The Light In the Dark

by Craig A. Smith

  “Maybe,” Kris answers with a purposely sadistic laugh.

  “What, were you a little rich kid starving for attention, or where you wanting to scare a bully or something?” Drake asks. Kris immediately changes demeanors and almost begins crying, which shocks Drake a bit. He looks at Drake, sniffling.

  “Sometimes things get to be too much,” Kris says. “When I’m not on my meds I start thinking about negative things all of the time. I went to school thinking that I was just going to end it all in front of everybody. You know… make everybody in that place regret all of the bad shit they have ever done to me.”

  “I’m sorry,” Drake says rubbing his shoulder, “I didn’t know it was like that.” Drake tries to immediately change the subject. “What’s it like having a shrink for a dad?” he asks, unknowingly hitting another sore subject.

  “Worse than anything you could imagine, he treats me like a patient and he is a major asshole that thinks he is smarter than everybody. If he doesn’t like what I’m doing, he’ll characterize my actions as being side effects of a disorder,” Kris says. Kris and Drake both turn their attention back to the stars. They gaze in silence for about ten to fifteen minutes.

  “Do you think there is a God somewhere out there?” Kris asks, breaking the silence.

  “Maybe,” Drake says softly, “I’m not sure. I do know there is something bigger than us out there.”

  “Have you ever read the bible?” Kris asks.

  “No,” Drake says, “but I have met a bunch of Christians and every one of them is mean and judgmental in their own way. No way God is like that.”

  “I don’t even believe in God,” Kris says, “it makes no sense.”

  “Yeah, but look at how everything comes together in life,” Drake says shifting his attention from the stars and back to Kris, “just look at how everything is tied together, even in our own bodies. Isn’t it kind of impossible to think that everything just came together accidentally like that?”

  Kris becomes extremely aggressive in his argument, exposing his hyperactivity and intellect, speaking so quickly that it is almost too difficult for Drake to process. “Isn’t it even more impossible to think that something that has the kind of power that God supposedly has just appears out of nowhere and was able to design all of this. Look at evolution, we are finding new species on a daily basis and even more species that are changing climates and evolving to meet the demands of the environment. Do you think God stepped in and changed them, or do you think that it is a natural code that we can and will never be able to explain through philosophy or religion or theory?” he asks.

  Drake takes a second to let Kris’s entire argument soak in. “You know,” Drake says, “I don’t know much about biology, but I used to watch the DVD’s of this television show called Unsolved Mysteries with my mom all of the time and there were people on the show who died and said that they saw shit before they came back to life. Not one person, or two… a lot of them. And on some of the shows there were psychics that saw dead bodies in places they had never been. When the cops found the area the psychic was talking about, the dead body was there and all of the little details explained by the psychics were there. I guess what I’m saying is that if there wasn’t anything to us but our bodies, then how can people like that see shit from like a hundred miles away? I don’t know the real answer and I’m not really looking for it. I would go crazy if I tried. I know I’m not into school like you are. I just think that there has to be something out there. It’s what I feel.”

  Kris calms down and looks at Drake, almost in admiration, “Yeah, I guess sometimes a gut feeling is just as important as any kind of educated guess,” he says.

  “I’m not stupid you know,” Drake says defensively, “I just don’t give a shit about school, I hate it. It’s like prison to me, a less annoying version of Brask. You like school and I don’t, it’s that simple. We’re just two different kinds of people. You were blessed upstairs,” Drake says as he grabs his crotch, “and I was blessed downstairs.” They both laugh.

  “What the fuck ever dude,” Kris says.

  “Yeah, what the fuck ever,” Drake says.

  A peaceful silence ensues as Drake crosses his hands behind his head and both of the boys stare at the heavens above.

  Chapter 6

  It is nearing the third shift at Brask. The young Nurse Jones is working a double shift and is obsessed with finishing her paperwork before she can go on break. She finally looks at the clock and realizes that it is 9:30. She realized that the group has yet to return and assumes that Jeff has lost time. She picks up the phone and pages the gym.

