© May 16, 2017. All Rights Reserved.
Earth. … It’s a broad and graphic topic with many undiscovered lands, species, and ancient artifacts, yet the universe is larger. I intend on broadening my horizons as I explain in this audio recording of how I became a monster. Does a crime make me any less than a living organism compared to a sin? Am I deceased or a survivor? In this story, I shall address the desires and needs of the masses while addressing mine. Everyone dies like resting lies, which reveals verisimilitude. The deep truth befriends few living organisms, but is open to everyone.
Restore my childhood before I live vicariously through my children. Am I not grown if I live exactly how I intend or am I not happy by not living my life? It took labyrinths just to find my potty, for I used to be legally blind until I was ten. Then, I got involved in a polygamous relationship. I shall not skip great details, so enjoy.
It’s Easter and I’m wiping my ass with the latest “Daddy Killer” magazine I posed on the cover of while my white and red Exotic Shorthair is getting some shut-eye. Currently, there’s three major reasons why I’m wiping my ass. One, I don’t really like magazines, two, I hate my job, and three, I ran out of toilet paper. I’m just a 7-year-old snob, but I couldn’t see that even if I wasn’t blind. It’s wonderful that I remember where the sink is, so I can wash my hands. Thus, my older brother who’s one year older than me has contact lens solution sitting in front of me, which I mistake for soap. I’m nothing of a cook either, but I love to assist, because I’m no quitter.
Jeremiah is a scrawny 7-years old with thick glasses. He dresses in his older brother’s hand-me-downs; he’s wearing blue overalls and white tennis shoes, sitting on a black, Davenport sofa in the living room, watching cable television. There’s a silver, flat-screen television, mounted on a black, semi-gloss, painted wall. He rests in a supine position with his eyes facing the milk-white, cathedral ceiling. The cathedral ceiling is a heart-shaped skylight above narrow, mahogany beams and each beam form into the design of a spiderweb.
In the kitchen, there’s a folded up, unread, new poem inside a pizza box. The aroma from the cheese and sausages pizza makes Jeremiah hungry, but his greedy, older brother, Byron won’t share. That’s perfectly fine… Byron, one year older than Jeremiah, never washes his grimy hands before doing the dishes. There’s always leftovers for Jeremiah to clean up. Great… Byron passes him, heading down the basement where there’s a pool table beside a jacuzzi.
The moment Jeremiah looks at the cream colored curtains, one shadow of a 7 foot tall, muscular leader smokes a cigar as five of his gang members pummel a drug dealer. They kick the crying man in the face relentlessly into disfigurement. Then, two of the gang members hold the crying drug dealer’s hands behind his back. When Jeremiah slowly moves the curtain to peek out the window, the shirtless drug dealer is bleeding profusely from his nostrils onto his tattered, blue jeans. He’s wobbling on his legs as two men hold him in the air, side by side with one hand. His tawny flip-flops are near a red fire hydrant and his bare feet are bruised and muddy.
The leader then drops his cigar on the concrete floor and steps on it with his right, black dress shoe. The leader has on thick, black sunglasses and an expensive grey business suit. Jeremiah watches the leader snap his finger with his left hand. The two gang members move the drug dealer closer. Tears run down the drug dealer’s cheeks. Another gang member stabs the drug dealer with red aviation snips three times in the kidney. The victim screams as the leader blows smoke in his face.
“Your time is up” the leader says.
The leader draws out a gun and shoots the victim in the heart, twice. They drop his lifeless body on the ground. Before the gang notices Jeremiah looking, he closes the curtain back to its original position and hides behind the wall. His heart beats as he gasps for air. He slumps down against the wall weeping; his arms are covering his ears and his knees are slightly bent. A few minutes later, he hears the sound of ambulance sirens. Beside Jeremiah, the front door opens, startling him.
Jeremiah’s cousin, Felicia walks down the stairs with a purpose, holding a slice of pizza in her right hand. She’s wearing a backwards, black, leather baseball cap and a stainless, silver crucifix pendant attached to a necklace. She has a white t-shirt with tarantulas on the left side, black bats on the right side, and a versus symbol between. Her black belt has silver studded spikes. She has black, grey, and white camouflage jeans with a silver, stainless pocket chain. The pocket chain is linked with three other chains and a dollar sign pendant. Also, she’s wearing black jackboots.
Felicia speaks to the stranger, “Leave now!”
