Breaking Brooklyn

by Scott Leopold

  Mr. Howard went back to reading the newspaper. With his face hidden he replied, “Yes, you can go.”

  Pushing away from the old table in the kitchen I got up and followed Alex to his bedroom. Travis, who was two years younger and the spitting image of Alex, wasn’t far behind. When we got to Alex’s room, we flew into the galaxy, transforming into Hans Solo, Darth Vader, Chewbacca. It wasn’t long before we were acting out the battle scenes.

  “Zoooooooom, zooooooom …”

  “Traveling through hyperspace ain't like dusting crops, farm boy.”

  “Without precise calculations we could fly right through a star or bounce too close to a supernova, and that'd end your trip real quick, wouldn't it?” I quoted as I pretended to fly the Millennium Falcon throughout Alex’s bedroom.

  After we were done playing Star Wars, Alex took me to their treehouse in the back yard. It was the greatest thing I had ever seen. The wood was cedar and masterfully constructed with a molded metal roof on top.

  Following Alex through the narrow front door I froze. It was unbelievable! There were armchairs, bookshelves, and even a small kitchen table where we ate our lunch.

  Alex was surprised I was so impressed. He told me he and his father had built the tree house together, like it was no big deal. Hearing this put a giant lump in my throat…

  The next morning was my first day at Alex’s school which was a little peculiar. Unlike my classes in Indianapolis, everyone looked the same. I didn't like it. Most of the kids had known each other a long time, so I definitely felt like an outsider. I had been to so many different schools by the time I was in the fourth grade, I had become a master of change. I could adapt and make friends no matter where I was.

  When the school bell rang, I waited with Elise while kids raced past us on their way to class. One by one the doors were closed and the hallway fell silent. I could hear The Pledge of Allegiance leaking into the hallway from underneath each door as we made our way to the principal’s office.

  I was welcomed by a slender, Scandinavian looking man, with Nordic blond hair and blue eyes. Greeting us with a huge smile, he introduced himself as Principal Becker. He gestured to some chairs in front of his mahogany desk. Elise and I sat. I noticed its wide top was almost bare, except for an inbox that held a few papers, a blotter that protected the beautiful wood, and a single folder. My name was on the tab. It held my school records.

  Picking up the folder, Principal Becker started to read, his eyes growing wider and wider as he studied its contents.

  “Twelve schools in two years!” he said in disbelief.

  I slid down into my seat, wishing I was invisible. I had no idea what the official count was, but I knew twelve was a lot.

  “I think your placement at the Howard's is going to be a great thing for you Jack,” he said. “I know you have been through a lot. If you have any problems whatsoever, I want you to feel comfortable to come to me no matter what. Okay?”

  I nodded in agreement as Elise gazed at me with a warm smile.

  We better get you to class, Jack," Principal Becker started. "Mrs. Howard, thanks for coming in and bringing Jack to us. I think he’ll get along great. In fact, he’s going to be in Alex’s class.”

  “Isn’t that wonderful!” Elise remarked.

  I nodded again, feeling like my tongue had sort of stopped working. Looking up at Elise I couldn’t help but grin ear to ear. Principal Becker walked me to my new class.

  Things were off to a great start. Living with the Howards was like a dream come true. But like all dreams – you eventually wake up.

  After being there a couple of months, I noticed a change in Alex. He was obedient around his father, but wild everywhere else. At school he got in trouble for shooting spitballs in the cafeteria. No one bothered to tell his parents; instead, the lunch lady made him sit at the reflection table in the corner of the cafeteria.

  It became obvious very quickly there was much more to Alex than I initially thought. He was a kleptomaniac; however, he wasn’t very good at it. Every time something came up missing at school, Alex’s name was the first one on everyone’s lips. When confronted, he denied everything. He made up tall tales trying to get himself out of trouble. Stories only an idiot would take seriously. I didn’t think much of anything about Alex’s bad behavior. I had seen much worse things than spitballs and missing pencils in my lifetime.

