“I couldn’t help it! The spider was trying to kill me, and my sonic cry was part of my self-defense!”
“Ah, you’ve been reading science-fiction lately, I see.”
Nodding my answer, I skipped out the back door and headed to my tree house. Climbing up the rope ladder and pulling it in,so no kidnappers or horror movie characters could climb up to get me, I turned on my small drawing lamp and made myself comfortable on my beanbag chair. Propping my sketchpad against my knees, I closed my eyes and unconsciously wobbled my pencil between my fingers. Laying my head back, I listened to the just audible sounds of distant cars passing on the streets and a few crickets calling out to each other in the settling darkness.
When I opened my eyes, my hands slid across the blank white paper and lines formed under my fingertips, dancing themselves into images of rollercoasters and lightning. My head cleared, not one thought passed through; just the feathery light grey lines of my imagination coming to life on the paper.
A door slammed somewhere outside. Voices with harsh tones broke into my consciousness and my hand stopped drawing.
“Where did you get the cigarettes from? What have I told you? And don’t lie to me and tell me you didn’t have a cigarette, you smell like an ashtray!” Mr. Delaney’s voice was harsh and unrelenting. “Stop shrugging at me like you don’t care! I’m not putting up with your immature antics anymore, Jase. IWILLput you in military school. You know what I want for your future; don’t be a screw-up!”
Crawling over to the window,which of course I left open, I peeked my head up to see Jase and his father in their backyard. Mr. Delaney always took Jase outside to scream at him, so his wife wouldn’t get upset. Every night. Every night Jase was outside getting screamed at. And it sometimes ended with Jase getting smacked or shoved. I hated Mr. Delaney. My mother said that he screamed at Jase because he’s so young and doesn’t know how to handle a pre-teen, especially when his wife couldn’t help him at all. Jase’s parents had Jase when they were like sixteen or something, and his mom had to drop out of school and stuff. But his dad didn’t; he went to college and law school, and now he was this big hotshot lawyer. That’s what my mom said anyway. She also said Jase was so bad that he deserved to get spanked, but I didn’t see it. Then again, I’d heard my mom also say Mr. Delaney could spank her anytime, because he was so good looking. I didn’t get that either.
My gut twisted as I watched Mr. Delaney raise his hand and shove it hard into Jase’s shoulder. “What? What is wrong with you? You’re crying like a baby now? If you don’t want to get punished, then don’t do stupid things!” His dad pushed him again and stormed into the house, leaving Jase all alone in the backyard.
He leaned back heavily against the outside of the house and stared up into the night sky.
“Psst,” I whispered down to him. I poked my head out and made a stupid face at him. “Get up here you shitpie!” I watched as he climbed his garage and jumped over, landing on the tree house with a loud thump.
“Are you okay?” I asked, leaning back against soft material of the beanbag.
Jase snorted and climbed through the open window. His brilliant blue eyes, reflecting the storm within, looked at me and he shookhis head. He threw himself on the beanbag chair next to me and snorted again.
“Did you forget I have a door here?” I giggled.
“Yeah, but I never do what I’m supposed to do, haven’t you heard?”
Reaching up to the shelf above my head, I grabbed a bag of barbeque potato chips, ripped open the bag, and handed it to him. Taking the bag, he set it down on his lap and met my eyes.
“Can’t you tell someone what he says and does to you, Jase? Can’t you tell your mom?” I whispered, wanting desperately to help him.
“It won’t change anything,” he said, eyes filling with hurt. “They both think he's God. Besides, my mother used to get it much worse than me; I’d rather it be me he takes his anger out on and not her.”
“It’s just not fair. You’re nothing like what he says you are, and he’s your dad, Jase. Dads are supposed to protect their kids and take care of them. I just don’t get it. Why is he like that to you?” I felt the rage twisting deep in my belly, my heart aching for my best friend.
“It doesn’t matter why someone does bad things. It’s not going to stop them if you understand the reasons or not. You're not like him, Charlie, so you can’t understand him,” he said in a soft voice. “Besides, I’ll take whatever he gives me as long as he leaves my mother alone. He’s done enough damage to her already.”
“He’s the reason why your mom is in a wheelchair?”
Jase crunched a few chips into his mouth, looked away, and shrugged. “The only thing I can honestly tell you about my parents is that I’m never going to become the monsters that they are,eitherof them,”
He twisted his shoulders and looked back at me. When his shoulder softly touched mine, he looked down and stared at my drawing. “Charlie, you’re really good at that. You’re going to be a famous artist one day.”
Bumping his shoulder with mine, I agreed with him, “Yeah, thanks. What do you think you want to be one day?”
“I’m going to be a superhero,” he laughed.
“You’re such a dork.”
“I thought you said I was a shitpie,” he smiled at me.
“A huge, dorky shitpie with a load of shitcream on top,” I giggled.
“Hey, call Joey on the walkie-talkie and tell him to come over. Us shitpie superheroes need to protect our future famous artist from the tiny little legs of spiders.”
The both of them always protected me from scary spiders. They also teased me mercilessly about my fear of them, but that’s what best friends do, don’t they?
∞
