“Thanks for warning us Carl.”
Carl wasn’t sure whether Max was being sarcastic. Carl had called out Max’s name in the fields before they’d been hit.
“A little too late!” Max finished angrily.
“Max, I’m sorry, I didn’t see them…”
“You didn’t see six people running toward us, two of them with bats?!”
“I was watching the fight!”
“Why were you watching the fight Carl?! Explain that to me please. Why were you off hiding behind some bushes while the rest of us were getting our asses kicked?!”
“I didn’t want to…”
“You didn’t want to get involved?! Is that it?!” Max backhanded him across the face. “Let me tell you something Carl! You are involved! Ever since you joined the Dragons you’ve been involved!”
Carl massaged his cheek.
“You’d better get used to being involved! And should you ever decide to back out on us again, or God forbid, decide to leave the Dragons, I will personally cut your fuckin’ balls off and feed them to
you!!” Spittle flew from his lips as he said this. A vein bulged in his
forehead. “Do you understand?!”
Carl nodded emphatically.
“I said- Do you understand?! Answer me!” Max slapped him again.
“Y-yeah Max, yeah, I understand.”
“Go!” Max pointed to the door.
Carl didn’t understand.
“I said GO!!”
Carl turned and started to walk off. Max kicked him in the ass, causing him to fall on his face, which in turn caused the others to laugh.
“And don’t come back until you’re ready to be one of us again. And that’d better be quick, you hear me Carl?”
Carl turned his head, and looked up at Max from where he lay on the floor, and looked at him with something like hatred, his face red with indignation. “Yesss!” he hissed.
“Now go,” Max said, “Get your ugly ass out of my sight.”
Carl got up, turning back once, and then strode to the doors. He heard everyone’s raucous laughter as he shut the door behind him.
2
“What are you saying Staci?! My God, what are you saying?!”
“I’m saying that this husband of yours has tried to rape me three times, but fortunately he was so damn drunk, I was able to fight him off! And you slept through it all! That’s what I’m saying!”
“Staci, do you realize what you’re saying?! What you’re accusing your father of?!”
“He’s NOT my father!! He never was and never will be! He’s just some bum you picked up off the streets, and he tried to rape me!”
Nora looked at her daughter through slitted eyes. She would
hear none of it. “Liar!”
“FUCK YOU! You can’t believe your own daughter who’s trying to tell you she was almost raped by this scum! Go to hell then, I’m leaving!”
“That’s enough! Staci, you come back here!”
Staci bounded outside. “Goodbye! Have fun with your rapist husband!” She slammed the door behind her.
No one followed.
3
“Tony?”
“Yeah, what’s up Jere?”
“Not much. Did you get in trouble with your mom?” Jeremy asked.
Silence on the other line.
“Tony?”
“Oh no. Not really. She got over it. You?”
“Same.”
“Hey listen Jere; I was thinking, tomorrow, before we start celebrating Christmas with our families, we should pay someone a visit.”
4
“Myron?”
“Yes mom?”
“Hey, you’re sounding better today. There are some boys here to see you.”
Myron looked at the clock on his nightstand. It was ten a.m. Myron got up out of bed and left his room to see who was waiting for him at the door. In a second of panic he thought it might be the Dragons. Then he thought it was crazy to think that, and then realized that the Dragons were crazy. Thankfully it wasn’t them.
“Tony, Jeremy, Johnny!”
“We decided we’d pay you a visit, see how you were doing,” Johnny said.
“Yeah,” Jeremy agreed.
“Great, it is great to see you guys!”
“I notice you’ve still got a little wheeze going there,” Johnny commented.
“You should have heard me yesterday.”
“We did, remember?”
“Oh that is right,” he chuckled. “Come on in guys. There is the sofa. We can sit there.”
“Why do you do that?” Johnny said.
“Do what?”
“Say stuff like that is right instead of that’s right?”
“Do you mean, why do I speak properly?” Myron said.
Myron’s mother poked her head in from the kitchen and asked if any of them wanted something to drink.
“No ma’am, thank you,” they each calmly replied.
“Does she know?” Johnny whispered.
“About me getting beat up? Yeah, but I did not involve any of you.”
“Thanks Myron,” Tony said.
“Where is Staci?” Myron asked.
“I don’t know,” Tony frowned. “I called her house last night, but nobody was home.”
“That is strange,” Myron said. “Did anyone check if she made it home all right after we had split up?”
“Yeah,” Jeremy said. “I saw her go inside before I went off to my house.”
5
“Mother?” Staci said, coming face to face with her, as soon as she opened the door.
Nora had positioned the sofa chair several feet from the door so she
would see her daughter come in, as she sat there and drank coffee.
“Staci, my God! I looked for you all night! Where were you?”
“Where you couldn’t find me.” Staci sat down.
“Staci…”
“Where’s your hubby?”
“I kicked him out, the rotten bastard.”
“What?!” Staci sat up.
“I kicked him out! He admitted it! He told me he tried to have sex with you, like there was nothing wrong with it, like I was the crazy one. It was almost like he was proud of it!”
