#louie is so happy and silly but also serious and sad | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

whatatime30 · 6 years ago

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Children, bikes, cars sliding.

Heidi Writes Stories

This is short story I wrote. It’s about this kid who gets in a car accident and meets this guy named Jack. They become friends, and from there, it’s history.

The thing about Him was that… well, He was smart. He wasn’t like the nerdy kind of smart. He wasn’t even the rocket scientist kind of smart. He had their education, sure, but He had something else, a different point of view. He saw things simply. Everything was black and white.

He understood what we weren’t made to understand. He breathed with air that we couldn’t reach. He was above us. He knew that. He had all the power, but He couldn’t handle it. All He could do... was laugh.

He laughed to cover up the pain and the heartbreak. He thought that laughing could help Him ignore it all. How it all made no sense. How He had no purpose. How none of us had a purpose. It didn’t work.

***

“A-one… a-two… a-three,” the man shrieked with joy. “Out you come.” The voice had turned serious in seconds. A small figure crawled out of the damp, dirty box. The gray pools of his eyes were piercing. It wasn’t one that hurt though. They were kind, even sympathetic. A glove came in front of him. “It’s me. Jack.”

Trembling, the boy shook it.

“C’mon, Louis.” Louis’s hand was snatched up. It was cold and rough.

He struggled to keep up with the man’s stride. He wondered why he wasn’t screaming or yelling. The men with the bright lights that made Louis’s head hurt are still there.

“You’re,” Jack said, stringing out the syllable as he thought, never finishing.

Jack pushed Louis into a car passenger seat. He sighed as they traversed the busy streets of Roma in the small black car. “Now later red cat boat ship house girl?” Louis asked. He regretted speaking the moment after he asked. It was just that kidnappers were supposed to have white vans. That’s what his nanny always said anyway. And May was never wrong. Until she was, of course, but she’d said that before.

“A van? Why would I have a van?”

“Dog bike cat sat sit down under sleep jump.” The man giggled, tapping the steering wheel like the patters of a hooves. Louis had never heard a giggle originate in a grown man. This man didn’t seem so grown though.

“It’s your Uncle Jack. Don’t you remember me? We’re friends.” That was a doubtful statement. Louis didn’t have any friends. He had twelve in preschool, but then he was pulled out. Maybe having a friend would be nice.

“Jack.”

The man smiled wildly.

Louis gazed out the window. They were going so fast. Most things were a smooth blur. He wondered where they were going. Surely the man had a house or condo. Maybe it would be warmer than the box. He’d only gotten in there to stow away from the lights so that his head would stop hurting.

It was an hour before they got anywhere. Louis inspected the small house of nothing. It was a simple brick similar to the ones surrounding it. The number read 1940. He was still staring when Jack snatched him out.

“I got a present,” the man explained, unlocking the front door and entering the house.

Louis decided against asking what.

The man buzzed around the room as he searched for something. It was quite clean. A bit too clean for Louis’s tastes. “Aha!” he yelled as he took Louis over to the kitchen. He picked the boy up and sat him on the countertop.

He ripped Louis’s shirt off before the boy could struggle. Louis whimpered. He was shushed by the man. “You watch TV?” Jack queried. Louis nodded. “Like Arthur and crap like that?” Louis was pretty sure that was a bad word. He wasn’t supposed to use those. “Yeah, I watch sometimes too. I like Binky the best, don’t you?”

“Buster!” He exclaimed.

“Is he? Why do you think that?”

“Wall speaks windy hot mess.” A cold wetness appeared on Louis’s middle. He frowned. “Ca--”

“You ever heard of Clifford?” Louis nodded. “He’s a bird, right?” He smiled at the man’s silliness while shaking his head. “Are you sure?” Louis thought for a minute.

“Obey space cat deli lanny swear admit strange bit dressing. Picture cake chocolate rail umi solar here fuse dog. On li--” Louis gasped when the needle entered him. He hadn’t even seen it. A deluge of salty sadness rained down. He was shushed some more as the man made the small box beep and clipped it to his pants. His shirt went back on. Louis continued to cry, his arms wrapping around the man’s neck.

Jack picked him up. “Don’t cry, buddy. It’s just to keep you safe.” He let out a shuddery sniffle. “I got another present for you.” Louis panicked and began squirming. Jack’s grip tightened. “It’s a nice one. Promise.” By the time they found themselves in a blue room behind a bookshelf, Louis was down to sniffles. He saw a bed with a tabled lamp next to it along with furry dinosaur rug rested under Jack’s feet. A blue chair was in the corner next to a Louis-sized table. Louis blinked slowly.

He was laid in the bed gently. Louis felt weird. He didn’t like it. The covers went up nonetheless. “Jack.” Louis wondered the man laughed at the comment. A Red Hood stuffie was placed next to him.

