Trapped with a Way Out

by Jeffery Martinez

  "Did you go dumpster diving or something, Vincent…because, God, she's right. You're filthy…"

  "I do not have a hobby of rummaging around in dumpsters, fat ass."

  William, who was still gawking, sputtered at the name and looked to her brother to see if he would be angry. To her amazement, Rodriguez didn't seem to notice, though Richard's voice came from another part of the house as she headed for the dining room.

  "Leroy. Can you get him a change of clothes and throw what he's wearing in the washing machine? William can set the table. Then, you need to make sure he eats some meat. I'll wash his mouth out with a bar of soup later."

  Rodriguez eagerly dropped his collection of utensils on the nearest countertop, ignoring the indignant huff William gave him and the frown on Vincent's face. He grabbed the dirty sweatshirt, and then let go and decided to just tell Vincent to follow him as he brushed off the dirt that now marked his hands.

  When they reached the carpeted stairs, Rodriguez noticed when Vincent stopped to take off his shoes and socks, both of which had a generous layer of dirt that could be rubbed off by the shaggy carpet. Vincent left his socks tucked into his shoes on the tiles and then ascended the stairs to go to Rodriguez's room.

  He probably should have taken a shower first, thought the teen as he pulled on a bluish-grey T-shirt. Remnants of dried blood crumbled from the gaps between his fingers so Vincent bent down to try and pick up the flakes so he could throw them away. Luckily, Rodriguez had left to put some of his clothes, along with Vincent's stuff, into the washing machine, so no one was able to watch the boy go into the neighboring bathroom and wash the persistent blood off his hands. Once they were white and clean, he went to the dining room and found that Rodriguez hadn't returned from doing the laundry yet. A huge box of pizza acted as the centerpiece of the table while the two blonde females sat with empty plates, waiting for the boys. William was chattering about what gifts she had bought today. The girl spotted Vincent and grinned at him and then her mother. "Vincent called me cute today."

  Richard looked at the boy, blinking at his puzzled frown.

  "No I didn't."

  William puckered her brow at him now. "Yes you did. Remember?"

  Rodriguez walked into the room with a smirk ready for his sister. "He said that you were 'too cutesy' to look like Mom." The boy encouraged Vincent to sit while William demanded to know what the difference was. Vincent sat with a nod, recalling the incident.

  "But you still think I'm cute." William asked him, uneager to lose the compliment.

  Vincent paused and then shrugged. "I guess… Cute like a…" William was beaming as the rest of her family watched Vincent lift his hands from his lap to show a round shape. "…like a fluffy little rat or something."

  Richard snorted and leaned her face over her armrest as she struggled not to laugh too enthusiastically…like her son. Rodriguez had gotten a kick out of what Vincent had said and he was loudly professing his agreement with his howling laughter, while William' face was red and she scowled at the pale boy who couldn't understand what he had done wrong.

  "Cute like a rat?" She growled at her plate.

  Vincent stared at her and then snapped at Rodriguez. "Shut up. What's wrong with rats when they're clean and fluffy? People have pet rats. I know a guy who has a few. They're kinda cute, and there's a blonde and white one that squeaks a lot, so she reminded me of your sister."

  William' face only got redder and she bit her lip and glowered at the boys sitting across from her while Rodriguez laughed at her face. "Oh, be quiet Andy-Alex!"

  That shut Rodriguez up and his head refused to turn to see the red stare. He cleared his throat and folded his hands. "Time for grace? I know I'm pretty hungry…"

  Rodriguez sighed when Vincent didn't comment on the nickname and they were able to say grace and then distribute the veggie, sausage, pepperoni pizza. Rodriguez took three while Vincent took two, and William and her mother took one each.

  When Rodriguez was pouring himself a glass of cranberry juice, Vincent smiled. "Can I have the juice after you, Andy-Alex?"

  William giggled triumphantly at her brother's hiss and Rodriguez glared at Vincent. "If you call me that I'm going to pour all of this on your head, runt." He continued to pour the juice.

  "No you won't, Alex." Richard held out her empty glass with her own glare. "I intend on drinking some of the cranberry juice I paid for." Rodriguez, shame faced, poured her drink and then gave the container to Vincent while Richard nodded. "Good boy, Leroy, you do know your manners."

