“Such a sweetheart. I’ll bring an armful of serpents with me and we’ll make it a real party, kay?”
I had started to walk off while chuckling, offering Rose a little wave as I headed down the sidewalk. She returned the wave and picked her book back up into her lap. She called out to me as I was crossing the street…
“Hey, Ro! Text me sometime, yeah? It’s been too long. We need to hang.”
I flashed her a thumbs up while walking backwards towards the opposite sidewalk.
“Way too long! I’ll do that.”
I spun around and kept walking towards the hardware store. Truthfully I had no intention of texting Rose anytime soon. My mind was fixed on other things right now. Thoughts of dirt and shovels and ghosts and voices from the deep.
I didn’t spend long in the hardware store. I chose one of the best shovels I could afford. The old-timer at the cash register assured me that it was a top of the line tool. Stainless steel and sturdy as can be, it would help me tear through just about any surface.
I had no doubt the shovel would be up to the task.
Now I just needed to figure out exactly what that task was…
Chapter 19
Roman
I waited for nightfall. I trudged through the dead leaves and the surviving vegetation surrounding the entrance to the root cellar. I nicked my neck across a large thorn bush, a tiny bead of blood appearing on my flesh. I swiped it away without even breaking stride. I made good use of the shovel, chopping and fighting my way through the overgrowth.
My boot came down into a little pool of hidden stagnant water and I felt my sock get soaked through. It was a squishy, uncomfortable sensation…but it didn’t matter. All that mattered was the small door that I now stood in front of.
I pushed it inward and entered, the scent of M’s lair filling my nostrils. The smell of sickly sweet soil gave me momentary pause. I took care in closing the door behind me before turning back around and letting my eyes settle on that crack in the earth. So easy to miss and overlook, just a few inches across on each side.
I didn’t know what to expect…but what happened next certainly wasn’t what I was banking on. I got the profound sense of something rushing upwards through the dirt below me, the speed of it frantic and excited. The weight beneath me shifted so much that a few little plumes of dust fell down from the root cellar’s ceiling. The world beneath my boots seemed to actually be vibrating.
M’s voice followed, sounding closer to the crack in the dirt than ever before. It was booming, ear-splitting…nothing like that silky purr I’d become accustomed to. I staggered backwards into the wall at the sound of it.
“YOU’RE BLEEDING, ROMAN. TORN FLESH…”
I almost got the sense of M breathing somewhere below, his lungs (if he even had lungs) like giant air balloons expanding at a quickened pace.
“…how do you know that?”
“I can smell it, Roman. It’s been a long time since I’ve caught the blood scent.”
M’s voice sounded calmer when he replied, almost like it was taking him a great deal of effort to control himself.
“Come closer, Roman.”
I didn’t want to come closer. The familiar fear was roiling in my guts. I’d become a bit desensitized to M because of all of the conversations we’d had, but now that fear of the unknown came flooding back in, threatening to drown me.
I had no fucking idea what I was dealing with here. I didn’t know what this thing was or what it wanted. If I was smart, I’d run now…
“Trust is important in any relationship, child of flesh and sinew. Trust in me.”
I swallowed dryly, my grip on the shovel handle tightening.
“Closer.”
I took a shaky step forward, and then another.
“I brought the shovel, just like you wanted…” My voice felt weak exiting my throat, barely above a hoarse whisper.
“That’s good. We’ll get to that. Closer, Roman.”
I was standing right above the hole now, and there seemed to be an eerie wind swirling around within it. It blew back my hair and then moments later it turned inward, a few specks of dirt falling down into the chasm. I could still see nothing down there, only blackness.
“Kneel down.”
That trance seemed to be settling over me again like hands massaging me from the inside. It was comforting…like a subliminal message repeating over and over again in my head, telling me “everything is okay.”
I knelt down before the hole, my hands so tight on the shovel handle that my knuckles had gone white. That wind came again. It was so strong that it seemed to dry out every pore on my face. It stank too. It stank of death and decay and ancient, unexplored abysses.
“What is this, M?”
“Shh. Trust, Roman.”
I closed my mouth, afraid to protest anymore. I was at M’s mercy now.
“Touch the wound. Get the blood onto your hand. Pretend like you’re a little kid again and it’s time for finger-painting…”
This statement sent a deeper chill into my body, but I was already complying, my hand reaching up to rub against the smeared blood on the side of my neck.
It was still very wet and felt warm to the touch. The little cut had produced more plasma than I’d expected.
“Now…flick the droplets down to me, Roman. Quickly.”
That wind was overpowering now, sucking in and blowing outward. I made a terrible realization at that moment. It wasn’t wind. It was M breathing from deep within the pit. He’d climbed up as close to the crack as he could get…and he was relishing the blood scent.
