Hitman’s Journey Back in Time
By Joshua Schank
Copyright © 2015, Joshua Schank
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author / publisher.
This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual people or events is coincidental and fictionalized.
Published in the United States 2015 by Amazon Kindle.
Cover Design: SelfPubBookCovers.com/Daniela
Chapter 1
A man in his late thirties sits in a lightly dark room in a prison cell. The cell size is about six by eight feet. The man is seated at a fairly large table wearing a brown Top hat. The man shifts his upper body back as if to get comfortable. He then reaches into his right pocket. As he’s pulling out his right hand, he reveals a pack of cigarettes. The man puts a cigarette to his mouth and then lights it with a lighter. He gazes off for several seconds, and then as if he’s being watched, quickly adjusts his chair and faces himself to the right. He then begins speaking as if someone has entered the cell, and he’s about to tell them a story. The fact is, he’s simply telling a story to an audience he cannot see.
“Well, hello there. You are probably wondering who I am. How rude of me not to introduce myself.” The mysterious man gets up from his chair and takes his hat off. He then puts the hat over his chest and bows. “Hitman, at your services.” The man then sits back down, putting his hat back on. “Yes, you heard that correctly. I am a hitman or rather was. I was a force for good. I was a rarity in this evil and disgusting world that we live in today. Anyways, you are probably wondering why a charming person such as myself could end up on the wrong side of the law. In order for you to truly understand why I am the way that I am, you will need to be taken through a long journey of hell. Don’t worry, as I will never leave you alone. I mean after all, what kind of hitman would I be if I wasn’t by your side protecting you?” The man then smiles slyly.
Eleven-year-old Ben and his father (Jeff) are on their way to school. It’s a traditional morning during the week. Ben is wearing a heavy brown jacket with a winter hat and gloves on.
“So, when are you and that Jennifer girl going to go out?” Jeff asked.
Ben seemed very hesitant as if it were something that he would rather not talk about. Jeff turned his attention to the scenery outside of his driver’s side window. He enjoyed looking at the houses. Some of the houses needed a lot of repair work, and he wondered to himself how people could live like that. Jeff realized Ben never answered him about Jennifer, so he thought of a clever way to get Ben to speak.
“You and her looked so cute together playing basketball the other day when I came and picked you up.”
Ben stared straight ahead for several seconds before turning his head to his father. “Well, she’s a nice girl and all of that, but I think she only likes me as a friend. I see her with Steve all the time.”
“Now, what can Steve possibly have that you don’t have?” Jeff asked while smiling at Ben.
“Well, he plays every sport from football to wrestling. She doesn’t seem to be into small guys like myself,” said Ben.
Jeff found himself wanting to say something to simply tease Ben, but when he looked at Ben’s face which revealed sadness, he decided that this particular morning it wasn’t the best idea.
Jeff pulled up to the school. “You be safe now, and stay out of trouble,” said Jeff.
Ben nodded and quietly said, “Ok.”
Jeff smiled as he watched Ben hustle to the main entrance of the school building. Once Ben was safely inside, Jeff drove away.
The school teacher studied all of her students’ faces.
“Did everyone do their history homework?” By people’s reactions, she could tell that a few of her students didn’t do their homework. “Every one of you had two weeks to complete the assignment. Not one of you has any excuse to not completing your work. Pass the papers up to the front of the classroom.”
Ben watched as people passed their papers up to the front of the class. He knew that he didn’t complete the assignment, but he felt like an outcast since most of the people did do the assignment. He pretended to be going through folders looking for his homework that he never did.
The girl in front of Ben turned around. “Do you have your homework?”
“I’m looking for it right now,” said Ben.
The girl revealed a fake smile. “Yeah, I bet.”
Ben regularly didn’t do his homework, so it was no shock to anyone when he didn’t complete an assignment. The teacher held a big stack of papers (students’ homework). She walked to the last row. The teacher then walked back to the front of the classroom. Her face found Ben’s. Ben was hoping that she was looking somewhere else, but he knew that wasn’t the case. He had an ashamed looking face.
“Ben, is your paper amongst the ones in my hand?”
As if seeking answers, Ben looks at his other students. Ben just finally shook his head.
The teacher shakes her head in disgust and went to sit in her seat. “You are all free to go to recess.”
Ben wandered around the parking lot during recess. Unlike most kids his age, Ben didn’t have any friends. Once in a while, someone would invite him to play a sport with them, but generally speaking, it was very rare for Ben to be invited to partake in anything.
Ben’s eyes wandered around the huge parking lot. His eyes first wandered off to the swing sets where he watched kids from all ages, swing, with the vast majority being first and second graders. Ben’s eyes then wandered off to the playground where he seen a variety kids on the jungle gym; seen a group of young girls writing notes while talking amongst themselves; seen kids of all ages running playing tag and the like; seen fifth graders playing kickball; and saw others doing a combination of things. Ben’s attention drifted back to the parking lot where he spotted three well known bullies. The three bullies’ names were Ryan (leader), James, and Michael. They quickly spotted Ben close to the same time that he spotted them. They quickly approached him.
