Chips of Red Paint

by K. Martin Beckner

  “No, I was just pulling your leg,” said Mr. Miller. We all laughed.

  “You had me going for a minute,” said Charlie.

  “Me too,” I said.

  “Every once in a while I like to tell a big one,” said Mr. Miller.

  “I do too,” said Charlie, “but I always get in trouble when I tell a big one.”

  “I’ve got one question,” I said.

  “What’s that?” asked Mr. Miller.

  “What did the top of the big foot look like, the part that stuck out the top of the shoe?”

  “I guess, if you want to get technical, it had a piece of a broken leg bone sticking out. But you can’t get caught up too much in details with these old tall tales.”

  “Yeah,” said Charlie. “It’s just made up anyway. How long did it take you to make that story up?”

  “Oh, I just thought it up as I was telling it. To tell the truth, I didn’t know how it was going to end until about the same time you did.”

  “You must be pretty smart to be able to think so fast,” I said.

  “Yeah, that’s amazing,” said Charlie.

  Charlie and I went to bed that night not realizing that by the end of the next day one of us would be clinging to life in the intensive care unit at the Bowling Green Hospital. No, at this point, we were happy, our cares burned up in that crackling fire below the starry sky. I stayed awake for a little while staring out the window looking for foxfire. Slowly, like a curtain closing over one chapter of my life, I drifted off to sleep.

  The next morning, half awake and half asleep, I dreamed about Bruno. I was in a large, very dimly lit, room that had several boxes of different sizes scattered about. Miss Green was standing in one corner of the room. She was wearing a hooded cape. I couldn’t quite make her face out in the dark room, but I knew it was her.

  “Don’t open the wrong box,” she said. “There’s a demon in one of the boxes.”

  I could hear Bruno barking. He was trapped in one of the boxes, but I couldn’t tell which one.

  “You’ve got to hurry and let Bruno out,” she continued, “or he’ll suffocate. Just don’t open the wrong box. One of the boxes is Pandora’s box. If you open it the world will end.”

  I was terrified but wanted desperately to set my dog free. Nervously, I selected a box. I put my ear to the box, but like all the other boxes, I couldn’t tell if Bruno was inside. The barking seemed to come from all the boxes. Slowly, I opened the box. To my utter horror, two hands came out of the box and grabbed my neck. I jumped fully awake with a gasp.

  It took me a moment to realize that I could still hear Bruno barking. I got out of bed and looked out the window.

  “Bruno!” I yelled. “You found me. Mr. Miller was right.”

  “What’s going on?” asked Charlie, sitting up in bed.

  “It’s Bruno. He found me. Mr. Miller was right. If your dog really loves you, he can find you anywhere.”

  “Wow, that’s amazing,” said Charlie, stretching his arms. “I guess Mr. Miller’s not so crazy after all.”

  We got dressed quickly and went outside. Bruno was as happy to see us as we were to see him.

  “You were right,” I told Mr. Miller when he saw us with my dog. “Dogs sure are smart.”

  Chapter 15

  We met Stephanie again later that morning on the hilltop. I excitedly told her about Bruno finding me, almost telling her the story Mr. Miller had told us about his mother’s dog, before remembering she wasn’t supposed to know about Mr. Miller. She had bought everything we’d asked her to and had picked up a few extra items, like a pack of bubble gum and some Jawbreakers. I was thankful that she was proving Charlie wrong with his prediction that she’d take the money.

  “I had some money left over so I grabbed some more stuff,” she said.

  “We thanked her, and the three of us sat down on some big rocks and enjoyed our snacks.

  “How’d your trip to Nashville go?” I asked.

  “Oh, we ended up going to Bowling Green instead. Mom said she didn’t feel too good. She had a black eye.”

  “How’d she get a black eye?” said Charlie.

  “She said she wasn’t watching where she was going and bumped into a wall.”

  “I bet that sorry boyfriend of hers hit her, and she’s too embarrassed to tell anybody,” said Charlie.

