by Adam Dark
And the other kids at school had bragged about how long they had stayed on the porch before they all ran. The record was two minutes. Nico had sworn he would break it. So far, we had talked him out of going and distracted him by hanging out by the river and our tree fort.
As for me, I'm nothing special. I'd like to think of myself as brave like Ian or Nico, but the last thing I would want to do is go ding-dong-ditch the haunted mansion on the hill or swing off a twenty-foot tree branch on a rope that looked twice as old as we were. Of course, I had swung from that rope more times than I could remember, but it was terrifying every time, right up until the moment my body hit the water and I came up alive.
Some might say I'm nervous too, but I'd argue I'm inquisitive by nature. I like to know the facts before making a decision. I think I get this from my father. He always says I'll make a good defense lawyer one day. I have no desire to work for the legal system, not if it means I'm traveling all the time and working long hours. My father looks exhausted every day and I don't remember a time when his eyes weren't dark and heavy with stress.
I'd live poor like Henry before I enslaved myself to a job. That wasn't living. No amount of money would ever make me change my stance on that. Well, maybe a million dollars. Then we could build a bigger fort and connect them with rope bridges and live in the trees like Tarzan.
Sad thing was I wasn't old enough to buy a lottery ticket. I once found a scratch off in the garbage and won two dollars. My sister had to turn it in for me and the cashier only gave her the two bucks because he had a crush on her. She wasn't old enough either.
Of course she kept every penny and didn't give me any. She said it was her share for her troubles. That was the last time I played and won the lottery. I stuck to my toys and the outdoors and sleep. That was another thing about me. I loved sleeping. If my mother allowed me to, I'd sleep all day.
Unlike Peter, I had no problem falling asleep and staying asleep. I pitied him really. Sleeping was the greatest thing to ever be invented other than Big League Chew, pizza, and video games. And maybe The Twilight Zone. That show creeped me out but was cool. My sister would watch it with me sometimes and I'd pretend I was going into the kitchen for a drink or to pop some popcorn and then sneak up behind her.
I'd wait for the scary part and the music to build, then grab her. She'd scream and punch me in the arm until my arm went numb, but it was worth it. She'd cry and go running off to her room. My mother chastised me, but on the rare occasion that my father was in town, he'd give me a wink when my mother wasn't looking. The show had originally aired on CBS in 1959 and had its final episode in 1964. Even twenty-seven years later, the show still terrified its viewers.
My sister said I was lazy, but I refuse to believe it. It's not that I won't do my chores, clean my room, bring the dirty clothes down, or fold my bed. It's just I'd rather not. What's the point of cleaning if it's just going to get messed up again the next day or that night?
My belief is that you clean only when you need to. That is, when you have no more clean underwear to go to school or no bowls for cereal. Those were my two greatest fears and the only reason why I gave in and helped with the dishes and laundry.
My left arm went numb.
"Earth to Ben, are you with us?" Nico asked.
I rubbed my arm where he had punched me.
"Where do you go when you do that anyway?" Nico asked.
"Just thinking about stuff," I said.
"It's weird. You don't want to turn into Henry, do you?" Nico asked.
We both glanced over at Henry who was sitting on the same stump when I had first arrived reading the thesaurus. From the looks of it, he was halfway through. If I had his memory I'd never have to study again. I'd rule the world and have my own mansion with dense forests, mountains, and tree houses everywhere. I'd spend all day in the water—unless I was sleeping.
"I didn't think so," Nico said.
He swam to the shoreline and climbed up the wooded steps we had nailed into the side of the tree. There came a scream shortly after followed by a loud splash. Max's head exploded out of the water like a geyser. His arms flailed in the air.
"Help!" he yelled.
I swam over and helped him to his feet.
"It's shallow," I said.
He was slightly shorter than me and his head barely broke the surface. He bobbed back to shore and crawled out like a sopping wet cheetah. He collapsed on the dirt and held his knees to his chest the rest of the afternoon.
It took some self-convincing, but I soon made my way up the tree ladder and launched myself off of the platform. The first time was always the most exhilarating and the most nerve-racking. We jumped and swung off our tree fort until the sun began to hide its head behind the horizon.
It got darker faster in the woods. And if we weren't careful, we could get stuck in the dark. We were all walking through the woods back to the road when Nico came up beside me.
"So, I was thinking. We should go check out the house," Nico said.
I was shaking my head before he finished his statement.
"Just hear me out," Nico said.
"I'm not going to get killed just because you want to break some stupid record," I said.
"It's not about the record."
He paused, then a grin spread across his face.
"Right," I said.
"Ok, so it's about the record. You know I can beat it," Nico said.
"No one's saying you can't," I said.
"Good! So you'll come with me tonight?" Nico asked.
I stopped in my tracks.
"You can't be serious," I said.
"Dead serious," he said.
I didn't miss the emphasis on the first word.
"Not going to happen. My mother is expecting me home before it gets dark. You know what she'll do to me if I'm late again," I said.
Nico grabbed me by the arms and spun me around.
"It'll be quick. It's basically on the way back. We'll go up, I'll break the record, and we'll have you back home before your mom's famous tater tot casserole comes out of the oven," Nico said.
He was asking me to do two things. One, go with him to the haunted mansion on 101 Wry Road. A place I had no intention of ever going no matter how cool some might say it was. And two, invite him over for dinner. He couldn't resist my mom's tater tot casserole. I didn't blame him. It was one of her best. And if I was being completely honest, the reason for my denial of joining him to the black house was more for food than fear.
All of the swinging, climbing, and swimming had sapped the energy from me. My stomach groaned at the thought. I was famished and couldn't wait to get home so I could shove that deliciousness down my throat and then go to sleep.
I hummed just thinking about it.
Nico jerked me back to the present.
"So you'll come?" he said more than asked.
I began to refuse.
"The others are coming too. Even Max," he added.
I looked over to the other boys as they walked behind.
"Max? You're joking. He'd never agree to something like that," I said.
Nico smiled.
"I can be pretty convincing," Nico said.
I rolled my eyes when he used that charming smile that always allowed him to get the extra scoop of ice cream at Herald's Creamery & Shaved Ice. Nico claimed it was because he was nice to the man who owned the place, but I argued it was because he had a crush on Nico.
Nico denied this but I knew he liked the thought. He wouldn't like it so much if that man ever decided to do something about his unhealthy affection toward Nico, but that's a story for another day.
"I'm not going," I said.
"You've got to! We're all going," Nico said.
"Not me. I'm going home to eat and go to sleep," I said.
I picked my bike off the ground where I had dropped it when I had first arrived and swung my leg over. I was about to pedal off when Nico blocked my departure.
"Look! Come with us
tonight and I'll never tell anyone about your accident in gym class," Nico said.
"You swore you'd keep that a secret," I said.
"And I will if you come with us tonight."
"You're the devil," I said.
He clapped his hands together and jumped like a cheerleader. Sometimes I wondered if he shouldn't be the one tumbling and flipping through the air. He seemed to have a natural knack for it.
He clasped me on the back and picked up his own bike.
"It'll be fun! We'll only be there for a moment, then we'll go back to your place," he said.
I sighed.
I fell in line behind the others as we raced toward the house on the hill.