“Hey there, punk, do you have $5 I can borrow?” Ryan asked.
Ben isn’t stupid. He knew that he would never see the $5 again if he handed it over. “I spent the last $5 I had for lunch today.” Ben clearly knew he was in a no-win situation, regardless, of whichever decision he would make.
“Are you sure? I really would hate to make your face look like my brother’s ass crack,” said Ryan.
Ryan and his friends were only a tad over fifteen feet away from where Ben stood. Ben knew he had to make a decision and had to make it fast. Ben decided to run, but he didn’t get very far, as ice was all over the parking lot. Ben fell face down onto the ice. As his body and face were in severe pain, he heard Ryan and his friends’ laugh, which was soon followed by many nearby students’ laughter.
Ben walked into the kitchen and noticed his mom wiping down the dining room table. It was early evening (close to seven o’clock), and Ben had just gotten home from playing in the park.
“Come, sit at the table! Tina exclaimed (Ben’s mom).”
Ben sat down as instructed and waited for the bad news. “What is it, mom?”
“Your teacher called and said that you haven’t been turning in your homework.” Tina waited for a response, but instead, Ben just stared at her for several seconds. “Well, what is
the problem? Speak up!”
Ben just stared up at his mom, and then allowed his eyes to wander as if hoping that he could find the right words to please his mom.
“Well, obviously, something needs to change, and it needs to change quickly. The sad thing about all of this, is that, I don’t know how to punish you. I could take away your Nintendo, but you are rarely on it these days. It seems like you are always lost in your own little world. I will ask you one last time, what is the problem?” Tina asked.
Ben really didn’t really want to say the reason that he was so frustrated with his life and the way things were going. Ben just couldn’t hold back any longer. “I know that you and dad are getting a divorce!”
Tina’s face showed shock and anger. “How did you find out? Did your father tell you?” Tina asked very loudly and angrily.
Ben quickly rushes up the stairs. He quickly closes and locks his door. He thinks back a few weeks when he listened to them arguing. Tina was upset because Ben’s father (Jeff) worked long hours. Jeff felt like paying the bills was enough to show how much he cared for her and the kids (Ben has a sister). Tina, however, felt like he needed to be home more, but his job, which is installing home security alarm systems, forced him to travel to other cities as well as other states for work.
Despite Jeff’s hectic work schedule, Ben got to spend a fair amount of time with him every morning. Jeff typically didn’t leave for job until late morning or early afternoon, which is well after he’s already dropped Ben off at school. When Jeff does drive several states away, he usually only does that on weekends. Usually, when Jeff does take a long trip for his job, he will leave Friday afternoon and get back Sunday evening. Sometimes the drive is so far that Jeff has to leave on Thursday night instead of Friday. Also, sometimes he’s not able to get back till Monday. On weekdays, Jeff usually gets home between five o’clock in the evening and midnight. Every once in a while he gets back in the middle of the night. Only three or four days out of the month, does Jeff not take Ben to school. When Jeff can’t take Ben to school, Ben will try and catch the bus. In the event that he doesn’t make it to his bus route on time, he will walk to school, which is a little over a half an hour away.
Jeff, meanwhile, spent very little time with his daughter, as she preferred to have her girlfriends give her rides to school. Many evenings she either worked as a waitress at “LongHorn Steakhouse” or stayed in her room talking on her cordless phone to her girlfriends. Ben’s mom got to spend many evening with Jeff, but many of them were short evenings.
Ben let out a loud sigh while staring up at the ceiling. He finally got up and looked out the window. Ben could hear his sister talking on the phone, but he couldn’t really make out what she was saying with his door closed. Ben unlocks and opens up his door slowly. Ben’s sister’s name is Heather. She is on a cordless phone talking to one of her girlfriends.
Heather’s room is a mess. She talks on the phone while staring at herself in her large mirror that is on the wall directly above her dresser. She starts playing with her hair that had gotten dyed a few days prior. Heather is talking to her friend, Jessica.
“Richard is so hot. I hope he asks me to prom.” Heather said.
“Oh, girl, trust me, he’s into you. I helped him study for his science test, and when I geared the conversation towards you, he had nothing but good things to say!” Jessica said excitingly.
“Well, what did he say?” Heather asked.
“I can’t tell you that, but let’s just say, if you dress like you did the other day, he’s yours!” Jessica said super excitedly.
Heather laughs in excitement and steps away from her mirror to sit on her bed. “Well, in that case, I will definitely have to dress like that tomorrow, then.”
Ben decides that he’s heard enough and calls it a night. He of course, could only hear Heather and not Jessica, but it was nothing that he hadn’t heard before. He was used to his sister talking late hours on the phone about boys.
Ben begins rubbing his tired eyes as he’s walking into the dining room. Ben had troubles sleeping the night before; he kept waking up throughout the night off and on. The kitchen is rather small and connected to the dining room, which is three times its size. Ben spotted his father cooking what appeared to be eggs on a pan.
“Want some eggs, Ben?” Jeff asked.
“I’m not really hungry, dad.” Ben said.
