Dissension

by R. J. Wolf

  “Call the police Fullerton,” she screamed as the man stepped outside.

  “Yeah call the police,” Mikey yelled back. “We saw the head in your room we know you killed Mr. Clark.”

  The man at the door suddenly began to laugh. “Is that what this is all about? You think my mom killed my dad?”

  “Oh dear, oh dear,” Mrs. Clark whimpered as she released Mit’s shirt.

  Anthony turned around at the sound of Mit’s screams. He gently moved back towards the porch as Mrs. Clark hung her head and began to weep.

  “She did kill him,” Mikey yelled enraged. “We saw her, and now his head is in a jar in your room.”

  Mrs. Clark began to cry hysterically. Fullerton walked towards her and placed his arm around her shoulders. He helped her up the stairs onto the porch.

  “Look what you’ve done, just leave.” He yelled back at them. The door slammed behind them as they both vanished inside.

  “What just happened dude?” Mikey finally said after a long silence.

  “I don’t know, but I say we get out of here.” Anthony declared as he walked off into the dark.

  Confused and tired, they trudged their way back to Steve’s house. They’d been expecting to uncover some devious plot, but something about driving an elderly lady to tears took the wind out of their sails. They sat around Steve’s bedroom in a slump staring off in different directions. Without any discussion of what happened they all fell asleep.

  The next morning they all rode to the beach. Now that the weather had cooled it was mostly empty except a few die hard sunbathers. Anthony and his friends found an isolated spot and took a seat. None of them seemed to make any sense of what they’d seen last night.

  “Did she say she didn’t kill her husband?” Steve asked as he rubbed sand through his pudgy fingers.

  “She looked pretty homicidal to me.” Mit replied.

  “I like adventures and all, but let’s never go there again. As a matter of fact let’s never bring them up again.” Mikey demanded.

  They all seemed to agree that any further business with the Clarks was off limits. In the back of each of their minds, a burning desire grew to find out what really happened.

  XI

  THE MISSING

  The wonderful fall weather blew through the courtyard bringing with it a horde of students, eager to enjoy the mild breeze. Anthony and his friends were no different. He sat with his back to a tree and his nose buried in a book. He wasn’t reading; however, he was daydreaming about Nickie.

  “Hey um Sticks,” Mikey shouted.

  Anthony looked up from his book to find Sticks and Maxey strolling towards them. Maxey looked around anxiously while Sticks grinned ear to ear.

  “What’s up Mikey? What’s up fellas?” Sticks said while nodding his head.

  They hadn’t really seen him since the flying incident and had painstakingly tried to avoid him at all costs. Anthony looked up and smiled. Maxey glanced at the boys, her eyes resting on Anthony a second longer than anyone else.

  “Sticks, I uh gotta do that thing for um, you know,” Maxey turned and walked away at a horses pace.

  “What’s with her?” Steve gawked after her stuffing chips into his mouth.

  “You wanna tell us something Sticks?” Mit asked.

  “I didn’t tell her a thing, I swear it. She’s just weird you know with Steve always eyeing her up and stuff.”

  Mikey laughed. “Figures, everyone knows Steve wants to marry her.” Steve chuckled and continued eating. Sticks grinned and then took the seat next to Mikey.

  “How’s…how’s it going?” He asked looking over to Anthony.

  “Still waddling around like a penguin.” Steve mumbled as he swallowed back the last of his sandwich.

  Anthony smiled and nodded. Sticks wasn’t a bad guy, he’d tagged along on a lot of their little adventures. But Anthony grew up with the rest of them and trusted them with his life. How much he could trust Sticks had yet to be proven. He wasn’t ready to let him in his inner circle just yet.

  Lunch ended and Anthony found himself in geography class. Mr. Douglas lectured on some obscure topic while Anthony counted the holes in the ceiling. When the class was finally over he started rethinking his run in with Maxey.

  Anthony wasn’t sure if Sticks had told her or not, but she definitely had given him a look. He had to go talk to her and see what she knew. He figured school would be a bad time, if she made a scene he couldn’t chance his wings popping out.