“Hoodie’ll keep you company.” He couldn’t keep his eyes open any longer. “Go to sleep.” Louis didn’t know why, but he obeyed.

***

“Jack, who is this?” A woman with platinum blond hair and sharp blue eyes observed Louis from afar. He sat against the bottom of the sofa with his Red Hood doll and the TV blaring. He could only see her a little bit since he couldn’t keep his eyes all the way open for long. A yawn forced its way out. He left it unstifled.

“Louie,” the man explained before kissing her on the cheek.

“Louie’s--” He cut her off, dragging Hattie towards Louis.

“Louie, see? It’s Aunt Hattie.” She smiled and waved. It didn’t seem like a happy smile though. It was like the chair by the table in the room. “Say hi.” He merely stared at her. Jack brought her down to sit on the sofa with him. They whispered not so quietly.

“He looks drugged.”

“He’s fine.”

“He can barely hold his eyes open. You had to lean him against the sofa.”

“Keeps Louie calm.”

“What? Jack I tho--”

“He’s right here.” She sighed heavily. Then they said words that Louis couldn’t hear. Her eyes dropped. He remembered seeing eyes like that. Eyes like that came from--

“Baby, c’mere.” Louis’s head lolled to the side. Jack swept him up into Hattie’s lap. She was different from Jack, warm. Her fingernails were painted a classic red. She pulled his shirt up, pressing buttons on his present that keeps him safe and doesn’t hurt all that much once it’s in. “Jack, get me a soda, will you?”

The man exited.

“You’re a pretty boy,” she sighed, brushing the bangs out of his eyes. May’d said he was due for a haircut. “Curly brown hair, chocolate eyes… just like Louie.” She half-chortled. “We’re gonna get you back home.”

His eyes dropped closed as Jack came back inside with a cup.

He took the boy from her. “Louie, lemme see those peepers.”

Louis groaned quietly, disliking the pinching of his cheeks. He was no child. He peeked at the man.

Jack giggled and grinned.

The cloud’s weight lessened enough for him to get a clear picture.

“Good boy.” Jack laid him across Hattie’s lap while Jack covered him with a blanket.

“Where'd you find him?”

“I was driving down 54th when there was an accident. Saw him crawl under a box in the alley when the police arrived. Lucky to find him.”

“Jack, you didn’t… tell me you didn’t cause it.”

“I was only out looking for him.”

“They took Louis away for a reason, Jack. His parents are probably looking for him. Let’s take it out and and go the police station, yeah? We can say we found him wandering. He’s only been here for two days.”

“Louie’s place is here.” Jack picked him up and laid him against his chest. It wasn’t cold like his hands. One of those went to his back. Then they said more words Louis still couldn’t understand. He assumed they were adult words. He didn’t know many of those even though May said he was a bright boy.

“Remember what Teresa said about real things and not so real things?”

“He’s real. He’s right here.”

“Not because he wants to be.”

“He came. Didn’t cry or scream or anything.”

“Jack, sweetie, we can’t keep him here.”

“He stays.” The man’s voice had turned scary now. She sighed. Her purse jingled. Louis could feel Jack moving.

“I’m gonna call Harvey to get this sorted out. Then we can call Theresa and make an appoi—” A deafening bang. He opened his eyes and saw poppies blooming out of her. Jack said a bad word before burying the boy’s face in his shoulder and going to Louis’s room behind the bookshelf. He pressed the buttons on the present that kept Louis safe and didn’t hurt so much once it was in. His Red Hood, who he decided to name Jason, was thrown in soon after before the door was closed and locked. He set sail soon after.

***

Louis didn’t know how long it’d been when Jack woke him up and carried him out of his room. He laid tiredly on the man’s shoulder. The sun peeks through the shaded blinds. Maybe he could go outside and play later? Maybe, if he wasn’t too tired, Jack would take him out.

The man set Louis down to walk the rest of the way to the kitchen. A bowl of hot cereal sat on the table next to a cup of apple juice. Louis more cared for cranberry, but he guessed it was okay.

He took a seat at the table on his knees.

Jack sat at the head with his fingers tied together. The boy began eating as soon as he received permission. Jack watched him quietly. He hummed the same song that he’d tapped in the steering wheel.

Louis wanted to learn it.

“Finish up,” Jack reminded. Louis took his last bite before pushing the bowl and his cup forward. The man chuckled before putting them in the sink.

Louis pointed to the blinded door. “Over the hills?”

“I don’t think so. Besides, you haven’t finished the book for me. We need to see what happens to Alvin, don’t we?”

“Over the hills,” Louis pouted.