The stranger jumps up in fear, then runs away. Felicia locks the door shut. The living room lights flicker on and off. It’s just Byron fooling around with the light switch. He laughs with his thick, red headphones on. Felicia grins at Byron as Jeremiah watches an egregious occurrence.
“Do you like your face?” shame says to Byron.
Byron flirtatiously responds with an erect penis showing from his jeans, “I really like you.”
“You nasty. That’s your cousin!” Jeremiah says.
Byron laughs, saying, “I know. She’s still cute.”
“Bye loser,” she says as she walks up the stairs.
Dorothy, a black and white, Maine Coon exits the kitchen and enters the living room. Byron lifts up the couch when Dorothy runs under, then he faces Jeremiah. Jeremiah is holding a soft pillow with a thin sewing pin extended out as he lowers his right eye inches away from blinding his eye. Byron yells to grab his brother’s attention. As Jeremiah’s cell phone rings, a concerned Felicia rushes down.
“There’s a pin sticking out of that pillow!”
After pausing his movement in shock, Jeremiah throws the pillow away from his sight. Thus, the pillow knocks down the flat-screen television. When it crashes on the ground, Dorothy runs, but is still under the sofa. Jeremiah and Byron face one another with dropped jaws from the broken television. Felicia has a malicious smile, but not for long. The front, left sofa leg drops onto Dorothy’s tail and the couch is too heavy for Byron to pick up again. Dorothy cries struggling to run away, then Felicia’s jaw drops as a loud, deep, voice erupts from upstairs.
“What the fuck is goin’ on down there! I’m gettin’ my belt!”
Jeremiah’s father rushes down the concrete stairs and chases his two children around. The father lashes at Jeremiah, then Byron with the belt mercilessly. Felicia laughs while the entire event occurs. After whooping the children, the father lifts up the front, right sofa leg to release Dorothy’s tail. Dorothy then speeds up the stairs, crying. Felicia takes a large bite from her slice of pizza as welts grow across their bodies. In tears, Jeremiah and Byron yell at her.
Jeremiah’s Bedroom
“Jeremiah!” his father yells, knocking on the bedroom door.
Jeremiah takes off his white earphones to open the door. In front of him is his father’s grim look. His father is wearing black underwear and socks with small holes in them. He stares at Jeremiah with a dull look, then laughs. Before he utters one word from his mouth, his cell phone in his living room rings.
“Goddammit!” the father throws up his hands in a turning position while saying, “Give me one second… and pull up your pants!”
Jeremiah shuts his bedroom door as he hears the pleasant sound of a text message coming from his bed. He grabs his black phone from his pillow and sees a message from his friend Francesca. The message reads, “I love you.” Before he can press the send key for the message, “I love you too, ” his phone rings with the title “Dad.” A Jeremiah turns livid as he answers the phone.
“Hello” Jeremiah says.
He hears the sound of heavy breathing and dishes being cleaned from the kitchen. Thus, he ends the phone call. Francesca texts Jeremiah back, “Say it.”
Jeremiah texts her, “I love you too. My retarded dad called my phone again.” He opens his bedroom door and walks in the kitchen. The father nonchalantly shrugs at him for no reason once so ever.
Jeremiah asks, “Did you just call me?”
The father yells, “What!”
“Did you call…”
The father interrupts, “What are you frowning for? I’m tired of you frowning around here! You ain’t got shit to frown about. I can take you to some locations in Chicago where I grew up at. Tell them you’re mad and they’ll look at you like you’re a damn fool. You have a supporting father who loves you!”
Calmly, Jeremiah says, “I’m not frowning. You’re just trying to start an argument…”
“Oh my God! You can’t get a job talkin’ like that! First off, I have my fuckin’ Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree in Business and Administration. Instead of trying to get on the defensive all the time, you need to be readin’ them books, so you can get a real job. After you get a job, you can get the fuck out my house. You’re starting to act like your brother now. I kicked his ass out and he couldn’t cut it in the real world. If he keeps acting up, he’s out for good.”
“I didn’t say anything…”
“You just did!”
“You didn’t let me finish my sentence,” Jeremiah says.
“You weren’t saying nothin’. I can call any one of my friends right now and they’ll all tell me the same thing about you. He’s depressed. Every time I come over, he doesn’t talk to me. People disassociate themselves with negative people. It lowers their spirit. The moment you leave the room, they’ll begin to say, “There’s somethin’ wrong with him. We’re not going to hire his ass. I’m a very open-minded person. My friend is a Jehovah’s Witness and I don’t believe in Jehovah.”
The demoralizing fact that he has to still listen to his father causes him to say, “How’d we get on this subject?”