  That all changed one Saturday morning after Mr. Howard left the house to go golfing. Elise was going to take us to see the new Batman movie with Michael Keaton. We all jumped in her minivan and headed to get lunch before the movie started.

  Alex and Travis were wrestling around in the back, which was starting to drive Elise crazy. In fact, Alex and Travis had a way of driving her crazy a lot of the time. When Mr. Howard wasn’t around, which was nearly always, they were the worst kids anyone could ever imagine. Looking back through the rear view mirror Elise saw Alex and Travis fighting.

  “Boys, stop it!” she shouted. “STOP IT!”

  They acted as if they couldn’t hear her and continued to fight. When the brawl was over Alex thought up a wicked brainstorm. He wrote, “Help Us!” on a sheet of paper then stuck it in the back window of the minivan.

  Within five minutes I heard sirens then saw flashing lights. A police officer pulled us over then approached our vehicle. He wasn’t happy. He instructed Elise to get out of the car, then looked back at the three of us. Fright was written across our faces, but why wouldn’t we be afraid? He was a policeman!

  Alex realized his prank had gone too far. Never being in this kind of situation before, Alex and Travis had no idea what could happen. I knew all too well. I sat quietly in fear, my knees shaking.

  The police officer had Elise put her hands against the minivan. Then he signaled for her to spread her legs by gently kicking the inside of her right foot. She cried as he patted her down. It got worse. He handcuffed her. Then he walked her to his squad car and put her in the back seat.

  When the police officer ran a background check on Elise, it showed that she had two kids named Alex and Travis. However, the officer saw three kids, which must have set off a huge red flag. I couldn’t hear what was being said, but I’d been through this before with my mother. I was sure he was interrogating Elise about my identity.

  The policeman held us hostage for over an hour before he confirmed Elise's story. The officer then ordered all of us out of the car. The questioning began.

  “Which one of you put the sign in the back window of the car?”

  We were speechless, motionless. Then Alex stepped forward.

  Thank you God, I thought.

  Looking at the officer with the saddest eyes ever, he said, “Jack did it…”

  I let out a swoosh of air, my mouth hanging open.

  “What! No, I didn’t! You did!”

  Unfortunately for me, Travis was very jealous of my relationship with his brother so he validated Alex’s story. It was all over for me. Neither the officer nor Elise would believe anything I had to say at this point. After all, I was a foster child from a broken home who was in Elise’s custody because I had gotten in trouble with the law. I fit the profile. Now I had to bear the burden of a crime I did not commit.

  After the police officer scolded me for about twenty minutes, he let us go.

  Elise started in on me. “How could you do this? I am trying to help you, Jack. You should be ashamed of yourself!”

  Elise was so upset we went straight home. Batman was now out of the question. By this time Mr. Howard was back from golfing. Elise told him about the whole incident, how she was handcuffed and put in the back of the police car.

  “Why would you do such a horrible thing?” Mr. Howard asked.

  “I didn’t make the sign! Alex did, and he’s trying to blame it on me!”

  "Jack, you may have never been taught about the consequences of lying. But that's all going to change right now.” Mr. Howard glared right into my eyes.

  “I’m going t
o ask you again! Did you put the sign in the back window?"

  "I am telling you the truth! Alex made the sign and put it in the back window."

  Anger blazed out of the blue in Mr. Howard’s eyes. I felt like I was going to throw up. I didn’t know how to convince him that I didn’t make the sign.

  “Go to your room! Think about what you did and don’t come out until I tell you!”

  Walking up the steps, I glanced back at Mr. Howard, who was looking endearingly at Alex.

  That piece of shit, I thought to myself.

  Shrugging his shoulders, Alex looked up at his father as if he was the victim.

  The next morning Mr. Howard came to my room with a stack of pancakes. I think he was feeling guilty about not letting me have dinner the night before. Sitting next to me on the twin bed, he asked me if I was ready to tell the truth.

  I had no idea what to say. I was telling the truth! I was so confused. Had they even asked Alex if he was telling the truth? Were they even considering that maybe Alex was lying?

  In my head I could hear Grandpa Bob quoting his sobriety coin, “To thine own self be true!”

