Chapter 11
They parked in front of a large two story house.
Roy’s mother reached and gave him a light tap on the shoulder. His eyes opened, “Wake up, we’re here.”
The city they had moved to was exponentially larger than the previous. In contrast to a four hundred people population, that city had a quarter of a million, it was essentially overwhelming for them.
The house was dark, Roy’s mother tried to turn on the lights, but to no avail. “The power must not be on yet. Why don’t you go find a room you like.”
Through the darkness Roy did not hesitate, but with imperturbable self-possession confidence, as if he had been there before. He was not timorous from thoughts of plunging into the aggrandizing darkness, he did not care. His hand reached out, grabbing a door knob. With a twist and a shove against the door, Roy was in a room. The room was lit, but not from any artificial source, but from the full moon that night. Two windows provided an avenue for the light. The room was large, with wooden doors and a high ceiling.
Roy sat, basking in the beautiful moonlight, just staring at the door. All night he sat, the moons soft glow being replaced by the sun’s sharp intense rays.
In a whispered voice he said to himself, “You will see her again, you will marry her, and you will insure that she never cries tears of sadness ever again.”
Roy walked downstairs, his mother was talking on a cellular phone.
“Well, the electric won’t be on until tomorrow. I’ll have to go buy some candles.” But he walked by her, ignoring the words she spoke and avoiding looking at her. Once he was at the front door, his mother added, “You might as well forget about her.” The door slammed behind him.
“Damn bitch!”
Roy walked aimlessly down the street. An emptiness filled him, a heaviness in his stomach, a heaviness in his heart.
I got to find something to do.But he continued walking without a purpose. I guess I’ll go buy something to eat.Still Roy did not know the city, and at that point Roy did not know where he was.
Continuing down a street he came to a small store.
In the store he grabbed a basket and started looking around.
“Hello, finding everything okay?” A teenager, not much older than Roy, greeted and asked from behind a cash register.
“I’m fine.”
Roy grabbed a sandwich from a deli rack and continued walking and looking. I should buy some candles. Even if he was exasperated at his mother Roy would not let that affect his practicality, candles were something he needed as much as she did.
He bent over and placed a dozen candles into his basket, and walked to the cashier.
“Will this be it for today?” The teenager asked.
“Yep.”
“Okay then,” the cashier said as he swiped the items across a scanner. “Your total will be twenty dollars, even.” A small screen, facing Roy, flashed the number twenty.
Roy handed a twenty dollar bill to the cashier, and the cashier handed him a bag of the items and a receipt. “Thank you.”
“Thank you. Have a good day.” The cashier replied.
“Yep.” And he ambled out the store and started down the street.
“Help!” A woman yelled, she was not in sight, but it sounded as if she was nearby. Hell. What’s this?
Roy walked to where he thought the noise was coming from.
“Help!”
Finally, in front of an alley he saw what was happening. Two men and a woman were struggling with another woman. The three were wearing mismatched and ill-fitted clothing while the fourth, a woman, wore a woman’s business suit.
Déjà vu, damn it not again.“Hey, why don’t you guys stop it.”
“Hey, why don’t you go screw yourself!”
“I’m not in the mood for this,” he looked at the victim, “woman just run off.” Roy began walking down the alley.
Contrary to the fight at the school, the only one Roy was larger than was the woman, and, even then, not by much.
His presence distracted the three, allowing for the woman to pull free and run away. She ran pass Roy and hastily said, “Thank you.”
“Motherfucker! Get that fagot!” The tallest of the men yelled. What did he just say!Roy continued to walk toward them.
Roy was about four feet away when the woman pulled out a taser and the man, smaller of the two men, pulled out a knife.
“Why can’t people like you ever fight with your hands? You guys must be pussies.”
Again, like in the locker room, the woman charged first. Her finger pressing the button, and an electric arc jumping from the two prongs of the taser. She lunged.
Roy kicked her in the stomach, keeping a safe distance from the taser. The wind was knocked from her, she dropped the taser. He then followed with a punch to her face. Some of her teeth fell to the ground, her front teeth and some molars. The woman fell to the concrete and yelled in pain. She held her stomach with one hand and her mouth with the other, her hand covering her mouth quickly becoming covered in blood.