The man sighed before taking his hand. He led Louis to the play room that was also behind the bookshelf. The toy camera on the shelf caught the boy’s eyes. He detached from Jack to retrieve it. “Dogs sleep! Dogs sleep!”

The man easily showed Louis how it worked. Louis watched the small TV play a show through the camera frame. He was disturbed by the firm shutting of the door. He twisted around to see Jack gone. Sighing, he went back to taking pictures.

After an hour, the camera got boring. He went over to the television. It displayed two dog friends going on adventures. He sat down on the rug. It was soft with circles on it. The dogs could talk. Why was that? Dogs weren’t supposed to talk. Bedrooms weren’t supposed to be behind bookshelves either. Louis wasn’t sure if children were supposed to be behind bookshelves. He lifted his shirt to inspect his present. Was this supposed to be a present? Security was a gift. That’s what May always said. May said a lot of things. She was definitely supposed to know them.

“Don’t mess with it, Louie.”

Louis jumped, startled from the surprise arrival. “Jack.” He watched Jack’s movements carefully.

The man adjusted the action figures. Louis had posed them for the camera. They all faced the TV once again.

The balloon popped, flopping down to the ground. Some of its remnants were still tied to the string. The hot sun melted the destroyed rubber into the pale gray sidewalk. They danced across like birds flew in the sky. Eventually summing themselves up into-- Jack. The pale thin lips moved but didn’t make a sound. Pinch. “Hey, buddy.”

He fell forward, his brain starting to catch up. He felt a different kind of sleepy. His eyes could stay open, but his limbs felt heavy and tingly.

“Jack,” he whispered, trying to make his tongue work properly. It never did, but he always tried. Jack understood though. The man shushed him before sweeping him up. His head laid on the man’s shoulder. As they walked out, he blearily saw a needle on the floor. “Jack.”

“Wanna play in your room?” He nodded. Jack set him on the furry dinosaur rug, leaning him against the bed. He put socks on Louis’s feet, then handed him notebook and crayons. “Uncle J has to leave for a bit, so you need to stay in here with Hoodie, okay?” He sat the doll next to him before putting a book, paper, and crayons on Louis’s lap.

“Red cat?”

“So that you don’t get hurt.”

“Mary tingle?”

“Until I get back.” He kissed Louis on the forehead. “Okay?”

“Jack.” He sniffled when Jack left. Coloring it would be. Maybe he’d write a story.

An old kitty named Ernest, parading around its home as any idler would. Nodding at fellow felines and hissing at dogs. Sit down to be pet by the people. All the little kids came to the garden to see him. They brought him cat food from the girl with the curly brown hair and dark brown eyes’ dad’s pet shop. She gave the best kisses with her plump lips.

Another kitty, young one, comes named Noah. He hid in the big tree’s trunk. Watching as the boy’s and girl’s fed Ernest. He would go out, but they frightened him. The girl with the curly brown hair and dark brown eyes whose dad owns a pet shop catches him in the corner of her eye when Ernest nudges her in the direction. Then Noah has friends too.

His friend, Ernest, takes him to his home. It’s atop the factory where most of the people in the town work. The smoke is an immutable, but not as bothersome as some smoke is. It pities the two kitties darker than it.

Noah is given a special spot in Ernest’s home. The older kitty tells him it’s all his own to do with whatever he wants. Ernest gives Noah a present too: chimerical cat food that keeps him from falling off the roof. It tastes sour at first, but doesn’t after a while. He gets used to it.

Ernest gave Noah a ball too. It’s red. Noah likes red best. He wishes the blue metal surrounding his special spot in Ernest’s home was red instead. He likes blue, but he likes red best. Ernest plays with Noah when he’s not too busy parading around and getting food. Noah takes the ball wherever he goes around the roof.

He would leave the roof, but he’s safer on it. No one can run him over with a car or take him to the pound. He’s safe on the roof. He’s safe on the roof with his ball and special spot.

He used to live with his mom and dad and Mera. Mera was a cat who lived with him and his family. She was what his mother called an honorary member. She was younger than his mom and dad, but older than Noah. she took care of him and kept him safe whenever they left. After she found another cat to mary and have a kitty or two of her own with, it was just Noah and his mom and his dad. His parents were nice. Well, his mom was nice. She would lick his fur clean and make sure he was warm at night. His dad was nice sometimes.

Noah and his ball and Ernest had fun. They would play games and Ernest would tell silly stories about owners he’s had. He’d tell Noah which ones he liked and the ones he hated and the ones that he didn’t love but didn’t harbor a grudge against either. Noah likes Ernest.

***

“...ie, buddy, hey. You’re burning up, my boy.” A whimper escaped Louis’s lips. He rose his hands in the air. The man picked him up. The cold hands were comforting in contrast to the too hot Louis felt. “What happened? Did you leave?”

