by Frank Nunez
“Petey!”
“Oh, children. How I love to play,” Mr. Hugo said. “Hannah, come here.”
“Yes?” Hannah said nervously.
He handed her the pistol, smoke still rising from the barrel. He whispered in her ear. She shuttered from what he said. “But, haven’t you proved your point? This is not necessary. He’s only a baby.”
“That is why we must release him from this ‘cruel world,’ ” Mr. Hugo said.
“I can’t,” she said.
“Hannah…”
“Please, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself. I had a little brother. Don’t you remember?”
“Ha! Now is when you discover your guilty conscience? You’ve been able to sleep well all those nights, after all we’ve done here. How rich.”
“I can’t.”
“Do it!” Mr. Hugo yelled.
Hannah took Petey, pointing the gun at him.
“Hannah, please don’t!” I yelled. Charles and Felix held me back. “Don’t kill him Hannah! You don’t have to do this!”
“Don’t listen to him, shoot him!” Mr. Hugo yelled.
Hannah and I stared at each other from across the room, locking eyes for the last time. “I’m sorry, Jake. I’m so sorry,” she said. She shoved Petey aside, pointing the gun directly at Mr. Hugo and pulled the trigger.
The gun didn’t fire. He snatched the gun away from her in disgust. “Pity. If only you took the safety off.”
I finally pulled away from Felix and Charles, sprinting across no man’s land. I reached for Mr. Hugo, knocking off his balance while a guard tackled me. Mr. Hugo already got off a shot. Hannah fell clutching her stomach, her blouse soaked in red.
Mr. Hugo went to grab Petey. He bit Mr. Hugo’s hand. “You little s**t!” He smacked Petey, knocking him to the ground. I managed to get away from the guard. I clenched my fist as tightly as I could. The punch cleared Mr. Hugo’s face. I never punched so hard in my entire life. The sensation of my fist landing on bone and flesh felt good and primitive. I picked up Petey.
Mr. Hugo grabbed his pistol and ran off. Felix and Charles led the rest of the boys, attacking guards and striking while the iron was hot. I went to Hannah. I saw the blood from her wounds drip onto the floor, creating a pool of crimson. The blood, dark, thickened with every drip.
I held her head as madness ensued around me. Her expression was calm and warm. Her eyes were as I remembered them when I first met her. She seemed innocent again, at peace with the death that was about to come. “Hannah?”
“Hello, Jake.”
“You’re going to be ok.”
“You’re lying again.”
“I’m going to take you out of here. I’ll take you away from this place.”
“Oh, if only that were possible. Jake, where I am going, you cannot follow. I must pay for what I have done here. I only hope that God grants me mercy. I’m so sorry. Jake?”
“Yes?”
“Would you have really taken me to America?”
“Yes.”
“We would have had an amazing time, wouldn’t we?”
“Yes, Hannah.”
“Why did it have to be this way?”
“I don’t know, Hannah.”
“Jake, what if there’s nothing at the end?”
“Stop talking.”
“I’m scared.”
“You’re going to be alright.”
She began to pass, but her eyes grew bigger like something came toward her. An expression of shock as if she saw something she had never seen before. I closed her eyes with my hand as she took her last breath. Her blood was on my shirt. I couldn’t take my eyes off of her. I felt someone shove my shoulder. “Jake, we have to go,” Charles said.
Felix came, kneeling down next to me. “She’s gone, Jake. We must go.” I let go of Hannah.
“Where’s Petey?” I yelled.
Captain Longwood grabbed him. He raised his billy club. I tackled him to the ground. I punched him square in the nose. Blood exploded from his nostrils.
“Good show. I think you broke the son of bitch’s nose!” Charles yelled.
I let Charles and Felix take care of our friend Captain Longwood. I took Petey aside. “You alright, kid?”
He hugged me, clinging to my neck. “It’s ok, kid. Everything is going to be alright.”
“Do I have to leave again?” he asked.
“No, this time you’re sticking with me.”
“Do I get to fight?!”