  After school though, he could head to her house. If Sticks said anything, he could convince her that Sticks was suffering from heat exhaustion from too much training. Maxey wasn’t exactly the sharpest and anything related to Sticks’ training she’d take seriously. He could picture her now totally forgetting about his wings as she sprinted off to take Sticks’ temperature.

  When school was out Anthony stopped Mikey and told him his plan.

  “I’m coming with you. You can tell your mom you are staying at my house tonight; my parents are out of town.” Mikey demanded giving Anthony little choice but to agree.

  Anthony reluctantly shook his head then called his mom letting her know he’d be at Mikey’s. When he thought about it, staying at Mikey’s was a better plan anyway. He didn’t live far from Anthony and it was a much shorter walk to Maxey’s place. With Mikey’s parents gone they could use the front door instead of the 2nd floor balcony, which always ended with Anthony in the bushes.

  As night fell, Anthony and Mikey covertly made their way to Maxey’s house. They camped out in a bush at the corner, giving them a perfect view of the window that overlooked the living area. The porch light was on, but there were no cars in the driveway.

  “Ok, what now?” Anthony asked.

  Mikey laughed a little too loudly and Anthony gave him a look.

  “This is your show,” he straightened up.

  “You’re no help; I’ll knock on the door.” Anthony stood and started towards the porch. Mikey’s hand closed tightly around his wrist yanking him back into the bushes.

  “Look!” Mikey mouthed while pointing to the white Suburban that just pulled into Maxey’s driveway.

  “It’s just her parents you idiot.” Anthony snatched his arm away.

  He went to stand again, but dove to the ground as two men in grey t-shirts and jeans got out of the SUV. The sun went down long ago however both men wore sunshades and beige baseball caps. They were casually dressed, but something about their movement made them look official.

  Anthony watched as the two men walked to the door and rang the buzzer. Moments later Maxey opened it with a look on her face like she’d been expecting them. She motioned for them to come inside. They disappeared into the foyer and shut the door behind them.

  Anthony stared at the open window as the men walked into the living area and Maxey sat on the couch. One of the men walked to the window and stared out momentarily then closed the curtains.

  “Dude, what was that about?” Mikey asked with a puzzled look on his face.

  “No clue, but I think we better hang tight, those guys look serious.”

  They both hunkered down in the bushes listening intently. The wind rustled through the trees, but there wasn’t a peep from inside. Anthony started to get impatient.

  “I think I’m just gonna ring the doorbell.”

  “Bro, are you nuts?”

  Mikey barely stopped talking when the door suddenly burst open. One of the men stepped out onto the porch and looked around, surveying the front lawn. His eyes stopped on the bush that Anthony and Mikey were hiding in. He leaned forward, focusing his eyes.

  “Don’t move,” Anthony looked back to Mikey.

  The mysterious man stepped off the porch and headed straight for them. Anthony tried to make himself smaller, inching back into Mikey almost pushing him out of the other side. The man got closer and stopped about five feet from the small row of bushes.

  He removed his shades and placed them in his pocket. From the cove
r of the foliage, Anthony looked up at the man. His cold, dark eyes seemingly piercing the bushes, scanning like a robot for any signs of life.

  They both lay as still as they could, praying that the man would turn and head back to the house. He investigated a little longer and then as he was about to turn around, Mikey squirmed and made a squealing noise. In a flash the man drew a gun from his back and trained it on the spot where the noise came from.

  Anthony was frozen with horror, his life flashing before his eyes. The man edged closer to the bushes. If he took one more step he would’ve placed his brown hiking boots on Anthony’s head. Anthony closed his eyes, bracing for the inevitable.

  The man suddenly let out a raspy laugh. Anthony clenched his teeth. When nothing happened he slowly opened his eyes. A huge, grayish possum erupted from the bushes a few feet from Anthony. It’s long, pink, rat-like tail dragged through the grass.