  I pleaded with him once again. “I’m telling the truth Mr. Howard. I swear.”

  With a furrowed brow he explained that he was going to have to do something he didn’t like. That it was for my own good.

  Like a Pentecostal minister, he threw up his hands. “Spare the rod and spoil the child says the Lord!”

  Grabbing the wooden chair from under the desk, he placed it in the center of the room. He then sat down. The old wood making a creaking-cracking sound. He commanded me to come over to him.

  I knew too well where this was going. Mr. Howard ordered me to take down my pants and bend over his lap. Remembering what Grandpa Bob used to do to me, I started to panic. I could feel my lungs collapsing. My chest felt crushed like a gorilla was sitting on me.

  Grabbing my arm, Mr. Howard again told me to take down my pants. When I didn't respond he shook me. With my hands shaking, I undid my belt then unzipped my pants. I pulled them down to my ankles. Yanking me onto his lap, Mr. Howard began spanking me with an open hand.

  “Thou shalt not lie! Thou shalt not lie!” He repeated as he spanked me harder and harder.

  Then the strangest thing happened. See, I was expecting the belt like all the times before. This was nothing. This was a joke! It was almost comical to me. Spanking me a few more times for effect, he stopped. Standing up, he slid the chair back under the desk. I stood tall in the middle of the room with a look that I am sure said, "You can't hurt me, asshole."

  Disheveled, Mr. Howard combed his messy hair with this slender fingers.

  "I hope by dinner you change your attitude and tell the truth." He commanded as he left the room.

  I was once again alone like a prisoner in solitary confinement. Curling myself up in a ball I thought about being back in Broad Ripple, walking along the railroad tracks.

  After a long nap I woke to a growling stomach that smelled Elise's cooking, I was starving! If I wanted to eat I was going to have to admit to something I didn’t do.

  Walking down the back staircase that led to the kitchen I saw everyone sitting at the table. Before I had a chance to sit down, Mr. Howard confronted me.

  “What do you have to say for yourself, Jack?”

  Feeling defeated, I looked slowly around the room at my accusers. They were waiting for me to tell them what they wanted to hear. I am sure Alex was wondering how far was I was going to push it before I gave in.

  I silently weighing all of my options. I could stand my ground and fight this all the way, knowing full well I was right. But what good would it do? It would only make my time at the Howards' harder. I decided to suck it up and make my life easier.

  My throat was dry as I tried to swallow my pride. "I made the sign and put it in the window," I confessed.

  Looking at everyone at the table, I apologized. But every fiber in my body wanted to reach across the table and choke the life out of Alex.

  Elise smiled as Mr. Howard's face went soft with relief. In unison, they said, “We forgive you, Jack!”

  I looked at Alex with vengeance in my eyes. The smirk he wore made me want to scratch his eyes out.

  Taking a seat at the table next to Elise I began to eat. I imagined Alex dancing and celebrating a win of wills. All I could think was, "I may have lost the battle, but I am not going to lose the war."

  For my remaining time at the Howards' I tried to stay away from Alex as much possible. When he would enter a room I would quickly exit. I had to stay on my toes to keep out of trouble. It was hard though, always being on guard.

  I did well until one day, weeks later when I let my guard down. Some friends from school came over to play in the Howards' treehouse. The first thing Alex suggested was a game of Spin the Bottle. None of other kids knew what it was, so Alex explained the rules.

  "The bottle gets spun and whoever the top of the bottle lands on has to say either Truth or Dare."

  I had no idea where this was going to go, but it sounded like fun. Plus, I had a huge crush on one of the girls that came over. Alex spun the bottle with force. It landed on Lisa, the girl both Alex and I were gaga over.

  “Truth or dare?” Alex asked.

  “Dare,” Lisa said, after hesitating.

  Alex thought for a moment then he giggled out the words, “I dare you to kiss Jack.”

  “NO WAY!” Lisa protested.

  “You have to,” Alex urged. “That’s how the game is played, Lisa!”

