If These Trees Could Talk

by Brian W. Smith

  “I told you something was wrong,” she said again, and then turned onto the main street. “Hey, that’s Mr. Benjamin right there.”

  “Where?”

  “Right there in that car in front of us with that woman.”

  “Mama, how do you know that’s him?” Curtis knew where his mother’s thoughts were.

  “I saw him pass us as we were turning onto this street. Besides, I’ve been working for the man for a few years now; I know what kind of car he drives.” Elizabeth sped up to get a closer look. “Yeah, that’s him alright. I wonder if that’s his wife. I’ve never met her before.”

  “Whoever it is, she’s giving him a serious butt chewing,” said Curtis.

  “He was on the phone this morning arguing with his wife. He made some type of remark about needing a lawyer.”

  “The way her arms are moving he’s gonna need Johnnie Cochran—or dad,” said Curtis and chuckled. His chuckling stopped when he realized his mother was going faster. “What are you doing mama?”

  “I’m just gonna catch up and pull up to the side of his car. Maybe I can get him to come back with us to Josh’s house since we’re just a few blocks away.”

  “No we’re not!” Curtis shouted. “Mama, slow this car down!”

  “I’m just gonna flag him down.”

  “No you’re not mama. First of all, that man looks like he has his hands full with his own problems right now. If you couldn’t get him to take you serious when you had him alone what makes you think he’s gonna talk to you after normal business hours about this issue? Especially, when it looks like he’s about to need the cops to pull that woman off of him.”

  Elizabeth took her foot off of the gas pedal. She knew her son was right—even though she didn’t want to admit it. This issue would have to wait until the next day. A yellow traffic light caused her to stop. Mr. Benjamin’s car made the light. Elizabeth watched him blow through the intersection. She felt like all hope was driving off into the sunset.

  She stared straight ahead. Her eyes focused on the taillights on Mr. Benjamin’s BMW as they got smaller and smaller the further away he got. “Curtis, I’ve never felt this strongly about one of my students.”

  Curtis glanced over at his mother. It’s this passion and determination that always made him so very proud to be her son. “I know mama. I’ve never seen you act like this.” He placed his hand on top of his mother’s hand while it rested on the shift. “If he doesn’t come to class tomorrow, I will come down to the police station with you. I promise. Now, let’s go to McDonald’s…I’m hungry.”

  Chapter 9

  Charity’s body swayed from side to side as she watched the car slow up and then stop at the corner. Elizabeth’s unannounced visit made her so nervous she needed to run to the bathroom. But, not even a throbbing bladder could make Charity leave that porch before she saw if her son’s snooping teacher would turn around.

  The dust from the road flew up in the air and made it hard for Charity to see in Elizabeth’s back window. Once the car stopped at the corner, Charity squinted and focused real hard on Elizabeth’s hand movement—waiting to see if Elizabeth tilted her head and raised her hand up towards her ear the way a person on a cell phone would do. There didn’t appear to be any movement of the sort so Charity wasn’t concerned that Elizabeth might be calling the authorities. Nevertheless, she wasn’t letting her guard down. She wasn’t about to go back inside until the car was out of sight.

  As Elizabeth and Curtis finally drove away, Charity stood on the porch a few minutes longer just to make sure they didn’t come back. Once she was convinced they were gone she looked around—paying special attention to the wooded area. Paranoia was the dominate emotion as she struggled to shake the feeling that someone was watching her from the trees. Charity backed up slowly, and eventually stepped through the doorway.

  Josh stood near his bedroom window and watched his teacher drive away. He so desperately wanted to call out to her, beg and plead for her to take him away from that hell hole, but he knew that he’d probably end up scrubbing his own blood from off the floor if he disregarded his mother’s order to remain silent.

  Charity closed the front door and the curtains, and then dropped to her knees and started scrubbing. The friction from the stiff bristled brush she’d purchased and the cleaning solution she’d gotten from work created more suds than she expected. Bubbles clung to the greasy strands of her hair, her eye lashes and completely covered her legs. She looked like Christina in the movie Mommie Dearest, scrubbing the bathroom floor after her crazy mother found a wire hanger in the closet.

