"It's okay," I said quickly.
"Okay? Going to school in your own house is okay?" Roberta asked.
"Yes," I said with a face as firm as Mommy's could be when she was determined. "I'm fine with it."
Roberta was not half as pretty as Harmony. Her face was rounder, her eyes smaller and dull brown. She was big boned with a very large bosom that seemed to pour out of her chest. She had the top two buttons of her light pink blouse undone, revealing a deep, dark cleavage that had two pink spots at the top on both sides. The remaining buttons of her blouse looked like they were straining to remain buttoned. Both is were in jeans.
"Do you have a blackboard and a desk and all that. too?" Harmony asked.
"No, not a blackboard. I have a desk, of course," I said.
"Does your mother ring a bell between subjects?" Elliot teased.
"Very funny," I said.
He laughed and drove out of the driveway and away from our property. I looked back at the house. My heart skipped beats because I realized this was the first time in my life I had ever left home in a car without Mommy or Daddy. I couldn't help feeling like someone in outer space who had become detached from his rocket ship and was left weightless and helpless. The farther away we went, the more the butterflies in my stomach fluttered.
"Elliot says you don't have any friends our ace. No one comes to see you, and you don't visit anyone. Is that true?" Harmony asked.
"Yes," I said.
"Don't you have any relatives nearby, cousins. anyone?"
"No," I said. How could I tell them about my spiritual family?
"Doesn't it get boring and lonely for you?" Roberta questioned.
I shrugged.
"Sometimes it does," I admitted.
"I'd hate it," Harmony said. "You never get invited to parties or go to the movies with friends or anything?" she followed, her voice rising into a highpitched tone of skepticism.
"No," I said.
"He doesn't even watch television," Elliot added.
Both girls looked at me with amazement in their eyes. It was as if they had discovered an extraterrestrial creature or something.
"Is that right?" Roberta asked.
"Yes. We don't have a working television set anymore." "But what do you do at night?"
"I read a lot." I said.
"And he fishes and chops wood and feeds chickens," Elliot added. laughing.
"Do you at least listen to music?" Harmony asked me.
"Sometimes. My mother plays piano, and we have some records."
"Records?" she asked, and they both laughed.
"What's so funny?" I asked.
"You don't have tapes at least?" Roberta asked.
"No." I said. "Just records."
"Like what?" Harmony followed.
I shrugged. "Mozart, Beethoven. Debussy. We have some full operas. too. The Victrola needs a new needle, and my mother hasn't gotten one yet."
"Huh?" Roberta said. "Victrola?"
"Told you he was something," Elliot cried. "You could at least get with it and call it a
phonograph," he threw back at Inc, and they all laughed again.
I shook my head and looked out the window. I shouldn't have gotten into the car, I thought. This was very wrong.
"Don't you listen to the radio?" Harmony asked.
"Don't you get magazines or newspapers?" Roberta followed.
"Don't you go shopping, go to the mall, and at least see tapes?" Harmony continued, neither pausing to give me time to re sp and.
"You listen to rock, don't you? Who's your favorite group or singer?"
I looked from one to the other, feeling like I was under interrogation.
"No." I said to answer all their questions. "I have no favorites of anything, and I don't listen to the radio."
"Even in your car?" Harmony asked.
"My mother doesn't turn it on in the car." Roberta stared at me, a curious smile on her lips.
"You know what this is like?" she said, still staring at me, her face brightening with excitement, "its like finding someone who was buried alive for fifty years."
I felt myself blanch.
"Yeah," Harmony said. "That's right. You do have electricity. right?"
lectricity," I snapped at her. They all laughed.
"Where are we going?" I demanded.
"We're just killing some time until my sister leaves the house," Elliot said. He smiled at Harmony. "Unless you would like her to be there when we arrive," he added.
The heat in my neck rose so quickly. I thought my face was lit up like a full moon. What had he told her?
"Stop picking on him. Elliot," Harmony said and smiled at me. Roberta moved closer.