  Vincent snickered with William while Rodriguez filled his mouth with pizza. Taking time to think while he chewed, he grinned when he swallowed. "So William looks like a cute little rat?"

  Thus reminded, William glared at her brother and then Vincent. She pointed her crust at the red eyes. "You don't have a girlfriend, do you?"

  Vincent's face was blank when the attention turned to him. He lifted a piece of pizza. "No." He took a bite, trying not to show the relief his stomach felt, on his face. He took another bite before he had swallowed, but William was ignorant of his empty stomach as she dwelled on his rat comment.

  "You'll never get a girlfriend if you say they remind you of squeaky rats."

  "But everyone says it's a cute rat." Vincent was halfway through his pizza and rarely looked up at the blonde girl.

  William flushed. "That doesn't matter! No one wants to look like a rat!" She turned on her mother, searching for an ally. "Mom, would you want to look like a rat?"

  The woman didn't make eye contact with her daughter as she smiled to herself. "That depends on how cute the rat is."

  Deflating, the girl slumped into her chair and nibbled on her pizza. Her eyes flicked to Vincent, watching him begin his second pizza. "Who told you rats are cute?"

  This time Vincent looked up. "Jack-bean."

  "Oh." William' eyes widened as Rodriguez paused, reminded of the giant. Richard stopped eating as well, pondering the odd name. She looked at Vincent, laying her wrists on the side of the table, waiting for an explanation. William cocked her head thoughtfully. "Well, to a guy like that, I guess rats would be cute. They'd be like little mice in his hands."

  Rodriguez snorted in humor while Vincent simply nodded and went back to eating. Richard waited for a moment and then asked her question. "Who is Jack-bean? Why do you…" She looked at her children. "…know him? He…is a person…right?"

  "Jack-bean's a giant Vincent has befriended." Rodriguez offered, having mixed feelings about Jake. He didn't mention them as he ate.

  "A giant?" Richard blinked and directed her eyes to Vincent who looked up in mid-bite. She let the boy chew and swallow before asking more about the mysterious giant. She was a bit cautious…about allowing her children to mix with the crowd Vincent was acquainted with.

  "He's a friend of mine." Vincent explained.

  Alright, Richard thought. That doesn't make me feel any better, Vincentimir. "Is Jack-bean a nice boy, then?" She asked politely, not wanting to expose her inner thoughts.

  William and Rodriguez glanced at one another and then watched Vincent smile awkwardly and nod. "I guess so…though…he's not exactly what you can call a boy." Richard blinked. "He's almost seven feet tall."

  The woman eyes fluttered, replacing a flinch, and she stared at the red eyes that were ignorant of the problem containing a probable juvenile of that…size. Now that she thought about it, she only knew a few shady characters that were that tall. "And his name is Jack-bean because he's like a giant?"

  "No. We make a point of saying that Jack is the human. He doesn't like being thought of as a giant…and Jack is just similar to Jake, so…." Vincent stopped when he saw the woman's eyes grow and her body stiffen significantly. Rodriguez and William were as alarmed as Vincent when they saw this response in the woman.

  Richard's eyes narrowed and her jaw clenched for a moment, watching Vincent's surprise. "Is he a big…young man, about 24 or 25, dark brown hair and a…medium complexion?" />
  Vincent watched the woman, wary now of her profession. "He's 23, Chief, but yeah…that sounds like Jake."

  Richard took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of her nose with one hand while the other clenched into a fist. She folded her hands on the table and glared at Vincent, bringing out inherent hostility from the boy. "Vincentimir…you're a good kid and we like you. I…approve of you." This caused Vincent's lips to dip into a frown. "But, I do not want you introducing…strangers to my children. They might be good, nice people, but I like to know…."

  "Is this about the car theft thing?" Vincent cut in bluntly. Richard didn't respond, but her look told Vincent that it was. The red eyes closed with disappointment. "The reason why he was arrested and then released is because he didn't do it. He was framed." Red and blue watched one another, and eventually Vincent looked at the table with a sigh. "Jake's a part time mechanic and some guy didn't want to pay what he owed, so he thought that he would get out of the bill if he got Jake into trouble…and he was right for the most part. Only paid half price while Jake got locked up for three weeks for no reason…getting out when the charges were dropped."

