Two

     Marina inhaled the smoke of her cigarette with glee; not a feeling she was yet used to 'cause she couldn't always afford the cigs but sometimes she'd take 'em from her momma's jacket.  A rare delicacy, she had decided.  

     It wasn't too cool in the air outside yet, it was nice and airy, which was funny 'cause she loved the fresh air as much as she loved a smoke break.  Cig dangling between her fingers, she took the fresh air in, welcoming it into her body with a sigh.  It was refreshing, just what she needed this afternoon, and the peace and quiet were quite nice.

     Though, her smoke break was cut short when she heard some ruckus from only a few yards away.  

     "Get down there," said a man's voice, a man who sounded rough and mean.  Marina rolled her eyes, daggling the cigarette between her fingers as something in her clicked, and she started heading around the corner. 

     She was met with the sight of Lenora Laferty (though Marina always thought she should be named Russell after the woman who raised her) on her knees while three boys circled her like sharks.  It was obvious the girl was beginning to pray, her hands were pressed together as she squeezed her eyes shut, trying to drown out the boys' harsh words.

     "You're so damn ugly, I'd need a sack over your head just to get a hard-on," one spat at her. 

     The dumpster?  Behind school?  She recognized the boys, one, in particular, being Tommy Matson — never had the pleasure of accompanying Marina for a night, but he sure as hell tried it.  The other two, Gene Dinwoodie and Orville Buckman also had googly eyes for her but were a little less ballsy than Tommy.

     "Probably fucked your brother, you brother fucker," a paper bag was placed over her head as Lenora still maintained her composure.  This was when Marina lost it.

     She charged the group, bringing her lit cigarette to the arm of the guy standing next to Tommy, only satisfied once she heard him cry out.  Course, this brought attention to her presence, and they began to face her with a less than happy look.  Before Tommy could face her completely, she dropped her cigarette and jumped on his back, and started smacking the side of his head as hard as she could muster.  "Oh yeah?  How you like that?"

     "The fuck?" he said, as she felt the men start pulling at her by yanking her legs to try and get her off of him.

     "You... sick... fucks!" Marina kept hitting him for as long as she could before her muscles gave out, and the men had won.  Scratch that.  Boys.

     Hitting the ground with a thud, Marina was sure it was going to leave a wicked bruise.  She met eyes with Lenora, but she was happy she was doing better than her at that moment.  Marina would rather take the beating for a girl like Lenora every day.  Unlike most of Meade, Lenora had actually shown her kindness and treated her like a real human being.  Most had already forgotten Marina Hope was a real person.

     Maybe if Marina had just pretended to be more likeable and tried harder to fit in, she thought, maybe I wouldn't be getting beat up right now.

     "How you like that?" one of the guys — she wasn't sure which at this point — had said back to her.  "Huh, bitch?"  

     "I think you hit like a goddamn girl," Marina spat, sending an adrenaline rush through Tommy, encouraging himself to swing his arm.  And he did, swatting Marina right across the cheek, earning a yelp from a concerned Lenora.  Marina was beyond pissed, and ready to jump up from the ground scraped and bruised and all when her little conversation was cut short by another swinging fist.

     "Hey!" none other than Arvin Russell came a-swinging, but the odds were still not looking too hot as it was practically three against one.  One angry boy who was tired of those boys trash-talking his sister, plus an angry girl who was just tired of those boys, period.

     "Come on, get him!" it all happened so fast, first Arvin had the upper hand, next thing Marina knew he was being dragged off Tommy while Lenora was screaming for them to stop.  Tommy regained himself, surely not used to getting beat on so much in one day, while Marina checked on Lenora as briefly as she could.

     "Get the fuck off me!  Get off me!"

     "You okay?" Marina asked, Lenora's eyes wide and frantic.  Lenora ain't even have to say a word for Marina to turn her back and return back to the group of three beating on poor Arvin who got pushed to the floor in a similar manner Marina had been earlier.  "Leave him alone!" Marina pushed Gene first, having no problem continuing this dance they were partaking in.

     "Or what, princess?" Tommy said rhetorically before kicking Arvin in his lower stomach.  Arvin groaned, and Marina hurt just looking at him.  "Your little boyfriend can't save you," the boys had started laying off Arvin anyways 'cause he was no longer proving to put up a fight, but Marina still had a bit of anger left in her.

     She formed a fist, thumb tucked under her index and middle fingers tightly, and before anyone knew it, her first had collided with his nose, sending him waddling back.  Holding onto the bridge of his nose, trying and failing to contain the bleeding coming from it.  He stared at her in disbelief.  "I said leave him alone," she clenched her jaw as she stood in front of Arvin and Lenora protectively.

     "Sister fucker," Orville threw Arvin's cap at him, which hit the gravel near him softly.  Marina maintained eye contact with them as long as she could still see them, and only when they disappeared from her sight did she let her guard down.

     "Is that the only joke they have?" Marina wiped her forehead with her wrist, leaving Lenora to attend to Arvin more carefully than Marina even knew how to.

     Lenora sighed sadly.  "Yeah... pretty much."

     "Man, I'm so sorry," Marina kneeled down, helping Arvin sit up straight.  "To both of ya."  Arvin said nothing, just held onto the side of his stomach while looking up at her — the last person he had expected to see there.  "No one should ever have to go through that."

     "That was crazy, you were like an attack dog," Lenora said, taking in the appearance of the Hope girl sitting across from her.

     Marina lowered her head, scratching her neck awkwardly.  Now looking at it, she did kind of lash out at them.  "Yeah... wasn't too ladylike of me, hm?"

     Lenora smiled, for the first time that afternoon, she smiled.  "You saved me."

     "I uh... it was nothing," Marina shrugged.  "I mean, you seemed like you needed a hand."

     Finally, Arvin spoke.  And it was raspy and deep.  "You did save her, Marina.  God knows what coulda happened had neither of us been here."

     Marina looked between the two.  "Right place, right time, I guess..."

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