by RJ Pritchett
I was so busy looking at this picture that I didn’t notice that Yolanda posted something new. Oh. It was a live video. When I saw it, I tapped on it and immediately heard her yelling.
“This psychopath really followed me all the way to Hawaii!” she said, “I should call the cops because I am not dealing with Leslie’s crazy ass. I really can’t believe it like… I’m shocked right now.”
“Wait, what?” I said aloud.
Yolanda came into the house about ten minutes later. She locked the door behind her and ran over to me. I sat down in the living room awaiting her arrival. “Mom. Guess what?”
“I saw the video,” I said, “What happened?”
“Keanu and I were sitting down at dinner, we were eating and talking about music because I asked him what kind of music he liked… he got the nerve to say that he likes country music because it takes him to a world that’s not like his own. I was shocked when he said that, partly because who likes country music? But also because I saw him. He was looking at me from like a hundred feet away, watching me. Watching us. Leslie was there, Mom. And I know it was him because he was wearing that sweater I got for him for his birthday. Once he saw me see him, he ran away. What is wrong with that boy? Keanu drove me home shortly after.”
“… How much after?” I asked.
“Probably like five minutes,” she told me, and my paranoia kicked in.
“And you came straight here?” I asked.
“Yeah. Why are you looking like that?”
I picked up my phone and almost dialed the police but later thought otherwise. I mean, if that boy was crazy enough to follow her out here, you never knew what he was capable of. I thought about that dream I had the day before, me laying on the bed with a pair of hands pressing down on my throat, maybe that was a sign I needed… but I didn’t want to get the police involved and it turns out that I’m just being paranoid.
The hair on the back of my neck stood up and goosebumps emerged from my skin when Yolanda and I heard something coming from upstairs. A tapping sound. Were all the doors and windows locked? That was the first question that entered my mind. I know for a fact that I locked the window in my room and the door to the balcony. I’m not too familiar with this place to know where every- I heard another sound. There has to be someone up there. I rushed over to the kitchen to grab a pair of knives. I handed one to my daughter. The silence between us was deafening to the point that I wasn’t sure if my ears worked anymore. We looked at one another and she whispered to me… “We should leave.” and pointed to the door.
I contemplated what to do. The doorbell rung, and I froze. Standing a couple of feet away from the door as the bells jingled throughout the house. I wanted to see who it was, but my body wouldn’t let me. Yolanda walked over and looked through the peephole.
“It’s Uncle Kona,” she said, and my heart was finally at ease.
She opened the door and my brother entered the house. “Hey, Ko-Ko. What brings you here?” I asked. My brother hated when I called him Ko-Ko because it didn’t sound manly enough.
“I came to see my family,” Kona said, “Where’s everybody and why the heck are you two carry knives? Y’all about to do some crazy ritual or something?”
“Dad, Leilani and the boys went to the movies. They should be back any minute now… and we’re carrying knives because we heard some noises coming from upstairs and thought someone broke in,” I said, putting the knife down on the nearest table. I then thought better of it and returned the knife to the kitchen.
“Where at?” my brother asked, walking deeper into the house and looked up the stairway when I pointed. Yolanda stopped him from walking up the stairs and offered to give him the knife she held.
“I don’t need that,” Kona said, walking up the stairs.
Yolanda’s phone started buzzing and she immediately looked to see why. She received a few text messages from a number that wasn’t saved. She showed me the texts and I got scared again.
‘So you’re out there being a hoe now?’ the first text read.
‘That’s crazy. Enjoy yourself.’ the second text said.
‘I really can’t believe this, Yolanda. You really out there embarrassing me.’ read the third.
‘I wish you nothing but the best.’ the last one said with the peace sign emoji at the end.
My brother came back down to find me pacing back and forth worried about him. “I didn’t see anybody. The only thing that was up there was a bird that flew in because somebody left the window open.”
“What window?” I asked, “I didn’t leave any of the windows open. I made sure to lock all the windows.”