He shook his head into the man’s shoulder. Louis wrapped his arms around the man’s neck, hiding his face in the cool crook of it. He whined when the man sat him on the toilet seat of the bathroom. Jack shushed him gently, one hand on his front to steady him.

“Does anything hurt?”

Louis sniffled.

“Louie, does anything hurt?”

Louis couldn’t stop the spray of his breakfast onto his lap. Tears formed in his eyes.

Jack stuck a thermometer in his ear.

Louis pulled away.

“Keep it in.”

He obeyed the second time. His breakfast dripped off of his lap onto the floor, causing him to cry harder.

“Don’t cry. We’ll get it cleaned up, then we’ll make your tummy feel better.” Jack started the water before pulling Louis’s shirt over his head. He threw it into the corner. “Let’s get these off,” the man said quietly.

Louis had to stand up to allow him to remove the pants and underwear.

Jack took off Louis’s present that keeps him safe and doesn’t hurt much once it’s in, putting the boy inside the warm bath. The man wiped him off gently and efficiently. He hummed the same song the whole time with his usual smile.

The man had only four as far as Louis could tell: his sad smile, his angry smile, his happy smile, and his smile that the boy had yet to figure out. He was determined to do it using his sun-like qualities.

Two upchucks (as Jack called them) and a second bath later, Louis laid on his back playing with Jason. “Jack.” The man hummed from his purple box that Louis wasn’t allowed to touch because he could hurt himself. “Jack,” he called again.

“Hm?”

“Owl dust money Hattie?”

“Your aunt’s not here right now.”

What had happened to Hattie though? “Owl dust?”

“She’s on vacation, my boy.”

Was she okay? “Hattie ninja balloon clock.”

The man came over and put on Louis’s present that keeps him safe and doesn’t hurt too much once it’s in. A tingle went through him. His tummy felt better since Jack gave him his drama for it. “Jack.”

“You’re welcome.” Jack felt his forehead. A yawn came forth. “Tired, Louie?” Louie's bottom lip peeked out as he shook his head. The man picked him up. Louis didn’t know why Jack did that often. After all, he could walk just fine, but he had come to love the man’s eternally tight grip. His eyes were closed before the got to his bedroom behind the bookshelf. Jack laid him on the bed. The man chuckled before covering him up. “Jack.” He made grabby hands at Jack.

“Stop. It’s time for bed.”

“Jack.” He struggled to sit up, getting dizzy from his present that made him sleepy and kept him safe and didn’t hurt so much when it was in. Louis began crying as he fell back down.

“You’re gonna make yourself sick.” Jack picked him up with a grin. “There there, Louie.” He rubbed up and down the boy’s spine. Louis sniffled. “Good boy. Dry those horrid tears.”

Louis had tired himself out even more at that point. “Jack.”

“I’ll stay until your asleep.” He sat on the bed with Louis in his arms.

“Fall with chalk vroom.”

“Why?”

“Jack,” Louis yawned.

“You’re tired. Don’t you want to go to bed?”

“Jack,” the boy whined. “Fall with chalk vroom.”

“I gotta go to bed too.”

“Furry berry caw.”

The man chuckled. “I don’t think so, buddy.” Jack shifted.

“Jack.” He didn’t want the man to leave. It was cold and his stomach hurt and he didn’t want to be alone in his bedroom behind the bookshelf. His grip tightened.

“I’m not.”

Could they go outside tomorrow? He really wanted to go outside. “Over the hills yesterday?”

“You’re sick.”

“Over the hills?”

“If you’re not too tired, we’ll go outside.”

Louis’s head lifted from Jack’s chest. “Over the hills!”

“Yep. If you’re not too tired, you can go outside.”

“Hoodie ‘em salad.”

“And Jason can come.”

“Jack”

“You don’t have to say it so much, kid… Louie,” Jack corrected himself.

Louis pursed his lips, a long thought over question coming to the front of his mind. “Bikes?”

“Calamity Park.”

What was that? He’d been asking about what Jack does all day. “Owl dust?” Jack laughed.

“It’s a graveyard,” Jack elaborated.

Louis knew what that was. Some people he used to know were probably there. “Cars sliding?” Had Jack’s person weren’t there for the same reason?

“Uh-huh.”

“Aura shirt tab?” the boy asked. And the police came.

“What?”

“Bikes deluca,” Louis explained. Where were Jack’s parents then?

“Heh,” he chuckled. Louis didn’t know what was so funny. He never did with Jack. He swallowed. There was a slight burn that didn’t sit well with him. He didn’t tell Jack though. Being a bother was never a good thing. “Tell me, kid, what happened there?”

