Skeletons In My Closet

by Dynah Zale

  The rest of the day proved to be the same. He was ostracized the entire day. No one would speak to him. In between class periods,Dontayéphysically attacked Blair by slapping him in the back of his neck with a huge textbook every time they saw one another.Dontayé thought his immature antics were hilarious. He even hit Blair during the middle of their fifth period class, while the teacher’s back was turned, except this time Blair’s glasses fell to the ground and another kid grinded his glasses into the floor with his foot.

  The teacher turned around just in time to see the remnants of Blair’s broken glasses on the ground.

  All the kids were laughing at him.

  “Blair.” She rushed to his side. “What happened?”

  He wanted to snitch on his assailants but feared they would retaliate.

  “Stop laughing!” She reprimanded her students. “Who did this? I want to know who did this, right now!” No one dared speak up for they feared what Dontayé would do to them later.

  “Fine. If no one wants to tell me, I guess everyone will enjoy having extra homework for the rest of the week.” The class moaned in response. “Does anyone have any answers for me?” She turned to Blair, “Blair, tell me who did this to you.”

  “I don’t know.” He whispered. “My glasses fell off my face, and once they did, I couldn’t see anything.”

  The teacher could see that he was scared. “Blair, do you have an extra pair of glasses at home.” Blair nodded his head yes. “Okay, I’m going to walk you down to the principal’s office and we can have your father bring you another pair.”

  “She turned back to her students. “Nobody in here better make a sound.” The students giggled as she escorted Blair to the principal’s office.

  Chapter 54

  The following day began differently than the day before.Dontayé hadn’t cracked a joke on him all day. He was so quiet, Blair almost forgot they were in class together.“Class, please pull out your weekly journals and begin writing this week’s lesson that is posted on the board behind me,” their English teacher instructed. “I need to step out the classroom for a split second. I do not want any talking.” She quickly left the room.

  Blair did as told and pulled out a pen and notebook. When he opened his notebook a picture of his mother slid into his lap. He stared at the photograph. Blair missed Reneéa lot. So much had changed in his life since she was gone. It was a big adjustment living life without her in it. Reneé had always been more than a mother to him; she was his best friend.

  He went to put the picture away when it was suddenly ripped from his fingertips. Dontayé dangled it before Blair teasing him with it.

  “Give me that.” Blair was angry. He didn’t want anyone touching his mother’s picture.

  Dontayé looked at the picture. “Who is this? Is this your mom? I heard your mom is dead.”

  “Leave me alone!”

  “Leave me alone!” Dontayé mocked him back. “Whatcha gonna do? You gonna go tell your mom, uh, I forget she’s dead.”

  Blair got so mad hot air blew through his nostrils like a raging bull; his eyes turned red, his cheeks puffed up and he balled up his fists at his side. Ready to slug him, their teacher reappeared. “What are you boys doing?”

  “Nothing, Ms. Jenkins.” Dontayé hid the picture behind his back. “We were just playing around.”

  “Ms. Jenkins looked at Blair’s face. She could see something was wrong, but Blair was so angry he wouldn’t even look in her direction. His focus was on Dontayé.

  “Well, the first period bell is about to ring so why don’t you boys go get ready for your next class.” That’s when Dontayé stuffed the picture of Reneé in his back pocket.

  Dontayétaunted Blair throughout the remainder of the day. In the other classes they had together,Dontayéwould pull out Renee’s photograph and kiss it. Blair wanted to go tell the teacher, but he feared that if his dad found out he squealed, Garrett would go back to calling him a sissy. Blair was sure he could deal withDontayé without anyone’s help.

  Tired of the bullying and harassment, Blair decided to put an end to it all. Today, he had decided that it was all going to end. After school he would demand thatDontayé give back his picture, and if he didn’t, he would punch him dead in the nose.

  Once the final school bell rang and students ran out of their classrooms, Blair gathered his things to join them. He searched forDontayé,but he was already gone. Blair hurried towards the lockers, but he still saw no sign of him. He didn’t know whereDontayé was, but he prayed that he would see him on his way home.