Staci stared at her.
“I’m so sorry honey. I’m sorry I ever doubted you. I shouldn’t have called you a liar. Can you ever forgive me?”
“Maybe.”
“I guess I’m not much of a mother. I wouldn’t blame you if you hated me right now.”
“I wouldn’t blame me either,” Staci retorted.
“Please believe me when I tell you, I am so sorry honey.” Her mother was on the verge of tears. “I never meant to hurt you Staci. I just didn’t want to believe anyone was capable of hurting you. You know I love you. Please find it in your heart to forgive me.” She extended her arms toward Staci. Staci got up and walked to her, letting her mother embrace her, without raising her own arms.
“You hurt me mother.”
“I know baby, I’m so sorry. Why do I always fall for the wrong men?”
“Not always,” Staci said, “There was Daddy.”
“Yes,” she smiled. “There was. I guess even now, no one could ever replace your real dad. And no one, absolutely no one could ever replace you baby.”
Staci did hug her back now, and cried on her shoulder.
“He didn’t hurt you, did he? He didn’t get… anywhere?”
Staci knew what her mother was asking. “Noooo. I didn’t give him the chance.”
Nora smiled. “That’s my girl.” She paused for a moment. “Oh, I just remembered. Your brother called this morning! He’s going to be able to make it after all.”
“Joey?” Staci said excitedly. “Joey’s coming home for Christmas?!”
Her mother nodded. “He scrounged up all his money, and borrowed what he needed from his roommate. He should be heading to the airport as we speak.”
“All right! Joey’s coming home! Joey’s
coming home!” Staci got up and danced around the couch. She hadn’t seen her brother since last Christmas.
Nora laughed at her daughter’s antics. After last night’s episode she was glad they felt like a family again.
6
“You can call now if you want,” Myron suggested. “You can use the living room phone, there by the table.”
Tony went to pick it up. When he did, he quickly hung it back up. “Whoops.”
“What?” Myron asked.
“Your mom’s on the phone.”
“Myron!” Laura Powers called from the kitchen.
“Yes Mom?!”
“Did you want to use the phone?!”
“Yes, my friend needs to call his mom!”
Brilliant, Tony thought.
“All right!” she called back. “I’m done! Tell your friend it’s all right!”
Myron gestured to Tony, “It is…”
“All right,” Tony finished. “I heard.”
He picked up the phone again.
7
“Staci, it’s for you!”
Staci ran to the phone. “Yes, hello?”
“Staci, its Tony.”
“Hey Tony, what’s up?”
“I was going to ask you the same thing. I was trying to reach you last night but nobody answered.”
“Oh yeah.” Staci paused to see if her mother was still in the kitchen. She caught her just as she went into the living room, probably to watch one of her soaps. She whispered, “I got into a big fight with my mother, and I left the house. I guess she went looking for me afterward.”
“Oh, about being home late?”
“Yeah, uh, sort of.”
“Sort of?” Tony asked.
“Never mind.”
“Oh well, I’m glad you’re all right. Hey, we’re all at Myron’s house. We decided to pay him a visit. That’s why I called. You can still come over if you want.”
“Yeah, that’d be great. I’ll be over in a while.”
“All right,” Tony said. “We’ll see you then.”
“How is he?” Staci said, before he could hang up.
“Myron?”
“Yeah.”
“He’s better. His nose is still broken though.”
She heard the others laughing in the background.
“That’s mean,” Staci said.
“Yeah, what can I say? I make jokes out of the worst situations. Catch you later.”
“So she’s all right?” Johnny inquired, as he hung up the phone.
“Yeah, she’s fine,” Tony replied. “She ran off last night after a fight with her mom, and her mom was out looking for her.”
“So they patched things up?” Jeremy asked.
“Yeah, I guess. I’m not sure. I guess they must’ve. She’s coming isn’t she?”
8
The doorbell rang. Myron’s mother looked at the door curiously. “Who can it be now?” Laura rushed from the kitchen and through the living room, past the sofa where they sat, to get the door.
“Hi,” Staci said when she opened the door. “Is Myron home?”
Laura turned around. “Well Myron, you seem to be the object of visitation today. And from a very pretty girl too.”
Myron blushed, embarrassed. “She is just a friend Mom.” None of them missed the note of disappointment in his voice.
“Well come in friend,” Laura said.
“Thank you,” Staci answered, stepping in.
“How come so many people know about your condition Myron?” his mother asked, semi-suspiciously. “I thought you were alone when those bullies attacked you.”
The group froze. Myron hadn’t planned on the others showing up the next day.
“I made some calls last night in bed,” Myron said, thinking quickly. “Before I went to sleep.”
“After we’d told you to rest and take it easy?”
“Sorry Mom. I could not sleep for a while.” In truth he’d been out like a light as soon as he’d jumped into bed.
“The aspirin didn’t help?”
“A little, but it took a while.”
“How’re you feeling now? Any pain?”
“No Mom. I am fine now.”
“Good.” She looked at Staci. “Would you like something to drink sweetie?”
“No ma’am, thank you. I’m fine,” Staci said.