“Children, bikes, cars sliding.” Louis sighed before laying his head back on the man’s chest. “Bikes calm ‘em?” Louis unconsciously clenched Jack’s shirt.

“Nah, but I wouldn’t want my daddy or mommy visiting me.”

“Jack two.”

A smile crept onto the man’s face.

“Go to sleep, Louie.”

“Over the hills yesterday?” His eyes fell closed.

“If you’re not too tired.”

Louis was already asleep.

***

“Louie,” a feminine voice called.

Louis’s eyes darted around the playroom. Nobody was supposed to go behind the bookshelf except him and Jack. It was ‘Louie’s place’ as Jack called it.

“Louie, it’s Hattie. Come here.”

He stood, grabbing Jason’s plush hand, and walked over to the back of the bookshelf. “Hattie?” he asked cautiously. He wasn’t even sure if people could hear the other way. He was pretty sure they couldn’t. Louis remembers when he screamed because spider scared him and Jack had people over to fix the dishwasher nothing happened.

“Louie, open the bookshelf.” Louis wasn’t sure of how to open it. Besides, he might get in trouble for having had left the room before Jack got back. He pivoted in the direction of the playroom. “Louie, wait. Open the bookshelf.”

“‘Em words palookee.”

“Uh… I don’t-- what you’re… I do-- there’s a button pad.” Louis didn’t see any buttons. “It’s the color black. Put in the code 123.”

He squinted. Oh. There it was. He could almost reach it if he put Jason down. He propped the doll up against the back of the shelf and stretched to press the buttons. The shelf turned out. Jason was pushed down a hole before he could grab it. Louis shrieked.

Hattie walked inside Louie’s place. “What’s wrong?”

“Hoodie.” He pointed. She looked into the small space under the shelf before bending down and retrieving the doll.

“This is Hoodie?” He nodded.

She smiled then stood up and closed the bookshelf. She looked him over.

Louis walked back into the playroom with Jason. They sat to play with cars and race. Jason had only won twice, and it was because Louis had let him. “Where’s Jack?”

“Hoodie smile rocks momo.”

She came and sat by him, placing her purse to the side. “Is he?”

“Jack.” She raised his shirt and pressed a button on his present that kept him safe and didn’t always hurt so much. Louis crawled over to his car bin. “Calvin curt cord Hoodie,” he explained while trading out a blue for a green. He wondered why Hattie was here. She’d made Jack mad last time. He didn’t like scary Jack either. Jack was never scary to him though.

“Sister,” a voice greeted.

Louis startled, dropping his cars. He smiled at the sight of his friend.

“Louie.” The man opened his arms and crouched down for a proper greeting. Louis came into them for a hug.

“Hey, Jackie,” she replied. “Were you at work?” Jack nodded as a grin formed on his face. Louis climbed onto his shoulder with the help of the man’s hands. Jack’s short and curly brown locks were soft. They smelled of vanilla. He buried his nose in them. “How’ve you been?”

“Fine.”

“Have you thought anymore about what we talked over?”

“No.”

“I think it’ll help.”

“No.”

“I could take him somewhere.”

“Nah, I got it. We’re going outside today. If he’s not too tired, of course.”

“Jack,” Louis added. Jack brought him down to the floor.

“Go find your shoes.”

“Shelf?”

“In your closet.”

“Shelf,” Louis said under his breath as he went into his bedroom. He heard Jack yelling ‘the closet, Louie’ from behind him. That’s what he had said. “Shelf.” He stopped on the furry dinosaur rug. “Owl dust drill shelf?” He sighed as he looked around. His eyes landed on a doorway. He went to the door painted blue like his room and opened it. Inside was a solitary pair of red sneakers. He smiled, pulling them out. “Hoodie shelf.” Louis plopped to the ground as he attempted putting them on. The laces were becoming an issue. He went back to the playroom. “Jack,” he pouted, gesturing to the untied laces.

The man sat against the wall next to Hattie. She rubbed circles into his wrist with her thumb. Her head laid against his arm. “C’mere,” Jack told him. He came up to the man. Jack easily tied his shoelaces into bunny rabbit ears. The boy dropped into his lap. A yawn was let loose. “You tired?”

“Jack,” the boy blurted. He wasn’t tired. “Jack.”

“You can take a nap, and then we go.”

“Over the hills yesterday.”

“Okay…” Louis yawned again. He stood up to keep awake.

“Yesterday.” The man chuckled and stood. Louis took his hand as they walked out to the bookshelf. Jack put pressed the buttons and it opened.

Louis squinted when the natural light first hit him. The backyard had a swing that swung and a garden with flowers and endless grass leading into the woods. “Golgi?” Louis asked. “Golgi?”

“You may go on the tree.” Louis tugged the man along to a tree.