  Then God answered his prayers. As Blair passed the basketball courts, there wasDontayé shooting from the free throw line.

  Blair ran over and pushedDontayé from behind.

  “What’s up fat farm boy?” Dontayé teased him. “Do you want your momma’s picture back?”

  “Give it to me now!” Blair didn’t sound as tough as Dontayé, but at least he had courage.

  “No!” Dontayé’s eyes were full of evil. “Now what you gonna do?”

  Blair balled up his fists.

  “Now!” Dontayé shouted. Unexpectedly, the gang of boys Dontayé was playing ball with grabbed Blair from behind and held his hands down.

  “Get off of me.” Blair cried.

  “Not before I tell you something really important and I want you to listen closely to what I’m bout to say because I’m not going to repeat myself.” Dontayé walked up close to him and they stood face to face as if they were fighters in the ring.”

  Then using newspaper, Dontayé took a pile of dog doo that he found on the ground and smeared it all over Blair’s face. The poop stuck to Blair’s glasses. He opened up his mouth to scream for help, but when he did Dontayé pushed excrement in his mouth. Blair tried to spit it out but it was too much. All the boys laughed and ran off. Blair took off his glasses but without them he couldn’t see further than two feet in front of him. He cleaned his glasses off the best he could before he commenced the short trek home. That’s when it dawned on him that his house was in the opposite direction. Upset, he shifted his book bag to the other shoulder and that’s when he looked down. Underneath his feet was his mother’s picture. Dontayé must’ve dropped it. Relieved, he picked it up and went home.

  ***

  “I had no idea the boy was going through so much.” Garrett felt crummy.

  “That year brought on a lot of challenges for Blair.” God said.

  “Once Blair was released from the psychiatric hospital I was sure things would be better for him. I assumed he was getting along well with the kids at school.”

  “Blair was scared to come to you.” God had to tell Garrett exactly how Blair was feeling. “Past experiences proved that you weren’t always receptive or understanding of how he was feeling or what kind of troubles he was going through. So he kept it all bottled up inside, never letting anybody in.”

  “Then eventually the pressure must have gotten to be too much for him, because he popped.” Garrett said.

  “Yes. He did.” The Lord confirmed his assumptions.

  Chapter 55

  Over the three short weeks since Blair’s return home from the hospital, Garrett had begun to see subtle differences in Blair’s behavior. His mannerisms had changed drastically from him sounding like a queen to a teenage boy entering puberty. In the beginning, Garrett noticed simple things like Blair staying up late to watch Monday night football, or when they went shopping, Blair picked the blue toothbrush instead of the pink one. He even called Mademoiselle Deveraux and quit ballet. These were all things that made Garrett relax. In the end, he determined that he did the right thing by having him undergo Electro Shock therapy.

  Now the only problem Garrett had was getting Blair to open up to him more. Garrett tried day and night to engage Blair in conversation, but the boy seemed scared of him. Every time Garrett entered the room Blair would find an excuse to leave. He never wanted to be left alone with Garrett. Garrett feared that if he did establish some kin
d of connection with Blair, then that could have an adverse effect on his therapy and he may revert back to his homosexual tendencies. Then Garrett got an idea that could work in his favor.

  Garrett came home from work carrying a huge gift-wrapped box in his arms.

  When Imani saw the huge box she assumed it was for her.“Daddy, is that for me?”

  “No, this is for Blair.” Shocked, Blair spun around in his seat. He never expected his father to come home with anything for him. “Come on son. I want you to open it.”

  Blair got up and walked over to the huge box and ripped off the decorative gift-wrap. When he saw what was inside everyone’s pupils grew to twice their size. Mecca was in shock, but for the first time in a long time Garrett saw Blair smile.

  “This is really for me.” Blair exclaimed.

  “Yes, son; it’s yours.”

  Blair lifted the lid and pulled out a huge eight foot Albino python snake. Its pale skin slithered in Blair’s hands and white eyes stared at Mecca. She didn’t like the way the serpent was looking at her. She grabbed Imani and pulled her closer to her.

  “Daddy, why does Blair get a snake and I can’t have a dog?” Imani cried.

