“Thanks for the ride.”
Before I could get out of the car, Shannon remarked in a hurried tone, “Dear, I have to leave Walter here at the house with you. I can’t believe Beth isn’t home. She promised me. Anyway, I have to go to work. She should be home any minute.”
She was going to work in a tight red dress? A dress she could barely walk in. What kind of job did she have?
“Go ahead, Walter, get out of the car! Hurry up before Mama is late.” Shannon was already out on her side, and she opened the back door. Walter wasn’t budging, and Shannon was losing her patience quickly. She yanked him out and moved him further away from the car. She closed the back door, got in the driver’s seat, and immediately drove off with a wave of her hand leaving Walter standing in the road. He watched his mother as she drove away.
I was just bamboozled. I couldn’t believe it. That woman left her son with me, a complete stranger, and she doesn’t know me from an ant in Africa. What a conniving woman! I huffed, shaking my head. She knew Beth wasn’t going to be home.
Shannon had no clue what kind of person I was. I killed two people, and I bet if she knew that fact, she wouldn’t bring Walter near me.
He stood in the street sulking. His tiny shoulders were down and trembling. He was crying. The little boy wanted his mother. I wanted to see about him, but he had a mean streak. I didn’t want to give him a chance to make me angry because my mean streak was worse.
Walter sat crossed legs in the street and rested his burned cheeks on his fist. I couldn’t leave him out there by himself. I slowly walked around him hoping he wouldn’t take off running. I already had it set in my mind I wasn’t chasing him down.
The boy’s face was moist and dirty. His bright blue eyes looked up from below his thick lashes and eyebrows. His young face already looked worn, like he had lived a lifetime already, but the worn look only came from not resting and not having a bath. His tiny little fingers were clinched. Walter’s two sizes too big shirt hid his tiny frame and he wore blue jean shorts. His socks didn’t match and neither did his shoes. Why did Shannon let him dress in clothes that didn’t fit and wear mismatched shoes and socks? I was just aggravated. Was this boy raising himself?
I asked in soft tone, “Walter, do you want to go inside?”
“Leave me alone!” He screamed and sure enough he took off running. Walter ran inside Beth’s house leaving the front door open. At least, he didn’t take off out of the cul-de-sac. I would never find him then.
I was turning to go inside when I saw Ms. Emma peeking out, and I waved at her. She waved back with that same curious pink handkerchief. I strolled into Beth’s house, and I listened for Walter’s whereabouts. I didn’t want to call him. He probably wouldn’t answer anyway. So, I stood in the middle of the living room waiting for any indication of where he might be, and I didn’t have to wait long. I heard squeaking and a glass drop in the bathroom.
I went to the bathroom meaning to set this kid straight. If I was going to watch him, he was about to find out I was nothing like his mama or his sister. I didn’t like the fact he was destructive, and I wasn’t going to let him destroy everything in sight. It wasn’t my home, and I didn’t want Beth getting onto me. I wasn’t going to take her crap about it, anyway. So I needed to nip it in the bud at the very source.
I was inside the bathroom before Walter realized it. I slammed the bathroom door shut and locked it. I immediately got his attention. Walter quickly jumped down from the sink and scampered over to the tub. I wanted him to know simply by my glare I was a stranger in the same room with him and he couldn’t get away. He knew what he could get away with when it came to his mother and his sister, but he had no idea what he could get away with when it came to me.
I glanced over at the mirror. Walter scribbled all over it with Beth’s lipstick, and then he was making it worse with her toothbrush. The glass that once held her toothbrush was on the floor in pieces.
My eyes were now square on him, and he ducked in the tub. He said trying to sound brave, “I’m not afraid of you.”
“You’re not afraid of anything from what I can tell.” I remarked.
He lifted his face and declared, “That’s right!” Then he ducked back down.
“That’s how you get hurt, Walter.”
This time he remained hiding in the tub. “I want to get out. Move out the way.”