“Golgi..”

“Tree.”

Louis frowned. He was tired of all the man’s corrections. “Golgi welsh?”

“Quercus robur to be exact.”

“Oak,” Hattie explained as she came beside them.

“Golgi ‘em?”

“Sure,” Jack answered easily with a sigh.

“Nice Hoodie new?” Could Jason have a tree?

“Name it whatever you want.”

“Joe.”

“Good name.” Louis pulled a leaf off his tree.

“Hoodie.”

“It’s fine.”

“Big golgi Hoodie?” Jason wanted a small tree.

“Yep.”

Louis yawned again.

“Let’s go inside.”

“Jack,” he complained.

“We’ll come out again.” Louis laid on the man’s shoulder.

“Jack.” They walked back into the home and behind the bookshelf. “Sin?” The man nodded before laying him down. “Hattie sin?”

“Hattie’s staying.” The bed dipped where they sat.

Louis had almost drifted off when they began talking.

“He needs to go back to his parents, Jackie.”

“Louie belongs here.”

“He’s not yours.” She paused. “We’ll get you back on your medication, okay?”

“I don’t like it.”

“You think better on it. Don’t you want to think better?”

“I think fine.”

“I know, but you can do it better. Even Bruce says so. He and the boys were thinking of coming for a visit.”

Jack was silent.

“He’s so busy with the company. He barely has time. Don’t you want him to come over?”

“Go,” he insisted coldly.

“Jackie, c’mon. He’s our brother. Besides, you know only say these things cause I love you.” Jack picked Louis up, putting the boy to his chest. “Here, I’ll call Harvey.”

“No.”

“Jack--”

“No.” Louis didn’t know what they were talking about at all. Who was Harvey? He shifted in Jack’s lap to get more comfortable. The sailor’s ship went off once again.

***

Louis peeked out the bookshelf. Jack wasn’t home yet, but he had to use the bathroom. Holding it any longer would only lead to ruin. So, he pressed the buttons like he counted the Train Trio in his book and tiptoed out.

He hoped Jack wouldn’t be too angry. He’d never seen the man angry at him before, but based on looks he’d given Hattie, Louis never wanted to. He closed the bathroom door. Louis hummed a song as he pulled down his pants and took care of business.

With his aim not being the best, the boy left a small puddle on the floor. He took a towel off of the side of the bathtub and wiped it up before returning it. “Water buffalo,” he sang quietly, washing his hands while he did it. The boy dried his hands on his shirt before leaving the bathroom. He was almost to the bookshelf when he heard a knock on the door. His eyes widened.

Louis rushed back into his nook and closed the shelf. The door was open. A man yelled through the house. The boy ran into his bedroom and closed the door before hiding under his bed. He tried to think of what he usually did when he heard yelling.

The bookshelf hissed open. He whimpered before scampering into the a small compartment in his closet. He hated yelling. The boy pressed his hands to his ears.

“Margie,” he slurred as he walked into the house. “Margie!” Margie had left a while ago. It’d been a year. He counted. Yet, the man stumbled in calling her name every night. The car keys and coat dropped to the floor. “Margie! Where’re-- what’re ya doin’ up? It’s late, boy.” He nodded, leading the drunkard to the couch.

“Mommy’s not home, Daddy.”

“Oh… yeah.” He collapsed onto the sofa. The boy put a water bottle with a straw in it to the man’s liquored lips. He sipped until half of it was gone. The boy placed it on the end table.

“Side.” No response. “Daddy, go on your side.” The man obeyed. He covered him with a blanket. The kid fell to the floor with a the television remote. He bopped to the show’s tune. Vomit splattered into the blue bucket next to him. His nose scrunched as he wiped the man’s mouth with a baby wipe. He discarded the now brown wetness into the bucket. He’d flush it in the morning when he knew the man was done.

***

“Louie,�� Jack called. The man’s shoes scuffed against the wooden floor as he looked around the boy’s living space. Louis stayed firmly planted in the compartment. He bit his lip. “Louie, where are you? The men are gone.” He bent down to tie his shoe. He turned after seeing Louis out of the corner of his eyes. Jack smiled warmly. “Why’re you under there? They scare you?”

Blood dripped down Louis’s chin. He gasped, finally realizing the pain. When had he started biting his lip. It burned. “It’s okay. You can come out.” He shook his head. The boy didn’t know why his heart was pounding. It hurt. Breathing was becoming rather difficult as well.

Jack left the room. He returned a minute later with a bulge in his pocket. “Come on out now, Louie.”

The boy reluctantly crawled out.

“What’s wrong?”

He hugged the man tightly.

Jack lightly rubbed up and down his back. “You’re okay.” After Jack pinched him in the hand, Louie could breathe better, and his heart stopped pounding.

