Inside the Hollow Tree

by Laurel Veil

  “It looks like we’re going to be roommates.” He smiled, shyly. “I hope you don’t mind.”

  “No. This is where the help sleeps.” I returned his smile.

  Jackson was sitting on my bed. “I want this one tonight,” he said as he held up Mister Dog. I sat down and he crawled up into my lap. I felt a little nervous when I realized Ty was listening too. He had his arms folded behind his head and he was looking at me. The smile he gave me made me blush.

  As usual, Jackson interrupted me with the same questions. “Why doesn’t the dog have an owner? And, where is the boy’s mom and dad?”

  “The book doesn’t say, but it doesn’t matter, because now they have each other,” I said.

  “Like you and me,” said Jackson.

  “Yes. Just like you and me.”

  “And, you said I can live with you?” He choked up. “Even if it’s just for a little while?”

  I glanced at Ty, then back down at Jackson. “Yes.”

  “And other kids who don’t have a mom, maybe they can live with you too?” He was almost in tears.

  “Oh, Jackson.” I pulled him even closer.

  “And animals too? All the cats from under the house?”

  I laughed. “Definitely.” I rubbed his cheek.

  When I finished, as always, Jackson pleaded for me to read another story. I reminded him that we had school. We said a short prayer, then I gave him a hug and a peck on top of his head. I helped him climb the ladder to the bunk above my bed and covered him up.

  “Goodnight, Jackson,” I whispered.

  I walked over to the door. “Well,” I said feeling a bit awkward, “goodnight.” I gave a small wave and Ty grinned just before I switched off the light.

  “Goodnight,” he said softly.

  Why did I wave? He probably thinks I am so weird. I was glad it was dark.

  ◆◆◆

  I tossed and turned. It was hard sleeping with a stranger in my room. The fact that he was a guy—a very cute guy, made it even harder. And, my mind was a tornado, swirling with thoughts of Ruby and shadows. Even though I didn’t know Ty, I knew he was kind. I liked him, and his presence made me feel less afraid.

  “Are you still awake?” his deep voice whispered from across the small room.

  2.

  “I forgot you were there,” I lied. I didn't want him knowing his presence was keeping me awake. I was surprised he was still up. I thought he had already fallen asleep a while ago.

  “It's kind of weird we're sleeping in the same room and don't even know each other."

  I laughed. "I know your name is Ty."

  "Ty Fulten.” He chuckled. “So…what’s your story?”

  I don’t know why, but I opened up to him. The darkness gave me confidence. I told him where I lived and everything about my mother. I even told him about Ruby and what had happened at the park with Emma and Harper. I told him about being followed by Jackson’s shadow creature and about how he sees colors around people. I guessed I needed someone to talk to more than I’d realized. It was so therapeutic, I felt lighter, like I’d literally lost weight.

  When I finished speaking, Ty was so quiet and still, I thought that maybe he’d drifted off. I suddenly felt stupid that I had been spilling my guts to no one. What was I thinking confiding in him anyway? I didn’t even know him, and I told him about shadow creatures. He probably thought I was nuts. If he did sleep through what I’d said, at least I wouldn’t have to feel awkward in the morning. I was such an idiot.

  Just then, Ty turned on his side to face me, and rested on his elbow. The moonlight lit his face. I swallowed. He had heard everything. Oh my gosh! Did he think I was crazy? Or a liar?

  “Do you think I’m lying?” I asked. I don’t know why I was so nervous. Why did I even care what he thought?

  “No. I believe you.”

  With those four words, I felt like I could breathe again. I hadn’t noticed till then that I had stopped. But then, I began to overthink. I wouldn’t have believed me. Why did he believe me—was he gullible or stupid? I knew he wasn’t though. The way he spoke, the way he got that rusty lawn mower to work. No, he was very smart.

  “Why?” I asked. “Why do you believe me?”

  He hesitated.

  “Please, Ty. After all I told you, just say it.”

