by Jay Sherfey
“They’re here.” Lydia stood back from the door. “This should be interesting.”
When Frank opened the door, Will Grossman entered.
“This kid’s a big mess.” Will looked at Lydia; then turned to Frank. “I thought you couldn’t handle anymore with the Sutter kid in the house.”
“The situation has changed.” Lydia stood feet apart, hands on her hips. “Bring him in.” Frank stood to the side ready to jump, if needed. Jason fell asleep.
Will raised his hand and signaled. His assistant, who waited on the walkway, escorted a small boy up to the porch and through the door. Dressed in brown corduroy pants with a bright yellow tee shirt, the child looked harmless; he showed no fear. Tossed out of four other foster homes in the last two years, he knew the routine.
“This is Samuel Richardson. He’s eight and has a little trouble controlling his temper.” Will watched the boy cautiously. “I’m goin’ to assume you read the bio I sent you. His last foster mother reported…”
Lydia held up her hand, palm out. Will stared at her annoyed but kept quiet. She leaned over close to Samuel and whispered in his ear. She pointed at Jason.
“That’s the kid that told the cops where to find your dad.”
Sam’s eyes shot toward the sleeping boy on the bottom step. Lydia stood upright and stepped aside. Like an arrow shot from a bow, the boy, uncontrolled, ran at Jason. Lydia put out her arm; she stopped Frank, Will, and his assistant from interfering.
“Wait,” she said softly. “Just wait.”
They watched as the boy landed punch after punch. Sam blocked their view of Jason but they imagined he tried to defend himself from the onslaught. In moments, the fury of punches lessened as Samuel’s arms tired. Finally, he stopped and turned away from his target. He sat next to him on the step; he looked confused and weary. Jason remained against the wall asleep, untouched.
“What did I tell ya?” Lydia grinned, self-satisfied. “It’s the boy, like I’ve been saying.”
“Well, I’ll be damned,” said Frank, shocked that the tool shed kid looked like nothing happened.
Jason straightened up and got to his feet. He turned heading up the stairs with his arm around Samuel’s shoulder. At the top of the stairs, they disappeared down the hallway. The adults stood frozen below, waiting to see what would happen next.
Jason returned to the top of the stairs moments later and looked down at Lydia in disgust. “Sam is in the room next to mine, asleep,” he spoke aloud. “If you ever USE ME LIKE THIS AGAIN…!” His words assaulted the minds of Lydia, Frank, and Will and brought them to their knees. They held their hands to their heads in a vain attempt to block the pain, ease the volume convulsing their brain. Will’s assistant, whom Jason left untouched, stood mesmerized.
“YOU GOT IT?”
Frank and Will nodded their heads in quick agreement. Jason released them. They continued to shiver on the floor, tears on their cheeks. Eventually they managed to stand shaken by the violence. Lydia refused to surrender. Suddenly, in her thoughts she stood in a kitchen, she knew all too well. Her father stood over her twelve year old self. “No,” she whimpered but held herself together, refusing to give into this terror.
“YOU GOT IT?”
“Yes!” she cried. “Make it stop!” Lydia lay curled up in a fetal position on the floor. Jason released her. Lydia, slow to get to her feet, looked up at Jason and detested him. She refused to cry or show weakness. The others gawked at the boy who stood above them, awestruck by what had happened.
Jason eradicated the facts of this night from the four adults’ minds, but he did not use the Etcha Sketch construct. Paper, pencil, and a large pink eraser sufficed. Working feverishly, the eraser undid the pencil description of Sam’s arrival. Like a child just learning to write, anxious to fix his mistakes, Jason left behind a graphite haze on the page; then he wrote over it. He replaced the facts of the last ten minutes with another reality. Other refinements graced the modifications on Lydia’s page.
No longer mindful of Jason’s presence, Will and his assistant turned around and left the house secure in the knowledge that the transfer of the child to the Dubois’ care was routine. Frank and Lydia went and sat at the kitchen table. They calmly discussed the new boy, feeling good about how Jason stepped in to help Sam adapt.
“There was something else? Wasn’t there?” Lydia stared at Frank. “There was a plan wasn’t there?”