  Still laughing, the man put his gun in his holster. He shook his head then headed back to the porch. Anthony looked back at Mikey and smirked.

  They both scuttled to their knees and watched him walk off. The other man slowly stepped out of the house as Anthony gasped and dove back to the ground.

  Maxey’s motionless body was slung over his shoulder. She was bound at her hands and feet and duct tape covered her mouth.

  The man glanced around surveying the front yard again and then made his way to the suburban. He yanked the back door open and threw her in, whacking her head on the window as he did. The other man took one last look out into the yard then hopped in and started the engine.

  Anthony took a deep breath as the SUV drove away. It quickly disappeared into the night along with any trace of Maxey. With a shaky voice Mikey spoke.

  “She talked, she talked dude and they took her.”

  “Who is they?”

  “I don’t know, but they have Maxey, its cause she talked. She blabbed about you and she’s gone.” Mikey’s voice was in between anger and sheer panic.

  “We don’t know what just happened, we know she was kidnapped, that’s it.” Anthony said in a defensive tone.

  “We need to call the cops.”

  Anthony eyed him skeptically. He knew that calling the cops was probably the right thing, but how would they explain any of this? Why were they at her house in the first place? Why would someone want to take her?

  “We gotta get out of here,” Anthony looked around nervously.

  They waited ten more minutes, fearful that the white SUV would return. When it all seemed clear they emerged from the bushes and ran the entire length back to Mikey’s house.

  They bolted inside and slammed the door shut. Mikey ran to the phone and dialed 911, but before it could ring Anthony snatched out the phone line.

  “What are you doing?” Mikey raised his voice.

  “Just listen. We don’t know what just happened we can’t go calling sounding like crazy people.”

  “The hell we can’t. This isn’t a game anymore Anthony. People are missing, Maxey is missing. Was I alone or did you not giant see those two giant guys drag her out of the house?”

  “I’m not stupid, but what are you going to tell them? You say the wrong thing and they’re gonna be throwing us in jail.” Mikey sat the phone onto the counter. He took a deep breath and started to think of a story.

  “We’ll just tell them what really happened. We were walking by and saw someone drag her out of the house screaming.”

  “Yeah, but where were we going? I’m sure they’ll ask.” Anthony stared at him.

  There was a moment of awkward silence as Mikey stared off into space searching for an answer. He sighed and shrugged his shoulders. Shaking his head he picked the phone back up. He plugged the line in and with shaky hands dialed 911.

  “Someone’s been kidnapped!” Mikey blurted out in an attempt to sound composed.

  Anthony rolled his eyes and walked into the living room. He paced back and forth waiting for Mikey to finish his call. He nervously fumbled with his hands expecting the worse. As Mikey stepped around the corner he looked up anxiously.

  “What’d they say?”

  “They’re…they’re on the way here.” Mikey stuttered.

  Anthony threw his head back and gasped. This was it he thought. They were gonna find out everything. This time tomorrow he’d be in some secret laboratory with doctors poking and prodding him. His life was over.

  Within ten minutes a patrol car pulled up outside. The red and blue flashing lights shimmered into the living room like a disco ball.

  The doorbell rang and Anthony jittered with nerves. Mikey gave him a half-hearted smile and headed to the door.

  “How are we gonna explain this one?” Anthony’s voice trailed off.

  “I’ve got an idea, just wait in my room.” Mikey said.

  Anthony smirked then took off around the corner. Mikey watched him disappear then he slowly turned the handle and pulled the door open. A female officer stood outside with a puzzled look on her face. She was a quite a bit shorter than Mikey with flowing, blonde hair and a neck that looked better suited on a flightless bird. Mikey laughed to himself as he pictured Steve trying to purposely get arrested.

  “Are your parents’ home?” She looked at him with one eyebrow raised.

  “No, I um called.”

  The officer considered him for a moment and cleared her throat.

  “Well, let me take your statement. Do you mind if I come in?”

  Mikey looked back to the empty living room. He made a face then stood aside and let the officer come in.