"Why doesn't your mother want you to go to a regular school?" she asked.
"My mother is a teacher, and she thinks I'll have a better education at home. She says there are too many distractions at school, and there is too much politics going on at the expense of the students."
"Expense of the students? What's that mean?"
"He does do better. He scores in the top percentiles every year, don't you. Noble?" Elliot asked.
"Yes," I said.
"There's more to school than school," Roberta said. "You could probably be on the soccer team or the baseball team, and you'd meet people and have fun."
I was silent. "Don't you care?"
I looked out the window, Don't I care? I thought. Yes, deep down I care. I care almost as much as Noble cared.
"Is it because your mother believes in voodoo or something?" she continued.
"Roberta!" Harmony cried. "Stop teasing him."
"I'm not teasing him. I was just interested. Elliot says you talk to birds and other animals and there are all sorts of weird things on your doors and around your home, and he says there's a graveyard. Is that true?"
"Elliot is a stranger to truth. He wouldn't see it if it was on the tip of his nose," I replied, which was something I had heard Mommy say about people. The girls laughed, but a little more nervously.
"Yeah. yeah. I'm not lying. He spends a lot of time in the woods. Don't deny it. Noble."
"I don't deny it. I like nature," I said. "I've always been interested in plants and animals and especially insects, but I don't talk to birds."
"Insects. ugh!" Roberta said, twisting her lips. They looked thick and rubbery.
"Stop it. Roberta. There's nothing wrong with that," Harmony said. "Do you fish for your dinner?"
"Sometimes we eat what I catch, yes, but I don't fish that often anymore."
"I wonder why," Elliot said, laughing again.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Roberta asked him. "That's between Noble and me. right, Noble?"
"Whatever you say. Elliot. You're doing all the talking, obviously," I replied, and he laughed.
"Does your mother practice witchcraft and put spells on people she doesn't like?" Roberta finally came out and asked.
"No," I said. "But we do believe in spiritual things."
"What does that mean. exactly?" Harmony asked. They were all quiet, waiting in great
anticipation.
"It means that there is a spiritual enemy in the world and it's possible to feel it, to experience it," I said. "That's all."
"I've heard of that," Roberta said. nodding.
"If s not so strange. I know other people who believe that," Harmony said.
"Let's see if my stupid sister left with her boyfriend vet," Elliot decided, bored with the conversation. He turned the car sharply and headed for his house.
"I bet you miss your sister, don't you?" Harmony asked me. It was a terrible thing that happened. One of the most famous terrible things in this small town."
"Yes, it was," I said. "But I don't like talking about it," I added quickly.
"Of course you don't," she agreed in a soft, sympathetic voice.
"Don't be too nice to him. He'll get used to it, and then I'll have to be nice to him all the time," Elliot teased.
"If you're not nice to everyone. I might not be nice to you," she threatened. and Elliot laughed and howled.
You hear that. Noble, my buddy?Ill be so nice to you people will think I'm your slave."
Everyone laughed, I smiled and looked out the window as we turned into Elliot's driveway, He cheered,
"My sister is gone." he cried. "We've got the place to ourselves."
I wasn't sure why yet, but that sounded ominous to me and set my heart pounding again. I wondered if Mommy had discovered I was gone by now. I kept looking toward the woods, thinking about poor Cleo, remembering how he bounded through the brush and so enjoyed exploring.
"Don't look so worried," Elliot said, looking back at me through the rearview mirror and mistaking my expression of sadness for fear. "No one will give you a test on what we do."
The girls giggled.
"I might," Roberta teased. and Elliot laughed harder.
I sat back and contemplated getting out and running as soon as we stopped.
But I didn't. I got out with them and walked into Elliot's house.
"You've got a lot of catching up to do. Noble," Roberta told me. She put her arm through mine. "I wouldn't mind being your home teacher when it comes to that."
"Comes to what?"
"We'll see," she said.
"Let's go up to my room," Elliot said. "I have that surprise I promised."