I wanted to get it over with. If I was going to be pulled down there and something unmentionable was about to happen to me, I didn’t want to drag it out and suffer in suspense.
I flicked my hand in a downward motion, a few little blood rubies flying from my fingertips and entering into the chasm. Nothing happened for a moment. The silence was too much to bear. Then the silence was broken by a long, drawn out satisfied sigh…seeming to stretch on and on.
The sound of M’s elation.
“Thank you for that. Just a little taste…but it brings back memories.”
I sensed M descending deeper and deeper, his presence still lingering near the opening in the dirt but not nearly as close as before. Some of the tension went out of my muscles. I felt if M had wanted to kill me at that moment then I’d already be mince meat.
“Now…let’s put that shovel to use, shall we? Start digging, my fine young friend. Put your back into it and do your best work. You’ll be paid handsomely…I don’t believe in the concept of minimum wage!”
I stood back up, leaning heavily on the shovel to keep my balance. I still felt a bit shaky but my composure was returning, albeit slowly.
“Dig where?”
“The hole, Roman…”
A pause, little motes of dust floating through the air of the root cellar and shining in what little moonlight managed to enter through the cracks in the walls.
“I need you to widen the hole.”
A part of me had hoped that M wanted me to bring the shovel so that he could tell me where I needed to dig for buried treasure. There was another part of me, though…that knew deep down this is what M would want. M said he was trapped down there, a prisoner in the dirt. He wanted my help to gain his freedom…
I’d come this far. I’d crossed the Rubicon. No going back now…
I planted the blade of the shovel next to the crack and drove it down with my boot as hard as I possibly could.
Chapter 20
Roman
I worked fast, my breathing paced and deliberate. A cold sweat broke out across my skin and I had to stop several times to swipe my brow. The soil of the root cellar was hardened, challenging to dig through…but it softened as I got through the first few layers of topsoil. There was no commentary from M as I dug. He was deathly silent; the only sound in the root cellar the grunts of my exertion and the shovel blade slicing into the
grit of the earth.
I’d widened the hole significantly; the crack now stripped enough for a small child to be able to crawl down into it. The smell from the pit below was stronger now. I was able to get a better idea of just how far down it went too. It was jagged and seemingly bottomless down there, something like an endless tunnel stretching down into pitch darkness.
I’d rolled my shirt up to the forearms and the soil was grimed across my arms, my fingernails crusted over with the dirt of the cellar. I was just about to impale the earth with the shovel once again when M’s voice stopped me.
“That’s enough for now.”
I wiped my hands across my jeans, leaving dark smudges across the denim.
“Well done, Roman. Exceptional progress…”
I swung the shovel up over my shoulder and cocked my head to the side.
“What happens now?” I inquired.
“Now you get compensated. See that chunk of cobblestone? It’s close to the hole.”
I surveyed the area, noticing a chunk that seemed to be in a different position than the last time I was here. It was close to the hole I’d made and near one corner of the cellar.
“The one near the corner?”
“Bingo. Take a peek underneath.”
I tossed the shovel to the side and moved over to the cobblestone, proceeding to lean down. I reached down towards the fragment of stone and flipped it to the side. It wasn’t all that heavy.
I didn’t realize what I was seeing at first. I was looking at a clump of dirt and mineral rock, glittery yellow staring up at me from the center of it. I picked it up; awestruck…and realized I was holding a piece of rock in my hand that was shot through with a vein of gold. My jaw dropped open as I marveled at the little nuggets encircled by pieces of quartz.
“Is this…is this gold?” I asked, still disbelieving what I was seeing.
M’s laughter greeted me, melodic and pleasing to the ears.
“It is, Roman. Remember what I said, the ground is full of precious gifts just waiting to be unearthed. Consider this a bit of motivation to keep up the good work you’ve started here.”
I was turning over the chunk of minerals in my hand, trying to mentally appraise just how much this material could be worth. I couldn’t even imagine.
“Shift’s over, buddy. Take the spoils of your labor and go enjoy yourself for a few days, yeah?”
M was leaving again, that slithery shift felt through subtle vibrations beneath my feet. His voice drifted up as a hollow whisper, circling through my mind as I lovingly held the gold closer to my eyes.
“Get some rest after, though. We’re just getting started…”
The root cellar went quiet. The hole I’d widened seemed to gape like a wordless mouth. I shoved the payment into my pocket and let my hand follow it in, continuing to explore and touch the surface of it.
This would change everything. I knew that almost immediately. The rules of the game had changed. The weight of the precious thing in my pocket served only to reinforce that.
M promised great wealth…limitless generosity.
He was starting to deliver.