“You’re staying no less than three feet away from me and that’s non-negotiable. Understand?”
“Yes,” he pouted.
I let go of Petey and got back into the fight.
Chapter 28
I lost track of how long the fight ensued. It just seemed endless and brutal. Some of us ran off into the inner workings of Crowam with some guards in pursuit. The morning crept up on the horizon as we fought through the wee hours of the night. We all were tired. It’s been at least twenty-four hours since any of us got some sleep. Sleep would have been nice. Beside the billy clubs, we started using the cafeteria stools as weapons. We used whatever we could find.
The guards threw some tear gas bombs at us. The smoke burned my eyes and lungs, causing me to cough uncontrollably. The fighting spilled over outside into the courtyard where we were out in the open. The morning was bright, with the sun beaming down on the insurrection below.
“How long can we keep going like this?” Charles asked.
“I don’t know. Not too much longer,” I said. “Where the hell is Owen?”
“He could be captured or dead,” Felix said.
“We don’t know that,” I said.
“So what are we supposed to do if ‘the cavalry’ doesn’t arrive, as you Americans put it,” Jake said.
“I don’t know.”
“Perhaps we should have come up with a plan B,” Charles said.
“There is no plan B. If we surrender, we’re dead, finished. Either way we’re fighting until we leave this place or… well, you get the idea.”
“At least we could say we had a good crack at it,” Felix said.
“It’s not over yet.”
“My God.” The ground might as well have trembled with his footsteps. The Bus Driver, as he is known, entered the arena like a giant beast, slowly lumbering his way toward us. “Things are about to get very interesting,” Felix said.
“I want you and Charles to find whoever is left and get them out here. I’ll do my best to hold him back,” I said.
“Clearly you must be joking?” Charles said.
“I told you I would take care of the Bus Driver. You have a chance to get out of here. Take it.”
“Do you have some sort of death wish or something?”
“I’m not going down on their terms. I’m doing it my way.”
“Bravado and pride don’t work in these circumstances, Jake. We have to stick together. That was part of the plan,” Charles said.
“Well, the plan has changed.”
“Damn it, man. Don’t be a fool!”
“Just get out of here. I’ll see you on the other side.”
The Bus Driver tossed the other boys around like rag dolls. He grabbed one boy and elbowed him, his face bloody. He fell onto the ground. “Well, boy, we meet again,” he said.
I said nothing, just analyzing his sheer size. “I’m going to take pleasure in breaking every bone in your body. It won’t be quick. I’m going to make sure you suffer, you little bastard.”
I knew attacking him head on would be futile. He would be expecting it. Plus he was far bigger. The dirt was muddy from the light rain the night before. I ran toward him, sliding beneath his massive legs. With one swoop, I swung my billy club at his crouch, hitting a bundle of genitalia. He shrieked in agony, falling to his knees.
I grabbed him behind his neck, choking him with the billy club. I squeezed as tight as I could, trying to squeeze every last bit of air out of his lungs. He got back on his feet as
I held on for dear life. His giant arms swung against the wind, trying to grab me. I felt his adam’s apple underneath my forearm. It felt like a ball underneath rubber.
I squeezed tighter, only agitating him further. His arms were like propellers from one of them giant B-17s my dad used to fly, whipping through the air, the wind hitting my face. Charles and Felix charged the Bus Driver, punching anywhere they thought would do harm. He kicked Charles in the stomach, sending him to the ground in agony.
“Hang on, Jake,” Felix said.
One of his giant hands finally grabbed me. With one swoop, he tossed me several feet. It felt like I was floating. The ground and sky swirled around me. I hit the ground, back first. I felt a sharp pain shoot through my body. For a moment, I thought I broke my back. “Damn it!” I yelled. The pain paralyzed me. I couldn’t move, immobilized by pain and fear. “Is this how I’m going to go?” I thought.
“Jake!” Felix ran to me.
“Get out of here,” I yelled.
“Shut up, will you?”
