by Jordan Deen
my room. I got the music playing but not before my father and mother started yelling at each other again.
Their heavy footsteps on the stairs rattled my windows and then their bedroom door slammed shut. Now I wished I didn’t have the room right next to theirs. My iPod was loud, but not loud enough to block out my mother’s high pitched screaming. I couldn’t stand another round of this. I headed back downstairs and took one look at the front door. It wasn’t safe to venture out there again, not after the last experience. I went out into the backyard instead. I settled onto one of the swings of my old play set and pushed myself back with the tip of my toes. The rusted metal of the chain crackled and squeaked as I glided forward. The houses to either side were still dark and the small patio light cast creepy shadows across the grass. A cool breeze shook Mom’s rose bushes and the few hedges that surrounded one side of the patio. But when the wind stopped, the bushes didn’t. I froze staring into the darkness trying to see the threat that was waiting just to the side of my family home. I held my breath trying to decide whether or not to make a run for it. I couldn’t hesitate much longer. Rising slowly from the swing, I lingered again trying to judge the distance between the swings and the safety of the kitchen door.
Can I make it before it gets me? IT! Coming outside again tonight was a bad idea.
That’s when I saw them. Two monstrous golden brown eyes peered at me from the hedge. I wasn’t imagining those eyes. They were menacing as they went from full moons to half and then to crescents. My heart raced as I took possibly the last breath of my life and sprinted for the door.
c h a p t e r
TWO
Dad had gone to Grandma’s house again. I’m not sure whether Mom kicked him out or if he left on his own this time. After Mom left for work I headed to the kitchen to pull out the biggest butcher knife from the drawer, preparing to go to the backyard. At least I was ready, or thought I was ready, for whatever could be waiting for me. Just in case, I pulled on my best running shoes and headed out the sliding glass door, determined to flush out whatever was spying on me from the rosebush, although I really hoped it would be gone by now.
I knew I looked stupid as I kicked and hacked at the bush the eyes had been staring out of. “HA! Now what?” I said just as my neighbors’ nine-year old daughter, Megan, witnessed my insanity from over the wooden fence separating our yards. I slinked back into the house in shame and replaced the knife back into its hiding spot, hoping my mother wouldn’t realize I had defiled her bush with one of her most expensive knives.
I climbed the stairs back to my bathroom, pulled out a towel and hopped into the shower. My muscles had almost relaxed from my bush attack when my cell phone started ringing. I almost fell trying to get out of the shower rushing to my phone.
“Hello?”
“Hey you up?” That’s my best friend, always stating the obvious.
“Well, I answered the phone, didn’t I?” I gave her my best morning dose of sarcasm.
“Serious Lacey. I mean are you out of bed? Did your parents go ballistic last night or what?” She was crunching on something.
“What are you eating?”
“Ok Miss avoidance …” She half laughed and crunched some more. “So are you grounded or what?”
“No, they didn’t ground me but they did go ballistic.” I hesitated, the terrifying golden brown eyes flashing through my mind. “They were already fighting before they realized I was home.”
“Your parents amaze me.” Crunch Crunch Crunch.
“Could you stop crunching in my ear? It’s a little early for that.”
“It’s almost 9!” Jillian’s voice rose. I’m sure her parents were already up but there was no way Ricky was. “What are we doing today? Wanna go to the mall?”
Another day at the mall? We’d spent most of the summer at the mall and the movies. We needed something else to do; neither of us had a boyfriend, or even a prospect, and no other close friends to really speak of. We were loners, but by choice, and that choice was getting a little tiring (not to mention boring).
Jillian and I met when we were in second grade and had been practically inseparable ever since. I was there when she got her heart broken by Jimmy Lewis in Junior high and she was there for me when I had to put my beloved dog, Tippy to sleep. No topic was off limits for our conversations and no story that we didn’t know about each other. Except my father’s drinking; I shared that with no one.
“What about the beach?” Jillian chimed. She got an A+ for effort but I wasn’t sure a day in the sun was really what I wanted, but the alternative was fluorescent lighting and the same $1.50 movies playing at the Cineplex. “Ok.”