“Listen! You came in here frowning and I’m telling you how you can change that! Those niggers nextdoor are a great example of what you don’t want to be like.”
“You’re black too. It’s not…”
“Listen! I’m the oldest. Listen to your elders.”
“They’re older than me and I’m nothing like them.”
“You think you know every damn thing! All that horror shit you’re into is real! Every time I go to the doctor, I make sure I pray because some of the same people working in the medical field can be witches! They can purposely inject you with HIV. Make sure they don’t drop their needle on the floor. This shit is real! The Illuminati? That’s real. When you’re burning in hell, I’m not gonna feel it. Daddy won’t feel it, but if you get right with God, you won’t have to worry. You need to stay on the subject.”
“That’s not what I was originally talking about. You’re trying to tell me to…”
“What were you talking about?”
“I can’t remember.”
“Exactly! That’s because I’m right. Now, clean up your room or get out of my house! Praise Jesus! Go pick up your brother from school, after that, do these fuckin’ dishes, take out the trash, clean the bathroom, clean your room, read the Bible, then we’ll have a talk. You spend too much time in that damn room anyway. You need to stay off social media. Okay?”
“Social media is how I promote my work. Maybe I’m in the room because…”
“Okay?”
“Okay,” Jeremiah says.
The father hears his ringing phone, saying, “Who the fuck is it now?”
5:30 P.M.
“Would you hurry up! I have chores to do at home,” Jeremiah says.
Byron says, “This is the only free time I get.”
“At least you get to participate in after school activities. If football wasn’t enough for you, you stole the center of attention with the track team. You’re even on the cheerleading squad and am barely passing your classes. Meanwhile, I’m passing my classes just fine and am not allowed to join the wrestling team…”
“Don’t get mad at me! You’re just mad because you can’t get a damn girlfriend! I’m trying to bring this family together by being positive. You need to smile more and maybe people would want to be friends with you. I have no embarrassability.”
Byron slaps Jeremiah in the back of the head after licking the palm of his right hand, then runs across the street. Cruel students laugh at Jeremiah and tease him. He kicks over the trash can.
One rotund student with short, nappy, black hair and a black school uniform, says, “You’re a bitch! You’re just gonna let your bro smack you? Don’t ever come to Chicago. I’ll knock the glasses off of you if you come over here.”
Over 30 brainwashed students laugh at the stubborn bully’s remark. Jeremiah just walks away with a frown, reflecting on the indelible memories when he was bullied. Countless times, he was tripped in the hallway, struck in the face, stomped on the ground, and spit on purposely. The bully walks up to Jeremiah and lifts him in the air by his shirt with one hand. Jeremiah is more worried about what his father will think if 1 of the same 5 shirts he wears to school every week gets damaged. With ease, the bully drops the 90 pound Jeremiah on the ground where he lands on his knees. The landing is full of mud, which ruins the jeans he’s worn for 3 years in high school and white tennis shoes he’s worn 5 years prior.
It drizzles. As he walks away, a white van patiently follows him for two blocks. Thus, he panics, constantly peering at the driver through the tinted window. Immediately, the van makes a right turn, leaving his distance. Just when things couldn’t get creepier, a black convertible follows him at a slow pace while other cars speed down the road. Horrified, Jeremiah runs like his life depends on it.
6:25 P.M.
Jeremiah enters the gloomy apartment with his own key. His muddy tennis shoes are outside of the door, sitting on the shaggy, brown doormat. His father flicks on the living room light and glares in front of him. Jeremiah’s older brother is in the background laughing so hard that he nearly chokes on his lungs. Jeremiah lowers his head in shame as Byron turns off the living room light.
The father yells, “Turn that fuckin’ light back on! And wash up! You smell filthy! You should never smell that bad!”
The Following Day
Water from several sprinklers shoot out by accident and it’s snowing outside. It’s only 7:00 A.M. And Byron, with a brown afro wig attached to his head, runs down the school hallway. He has on a golden winter coat and a black book bag. Several teachers notice Byron and say nothing to him. Thus, Byron spins around them like a man on a basketball player. The student body laughs with each of them finding a way to ask Jeremiah the same question every day. That irritating question is, “Why does your brother run down the hallway?” An exhausted and depressed Jeremiah heads to his milk-white locker (which is made out of square-edged cobblestones) and opens it to stuff his book bag inside.
