by Nathan Jay
“Hurry up, Michael. We don’t have all day.”
Michael stuck up his middle finger at Wilson and grabbed his favorite bag of candy and soda. As the two boys headed to the register, Wilson froze. Standing in front of the counter was the boy from his class, Jared.
“Bro, why are you stopping? Aren’t you going to pay for our stuff?” asked Michael while opening his bag of candy. But Wilson could do nothing but stare. He remembered what the news said about the accident. Jared killed someone. Slowly, Wilson walked up to the counter to pay for his items.
“Old Ghost Eye. What’s a scrub like you doing out?” asked Jared as he smirked at Wilson.
“What do you think I’m doing?” replied Wilson while waiting his turn.
“How’s that peeper? Are you still seeing wild shit?”
Michael stepped from behind Wilson and looked at the plump teenager.
“Who the fuck’s this lard ass?” he asked. Wilson smiled. He knew Michael would hear the conversation and jump in. Michael had a bad temper. Meanwhile, Tristan and Sean stood in the back of the line and snickered at Michael’s comment. Jared frowned at the two boys and turned his attention to Michael.
“Are you the pirate’s wife or little brother? I can’t tell the difference,” Jared replied.
“You’d better watch your mouth before I knock your teeth out,” growled Wilson. He was just as protective of Michael as his little brother was of him.
“Hey, it’s not my fault your psycho eyeball is making your whole family nuts.”
Wilson moved close to Jared and grabbed his arm. He lowered his voice and whispered.
“I know it was you, fat boy. You killed those people over on Jonesborough. Don’t think I won’t go to the cops about it.”
“Hey…I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You do know, fat boy. And if you fuck with me, I’ll tell the world what I saw.”
“You’re crazy, man. Let go of my arm.”
The group of boys watched in astonishment as Jared started trembling in fear. Suddenly, he dropped his bag of candy on the floor and took off running out of the store. Michael stared at his brother with his mouth open.
“Dude! What did you say to him?”
Wilson ignored the question and rushed to pay for his candy.
“Hey Sean and Tristan, we’ll catch up with you guys later.”
Wilson grabbed Michael’s arm, and they rushed out the door. He looked down the road and saw Jared pedaling away on his bike. Wilson turned to Michael.
“Go home and wait for me to come back.”
“Where are you going?”
“I’m going to check on Fat Boy. I think he’s up to something.”
“No, man. We shouldn’t be splitting up.”
“Ride back with Tristan and Sean if you want to.”
“What if mom asks where you are?”
“I don’t know. Just tell mom I stopped to get a nail out of my bicycle tire.”
“How long are you going to be?”
“Ten minutes, maybe shorter.”
Wilson sped out of the parking lot behind Jared. He didn’t know how he was going to do it, but he had to stop him.
Jared rode on for several minutes before turning on Rosemary lane. He cut between two houses and rode rudely across one of the resident’s yard.
“Hey, you little shit! Get off my lawn!” screamed an elderly man.
“Get fucked!” Jared replied and sped on. As he sped on, Wilson too cut through the man’s yard. The man was going back into the house, so the man didn’t see Wilson do it. Jared sped on until he reached a steep hill. Jared stopped and looked around. His eyes lit up when he saw Wilson.
“You following me, Black Beard? You’re too chick shit to go down this hill.”
Wilson continued pedaling ahead as Jared descended. Wilson paused. Jared wasn’t lying. He was terrified to go down after the boy. Finally, after Jared reached the bottom, Wilson took a deep breath and began to roll down the hill. The ride was bumpier than he expected. Wilson’s handlebars shook as the bike accelerated. He pressed the brakes intermittently to try to slow himself, but he was still going down the hill faster than he liked. Jared stopped at the bottom of the hill with his arms folded.
“I’ve got to see this idiot crash,” he shouted. “Go ahead, you one-eyed idiot! Crash!”