“Just the usual,” said Frank. “Get a difficult kid, no one else wants and get all the money we can to take care of ’im”. Frank shrugged, not knowing what she was talking about. “No other plan you ever mentioned.”
“The boy came downstairs…,” started Lydia but shook her head.
“He took Sam upstairs and that was that.” Frank began to worry about her. She had been obsessed with the tool shed kid lately.
“Yeah,” said Lydia, giving up. “That’s it. Just the usual set up.”
Jason eavesdropped; then yawned. He returned to his room and collapsed onto his bed used up.
Chapter 13
The children returned from camp. Frank sat and listened at the kitchen table late Sunday afternoon. Laughter, punctuated by sudden, hysterical, joyful screams tumbled from the tool shed. He checked his watch, four o’clock. Dinner was next on his to-do list with the kids home. With an hour to waste he relaxed. Strange, he thought, he enjoyed the sound of children happy to be together. The thought, my kids, caught him by surprise. He pushed the feelings away. It was always about the money.
Lunch, a quiet affair earlier that day, had found him sharing the table with the tool shed kid. The usual lunchtime fare was chicken noodle soup and peanut butter on toast washed down with Kool Aid.
“Excited about the kids coming home?” Frank held up a piece of toast. He studied it. “Happy to share some of the chores?” He took a bite.
“Yeah. Lookin’ forward to catching up too.” Jason spooned soup into his mouth; he made sure none escaped.
“Hmm,” Frank acknowledged. He took a drink. “How’s Sam working out?”
“Upstairs asleep, right now.” Jason did not look up as he broke off a piece of his toast.
“Yeah. The meds will do that.” Frank stopped eating and considered Jason. “Lydia’s out too. She said something about a headache and hit the sheets.” A smile twitched across Jason’s face. Frank missed it. “So, it’s just you and me for awhile.”
“I think,” said Jason, raising his eyes to Frank’s, “that I’ll wait for the bus in front.”
“Suit yourself.” Frank felt oddly disappointed. A quiet moment ensued while Frank struggled with unfamiliar feelings. “You did a good job on the front rooms and basement. It made my life a little easier.” Frank’s fingers lightly drummed the table.
“Thanks,” Jason sat back.
“I guess your friend, Gus, Russ, whatever, will come over too?” The pace of the tapping increased.
“I hope so.” Jason paused and looked at Frank. “Is that OK?”
“Yeah, sure. Just not for dinner. OK?” Frank sat forward and stopped tapping when he noticed the old habit had returned. He pulled his fingers into his palm.
“Yeah.”
“Good.” They finished lunch. “Just put the dishes in the sink. I’ll rinse ’em.”
“Thank you, Frank.” Jason got up and put his dishes in the sink; then headed for the front porch.
Frank looked at his watch again. Five minutes passed. More laughter erupted from the shed; then it got quiet in the backyard for a moment. Frank spoke Jason’s name out loud. His fingers tapped the table again. Lydia had part of it right. There was something special about the boy.
He rose, looked out the window, while he stood at the sink. He could not remember a time when any physical ailment slowed Lydia, much less forced her to bed. Something changed, again. Try as he might he could not figure out what might have happened to cause Lydia’s headaches. Frank stacked the dishes in the dark green strainer and glanced at the tool shed.
Through the open door he saw kids sitting around the workbench. A part of him yearned to join in the laughter.
* * *
“Suzy kissed a boy!” Rachel screamed, throwing her arm around Suzy. “I thought he was pretty good lookin’ too.”
Suzy blushed. “It was just a cheek kiss.” She, Rachel, and Jason sat on beat up, wooden stools. Sam, who awoke in the early afternoon, sat on the stoop and leaned against the door still drowsy.
“You liked him.” Rachel brushed Suzy’s hair away from her face. “It was special. A good thing.”
Jason watched the two of them, like sisters, the older encouraging the younger.
“So what about that Billy kid?” asked Suzy. She turned her focus onto Rachel.
“Oh, pull-ease!” Rachel clapped her hands. “He was so full of himself.” She moved closer to Suzy and, as if in confidence, she said, “I had my eye on Victor.”
“The counselor in-training?” Suzy covered her mouth with her hand, surprised.
