Chapter 15: The Kid Who Broke His Leg

As I walked up the stairs to the house, I put the keys in the door to unlock it. But as I turned them, I realized that the door was already unlocked & actually slightly open. Ray shouldn't have been home at this point & the woman had been kind enough to fucking wake me up early in the morning to tell me that she wouldn't be here when I get home because she'd be out getting groceries.

I walked inside cautiously & looked around the place. I didn't see anything. Quietly, I set my bag down & stepped forward. I carefully started walking around the place to see if there was something wrong. I glanced back & forth to different pieces of furniture & tried to see if anything was missing from tables or chairs. Nothing looked wrong yet.

When I made my way around the corner to the kitchen, I heard a thump sound from upstairs. Somebody was definitely in the house. I quickly stepped back against the wall & sidled toward the corner. Up around the corner were the stairs, where I heard footsteps coming down.

"Hello?" the deep voice called out. I didn't say anything.

As the person came down the stairs, I clenched my fists.

"Hello?" they called again.

I heard them reach the bottom & head toward me from around the corner. I waited for them to come around the corner & once I felt they were in the right place, I sprung out from the wall.

I initially threw a fist where I figured their face would be. However, as the intruder seemed to catch my fist, I spun my body to deliver a hard kick to their knee. But just as I did that, they moved their body backwards, as if they expected me to kick,& with a flash, twisted my arm around & pinned me up against the wall.

"Should've pulled in close to me & hit, instead of two distant ones," I heard the voice say to me.

Just then, I felt him let go & instantly, I jumped back to face them. I was shocked to see who it was.

Colonel Marley.

"Colonel? What are you doing here, sir?" I asked him.

"Oh just stoppin' by. The door was open so I figured someone was home, maybe if they couldn't hear the bell. Guess not. Sorry about that by the way, didn't mean to scare you."

"It's fine. Ray won't be home for a while, but you're welcome to stay as long as you'd like," I said hopefully.

"All right. You mind if I grab a drink?"

"No of course not."

I walked over to the couch & sat down while he went into the kitchen to get a beer from the fridge. When he came back, he popped it open & sat down on the chair across from me.

"So how ya been Rory?"

"I've been fine."

He didn't look convinced.

"All right...as fine as it can get."

"I guess that's more believable," he took a sip.

"So what did you need to talk to Ray about?"

"Oh nothing in particular. Just wanted to say hi. Wanted to see how his latest work project is going. You know anything about it?"

"No," I shook my head. "He never talks to me about his work. Says it's none of my business. Fine by me. I'm not interested in hearing him speak."

"Hmm. That's all right. By the way, since I'm actually here, remember to lock the front door," he waved a finger at me.

"Oh, I did lock it."

"Well somehow it was open."

Just as I was about to lie & say that somebody must have probably broken in already, we heard the front door open. Turning around, my mother was standing in the doorway with a couple bags of groceries.

"Hi Rory, I'm back. I got a bunch of stuff, I got..." she trailed off when she saw Colonel Marley there with me.

She seemed shocked to see him, stumbling over her words almost. "Colonel...why...it's been so long...what are you doing here?"

The colonel stood up quickly & greeted her back with a nod. "Well I'm visiting Ray & Rory, wanted to see what they were up to."

"Wait, you guys know each other already?" I asked.

"Wait, YOU TWO already know each other?" she said over me.

"Yes. I met Rory when he was a little kid & we kept in a bit of touch after that. But I actually just settled here permanently a little while back."

"How do YOU guys know each other?" I said.

"Well, I know her through your uncle Rory. We met a very long time ago," he replied. "It's been, what, getting close to 20 years since we first met?" he turned to her.

"Something like that, yeah," she laughed nervously.

I suddenly felt...dark. I felt like this...this intrusion was just another effort on her part to piss me off. I had come to feel as though the colonel was almost MINE, & mine alone. And yet, even she knew him before me. I know there wasn't anything I could have actually done about it, but still just KNOWING this irked me. I hated her even more now.

"So...what have you guys been talkin' about?" she asked slowly.

"None of your business," I barked. Colonel Marley put a hand on my shoulder & then looked back to her.

"What Rory means is that we've merely been catching up, that's all. Since I live close to here now, I figure I could come see him now & then & we could hang out like two, adult men."

"That's it?" she nodded.

"Yes. Rory, could you give your mom & I some privacy for a little while? We have some of our own catching up to do if that's ok," he turned to me.

"Sure. I'll be in my room," I said. I walked past my mother, glaring at her as I turned to walk up the stairs.

**********

"Colonel Marley was here earlier today," I said to Ray as he sat down in front of the tv.

"When?"