The ground trembled with his footsteps as he came closer. I tried getting up, but my body felt like calling it quits. “This is the end for you” The Bus Driver lumbered toward us.
“Do I have to do everything myself, Yank?” The Bus Driver’s legs buckled, as Tom blindsided him with the hardest punch I’d ever seen. The Bus Driver’s teeth blew out of his mouth, his mouth frothy with blood. Tom went over and reached out his hand. “You going to lay there all day or you going to get back in the fight?”
I couldn’t help but smile. I grabbed his hand. He lifted me off the ground with relative ease. “Glad you could join us,” I said.
“It’s about bloody time,” Felix said.
“You broke my teeth!” the Bus Driver screamed. The three of us tackled him to the ground. We punched and kicked him till we couldn’t kick and punch anymore. His face was flushed and swollen. The tide turned with our defeat of the large brute. We heard a large crash coming from the front gate. Police vehicles began pouring into the courtyard.
“My God, Owen did it!” Felix yelled.
“Where’s Charles?” I said.
Charles was still on the ground, spitting out blood like he was going to cough out a lung.
“You ok?” I asked.
“He kicked me in the bloody stomach!” Charles said.
“Can you get up?”
“I think so.” Tom helped him up. “Oh, that hurts.” Charles complained.
“Oh, shut up,” Tom said.
“Nice seeing you too.”
The guards ran off as more police entered the courtyard. The boys cheered in victory. I looked up to Mr. Hugo’s office window, finding a presence behind the windowpane. “Where are you going?” Felix said.
“I have some unfinished business with Mr. Hugo.”
“Damn it, man. What are you doing? It’s over!”
“Not for me it isn’t,” I said.
The hallways were eerily quiet leading to Mr. Hugo’s office. Guards sprinted through the hallways, ignoring my presence. The door to Mr. Hugo’s office was slightly ajar, as if it was waiting for an invitation to be opened. The door creaked as I opened it. The sun flared into the room, the rays hitting Mr. Hugo’s oak table.
The rays were so bright you could see the dust float and dance amid the light. The room seemed unoccupied. I entered the room. The room was pristine, as if it had been uninhabited for some time. I had a chance to survey the room before I felt the sensation of cold steel pressed again the back of my head.
I turned, with Mr. Hugo pointing the gun directly at me. “Put your hands up,” he said. His expression was tranquil, but behind his phlegmatic demeanor was buried a seed of volatility that could escalate the situation very quickly. “You don’t cease to amaze me, Mr. Hudson.”
“It’s over Mr. Hugo.”
“Over?”
“Yes. Why don’t you look out the window and see for yourself.”
“I’m sorry to see that you think my work is over. But it has just begun.”
“How’s that?”
“There is something else that I have taken away from all of you and that is your innocence. Instead, I have replaced it with contempt and cynicism you will carry with you into the world. That is how I will continue my legacy. You will one day pursue your own inhibitions based on what I have given you. You will aspire to achieve great power, by freeing yourself and enslaving others. That is the way the world should be run, by only a select few controlling the stakes. People are stupid vile creatures, animals that need to be controlled. That is where someone like me comes in.”
“I suppose you know what’s best for the rest of us?”
“Why, somebody must set standards for how life should be lived, a life which is to service those who are more powerful than they are.”
“To be a slave?”
“Slave is a strong world. I believe it is a noble life to serve to those who are superior. I see much promise in you, Mr. Hudson. When I look at you, I see myself.”
“I’m nothing like you!”
“That is because you’re still an idealist. But that will soon change.”
“What makes you so sure?”
“We all have it within us to terrible things. I saw you that night beside Thomas, ready to smother him with that pillow. I watched you how you wanted to put an end to his condition. I admit it was quite admirable.”
“But I didn’t do it.”
“Yes, but something else will trigger that inner impulse for savagery. You already had your taste of it.”
Everything I said he had a counterargument for. No matter what I said, he always seemed to be right in a twisted sort of way. Nothing I said seemed to matter. I felt insignificant and inferior to a man who seemed to know all the answers. Yet I knew he was wrong in so many ways.
