Elliott

by I D Johnson

  She was sitting at the table with her feet propped up on a chair, her bulging stomach peeping out around the Formica tabletop, smoking a cigarette. “It’s about time you got home,” she said as he bent down to kiss her cheek. “Chicken is about done.”

  “Okay. I’ll get it out of the oven. Do you need me to do anything else?” He hadn’t even taken his suit jacket off yet, but he didn’t mind helping out his pregnant wife in the kitchen. He saw a pile of dishes, and it reminded him momentarily of another kitchen, in another small house, though this one was, by comparison, much cleaner, and for a second, he remembered struggling to reach the faucet to turn the water on in order to wash the dishes or make a bottle. That seemed like ages ago, but despite Nancy’s constant bickering about his ability to clean anything correctly or even boil water, he knew he’d learned a lot from that experience, more than he was willing to reflect on at the moment.

  After dinner, he spent a few hours on the floor playing with Wally while Nancy slept. He hoped she’d feel better after the second baby came at the end of the month, just in time for Thanksgiving, but something told him chasing two little children around the house was going to be even more exhausting. Of course, she got a lot of help from two eager grandmothers who, even though they’d never admit they were happy about the situation, were glad to have babies in their lives. Elliott didn’t spend too much time talking to Peggy, but he knew she visited his home often when he was at work so she could play with Wally.

  His son was asleep in his crib, and he was cleaning up the kitchen, exhausted from a long day, when the telephone rang. He rushed to reach it before it woke either his wife or the snoozing baby. “Hello?”

  “Hi, Elliott. It’s Mom,” Peggy’s voice said. “How are you?”

  “Oh, fair to middlin’ I suppose,” he said, trying to sound as awake as possible. He didn’t need for her to know that he was running out of gas. “How are you and Dad? How’s Jimmy?”

  “Well, Jimmy is actually the one I was calling to talk about.” Her voice sounded concerned, which in turn made Elliott’s stomach tighten. “I’m afraid he’s not doing so well these days. Something… happened… something I can’t quite explain. He won’t talk to me about it. Now, all he does is sit in his room or ride his bike out around the countryside by himself for hours.”

  “How do you know he’s by himself?” He wasn’t sure why that was his primary question, but it seemed like the easiest one to answer.

  “Neighbors, mostly. They see him. Down by the railroad tracks. Something is going on, Elliott, and since he refuses to talk to me about it, I thought…. I know you have a wife and a baby to take care of, but you’ve always been close to Jimmy. Do you think you could stop by and talk to him this weekend?”

  She was right—they had always been close, until recently. Actually, things had started to shift about the time that Reggie had died and Nancy had announced her pregnancy. At that point, Elliott had sort of stepped away from his previous family, pushed all memories of his lost friend aside, and focused on providing a home for his child and wife. He hadn’t talked to Jimmy about much of anything in a year or more. “I’ve got to work on Saturday, but I can come over after church on Sunday.” Nancy’s parents were very strict about her attending church, even if she no longer lived under their roof, though it clearly hadn’t done the job her deacon father had expected or else perhaps they wouldn’t be in this predicament, but he wanted to keep the in-laws happy, so he showed up bright and early every Sunday morning with a smile on his face, even when he was exhausted, like he was right now.

  “Sunday will be just fine. Thanks, Elliott. How’s Nancy?”

  “Sleeping at the moment,” he replied, glancing over his shoulder as if he were making sure she hadn’t gotten up and snuck in the kitchen. “I think she’ll be more than a little happy to have this baby out.”

  “Maybe you two should think about making sure there aren’t anymore.”

  While he knew it was none of his mother’s business, he simply said, “Maybe so.” There was no need to tell her Nancy would likely never touch him again with a ten-foot pole, unless he really laid on the persuasion tactics thick, and the more of an attitude she developed, the less likely he was to do that. He’d survived by himself for sixteen years, so he’d find a way to get through the day.

  “Sorry to be nosy,” Peggy said quietly. “You know, I just want what’s best for you.”

