It was, to be sure, an essential piece of local young-people folklore, but in Sam’s defense, he had no older siblings who would’ve been around at the time, nor did parents belong to one of the town’s social circles which would’ve repeated the story as a cautionary tale.
The social circle was actually a specific one, one which both Tommy and Marissa’s parents had belonged (they’ve since moved). It was made up of some of the first families to move out to Wilson from New York, which the locals had once jokingly referred to as the ‘Five Families’.
“Tommy was a bad kid.” John said with admiration as they shared the joint (which, along with knowing local history, was another benefit to having older brothers). “I mean, really. A. Bad. Kid. My brother’s told me some shit about him that would make you laugh your ass off.”
“Like what?” Sam inquired, intrigued.
“Like, alright, I mean, he was so bad that once when the governor was visiting the school, Mr Coburne– who was a vice principal then– just sat him down in his office and, he didn’t do his whole flipping out thing, but just begged. Begged! Begged him not to do anything stupid or crazy.”
“And did he?”
“Um…I don’t know. But, what I mean is, he was that bad. So, him and Marissa start dating like Junior year and, you know, she’s…she isn’t someone who gets into trouble. But now, with him she’s, you know, ‘Tommy’s Girlfriend’. And they’re like all over each other. Like. All. Over. Each. Other. So, Mr.Coburne, who, let’s face it, is a smart dude, calls her fucking parents in, sits them down, and shows them Tommy’s file. (Here he used his hands to show the file’s size).”
“Isn’t that, like, against the law?”
“Uh, I don’t know, but they don’t say anything so…well, I mean, they say that Marissa can’t ever go near Tommy again. They call Tommy’s parents and tell him that he can’t be around Marissa anymore. And Tommy’s parents, they…they agree! They even fucking apologize!”
“And then what–”
“And then, Tommy and Marissa run away. Not far. Just up to that abandon house on the hill where those black people used to live. And they live there, for like four days. Nobody knows where the fuck they are. Marissa’s parents call the police, Tommy’s parents…don’t. And then, finally, one of them goes out to get food and the police follow them back and they’re both arrested and….well, anyway, Tommy takes the rap for all of it. Him and Marissa don’t see each-other again for like six months. Nothing. Not a word or a nod or anything….Everyone’s like
‘Well,
good thing
that’s over’.Everyone’s like ‘Well, good thing that’s over’.
“Then around May, towards the end of the school year, Tommy approaches Mr.Coburne in the lunch room and just starts going off on him. Saying that he’s a, I think he said ‘Fascist’ and that people like him are the reason everything in the world sucks. Then, I’m not joking here dude, he punches him square in the face, right in the fucking face!”
Here Sam’s jaw dropped, his hazy eyes widened.
“So, that day Coburne got a broken nose and Tommy finally got expelled.”
“Like, what do you mean ‘punched him’?”
“Punched him! Punched. Him.”
Sam shook his head in disbelief, but John continued “But here’s the important part: The next morning everyone wakes up and they’re both gone. Tommy and Marrisa. They just like dissapeared. First, of course, the police go back to the abandon house, but nothing there except a CD player and some CDs, some cigarettes, some drinks, and some maps. Eventually, the search becomes a really big deal. The state police come in, but you know, this is before all those kids got molested, so it’s not so easy to find people.”
They stood in silence for a few moments until interrupted by the school bell far off in the distance. Their eyes met and decided they would wait another period.
“So, what happen to them?” Sam asked after a while.
John shrugged his shoulders. “Nobody knows. They were never found. They just…disappeared. There parents moved and everyone eventually forgot about them.”
Sam stopped asking questions.
“My brother once told me that there was a tree somewhere in these woods where there names were carved. I’ve never seen it, but….” John added, whispering.
From now on, Sam would make a point of looking for the tree whenever he came out here, but so far he hasn’t found it.
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