  Richard nodded slightly at this, but didn't lessen her eyes. "But he does have a record, Vincentimir. Petty theft, violence, assault with and without a deadly weapon."

  Everything's a freaken deadly weapon…hell, even a freaking toilet if you swing it around. Vincent didn't look at her, but he shrugged, slouching down in his seat and playing with the end of his borrowed shirt. "A lot of guys like to pick fights with him…trying to be tough or whatever."

  The woman shook her head now. "We had him tested, Vincentimir. A psychiatrist wanted to put him on mood stabilizers but he said that it was just a scam to take his money and he refused the prescription."

  Vincent had stopped playing with the shirt and his arms were crossed, gazing down at the tablecloth. "He's not crazy, Chief. He's fine…"

  "Medication doesn't mean he's crazy, Vincentimir. It just means he has an…illness, and needs the medicine to help control his behavior." She looked at the boy and regretted having introduced this topic because of the strain that had been created between them, but she knew that this was serious. If Jake was dangerous for her children to be around, he was dangerous for Vincent to be exposed to, as well. The fight came to mind, widening her eyes. She concealed this with a blink. Calmly, she questioned Vincent, cautioning the limits of his comfort zone. "Have you ever noticed any problems he might have with impulse control? Or problems with rage and anxiety? Varying moods?"

  Vincent bit his lip, aware of these characteristics within his friend. "Everybody gets moody." The boy mumbled, eyeing his pizza when his stomach gurgled for it. He wanted to sit up and eat, but he wasn't able to move with the three sets of eyes burning into him. He felt like he was on trial for murder or something. "There's nothing wrong with Jack-bean…and he's calmed down as he's gotten older, you know? More mature, or whatever. He's a pretty laid back guy, Chief. And he's my friend. I don't consider many people as being actual friends."

  Richard closed her eyes, loathe to do this, but she did it anyway as she opened her eyes and watched the boy's face. "Has he ever hit you? Or hurt you badly?" A twitch appeared in Vincent's features but he hid it with a scowl. The woman hissed through her teeth now, tiring of the game. "Vincentimir!" Vincent jolted. "Sit up and look at me when I'm talking to you! Has he hurt you or other people before? With or without intending to? Because maybe there is a way to get him some cheaper pill that might help…"

  Vincent cut her off with a wolfish snarl that shocked the woman into believing that the boy before her wasn't the one she knew. Her face hardened over but was opened by surprise as Vincent growled at her.

  "So he needs a pill? Because he's rough around the edges, eh? Well, the whole goddamn world is rough around the edges! Look at you!" He gestured at the woman, unnerving her as he strummed her temper. "The first time you met me you tried to arrest me! And what was I doing? Just walking around at night with my hands in my pockets! Are you paranoid? Do YOU need some goddamn pills, Chief? You forced my face into your counter top without considering why, if I was robbing you or whatever the hell you thought I was doing, I would be eating soup?" Richard was mute but her eyes narrowed and she almost protested when Vincent turned his hand to Rodriguez. "And what about your son? He's slammed my head into a tile floor! Twice! In succession! I was seeing fucking stars! Is he a violent, crazy, troubled teen? Does he need freaken medication?"

  No one spoke as Vincent sat up and directed both of his hands towards himself, never looking away from Richard as his eyes danced with a flickering light. "And what about me? Should I be medicated? I mean, I yelling like a flippin' insane person! I had to beat the shit out of some guy I've never seen before, today, and I didn't even want to! If I hadn't, he'd have beat the shit out of ME! Will you dope me up with so many drugs that I can't tell an ass from a face? Oh, but at least I won't be VIOLENT?"

  Vincent was glaring at the woman, instinctively baring his teeth at her, but after his final outburst, he heard the dead silence and instantly lost his anger and was overcome with shame and remorse. He ducked his head and glanced at Rodriguez whose expression made him cringe and cover his face with his hands, resting his elbows on the table. "I'm…sorry Chief…" His voice was weak and he swallowed, taking his hands away to look at the woman who had gained control of her features, removing the fear and pity she had worn moments ago. Vincent demeanor was sullen and drooped with sagging shoulders. "I'm just tired…and I shouldn't have yelled at you. You didn't say anything and you even gave me food and helped me out… And I… I'm sorry." It was quiet for a while as the atmosphere calmed with Vincent's regret. "I should just go home, Chief. I can walk, you know…it's not really too far. You or Rodriguez always drive me…but you don't need to."