He went to the mantle where the Russian pistol was still in its holster. He removed it from its holster and handed it to me. “Take it. It’s loaded,” he said. He placed down his gun on the desk. I picked it up, not thinking twice about it.
“I know you hate me, Jake. I can see it in your eyes, in your demeanor. I am terribly sorry you feel that way. In some way, I was hoping we could be friends, but, it seems due to the circumstances…”
“Friends, with you?”
“Perhaps ‘friend’ is not the appropriate word . Mentor would be a better fit. That’s all I really ever wanted to be to all of you. But, sadly, you couldn’t see the value of what I was offering.” I pointed the gun at Mr. Hugo.
I wanted to press the trigger so badly. To shut him up for good. My finger began squeezing the trigger. “Shut up!”
“Yes. That’s it. Let your hatred of me rise through you. It’s been sitting there all this time. Release it.”
“Just shut up. Be quiet!”
“Come on, Jake. You have the gun. Shoot me.”
“I’ll kill you, I swear it.”
“That’s what I’m hoping for. Pull the trigger.”
The gun trembled in my hand. I yearned to pull that damn trigger. I aimed the sight right at his head. The palms of my hands were sweaty. I thought I was going to drop the gun. But as much as I hated him, I lowered the pistol and dropped it on the floor. I just couldn’t go through with it. I could beat someone with my bare hands, but I just couldn’t bring myself and kill another man. There was enough death in Crowam. I didn’t want to contribute to it anymore.
Mr. Hugo looked amused. His amusement turned to disappointment. “What are you doing?” Mr. Hugo asked.
“I won’t do it.”
“What?”
“As much as I want to kill you, killing you won’t change anything that happened here. Like I said, I’m nothing like you.”
Mr. Hugo had a malicious smirk. “Have it your way, Mr. Hudson.” Mr. Hugo raised his pistol, pointing it at me once again. My ear rang from the gunshot that came from the door. I jumped from the shot. The pane of glass behind Mr. Hugo exploded with bloody fragments. His eyes rol
led. The back of his head exploded, with only a small entry wound in the front made from a small caliber gun.
Mr. Hugo fell to the floor with a loud thud, like a sack of potatoes. The blood and fragments of brain slid down the windowpane. The policeman emerged from behind the door. I was dazed, my ears still ringing, but it was at that point I knew Mr. Hugo couldn’t harm anyone else. I knew my time at Crowam was over.
Chapter 29
The morning quickly turned to afternoon. The sun, as bright as ever, shined over Crowam. I was exhausted. I could have slept for several days. The courtyard was buzzing with policemen, some reporters, and God know who else.
I sat against a brick wall and ate some soup. I was hiding beneath a blanket one of the policemen gave me. I was in one of those trances where I zoned out into a parallel universe of nothingness. The blanket kept me warm, insulating me from the cold yet sunny winter day. I laughed at myself for a moment. The gun Mr.Hugo gave me wasn’t loaded. The policeman who shot Mr.Hugo told me. Mr.Hugo was conniving tell the very end. But now, all I knew was that it was over.
Despite this, I sort of felt empty. I couldn’t understand why initially. At first, I was relieved that my ordeal at Crowam was over. There was no war to fight, no struggle to wage against. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do. I figured that I could go back to the States, but there wasn’t anyone waiting for me back home. I had no parents and no family, really. Hell, the only family I ever had were the friends I befriended behind these very walls.
Felix, Owen, and Charles approached me, looking just as beaten and tired as me. “Good lord,” I said to Owen. “I didn’t think you could pull it off.”
“I’m glad I could prove you wrong,” Owen said.
I embraced Owen, it was the least I could do. “You did good, buddy. You did real good.”
“Thanks, Jake.”
“I think I didn’t do too shabby myself, if I may be so bold,” Charles said.
“Charles, you’re a regular statesman,” I said. “A Goddamn Winston Churchill. You keep making speeches like that, they may make you Prime Minister.”
“Prime minister. I like the sound of that.”