  “My little brother, Ben,” Ty paused and shook his head like not even he believed what he was about to say. “You’re not going to believe this, but when we were younger, he used to scare the hell out of me talking about shadows. He called them shadow monsters. I never saw them, but I believed him.” He exhaled, like he was relieved to be sharing this with me. “And, he used to say people gave off a vibration and that he could feel it. He never met a stranger. He automatically knew whether he liked someone or not. He said nice people were like music and bad people were like noise. This one time, he wouldn’t even get on the bus with me because he said someone on there felt like a chainsaw. He was terrified. Later that day, I saw on the news were a guy had gotten arrested at the bus station. He had murdered his entire family. I know he was the reason Ben wouldn’t get on the bus.”

  “That’s crazy how similar your brother is to Jackson.” I was quiet for a moment. “Ty.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Where’s Ben and your parents?”

  “My dad died when I was young.”

  I felt an invisible hand clench my heart.

  "If he wouldn't have died, you and I would've been neighbors."

  "Seriously?"

  "Yeah, we lived just a few streets over from where you said you lived. We moved to a smaller, cheaper place after he died. My dad is buried in the local cemetery."

  “So, where’s your mom and Ben?”

  “One day I came home, and they were gone. I called the police and reported them missing. They looked for them for a little bit and came to the conclusion that there were no signs of foul play—that she just left.”

  “Would she do something like that?”

  “Never. I know something’s wrong. I can feel it. She wouldn’t leave me. She wouldn’t take Ben away from me either. And what's worse," he closed his eyes for a moment, "I was supposed to be with them the day they disappeared. But, I ditched them, to hang out with some guys after school." He sighed. "Anyway, the authorities butted in and—”

  “You got forced into foster care.”

  “Yeah." He was quiet for a moment. "So, has Jackson ever had unusual dreams before?” He laughed softly.

  I liked how it sounded. It was warm and pleasant.

  “Not that I know of, but I’m still getting to know him. ”

  We froze when a dark figure filled the doorway. My heart began racing. “Hey?” A voice whispered. I thought for a moment it was Ms. Alice, but she never got up during the night, and she almost never climbed the stairs. The figure stepped closer and I could now see that it was Daisy. I think this was the first time she’d ever stepped foot in this room.

  “Psst, Ty are you awake?”

  Ty didn’t say a word. I guessed we both were pretending to be asleep. Daisy tiptoed toward his cot and shook his shoulder.

  “What is it?” Ty asked in a faux sleepy voice.

  “I—I was just checking on you. You know, since it’s your first night here. I wanted to make sure everything is okay.”

  She was so full of crap. We all knew why she was in here. I accidently snorted when I tried not to laugh. Daisy whipped her head in my direction. “I knew I heard voices!” she hissed. “I’m telling my mom you two were up talking all night.”

  “If you say anything to your mom, she’ll have me sleeping in your room,” I fired back. I could tell by the look on her face she knew I was right. And she wouldn’t dare risk getting Ty kicked out. She was obviously attracted to him. I had to nix her jealousy, or she would make my life even more miserable. “We’ve hardly said a word to each other,” I snapped. “Surely you can understand that we might want to know at least a little bit about the stranger w
e’re being forced to share a room with. Can’t you?”

  She seemed satisfied with my explanation and turned her attention back toward Ty.

  “I’m going downstairs for a glass of water. You wanna come? You can have a snack if you want.”

  “Thanks, but I’m exhausted,” he said.

  She rolled her eyes. “Suit yourself.” She then turned on her heels and left.

  I giggled. “What are you laughing at?” Ty asked playfully.

  “Like you don’t know. Daisy doesn’t offer room service to everyone.”

  He grimaced. “No thanks, I’ll pass.”

  ◆◆◆

  I woke first and got ready in the bathroom before helping Jackson get ready for school. I didn’t mind that I had to help him. I was glad that he got to attend preschool. I didn’t want him spending the day alone with Ms. Alice. I didn’t think she would hurt him, just ignore him to death.

