by Jamie Ott
Chapter 4
After hours and hours of riding, Jacko couldn’t stop replaying the images from his dream. He kept asking himself about how the food wound up in his hotel room? What about the conversation he had with Althenio? Was he really sleeping? The conversation felt real, but how could he be in two places at once? Not to mention Jacko felt as though he hadn’t slept at all. Perhaps because his subconscious mind was extremely awake in the dream?
As he contemplated these things, he continued to struggle against his nodding head, for, although he did manage to get a few more hours of rest, it was hardly sufficient. Eventually, he stopped at a gas station where he picked up some caffeine pills that were supposed to give him energy; instead they only gave him the jitters.
Despite the caffeine pills, Jacko remained on the edge of sleep. His eyes always felt really dry when he was tired, so he continued to rub them, blinking repetitively, hoping to move moisture over them.
He knew he needed to stop, but he was determined to keep going, until he eventually closed his eyes and reopened them to find red sky. Jacko jerked his head up in shock. Was he really sleeping? But how did he end up in the red world again? He looked down and saw that he was on a red gravel road, but the grass to his left and right was black moss. He looked to make sure that Dog was still with him, which he was but his eyes were bugged out in fright.
What scared him most was he didn’t know in what direction he was headed nor how to get back to the road in his world. He looked around anxiously hoping to find the point where the horizon turned from blue to red, but it was nowhere in sight. Jacko’s heart really started to pound hard, then, Dog started to bark, hysterically.
Suddenly, Jacko heard a sound like a dinosaur wail behind him. In his fright, he over steered his bike and went off the road. He screamed as he saw the size of the ditch he was about to drive into. Jacko closed his eyes tight, and Dog cried out. Instinctively, he visualized his bike flying with him and Dog safely over the ditch. As he did so, his bike leapt wheel over head in the air, landed back on the ground, and continued forward. “Oh my god!” Jacko yelled. Dog cried; he didn’t like the ride too much.
Again, the screeching wail came from behind. This time, Jacko didn’t over steer, but he looked quickly behind him to see a black demon was after him, just like when he was asleep. He couldn’t really see the contours of the demon’s body because it camouflaged with the background of trees and mountains. All he could see were its red eyes gleaming in contrast to his shiny, wet leather-like skin, and its black horns against the red of the sky.
Jacko turned his head forward to check his direction and balance, and then turned back toward the demon for a second glance. In the brief glance behind, Jacko screamed but not at the sight of the demon, rather at the black frightening steed it rode. The creature had the blackened body of a lion with humungous paws, and its head was enormously deranged with dozens of eyes. It was like a cherub of heaven, and not the phony Hallmark kind that everyone knew was fake. This looked like a real cherub, only not as holy as was depicted to be the eyes of God in religion.
Along both sides of the steed, scaly dogs began to appear, he broke out in a major sweat. Pushing his bike on faster, he tried to think fast. How did he get there? And how does he get back?
Dog began barking again, but then he started to whine so loudly that Jacko could not ignore him. Jacko looked to his right and saw two demon dogs leapt onto the sidecar. “NOOOO!” yelled Jacko as one opened its huge fanged mouth and was about to close it on poor Dog’s throat.
Jacko closed his eyes tight, not wanting to see Dog get bit, and then light penetrated his eyelids. He opened them again and he was riding out in the midst of cacti, Joshua trees, and toward a canyon. Jacko squeezed his breaks hard, just in time to prevent going over a cliff. He looked around him and saw that he was back in the real world. Jacko breathed hard, in and out, for a moment.
Dog barked at Jacko, who turned off the bike and walked over to undo Dog’s straps. They, both, walked for a stretch, drank some water, and tried to calm their beating hearts. Blinking and sleeping; so that was it, he thought to himself. He looked in the distance and saw where the road was.
As he strapped Dog back in, there was a whirl of movement and wind swept up all around him. Nervously, and with eyes roving all around him, Jacko finished strapping Dog in and hurriedly started the bike. He drove back toward the main road as quick as he could.
How was he gonna keep from sleeping? He was still a day and a half away from Concord! Jacko needed a plan that would get him to Sissy’s, alive. The last time he slept well, was behind the gas station, but that wasn’t really restful because he kept hearing the cars.