“Don’t sound too excited!” Crunch Crunch.
“You’re crunching again.”
“Sorry! I need to eat before Ricky gets up. He’s going to take over the kitchen as soon as he emerges from his cave. He has some sort of track meet coming up and he’s been carb loading.”
“Yeah, whatever, just tell him he’s getting fat and move on.” We both started laughing. “Ok so I’ll see you in an hour?”
“Ok!” Jillian was more enthused about this plan than I was.
I wasn’t back in the shower long when the phone rang again. I abandoned all hope of getting to finish as I crawled back out of the shower reaching for the phone. “What now?” I snapped figuring it was Jillian again.
“Is that how you answer the phone at 9am?” Oh great.
Mom.
“Hey Mom. Sorry I thought it was Jillian. We are going to the beach today.”
“Well you need to pick up your room. Can you fend for yourself for dinner tonight?” She hadn’t realized I’d been taking care of my own dinner for weeks.
“Yeah.” My response was bland; she wouldn’t be pleased.
“Lacey Marie.” Great, she pulled out the middle name.
“Yes, Mother.” I got off the phone as quickly as I could to set to the task of picking up my room. I guess I should’ve asked her what she was doing tonight that she wouldn’t be home, but the fact was, it didn’t matter. She wouldn’t be home and Dad probably wouldn’t either; that was nothing new. It left me a lot of freedom to hang out with Jillian and come and go as I pleased.
Jillian and I soaked up the sun on giant beach towels for the rest of the day. We shared magazines and books as chiseled men playing beach volleyball distracted us frequently. A sandy haired boy in his twenties came to retrieve their ball once and my body tensed slightly when the back of his hand brushed the top of my foot. I knew I needed to get out and expand my “friend” horizons to include some boys.
“Wow …” Jillian whispered as the boy ran away, looking much like an extra from Baywatch in his red board shorts. “They don’t look like that at West Brooke.”
“That’s probably because that boy isn’t in high school.” I didn’t take my eyes off him for the next hour. Sunglasses are the best invention ever; without them he may have filed for an emergency restraining order against me.
My parents were fighting by the time Jillian dropped me back off at home. “Sure you don’t want to come home with me instead?” She looked sympathetic. I’m sure everyone on our street could hear the argument.
“No. It’s cool.” I pulled out my headphones and dangled them between my fingers. “I’ve got Blink to keep me company.”
Jillian smiled. “Ok, well, if Travis isn’t enough tonight, call, ok?” I nodded and hurried up the sidewalk.
I watched longingly from the stairs as her Ford pulled out of sight. Taking a deep breath, I tried to hear what the argument of the night could possibly be. They were towards the back of the house, so their voices were too muffled to understand. I waited to see if they’d come back to the living room as a few neighbors walked by with their dogs and a few kids peddled by on bikes. It was just after dusk and the street lamps had started to illuminate the street with a strange amber orange color. The first few stars had started to show in the blue and black night sky.
Settling into
the lounger, I started wishing my parents had turned on the porch light when they got home. I figured it wouldn’t look so obvious if I sat in the chair on the porch rather than eavesdropping at the front door.
When the night sky turned black and the moon hung high in the sky I finally considered going into the house. I still hadn’t the faintest idea what the argument was over. My stomach started rumbling and I covered it with my hands a few times wishing I had brought a snack in my bag to the beach. I peeked in one of the windows. They were on the couch in the front room; their argument no longer as loud, but still just as intense as before.
Around the side of the house I carefully wedged my way between the fence and the trash cans to get to the back door. I could at least get into the kitchen and get something to eat before being dragged into the fight. Stumbling over a misplaced rake, I lost my footing on the water hose and almost fell into the bushes. I seriously wished they had turned the lights on now. I finally got the sliding glass door opened and tried to close it as quietly as possible not to disturb the sentinels waiting in the next room. Digging through the refrigerator, I decided to make a sandwich. When they started to yell at each other again, I was rather satisfied with my portable choice of food. I wrapped it in a napkin and went out to my playhouse in the backyard to eat in privacy.
I slipped in my earphones, trying to pretend it was a much easier time for my family. I ate