Next to him is a gorgeous woman with long, pink, curly hair, purple lips, a purple and black velvet dress, black, fishnet arm warmers, black and white, striped stockings, and black heels. As three jocks point in Jeremiah’s face to further humiliate him, they hear the fire alarm. Rumors quickly spread that Byron pulled the fire alarm when they look at their text messages. To make matters worse, Byron runs back down the hall as security chases him. Byron jumps over a trash can, running on top of the lockers, and jumps down several flight of stairs.
Jeremiah takes his English textbook out of the locker. A little person (with short, black, curly hair, a black t-shirt too large for him, a spider necklace, sagging blue jeans, and black shoes) who appears to be African American, Latin American, and Jewish approaches him. The little person says, “Was that your brother?” Jeremiah responds, “Yes.” The gorgeous woman beside Jeremiah says, “Why do you always ask him that? Leave him alone and go somewhere else.”
Francesca texts Jeremiah, “What did your dad say when he said he was gay?”
“Jeremiah texts back, “He has a problem with it considering he cried about it on the couch for over 3 minutes while giving me a speech about morality. He’s still gay to this day.”
“That was 3 years ago. You need a new place to stay. Is he allowing you to get a job yet? I thought my mom was bad,” she texts back.
“I told you before. Nobody wants to take me in. If I get a job, I wouldn’t be able to focus on school. That’s what he says. I can focus.”
“Weirdo,” Francesca texts back.
Jeremiah walks down the hall and the gorgeous woman follows him. Why does he have to fear talking to women? A muscular man named Deandre (with black dreadlocks, an unbuttoned, red and black, plaid jacket revealing his chest, black pants, and black tennis shoes) smacks him in the back of the head. Jeremiah turns around and notices a fearless face on Deandre. His bully is holding a large, half-empty, transparent protein shake.
“Turn around,” Deandre says with a ghetto accent.
She speaks to them, “Leave him alone.”
“What you mean? You got a new man,” Chris yells.
Deandre’s buddy, Chris laughs. Deandre squeezes Diamond’s buttocks, then gives his buddy a high five. She turns around and slaps Chris across the face. By the time she looks ahead, Jeremiah is walking alone with no interest. She walks forward, following him down the corridors, but the bullies keep her company.
“Leave my boyfriend alone,” she yells.
They laugh. Again, Deandre smacks him in the back of the head as the student body laughs. Jeremiah speeds up, but Chris pushes him. Jeremiah loses his balance, falling into a red brick wall. Louder, the student body gets. Even the school principal on the intercom laughs after watching what occurs from one out of hundreds of monitors.
English Class
Several students crush paper balls and throw them at Jeremiah. Meanwhile, he overhears his older brother yelling in the next room. There’s a mixture of emotions; some of the students in Basic Math react with yelling and laughter, which causes the students in Jeremiah’s English class to rise, looking next door. In a Basic Math class, Byron throws a desk at a pregnant woman, then strikes a male teacher. It takes approximately three security officers to restrain Byron to the white tiled floor while Jeremiah’s class shame never stops reminding him of the incident.
Lunch
On the right side of the cafeteria, Diamond
is resting in a hand-woven hammock, which is tied to two, authentic palm trees, parallel to one another. She’s reading a book while he orders the same unhealthy lunch as always. Nachos and cheese and small, chocolate milk are on his grey tray, and he sits at an empty table. Deandre and Chris, sitting three tables away make offensive gay jokes and claims he does have a girlfriend. Never did Jeremiah know that a bully can be more right about something they said.
Jeremiah enters the internet on a nearby computer, heads on Francesca’s social media account and notices a computer error page. First, her social media page shows him her personal inbox messages of two men she’s been flirting with. One of the messages read, “Hey baby.” Another message reads, “Hit me up.” An enraged Jeremiah clicks on his profile page, which has 176 friends he never spoke to.
He messages her, “What the fuck! You’re a cheater.”
Seconds later, “he receives an inbox message from her racist dad who hacked her account, “Stay away from my daughter you fucking nigger. If I see your fucking ass in Minnesota, we’re going to fight.”
Jeremiah responds to her father, “Fuck you asshole. If I have to bring my ass to Minnesota, you better believe you’re not seeing your daughter again. You’re a rapist and you don’t deserve to live.”
Deandre walks by, holding a tray with three slices of pepperoni pizzas a dainty, red apple, and a water bottle, saying, “You’re gonna eat those nachos?”
Chris says, “Yo. Let me have that milk.”
Behind the bullies is Diamond, yelling at them, “Bye!”
