Part 4
"What's your name?" he asked.
"Lisa," she replied, hesitantly.
"I think I saw your cousins go that way earlier, Lisa," he said, pointing his stick toward a section of woods to the left. There was no discernable path leading there, and the bushes were thick, virtually impenetrable. She wondered how Daryl and Rayna had managed to get through.
That morning, her cousins, newly arrived for the summer, had wanted to explore, and were particularly drawn to the schoolyard and its adjacent mysterious woods, despite Lisa's protestations. She was expressly forbidden to venture into the woods, ever since it happened, and she knew what her mom would say: Don't you let me catch you out there! Dope fiends and crazy people hang out there, and you know what happened to that girl. Lisa repeated her mother's edict to her cousins, who had laughed, called her a baby, and made their way across the schoolyard and toward the ball field beyond, casting twin shadows as the sun rose higher in the morning sky.
It was now late afternoon, and the warmth of the dappled sunlight had given way to cool shadows. The silence was broken only by the soft rustling of the trees and the deafening beat of her heart. She knew her cousins had not gone into the deeper woods; they were from Boston--city kids--and unlikely to have ventured too far off any beaten path. She also began to doubt their "tree frog" story; she was pretty sure they wouldn't know a tree frog if they got hit in the head with one. They were always telling her fibs, excluding her from their games, strictly adhering to a "three's a crowd" policy. They were probably back at her house already, having a snack and watching Star Blazers.
"That's a pretty shirt," said Abel, meeting her gaze for he first time.
"Thanks," she said, shyly.
"What size clothes do you wear?"
The question, so unexpected, caught her off guard. "Um, I'm not sure," she lied. She practically memorized the Sears catalog every year when it came time to shop for school clothes, helpfully folding over the page corners for her mom's easy reference. She was well aware of what size she wore.
"Turn around," he said, "and I'll look at the tag."
Suddenly panicked, she responded, "I think I'm a 6X." At eight years old, she was small for her age. She hoped he would drop the subject.
"Please," she pleaded, near tears, "I need to go home now."
"Ok," he conceded, to her surprise. He waited for her to take the lead, reversing direction, and followed close behind, stick in hand.
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Tree Frogs
Part Three
Abel Lynch, twenty-one, was the eldest of three. By all accounts, the entire family--with the exception of the middle brother, Devin--was genetically-challenged, from their regretfully bad looks to their unfortunate dearth of intellect. Abel and his sister Eva, who, although several years younger, was nearly identical to Abel in appearance and manner, were victimized almost daily, on the receiving end of the verbal, often physical, cruelties reserved for those who don't fit in, and at which kids are particularly adept. That Devin, attractive and charming, had escaped the shallow end of the Lynch gene pool was a running joke in town, and there was a marked degree of irony in the fact that Devin's "normalness" made his siblings' tormentors all the more vicious.
Abel often wandered down the buckled concrete sidewalks of town, collecting bottles and aluminum cans, stuffing them into the large, beat-up Hefty bag he always carried. He rarely looked up, even when neighborhood kids hurled insults (or rocks), and while Lisa never actively participated in taunting him, she saw no harm in giggling with her friends behind his back. No one laughed at Devin, though. No one even teased him about his "weirdo" brother and "ugly-ass" sister, usually fair game in the world of teenage boys. But it was a small town; he must have been aware of his siblings' notoriety, though it never showed.
When Bobbie Mercer was found, suspicion fell squarely on Abel Lynch; it was common knowledge that he frequented the woods near the school. What he did there was anyone's guess; speculation ranged from devil worship to sexual deviations, the descriptions of which were unfathomable to Lisa's then five-year-old brain. It was Devin who had found Bobbie that day, catching a glimpse of blonde hair and red sweater as he cut through the woods, late for baseball practice; Devin who had run, breathless, to the police; Devin who had seen his brother go into the woods the afternoon Bobbie disappeared...
Abel Lynch, twenty-one, was the eldest of three. By all accounts, the entire family--with the exception of the middle brother, Devin--was genetically-challenged, from their regretfully bad looks to their unfortunate dearth of intellect. Abel and his sister Eva, who, although several years younger, was nearly identical to Abel in appearance and manner, were victimized almost daily, on the receiving end of the verbal, often physical, cruelties reserved for those who don't fit in, and at which kids are particularly adept. That Devin, attractive and charming, had escaped the shallow end of the Lynch gene pool was a running joke in town, and there was a marked degree of irony in the fact that Devin's "normalness" made his siblings' tormentors all the more vicious.
Abel often wandered down the buckled concrete sidewalks of town, collecting bottles and aluminum cans, stuffing them into the large, beat-up Hefty bag he always carried. He rarely looked up, even when neighborhood kids hurled insults (or rocks), and while Lisa never actively participated in taunting him, she saw no harm in giggling with her friends behind his back. No one laughed at Devin, though. No one even teased him about his "weirdo" brother and "ugly-ass" sister, usually fair game in the world of teenage boys. But it was a small town; he must have been aware of his siblings' notoriety, though it never showed.
When Bobbie Mercer was found, suspicion fell squarely on Abel Lynch; it was common knowledge that he frequented the woods near the school. What he did there was anyone's guess; speculation ranged from devil worship to sexual deviations, the descriptions of which were unfathomable to Lisa's then five-year-old brain. It was Devin who had found Bobbie that day, catching a glimpse of blonde hair and red sweater as he cut through the woods, late for baseball practice; Devin who had run, breathless, to the police; Devin who had seen his brother go into the woods the afternoon Bobbie disappeared...
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