Roberta stayed very close to me, her breast pressed against my upper arm. She was only an inch or so shorter than I was, but she was so much broader in the hips that she made me look taller than I was.
"You have such a firm arm." she told me. Elliot overheard her and turned back. "Show her your sandpaper hands. Nobel... Instinctively. I closed my fingers into fists.
We followed Elliot and Harmony up the stairs. Outside of his room. I hesitated.
"Are you all right?`' Roberta asked me. "You look a little pale. Doesn't he. Harmony7
She nodded.
"I was sick," I told them. "I just got over something."
"Did you have to go to the school nurse?" Elliot joked. "That would be his mother, and the school principal and the janitor. too."
As soon as we entered his room. he went to the stereo set he had in the corner and turned on a tape. He flopped on his bed and spread his arms. The music blasted, but no one seemed to mind.
"Make yourselves at home. girls," he said and winked at me. Then he reached under his bed and came up with a cigar box. Harmony sat beside him and looked excitedly up at Roberta and me.
"Just as I promised." he said and opened the box to reveal what I thought were poorly made cigarettes, The last of my New Jersey stash," he declared. "Better than what you guys get up here, I bet."
"I'll let you know," Harmony said, plucking one out of the box.
I stared. confused.
"Nobel, this is something called a joint, pot. You've never seen it. I'm sure."
"Yes, I have.," I said. "I've read about it."
"Does your mother teach you about such things?" Roberta asked me. "Does she tell you to just say no?"
"No. She never talked about it. I just read about it. I said."
I really hadn't read much about it at all, and the first time I had heard the word was when Elliot mentioned it that day in the woods.
"But you never tried it, have you?" Harmony asked me.
I shook my head.
"How could he? He never leaves the nest," Elliot said and then smiled. "Until now. This is your lucky day," he declared, glanced at Roberta, and added, "in a few ways."
He handed one to Roberta and then held one out to me. I didn't move. He gestured emphatically, pumping his hand at me. I started to shake my head.
"Just take it," he said sharply and shifted his eyes toward Roberta and then back to me. I took it and stepped back.
"Aren't you worried your father will smell it?" Roberta asked. "I always worry about that."
"Not a problem," Elliot said and threw open the windows. "Besides. I'll blame it on my sister. Dad believes everything anyone says about her," he said.
He lit his joint and then lit Harmony 's. Roberta lit her own and offered me the match.
'I don't smoke," I said, and the three of them laughed. This isn't smoking. This is different," Harmony said. It looks like smoking to me."
Try it once," Elliot said. "Just for the fun of it." shook my head.
"Don't act like a nerd in front of the girls. Noble," he warned. "I know for a fact that you're not a nerd," he added. Then, to intimidate me, he nudged the poster behind which was hidden the hole to his sister's room.
He lit a match and held it out. I brought the joint to it, and as soon as I sucked in. I started to cough. They all laughed. Roberta decided to instruct me on the proper way to smoke the joint. I didn't like it. but I played along, and then I felt like I was getting dizzy.
The music got louder and everyone's laughter seemed to merge into one great laugh. Somehow it was then decided that Roberta and I would go downstairs and leave Elliot and Harmony alone upstairs.
She led me out of the room and practically pulled me to the stairway.
"I want you to tell me everything about yourself." she said. "You're the most interesting boy I know."
"You don't know me." I said, and she laughed. "I mean. I'd like to know. You're so... so..." "Literal?"
She grimaced.
"Yeah. I think so. I guess you are smart. C'mon," she urged and pulled me into the living room.
I stumbled, but followed her to the sofa. She flopped down, laughing at everything she did or that happened now. Then she reached up for me. "Come here. Don't be so shy," she said.
I looked back at the doorway, thinking perhaps I would just bolt, but she lunged forward, seized my hand, and pulled me down to her. I lost my balance and fell awkwardly over her, which made her laugh more. I squirmed to get loose, and she turned, pressed her breasts into my face, and then. before I could get back up and away, brought her lips to mine with such force, she pushed my head back. I felt her tongue jet in between my lips, and I gagged. I shoved her with all my strength. She clung to me, still laughing.