“Well, there was one that was slightly open,” he said, flopping down on the couch and looking around for the remote, “I think it was in one of the boys’ room. I closed it though.”
“Well, thank you,” I said.
My dad, Leilani, and the boys came back about seven minutes later laughing and joking about the movie they all just saw. Something to do with werewolves, I think.
“If your girlfriend turned into a werewolf and tried to eat you, wouldn’t you kill her?” Kiko asked Dimitri.
“No,” Dimitri said, “my dad’s brother told me that girlfriends are already vicious creatures, so one turning into a werewolf doesn’t make a difference.”
“Did you boys enjoy yourselves?” I asked, rushing over to hug them. I felt much more at ease with everybody here with me.
“Yeah,” Dimitri nodded, “I thought it was going to be a movie for girls. You know, one of those chick-flicks, but it was really cool.”
“Alright, boys. Get yourselves cleaned up, and ready for bed,” Leilani said, kissing Kiko on the forehead, “More fun tomorrow.”
“What’s tomorrow?” I asked while Leilani kissed Dimitri on the forehead too.
“Gramma and Grampa are taking us ziplining,” Dimitri said.
“Ha… Grandma,” Leilani said with a slight smile, “I need to go lay down now…”
“I’m not going,” Yolanda said, “Keanu and I are doing something tomorrow morning. I don’t know what yet, but being with him is better than ziplining.”
“Who’s Keanu?” Dimitri asked.
“Mind your business. That’s who it is,” Yolanda said smiling at her phone before rushing upstairs to her bedroom, “Hello?” she answered her phone when she was far from us, “What? Where’d you lose it at?” I didn’t even want to know what that conversation was about.
Tonight has been a crazy night. I didn’t even go anywhere or do anything special, and I still felt drained. I called it a night and retreated to my bedroom, making sure that the windows and were locked before I laid down.
I woke up late the next morning. It had to be about one in the afternoon when I first opened my eyes. I can get used to this. I always hated mornings. I went downstairs and noticed that the boys, my dad, and Leilani were already gone, and it turned out my brother Kona went with them. Yolanda, however just stormed into the house, tears welling up in her eyes.
“Is everything alright?” I asked, “Did you see-?”
“Keanu didn’t show up,” Yolanda said, “he stood me up. Not even a text back,” her phone vibrated, and her face lit up. I looked over and saw that Keanu sent her a text.
‘Where are you? I’ve been waiting for over an hour. Lol.’
‘Home.’ Yolanda replied, ‘I see you found your phone. I went to the beach earlier and didn’t see you, AND you weren’t answering your other phone.’
‘It’s hard to surf and text at the same time. Lol.’ Keanu’s response text read, ‘So, I just chose to surf. Sorry about that. How about I pick you up and we can grab something to eat?’
“This boy knows where my heart is,” Yolanda smiled and hugged her phone, “He’s going to pick me up and take me out for lunch.”
“Okay, be safe,” I said.
I went upstairs and prepared myself for a shower. A shower, a good book and a half-bottle of wine were much needed. I felt Yo
landa was going to be safe from Leslie as long as she had Keanu with her. I don’t know the kid at all, but my dad knowing him and his family really comforted me. Besides, this is only a temporary romance. Unless Yolanda ends up staying…
I heard the doorbell echo throughout the house as I turned on the shower. That had to be Keanu coming to pick Yolanda up.
“What are you doing here?” Yolanda shouted, “Mom!”
I dropped everything and ran to the safe. I knew something was wrong as soon as she called for me. I just knew it. The safe clicked open when I quickly typed the combination and grabbed my dad’s Desert Eagle. Yolanda kept calling me while I ran downstairs to look for her. Luckily, I didn’t hop in the shower yet, I was still fully clothed beside the fact that my feet were bare. “Mom!” Yolanda called me again.
“Shut up!” I heard another voice. A man’s voice came from the kitchen, “You did this to yourself, Yolanda. You thought you were cute, right? Disrespecting me, going on dates with other dudes right after we broke up.”
“I told you I’m done-” Yolanda said, but her words were interrupted by a loud smacking sound.