A smiling Chris takes a chocolate milk from her tray, then leaves with his friend. Jeremiah exits his screen, closes his laptop, and carries it down the hallway. He suffers flashbacks of his father arguing at his brother as he’s walking down the hallway, saying, “It’s 1:00 A.M. and we’ve been talking ever since 3:30 P.M.. Do I need to call the police?” His brother says, “That don’t explain why you’d rip up my books.” His father says, “You weren’t writing shit anyway. You’ve been working on that demonic shit for five years and all I see is junk surrounding the room.
As Diamond follows Jeremiah, he proceeds having a flashback of an argument in a living room, hearing his father’s voice, “Every fucking day! My mother and father wouldn’t put up with my mouth, and I’m going to give you the benefit of a doubt by throwing away all of your so-called books if you don’t keep this room clean. I can take you to the places where I’ve seen exorcisms. If you serve the devil so much, stab your brother while he’s asleep.”
“Why do you always frown,” Diamond softly asks, taking him out of the traumatic flashback.
“I’m depressed.”
“You can sit with my friends. We’re all weird.
He automatically receives a text message from someone named Gwen and the message reads, “Sorry I’m getting back to you now. I was getting my children ready for bed last night, then I fell asleep. I’m a horrible friend.”
A demonic, disembodied voice occurs in his mind, “She cheated on you. She said she never date you. Virgin boy. What a loser still living with his father. That’s why she has three children and got married without you…”
Diamond hugs Jeremiah before walking him toward the table, comforting him with the word, “Smile,” then introduces him to two geeks sitting at a table, “Phil. Angela. Meet my friend Jeremiah. Jeremiah, meet Phil and Angela.”
He sits at the table, then sits his laptop down. Phil, age 14 has a black ponytail, reading glasses, braces, a black and white flannel shirt over a pristine, white t-shirt, blue shorts, and black tennis shoes. Jeremiah notices Phil is preoccupied, developing a 3D video game on his black laptop using codes. He nearly cringes when Phil smiles, then turns his attention to Angela. Angela has a green mohawk, a green, fishnet blouse under a black, leather biker jacket, black jeans, and black tennis shoes.
Angela says, “Hey there. Welcome to the gang.”
Phil gets furious, saying with an effeminate voice, “You can’t welcome him yet. He needs the proper initiation.”
Diamond smiles and says, “If you want to be introduced into the gang, you have to promise me…”
Angela says, “Us…”
Joking, Diamond continues speaking, “…Us that you’ll complete the initiation ceremony for us wolves and vampires. Part of the initiation is not knowing what the initiation is.”
“No. Wait. Are you going to sacrifice me?”
Phil’s face turns to shock as he says, “No way! We don’t run around sacrificing people. We’re anime nerds…”
Diamond interrupts, “I’m not an anime nerd, but these are my nerds, so you’re very welcomed to complete the initiation today if you want to join the gang.”
“Sure,” Jeremiah says.
Diamond kisses Jeremiah on the lips passionately. Jeremiah’s eyes widen. The student body is surprised. Phil and Angela jealously cheer. She ends the kiss with a flirtatious smile.
Then, Diamond says, “You’re initiated.”
It’s not real. Jeremiah wakes up from a reverie at the table. Phil has his hand extended with a smile like from an infomercial. Angela walks by hugging Phil from behind. Phil still has his hand extended and Jeremiah firmly shakes it. Before Phil kisses Angela, she greets Jeremiah, “Hey friend.”
Phil says, “Did anyone ever tell you that you look just like…”
Deandre interrupts talking to Angela, “Your brother has heart, but you’re a bitch.”
Jeremiah sighs. He automatically leaves the table with his laptop as Diamond shakes her head sideways at Deandre. A petite brunette exits the gymnasium, running and throws a basketball at the back of Jeremiah’s head. He drops his computer and it crashes to the tiled floor, shattering the screen. The student body laughs as Jeremiah falls forward. He turns around and proceeds walking when Deandre gets in a fighting stance.
“He’s going to get his brother on you if you don’t stop!” Chris says.
Photography Class
Jeremiah is watching a film clip on the wall from a black projector and notices a triangle flash in front of a peephole. He then sees a Baphomet sign on the bottom. right corner near a trash can in the movie clip. Twenty other students don’t notice the symbology that Jeremiah notices. Jeremiah can’t keep quiet.
“Did you notice that triangle flash in the center of that peephole,” he asks Ms. Bickerbase.
“Yes,” she replies.
“The Baphomet was on the bottom, right side of the screen.”
