Detarru Island_The Gates of Hell

by Mickey Deymon

Note to self: Do Not Mess with Larry.

  I just realized that I need one more guy to add to this picture and I could actually describe the seven dwarfs from Snow White.

  Okay, lame joke.

  It’s not really funny because I was actually the 6th dwarf looking thing. I was the guy who’s mostly scared of everything. Too bad Snow White was not around.

  WRONG AGAIN.

  As we all left the baseball field and headed out to the main street, we all shook hands and scheduled another game for the next day. As I walked away, I saw a cheerleading squad doing whatever cheerleaders do. There were a few guys there too. They wore these varsity letter jackets in black and gray.

  Football players!

  I guess there was a football team after all. Man was I glad to know that. I made it to the intersection to get back on Sunnyside Street. I looked back at the team and at the cheerleaders, and something made me gasp.

  No, seriously, I actually gasped.

  The cheerleading captain was really beautiful. She had long brown hair up in a ponytail and had a nice looking body, extremely curvaceous.

  Wearing that cheerleading uniform made her look even more gorgeous.

  I don’t want to sound like a pervert but she was hot. I would totally kill just to know her name. I couldn’t take my eyes off her. She was perfect.

  One of the baseball players sneaked up behind me.

  “That’s Kate.”

  I spun around and suddenly my skin crawled when I came face to face with Larry.

  Grumpy Larry.

  Gulp.

  I tried gulping again but my throat felt so dry like sandpaper.

  “Who?” That was the only thing that came out of my mouth.

  “Kate Anderson. That’s her name.” He continued pointing at the cheerleading captain.

  “Oh? Umm, that’s nice.” I stammered, trying to sound completely normal but I was really making a joke of myself and Larry knew it. I saw it in his eyes, his cold blue eyes. He kept sizing me up as if trying to figure me out. Sort of like psychics do when they try to read your mind or maybe he wanted to bully me now.

  Whatever it was, it was creeping me out. If running home scared was an option, this was the perfect opportunity. I tried making up a story. I wanted to say it in a way that wouldn’t tick this guy off, so I spoke fast enough for him to understand but not so slow, so it wouldn’t make me sound like a retard.

  “Umm, I…got to go home now. Very imp—”

  “Erick right?” He cut me off.

  “Uh, yeah?”

  “You’re the new kid that moved next to my house. Sunnyside Street, right?”

  “You live next to me?” I asked, surprised. My knees locked. My heart started racing kind of fast too.

  “Uh huh. I saw you moving in about a month ago. Feels good to have someone new in town. Now I’ll have a new buddy to hangout with all day. You did good today, by the way.”

  I was still trying to register what he just said about 50 thousand times in a few nanoseconds, but I only pictured Larry bullying me while I slept, sneaking in my room, breaking my window with a baseball bat, taking over my things and eating my dinner. I wanted to scream my lungs out.

  I finally got a grip on myself and looked straight into his eyes and said, “I’m sorry. Come again?”

  He took a few steps closer and lifted an eyebrow in confusion. “Are you okay, dude? Kate got your tongue?” he snickered.

  I tried to fake laugh at his joke in total dismay.

  “Are you planning to walk home?”

  “Yeah, pretty much,” I said quickly.

  “I’ll give you a ride home. I have a car. It’s pretty fast!” he said with excitement. That was actually the first time I saw some type of emotion coming from this guy.

  “Our houses are like a block away,” I said.

  “I know,” he chuckled.

  I didn’t know if it was coming from the evil within or he was just laughing because he likes living a block away thing.

  “I usually take the long way home, that way I can enjoy the ride a bit longer,” he explained.

  “Well at least gas money is the least of your worries,” I said with a touch of sarcasm.

  I really wanted to get home. It was getting late and I was exhausted.

  “Look, Grump—I mean, uh, Larry?”

  YIKES!

  I almost committed suicide. I had to stop calling this guy Grumpy or it would totally bite me in the butt one day.

  “Thanks for everything, really. I appreciate the ride but I really have to get home. Maybe you can show me around the neighborhood tomorrow,” I said recovering from an

  ALMOST GOT PUNCHED IN THE THROAT MOMENT.

  “Sounds good,” he replied.

  I gave him a salute gesture. He nodded. I started walking away when he called out to me and said, “You should join the team when school starts next month. You are pretty good!”

  I turned my head and smiled.

  “I’ll think about it”

  Home

  It felt good to be home at last. My parents were out for the night, so I was home alone. I was so tired, my arms and legs felt like jelly. I didn’t have any strength left for the night. As soon as I came in through that front door, I went straight into the kitchen and headed to the fridge. I made myself a gigantic ham and cheese sandwich, with lettuce and tomatoes. It was delicious!

  Usually after a game like that, I would order Domino’s pizza with my father and his friends and we would have a feast but I was starving this time. The sandwich filled me up pretty well. When I finished my sandwich, I went upstairs and showered. That also felt good. It actually felt like I just unloaded a building off my back. I wanted to stay in there all night. After showering, I put on my pajamas and went to bed.