  “So, anyway,” said Stephanie, quickly changing the subject, “we went to Bowling Green and watched Jaws 2, and I got a new purse to go with my sun dress. I can’t wait to take it to school.”

  “I thought you wanted to see a love story,” I said.

  “I wanted to, but Mom said she wasn’t in the mood, so we watched a scary movie. I’m never going swimming in the ocean after watching that movie.”

  “Oh, man, I want to see Jaws 2,” said Charlie.

  “Me, too,” I said.

  “We’ll have to sneak to Bowling Green and watch it sometime, “ said Charlie. “I guess by the time we get out of this mess, we’ll be grown and have to wait and watch a rerun of it on TV. That’ll be the pits; a commercial will pop on every time it gets scary. By the way, I wonder if we can talk Mr. Miller into buying us a TV.”

  “Who’s Mr. Miller?” asked Stephanie.

  I gave Charlie a piercing, angry stare, daring him to say the wrong thing. He said, “Oh, I was talking about my uncle. He likes to buy me stuff all the time.” I breathed a sigh of relief.

  “That’s weird that you call your uncle Mister,” said Stephanie.

  “Yeah, that is pretty weird, I guess,” said Charlie.

  “Everybody’s gone crazy looking for you two,” said Stephanie. “They think somebody has kidnapped you or something. Other people think you might be dead. They’ve even been looking in the ponds and lakes. They had a dog looking for you too, but it got confused when it got to a railroad bridge. They thought maybe a train had ran over you or something but changed their minds when they couldn’t find your bodies in the river.”

  “Wow, I never thought it’d be such a big deal,” said Charlie. “I mean, this is crazy. We’re in big trouble for sure. How do you know all this?”

  “It’s on the news all the time.”

  “This is all your fault, Brian,” said Charlie. “I shouldn’t have let you talk me into this mess.”

  “You’re the one who came up with the idea for us to run away,” I said.

  “I know, but you’re the one that got it all started by giving Hazel cookies, knowing she was a diabetic.”

  I started crying.

  “Now look what you did, Charlie,” said Stephanie. “It’s not his fault. He didn’t make her eat the cookies.”

  “It don’t matter,” said Charlie. “Even if he don’t go to jail, everybody’s still going to be giving him dirty looks for the rest of his life, knowing his grandmother told him not to give them to her, but he did it anyway.”

  “Why are you being so mean all of a sudden?” said Stephanie. “I thought Brian was your best friend.”

  “He is my best friend. I just got upset when you was telling us about how big of a deal everybody’s making this into. I figured they’d of done quit looking for us by now. And I’m going to be in all kinds of trouble for running off with him.”

  “Now you’ve got him all upset. And don’t forget you were in some trouble yourself. That’s the real reason you ran away with him. So it’s your fault too.”

  “Yeah, you’re right. Don’t cry, Brian,” said Charlie. “I’m sorry I said those things. This is my fault too.”

  “No, you’re right. I am a terrible person. This whole mess is all my fault.”

  “No it’s not,” said Charlie. “You just weren’t thinking what you were doing at the time and made a mistake. We’ll get out of this mess somehow. I’ll help you out of it.”

  “Me, too,” said Stephanie.

  “You two are the best friends there ever was,” I said, drying my eyes. “You’re my best friend too, Stephanie, even though you’re a girl. I thi
nk it’s okay for a best friend to be a girl, as long as it’s a girl like you that acts like a boy sometimes.”

  “You’re also the best friend ever,” said Stephanie. Charlie agreed.

  “You know,” said Stephanie, “it’s supposed to rain tomorrow. I heard it on the news this morning. How are y’all going to keep from getting wet?”

  “We’ve been staying in that little cabin you passed by on the way up,” I said, regretting my words as soon as they came out.

  “Oh, that’s a good idea,” said Stephanie. “Can I see it?”

  “No,” I said.

  “You can’t see it because it’s a boys-only hangout,” added Charlie. I was thankful for his quick thinking.

  “That’s stupid,” said Stephanie. “I carry all this food up here, and I don’t even get to see your hangout. That’s a big thanks.”

  “We have to have rules to survive out here,” I said.