  “I know, Mom.” It was becoming harder and harder for him to use that word; the more he distanced himself from the farm, the more he slipped back into the reality that for most of his life he really had been on his own, in more ways than he was willing to acknowledge.

  “Okay, Son. You take care, and we’ll see you on Sunday.”

  The next few days flew by rather quickly, with Elliott selling an additional four cars and Peter swearing he was doing something to manipulate people, though he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. Elliott joked he was working with a gangster or the mafia, but Peter didn’t think it was funny.

  During the church service, the pastor preached on chastity, and his eyes lingered on Elliott more frequently than they should have, which he personally found a bit humorous since his damage was already done, and he was probably more chaste than most of the other teenagers in the room, but he knew the pastor was good friends with Deacon Farr, and pretty much the entire community was under the assumption Elliott had taken advantage of sweet Nancy and turned her into some sort of trampy baby factory, ruining her chances of ever becoming an accountant—or the first female President.

  Nancy decided to go to her parents’ house to take a nap while her folks watched Wally, so Elliott headed out to the farm alone and happy for it. He wouldn’t have minded bringing his son to look at the cows and horses, which he loved, and to see his grandparents, but he realized his mom saw Wally probably just about as much as he did, and his dad hadn’t been feeling well lately. The doctors weren’t sure what it was, but they’d suggested he keep to himself as much as he could until they figured out what was making him feel so weak.

  Peggy greeted him with a hug and sent him upstairs to Jimmy’s room, saying he’d disappeared back up there after lunch. Elliott knocked on the door, and when Jimmy said nothing, he said, “Come on, man. It’s your brother.” A few moments later the door opened, and Jimmy, who was still lanky but now almost as tall as Elliott, let him in and then returned to his bed, flopping onto the mattress like a fish plucked from the water.

  “What’s going on?” Elliott asked, turning around his brother’s desk chair to face him. “How’s school?”

  Jimmy sat up and positioned himself on the edge of the bed so his elbows were on his knees. At thirteen, Jimmy had started his freshmen year of high school a few months ago. He had always done well academically, but Peggy mentioned she was worried about his grades now that he’d been so despondent. He wasn’t a member of any of the organizations, nor did he play any sports. He spent a lot of time listening to music on the radio, but when she’d suggested band he’d scoffed and left the room.

  A shrug was about all Elliott got in response.

  “You doin’ all right, little brother? You look… sad. What’s going on?”

  Jimmy sighed loudly. “Did Peggy send you in here?” he asked, getting up and approaching the door. He pushed it to and then came back to the bed. “I told you, I’m fine.”

  “You didn’t actually,” Elliott reminded him. “Mom didn’t send me anywhere. I was worried about you, so I wanted to stop by and see how Wally’s favorite uncle is doing.”

  Jimmy’s eyes rolled back in his head. “I’m Wally’s only uncle.”

  “I know. And that makes you important. What’s going on, man?”

  Green eyes nearly the same color as his own stared back at him for a long moment before Jimmy swallowed hard. “If I told you, you wouldn’t believe me. And you’d tell her, and then she’d try to make me go see some sort of psychologist or psychiatrist or some shit.”

 
“Language,” Elliott said, though not harshly. “Man, whatever it is, I’m sure that’s not true. Do you think you’re going nuts or something? Because, believe me, we have all been there.”

  “No, I don’t think I’m going nuts,” Jimmy said defensively. “That’s just it. I know I’m not going nuts. I know what I saw. But no one else is going to believe it, so there’s really no point in saying anything to anyone.”

  Elliott narrowed his eyes and studied his brother’s face for a moment. He’d seen some odd things in his day, too. The first thought that entered his mind were the strange forms in the woods at Lawson’s Point that horrific night, the night everything had changed in more ways than he cared to count. And then there was that bus driver so many years ago…. He hadn’t really put much thought into that in a while, but every time the picture from the woods popped into his mind, he couldn’t help but wonder if they were related. “Listen, Jimmy, I’m sure, whatever you saw, I won’t think you’re crazy. There’s some weird sh—stuff out there, brother. I know it. I’ve seen some odd stuff, too. So, whatever it is that has you so… not yourself, why don’t you go ahead and let me know what it is?”