“No, Walter, I’m not moving. You and I will come to an understanding before you leave this bathroom.”
Walter peeped over the rim of the tub eyeing the door. I saw the tears in his eyes. He was truly afraid of me, and he wanted out. But there was no way. I meant what I said.
I stated in a calm voice, “I don’t know you, and you don’t know me. That means you don’t know what I’m capable of. We can be friends, Walter, or we can be enemies. I promise you being friends are a lot easier.”
“What happens if I don’t want to be your friend?”
“You really want to know?”
“Yes, I do!” He yelled.
I stepped forward and said, “You know those spiders you’re so afraid of. I know where plenty of them are. You might have burned the ones in the hotel, but you didn’t get them all.”
“Yes, I did! You saw the hotel! I burnt it down to the ground! I killed all those spiders!”
“No, you didn’t, little boy. I promise you didn’t.” I was steadfast, keeping my eyes on him the entire time. Even though, I was threatening him with spiders, I felt really bad about it. He was truly fearful of them, and he was just a child. But he was out of control, and I had to use his fear to control him. I figured if I used his fear instead of hitting him, I’d get better results. He was already use to getting his hide tore up every day, and obviously, it wasn’t doing any good. So, this had to work. I continued to drive it home, “You’re going to wake up one morning, and you’re going to find new friends in your bed. You won’t be able to get away from them. They can go anywhere can you go, Walter.”
He was trembling trying to stop himself from crying, and my heart was breaking. I wasn’t going to say anything else about the spiders. I think he got the picture. I stated, “From now on, when you’re around me, you will mind your manners. You will behave. Am I clear on that, little boy?”
He said, “I don’t sleep at night. I’ll see the spiders coming.”
“I bet you sleep like a baby at night. I bet you sleep so hard that you don’t even realize you’re asleep. You can’t help it. You’re so busy doing the wrong things all day long that you wear yourself out.”
“I don’t like you.” Walter pouted.
“I know you don’t, and I’m okay with that. But you will behave still the same when we are in the room together. I don’t care how you act anywhere else or with anyone else, but when you’re with me, you will be a saint. Am I understood?”
Walter’s bottom lip shook as the tears flowed from his eyes. He hesitantly nodded.
“When I open this door, you will go sit down in the living room and you will not move. I’m going to clean this mirror and the floor before Beth gets home because I know how much she likes to spank you. So, if this is all cleaned up before she gets here, your hide will be saved for another day.”
“Are you going to tell Beth what I did?”
“No. There’s no real harm done. So, why should I?”
I unlocked the bathroom door and commanded him to walk, not run, to the living room. He did exactly as he was told, and I cleaned up the mess in the bathroom. I was trying to figure out why this little boy was destructive. Was he lacking attention from his family? Was he given too much attention? Did he just hate the world? There was no way such a child, still new to the world, could have hate.
I knew what overwhelming hate can turn in to. Hate created bitterness, selfishness, and a desire to fight everything that was against you. I lived it almost daily at one point. It was consuming and draining, and it wore me out. If Walter had hate that consumed him like that, then he must be exhaust
ed. He has to be so frustrated to the point where he can’t even see one good thing in his life, even if it was in front of his face.
Once I was finished, I went into the living room where Walter was watching television. Actually, he was flipping through the channels not watching anything. I continued into the kitchen. I made my point. He was acting like a well behaved little boy.
It was almost five o’clock according to the time on the microwave. It was time to go see Ms. Emma, but I had Walter. I guess he was coming with me. I wasn’t leaving him alone. I was actually excited to see her perform. I couldn’t wait.
CHAPTER SEVEN
I kneeled down beside him, gave him a serious look and said, “We are going next door to see Ms. Emma. Do I need to explain how I expect you to act, Walter?”
“No.” His big blue eyes gazed at me.
“Okay.” I stood and took his hand. I placed the remote on top of the television, and we exited the house.
Walter asked as I pulled him along, “Why are we going over there?”
“She plans on singing for us.”
“What is she going to sing?”