  “Jeff, it’s time for meds,” she says into the intercom. She waits for an answer, but gets none. She repeats her statement over the intercom once again. She grows worried and quickly picks up the phone to call Ed, who is at home watching television.

  “Shit,” Ed says as he pauses his DVR and picks up his ringing cell, “this is Ed.”

  “Ed, it’s Amy, I have been paging Jeff and the kids here and I’ve gotten no response. Do you have any idea where they might be?” she asks.

  “I live right down the street, I’ll be there in a minute,” he says. He mumbles to himself as he puts on his shoes, “You make twice as much as I do and you can’t even fucking think to ask anyone there to actually handle the situation… ugh, nurses!”

  Amy tries to call Jeff over the intercom once again. “Jeff,” the nurse repeats once again to no avail. She hangs up the phone and calls the nursing supervisor.

  Miss Charles, a large, imposing African-American nurse picks up the phone and answers with a sweet tone, “John J. Brask Adult Unit, this is Miss Charles, how may I help you?”

  “Miss Charles, this is Amy Jones over in the adolescent unit and we have a major problem,” Amy says.

  “Okay, what is your problem?” Miss Charles asks.

  “Well ma’am,” Amy says, “I have four kids and a counselor that haven’t come back from the gym and they are not responding to me over the intercom.”

  “Who is the MHA on duty?” Miss Charles asks.

  “Mr. Kasabian ma’am,” the young nurse replies.

  “Well, that’s odd,” Miss Charles replies, “I used to work that unit and he was never a minute late. Who all is missing?”

  “Tyrone Wilson, Drake Bollinger, Kris Edwards and Hiram Gutierrez ma’am,” Amy says.

  “Have you seen any of them since they left for recreation time?” Miss Charles asks.

  “No ma’am, it’s like they vanished into thin air,” Amy says, “I tried paging him twice already and he never responded to the page,” she says.

  “I’m on my way down,” Miss Charles says as she hangs up the phone and charges out the door.

  “My goodness,” Amy says as she hangs up the phone, “I hope everything is okay.” She immediately sees Miss Charles running down the hallway towards her. Amy buzzes her in. Miss Charles has a determined and worried look on her face, which Amy mistakes for anger. Amy immediately adjusts her posture in fear.

  “Now what is going on here?” Miss Charles asks with a booming voice.

  “I can’t find Jeff or the kids,” Amy says.

  “I know that much child,” Miss Charles says “Have you checked the gym?”

  “No,” Amy replies.

  “Oh my Lord,” Miss Charles states, “for future reference you should do that first… get somebody from another unit to watch your station and then check. How long have they been missing?”

  “I don’t know,” Amy says, “maybe an hour and a half.” She points at the security screens on her desk. “Can we run the tape to at least see which way they went?”

  “Honey, those cameras aren’t connected locally, some business does that for us and I already called them the second I heard that everyone was missing,” Miss Charles says as Ed bursts into the room.

  “Ed, thank god,” Miss Charles says as she runs over to him.

  “What can I do for you Miss Charles?” Ed asks.
“I heard that Jeff and the kids are missing or something.”

  Amy looks at Miss Charles, trying to make it seem as if at least she did something right. “I called him first,” Amy says lightheartedly.

  Miss Charles looks at her as if she just called her mother a vile name and then she shifts her attention back to Ed, “Ed, when was the last time you saw Kasabian, Wilson, Bollinger, Edwards and Gutierrez?” she asks.

  “The last time I saw the kids, I was dropping them off to Jeff at the gym, then I went home… what you didn’t think to check there first?” he asks Amy.

  Miss Jones runs to the door, “Lord Jesus, let’s go check the gymnasium, maybe they somehow locked themselves in the equipment room or something,” she frantically says as she grabs Ed by the arm and takes off at full sprint. When they make it to the gymnasium, Ed opens the door and finds Jeff lying on the ground, a look of shock lays over each of them. They hurry to their bloody co-worker and check his vitals.

  “He’s out cold,” Ed says. Miss Charles checks his airway while Ed checks his pulse.