  Jimmy didn’t look completely convinced that speaking up was a good idea. He ran his hand through his hair, which was much straighter than Elliott’s but almost as long on top, and let out a loud sigh. “You promise you won’t make fun of me?”

  “I promise.”

  “And you won’t tell nobody? Not even… her?”

  “I promise.” That one might be harder to keep, but he wouldn’t know if he’d need to break it until he heard what Jimmy had to say.

  He gulped in air and said, “All right… a few months ago, I was out riding my bike, near the woods, out by where Settler’s Creek goes under the road out there by the Miller place. Down near the railroad tracks.”

  Elliott nodded, with him so far.

  “Well, it was getting dark, and I was just about to head home, but some movement in the woods caught my eye, so I turned my head expecting to see a bird or a squirrel or something. But it wasn’t no animal staring back at me, Elliott. It was a person. Or… something like a person.” He sighed and ran his hand through his hair again, struggling to get it out. “I’m not sure what it was. But it was kind of deformed, with really long arms, and claws at the tips of its fingers. His skin was pale, and his hair was long and stringy. He had this sick smile on his face, like he wanted me to see. Like he wanted me to be scared. So… I screamed, and then he started to laugh. I took off peddling as fast as I could, didn’t stop till I reached home, and even then, well, I was scared as shit. Sorry. I was real scared.”

  The similarities to what he’d seen were so very similar, though it had been dark when Elliott had had his encounter. He waited a moment to see if Jimmy was done, but it looked like he had more he wanted to say. He stared at the floor for a moment, and then slowly said, “That’s not the worst of it.” He looked truly petrified now, like he thought this creature might pop out of the closet or grab his ankle from beneath the bed. “It was… its eyes.”

  Goose bumps rose up all over Elliott’s arms, and the hair on the back of his neck stood on end. “It’s eyes?”

  Slowly, Jimmy nodded and lifted his head to look his brother in the face. “They were dark in the middle, like a gray color, and real white and bulging around the iris. And underneath, it was all red and bloodshot.”

  Elliott drew in as deep a breath as he could, though his lungs felt restricted. He nodded and sat across from his brother in silence for a few moments, not sure how to proceed. He wanted to assure his brother that he wasn’t crazy, but he also had no more room on his plate to deal with the situation either. “Well, Jimmy… I could sit here and bullshit you, tell you your eyes are playing tricks on you, that kind of crap you don’t want to hear, but honestly, I have to admit, I’ve seen ’em too.”

  Jimmy’s eyes widened. Clearly, he hadn’t been expecting that. “You have? Wait—more than one?”

  His head bobbing up and down, Elliott said, “Yeah. I saw three of ’em once, a few years ago, out in the woods near Lawson’s Point. I thought it seemed nuts, too, so I kinda tried to forget about it. But I don’t think you’re crazy, kid.”

  “You don’t?” Jimmy seemed relieved, despite the fact that being told he wasn’t the only one who had seen the monsters made them more real.

  “Nah, I mean, I know you’re mentally challenged,” he teased, reaching over and ruffling his brother’s hair. “But you ain’t crazy. Mom says you’re out riding your bike all the time, though, so I guess that means you ain’t scared of ’em?”

  “It’s not that,” Jimmy said, his voice low. “It’s just… I thought if I saw it again, maybe I could prove to myself I wasn’t losing my mind. That’s all.”

  “I guess I can understand that. But now that I’ve told you I saw it too, can you stop looking for it? I mean, what’s the point? I don’t think it wants to hurt you because if it did, it probably would’ve by now. But, ain’t no sense in getting tangled up in a mess that ain’t yours.”