I turned into the kitchen and pointed the gun to Leslie’s back.
“Get the fuck out of this house before I kill you!” I shouted, holding the gun the same way my dad taught me when we used to go to the shooting range where Kona got his name from. I could see the look of shock from the back of Leslie’s head. He turned around and his eyes were immediately drawn to the gun.
“You’re not going to use that, Ms. Menaphie,” he said, merely shaking his head at the gun.
“What makes you so sure?” I asked.
“You would’ve shot me by now if you were,” Leslie said.
I pulled the trigger, but the gun jammed immediately. Fuck. Surprised, he swung a heavy hand to knock the gun out of my hands. The heavy steel smacked against the floor with a hard thud. With him distracted, Yolanda ran, jumped on his back and sunk her teeth into his ear.
“Ah!” he screamed as I went to pick up the gun. He must’ve seen me going for the gun because he went to kick me and landed. The bottom of his sneaker caught the side of my face and I rolled over. Somehow, with Yolanda still biting his ear, he still leaned over to pick up the gun.
She was slowing him down though, because every time he was close to grabbing it, he would wince and scream and lean backwards, away from the gun. Blood splattered everywhere in a matter of seconds and Yolanda spit a piece of Leslie’s ear out of her mouth.
“Fuck!” he shouted, grabbing my daughter by the hair and trying his best to throw her off of his back.
He moved backward and hit Yolanda’s back into the refrigerator. Once, twice, three times. After the fourth time, she released, and Leslie leaned forward to grab the gun with his free hand. The other hand was covering his ear. “You stupid bitch!” he roared.
I just charged at him with reckless abandonment. Punching, scratching, biting and grabbing on whatever I could to stop him from getting the gun firmly in his hands. He screamed and the next thing I knew, he was pressing his hand across my neck, choking me. I reached for his eyes, trying my best to gouge them out and he finally let go once my nails scratched against his left cornea.
“Fuck!” he screamed out again, covering his eye.
I grabbed the gun and pointed it to him. He couldn’t see, but he definitely felt it. When I pulled the trigger, that gunshot made my ears ring and the bullet made this son of a bitch drop to the ground. He was still alive though. I only aimed to shoot him in the thigh. Blood poured out of his ear and his leg and deafening screams poured from his mouth. I shot him in the other thigh shortly after, that’s when the screaming intensified.
“You made a huge fucking mistake!” I shouted over his deafening screams.
The third shot was the charm. That third bullet sealed his fate as I sent it flying straight through his neck. I shot him in the throat and watched silently as his body twitched… until it finally stopped.
Chapter 10 (Secret Society)
“All we ask is trust...”
My big brother watches me all the time. Yup. All the time. He makes sure I’m safe and well taken care of. He makes sure my homework is done, and he makes sure I’m doing my schoolwork. He makes sure that the TV shows I’m watching are suitable for someone like me, he makes sure the movies I go to are also suitable. He gives me money to buy food and watches me as I go to the store. He watched me when I first learned how to ride a bike, cross the street on my own, and he even watched me when I took my first steps. I love my big brother for his guidance and his input on a lot of things going on in my life. I couldn’t do anything without him looking. Some people might call him nosy, but that’s just what big brothers are supposed to do. It’s their job as soon as they take on the responsibility of stepping up when our father isn’t around. They tell me that our father is supposed to return soon, but in the meantime, my big brother watches me. He smiles when I do things to make him proud and he frowns when I mess up. Sometimes, he can get a little controlling, but I mainly put up with it because he’s done so much for me. My big brother tries his best to maintain the status quo. As the years go by, and I grow up, I expect my big brother to loosen up, but he doesn’t. He’s still watching me as I brush and comb my hair, wash my face, and brush my teeth. He watched my first kiss as well as my first sexual experience with the person I love. He looks over my shoulder as I tie my shoes, he watches me play my video games, he watches as I decide on what clothes to wear. He listens to my phone calls, he reads my text messages and e-mails, he watches my social media accounts and reads my messages on there. It’s getting to a point where I feel like I can’t do anything without him being there. I’m growing paranoid. Big brother is everywhere. He’s watching me shower, he’s watching me sleep, he’s watching me go to work in the morning and he watches me as I come home after work. Big brother is stalking me. I need help!