“Yeah…but that Sylvia girl got there first.” Rachel’s eyes flashed in anger.
“Oh, I’m sorry.” Suzy reached out and touched her hand.
“No big deal. Maybe I’ll see him next summer.” The talk stopped for a second; then the girls turned to Jason.
“How was it here?” asked Rachel.
Before Jason could answer, Russ stuck his head in the door. “Hey, sports fans!”
Looking tan and healthy, Russ stepped over Sam sitting on the threshold. “Who’s the new addition?”
“This is Sam.” Jason stood and walked over. “Sam, I want you to meet a good friend of mine. This is Russ.”
“Hiya doin’ man?” Russ stuck out his hand.
“Hey.” Sam stood, shook it, and sat back down.
“A man of few words.” Russ flashed one of his most winning smiles at Sam which elicited no response. “Works for me.” He shrugged and sat in one of the two remaining empty stools. “What’d I miss?” He looked around expectantly. When no one spoke, he shrugged again. “OK. Where’d the stools come from?” Jason returned to his seat.
“I cleaned out the basement and found these. Thought they might be useful.”
“Until our butts fall asleep.” Russ shifted his weight uncomfortable on the decrepit stool.
“Rachel had just asked,” said Jason, ignoring Russ’s comment, “what I was doing while you guys were away.”
“Well my time at camp was really somethin’,” inserted Russ; he fidgeted.
“So, tell us Russ,” said Jason. He smiled and knew he would not get a word in until Russ told his story.
In a blur of quick descriptions and personality profiles, Russ got them up to speed, ready for the finale. They were already laughing.
“Then, just to get back at those pain-in-the-butt counselors we spiked their chocolate ice cream with Ex-Lax donated by Barton. The kid was a walking pharmacy with serious constipation issues.”
“Well, all hell broke loose.” Suzy started a giggling fit. Rachel caught it as Russ continued, “Unfortunately, all of the toilet paper mysteriously disappeared.” Rachel laughed out loud which started a chain reaction of laughter. As it faded Russ added, “Did I tell ya that we nailed the out house doors shut.” It was hard to breathe laughing that hard.
“Anything else?” asked Jason. He wiped tears from his eyes.
“Nope. That about does it?” Russ leaned back, satisfied with their reactions. “Your turn.” He nodded to Jason.
“I met someone special,” Jason began.
“A girl?” Suzy, Rachel, and Russ shouted together.
“No, no. He’s a teacher over at the Penn State campus. He’s Chinese.” Jason leaned back with his arms crossed and described the time he spent with Chiang.
“Meditation, huh?” asked Russ who rolled his eyes.
“Ya know anything about it?” Jason was surprised that Russ knew the word.
“Nah. Just what I remember from a book my mom was reading. Yogurt or somethin’ like that.” He shifted in his seat and tried to get comfortable.
“Yoga,” Rachel corrected Russ.
“So, you just sit there,” asked Russ who ignored Rachel, “for a long time and stuff?”
“Yeah…and stuff.” Jason turned to the girls. “The thing is, I have no idea what happens when I’m doing it. I just kinda drop off.”
Suzy frowned. “Can you just do it or do you have to work into it?”
“I get into it almost at once.”
“How do you keep your butt from goin’ numb?” asked Russ. He stood up and pulled splinters from the back of his khaki shorts.
“What is it with you and butts?” Rachel looked exasperated.
“Well maybe,” said Russ annoyed, “if I could sit here in comfort…” He slapped his shorts and knocked any potential wooden shards away. “Man, you ever hear of sandpaper?”
Suzy ignored Russ’s complaints and said to Jason, “Show me. Maybe it’s something we need to do too.”
“Sure but it’ll be pretty boring to watch.” Jason moved from his stool to the cot. He sat crossed legged and closed his eyes.
“He was wrong,” said Russ who stood and leaned against the bench. He refused to sit on the stools of torture. “This is not pretty boring. This is ugly boring.”
“Shush,” said Suzy and Rachel.
Minutes passed. A vague sense of well-being touched the children. Russ turned to see Sam’s head lean back against the shed door with a muffled thud. A knap struck him as a good idea. He drifted and fell back on his stool; his head rested on his hand.