  Lisa leaned into me, looked into my eyes, and then gently kissed my lips. We held the moment as electricity went down my body. I had never kissed a girl before! Her lips were so soft.

  As Lisa pulled away we gazed at each other. Suddenly, I thought about Brooke. My stomach filled with guilt. When Alex saw what was going on he became jealous. Without wasting any time he spun the bottle again. This time it landed on me.

  “Truth or dare?” Alex asked.

  “Um, dare."

  I wasn’t going to give Alex the opportunity to embarrass me in front of Lisa with one of his made up stories that made me look like an idiot.

  “Okay,” Alex thought for a second then continued. “I dare you to say the F word.”

  “What?”

  “You have to say the F word,” Alex repeated.

  “No!” I replied.

  “That’s the game, Jack! Say it!”

  Looked at Lisa for her approval, she simply smiled back and shrugged he shoulders.

  “Fuck!” I blurted.

  As fast as I could I grabbed the bottle and spun it. We all watched it spin, the glass clinking against the concrete.

  Please let it land on Alex! I sang to myself over and over again in my head.

  My prayers were answered. I could now confront Alex about the incident with the sign, if he said truth. And if he said dare, I could really mess with him since he wanted to impress Lisa. Either way, this was going to be fun.

  “Truth or dare Alex?”

  “Dare,” Alex answered.

  I thought long and hard about something I could do to get him back for what he pulled a few weeks ago.

  “I dare you to take your clothes off and run around the house,” I instructed.

  Lisa laughed at the thought of Alex running around naked. With laser eyes fixed on me, Alex cocked his head side. Without the slightest hesitation he took off his clothes and ran around the house like a wiry little chicken with curly blond hair. Lisa and I thought it was the funniest thing. We couldn't stop laughing!

  Elise, however, didn’t find it funny at all when she saw her oldest son through the kitchen window above the sink running around with no clothes on. Like a bolt of lightning, she ran out of the kitchen and down off the back porch. She yelled at Alex as she chased him around the yard. He ignored her because he was on a mission to impress Lisa. Watching this reminded me of an episode of Tom and Jerry. Alex was running through bushes and trees that Elise
couldn’t fit through.

  When Mr. Howard saw what was going on, he ran across the yard like a helmetless linebacker with pulsating veins protruding from his temples. He finally caught up to Alex and grabbed him by his scrawny arm.

  “Get your clothes and get into the house." He then pointed at me. "Jack, you as well!”

  Seeing the seriousness in Mr. Howard's demeanor, I walked quickly toward the old farmhouse. I stepped carefully around Elise, who stood with her arms crossed, then up the back porch and into the kitchen.

  Mr. Howard ordered both Alex and I to sit down on the living room couch. He glared at us for a moment, and then asked.

  "What the hell was that all about?"

  I sat patiently waiting to hear how Alex was going to try and get out of this one. But when he began, there was no stopping it.

  “Dad, Jack told us about this game that we were playing. It's called Truth or Dare and he dared me to run around the house with no clothes on.”

  I was dumbfounded. How in the world had I let this happen to me again?

  “Mr. Howard!” I protested. “That is not how it happened at all!”

  “I don’t want to hear it!” Mr. Howard fired back. “I gave you a chance to speak and Alex was the one that came clean. Go ahead, son.”

  “Well, we were playing this game and the bottle landed on Lisa. Jack dared her to kiss me. So we did. Then the bottle landed on me and he dared me to run around the house with no clothes on. I didn’t want to, Dad. The only reason I did was because Jack said he was going to tell you about Lisa kissing me.”

  With a clenched jaw Mr. Howard looked at me.

  “What kind of things go through your head, Jack? Why in the world would you bring this stuff into my house?”

  Alex cut in. “And there’s something else, Dad.”

  “There’s more?”

  “Yeah, Jack said the F word.”

  My chest deflated, leaving me breathless. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. No one was going to listen to my side of the story. Things were about to get bad for me very quickly. Mr. Howard stomped out of the room. He was so upset he couldn’t speak.

  Elise was at the dining room table and heard everything. She started to cry hysterically.