  “Move it,” snapped Daisy as she brushed past me to retrieve the milk from the fridge that I was about to get. She proceeded to dump the remainder of the carton’s contents onto her bowl of cereal, leaving nothing for the rest of us. “Oops,” she said sarcastically. “My bad.”

  Jackson and I gave each other a quick look, and then I plunked four pieces of bread into the toaster.

  “I like toast better anyway,” whispered Jackson.

  “Me, too.”

  Daisy suddenly perked up. “Hey, Ty.”

  “Hey,” he responded with little enthusiasm.

  “I made some toast. You want some?” I offered.

  On cue, the slices of bread sprang from the toaster. Jacob darted in between Ty and me and snatched a piece for himself. Ty looked at me and made a subtle exasperated expression.

  Several long, drawn out honks came from outside causing Ms. Alice to bellow. “Tell your friends to keep it down. I’m trying to sleep!”

  “That’s Hazel and Angela,” said Daisy smugly as she stood to gather her things. “It’s a long walk to school. You wanna catch a ride with us?” she asked Ty.

  “I like walking,” said Ty.

  Daisy cut her eyes at me. “Whatever. Come on, Jacob.”

  When we finished eating, we quietly took all the dirty dishes, including Daisy's and Jacob’s, from the table, rinsed them, and gingerly placed them, in the dishwasher without making a sound.

  As soon as we closed the door behind us, Ty let out an exaggerated breath. “How do you do that?”

  “What?” I asked.

  “Live like that? You walk on eggshells and kiss their butts.”

  I laughed. I thought he was funny. But, more than that, it was just nice hearing someone else felt the same way as me. “I guess I’ve been doing it so long now, I don’t even realize I’m doing it. Alice doesn’t exactly give me a choice.”

  Ty and I walked Jackson to his school. “See you this afternoon,” I told him.

  Ty held out his hand, and Jackson playfully slapped it as hard as he could. Jackson laughed as Ty pretended to be wounded. “Whoa! No one has ever given me five like that before.”

  “Are you nervous about starting a new school?” I asked Ty as we continued down the sidewalk.

  “Not really.”

  “So…do you know where to go?”

  He nodded. “Courtney helped me get registered yesterday.” He pulled something from his pocket.

  “Courtney?” I asked. I couldn’t believe it. I was feeling a twinge of jealousy.

  “My social worker.”

  “Oh,” I said trying not to let my relief show.

  He unfolded the piece of paper and showed me his schedule. I quickly scanned it and was disappointed when I realized we didn’t have any classes together.

  ◆◆◆

  I bought my usual bag of trail mix from the vending machine and headed outside to sit under my favorite oak. I started spending my lunch with the old tree, ever sense my mom got injured and things got weird between me and Emma. I leaned back against its trunk and was just about to doze off, when I heard footsteps come up from behind.

  “This definitely beats the cafeteria.”

  I turned to see Ty walking toward me. He was looking up into the canopy of the tree, giving an approving smile.

  “Hey,” I said. I was surprised to see him, but even more surprised at how happy it made me.

  “Can I sit with you?” he asked as he slid his back down the tree.

  “Hey, what if I would’ve said no?”

  He grinned down at me. “You wouldn’t have.”

  I smiled because he was right. My eyes traveled the length of his long, blue jean clad legs that lay stretched out in front of him. His big tennis shoes next to my shoes, made my feet appear tiny. I liked that.

  “So, how are your classes going?” I asked as I offered him some of my trail mix.

  He proffered his hand and I carefully poured a mixture of peanuts, raisins and M&M’s. He picked out one of the candies first and tossed it into his mouth.

  “Pretty good. This has been the best part of my day so far though.”

  My heart did a double beat. “Really?” Does he like me? I wondered.

  “Yeah. I love M&M’s.”

  I laughed. “Me too.” I was so glad he didn’t know what I’d just been thinking.

  We stared quietly across the field into the woods.

  “Are you going to try and figure out who this Ruby chick is?”

  I looked at him thoughtfully for a moment.

  “What?” he asked.