Wilson maintained his control and focused. As he reached the bottom of the hill, Jared climbed on his bike and took off pedaling.
“Lucky fuck!” he yelled.
As Wilson slowed his bike, he felt something hit him in his face. Like a reflex, both hands went to his eye, forgetting he was supposed to be steering the bike. Wilson flew over the handlebars and tumbled into the grass. When he finally stopped rolling, he stood up and looked around. The sun was gone. Confused and blinking furiously, Wilson wiped at his eye, trying to correct his vision. After a few moments, he realized that the issue wasn’t his eyes. The sun was gone. Everything was as dark as midnight. He could see Jared riding ahead of him onto the railroad tracks. Suddenly the boy stopped pedaling.
“What the fuck?” Jared asked. “Am I imagining this?”
He dropped his bike onto the railroad tracks and looked around.
Wilson remained calm. A warm feeling moved through his chest like a sip of hot chocolate. His face felt bubbly around his eye like someone had poured soda onto his skull. He began to sense things all around him; he heard crickets singing and various insects buzzing as they flew around him.
“What’s happening to me?” Wilson whispered. He took in a deep break and exhaled. The air tasted sweet as it filled his lungs. Gently, he took a small step; the ground felt like a soft mattress under his feet. Wilson looked around and realized his vision had changed. Now he could see things with such clarity that it scared him. He could see the approaching train that was so far away that it hadn’t sounded its horn yet.
“How am I able to see that far?” Wilson whispered.
Finally, his eyes fell on Jared.
“Are you seeing this?” Jared yelled to Wilson.
Something struck Wilson like a bolt of electricity. He remembered what Jared had told him when they were in class. He remembered the carnage on the news. There was evil in Jared, and he was the only person that knew what his intentions were.
“I know what you did, Jared. I know who you killed.”
Jared’s eyes widened.
“Hey! Shut up!”
Wilson continued revealing what he knew.
“I even know the person you killed.”
“I said shut up, you fucking freak!”
“Devon is the kid’s name.”
Jared was startled.
“Wait. How do you…”
“I know you hate your mom too. You’re going to put rat poison in her drink.”
“How do you know that?”
“I know it all, Jared. You’re not going to get away with this.”
Jared grabbed his bike and hopped on.
“Stay away from me, you freak!”
Suddenly the sound of the train’s horn blared, and both boys turned to look. Jared began pedaling his bike towards the track to cross over. Without thinking, Wilson waved his arm in the air. The bicycle went flying into the bushes while Jared landed squarely on the railroad tracks.
“Ahhhhh!” he screamed as the train became visible at the other end of the field.
“Hey! You gotta help me!” Jared begged. “I can’t move my legs.”
Wilson barely heard the boy’s words. The whole world was a whisper to him, and he could only see the horrible things that Jared planned to do. His arm remained extended as his fingers formed an open claw.
“Wilson! Help me! I’m stuck!”
After realizing that the boy wouldn’t help him, Jared crawled along the tracks until he was off. He attempted to stand up but fell hopelessly to the ground.
“What’s happening?” Jared cried out. The more the boy tried to free himself, the tighte
r Wilson squeezed his hand.
“I know what you’re going to do,” Wilson whispered. He was unaware that he was holding the boy in place for the train. Jared’s eyes widened as the train drew closer.
“Mommy!” he screamed. But the only person that could hear him was Wilson.
Just as the train was about to smash into Jared’s body, Wilson jerked his arm back. The boy’s body slid off the tracks, but his legs remained.
“Ahhhhh!”
Jared screamed out in agony as the train severed his legs from his body. The scream brought Wilson back to reality. He looked for Jared lying on the track, but the train was too long, and it blocked his vision. Wilson grabbed his bike, climbed up the hill, and went home.