“I don’t know.”
“She’s a strange lady. I don’t want to go.”
“Walter, we don’t want to be rude to Ms. Emma. She’s a very nice lady. Have you ever spoken to her?”
“No, I’m usually running from her.”
“You need to stop running from everyone.”
“Not everyone.” He said in almost a whisper.
I didn’t think much of his last statement as we went up Ms. Emma’s sidewalk. When I saw her standing on the porch with her back to the front yard, I thought something was wrong. She was standing there not moving. She was wearing a shiny silver dress, and the bottom looked like the other dress she wore that morning. Ms. Emma started scooting sidewalks towards a stool that had a tape player on it. She pressed the play button and scooted quickly right back to where she was.
I looked at Walter, and he was staring with his mouth wide open. We were both confused as to what was going to happen. The music started playing, and Ms. Emma started moving one shoulder. She spun around, her skirt lifted in a twirl, and she started singing. She held a brush to her lips as she moved around the porch. She’d hit a high note with ease and keep right on moving with the music. Her other neighbor was on his porch, and he was clapping to the music and dancing, too. I was pleasantly surprised. Ms. Emma could sing and dance. She was a natural, hitting every note, moving around like she was on a real stage. I knew at that point this woman was not joking about singing for presidents, kings, and queens. She was the real deal.
Before Ms. Emma was finished, she stopped. She was looking beyond her front yard to the end of the cul-de-sac. I turned around to see what she was looking at. A truck was pulling in, lights on bright, and the engine was reeving as it got closer. Ms. Emma stopped the music, snatched the tape player from the stool, rushed inside the house, and slammed the door closed. A very loud turn of the deadbolt could be heard. I wanted to know who was in the truck, and I started out of the yard to get a better look.
The truck turned in the cul-de-sac and spun back out leaving black tire tracks in the road. I waited until he was completely gone before going to Ms. Emma’s door. Clearly, she was afraid of whoever was in the truck, and I didn’t like the fact that someone was scaring this sweet old lady. I knocked on the door.
Ms. Emma screamed from inside, “Concert is over! Show cancelled due to rain!”
I wished Ms. Emma would continue, at least finish the song, but I knew she wasn’t coming outside anymore that evening. I yelled back, “You were spectacular, Ms. Emma! I can’t wait for your next show!”
Ms. Emma didn’t respond, but I knew she heard me. I stepped off the porch disappointed it had to end so soon. The neighbor that was dancing earlier was still watching from his porch. He looked disappointed, too.
CHAPTER EIGHT
I took Walter by the hand once more, and we returned to Beth’s house. I turned on cartoons and made popcorn. Since I wasn’t doing anything for the rest of the evening, I might as well settle in.
I made Walter wash his hands, and when he returned I placed the big bowl of popcorn in between us. He immediately dug in and began throwing one piece at a time into his mouth.
I asked him, “What did you think of Ms. Emma’s show?”
“I’ve never seen anything like that before.”
“Did you like it?”
Walter smiled and nodded.
“I liked it, too.”
We watched cartoons until he fell asleep on the sofa. Then I began flipping through the channels not really looking for anything specific but searching for something that might catch my eye. I found mud tractor racing, a guy unhooking a big bass, and two girls painting a wall. I didn’t understand what was so great about television. When I was trying to find the cartoons again, I ended up finding a channel that had a still photograph of Jason making a jump shot.
A news reporter was sitting at a desk saying, “The college basketball star, Jason Stone, died a few weeks ago as a result of a fall and drug use at a party given by Alexia Carver. Alexia Carver is the daughter of Alabama State Senator Raymond Carver, who is a prominent politician in Alabama. Rumors indicate he might be seeking the Alabama Governor’s Seat in the upcoming elections. With the Stone Family actively pushing for more answers, Senator Carver and the Lowndes County Sheriff Department will start a formal investigation on his death, and the FBI is being called in for assistance. Jason was...”