  The woman sighed, glimpsing William' horrified expression for a moment. Afraid that Vincent would look at the girl, she made herself into her usual, gruff…self. "Don't be a fool, Vincentimir. You're still sick and you fainted barely over an hour ago. And I told you…" She watched Vincent as her children looked at her. "…we like you. Alright? Now eat your pizza, and you won't be excused until you've eaten three slices and the third one better be loaded with meat, boy. I don't permit fainting in my house."

  Vincent nodded and began to eat again, to make the woman happy. But he wouldn't lift up his head or look anyone in the eye. Slices of pizza moved to individual mouths and William reached for another slice and then gave one to Vincent as well. Rodriguez got another slice and bit into it as he observed the boy. His eyes caught on something red, speckled with black.

  "Hey, Vincent." He pointed at the teen's elbow, but Vincent didn't move. "I think you're bleeding."

  "No. It's not bleeding anymore."

  Richard took interest in this. "What are you talking about?" She looked at both of the boys while William did the same.

  "I just scraped my elbow, Chief, when the cops dropped me…I busted it up a bit. But it's not bad…and I heal fast…don't need a band aid or anything. It'll be scabbed over soon."

  "You should at least use disinfectant, Vincentimir, or wash it out."

  The boy's hair moved as he shook his head. "It didn't touch the ground…it was covered by my sweatshirt…the sleeve."

  Those at the table recalled the filthy article of clothing and wondered if touching it was the same as rubbing the wound in the ground. Richard told Rodriguez to show Vincent where the hydrogen peroxide was after dinner, and then changed her mind and told him to make the boy shower, and that would be enough. Rodriguez nodded as Vincent drank some of his cranberry juice. The pale hand paused and suddenly Vincent found that he had drained the glass in one sitting. He guessed he was thirsty…since his water had been turned off for a while. He asked Rodriguez for more juice and he filled his glass and drank most of it, somehow feeling that the juice was too syrupy…and that he would much rather have water. Richard caught on to this, taking a sharp breath.


  "Vincentimir…" She paused and looked at Rodriguez. "Would you like some water?"

  Vincent didn't say anything at first. He drank the last of the juice and then got up. "I'll get it. I know where the sink is."

  "No, we have a water dispenser on the refrigerator, and that water has been filtered so it's better for you."

  Vincent just nodded to the woman and left the dining room, disappearing down the hallway. The Rodriguezs looked at one another once he was gone. Rodriguez spoke in a low voice.

  "He fainted?"

  Richard watched her pizza. "I found him passed out on a roof… He climbed up the side of a building and, I've been told, that officers were waiting below to catch him…because he seemed like he was going to fall. He was shaking and his movements became sluggish near the top." When her children continued to watch her she explained that there had been a fight 'between two groups of delinquents', as had been reported, and Vincent was observed fleeing from the scene. One boy had been sent to the hospital, but there was nothing seriously wrong with him. Just some damage done by repeated blows to the back and shoulder, and come cuts on his face that needed to be cleaned out. She had finished and was drinking from her glass when Vincent returned. He sat in his chair and tried to eat his final piece of pizza. Once he got halfway, he couldn't take another bite. Rodriguez was done and ready to be excused as well, but he waited for his mother to let Vincent go.

  "There's only a little bit left, Vincentimir. You need to eat it even if you feel full. Your stomach has…shrunk because you never eat much in one sitting…like for someone with an eating disorder." She waited for Vincent to touch the slice again, but he didn't. She sighed. "Eat the pizza if you think you won't throw up."

  Vincent thought he would throw up so he left his chair and went with Rodriguez into the kitchen. He had filled up any space that might have been able to take in more pizza, with water, unfortunately. So he couldn't do as Richard asked. This bothered him as he watched Rodriguez rinse off their plates and put them in the dish washer.