Ms. Bickerbase remains silent, then Helen, (a student sitting across from her) says, “I’m quite fascinated by this magnificent piece. It’s a beautiful reflection of surrealism.”
“Oh hush,” she says.
Students laugh as the student says, “No, really.”
Ms. Bickerbase rises and says, “I’m going to play devil’s advocate. This film clip looks like it was filmed under my husband’s bedsheets and he didn’t wash up for three days straight. If you want to be a great filmmaker, have tough skin, lick some balls, and squeeze them where it hurts. I’ve been teaching for over twenty years and I’m in front of you right this moment because I love my…”
The student sarcastically says, “Blow.”
“Job,” she comes to awareness of the students sarcastic comment and says, “Hey. That my friend is surreal.”
Jeremiah lowers his head as the student replies, “Oh yeah.”
Ms. Bickerbase says, “Your girlfriend turns out to have a racist dad. He argues with you online, but you’re an introverted loner who hardly has permission to leave his house because you have an over controlling parent. Quick. You all are here for a reason. You all are film directors in the making. If you don’t believe you have what it takes, you’re at the wrong school. Top my idea. Clara.”
Jeremiah stares at Ms. Bickerbase. His face doesn’t change. The school bell rings and everyone rises. He sighs.
Clara says, “Two burglars break into a suicide hotline company, kills everyone, except a little girl who came in for ‘Dad and Daughter Day’, then the girl changes their lives. The police had her hostage as police surround the company. The girl gives wonderful advice to suicidal callers on the phone, which changes the lives of the burglars. Afterwards, the bad guys then turn theirselves in. Bravo.”
Jeremiah is the first one to rush out of the classroom, then Diamond sneaks behind him down the hallway, saying, “Hey friend. Who’s your favorite Wiccan?”
“There are no good witches.”
Diamond removes her hands, saying, “Yeah huh.”
“The last friend I had had one eye larger than the other. He got on drugs and stole from me.”
Diamond makes and explosion sound with her mouth. She heals his headache with a touch as he sees a dark spirit of a man standing in front of the exit. Jeremiah’s eyes are too blurry to see the spirit, but once Diamond hands him his glasses, the spirit vanishes. Quickly, he grabs his glasses. Many students pass them up as they stop.
“I’m sorry to hear about your friend. I cleaned your specs for you. I’m gonna hang out with Phil and Angela at my place for battle card night. If you want to join, you can.”
“I’d love to go, it’s just…”
“Your dad should give you a credit card or something. Your brother told me about it.”
“I hate him. I almost thought you…”
She interrupts, “Oh, brother. I can predict the future. You’re going to grow up old and lonely if you don’t learn to talk to women. You’re my type of weird and I like you. What do you say?”
“I would…”
“I’m just pullin’ your green card.”
“Too far,” he says.
Christmas
It’s 9:00 A.M.. Byron is playing the video game in his filthy underwear, then slams the controller. Jeremiah sits on his bed as his brother rises with rage. Byron strikes Jeremiah in the left rib cage, the right jaw, and the testicles. Then, Byron chokes him until he’s unconscious. Byron laughs about what he did as Jeremiah wakes up.
“Some people don’t know how angry I can get,” Byron says.
Wearing a striped, brown and white t-shirt and blue jeans, Jeremiah walks in the kitchen, smelling smoke. His father (in black underwear) is facing a naked guy on a video chat session on his cell phone. Jeremiah’s comfort zone is dead. The father darts his head around with a tinge of anger. Then, he turns over his cell phone on the counter.
His father says, “What?”
“My brother keeps beating on me.”
“That’s what brother’s do. Man up. I’m going through shit. Don’t you see I’m handling your brother’s psychological evaluations every damn week. The school knows my name from how often I walk up there. I’m dealing with unprofessional people on the phone every day who aren’t about good customers service. Tell your brother to stop. I’m tired of telling him. What are you going to do when you get older and get married? Tell? In the workforce, there’s going to be many people like your brother.”
Byron slips on blues jeans, a black shirt, then shoes. He sprays a small, transparent bottle of cologne on his armpits although he didn’t take a shower today. Flies roam around his body. Jeremiah turns his face in utter disgust. The smell is unforgetful.
Byron walks out the room and says, “Dad. Can I go over my girlfriend’s house today?”
The father says, “Yes. Finish your homework when you get back.”
Jeremiah says, “Can I take a walk outside?”
“Where? Why?” his father says then laughs, “Are you trying to leave me?”