He decided he liked those kinds of pinches. The blood on his lip smeared Jack’s purple shirt. His head was too heavy to lift.

“Hungry?”

He whined as the man attempted to get a look at his face. Jack shushed him as he stood.

Jack hummed the song Louis had yet to figure out the name and origin of. He set him to lean against the bathtub, looking for cotton balls and the clear stuff that burns when you put it on cuts. He watched the lithe man carefully. Jack turned his back to Louis.

“Jack.” Everything was hazy.

“I’m not leaving, Louie. Give me one minute, okay?” The man came back a minute and picked him back up. “We’re gonna go eat a some.” Louis nodded while the man cleaned his lip. Jack seemed flatter than usual. He held onto Jack tightly when the man attempted to put him down. Jack sighed. “Let’s sit down.”

“Jack…”

“We can have ice cream if you’re still hungry.” Jack put him down before he could answer.

The boy laid his head down on the table, unable to keep it up without being dizzy.

Jack sat Louis in his lap a moment later. He put a sandwich to the boy’s lips.

Louis accepted a small bite. He turned into Jack’s chest.

“How about a bit more, Louie?”

“Jack.”

“Okay, bed then?”

“Sin Jack sin.” Louis lost the fight to keep his eyes open.

“Could we try proper words, Louie?” The bitten sandwich appeared at the boy’s lips.

He took another bite, slightly bigger. He chewed to the tune of Jack’s humming.

The man had gotten half the sandwich into the boy before it came back up.

Louis’s eyes watered as the man wiped his mouth.

Jack carted him off to bed. He hadn’t noticed it was dark outside. “Wanna read me a book?” Jack asked.

The boy nodded as Jack retrieved one.

He was placed in Jack’s lap. The man held the book in front of them. Louis cleared his throat. “Wall speaks windy hot mess.” Jack turned the page. “Brightness we…”

“Rug,” Jack helps. “Bo has an owner. He is Joe Ben Ho. Why does he have three names?”

“Typing while sleeping and running while cat.”

“A first, middle, and last?”

Louis nodded.

“Smart boy. And me?”

“Twelve.”

“What are they?”

“Jack points Nape.”

“What about you?”

“Louie.” The boy paused as he thought. He wanted more than one name. “Louie points…”

“You want more than one?” Louis nodded emphatically. The man smiled and chuckled. “If you want, I guess. What’re they going to be?”

“Tom?”

“It’s middle, and why Tom?”

“Tom.”

“Sure then.”

“Hattie points...?”

“Nape.”

“Louie points Tom points Nape?” Surely if Jack would share with Hattie, he would share with Louis. They were friends.

“You may.” Louis smiled as he went back to the book.

“Bo six seven. He likes play-in-g? Over the hills in can.” The words changed for a second. They were back to normal now.

“You do like to play outside. Bo likes to play with Joe outside. Why are they in the pool?”

“Doo cups. ‘Em?”

“Have you ever been swimming?”

He shook his head. What about his question? “Jack.”

“Then probably not.”

“Jack cups?”

“I do swim.”

Would Jack teach him to swim? Maybe if he asked nicely. “Sea ‘em?”

“Another day. So, Bo likes the pool. It’s time to go, said Joe. Bo and his…”

“Rug.”

“Owner, yes. Joe went home. What’s that word say?” Louis pointed to the page.

“They.”

“They ate lunch. Say it just like that.”

“Jack…” Why was the man so difficult? That wasn’t what the words said.

“Here: They.”

“They.”

“Ate,” Jack said.

“Ate?”

“Lunch.”

“Lilies?”

“Lunch.”

Louis humphed as Jack went to the next page.

“Bo likes kibble. Joe likes hu…?”

“Milk.”

“Joe likes humilk food.”

Louis smiled. He was good at this reading thing. Jack didn’t always read words the right way, but that was okay. Louis was nothing if not patient.

“What’s humilk food?”

“‘Em points Jack.”

“What’s in the bowl?”

“Sally.” Louis looked up at him. Jack’s soup was brown, but this was red. “Windows books dogs hands run?”

“There are different types of soups, you know. This one is probably tomato. See? He has grilled cheese with it.”

“Jack.” Louis paused. “‘Em points Jack coast sally?”

“Sure.” Louis yawned. “Let’s finish tomorrow.” The boy didn’t protest Jack’s tucking him into bed.

“Aye, Jack.”

“Bye, Louie.”

“Louie points Tim points Nape.”

“Bye, Louie Tim Nape.”

“Aye.” Louis drifted off soon after.

***

Gone. gone. How could he be gone? He was just here. He was laughing and playing and-- he’s gone. He’s not supposed to be gone. He’s supposed to be in bed sleeping. Why is he gone? Where’d he go? Gone. Gone. He’s not supposed to be gone. This isn’t fair. Kid’s don’t leave.

