A Family Thing

Now that I look back on it as I sit in this uncomfortable plastic chair in the emergency room, it does seem very poorly thought out. I mean, if you're going to steal a car why would you leave any identifying evidence behind? Say like, your own car-or in actuality your dad's brand new black-on-black sports utility vehicle. Hmm,maybe it was Marty's stolen bottle of top grade vodka that impaired my judgment, I had to have ingested at least half of the contents of that cool, slick glass container. Bad idea?

"Randy? Randy!" Great,my mother's storming towards me like a twister with Lawrence (my stepdad,not the guy with the newly acquired suv I borrowed) trailing behind her in the fashion of a confused puppy. "What the hell happened to you Randy?"

"I illegally drank stolen alcohol,stole a motor vehicle,and crashed it. Oh-and I think liquor works as a painkiller,because my head doesn't hurt at all."

"What happened to your head?" Lawrence asks,gesturing at the rolled up t-shirt I'm using to soak up the blood from a well-sized gash spanning the left side of my forehead.

"When the car made contact with the brick facade of the convenience store, the airbag was kinda slow coming out-so my skull slammed-quite violently-onto the steering wheel." I'm shivering now since I was forced to use my shirt as a bandage. Why the hell is it so damn cold in the hospital anyway? Are they trying to cryogenically preserve the patients until doctors are available?

"Randall!" Lovely,here comes Dad,even stormier than Mom. "You take my car without permission,smash it into a seven-eleven,and then have the nerve to have the hospital call me at three in the goddamn morning! You unthoughtful little sh-"

"Greg, maybe you should lower your voice and reduce your usage of profanity." Lawrence weakly suggests.

"Shut your damn mouth Larry,it's my son and I'll yell at him until I go hoarse if I want to." Lawrence sinks into a chair beside me,takes out his reading glasses,and begins studying a pamphlet on diabetes.Hmm,I can't wait for the day that he finally snaps and shoots the mailman.
I can imagine it now,he'll brandish one of those nifty handguns that is the cornerstone of Hollywood action flicks and blast the guy for knocking over his recycling for the hundredth time.

"Where is my car Randall?" Dad demands,his eyes bursting out of the sockets,his voice lowered but sharper than a machete.

"Uh-gee-somewhere in the burbs about an hour from here. And I'm okay by the way,just a minor concussion,thanks for asking."

"I need to ask? You're talking and being the smartass you always are.Now about the car,how bad is the damage?"

"Excuse me," a cop in uniform taps Mom on the shoulder,"is there a Gregory Parkins here? A red Miata was reported stolen and an suv belonging to a Gregory Parkins was at the site."

"Oh-Dad-it wasn't your car that I crashed." I stupidly grin and scratch my chest as he connects the dots.

"That's it! You're a thief, a delinquent-," blah,blah,blah. He jumps up and down,tears at his hair, and begins constructing sentences consisting entirely of profanities.Lawrence shrinks deeper into his chair.

"When you're finished here," the cop informs our little dysfunctional group ,"I'm going to have to escort you guys to the station."

I pluck Lawrence's sweater from his lap,pull it on,close my eyes, and wait to be called in by the nurse. This is going to be a long night.




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Summer Finale

I sit at the lake's edge,my legs ankle deep in the murky water.Tadpoles encircle my feet and race away like olympic swimmers when I kick my legs.The sun is setting and Aunt Bett is calling everyone to the picnic area,a clearing in the woods a few yards from the lake.Me and my cousin Ian don't rush,we won't have to be at the picnic tables to see the big finish.We ignore our aunt and continue to sit.


"School tomorrow," Ian says.

"We still have the afternoon," I reply lazily.

"Nope,the sun's already setting,soon as it comes up we have classes and homework and-"

"We have the night." I kind of snap at him without meaning to,but he doesn't say anything about it.He knows I'm just sulking over the end of summer vacation.


"You're right Bell,we have the whole night.Only...my mom wants me in bed early."


I don't pay attention because the sun,a blood red ball,rapidly sinks until it's out of view.The lightest portion of the sky is navy blue and the rest is black with globs of stars appearing around the moon like a quilt pattern.


"Everybody,everybody,get ready for the finale!Keep your eyes on the sky!" Aunt Bett's booming voice orders.


"Bell?" Ian whispers.


"Ssshh," I reply,keeping my eyes glued to the night sky,waiting,waiting,waiting-



"Here it is everybody!"