Beth came through the door with Dillon, and I quickly switched the channel back to the cartoons. Damn! I really wanted to listen to the news. Beth was giggling and immediately stopped when she saw Walter asleep on the sofa.
“What is he doing here?” She was none too happy. Walter didn’t wake up or move. “Did my mother drop him off?”
I said in a calm manner, “Yes, she did, but he’s been good, Beth.” I wasn’t going to tell her that Shannon tricked me. He wasn’t a bad kid after all. He only needed some rules and structure. Once he understood the range his behavior can go, then he was a champ.
“What did he break?” She rushed to the kitchen, and then she went to check the bedrooms and bath. She yelled from all the way in the back of the house, “I know he did something!”
Walter began stirring, and he slowly sat up. He looked around the room dazed from sleeping so hard. Beth headed straight for Walter when she returned to the living room, and he jumped towards me trying to get away from Beth.
I held him gently and put my hand up to make her stop. I said, “Beth, Walter was a good kid. He didn’t do anything wrong.” I shifted in my seat trying to get Walter to sit down straight, but he had a tight hold of me.
Beth was confused and just stared at us. She folded her arms and asked angrily “How did he get here?”
“Your mom gave me a ride from the bookstore. She said you were going to be home soon, and she left him.” I answered.
Beth shook her head and exhaled. She calmed down and said, “I am so sorry, Angela. My mother is always trying to push him on other people. I’m calling her right now. She won’t be doing this to you again.” Beth stormed to the kitchen.
Dillon looked over at me and Walter. Walter started scooting into my lap more to hide from Dillon. I saw Dillon trying to glare at Walter, and I wanted to say something. But I stared right back at him, and when he made eye contact with me, he rushed right into the kitchen. An uneasy feeling came over me. That wasn’t right. The way he was looking at the boy. I patted Walter’s back trying to comfort him.
Beth remarked as she came back into the living room, “My mom is home, Angela. I told her she was wrong for leaving him like that.”
I’m glad I didn’t tell her the lie Shannon used to drop him off. She would have been totally off her rocker then. I said, “Beth, seriously, Walter was no bother at all.”
“He probably destroyed something. Sit up straight, knuckle head! Sit down on the
sofa! You’re too big to be in her lap! Do as I say, Walter!”
The screeching was driving me crazy. Walter yelled, “I’m not a knuckle head!”
“Dillon,” Beth yelled back towards the kitchen. “Come and take Walter home! He isn’t staying the night here, that’s for sure.”
Walter complained, “I don’t want him to take me home! I don’t like it when he takes me home!”
Beth pointed at Walter and yelled, “Shut-up, boy!”
Dillon came from the kitchen holding a glass of ice water and said, “Make him walk home.”
She started laughing and said, “I should make him walk home!”
I couldn’t take it anymore. Those two were ten times worse than Walter. I can see why he acted out all the time. I offered, “I’ll take him home.”
“Dillon is leaving, anyway.”
“I don’t mind.” I stood. “I can take your car, if you don’t mind, and I’ll be right back.”
“Are you sure, Angela?”
“I’m sure.”
She handed me the car keys and watched as I took Walter by the hand and walked out. Beth really needed to cut Walter a break. This kid was crying when I walked him to the car. He was breaking my heart.
It didn’t take long to get to Walter’s house. I pulled into the driveway behind Shannon’s car, and I turned off the ignition. Walter sat in the passenger seat with his head down and his arms crossed on his chest. He knew he was home, but he didn’t want to get out.
“Are you okay, Walter?” I asked.
“I don’t know.” He answered with a childish pout.
“Why don’t you go inside and get some rest?”
“I’m not tired.”
“I bet after you take a bath, get some of the dirt off your back, and get in bed, you’ll go right to sleep.”
He looked up at me and asked, “Can you come inside with me? We can watch cartoons and eat popcorn again?”
“I have to work tomorrow. Maybe, we can hang out after I get off work.” He was a lonely child, and I understood it completely. I was lonely, too.
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