“If any of you get hungry, let me know. I’ll make something
for you. I know it’s close to lunchtime.”
They nodded and thanked her.
“She’s sweet,” Staci told Myron, as she left.
“Yes,” Myron said. “She can be a little too sweet. She can be a pain in the ass sometimes.”
“That’s not nice Myron,” Staci said.
“Yeah,” Johnny said. “You should quit emphasizing your asses so much.”
They chuckled.
“So how’re you feeling?” Staci asked him.
“All right,” Myron said. “Better.”
“That’s good,” Staci said. “I still can’t believe we all made it through that.”
No one disagreed.
“I mean, I was sure that was the last time we’d ever see daylight again.”
Tony cut in. “I think we should have a meeting!”
“Huh?” Johnny wondered.
“I mean, I think we should call the others, the ones that helped us. We should all get together and talk about what we’re going to do about the Dragons. More power in numbers right?”
He’s not so dumb, Jeremy thought. He seems to be the only one who’s thinking of everything.
“Let’s do it,” Johnny said.
9
“Oh jeeze!” Jeremy said suddenly.
“What?” Tony asked.
“I forgot! I was supposed to be back home by eleven to help with the tree. It’s almost twelve now!”
“Yeah,” Tony said. “I’d better be getting home myself.”
“Me too. There’s someone I want to give a call,” Staci said.
Myron nodded.
“Well guess I’m going to go too,” Johnny said, “Since everyone else is leaving.” He hit Myron lightly on the shoulder. “I’ll see you later champ. Hang in there.”
They said their goodbyes and left.
As they exited Staci stopped Jeremy. “Thank you for yesterday.”
“Yesterday?” he asked, puzzled. Then he remembered tackling Sam and pounding on him to get him away from Staci. Jeremy still could not believe that had been him. “Oh, yesterday, it was no big deal.”
“Yes, it was, and I wanted to thank you for it. It was very sweet, and brave.” She stepped up to kiss him on the cheek.
Jeremy blushed furiously, causing the others to grin at the exchange.
“You’re welcome,” Jeremy replied. He wasn’t sure what else to say. To ease his tension, he quickly changed the subject. “Hey you guys, come over my house tomorrow okay? I’ve got presents for all of you.”
Staci smiled.
“How’d you get money to buy us presents?” Tony asked. “You haven’t started work yet.”
“Borrowed it, from my mom and dad.”
“Aww jeeze Jere. You’re lucky I got you something, or else I’d have felt guilty as hell.”
“I already do,” Johnny said. “I mean, I didn’t think of getting you guys anything.”
“Forget it,” Jeremy said.
“Yeah,” Tony agreed. “Besides, I was only able to get Jeremy something on my allowance.”
“Hey, what about Myron?” Johnny asked.
“Oh yeah,” Jeremy said. “I got him something too; I forgot to tell him at his house.”
“I’ll call him later,” Tony said.
“Thanks Jeremy,” Staci repeated, this time for the gifts. He almost thought she was going to kiss him again, but none was forthcoming. Which was fine; he didn’t think he could handle another one right now.
10
“Johnny, is that you?”
“Yeah Mom,
” he replied, as he entered. His mother stepped into the short hallway from the living room.
“Are you still mad at me?”
Johnny mulled that over. “No, I guess not.”
“Johnny, I’m really sorry. Really, I had no right.”
“Forget it.”
“I mean it,” she said.
He ignored her. “So where is Dad today?”
“Drinking,” she whispered, head down.
“What?”
“Out drinking again.”
“Great,” Johnny said. “He would be out drinking on Christmas Eve.”
“It’s just you and me tonight honey.”
“As usual,” he said.
“I’m sorry.”
“Who cares,” Johnny said vehemently. “I don’t want him around anyway!”
His mother was taken aback.
“When are you going to leave that jerk anyway?!”
“Johnny, he’s your father!”
“Stepfather! He doesn’t deserve the title of father!”
“Johnny?” another voice said. A male voice.
“I’m here,” his father said, standing in the doorway he’d been at a moment before.
11
“Julia?”
“Yeah, who’s this?”
“Julia, its Staci.”
“Staci,” she said, surprised, “Oh hi!”
“I never got to properly thank you for yesterday.”
“Thank me? Pleaaassse. I would have hurt him whether you were in trouble or not. Maybe I should thank you.”
It was Staci’s turn to be surprised. “Me? What do you mean?”
“You stopped me from killing that bastard!”
“Yeah,” Staci understood. “Which reminds me- I was going to ask you about that. I mean, how come you got so rough?”
Staci jumped back as Julia screamed into the phone, “That son of a bitch raped me!”
“What?!”
“Farris beat me and raped me in another room while the Dragons were at a meeting because I told Max off.”
“Shit,” Staci said, “Oh God Julia, I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault. Staci, you know I would have killed him if you hadn’t stopped me, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
“I’m not saying he deserves to live or anything, and I’d probably try to kill him again if I had the chance. But I appreciate you stopping me.”
The Pit in the Woods: A Mercy Falls Mythos Page 15