Bingo! He said to himself. He needed a distraction to keep him somewhat grounded as he slept. The first time he dreamt of the world, he was completely unconscious while, the second time, he was exhausted, and so he slept more deeply than normal. At the gas station, he felt on his guard because, in the back of his mind, he was wary of sleeping outside. What if there were bums? Or someone was to sneak up on him and steal his things? Or a rattlesnake slithered into his sack? He felt like he needed to be aware even as he slept. Hypothetically, he was not fully, lights-out asleep as he was when he was passed out, or slept without distraction like in the motel.
Okay, he thought. He would not check into another motel, but he would camp the rest of the way, and hope that that would keep him grounded.
After a while, a sign came up that said they were thirty miles from Cheyenne, this gave Jacko great relief. He pushed his bike even faster because he knew he could still fall asleep again. Sure, he could just pull over and camp on the side of the road, but that might attract attention. What he needed was someplace to keep him inconspicuous, but with background noise to keep him from going places in his sleep.
Twenty more miles and he and Dog were parked behind another gas station that was a quarter of a mile off the road. It seemed perfect, as there were a million frogs and crickets croaking about, and, occasionally, he thought he heard scurrying in the shrubs: probably a jack rabbit, gopher or a squirrel. After giving Dog some water, Jacko crawled into his sleeping bag. Dog finished his water and lay next to him.
Fortunately, he slept but it was not restful. His subconscious flitted between images of black demons, Althenio, and the mysterious face that he’d seen at the beginning of his trip. Fear gripped him and released, repeatedly, through the night.
He lay awake, the next day, and stared up at the sky a few minutes. Dog lay next to him, peacefully. Jacko questioned his sanity. Whether it was safe for him to be on the road at all was a concern, but, surely, it wasn’t safe for him to stay on the road, either.
After a few moments, Jacko saw the mysterious face he hadn’t seen since the scary night in Reno; it appeared against the blue sky. Only, this time he didn’t deny what he was seeing or look away, but he just stared back at the face and tried to take in its features. “Who are you?” he asked, but the image just blinked and slowly disappeared. Still, he could’ve sworn it looked a lot like his sister, Sissy.
Jacko was too tired to think, anymore, on it. The only thing he cared about was getting to Sissy’s as soon as possible. He packed up quickly, and then he and Dog ate an early lunch at the diner up the road. After which, they drove a few hundred miles without stopping until they reached Grand Islands, Nebraska.
That leg of the trip was uneventful. This was fortunate because Jacko was feeling like he’d had more mystery than he could handle. He’d even entertained checking himself into psychiatric hospital. The more he thought on the events that had happened, the more scared he became. He didn’t want to start trouble in any world; all he wanted to do was get to his sister’s, start a new life, and never see his father again.
They passed through Nebraska, stopped to refresh and traveled another ten hours. Jacko and Dog slept in another deserted gas station, along the way. During the evening, he concurred with his prio
r deduction that he got the least rest when he was most relaxed. When he was most comfortable, he could not restrain his subconscious.
But that didn’t explain the dog. He reminded himself that when he was riding on his bike, in the red world, his dog was there, too. That wasn’t imagined, for when he was back in the real world, Dog was pretty shaken up.
Yeah! Because we nearly drove off a cliff! I fell asleep while riding! I’m cracking up!
Another twelve hours of riding, and another city, Jacko felt confident that he could sleep without trouble again. There was an old abandoned barn that looked like it was barely standing. He could get one more night of rest, and then continue through until he got to New Hampshire. When he crossed the state line, he’d call Sissy.
It was chilly that night. They made sure the barn was completely abandoned, and then Jacko managed a small fire to keep them warm.
They slept behind barn because the inside smelled putrid, like manure. Dog begged Jacko to scratch him behind his ears. They cuddled in together, and the dog was soon asleep, but Jacko remained awake. He stared at the fire and thought hard about what would happen if he had an episode at his sister’s house. Would she have him committed? Perhaps he shouldn’t go.
Jacko wanted to tell himself that it was all a dream, but he really had no choice but to believe it, or, rather, to believe that something was going on that was endangering himself. What if he caused harm to his sister?
He would never understand what was going on unless he talked to psychiatrist, which was about the last thing he wanted to do.
After thinking about it for hours, Jacko faded into sleep. In the morning, he decided they would try to ride straight to Concord without stopping. He had had enough of the road trip and wanted to be comforted. More than anything, he wanted to feel safe and without worry.
About noon, he gave Dog some food and water while having a bite at the local gas station. After which, once again, they were off on their final hours of the trip, and stopping for gas every so often.
