O
The
boy stood alone in the dark, barely
a silhouette, easy to mistake for another
reedy stack, standing gangly in the midst of a still, fallow field, on a sweaty night, somewhere
way out in the outskirts.
Cicadas,
mosquitos, an owl, and the boy.
“How
did you get out here, son?” spoke the voice, from deep in the dark, shattering
the calm.
The
jolt, unexpected as summer lightning, struck the boy like a bolt up his anus,
his spine, a hot conduit for the roar of the shock that exploded in his head.
Panic. He imagined he burst out of his skin, but, nonetheless, was ready to hit
the ground running when he came down, even if it meant leaving his skin behind
in order to save his ass.
“Don’t
move.” The growl spoke. And the boy did his best while his head was still in
the air, could not feel the ground beneath his feet, and hoping his heart would
start to beat once again, and gravity did not count as motion
“I
do mean, ‘don’t move’, understand?”
“Ya…yes…yes…”
“I
would be suspicious of this circumstance and suspect you might be trying to
catch a glimpse of my daughter. Would I be justified?”
“NO!
what ?… no!” the boy’s heart rate,
newly jolted, was now racing. “I wouldn’t…”
“I
…would!...normally be highly suspicious,
to be honest with you. But, if you are some peeping tom, come creeping around my
daughter, why the hell are you so far away?”
“Sir?”
“First
of all, from what I see, and I have been watching you from right nearby, I am secure in knowing
that, although you may see the light from yon window, you are one hell of a ways
away to see anything else, so why put yourself in harms way over a girl you can’t
even see?
“Sir?”
“If
you got closer, you might catch a glimpse, but if you did that, and got caught, hot prods would be scorching throught your
eye orbs as we speak, and you’d be that much closer to the shed and ready for slaughter.”
“I’m not! I’m looking for my dog….’RUSTY!’…she
took off! and she’s in heat!…My mom’s upset…so I’m out looking”
“Out
here…”
“I
had to pee.”
“There
had better not be a pecker hangin out of those jeans, because if you’re
touchin’ yourself within a mile of daughter your fate is sealed.”
“I’m
not! Hands up…zipper up! Look! Nothing out! I swear!”
“You
do this often?…come out here? This a regular thing with you?”
“No
sir…the dog…”
“How’d
you get out here?”
“My
bike. Over by the road…”
“And
you walked clear out here…”
“
the dog…”
The
man gave a shrill whistle through his fingertips, the sound pierced the night
and faded off over the flat distance. They waited for a bark, the boy knew was
never coming. The man repeated the whistle, with a vibrato that spoke to
canines, but not this time.
They
stood silent now.
“Sir
I really got to pee…”
“Pee. Go ahead. But have some respect and turn your back to my home.”
“Yes
sir.” As
the boy relieved himself in the moonlight, the sound of his stream hard and steady, and steam rose from his pool on the soil.
The voice asked, “Do you know my daughter, boy?”
“No
sir.”
“What’s
your name then?”
“Why? Why is that needed when I don’t know her, and she don’t know me?”
“First
of all it’s important to me, as her old man, and as
for the rest of it, we’ll just wait and see…ideally, Legally, but not
necessarily…”
“I
got to go…my Mom. I never done this sir….”
“I
can see that son, but here’s my concern – you’re caught, you’re scared, I cut you lose, you’re
wounded, but you wait, and think about it, and keep thinking about it, and find you just can’t stay away. On
that night, I might not be out taking my walk on a sticky night like this one, so you get a little closer to that light over there...drawn to that light
because what’s in there is magic…the genie glowing inside the bottle and you just
gotta see for yourself. So each time you return you get a little closer, just
hoping for that magic glimpse. Closer...closer...And then what? Entry?
What?!
You may have the struggling urges and a budding
fertility going to war within your body, but tonight you’re a kid on a bike, and she’s a girl in her jammies,
so that’s where you are. You know her, and she knows you. The time may come,
son, you never know…when we just might meet. I can’t see your face, but I know
who you are. Will you know me?”
“I
will, sir,” The boy said shuffling backwards.
“Go
get on your bike and go home. Kiss your Mother on the cheek and take a cold shower.”
"Yes
sir. Sorry to disturb you."
"Try
not to ‘disturb yourself’ so much"
"Yes
sir!" he repeated, as he retreated into the night.
"And,
boy?! Next time you come, there will
be dogs."