* * *
“Wow,” Daphne said almost immediately after Maria finished telling her story. Most of the guild were surrounding Maria and standing around the crowded table she sat at in front of the sanctuary. “But… you didn’t die at the end.”
“That’s all I remembered,” Maria said, shrugging her shoulders.
“So Leslie was a boy this whole time,” Jabari said, rubbing his short stubble of beard, “I can’t lie, at first I thought Leslie was a girl.”
“You killed a man…” Tobias scooched farther from where Maria sat, “You’re a murderer, Maria.”
“No! It was an act of self-defense,” Maria said, inching closer to Tobias, teasing him. “That doesn’t count, right? He stalked my daughter and he hit her. I know she blamed herself after the fact for posting everything to social media including her location, but he traveled all the way to Hawaii to attack her. He somehow got his hands on Keanu’s phone and got my daughter to send him the address to the house we stayed in. He didn’t do that without bad intentions. That boy deserved everything he got. I don’t feel bad for him one bit. If that’s why I’m here, then so be it.”
“It doesn’t count,” Rebellia shook her head, “that’s not murder. That kid obviously went all the way out there to cause harm. I think if Maria didn’t do what she did, that boy would’ve killed both of them.”
“Thank you,” Maria smiled.
“I mean she could’ve stopped after the first couple of shots,” Jabari shrugged his shoulders, “but I also believe it was justified. Trespassing, you know?”
Devonte was spotted by Daphne walking out of the building. He seemed to be surprised to see a large crowd of people standing around one table, so he made his way over. His presence forced the conversation around the table to change to a lighter subject as he walked closer to the crowded table and found a place to sit when room was made for him.
“Y’all know Bigfoot exists, right?” Tobias made the first attempt to change the topic.
“Man, Bigfoot is just as real as my almost ex-wife was. And that bit…” Jabari cau
ght himself when he looked down at Devonte, “and that woman was ninety percent plastic.”
“So you agree, that it’s real. I mean… even if she was ninety percent plastic, she’s still a real woman with a soul, right?” Tobias said, grinning.
“I’m starting to think this guy got shot trying to sneak into Area 51 or some shit,” Abraham chuckled.
Maria went to cover Devonte’s ears although it was too late. Abraham received a lot of angry looks as he mouthed a silent apology to his peers.
“Let’s not say curse words around the kid, okay?” Rebellia said, turning to Devonte. “You good, Kid?”
Devonte sighed, placing his elbow on the table and rested the side of his face on his right hand. “I’m sad,” he sighed again.
“What happened?” Maria asked as she wrapped her arms around him.
“I keep having these nightmares and they won’t stop,” Devonte said, “It’s like, every time I go to sleep there’s a man who’s trying to kill me. But this time, when I had the dream, I saw who the man was. I finally saw him… and it was my big brother Jeremy.”
Nobody said a single word, just a bunch of raised eyebrows and shocked expressions. “…” Daphne couldn’t find the right words to say to him.
“He had a gun… and he pointed it at me. I saw him. He keeps on doing it every time I go to sleep. That’s why I don’t want to- go to sleep. I never want to sleep again. I keep seeing that gun. Every time right before I wake up, he shoots me,” Devonte said, “I don’t know why I keep having this bad dream. My momma told me that people ain’t supposed to get the same dream twice. But this dream… it feels real. Like I can feel the shot when he pulls the trigger and it hurts.”
“… Oh,” Maria said, feeling bad that she asked.
“I miss my parents,” Devonte said, changing the subject slightly, “They’re not here like I thought they would be, they’re somewhere else. Somewhere far away. I know it. Rebellia was right, they aren’t coming for me. If I would’ve waited at that cabin, I would still be there all alone.”