"Don't you like it?" she asked.
"No." I said. "And you shouldn't do that. I just told you I was sick. You'll catch it." I warned, hoping that would make her retreat, but her eyes were so glassy and small, and she continued to wear this silly smile on her lips.
"I'm not worried," she said and started to bring those thick, rubbery lips to mine again.
This time I ducked under her arm and managed to get off the sofa. She spun around, disappointed, and looked up at me.
"You are shy? This won't hurt. I promise," she said. "I know what hurts and what doesn't," I told her.
"Do you?" She widened her smile. "Then come on back. You won't be sorry," she said.
I watched as she fumbled with her blouse buttons and pulled the blouse apart. Then she sat forward and undid her bra. I should have just turned and run then and there, but the sight of her and what she was willing to do was mesmerizing. She slipped her bra off and then leaned back so her head was on the arm of the sofa. Her breasts poured forward. She smiled at me and put her hands under them, lifting them as an offering.
"Come back!" she urged. I shook my head.
"I can't,' I said. "I have to go. I have.., things I have to do. I can't," I stuttered and then turned and ran out of the living room, out the front door, and down the steps.
Her shout died behind me when the door closed. I didn't hesitate or look back. I charged across the lawn to the woods and then ran harder and faster as if I was being pursued. It had all put me in a panic. I didn't pay attention to the bushes and the saplings. Crashing through them. I felt my right cheek get scratched. but I didn't stop.
When I broke out of the forest and I was on our land. I slowed down, but I continued walking at a rapid pace, gazing back to be sure they hadn't followed me. I could feel myself crying now, feel my body shaking with sobs, but it was as if I was outside my body
, watching myself. The scratch on my cheek burned when the tears ran over and into it. Before I reached the house. Mommy stepped out and stood on the porch, her arms folded, her head high, her lips taut, the corners pulled in with white rage.
"Where were you?" she demanded.
I brushed some pieces of twig off my hair and wiped the tears from my cheeks. I was afraid to reply. She didn't wait. She stepped off the porch and stood before me, glaring at me. Then her eyelids fluttered and she looked confused for a moment. I tried to swallow, but it was as if I had a lump of hard candy in my throat. Slowly, she brought her face toward mine, and then I heard her sniffing.
She recoiled like someone who had smelled death.
"What were you smoking? Where were you? Answer me!" she shouted and seized my shoulders. She shook me hard. and I started to cry again. "Tell me!" she demanded. "Tell me everything and tell it to me right now!"
I blubbered between sobs, confessing everything, every detail, every moment. I dreaded what would happen next. Surely, she would lock me in my room again and again put me on a punishing fast, but when I was finished, she surprised me by smiling and then lovingly stroking my hair, my cheek, before she hugged me to her and rocked with me.
"My Noble, my wonderful Noble."
I looked up at her. I was still quite frightened, but I was confused as well.
"Don't you see, my child, you were honest. You were willing to expunge all the evil from you. You practically spit it out of yourself, You cleansed yourself. Your confessing is your purging. You have nothing more to do except to give thanks. Why do you think you ran home, you left that den of inequity? I am so proud of you," she said.
My sobbing and shaking stopped. She still held me by my shoulders firmly, but her attention lifted from my face and went toward the forest. Her lips twisted with anger, and then she closed her eyes and nodded.
"You don't have to worry," she said. "I'll take care of things now. Go on into the house and clean yourself. Ill be up to put something on that nasty scratch on your cheek. Go on," she told me.
"What are you going to do. Mommy?" I asked.
In my mind's eye. I saw her at the cemetery, praying to an army of spirits, asking them to take vengeance. I was frightened for Elliot and the girls. Something terrible was going to happen to them. I had no doubt that my mother could do it.
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