Chapter 21
Roman
It didn’t take long to get the chunk of gold-rich ore appraised. It was even easier getting it sold. The comforting weight of it in my pocket was gone, replaced by seventeen thousand dollars. I had to keep repeating that number over and over again in my mind to actually convince myself that this was happening. Seventeen thousand dollars. Cold, hard, wonderful cash. It was crisp and it smelled so perfectly new. That first night I couldn’t help myself, I gave in to the old clichés and I spread out a bouquet of currency across my bed and then flung myself backwards into it. I rolled around in it. I relished the feel of it against my skin. I brought handfuls of it up to my nostrils and inhaled so deeply, the intoxicating scent hitting me harder than the hardest of street drugs.
I’d discovered a new addiction. It was green and precious and covered in the faces of dead presidents. It was everything in this world…and it was something I never had an abundance of up until this very moment. They say money is the doorway to corruption, but the thing they don’t tell you is that you don’t even notice when you’ve crossed through the threshold of that doorway.
You’re too euphoric to even think about it, wallet fat and mind racing with possibilities.
I’d spared no expense on the Thanksgiving spread that was now laid out on the kitchen table before us. Succulent turkey, glazed ham, mountains of stuffing and bountiful plates heaped high with green beans and mashed potatoes. This was the kind of feast that my family deserved, and it felt so empowering to be able to provide it for them. My parents had noticed that something drastic had changed in my financial situation but they couldn’t figure out exactly what it was. I was concerned that they’d think I was getting this money from some criminal venture, like theft or drug dealing…so I devised another little white lie to protect the incomprehensible truth.
My father cut deeply into the ham, bringing mouthful after mouthful up to his bearded mouth. My mother was busying herself buttering up a crisp biscuit, the color back in her cheeks this evening. I took a moment just to appreciate my family. It was good to see them happy and fulfilled.
I planned to do everything within my power to ensure that they stayed that way.
“So you’ve probably been wondering how I’ve been able to afford all this…”
I let the statement linger, Braham pausing to meet my eyes. Helena finished a piece of her biscuit and then wiped her mouth with a napkin before favoring me with her attention as well. Dad was the first to reply.
“We love you, son. I can’t remember the last time this table was so plentiful on Thanksgiving…and your mother and I really appreciate that…”
He left off, seeming to choose his words carefully.
“But understand that you don’t need to get into something dangerous to put food on the table for us. You know we can make due when times get hard. We have before. It’s not worth losing you…and it ain’t worth losing yourself in whatever put this money in your pocket.”
I nodded, my head momentarily lowering. I found it hard to meet my father’s eyes when he made this admission. I wished I could tell them the truth to ease the worry growing in their hearts, but I could see no sane way of explaining what was actually happening with me.
Helena chimed in to break the silence, my eyes tilting upwards once again.
“Listen to your old dad, Roman. We taught you to earn things the right way, son. Never think that you have to resort to something that’ll get you into trouble just to get by. That’s a dark road to go down…and the trip ain’t even halfway worth it.”
She leaned forward to place her hand overtop mine. I turned it over and squeezed it. Tears threatened to fall down my mom’s cheeks at any moment, but she held them back valiantly.
“It’s nothing like that, guys. I didn’t get this money by going against the law. I waited for a special occasion to tell you…but I found a job. It’s part time work with a private mining company, but it has some perks. If the workers find any nuggets during the shift then you get to keep what you find as long as you give the proper percentage back to the company. That’s where this money came from…”
I smiled. It felt reassuring and strong on my face. I hoped sincerely that it masked the lie I was telling.
“I’ve got a real nose for this kind of work. My foreman says I can practically sniff out the ore. It pays off for everybody. It’s kind of a situation where they scratch my back if I scratch theirs.”
My father’s expression had changed. The doubt in his eyes had transformed into newfound hope. My mother squeezed my hand tighter, a gesture of pride in her son and his accomplishments.
“Roman…that’s the best damn news we’ve had all year, son. It’s about time our luck took a turn!”
Dad clapped me on the back; the hand calloused by year after year of toiling hard to keep this family afloat. M
om was already rising from her chair to wrap her arms around me in a tight hug. My arms automatically reached out to return her embrace. She whispered into my ear, her voice choked with emotion.
“Thank the lord, my prayers are answered. I knew my boy was meant for big things in life. So proud of you, Roman…”
I sat there, accepting the love and pride from my family. It took every amount of willpower to remain calm and collected on the surface. Deep down inside I was a little sickened with myself for feeding my parents lies right along with Thanksgiving supper. The feeling was a bitter shame in my belly…but it didn’t last long. I knew that with all these little white lies cast aside, my intentions were good. We were thriving. We were happy. The where and the why of everything didn’t matter so much right there and then.
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