“No. I want to take a walk to think,” Jeremiah replies.
The father says, “Think? Think about what? Blowing up the school? That’s the problem with this world. People want to go anywhere without a purpose and let evil flow in their mind like meditation. Read your Bible. It’ll help you with your pain. Some day, you’ll thank me. Jehovah is God.
Byron leaves the house as Jeremiah says, “I’m going in my room.”
The father says, “Don’t let people waste your time.”
4:20 P.M.
Jeremiah throws the Bible against the plaster wall out of rage and hears his father yell, “What’s that noise?”
Jeremiah rises from the bottom bunkbed, exits the bedroom, then says, “I was cleaning up in my room and a book fell from the top shelf.”
“You better be cleaning. Shit! You need to figure out where you’re gonna work. What do you want to do with your life?”
“I was thinking about starting off as a package handler or…”
The father interrupts, “That don’t pay any money. Just concentrate on school. If you get a job, you’ll lose focus. When you get to college, focus on school, get your degree, then get a job. You ain’t got it hard right now. You don’t have children.”
“I really want a job.”
“Doing what?”
“I just…”
“You ain’t sayin’ nothin’.
Jeremiah gets a text message. He digs in his right pocket and takes out his cell phone. His father tilts his head, then makes a thunderous yell.
“Turn your cell phone off when you’re talking to me! That’s disrespectful. Your ass will never hold a job doing that. Look me in my eyes. I’m not over there. You ain’t goin’ through shit. God is real and you’ll know on your deathbed.”
The father’s cell phone rings, which makes him answer it before saying to his son, “Gone!”
Jeremiah enters his bedroom, sits on the bottom bunkbed, then faces his phone. Francesca’s name pops up. Automatically, hatred is wrapped around his face. While his father yells over the phone about bad customers service at a retail store for not getting his order shipped to him, a bullet sound is heard. A woman’s shrilling scream comes from 4 floors beneath him.
He reads Francesca’s message, which says, “My dad hacked into my email earlier, then decided to contact you while I was over my grandma’s house. He ruins everything for me. I love you so much and I don’t want to lose you.”
He texts back, “I love you too.”
She texts back, “Have you ever thought about finding someone to stay with?”
“Like a million times online and in-person talks.”
“I know you’re not a talker. Talking is an excellent way to get a job. I bet you’re in that same room from where our last video chat was. How’s it feel to sit around all day and do nothing?”
“I write. Who’s your favorite celebrity? Whether they write, sing, draw, or whatever, I can say they’re nothing. I didn’t know money can make a nobody something. You’re a liar. You never liked me. You’re trying to set me up. Bye.”
The Next Day
Before the father leaves the apartment, he speaks with his children, “I’m going to be out for a while. If anyone knocks on the door, don’t open it. They can say they’re the president of the United States, but don’t open it.”
They enter back in he bedroom as the father leaves. Jeremiah’s brother is in the same filthy underwear from yesterday. Now, Byron’s editing movie clips with a VCR, then tells Jeremiah to press the record button while he has a movie on pause. Thus, he presses the record button on the VCR and Byron presses the play button with a grey remote control. Byron tells a depressed Jeremiah to insert press stop and insert in a video game to record. Jeremiah gives him a frown.
“Why do you always have to frown? How can you not see without those thick glasses of yours?”
Byron snatches Jeremiah’s glasses off of his face, wears them, and says, “I’m Jeremiah! I’m going home with my fat ass wife to beat her! Wait. I don’t have a wife. I’m a stupid dumbass who can’t wrestle.”
“Give me my glasses back. That doesn’t sound like me.”
Byron runs out the bedroom and jumps over the living room couch, “Then says, “If you tell your dad, I swear I’ll kill him, then you. I’m not scared of anything. You’ll never know what it’s like to have a girlfriend.
Byron walks on the balcony as Jeremiah says, “You’re not the only one who’s angry.”
Byron runs in Jeremiah’s face and pushes him to the floor near a glass table. Byron kicks him in the chest, then leaves the house. After slamming his fists on the floor, gnashing his teeth together, he rises. A white coffee mug that’s sitting on the kitchen counter disappears when he blinks .
He then reads a text from Diamond, which says, “I’m going to the mall with my boyfriend. If you want to join, you can. It’ll be something to do.”
“No thanks. My schizophrenic brother just beat me.”
“It’s always about your brother. I have a brother too, you know? Tell me something about you.”