Gone. Gone. Gone.

He clenches the steering wheel, knuckles white from it. He’s been gone for a while now. She says he’s supposed to be getting used to him being gone. He doesn’t think that’ll happen.

Not fair. Not just. Not right.

He is-- was-- good. He was great. He tucked him in every night. He made sure his boy said prayers to a God who just slighted them.

I hear no voice, I feel no touch,

I see no glory bright;

But yet I know that God is near,

In darkness as in light.

Who spat in the face of all those prayers.

He watches ever by my side,

And hears my whispered prayer:

The Father for His little child

Both night and day doth care.

If he had the means, he’d spit back.

What kind of-- bikes and sliding. It slammed right in. The police were behind them. Lights. Red and blue. Red and blue.

He slows the car. A small, black shadow disappeared into the alley… a child.

Him! It was him! There he was! Right there! How had he lost his boy? He’s been here the whole time! Of course he was here! The blue shirt. Louie loved blue. He was in a blue shirt,

Park the car. Park the car.

Walk out. Walk out.

Go get the boy. Go get my boy.

Go. Go. Go.

Louie

***

Bruce grunted as he sat down in the chair by the hospital bed. Crisp blue eyes opened to stare at him. He smiled awkwardly. The boy didn’t smile back. His eyes drooped from the sedative they’d had to give him. Apparently he had him hooked up to something that dispensed a sedative hourly. Was that even safe? How was he to know though? “Can you identify him?” he asked. The teen blinked once. Twice. He struggled to sit up. The social worker propped a pillow behind him. He reached for Bruce. The man scooted closer. The boy took a piece of Bruce’s jacket in his pale fingers. He studied it, mouthing nothings.

“The sheep languished blue trains suffer?” the teen questioned. The detective sighed before leaving, mumbling something about paperwork. He turned to the social worker.

She shrugged sadly before turning to the boy. “Know where you are, sweetheart?” she queried. He seemed to understand, but he didn’t. It couldn’t really be explained.

“Porch steps run come here,” the boy told her. He was quite unsettling for a scrawny fifteen year old. “The sin lacy peas woke.”

“It’s probably schizophasia, Mr. Nape.” The man sighed. They should’ve watched him more, committed him even. It shouldn't be like this. How could he have let it happen? “We haven’t been able to find him a place yet, but the hospital sa--”

“I can take him,” Bruce blurted.

She turned to the boy then back to him. “Oh.” Back to the boy. “I’ll get the paperwork.”

“I’ve already signed it.”

She sat back down. “Did you want to try some more?”

He pinched the bridge of his nose but nodded. Maybe he could figure it out? “What was his name?” The boy should be answer to that. It wasn’t complicated. He should be able to do it. He wouldn’t take his eyes off the jacket.“Could we have the room?”

She nodded and stood once again. “I’ll be outside.” She left.

Jack shifted. The teen flinched, taking his hand back. “I’m not gonna hurt you, chum. He can’t anymore either. What’s your name?” Sure, he knew it. He wanted to know if the boy did too though. He grinned slightly, nodding. Couldn’t make the boy think he was mad at him too. “Who were you with?”

“Take shirt slam crazy bike tires in afternoon.”

“Okay.” Could what had been shattered be fixed? “How’d he find you?”

“Jack?”

“He’s not here, buddy.”

“Folders pile swimming red clouds?”

“Uh, I don’t know what you’re saying.”

“Folders pile swimming red clouds?” He obviously knew what he was saying. He repeated it. Jack sighed. “Folders pile swimming red clouds.”

“Are you hungry?” The blue eyes teared up.

“Jack?”

“They have ice cream in the cafeteria. You want some?”

“The sheep languished blue trains suffer?” Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Let’s try one word, yeah? Who’d you live with?” He blinked. “His name is…”

“Jack.”

“And your name is…”

“Louie.”

“Good. How’d Jack find you?”

“Jack.”

“You’re gonna come home with me.”

He received more blinks. Then tears. He wasn’t equipped to deal with those.

“I have three boys. One’s about your age. You’ll like them.”

His jacket had grasped the boy’s attention once again. He came closer to clench it once again.

Jack skillfully took the jacket off without scaring the boy off.

The teen continued to study it.

He finally realized it was his name. Nape. His wife’d had it embroidered last year for their wedding anniversary. It read ‘B. Nape.’ Bruce tapped the boy until he looked up. “How’d you end up with Jack?”

“Children, bikes, cars sliding.”

– The End –

#writing #short story #heidiwritesstories #pls reblog if you like #i hope you like it #it's about 7.000 words

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