Disappear Forever
an excerpt

We had a son. We named him Albert, after Alice’s granddaddy Albert Walker the Third. She liked ta call him Albie, an’ she loved that little boy like no other I’d ever seen. She was a good momma.

She’d say to me, “Royce Bentley, you are the most beautiful man I think I have ever seen, but your son… Royce Bentley, your son is the most beautiful human being on this planet.”

An’ back, I’d always say, “Nah, don’t be silly, Alice. I got the most beautiful human bein’ on this planet standin’ right in front of me.”

But I’m getting’ ahead of myself, I think. It don’t make no sense unless I tell it right. Gotta start at the beginnin’ or ya end up with a mess that don’t make no sense.

Alice an’ me… We met when we was young. I wasn’t no more’n fifteen, and she was just a li’l Georgia peach of twelve. Her momma an’ her moved in next door ta my daddy an’ me, an’ we rode the same bus ta school each mornin’.

We was insperable, the two of us. I looked after her on the bus an’ at school, an’ her momma always told me how much she appreciated it. They’d invite me over fer dinner when my daddy had ta work late and I woulda otherwise been left ta fend fer myself. Alice’s momma always said that a growin’ boy needs ta be fed up right ta grow up nice an’ strong. I think she just liked havin’ a boy around the house to do the fixin’ up of leaky faucets an’ the oilin’ of squeaky doors.

I used ta think that they had a good ol’ life goin’ on over there. Alice an’ her momma was happy together, happy just ta be the two of ‘em instead’a three. Alice never seemed ta miss her daddy none, an’ her momma seemed happy enough without him ‘round. They had me, after all, an’ I did most’a the work that any daddy woulda done, an’ I did stuff that no daddy coulda been able ta. I kept Alice safe away from home when there was no parents or grownups around, an’ I kept her safe in the schoolyard where there were no teachers ta keep the bullies from beatin’ on her.

But truth was, they wasn’t happy there, just the two of ‘em. I guess it wasn’t that they wasn’t happy, more that they was scared. They bolted their doors night after night an’ never let no one in or out after dark but me. I never asked why, because it wasn’t no neighbor boy’s place ta go askin’ after their security habits. After I found out why, in the end, I wished that I had asked, because I might’a been able ta do somethin’ more ta help when it all came down ‘round their ears.

Mr. Walker was a big man, I realized, when I seen him standin’ over Alice’s momma with that sea green crowbar clutched tight in his bowling ball hands. An’ he was an angry man, too. The look on his face was terrifyin’ enough ta make me want ta turn tail an’ run back on out of that house, but I didn’t dare move.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing here, you scrawny little rat?” he spat at me. I dunno whether he was tryin’ ta make me more scared, or ta get me ta just go on home or somethin’, but whatever it was, it obviously didn’t work, because when I just stood there, lookin’ up at him like I knew what I was doin’, like I was some big, tough guy, he turned from Alice’s momma and took a step towards me. “You want to get hurt, little man?”

“Leave ‘em alone,” I managed in just a wisp of my usual voice. I almost winced at how soft an’ weak it sounded, but I kept my shoulders back an’ my head up an’ my face set. I wasn’t gonna let him know that he scared the bejesus outta me.

Alice’s daddy sneered at me and hefted that crowbar higher in his creased, dirt-streaked palm. “And what’re you going to do if I don’t?”

I hadn’t a clue what ta answer ta that one, an’ I swallowed hard. “Leave ‘em alone,” I repeated, “or I’ll kill ya.”

Alice’s daddy laughed outright, then, at the idea of a sixteen-year-old boy threatenin’ ta kill a big ol’ man like him. I had no idea how ta take down a boy my own size, an’ even less an idea how ta take down a full grown man. My only hope was ta keep him distracted enough that Alice could get her momma outta there an’ get ‘em both someplace safe. It didn’t matter what kinda beatin’ I’d take. I was bigger’n Alice, and bigger’n her momma, an’ I could better take what her daddy had ta dish out.

“I will,” I threatened, takin’ a step forward as her daddy took another step towards me.