“He forced me to draw in pictures that he feels are creative, but rips them up even if they are. He forces me to read 14 of his unpublished stories, then try to get me to help him write it. I have tons of ideas, but he don’t use my advice because he can’t get pass the 14nth page. By the time he gets pass page 300, I’ll be in fucking college or some shit. When I ask him why he does this, he says because he’s angry, then when the conversation gets deeper, he forgets. I want to get out of here. I hope they all die.”
“Juicy” she texts back, “Your brother’s really popular. Support him. I’d be damned if my little brother downed me all the time.”
“His girlfriend is a crippled witch and nobody know but me.”
“I know.”
“Fine. And you’re comfortable with the world the way it is with all the magic you have?”
“I’m content.”
“Fuck you,” he texts back.
2 Hours Later
It’s 4:00 P.M.. Jeremiah’s dad arrives back in the apartment. He shuts the door, then takes off his black baseball cap and leather jacket. Then, his cell phone rings, but he notices a gigantic hole in the the living room wall. Rage rapes his soul.
The dad yells, “What the hell! Byron! Jeremiah! Get out of here!”
Bedroom
Byron whispers in Jeremiah’s ear, “Please take this whoopin’ for me. I’ll let you play with the wrestling toys and the video game for 3 hours.
Jeremiah responds, “If I take the blame, I won’t live to do that.”
“Please!”
The father’s loud footsteps shake the floor. He bangs on their bedroom door. Jeremiah opens the door looking at his father holding a leather belt in his hand with a tight grip. Jeremiah has a flashback of Byron doing backflips on the wall. It was when Byron jumped on his back while he was standing up, he lost his equilibrium. Thus, that’s how the hole got in the wall.
Saliva flies out of his mouth, as he deeply yells, “Who the fuck put a hole in the wall?”
Byron points at Jeremiah as Jeremiah speaks, “He…”
The father interrupts, “Did you put a hole I. The wall! I was going to take y’all asses to Florida to see…”
His cell phone rings and Jeremiah points at Byron, yelling, “He did it!”
The dad yells, “I’m whoopin’ both y’all asses!”
1 hour later
Jeremiah exits his room and his father attempts to scare him by jumping from out the bathroom, making a monster sound. Jeremiah’s face shows how deeply he disdains his father. His father turns away, then starts humming.
Felicia is sitting on the living room couch, which surprises Jeremiah. Her hands form a pyramid shape, resting on her lap. That’s the moment Jeremiah knows this false Atheist is working for a dark hierarchy. Felicia walks into his room without greeting him. He turns around while his father approaches him.
His father says, “Did you find out what your test results are? In order for you to volunteer, you have to not have HIV., tuberculosis, and all those other diseases. Make sure you get your blood work back.”
“I contacted them and they’re going to tell me tomorrow. I know I don’t have HIV because I’m away from others too long to have sex.”
“You need to go outside. Open up those blinds. The light can make a major difference in a day. The reason I’m constantly moving furniture around this place is because I’m constantly looking for perfection. You don’t know what your doctors put in those needles. Don’t fear anyone, but God and you’re straight. I’m through.”
“You try to make me fear you though.”
“Don’t disrespect the Lord! You can pack your bags and leave if you continue!”
Jeremiah heads in his room and hears Felicia saying, “Can I play your game?”
He imagines cutting her right index finger off with black bolt cutters while she’s tied up to a mattress soaked in gasoline. After exiting his fantasy, he grabs his coat, black book bag, and leaves the apartment. Felicia looks at Byron with a smile.
Felicia says, “Where’s he goin’?”
The Following Day
Deandre is holding a handgun by his locker while Chris watches. The school principal walks down the hallway, greets them, and proceeds walking ahead. It’s a heartbreaking scene, for Jeremiah thinks about countless times he got detention just for drawing horror pictures. Numerous times, students even went so far as to say he threatened to blow up the school, regardless of the altercations. He’s absolutely sick of being taken advantage of.
Jeremiah has a black hooded jacket with a hood covering his head. A black mask made out of wool and lightening designs all around covers his face. His jeans are black and his boots are black. Immediately, he walks away as Chris notices Jeremiah walking. Jeremiah passes an exhausted drug addict sitting by the men’s bathroom door, resting her back against the wall. Then, he enters the middle stall to grab a semi-automatic firearm from his book bag.
Deandre enters the bathroom and gets shot in the head. Blood splatters across the walls as Chris hesitates to move, speechlessly in shock. Chris gets shot on the right side of the buttocks, then in the midst of the spinal cord.
Isaiah Lawrence 