  Little by little, I was dozing off to dreamland. It was only 7 pm but I really didn’t mind, since my body ached from such excessive exercise. I must have gotten out of shape during the summer and now I was paying the price. Then, for no particular reason, I started to feel kind of funny. I don’t know what started it but I was beginning to feel anxious. I was nervous about something and I didn’t know why, until I thought about the research. I tossed and turned for about 30 minutes, just thinking about it and couldn’t sleep. I decided to get up and check my Facebook page.

  Yeah, believe it or not I did have Facebook friends at least. Well, about 100 friends. That’s a lot for me. Most of these people were my mom and dad’s acquaintances. The rest were a few old friends from Cali, who don’t even care about my existence.

  Sad, I know.

  Since my parents are constantly traveling due to their careers, I barely get the chance to make friends much. Not to mention, my mother is so concerned about my wellbeing for some crazy reason that she does not want me to be out of her sight. She even had me homeschooled most of my life and it wasn’t until this year that she decided it was time for me to socialize with other kids my age.

  Thank God!

  I sat at my desk and turned on my computer. I was scrolling through my feed and something caught my attention. A picture of my grandfather had just recently been posted by my grandmother. I looked at the picture carefully and again felt this sadness in my heart, this feeling of grief and sorrow.

  How I missed that guy.

  Losing him had been very tough for me and my family. I couldn’t look at the picture any longer, so I decided to shut down the monitor.

  When I did…

  HOLY CRAP!

  I don’t know what I saw but it made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I swear I saw these red glowing eyes outside my window. It was so quick, I stood up and looked outside my window but there was nothing there.

  It was gone.

  Whatever it was, it scared the living Jesus out of me. I must have been hallucinating
. I was probably too tired and my mind was playing tricks or I was going nuts. I took a deep breath and as I got myself together, I went back to bed. I don’t know what happened after that because I fell asleep till morning.

  Chapter 3

  Morning

  It was a bright sunny day on Sunnyside Street. There was a calming breeze coming from my window and it felt very soothing. I opened my eyes and looked at the time.

  It was 8:38 am.

  I’m usually not a morning person but today, I felt energized. I got out of bed and started doing my usual morning pushups.

  YEEAWW!

  Bad idea. That sure hurt. My body felt sore as if I ran into a truck.

  Correction.

  Like I was pushed off a moving truck and ran over by a train.

  Not like I’ve ever been pushed off a truck and ran over by a train but you get the picture.

  Someone knocked on my door.

  “Come in,” I said while doing one last push up.

  “Morning, Erick.” It was my mother.

  “Morning, Mom,” I said smiling. I stood up quickly. I shouldn’t have done that.

  GOOD LORD!

  That hurt even more.

  “I see you managed to put everything away before we did,” she said, looking around with a smile.

  “Please let this be our last move.”

  “I promise.” She laughed, then got serious and looked down for a moment.

  “What is it, Mom?”

  “I was worried about you.”

  “Why?”

  “I called your cell phone yesterday and left you voicemails.”

  “You did? I never got ‘em,” I said looking through my phone for any recent calls. I never heard the phone ring the day before. I guess I didn’t have services by the school.

  “Where were you, hun? I came home immediately thinking something might have happened to you but when I got home, I saw you went to bed early. Are you feeling alright? Is everything okay?”

  “I was just a little tired that’s all. How did it go at the GBI?” I said, hiding the pain.

  “Well, I sat with my boss and I had a hard time convincing him but I told him, if we find what we’re looking for, I will personally use the company’s name as sponsors.

  He looked pretty convinced after that.” She walked towards my bed and sat.

  “Breakfast is ready by the way. Would you like for me to bring it to you?”

  I can’t begin telling you how amazing my mother is. As overly protective as she is, she’s still my mother. As she sat there, I only saw a guardian angel.

  “It’s all right. I’ll be downstairs in a minute. Don’t worry so much.”

  “So, where were you yesterday?” she asked again.

  I was trying to avoid the question but since she asked, I had no other choice but to tell her the truth.

  Kind of.

  “I went out, uh…figured it would be a great idea to try to find my way around my new school. You know, since school starts next month,” I stammered.

  “What did you do?” she asked persistently. I guess that wasn’t a good enough answer for her.

  Swell.

  I guess I’ll have to tell her everything.

  Kind of.

  “Met some new friends at the school and we had a baseball game.”

  “Erick? When you play games without an adult to watch over you, you can get—”

  “Mom? I’m not a little kid anymore” I glanced at her annoyed.

  She must have sensed I was getting upset, so she stood up and slowly walked to the door. I must have hurt her feelings. As I watched her leave, I felt bad.

  Like I said before, she only wants what’s best for me, so I called out to her.

  “I’m sorry, Mom, I just feel like I need to breathe once in a while. I might be just a little kid to you but I’m 16 years old now. I think I’m old enough to know how to take care of myself by now.”

  With those words, my mom burst into tears. Great, Now I made things worse.

  I only tried to explain my reasons for reacting, but now, I also made her cry.

  Way to go, Erick. You moron.

  “Fair enough,” she finally said.

  HUH?