“That so, kid?” he asked, droppin’ the free end of his crowbar inta his other hand with a loud slap. “Look, why don’t you run on home, huh? This isn’t any of your business. This is family business, kid, and you’re not a part of this family.”

“Am too,” I insisted, takin’ another step towards his hulking mass an’ hopin’ that I lived ta see that Alice, who was helpin’ her momma to her feet, was safe after this all went down. “I been more a part’a this family than you been this past year, ya monster. I been takin’ care of these two since they moved in here, an’ you been gone. I think ya need ta get gone again, mister, before someone gets hurt an’ then there’s gonna be hell ta pay. Ya get me?”

“Kid, I don’t think you could pay hell to a fly.” That crowbar was startin’ ta look mighty terrifyin’, the way he was tappin’ it up and down inta his palm. “If you want to get hell paid to you, by all means, stick around a bit longer. But if you value your pathetic little existence, I’d go if I were you.

I squared my shoulders an’ swallowed hard. “Well, good thing ya ain’t me, mister.”

I weren’t really ready for that first swing, but I had enough sense to keep outta the way of that nasty crowbar as it came singin’ through the air and straight fer my head. Of course, my balance… That was another tale entirely. When I jumped back ta get my noggin outta harm’s way, I banged the back of one thigh against the edge of the table behind me an’ ended up flat on my back with Mr. Walker standin’ above me lookin’ mighty cross that his blow hadn’t landed on its intended target.

“You little bastard,” he snarled, “I’m going to kill you. I’ll damn well kill you!”

It didn’t take a genius ta realize that I was in a bad way. I was in a fat lotta trouble that I didn’t quite know how ta get myself out of. All I could think ta do was keep on scuttlin’ back every time he stepped forward an’ swung. I dunno how many times that crowbar connected with my flesh, but I know fer sure that he got me mighty bad on my right thigh. I could feel the blood runnin’ in little rivers down and soakin’ inta my pants as I scooted across the floor, tryin’ ta stay so far away that he couldn’t get me anymore.

I guess I wren’t anticipatin’ the wall comin’ up behind me like that. When I couldn’t go nowhere else, Alice’s daddy got this sinister lookin’ grin on his face and lifted that crowbar one last time.

“Go to hell, kid,” he growled.

I brought my arms up ta cover my face, even though I knew that if he were ta hit me hard enough, it wouldn’t much matter; I’d be dead either way.

I dunno if I’ve heard such a sweet sound ta this day as the hammer cocking on a regulation Beretta in the doorway. Moments before the command ta freeze issued, Mr. Walker already had, knowin’ he was in it deep now.

“Freeze!” the copper screamed, rather pleased with himself when Alice’s daddy didn’t seem ta have a single notion ta move. The navy-vested officer rushed in an’ deftly disarmed my would-be killer, shovin’ him ta the ground and cuffin’ his hands behind his back.

I was pantin’ by then. I dunno when it started, but I was then. I was pantin’ and bleedin’ and achin’ all over the place. The crowbar was smeared red where it lay discarded just out of Mr. Walker’s reach, an’ ta see it made me feel sick ta my stomach.

“Hey, kid!” finally broke through the buzz in my head, an’ by the copper’s tone I could tell it weren’t the first time he’d tried ta get my attention.

I jerked my head up ta meet his worried eyes an’ blinked. “Yeah?”

His eyebrows knit together. “You okay?”

I looked down at the blood soakin’ through the tears in my jeans. “I dunno,” I croaked. I swallowed hard. “I don’t think so.”

“But you’re alive,” the copper said. He pulled his walkie talkie from his belt an’ punched a few keys. “Charlie? We need an ambulance down here. We’ve got a kid who needs to be looked after.” His eyes slid back ta me, and I could see the worry slippin’ across his face when he saw how pale I was.

“Roger,” came cracklin’ from the talkie. “We’ll get one sent out right away.”

It gets a little fuzzy from there. They wasn’t gonna let Alice in ta see me, what with bein’ bloodied up the way I was, an’ so they bundled me inta the ambulance an’ rushed me off to the hospital. The only thing I can remember clear from then is the way my right thigh looked with two bloody furrows dug in deep in my muscle. At the sight of the blood an’ the wounds, I threw up all over the floor an’ passed out.