  Jimmy considered his words and nodded, but Elliott knew that nod, and if anything, he would probably spend more time searching. And, the fact that he actually had no idea if this thing was dangerous or not made him worry that his brother might actually get hurt. Regardless of his promise, now he’d have to figure out what was going on.

  “Listen, I won’t tell Mom what you saw if you still don’t want me to, but I am going to tell her what I saw….”

  “Elliott! You promised!”

  “And I just said I won’t tell her. I’ll make up some story about some girl breaking your heart, and you can snap out of it now and start acting like yourself. But, I need to find out what this thing is. Maybe Mom knows or might know someone who does know, okay?”

  “Okay,” Jimmy said, but the worry on his face told another story. They were quiet again for a moment before he asked, “Elliott, do you ever think maybe you shouldn’t call her that?”

  His eyebrows raised, Elliott stared at his brother again. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean… do you ever think about… our first mom? Our real mom? Arlene?”

  The question shouldn’t have surprised him. It was bound to come up eventually, and now that they were discussing frightening creatures, why not throw her in there as well? “Of course I think about her,” Elliott assured him. “How could I not?”

  Jimmy nodded. “Do you ever wonder… why she never came looking for us? Why she just let us go? Do you think… she’s okay?”

  Sighing, Elliott leaned back in his chair. “That’s a whole lotta questions I ain’t got the answers to, kid. I don’t know why she didn’t come for us. Maybe she didn’t know where to look. Maybe… she couldn’t catch a ride.” He knew that was a silly excuse since she would’ve been able to find some means of transportation if she really wanted to in the last six years. “I don’t know if she’s okay or not.” There had been lots of times he’d been tempted to try to contact her, to try looking her up in the phone book, but he had no idea what he’d say if he called her. Surely, if she’d wanted to, she could’ve found him by now. He’d been living in his own house for almost two years and had a listing. She probably wasn’t checking, though. If she ever had looked for them to begin with, it likely stopped a long time ago.

  “I think… I think someday I’d like to find her, to see how she is. I feel like, maybe, some days….” Jimmy stopped talking and stared at his folded hands, running his thumb over the crease between two fingers on the other hand.

  “You think what?”

  He looked up slowly. “That it wasn’t right. That maybe we shouldn’t have left her.”

  “Jimmy, that place was a hell hole. I don’t know how much you remember….”

  “I remember, Elliott. I remember everything. I know the way she treated you was different than how she treated me. I know you was taking care of me from the time you was old enough to lift me. I get that. And it wasn’t fair to y
ou. But… in a sick way, she needed us. You took care of her, too, and I did my best to help out.”

  Elliott remembered Jimmy as a tiny, scrawny little boy trying to wake his mother up out of a pool of her own vomit, of him trying to keep the bugs off of her food when she’d pass out before she finished whatever dinner Elliott had scratched up. He remembered how she’d get angry and call them both names, though the older boy usually did get the brunt of that. And the men she brought to the house usually left Jimmy alone since he was small and cute. But, he’d had his fair share of nightmares. “Jimmy, believe me. We did the right thing. Arlene refused the help she was offered. I heard Janette and Jordan offer to help her. She could’ve taken it. She could’ve cleaned herself up, and maybe they would’ve taken us back to her. But… she didn’t. Trust me, kid. We made the right decision. You made the right decision. Peggy and Frank love you like they made you themselves. Don’t ever feel bad about loving them back, okay?”

  Jimmy swiped at a tear that was trailing down his face and wiped his nose on the back of his hand. “’Kay,” he said through his tears.

  “Now, you stay out of the woods, at least until I can figure out what this might be, and start doing your homework, kid. You can’t afford to be a major screw up like me. And—stay away from the girls. If you do get near one, remember they’re far more dangerous than these monsters in the woods, so use protection. Every time.”

  Jimmy’s forehead crinkled as he looked up at his brother, and Elliott realized he had no idea what he was talking about, which was a good thing, but he would need that advice someday. Hopefully, it would stick.