Chapter 6: Mom’s Secret
The rumble of thunder raised Wilson from his sleep, and he sat up in his bed to look around the room. Although he could hear Michael snoring through the noise of the thunderstorm, the flashes of lightning gave his bedroom an eerie glow that made him afraid. He laid back down and tried to return to sleep. Wilson kept seeing Jared lying on the railroad tracks, begging for help. The boy’s screams kept echoing through his dreams. Something happened to Wilson, and he wasn’t sure what to make of it. There was a certain amount of satisfaction in seeing a “big mouth” suffer, but no one deserved what Jared got. For a moment, Wilson wiggled his toes and tried to imagine what life would be like if he didn’t have legs. Frustrated with his imagination and the guilt he felt, he closed his eyes and tried to sleep again.
The rolling sound of the thunderstorm denied his attempts, and once again, he sat up in bed staring into the darkness. After a few moments, Wilson noticed a soft light shining underneath his bedroom door. Wilson climbed out of bed, inched open his bedroom door, and walked down the hall. The light came from the den, which meant either his mother or father was there watching tv. After stopping for a drink of water in the kitchen, he decided he’d see who it was.
As he got closer to the den, he noticed that the door wasn’t completely closed. He could see his mom dozing off on the sofa while her favorite news show played on the television. Wilson paused to listen to the news correspondent. The police still hadn’t found a cause for the accident, but Wilson knew the outcome. Slowly, he pushed the door open.
Suddenly his eye began to itch. Remembering the white worm crawling across his eyeball, Wilson rubbed it lightly. Then his eye started itching so much that he rubbed it again – hard. As soon as he touched the door, he began to see orange embers of fire floating around the room. As if sensing his presence, his mother stood and turned to face him. Her hair burst into flame, sending billows of smoke towards the ceiling.
“My son,” Julia said, unaware of the flame at the top of her head. A white dot began glowing in the center of her forehead. Just as Wilson had witnessed in school, a white laser began burning in a straight line down the center of his mother’s face and neck. Soon both sides of her face stretched the skin like rubber but remained connected.
“Why are you here? I never wanted you! Never!” her demonic voice yelled. “I can’t wait to leave the three of you! I wish you all would die!”
Wilson’s eyes filled with tears, and he began backing away. The evil monster that was his mother continued.
“Your father isn’t the only man in my life. The neighbor living on the edge of our block is my lover,” she said with a cold, detached look on her face. Wilson’s eyes widened, and he began sobbing. His mother took another step in his direction.
“Yes. Richard McConnell has been my lover for years. Michael is only half your brother. Richard is his father.”
Tears began flowing down Wilson’s face. He wanted to say something, but he couldn’t. His mouth didn’t know how to speak the words. Still, his mother moved closer.
“You had a sister, but I didn’t want her. I had an abortion.”
The smell of the burned hair began to choke Wilson, and he coughed; the sound echoed in the house as if he were in a dream.
“This summer, I will abandon you. Richard and I will go to London, and you will never see me again! I want the three of you out of my life!”
Suddenly, Julia’s face burst into a bluish flame. Like wax, all the skin melted off her face revealing a skull. She reached out to touch Wilson, and he jumped. There was a loud popping sound and a flash of white light. Suddenly he was standing in the middle of the den with his mother holding his arm.
“Wilson! You okay?” his mother asked. Wilson looked confused.
“I’m…okay…I think.”
“Are you sure? You were standing there for a little while without moving.”
“I’m okay, mom. I just came to see why the television was on. I’m fine.”
“Are you sure? How’s your eye?”
“It’s fine, mom. Really.”
“Okay. I’m going to bed now.”
Julia tried to touch her son’s face, but he moved away. Wilson was still trying to process what his mom had told him. Was he hallucinating? Did his mother abort his unborn sister? And what about his brother? He and Michael were only half-brothers? Wilson’s head was spinning.
“Goodnight, mom,” he said before turning and walking quickly back to his bedroom.
“Goodnight, baby. See you tomorrow,” his mom responded.