  I shook my head. “Nothing.” But, I felt warm inside, knowing he had been paying attention when I’d been talking last night. As much as I liked the company of this tree, it was nice having someone around who could actually listen and talk back. “I want to figure out who she is, but I’m not quite sure how to go about it. Any ideas?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe we can go visit your mom after school and hope she shows up.”

  We? I was part of a we. “Yeah. That’s a great idea.”

  The bell screeched. It was like an alarm clock waking me from a sweet dream. Ty stood and offered his hand to pull me to my feet. His hand was warm and strong. He laced his fingers with mine, and my heart raced. No one had ever held my hand before—not like that. It felt so good. I looked down to make sure it was real.

  “I’ll meet you out front, after school,” he said.

  ◆◆◆

  The last bell couldn’t come soon enough. I tried to take my time reaching the exit. I didn’t want to seem too eager, even though seeing Ty again was all I could think about.

  As I waited, my mind began to torture me. What if he changed his mind?

  I read a butcher paper sign that was hanging from the balcony overhead to distract myself. Buy Your Homecoming Tickets Now! Well, that was a waste of time. Now I couldn’t get silly images of Ty in a suit and me in a homecoming dress out of my head.

  I leaned against a brick column and continued waiting. As I panned the crowd searching for him, I contemplated leaving so that it wouldn’t be like he stood me up if he had changed his mind and decided not to show.

  Just as I was turning to go, I caught his eye and a terrible case of butterflies. He was near the parking lot and with an upward nod of his head, he told me to come.

  We walked to Jackson’s school. He was excited to see us, and even more excited that we weren't going straight home to Ms. Alice's.

  “Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone,” he promised whenever I swore him to secrecy again.

  We hopped on a bus and made it to Willow Bend in no time. I tried to prepare Ty for what he would see. I didn’t want him to get creeped out.

  “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.”

  “OK.” I took a deep breath and signed in at the counter.

  I was happy to see my mom sitting up in bed with her eyes open. It wasn’t the first time this had happened, so I wasn’t surprised, but if history was any indicator, it wouldn’t last long.

  “Hi, Mom.” She looked at me, and I
could feel myself getting my hopes up. “You remember, Jackson, right? He’s the little boy I’m staying with right now.”

  Jackson waved.

  “And this is Ty. He’s staying with us now, too.”

  “Hello,” said Ty.

  We all took a seat and I continued a one-sided conversation with my mom. After some small talk I said, “Hey, Mom. I was really hoping you could tell me who Ruby is? I thought she was one of your nurses since she’s here a lot and is always wearing scrubs when I see her.” My mom’s brows furrowed a bit. I felt like she understood me, but, as usual, she remained silent.

  “Hide!” said Jackson suddenly.

  “Jackson, now is not a good time for games,” I said.

  “She’s coming!” He ran to the closet and opened the door. He waved us inside. Ty and I gave each other a look and then reluctantly followed him. Jackson closed the door, leaving only a small crack.

  “What are we doing, Jackson?” I whispered.

  “Shh.” He pressed his finger to his mouth. Just then, the patio door slid open. I looked at Ty and mouthed, Ruby. She was wearing the same blue scrubs she usually wore that matched the rest of the staff at Willow Bend.

  I watched her with nervous anticipation. She leaned down and whispered something in my mom’s ear and then murmured as she walked around to the other side of her bed. Was she praying? Her hands hovered just above the blankets. I could now see my mom’s face. Her eyes followed Ruby the entire time. They were wide. Was that fear I saw? I started to exit the closet when Ty grabbed my arm. He looked as puzzled as I felt.

  Our attention turned to the door, when we heard a brief knock. An orderly stepped in with fresh towels. I wondered why she didn’t acknowledge Ruby, but when I turned to look for her, Ruby was nowhere to be found. The three of us remained motionless inside the closet. As soon as the orderly left, Jackson pushed the door open and we stepped out.

  My mind was humming with questions. “What just happened, Ty? What was she saying to my mom?” Before he could answer, I continued, “She must always sneak in through the patio, that’s why no one around here knows her. And, she wears scrubs, so no one will notice her.”