“You fucking coward, hitting a girl!” The one said, with the knife extended and pointing at Roy’s neck.
Roy side-stepped him, then kicked him in the groin. He dropped the knife and Roy caught it. He slammed the blade of the knife into the side of the man’s face. It cut through his cheek, sliding across the upper and lower teeth. The man, believing he had been stabbed in the neck, fainted. Roy still held the knife.
Click.
The man had a gun pointed at Roy, just feet away, point-blank.
“So we’re pussies for using weapons, but you hit a girl and use a weapon yourself, what a hypocrite. Drop the knife.”
Roy dropped the knife, the man followed it with his eyes. Roy swung the grocery bag, he still held, at the mans head. It hit, twelve heavy candles, and a sandwich, smashed against his face. The gun fired, missing Roy and hitting a garbage can. He then forced the gun from the man’s hand.
“One thing, any other day your little friends and you would not have walked a way as disfigured freaks, but today I’m in a bad mood. People like you piss me off.”
The man looked up and spat in Roy’s face.
Roy grabbed the hair on the back of the man’s head, and pulled him to a wall.
“What the hell...” He slammed the mans face against the brick wall, knocking him out. His nose broke and the rough texture of the bricks ripped the skin from his nose and forehead.
It was a side of himself that Roy did not like. The majority of the time in a fight it was to defend someone, but at that point what he did was just to cause pain.
Sirens could be heard in the background, and soon red and blue lights further illuminated the alley.
“Freeze!” An officer yelled as he left his car, followed by the woman in the suit from before. “Who’d you say was mugging you?” He asked the woman.
“The three on the ground, that boy came to help me.”
The officer looked at the three on their sides, crying and bleeding. He saw the weapons, “Damn kid!” The officer walked back to the car and called for an ambulance.
The woman walked to Roy and hugged and thanked him. “Thank you so much. It looks like that one had a gun. I might not be here if it weren’t for you. Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it. Honestly I had a little pint up range, so, no offense, but this is what I needed.”
She laughed and the officer approached them.
“Kid, your going to have to come to the station. Don’t worry your not in trouble, you’ll just have to sign some papers.” Again he looked at the three, “Haven’t you ever heard of moderation?”
An ambulance arrived and escorted the three to a hospital, where they would be treated, then transferred to a detention centre.
The officer drove the woman and Roy to the police station, there Roy had to call his mother.
Roy's mother cellular phone rang in her purse, but she did not answer.
“She’s not answering?” The officer asked.
“Yeah I guess so. Do I have to stay until she can come?” He asked.
“No, we just need a parent’s signature. I’ll take you home and she can sign it their.
“Thank you.”
They drove to Roy’s house, it was night and it was the first time he had seen the city dark.
“So kid, where’d you learn to fight? Not many can beat the shit out of three thugs, with weapons, and walk away without a scratch.” The officer asked.
“My girlfriend and I used to watch a lot of action movies, I guess I just copied what I saw.” An intense pain shot through him. I forgot to call her!
“Well that’s pretty impressive.”
“Thank you.”
Roy’s mother stumbled through the house as she heard the knocking on the door.
She opened the door to see the light of the officers flash light shining in her eyes. The officer turned the light off and started, “Ma’am is this your son?”
“Yes, why? What did he do?”
“He didn’t do anything, except maybe save a woman’s life.”
“Then why are you here?”
“Well he sent three people to the hospital and I need you to sign some papers.”
“Okay.” He handed her a clip board and she scribbled her name on a line.
“Thank you, ma’am. If I may, are you having any troubles with your electric?” He asked seeing as it was night and there were not any lights were on.
“We just moved here, and the electric won’t be on until tomorrow.”
“That’s good to know, you two have a good night.”
“You too.” They said, one after another.
The officer drove away.
“What’s in the bag?” His mother asked.
“I bought some candles.”
“Can I have one?”
“Here.” He handed her the bag, but removed one for himself.
“Thank you, but you didn’t have to give me the whole bag.” She started but he continued walking to his room.
Movers had moved their things into the house, including Roy's into his room. The room was then dark with a mattress covering a window and a dresser blocking the other.
He locked the door and placed the candle in the middle of the room. From his pocket he pulled out a disposable lighter and ignited the candle. He sat and watched the flame.
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