"Well, he let himself in a little bit before I got back from school. He was here when I walked in."

"What did he want?" Ray asked as he popped the top off his beer.

"Basically just to catch up & say hi. But he also wanted to know how your project is going. With work, that is."

With a burp, he started to unbutton his shirt, exposing his sweat-stained undershirt show. He lied back against the chair & turned the tv on. When he didn't respond to me, I figured he wasn't about to tell me 'how the project was going' one bit.

"That it?" he said.

"Yeah, I guess," I exhaled.

"Was your mother here when he was here?"

"No, but she came back while the colonel & I were talking."

"So," he sat up, suddenly concerned with what I was saying, "they saw each other?"

"Yeah. How do they know each other anyway?" I asked him.

"Your mother visited me when I was staying in Columbus. She was still working out there at the time, so she rented a nearby motel to stay in for a couple nights. Well anyway, Colonel Marley & I were still working together at that point so he lived nearby also & so they met when she showed up at the house one day asking for money. That's how they know each other."

I stood there, still unhappy. For once, it was actually an illegitimate reason to hate her. Not that I ever needed more than one reason to hate her.

"Why?"

I looked up. "Huh?"

"Why do you care?" he said.

"Just wondering."

I looked at my watch.

"I'm gonna go out," I said lazily.

"Be back by 12. You got it?" he shook his beer at me.

"Yes."

**********

"I don't really care what we see, do you?" I said to Trent as we made our way towards the movie theater. I had a hat on that obscured much of my face. Didn't need people to recognize me.

"Nope."

"Good."

After we got inside & got our tickets, to what I don't remember to this day, we headed over to wait in line for snacks.

"So how's your mom been so far?" he asked me.

"Cunt," I answered. I noticed a few people glance toward me when I said it.

"Really? What's she doing?"

"That's just it. She's not actually doing ANYTHING, I just hate her being around. I feel like I have no privacy in that house & she always wants to sit down & get to know me."

"Sounds kind of queer," he said.

"Mhm. And apparently, she knew Colonel Marley before I did. THAT seriously pisses me off. I mean, if it wasn't bad enough to have a mother who, after all these fucking years of not wanting anything to do with me just SHOWS UP & wants to act as though everything can be good between us, now, she's getting to me even more. Is this a reason to hate her?" I said.

"Who cares?" Trent shrugged his shoulders. "I say fuck her anyway. Even if she won the lottery & gave it to you, I'd say take the money & pay a guy to just fuck her constantly. I mean, isn't that what she did for a living anyway?" he snickered. I nodded, liking the idea. I figured after the movie, we could go to a 7-Eleven & buy a few lottery cards.

"What about your uncle? What's he been thinkin' 'bout this whole time?"

"I dunno," I scoffed. "I don't particularly care to know what the fuck he think unless..."

"Hey guys," the man in front of us, with his eight or nine year old son, turned around, "enough with the cursing all right? There's no need for that in public."

"Fuck off ass face," I snapped.

With a look of shock on his face, the man took his son's hand & left the line just then. By now, quite a few people were staring.

"Asshole," Trent said.

"Yeah..."

"Anyway, about your uncle?"

"So anyway," I started up again, "he hasn't said a word. And I don't plan on asking him his little thoughts about it unless he hints toward letting her stay. In which case, I'll fucking fight him to the death to make sure never happens."

"That ought to be interesting. Wonder who'd have more anger hahaha," he said.

"What do I always say, I learned everything I know from him," I said. "Not to mention, he wouldn't exactly be a recruiter's poster child anymore."

"You think you could ever actually take him?" he asked me.

"Well..." I stopped when I looked absently down one of the hallways & saw the man who had left the line with an usher & a security officer walking this way. As I briefly made eye contact with them, I saw the officer relay something into his radio. I lowered my head. God damn it!

"Too many people in this fucking theater who can't mind their own fucking business," I grumbled.

"What?"

"Nothing," I said as I looked up again & saw the party clearly picking up their pace. They recognized me.

"I gotta go," I said to Trent as I kept my head down & started to back away from the line.

"Go? Go where?" he asked. I didn't have time to reply.

I turned around to dash for the door. But just as I did, I felt someone grab my arm. A nearby officer must have gotten the radio call & rushed over. Just as I twisted my body to elbow him hard in the side, my other arm was suddenly grabbed by another officer. I was running out of options. I jumped into the air, my body suspended in the air from my arms being held. But as I swung up one of my legs to kick one of them in the groin, I suddenly felt my entire body violently bend itself as a feeling of cold stabs flooded my body. I could only scream out in pain as I felt my body twist & contort in a way I remembered from when I lived in Miami.

They tasered me.

They cuffed me.

They got me.