  She stepped into the living room while Mikey plopped down on the sofa. He seemed uncomfortably calm for what had just happened and the officer made a note to mention this no less than three times.

  Anthony leaned in listening hard from around the corner. He could hear her mumbling something and then both of them laughing. Thirty minutes later her footsteps tapped toward the front door.

  Anthony stepped from around the corner as he heard her patrol car crank up. Once she pulled out of the driveway he walked into the living room.

  “Well?” Anthony looked at Mikey.

  “I told her we snuck out so you could see your girlfriend. And as we were walking by we saw some guys dragging Maxey out of the house. She asked where you were. I told her you fainted and were too embarrassed to show your face.”

  Anthony sneered and hurled a pillow off the couch towards his head.

  “You’re right, I guess I should’ve told them my mutant friend is being hunted and they took Maxey cause she has a big mouth.”

  Anthony smirked and sat on the couch next to Mikey. He folded his arms and buried his head.

  “What are we gonna do?”

  XII

  BAG OF BONES

  “Maxey’s gone and it’s my fault!” Anthony proclaimed loudly.

  Mikey sneered at him and continued tossing stones into the water with Mit and Steve. Anthony whined about how it was “all his fault,” for the last two hours to anyone that would listen. His persistent jabbering put everyone in a bad mood, especially Mikey, who had taken the stance that she brought it on herself.

  “All she had to do is keep her big mouth shut.” Mikey snapped as he chucked another rock.

  Anthony moped about, kicking the ground, mumbling to himself. He looked up as Sticks rounded the corner and pulled up to the beach. Anthony immediately straightened up and offered a smile. Sticks nodded as he dropped his bike and walked into the sand.

  “Any word?” Anthony asked.

  Sticks shook his head and plopped down next to Mit. He took the news about Maxey pretty hard. They waited for the police to tell them something or to talk to Maxey’s parents, but they hadn’t seen either.

  Over the days since Maxey went missing Sticks had become pretty close with Anthony and his friends. Anthony really couldn’t object anymore since he felt responsible. Maxey was Sticks’ best friend and he searched for her non-stop. He never said anything, but Anthony was sure Sticks
held him responsible as well.

  The next day at school Sticks apathetically languished through the halls. This became his regular routine since Maxey’s disappearance. He moved like a sloth, gliding pathetically from class to class.

  Anthony could hardly stand the guilt he was feeling. He had to do something, he needed answers. He needed to find Maxey.

  “I think I’m going to the police station myself.” Anthony said to Mikey during class.

  “Why? They’re not gonna tell you anything bro. Sticks already went there.”

  “It’s my fault man. I need to find out what happened. I might as well start there.” Anthony reasoned.

  “Alright, then I’m coming.” Mikey grinned.

  The bell chimed loudly and the class began to pack up. Anthony grabbed his bags and headed into the hallway. Mikey followed behind him as Mit and Steve darted around the corner.

  “Where are those two heading?” Anthony looked confused.

  “Told them we were going to the station. They’re gonna meet up with Sticks and check Maxey’s house. We’ll meet them tonight at Steve’s. It’s a team event dude.”

  “Yeah, ok. Well I gotta hit practice. I’ll meet you out front in an hour.”

  Anthony headed off to the locker rooms for practice, his eyes fixed on the ground as he trotted along. At the sound of girls giggling, he looked up and found Nickie and her friends headed straight towards him. He stopped dead in his tracks, contemplating on whether he should turn and go the other way. It was too late, she had already spotted him.

  Nickie whispered something to her friends and then looked over at Anthony. They shook their heads at her and then ran off, leaving her standing there alone. Anthony’s hands began to sweat. Nickie gave him a look and started walking towards him.

  “So, you’re still ignoring me?” She said when she finally got close enough. Anthony dropped his jaw in a look of confusion.

  “Um I thought you were ignoring me.”

  Nickie laughed. “What! First you stand me up and then avoid me for three weeks.”