Sowing Season
Page 33
“Stop!” Debra shouted, her cries unheeded by the men bloodying each other upon the floor.
Jeremy’s size gave him an advantage over the young man and he started to choke the life from Stone. Soon his face changed in hue, from pale white to a violet red. He twisted violently onto his side, kicked his leg out from beneath Jeremy and flung it out and around the bigger man’s head. Stone immediately brought it back down against him and slammed against the floor. This allowed him to catch him in an armbar, as he pushed into the air against Jeremy’s arm. A loud and clear snap thundered into the room followed by a loud moaning made by one of the men.
Stone broke away and jumped to his feet, pacing to and fro before Jeremy who was on his knees, looking at his right arm, which pointed in an awkward, unnatural direction. He tried to move the arm, but it simply flopped. The bones were out of place and pushed against his skin in all the wrong places. Jeremy's rage continued, at least momentarily, until his shock was fully realized and dizziness caused him to sway from left to right, until he quickly lost consciousness. Debra jumped to his side, checking to make sure he hadn't landed in a way to cause himself any more harm.
“Debra,” Stone started, approaching her as she checked over Jeremy’s body and arm.
“Don’t Stone. Just leave. Leave before he wakes up and kills you.”
“Debra, please…” his heart sank, “just come with me. Leave this all behind. There’s nothing but death waiting for you here.”
“I can’t leave,” Debra sighed, as Jeremy’s eyes opened and rolled lethargically. “My place is with him, as it has always been. Just get out. Leave. And please, Stone, don’t ever try to come back. He will never let this slide.”
Stone reached down and lifted his duffle bag from the ground to place it over his shoulder as he watched Jeremy begin to mumble. He didn't plan on leaving this way, not able to say goodbye to her the way he intended. He wanted to hold her, express his love, but it wouldn't be so.
“Guess this is it, then.” Stone refused to allow his emotions to show. He wanted to rush her with his arms wide open and drag her away, but it was her decision to stay. In that moment, he realized that she didn’t share the love he held for her. She was Jeremy’s the whole time. Jeremy probably allowed him to believe the lie too as a way to seduce him to their will.
“Good luck out there, Stone.”
“As if you really care.” He departed just as Jeremy regained consciousness. By the time the Zealot rose to his feet, the young man had already vanished from the apartment.
…
The night was cold, as cold as any night had been that winter, and Stone was without a home. He had no friends left to run to and his family was hundreds of miles away. His tears were cold against his cheeks as he jogged through the dimly lit streets and alleys of Glen Iris. Life had, once again, forced him out into the wild of the city, bleeding and abandoned, the ever-revolving wheel kept turning as he searched for his place and peace in the world. Snow began to fall from the grey sky illuminated by the distant city lights and the moon hanging behind them. The fire burning within his chest fizzled out and he shivered the entire night through, filled with nightmares and regret over what he had done to so many.
He eventually found himself not far from the police department, desiring nothing more than to walk in with his hands up, but he knew what the priest said was true. He couldn’t risk the well-being of his family and that of the good neighbors of Irondale. His pain would continue, his suffering wouldn’t recede, and he would continue to freeze until sunrise, struggling to find even the slightest bit of warmth.
Homeless, friendless, and alone, the only thing that brightened his spirits was the rosary he held within his pocket and the sketchbook he had to look through. That night he fell asleep within a dumpster pad. At least it had four walls and a roof to shield him from the winter. He bundled up beneath any material he could find, continuing to pray and shiver until the night grew late, silent, and ever more still beneath the white covering accumulating across the landscape.