Suzy kept her eye on Jason not knowing what to expect. She did not feel the same drowsiness the others felt. Something was coming, a storm of sorts, forewarned in the quiet, heavy air. Suzy felt excited.
A spider dropped silently on its thin, silken tether to the cot. Suzy watched it intently. The creature crawled onto Jason’s left leg. Eventually, it disappeared under his knee.
“How?” Suzy choked when it reappeared on the right knee. She looked at Rachel asleep with her head supported on her hand. “Did you see?”
“See what?” Russ yawned.
“That spider on Jason’s leg,” she pointed. “It went under, not around.”
“That’s nuts. Couldn’t have,” said Russ.
Suzy rose from her perch, grabbed the end of the cot, and pulled. The cot moved. Jason did not.
“Holy…” Russ shocked awake, went to the other side of the cot. With Suzy’s help they pulled it from beneath their meditating friend. For a moment, Jason floated in mid-air. He slowly settled closer to the floor. Rachel, roused by Suzy’s and Russ’s action sat aghast.
“Well,” said Russ, “that’s the damnest thing I’ve ever seen.”
“What do you mean?” Rachel rose from her seat and stood by the sleeping Sam ready to bolt. “What just happened?”
Russ and Suzy looked at each other and mouthed their “uh oh”, in unison. They forgot Rachel knew nothing of Jason’s abilities.
“Oh, this?” Russ improvised and pointed at Jason. “We’ve been working this trick for months. Ya know? How do we make him seem to float?” He smiled, unconvincingly. “It’s an illusion, a trick, and it looks like Jason nailed it.”
“What? What are you saying?” Rachel said too loudly. She never took her eyes off Jason.
“It’s a trick,” repeated Suzy calmly. “Just a trick.”
“Yeah?…Good one.” Rachel laughed nervously. “I think I’m going to go find something to eat.”
“Good idea,” said Russ. “Take our sleepy friend with you,” he indicated Sam, “and bring back supplies.”
“Yeah sure,” said Rachel, desperate to get away. She roused Sam who stood groggily. Rachel took him by his shoulders and pushed him toward the house.
Russ watched from the shed door as Rachel opened the back door and shoved Sam through. “That was close.”
“I hate that I can’t talk to Rachel about this stuff.” Suzy looked sad.
�
��Well maybe you can. Jason will have to be OK with telling her.” Russ moved next to Jason. He leaned on his shoulder, tipped his friend slightly, and let go. Like a toy boat in a bathtub Jason wobbled back and forth for a few moments. Russ laughed.
“I wonder if we should wake him up?” Suzy sat on her stool.
“I wouldn’t,” said Russ. “He may be out for an hour. That’s what he does with this Chiang guy.” Russ thought for a second. “We could, ya know? Do something.” Russ looked at Suzy and half-smiled. The idea thrilled neither.
Suzy jumped off the stool and grabbed Jason by the shoulders. “Jason, time to come back.” She shook him.
Jason’s eyes fluttered open at the same time his body dropped a few inches to the floor.
“This is just too much,” Russ laughed. “So, now we know what’s saving your butt, man.”
* * *
Not long after summer camp ended, Jason introduced his closest friends to Chiang.
“You have got to try this one.” Jason pointed at a white ball of what looked like raw dough. Russ and Suzy, skeptical of the unusual fare, sat around Mrs. Lim’s table for lunch. A few days had passed since Jason floated on the air meditating in the shed. “It’s sooo good.”
Chiang picked up the identified diem sum with chop sticks and placed it on Russ’s plate.
“The adventurous palate is most often rewarded.” Chiang smiled.
Russ lifted the delicacy and examined it. Resigned to his fate he took a bite, his eyes closed. The sudden delight which registered on his face convinced Suzy to give one a try. Before long they devoured anything Mrs. Lim set in front of them. Jason, not very hungry, ate little but thoroughly enjoyed his friends’ reactions.
Afterward on the back porch, Jason sat with Chiang. Mrs. Lim gave Suzy and Russ the grand tour of her garden.
“I like your friends,” said Chiang. He smiled when he saw Suzy’s face light up as she inhaled a small white flower’s fragrance. “The girl, Suzy?” He looked at Jason who nodded, “has something special about her.”