  “Josh!” Charity shouted.

  “Yes ma’am.”

  “I want you to take that other brush out of the bag, pour some of this stuff on your bedroom floor and start scrubbing up any blood stains you see.”

  “Yes ma’am.”

  “And scrub hard…we need to make sure this place is spotless. Put some hot water in a glass, you gonna need that to clean up the soap after you finish scrubbing. But first you gotta pour some of this yellow stuff in this jug on the blood…make sure you do that first. First the yellow stuff and then scrub real hard. And then pour the water on the floor. Oh yeah, and get an old shirt out of your drawer to dry the floor.”

  “Yes ma’am.”

  Josh did as he was told. Moving gingerly towards the kitchen as he watched the vigor in which his mother displayed as she scrubbed. Sweat beads trickled down the side of her face. Muscles in her forearms popped up and flexed.

  “Josh, stop looking at me and do as I said!”

  “Yes ma’am,” he replied timidly, and grabbed a cup from the dish holder, filled it with water and brought it back to his room, pausing just long enough to get the scrub brush out of the bag.

  Josh started scrubbing the spots on his bedroom floor where blood stains appeared. It wasn’t long before sweat beads were forming on his brow. But a little perspiration wasn’t enough to distract him from his thoughts.

  I hope I can get all of this blood up. I wonder if Stevie had to clean up blood off his floor. I know he had some on his clothes too. But I doubt if he had as much as I did. He sure did swing that shovel hard. He said he was gonna stab Dutch, but he let me do it. I wonder if that means he’s gonna stab Bennie. I don’t wanna do this again. I think I’m gonna tell Stevie I don’t wanna do this. I’ma tell him to just tell the police or somebody…I think that’s what I shoulda done myself.

  I wonder if we’re gonna have to move after this. I wanna move into a new house, but I don’t wanna leave my friend. Maybe I should just run away since Dutch ain’t around no more to hurt my mama. If I run away now, the police will never catch me—I could have a head start. I’ma talk to Stevie to see if he wanna come with me. I just gotta figure out how I’m gonna meet him.

  Man, shute! I don’t know how I’m gonna meet him today. We usually meet around this time. He s’posed to get Bennie to chase him into the woods today. If I’m not there to help him Bennie might catch him. I can’t let that happen—I gotta be there for him the way he was there for me.

  “Josh, don’t spend too much time on one spot. We gotta clean up a lot of places in this house. I need you to move faster son.”

  “Yes ma’am.” Josh scrubbed a few more times and then poured some of the lukewarm water onto the floor. As the water started to spread and form a puddle, he walked over to his drawer and retrieved an old shirt.

  I gotta figure out a way to get her to leave. Maybe I can get her to go get me some McDonalds or something. Josh rubbed his stomach and walked into the living room. Charity had moved into the hallway that led from the living room to the bathroom. The back of her thong was exposed as she was down on her hands and knees scrubbing with all her might. “Mama.”

  Charity was so focused that she didn’t hear the boy.

  “Mama,” he said a little louder.

  “Yeah,” Charity replied without looking.

  “I’m hungry,” Josh said, and rubbed his stomach.
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  Charity looked back at him. She used her forearm to wipe her brow. “Did you scrub the floor like I told you?”

  “Yes ma’am.”

  Truth be told, Charity was hungry too. She hadn’t eaten anything all day, and that back breaking scrubbing made her hungry enough to eat a four course meal. “Alright.” She stood up and took off the yellow rubber gloves she wore. “I’ll go to McDonald’s. You finish scrubbing right here and when you finish here, go ahead and start in the bathroom.”

  “Yes ma’am,” Josh replied, and then glanced at the clock. It was fast approaching seven o’clock. He was running late and needed to be in those woods at that very moment.

  “I’ll be back in about twenty minutes,” said Charity as she grabbed her car keys and purse. “And don’t forget to clean up on the porch while I’m out.”

  Josh walked over to the area Charity was cleaning and kneeled down. He listened for her to start up the car. When he heard the car shift into gear and back up, he tip-toed over to the front window and watched her drive off. Charity’s vehicle hadn’t completely turned onto the main street before Josh was leaping off the front porch and running towards the tree line.