Wilson went into his bedroom and laid down on his bed. The images of his mother were so vivid in his mind that he couldn’t sleep. He looked over at his brother, fast asleep in the bed beside him. Wilson raised the covers over his head and began to cry. What if what he had seen was true? Did he and his brother have different fathers? Wilson started thinking about all the Thanksgiving celebrations and Christmases his family had shared. The numerous summers they spent playing in the fields at his grandmother’s house. Was it all a lie? He began to comb through all the times his mother spent on her phone, all the separate business trips she had away from them, what she did on her days off when she was at home alone. His mother had fooled them all. And she would leave them by the end of the summer. She’d rip apart the world of her family just to be selfish with the jerk down the street.
By the time the sun came up, Wilson’s eyelids were heavy. Two more days and he and his brother would be going back down South. He had to do something to change the trajectory of the approaching events. Wilson climbed out of bed and went into the bathroom to take a shower. When he finished, he brushed his teeth and got dressed. Before anyone else had awakened, he quietly opened the front door and walked onto the porch. Wilson stood at the edge of his front yard, looking down the street. As soon as he spotted his target, he began his walk towards the man that wanted to destroy his family.
Chapter 7: Family Defense
“Wilson! How’s it going? You’re out for an early walk this morning?”
The athletic middle-aged man dressed in a terrycloth robe bent over in his driveway to pick up his morning newspaper.
“I’m fine, Mr. McConnell. Thanks,” replied Wilson as he walked close to the man’s driveway. He couldn’t believe his mother chose Richard to have an affair. He reminded Wilson of one of those men that fought old age by wearing teenaged clothing and blaring hip hop music.
“What a loser,” Wilson whispered underneath his breath. The man flashed a smile and untangled his lawn sprinkler.
“I heard you guys are going to your Grandmother’s again this summer. Summer’s a nice time to travel, isn’t it?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, you and your brother are lucky. Adults are stuck working year-round in jobs they hate. Kids have it so good. I’d give anything to have the summer off. You guys are heading down South to see your Grandmother again, am I right?”
“How do you know that?”
Wilson looked at the man suspiciously. There was only one way the man could’ve known where he and his brother were going for the summer – his mother.
“Oh, word gets around this neighborhood.”
Wilson started to feel the anger boiling inside him
. Who did Mr. McConnell think he was? He was smiling at Wilson like Wilson didn’t know anything about the plans he had with his mother, things that would destroy their family forever.
“How’s that eye feeling?” Richard asked as he walked to the edge of the lawn. Wilson couldn’t control his anger anymore.
“Richard, have you ever been inside our house?” Wilson asked. There was no time for niceties with this homewrecker. The man looked curiously at Wilson.
“Mr. McConnell is fine. Thank you.”
Wilson ignored the correction and repeated the question.
“Have you been to our house, Richard?”
Mr. McConnell looked startled, and after seeing the seriousness in Wilson’s face, the man was genuinely confused.
“What do you mean?”
“Have you visited our house?”
The man paused before answering.
“You know what? I think I went into that house when they were building it a few years back. Beautiful architecture. I wish I would’ve chosen that spot before your parents snatched it off the market.”
“That’s not what I mean. Have you been in the house recently?”
“Hey, Wilson. I don’t know what…”
“You’ve been in our house. I know you have.”
“I think you’re confused. Maybe you should…”
“You’ve visited several times when my Dad was working. You went in to visit my mother and the two of you…”
Richard’s face turned bright red. Wilson could tell he made the man angry.
“Look! Is this a joke or something? You’d better get out of here before I…”
At that moment, the man’s front door opened. A woman with large rollers in her hair stuck her head out the door and yelled.
“Richard! Your boss is on the phone!”
“Okay, I’ll be right in.”
The man turned back to Wilson and whispered.
“Look. I understand you haven’t been feeling well lately, but that’s no reason to go around insinuating things. Go home, Wilson. Go home before I call your folks.”