“You need to eat. Your mom has been telling me that you haven’t been eating right,” said Jeff.
Ben knew at this point that he was going to lose the fight, so he just plops down in one of the middle chairs at the dining room table. Jeff, holding the pan, used a spatula to pick two eggs and three pieces of bacon off the pan and into the plate that he sat in front of Ben. He then did the same thing with the plate next to Ben’s, which would be his plate to eat off of. As Jeff was putting the pan into the sink, Ben quickly began eating. The quicker he ate his eggs, the less time he had to explain his school situation as well as angering his mom the night before.
Jeff takes a seat next to Ben, noticing Ben rushing himself. “Your mom told me what you said yesterday,” said Jeff. Ben stopped eating and looked down as if being found guilty. “Look, son, your mom and I are going to work things out. I promise you, I will do everything in my power to fix our situation.” Ben simply nodded his head in agreement.
“Look, I was your age once, and my parents divorced when I was around your age. So, I understand the stress that you’re under. Why don’t you and I go fishing this weekend? What do you say, pal?”
For the first time in weeks, Ben genuinely smiled. Ben seemed a little shocked, but at the same time was rather excited. “That sounds great, dad!”
“Great! Now, let’s get you off to school before you’re late.”
The car ride to school was rather quiet, and it definitely wasn’t the typical morning between them, as Jeff usually tried to ignite a conversation. Jeff knew that although he cheered Ben up about a potential fishing trip over the weekend, that Ben overall just wasn’t all that happy this morning or for the week for that matter. Jeff was just simply thankful that he got Ben’s spirits up about going fishing on Saturday.
Selena Rosales, Ben’s teacher, looked around the classroom for someone to call on. Mrs. Rosales is a strict Hispanic teacher. She loves teaching and shared that same love towards her students, but she is a no nonsense type of teacher. No one raised their hands, so this is when she normally picked on the “slacker’s” of the class. One of her biggest slackers is none other than Ben himself.
“Ben (pointing at the chalkboard), which there/there is correct in the sentence?” Mrs. Rosales asked.
One sentence read “There is a good chance I won’t make it to my appointment on time.” The other sentence is exactly the same, except with the word “Their.”
Ben really had no clue, so he just guessed. “It would be the ‘There’ spelled capital T and then lowercased h.e.r.e,” said Ben.
“That’s correct, Ben. Now, how did you come to that conclusion?” Mrs. Rosales asked.
There is a long pause, and by this point Mrs. Rosales knew that Ben had just guessed.
“Does anyone here know why ‘There’ (pointing to chalkboard) would be correct?” Mrs. Rosales asked.
A girl by the name of Sarah puts her hand up all gleefully 100 percent confident that she knew why. Mrs. Rosales points at Sarah. “Capital T. lowercased h.e.r.e. is correct because it’s not showing any ownership. If it did show ownership, it would then be spelled the other way,” said Sarah.
“Well done, Sarah!” Mrs. Rosales exclaimed excitedly. Mrs. Rosales glanced at her watch and noticed the time. “You can all talk amongst yourselves for the remainder ten minutes ‘till recess.”
Ben walks around on the pavement during recess with his hands in his pockets. It’s twenty degrees colder than the day before. Ben was planning on spending recess alone when he spotted his crush “Jennifer” playing basketball with a girlfriend of hers.
/> There were three basketball hoops, and the two with the most pavement (area), usually was played by boys with a group of five or more. Jennifer, and her friend, obviously played on the hoop with the less amount of pavement. Many times in the past, when just two or three people played in one of the two main hoops, a group fielding two teams would push them off.
Ben watched one of the boys “school” one of his buddies dribbling the ball to the hoop for an easy lay-up. Ben then turned his attention back to Jennifer and her friend. Ben decided to walk up to them to get their attention.
“Can I play with you guys?” Ben asked.
“Don’t you mean, girls?” Jennifer teased.
Ben smiles, “Ok, can I play with you girls?”
“That’s better,” said Rachael (Jennifer’s friend) laughing lightly.
The three of them, Ben, Jennifer, and Rachael began shooting around without any serious competition. Rachael had a rather weak arm. She had a poor arc and arm movement, which caused the ball to sail completely away from the hoop altogether and go into the playground. Rachael retrieved it and tossed it to Ben. Ben then made an easy lay-up.
“So, where’s Steve at today?” Ben asked.
Ben only asked Jennifer, as he knew there was a chance that if Steve caught another guy playing with his girl, even if it was harmless, that Steve may try and start trouble with him. Steve isn’t much more of a saint than Ryan. The main difference is that Steve normally bullied people out of jealousy or if he was in a really bad mood, whereas Ryan and his comrades loved to bully kids on a regular basis, and they targeted people that they thought they were superior to physically.
“He didn’t come to class today. He must be sick or playing hooky,” Jennifer said.
Ben quickly changes the conversation back to basketball, just in case she would ask why Ben wanted to know. “I’m going to show you guys who’s boss.” Ben acts like he is going to dribble and ends up faking it and instead goes for a three-pointer. He watches as it smoothly goes through the rim.
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