  “Because Blair is older than you and more responsible. This is his snake; he will be responsible for feeding it, bathing it and keeping it’s tank clean.” Blair wrapped the snake around his shoulders.

  “What’s the snake’s name?” Imani wanted to pet the snake, but Mecca wouldn’t allow her to break away from her tight grasp.

  “Jericho.” Blair liked that name. It reminded him of the snake from the hospital.

  Frightened, Mecca stared at the reptile oddly. “You could have talked to me about this before you went and bought home a snake.”

  Garrett laughed. “Mecca, it’s harmless.”

  “I love it, thanks dad!” Blair beamed.

  Mecca saw the positive reaction the snake was having on their son. “Can I keep it in my room?”

  “We wouldn’t have it any other way.” Mecca didn’t want that slithering creature crawling around her house.

  Later that night Blair was up playing with his snake. Garrett came into his room, “All right Blair, put the snake back in his aquarium. He needs to get some rest just as much as you do and you can’t let that thing roam the house because it will scare Mecca half to death and I’ve already told Imani she can’t be around the snake unless me or her mother are around. All right?”

  “Yes dad.”

  Garrett kissed him goodnight on the forehead. Garrett left feeling like that wall between them had just come tumbling down.

  Mecca finally got a chance to talk with Garrett about the snake when he came to bed. “Garrett, I don’t mind the fact that you bought Blair a pet and I also don’t mind it so much that you neglected to talk with before you bought it, but the kind of pet you had to purchase?” Mecca sat straight up in bed. “You bought a snake into our home. A serpent: the same animal Satan used to entice Eve.”

  “Mecca, that happened thousands of years ago.” He thought she was overreacting.

  “But you can’t negate the reason Satan chose the serpent: It was because it was a clever creature.”

  “Mecca.” Garrett grabbed her hands to calm her down. “It’s a pet. Trust me; it’s not going to be any trouble. It will probably live out its entire life in that glass aquarium.”

  “It better, because if that thing gets out he’ll have a short life.” Garrett laughed at her, but Mecca wasn’t joking.

  Chapter 56

  The school bell rang and kids came spilling out of the classrooms and into the hallways. Blair didn’t waste any time going to his locker gathering the books he needed and heading out the door. He tried his best to avoidDontayéwhenever possible. Lately after school,Dontayé and the bunch of goons he called friends would follow Blair home and do nothing but heckle, trip and push Blair the entire way home.

  “Hey Kendricks.” Blair recognized Dontayé’s voice from behind him. He was going to pretend as if he didn’t hear him, but when Dontayé called out his name again he had no choice but to turn around. “Why are you in a hurry to get home?”

  “My stepmom is waiting for me.”

  “Punk.” Dontayé and his friends laughed. “You probably still need your mom to take you to the bathroom.” All the guys laughed at Blair’s expense.

  “Look” Dontayé pulled out a 354-magnum gun and pointed it in Blair’s face. “Have you ever seen one of these before?” Scared, Blair shook his head no. “This is one of the most powerful guns in the world.” Dontayé was showing off for his friends. “Here.” He pushed the pistol in Blair’s direction. “Why don’t you hold it?”

  “I don’t want it.” Blair said.

  “I told you guys he was a wuss.” Dontayé wouldn’t let up and he continued to pressure Blair. “Listen, there’s no need to be scared. I’m not telling you to shoot anybody, just hold it.”

  Blair didn’t want to seem like a wimp so he held out his hand.

  “Let me clean it off for you.” Dontayé wiped the gun down before placing it in Blair’s hands. “So you can see how the metal shines.”

  The gun felt cold, hard and heavy in Blair’s hand.

  “Now, point it at me.” Dontayé said. Blair looked at him like he was crazy. “Point the gun at me!” Dontayé screamed.

  Blair hesitated but eventually did as told. He aimed the gun straight at Dontayé’s head.

  “Yo, man I don’t think you should be playing like that.” One ofDontayé’s friends tried to warn him. “He could accidentally pull the trigger then we’re all going to jail.” The guy pushed Blair’s hand down.