  “That’s the dumbest rule I’ve ever heard of. How’s that going to help you survive? I’m the one helping you survive by keeping you from starving to death.”

  “I know,” I said. “We might let you see our hangout sometime. We just have to think it over.”

  “If you say so,” said Stephanie, obviously not convinced. “But if I’m going to be a best friend, you’re going to have to start treating me like one.”

  “Let’s think up a pretend game to play,” I said, changing the subject.

  “Oh, let me think it up this time,” said Stephanie. “I’m not really into cowboy and Indian games like y’all like to play.”

  “Okay,” I said, figuring we owed her that much.

  “Just please don’t think up something stupid,” said Charlie. “I’m not into playing tea party.”

  “I haven’t played tea party since I was a little kid,” said Stephanie. “I’m too big for that now. I’ll think up something good. Just give me a minute. It’ll have to be short, though. I can’t stay too long. They’ll be putting my picture on the news beside y’all’s picture if I stay gone too long. I know; how about we pretend I’m the richest woman in the world, and you two are my servants and have to do everything I say.”

  “I don’t like that game,” said Charlie.

  “Remember, it’s my turn to pick what we play,” said Stephanie.

  “First thing I want to do is build me a big house, the biggest mansion in the world. I think right here on this hilltop is perfect. I need y’all to start figuring out what materials we need to build it and how much it’s going to cost. I’m too rich to be bothered with such details.”

  Charlie and I started surveying the land. I gathered some sticks and placed them in the ground where I thought the corners of the house should be.

  “Is this big enough?” I asked Stephanie.

  “No, it’s going to have to be bigger. Remember, I’m the richest woman that ever was in the world. I have to have a huge house. I’ll show you where the sticks should be. But get me some more sticks. I want to lay out all the rooms in the house.”

  Charlie and I gathered sticks and broke them down to the right size. Stephanie thoughtfully pushed the sticks in the ground, mapping out a magnificent imaginary house.

  “Over there,” she said, pointing with one of the longer sticks, “is going to be my entrance hall, and right here is where my curved staircase will be. There’ll be a giant crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling. I’m going to have to hire a lot of servants to keep this big house clean. I need to remember to bring my mom’s camera with me next time I come up here so I can take a picture of this. I want to remember how this place is laid out so I can build this house for real when I grow up.”

  “You can’t take a picture of it,” I said, “because your mom will wonder where you took the pictures when she gets the film developed.”

  “I certainly can take pictures. My mom’s got one of those Polaroid cameras that develops the pictures instantly. Her boyfriend gave it to her. I’ll just have to hide the pictures somewhere.”

  “I want one of those cameras,” said Charlie.

  “Yeah, those cameras are neat,” I said.

  “Okay,” said Stephanie, “start figuring out how much this is going to cost and what materials we’ll need. You’ll have to order all the supplies from Square Deal Lumber Company. I want the house to be four stories tall, and it needs a basement. I’ll need a big garage to fit all my cars in. I guess my main car will be a Rolls Royce. Let’s pretend that old truck over there is my Rolls Royce.”

  “The way I figure it,” said Charlie, “a house this big will cost about one-hundred and fifty billion dollars.”

  “That’s cheaper than I figured it would be,” said Stephanie. “I’ll have to add an indoor swimming pool.”

  “I like that idea,” I said. “You need one outside, too, for the summer. I mean, who would want to swim inside in summer? You can fix one of those fancy pools, like I’ve seen on TV, that looks like a lake and has a water fall.”

  “I want to know how much we’re getting paid to do all this work,” said Charlie.

  “Oh, about one thousand dollars a week, I guess,” said Stephanie.

  “I think we should get paid a million dollars a week,” said Charlie.

  “Okay,” said Stephanie. “I’m so rich it’ll be like paying you a penny, anyway.”

  “We’ll be rich too, making that kind of money,” I said. “I guess I’ll have to figure what kind of big house I want to build next.”

  “I want to build a huge log cabin,” said Charlie.

  “That would be neat,” I said. “I haven’t decided what I want my house to look like yet.”