  “He’s breathing,” Miss Charles says, “but he might have a serious concussion. I hope that he is alright.”

  Ed takes his hand off of Jeff’s wrist, “His pulse is strong, I’ll call an ambulance and the police department and see if they can find the kids somewhere around here,” he says.

  “I’ll stay here with Jeff,” Miss Charles says, “Hurry!”

  Ed sprints out of the room. The nurse’s demeanor has changed from irritation to worry. Jeff starts to slowly wake up and begins mumbling incoherently.

  “Jeff,” Miss Charles says, “do you know where you are?” He groans in pain, lifting his hand to his head and feeling the swollen bloody wound on his temple. He looks at the dried blood on his fingertips as they come into focus and he becomes more lucid.

  “Miss Charles?” he asks.

  “Yes Jeff, do you know where you are?” she asks.

  He slowly takes in his surroundings, “I’m at work, somewhere in the gym,” he says.

  “What happened?” she asks. “Where are the boys?”

  “There was a fight between Tyrone and Hiram,” he says, “I tried to stop it and Tyrone hit me with a chair.”

  “Do you remember anything after that?” she asks.

  “No,” Jeff says, “my head hurts.”

  “Ed is here and the police and an ambulance are on the way,” she says. “Just lay real still until the paramedics arrive.” Paramedics calmly walk into the gymnasium and begin working on Jeff. Ed returns behind them and notices that Jeff is somewhat conscious. He looks to Miss Charles.

  “Did he say anything?” Ed asks.

  “Yeah,” Miss Charles responds, “he said that he tried to stop a fight between Hiram and Tyrone and Tyrone ended up attacking him with a chair.”

  “Did he say where they might have gone?” Ed asks.

  “Nope,” Miss Charles says, “his guess seems to be as good as ours.” Ed walks over to Jeff, who is being lifted onto a gurney.

  “After we get this mess sorted out I will be at the hospital,” Ed says.

  “Call my wife for me,” Jeff says, “but make sure that she isn’t worried about me… make sure to let her know that I am alright.”

  “Sure thing,” Ed says as the paramedics roll Jeff out of the gymnasium.

  They return to the unit and Miss Charles stares at Amy, who is doing everything possible to avoid eye contact with her. Twenty minutes of silence is broken by Miss Charles. “How could you let this happen?” she asks Amy with a disappointed tone. Rather than argue, Amy puts her head down and tries not to engage her in further conversation.

  “She couldn’t have known Miss Charles,” Ed says, while looking up from his game of Candy Crush. “Take it easy on her.”

  Miss Charles shakes her head in disappointment and stares at the clock, watching the seconds tick away.

  An obese man in a jogging suit approaches Ed and Miss Charles. “Excuse me,” the man says, “I work for the security company and someone gave me an emergency call telling me that you needed to see some footage.”

  “My name is Miss Charles,” she says as she jumps out of her chair.

  The man extends his hand and Miss Charles shakes it. “Hello Miss Charles, my name is Frank Teague. Sorry, I usually am dressed more professionally, but I was out when I got the call and figured you might need this ASAP. Do you have a room where we can view this?” He pulls a DVD out of his briefcase.

  “We have a conference room right around the corner,” Miss Charles responds, “follow me.” She looks back at Amy and says “You can stay behind, young lady.” They follow Miss Charles to a large conference room. Ed and Miss Charles take a seat and Mr. Teague puts in the DVD and sits down with them.

  “I have already reviewed this,” Mr. Teague says, “and I am sad to tell you that we have very limited footage.” He hits play; they see nothing more than the boys exiting the the building. The DVD ends.

  “They had to go right by me,” Miss Charles says.

  “That’s it? That’s all of the footage that you have?” Ed asks.

  “Yes sir,” Mr. Teague responds.

  “Well, where is the video from the gym?” Ed asks.

  “Brask was contacted last year about the issues with their surveillance coverage due to equipment failure,” Mr. Teague says.