  He sounded like a slave running from a pack of blood hounds as he knocked down bushes while struggling to catch his breath. A few of the fallen branches ripped a hole into his pants leg and cut his skin. Josh emerged from the tree looking like he’d just filmed an episode of Roots. As he gasped for breath and massaged his new found flesh wounds, Josh looked up and saw his partner in crime sitting on the sofa.

  “Where you been Josh?” Stevie asked, his voice overflowing with aggravation. “I’ve been waitin’ on you for about a hour.”

  “I’m sorry. My mama made me clean up all that blood that was on my clothes.”

  “Yo mama knows what happened?”

  “Yeah,” Josh replied, and looked down at the ground the way he always did when he knew his answer to a question wouldn’t be well received. “She came home and saw my clothes.”

  “Man, you stupid!” Stevie barked. “I told you to put the clothes in a bag. Now you gon’ get caught…you gon’ get us both caught.” Disgust dominated his face. His hand gestures mirrored his feelings.

  Josh stood there with a feeble look on his face—like he was being admonished by an adult. Stevie was about to continue berating Josh, but paused when he thought he heard something in the trees. “Did you hear that?” he asked Josh.

  “No.”

  “Shhh…I think I heard something,” said Stevie, his finger over his mouth.

  “That’s just the wind,” Josh assured him.

  Stevie’s focus bounced from tree to tree. “No, it sounded like foot steps.”

  “It might be a cat or a dog or somethin’. I dun seen cats and dogs out here before. They just be lookin’ for food.”

  Stevie wasn’t totally sold on Josh’s explanation, but the noise ceased so he kept talking. “You gon’ get us caught.”

  “Na-unh,” Josh said defensively, his head shaking violently from side to side.

  “Un-huh.”

  Josh was desperate to get off the hot spot. He quickly shifted the conversation to Stevie and Bennie. “What we gon’ do ‘bout Bennie?”

  Still looking around trying to spot that thing—whatever it was in the trees—Stevie answered, “We can’t do nothin’ now.”

  “Why?”

  “Cuz he left with my mama. They started fussin’.”

  “Why?”

  “I don’t know for sure,” Stevie replied, and then reached down and grabbed a rock from off the ground. He threw the rock into the trees. “My mama was in my room. She was going through my drawers. When I came home she told me to take a bath and get cleaned up. Next thing I know they was in the room fussin’. After that they were gone.”

  “So that mean we ain’t gonna kill Bennie?” Josh asked.

  “Can’t kill him if he ain’t home,” Stevie replied, and then walked over towards the shallow grave they put Dutch in. “Man look at all these ants.” He pointed at a trail of ants that marched with military precision towards the grave and disappeared in the mound of dirt that marked the grave. “And look at all this blood. It’s all on the ground over there and over here too.”

  Josh hadn’t noticed that before. He was so consumed with anger during the time of the killing that he ignored all of the physical evidence around him—like the tracks left by Dutch’s feet and body.

  It took Stevie a moment to notice how despondent his co-conspirator was. If he had, he would have surely gotten Josh’s attention. As it turns out, he didn’t have to. Josh snapped out of the daze he found himself in, but it wasn’t because of anything Stevie said or did. Josh’s trance was broken by the loud snap of a breaking twig.

  “You heard that?” Stevie asked.

  “Yeah,” Josh replied. His eyes became fixated on what appeared to be a shadow in the trees. “What’s that?” he asked in a tone just a tad louder than a whisper.

  “I don’t know,” Stevie whispered. “I told you somebody was out there.”

  Was it the trees playing tricks on them? A possibility Josh and Stevie found somewhat inconceivable. The trees had always been there to sooth their fears. Protect them when danger lurked—never asking for any payment or reciprocity. But all bills eventually become due. Maybe the trees were tired of working for free. Maybe, just maybe, it was time for the boys to pay that overdue bill for service rendered.

  Josh’s knees literally started to shake. “I think you’re right Stevie. Somebody is watchin’ us.”

  “Run Josh!” Stevie shouted, and ran eastward.