  “He doesn’t have enough guts to shoot me.”Dontayélaughed it off. “But let’s see if he’ll shoot that kid.”Dontayé pointed across the street at a young kid playing around on the sidewalk with a skateboard. “Hey kid, come here.”

  A short little kid with a head full of cornrows rode his skateboard over to them. Blair thought the kid looked around the same age as Imani.

  Dontayé threw the kid up against a nearby fence. “I want your skateboard.”

  “Huh?” The kid said.

  “I said I want your skateboard and I’m going to take it.”Dontayétried to snatch the skateboard away from the kid, but this little boy was a fighter. He wrestled withDontayé and jumped on his back; refusing to let go of his skateboard.

  “Shoot him!”Dontayéyelled. “Shoot him! I can’t get him off of me.”Dontayé sounded like he was in distress and soon everyone around them was chanting for Blair to “Shoot Him”.

  The pressure was so much for Blair too bear, and he didn’t know what to do, so he pointed and pulled the trigger.

  The cold chilling screams echoed through the air. Before Blair realized what he had done he saw blood shooting from that kid’s leg. He fell to the ground unable to get up; crying out for mercy.

  All ofDontayé’s friends took off running; includingDontayé. The kids pant leg was covered in blood and there seemed to be no way to stop the blood from freely flowing.

  A neighbor heard the commotion and ran out his home. When he saw Blair with a gun in his hand the neighbor wrestled Blair to the ground. Blair was held face down, a size twelve shoe lodged on his neck holding him down until the authorities arrived on the scene.

  Chapter 57

  Blair was taken down to the station and booked like a criminal. When Garrett arrived, he spoke to a few officers and pulled a couple strings to have Blair released into his parents’ custody with no bail. Garrett’s biggest concern was how the media would cover this story and Blair’s pending charges.

  At the station, Garrett never spoke directly to Blair. Even on the car ride home Garrett drove in silence; boiling anger prevented Garrett from speaking.

  When they arrived at the house, Mecca was up waiting for them. The disappointment in her eyes was obvious. She reached out to hug Blair, but Garrett stepped between them.

  “That’s what’s wrong with the boy?” Garrett
shouted. “You have to stop babying him.”

  Mecca didn’t think this was the time to start an argument, so she took Blair by the hand and led him into the living room. “Blair, where did you get that gun from?”

  “He said he got it from some kid named Dontayé, but when the police brought him in for questioning, Dontayé said he never saw that gun before. The only prints on the gun were Blair’s.” Garrett ranted before answering his ringing cell phone.

  “Garrett, are you still at the station.” It was Joy Anne.

  “No, we’re home now.”

  “Well, Lady Lanier requested that you give her a call tonight.”

  “Well, did you tell her what was going on with Blair? I really can’t pull away to call her right now.”

  “I got the feeling that Blair is what she wants to talk with you about.” Joye Anne sighed.

  A dreaded feeling filled Garrett’s heart; facing Lady Lanier was worse than facing any of his adversaries. He wanted to put this call off for as long as he could, but in his mind he knew that the longer he prolonged the inevitable, the angrier she would be. “I’ll get right on it. Thanks for letting me know.”

  By the time Garrett hung up the phone, he looked around and Blair was gone. “I have to make a few calls and try and do some damage control. The newspapers are going to be all over this story in the morning.”

  “I think your son needs you more.” Mecca knew Garrett was putting his career before his family, again.

  “Mecca, not now!”

  “Your son just physically lashed out at somebody. A boy who has no history of ever being violent. He’s going through something and he needs his father.” Mecca warned Garrett.

  “Well, right now I have to right his wrongs.” Garrett slammed the door shut to his home office.

  For more than an hour Garrett pleaded with Lady Lanier to not pull her endorsement from his campaign. He promised he would do anything she wanted, however she was unsympathetic.

  “Councilman Dunn, I think I made a mistake when I put my support behind you. It appears as though your home life is suffering. I overlooked the lies you fed the residents of this city regarding your biological son being your nephew, but this incident cannot be ignored. Perhaps you can run again in the next election, and at that time, I’ll reconsider endorsing you again.” With that she hung up the phone.