  We spent about another hour helping Stephanie plan and build her imaginary house. During that time I became nearly as enthusiastic about it as she was. I could almost see the house towering above us, as big as Stephanie’s dreams.

  “I need to get back,” said Stephanie, finally, “before they figure out I’m missing. We can finish this game later if you want.”

  “Yeah, that sounds like fun,” I said.

  “Can you bring a baseball and bat next time you come?” asked Charlie. “I think the house is finished.”

  “I don’t have a baseball and bat,” said Stephanie.

  “I figured everybody had a baseball and bat,” said Charlie.

  “I don’t. I’ve got a Frisbee. I can bring that.”

  “I guess that’ll be okay,” said Charlie.

  “When can you come back again?” I asked.

  “I’ll try to come back tomorrow if my mom doesn’t take off work or something.”

  “Okay, sounds great,” I said.

  Stephanie headed back down the hill, and I hated to see her go. Her enthusiasm for life was infectious. I thought of the old trailer she was returning home to, realizing that in Stephanie’s mind, she was returning home to a castle. I had no doubt that one day Stephanie really would build her dream house, but I knew that in the meantime she wouldn’t wait until the house was built to start living there.

  Chapter 16

  “I forgot to give Stephanie money to pick us up some more stuff,” said Charlie, after Stephanie had likely made it most of the way back home. “Darn!”

  “We’ll just have to remember next time,” I said. “I hope she can come back tomorrow.”

  “Me, too,” said Charlie. “Mr. Miller is a good cook, but I need some junk food every once in a while.”

  Bruno started nervously barking at the old truck. “What are you barking at, Bruno?” I said. “Get over here!” The little dog came over to me and groaned. “What’s wrong, dog? You look like you’ve seen a ghost or something.”

  “There might be a ghost in that old truck,” said Charlie, “the ghost of whoever used to drive it. It would be neat if there was a skeleton sitting behind the stirring wheel.”

  “Yeah, that would be neat,” I said. “Maybe that truck is haunted.”

  Bruno barked again, looking nervously at the truck. I told him to be quiet. I had a
strange feeling that the dead truck had awakened and was staring at us with its big headlight eyes. “That’s the reason Bruno is barking,” I thought. “He senses it too.”

  Charlie started walking towards the truck. “Where are you going?” I asked.

  “I’m going to pretend like I’m driving the truck.”

  “There’s something wrong,” I said. “I wouldn’t get near it if I was you.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, Bruno was scared, and that makes me nervous. Maybe he does see a ghost.”

  “That’s ridiculous,” said Charlie. “I’m not afraid of ghosts. Anyway, he probably just saw a rabbit or something.”

  “Still, I don’t think I’d get in it right now.”

  “How much do you dare me to get in it, shut the door, and close my eyes?”

  “Don’t do that,” I said. “I’m nervous about this.”

  “I’m going to do it just to prove my point.”

  “Go ahead, but don’t ask me to get in there right now.”

  “You’re the biggest chicken I ever saw,” said Charlie, walking towards the truck. He opened the loud, squeaky door, hopped in behind the steering wheel, and slammed the door shut. “Beep, beep,” he yelled. “See, there’s nothing to be afraid of. Look, I’m closing my eyes. And look, I’m driving with no hands.”

  Starting to relax a little, I walked towards the truck. Bruno growled and barked once. Then I heard a scream that turned my blood cold. It was Charlie. He was crying and screaming and trying to open the door. The door wouldn’t open. I ran towards the truck, the last place in the world I wanted to run to.

  “What’s wrong?” I yelled, nearly panicked.

  “Help! Open the door; it’s stuck. There’s a rattlesnake in here. It’s bit my leg. It was under the seat.” He screamed again.

  I jerked the door open, and Charlie jumped out of the truck and fell to the ground. He was crying hysterically. I started crying too.

  “Help me,” he cried, desperately. “I can’t walk. My leg is numb. We’ve got to get away. That snake’ll come after us.”

  “Put your arm around my shoulder,” I said. “I’ll help you walk.”