  Josh stood there for a few seconds like he was stuck in quicksand. His fingers wiggled as he opened and closed his fist nervously. All of a sudden the sound of breaking twigs became frequent—almost rhythmic. Someone was walking towards him, and he wasn’t about to wait around to see who it was.

  Josh looked towards the direction Stevie ran. Stevie’s world may have been bad, but Josh assumed it couldn’t have been half as bad as his. He took a step in that direction, but stop when he realized Stevie had vanished—like a ghost he was gone. Josh turned and looked in the direction of his house. Like an Olympic sprinter, he took off. The terrified child made it back to his house in record time. Out of breath, but safe.

  Josh went inside and closed his bedroom door. He walked over to his bedroom window and kneeled down. Only his forehead and eyes were visible as he looked out the window, hoping and praying he wouldn’t see someone running across the grass towards his house. Josh’s prayers were answered, no one was pursuing him. All he saw was his mother’s car coming up the road.

  Chapter 10

  May 21, 2004

  Elizabeth still had papers to grade so she asked another teacher to stand at her post outside of the school prior to the morning bell. When her students started walking in she felt a sense of relief when she spotted Josh coming through the door. The two of them made eye contact. She flashed a smile and he gave her his customary flimsy wave. She didn’t expect anything more. In fact, that wave was usually a sign that the child was in a good mood. Those days when it was clear that Josh was upset usually started with him walking in class staring at the heels of the children walking in front of him.

  When the students were returning from their lunch period, Elizabeth decided it was time to question Josh about the things that were happening at his house. She opened up her desk drawer and pulled out a stack of papers.

  “Okay class, I have a story I want you all to read.” The students all groaned. They hated her reading assignments because they usually took close to an hour to finish. “I don’t wanna hear that. Your assignment is to read this story and then answer the questions at the end of the story. You can work on the answers with the person sitting next to you.”

  The students turned to the person sitting at the desk next to them. Everyone avoided making eye contact with Milton. Milton smacked a few of his classmates on the head, and kicked the table o
f a few others that avoided him like he had the chicken pox.

  “Milton, stop harassing people because they don’t want to partner with you! Maybe if you tried being nice for a change and stop being such a bully, you would have a partner.”

  “I do have a partner Mrs. Tharp,” Milton responded proudly.

  Elizabeth placed her hands on her hips. “Who?”

  Milton pointed at Josh. “Josh said he’s gonna be my partner.”

  Josh shook his head and frowned like someone had just asked him to eat a bucket of shit. “Uh-unn.”

  “Yes you did boy, tell the truth!” Milton shouted.

  Every kid in the room stopped in their tracks when Milton spoke. It was like they were still outside at recess playing Red Light / Green Light. One terrified boy felt compelled to inform Josh of the ignorance of his decision. He leaned over and whispered to Josh, “You stupid. He just gon’ make you do all of the work, and then beat you up if you get the answers wrong.”

  Josh turned to Elizabeth and pleaded his case. “Uh-unn, Mrs. Tharp! I didn’t say I was gonna be his partner.”

  Elizabeth fought back the urge to smile. Those were the most words she’d heard Josh utter all school year. She wondered if she should have been using Milton as a motivator more often. The pitiful look on Josh’s face forced her to let him off the hook.

  “Milton, you come up here and sit at this desk next to mine and do your work.”

  “Man, that ain’t fair,” Milton protested. He bumped Josh’s desk so hard when he walked past that the desk nearly flipped over—taking Josh’s little skinny tail with it. “I’ma punch you in the face after school,” Milton whispered.

  Josh’s nosey neighbor leaned over again, “You gon’ get it now. You shoulda said you would be his partner. Now he gon’ beat you up for real. If I was you I’d run home after school.”

  Milton plopped down in the seat next to Elizabeth’s desk. He waited until she turned her head and started writing on the chalk board. His beady eyes focused on Josh. He held his right fist up, and then used his left hand like he was turning a handle. With each rotation of his left hand, the middle finger on his right hand came up until he was officially shooting Josh the bird. Milton managed to get his hands down just as Elizabeth turned and looked at him.