Unexpectedly, they hit five ‘o’ clock traffic, so he and Dog stopped, once more, briefly for dinner, and then took off again; this time they didn’t stop until nine p.m., when they happened upon a park in Brunswick.
Too tired to continue, as he planned, they had one more night of camp, and when light had risen again, Dog and Jacko did not stop riding until they crossed the state line of New Hampshire. Upon which, Jacko finally called his sister.
“Hey, Sissy.”
“Jacko? Where are you? I called your dad because I had a feeling something was wrong.”
“Yeah well, I couldn’t take it anymore. I’m right outside of New Hampshire,” then Jacko had a double take. “Did you say my dad? Isn’t he your dad, too? Not that it matters. I guess I was hoping that I could stay with you for a bit. I-if not,” he stuttered, “I-I totally understand but I was hoping maybe for a couple of weeks?”
“What exactly are your plans?”
“Just to settle in for a few weeks and get a job.”
“What about school?”
“I’m thinking about quitting anyway. I can get my GED easy and then I’ll take night classes at a college and, eventually, transfer to a university. Look, I am not giving up on school but I want to be on my own.”
“Well, alright, Jacko. I already talked about you, and I’ve been given permission to have you as a guest. Do you have the address?”
“No.”
“Alright, well, I’ll text you directions. You can bring the dog, too; it’s okay.”
How did she know about his dog?
Too tired to ask questions, Jacko said ‘okay’ and hung up. He waited for the little message with the map to appear. Her house was only a few hours away.
He made it to Concord by midnight. As he drove through the dark neighborhood, he was very impressed. The houses were big on that block, and the one that was Sissy’s was the biggest. Who did she live with? Someone rich? It was a huge columned white house that looked sort of like the old plantation houses in the south.
Jacko parked his bike on the street and walked up to the door and pressed the button.
“Hey!” Sissy gave him a long, tight hug. “Wow, you’re humungous! You’ve grown!” and right behind Sissy there were a dozen children who were all laughing, smiling, and looking at Jacko. Behind them was one very tall, frightening man who looked to be almost eight feet with long blond hair and very smooth, porcelain-like skin that reminded Jacko, immediately, of Althenio.
“Well, this is…” Sissy began a long introduction, but Jacko’s mind started to lose focus after child number three. He looked up as Sissy introduced the man of the house, Manlo, but all Jacko could see was the man’s funny smooth skin, like glazed porcelain, it was.
Perhaps he knew what Jacko was thinking because Manlo was a little abrupt in the way he said, “Alright, everyone. Let’s stand back and give Jacko and Dog some room. They are extremely tired. Sissy, make him feel at home. Come on, everyone.”
Sissy led Jacko up the stairs to a room on the first floor of the four story house. It was a small room with a bathroom. Dog jumped up on the bed, lay down and yawned long and whiney; Jacko sat next to him. He was just grateful they didn’t expect him to stay up and keep them company, or engage them in chit chat because he was exhausted.
Sissy sat on the bed next to them, “So, Jacko, are ya hungry?”
Jacko shook his head, and then stretched on the bed.
“Soooo,” dragged Sissy, “What happened in California?”
“It’s Dad. I just can’t live with him anymore. You know all the stuff I told you about him and his girlfriend. Well, they were at it, again, and I had to get out. I hope you won’t get in trouble for my showing up like this. What is this place anyway? Who’re all those kids?”
“Well, this may be a little surprising, but Manlo is my father.”
Jacko sat up.
“Whaaat? You’re joking.”
He didn’t believe it for a moment, but then he remembered his own question from earlier that night. ‘Isn’t he your dad, too?’
“The tall guy with the shiny skin? That’s your father? So, wait. You’re not my sister?”
“Of course, I am your sister. It’s just that I’m your half-sister.”
“Why did you never tell me? How come I never knew?”
“Mom didn’t want me to know. She only told me right before she died. Apparently, she and Manlo had been together for many years before I was born, and before she and your dad got together.”
“So, John’s still my father then?” he asked, disappointed. “Bummer. So, wait, who are all those kids?”
“They’re my brothers and sisters.”
“What? All of them?”
“Yep, haha,” she laughed at his surprise. “Well, anyway, I will talk to you more about it tomorrow. For now, get some rest, you look beat! Goodnight,” and she leant over and gave him a hard hug.
“Goodnight.”
Jacko leaned back on the mattress for a few moments. He wondered what other secrets their mother could have possibly had before she died. Wouldn’t it be great if his father wasn’t his father?
House Rules