  She turned around. I saw tears. She looked at me with these eyes of concern I’d never seen before.

  “I know how you feel. I understand you more than you think I do. It’s my fault you have not been able to socialize with your friends and enjoy your childhood years. I’m also responsible for not letting you make your own decisions either. You must forgive me Erick, but it is my duty to keep you safe.”

  She turned and left the room. For the first time she opened up to me. I felt a lot better knowing that we could both understand each other now.

  I showered and went to get breakfast. As soon as I got downstairs and went into the kitchen, I saw my dad sitting at the kitchen table reading the daily news.

  “Yo, wut up.”

  “Yo!” he said while putting down the newspaper and taking a sip of his coffee. I sat across from him. There were pancakes and some scrambled eggs waiting for me at the table. I don’t know what had gotten into me but I guess exercising opens up your appetite.

  Like big time.

  I devoured the thing in seconds. When I finished, I turned to my dad who was staring at me. I shrugged and looked at his half-finished plate and asked, “Are you gonna eat that?”

  He looked at my plate and then at me again. He chuckled. “What happened to you, dawg?”

  “You don’t wanna know. Long story.”

  “Try me,” he said, still laughing.

  “I met a few guys yesterday at my school. They were playing a game and I joined.”

  “You made friends! That’s great! And then what happened?” he asked. I took a mouthful of my dad’s pancake, chewed for a second, then before I said anything, I looked around making sure my mom wasn’t listening.

  “There was this girl.”

  “A girl?” he said out loud.

  “Shhhh,” I motioned for him to be quiet. “Her name is Kate Anderson.”

  “Well?” he said impatiently.

  “She’s gorgeous,” I said. “The only thing is, she doesn’t know me yet.”

  LOSER.

  Of course, my dad was not going to call me that but I knew he was thinking it, by the way he kept staring.

  “I’m guessing you saw her from afar and then there it is! Love at first sight. Am I right? He finally said, trying to understand.

  “That’s it, I guess.”

  “So what are you waiting for? Go talk to her. Take her out on a date or something,” he encouraged.

  “Soon,” I said. “I think I might be heading back there again today, after mom goes to work that is.”

  “Right,” he agreed.

  “So? How’s everything coming along?” I asked, still whispering.

  “All we need is the money. I have a business proposal this morning with GBI. I sure hope they like it."

  "Good luck,” I said. He nodded.

  I paused. for a moment. “Can I ask you something?”

  “Shoot.”

  “It’s totally off topic but do you know why Mom is the way she is with me?”

  “What about her”

  “You know, overprotective?”

  “Oh, that.”

  “Oh what?” I asked.

  My father was about to answer but he heard footsteps so he held his thoughts and continued reading the newspaper.

  “Jack? Let’s go. We’re late,” Mom said. She came to the kitchen table and gave me a goodbye kiss on the cheek. My dad stood up and patted me on the back as he walked towards the door with her.

  Mom was the first one to walk out and soon after she did, Dad imm
ediately turned to me and whispered, “Go get that Kate chick!” He gave me a sly smile and left.

  Isn’t he the coolest dad or what?

  I was so ready to meet Kate. I was hoping she was at school today. I finished my plate, put on my sweater and headed out the door. When I opened it, I almost screamed like a girl.

  What would you do if you opened your front door and there’s a guy like Grumpy, standing there like some kind of FREAK?

  “Larry? What the heck are you doing on my porch?” I said while placing my hand on my chest. I felt like my heart was going to rip right through me.

  “Nothing, just stopped by to say hello,” he answered. “Besides, you did say you wanted me to show you around the neighborhood today. So here I am!”

  “You could’ve knocked you know?” I said while letting him know this was a ‘DUH’ situation.

  “Yes I know that, genius, but your parents were right outside, so I waited and there you go. Surprise!” He just stood there with his arms crossed behind his back, feet apart, like some kind of commando dude. Now I was frustrated, so I tried blowing him off.

  “Not today Buddy. I’ve got to—”

  “Check out Kate?” he finished, as if he knew all along where I was going, and he did, but I wasn’t going to admit it.

  “Umm, no. I was going to look for…a…store.” I stammered trying to make something up.

  “A store?” Suddenly he got serious. My frustration was gone. Now I started to panic. I thought he might choke me to death.

  “Yeah, a store, uh, you know the ones you go and buy stuff at?”

  “Erick? If you didn’t want to hangout with me, you could’ve just said so.” He turned and started walking away. I guess I must have over done it. The guy was only trying to be friendly, and here I was, complaining I don’t have any friends.

  Way to go, Erick.

  Oh well. I guess my Kate will have to wait for another day. I tried catching up to him.

  “Hey big guy?” I called out behind him. He stopped and slowly turned to look at me.

  “Listen, I guess I started off the wrong way and my anxiety gets the best of me at times, that’s all. You were right. I really wanted to see Kate.”

  He giggled. “Then hop in my ride, dude. I’ll introduce ya!”

  I had to smile. Did he really say he’d introduce me to Kate Anderson? I was so looking forward to it. I guess Larry wasn’t such a bad guy after all. I followed him to his car and it was wicked.