  “And they didn’t do anything about it?” Miss Charles asks. “I was told that issue would be addressed when we received the surplus income to fix the problem.”

  “This is absolutely ridiculous,” Ed says, “I am so tired of this penny pinching bullshit”

  Mr. Teague produces a cut-throat smile and hands them the DVD. “Well here is your copy,” he says. “And when your company wants to get a little bit more serious about the security of its patients and employees, I suggest you give us a call and we’ll come out and repair your equipment.” He leaves Ed and Miss Charles alone in the room.

  “Well that guy was an ass,” Miss Charles says. Ed doesn’t respond, still furious. Miss Charles tries to soothe him by putting her hand on his shoulder, Ed shrugs her off.

  “What’s wrong?” she asks.

  “Everything,” Ed says.

  “What do you mean by everything?” she asks.

  “The whole thing, all of it is wrong,” Ed says.

  “I’m sure that after this is over we will get new cameras,” she says.

  “I don’t know that I will be around to see that happen,” Ed says.

  Miss Charles shows a look of concern. “What do you mean?”

  “I’m quitting,” Ed says, “consider this my resignation.”

  “You can’t quit,” Miss Charles says. “You are my best MHA on the floor.”

  Ed sits solemnly. It is an awkward demeanor, an overall presence of seriousness which could easily shift into aggressiveness if he were provoked. Miss Charles uses a more therapeutic tone to calm him down.

  “Ed, we all have bad days honey,” she says.

  “Please, don’t try to pacify or manipulate me,” he says.

  “I’m not,” she says, “I just think that you are angry right now and you are not thinking things through.”

  “You know,” Ed says, “when I started working here last year I really thought that I was going to help people… make a difference. But in reality, this place is nothing more than a whorehouse for the wealthy. Since I’ve started working here, we have never taken in a patient who is uninsured, regardless of how serious their condition is. Oh, I’m sorry; we also take in children from juvenile services who do not meet our institutional requirements on the state’s dime as well. We use psychiatrists who spend maybe five minutes a week with them. Our department’s operational budget regarding treatment is nonexistent. These people don’t give two shits about these kids, or our employees for that matter, it is all about the money. A kid can say we did anything to them and we cannot even rebuke a claim because they won’t invest in cameras like a viable institution!”
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  “But, you care about them, I do as well,” Miss Charles gently responds, “That is why we do this.”

  “Well, I do care about the kids. But I’m not going to be a part of what goes on here anymore,” Ed says, “I’m through with this nonsense.”

  “But if you leave this place will fall apart,” she says.

  Ed shakes his head in disappointment at her attempts to play on his good nature. “Maybe it needs to fall apart,” he says, “maybe it needed to fall apart a long time ago. Good luck Miss Charles.” Ed gets out of his chair and walks out of the door. Miss Charles sits alone in the room wondering if Ed Franklin will ever walk back through the door again.

  Chapter 7

  Tyrone and Hiram cruise down the road in their stolen Ford Bronco in complete and utter silence. Hiram watches the mile markers quickly go by, leaving tracers as they speed by them. They make their way to Pine Lake; the minutes that have passed feel more like hours to Hiram. They pass a used car dealership sitting in the darkness on the side of the road.

  “Have you been here before?” Tyrone asks.

  “Kind of, my dad has taken me and my brother fishing out here before,” Hiram says.

  “I’m out the zoo known as the Lou,” Tyrone says, “there ain’t shit around here.”

  Hiram points to a small liquor store nearby, which appears to be closed. “Hey, check it out,” he says. Tyrone slows down the Bronco and pulls into the parking lot. Hiram becomes a bit giddy at the possibility of scoring some booze.

  “Are you thirsty?” Hiram asks, devilishly rubbing his hands together.

  “Bet,” Tyrone says with a slick smile. Tyrone scans the area to make sure that no one is around and slowly pulls the Bronco behind the store. They slowly get out of the truck, hyperaware of their surroundings. They creep around the back of the old store and begin looking for the easiest way in. Tyrone approaches a small window in the back and peeks inside. He sees a camera in each corner of the store.