"Boom!" It sounds like a cannon goes off inches from my head, my ear canals vibrate, and the night explodes into a dozen shades of purple,green,blue,red,and orange.Smoke curls around everyone's legs and fills my nose.Additional fireworks pop and crackle and burst into flowers and twists of color.One in particular explodes directly in front of the moon so it looks like an iced sugar cookie.The sky momentarily goes blank while Uncle Will and some of the other kids prepare to launch the next batch of fireworks.



"You know what else we have Ian?"



"What?"



"The Summer Finale."


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Reward

He knows he shoudn't be here, that any moment they'll find him.He hears cooing from the dark brick building.A foot appears around the corner and headlights from a passing car illuminate a metal object above the foot.Jewelry,no, something less innocent,brass knuckles.


"You shouldn't be here Eric," a voice comes from around the corner,the foot is fully revealed followed by a man's body,a large man's body.The man from school,well, the man-sized boy from school.Three others come into view and stand in the dim light of the alley.

"I was just on my way home," he says ,"I don't want any trouble Kurt."

Kurt approaches him and stands with his face centimeters from his.He raises his hand and delivers a heavy backhanded slap,causing Eric's head to whirl around to the right,his neck and face aching from the blow.Kurt grabs him by the shirt collar just before his body falls backward onto the brick building.

"You know something," Kurt growls,maliciously tugging at the collar,"I really hate rats.Always ready to sell you out,and for what?For nothing,just to be honest."

He releases his collar and violently shoves him into the brick wall.Eric groans,the brick scrapes his neck and head,blood seeps from a wound and collects in his red hair.

"Kurt," Dylan,Kurt's bestfriend and righthand steps forward ,"you know I have to be home by ten,could you hurry it up?"

"In a minute man," Kurt runs his fingers through his brown hair,addressing Eric,"I know you're the one who told the principal I spray painted his car.Am I right?Now be honest."

Eric looked around,the four hostile players from the varsity hockey team weren't going to be merciful whether he tried to deny it or told the truth,he might as well as get it over with.

"Answer you piece of trash," Kurt grabs his shirt and jerks his thin body from left to right,making his jaw slip back and forth resulting in Eric accidentally grinding his teeth into his tongue.

"I told,okay,"Eric gasps and his body goes limp as Kurt reels his right hand back,but rolls it into a large fist this time.The brass knuckles crack against his jaw bone and blood shoots past his lips.

"Always honest,aren't you Eric?" Kurt doesn't wait for an answer as he smashes his brass-clad fist into Eric's nose.Crimson fluid gushes from his nostrils and he slides down the wall,lying crumpled on the wet ground like a discarded bubblegum wrapper.

"Ooohh," he moans and attempts to sit up.

"Stay," Dylan cruelly kicks him in the side before he can pull his body up.

"Broken jaw and nose,maybe even broken ribs," Kurt says,leaning down and staring straight into Eric's eyes,his sweat moistened brown hair spilling into his face,"I think that's a fair reward for your honesty.Don't you think so?Nod yes if you think you should have a bonus prize."

Eric manages to shake his head no,the pain shooting from his nose to his jaw to his ribs.

"Okay,lets get outta here," Dylan says.

"Sure thing," Kurt replies,"and Eric,enjoy that reward."

Kurt,Dylan,and the two silent lackies turn around and melt into shadows,their footsteps fade and they're gone.
I shouldn't be here,Eric thinks as the alley goes black and he falls into the cupped hands of unconciousness,I shouldn't be here,I shouldn't be here...


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Trees,Reason For Inspiration

It was when they saw the tree that they knew,knew the infinite possibilities of-well-of everything.They didn't know why they knew this and they didn't even think of this discovery in these words.
Jake's exact words were , "I can climb to the highest branch, I could touch the sky!"
He imagined his thin body stretching like an elastic band,reaching until his fingertips grazed the cloud dotted blue,bringing his digits to his face for examination and finally proving that the sky
was a mammoth blue and white, or red and orange, or blue and purple mural(depending on the time of day of course).
He wondered if he could bring his paints and add pterodactyls to the scene,ressurecting the ancient creatures.He sighed longingly and continued to nurture the ache in his chest that told him that the mysterious height of the tree's brances could assist him in transforming his flimsy tin foil fantasy into a sturdy steel reality.

Laura too thought of the oak,what secrets those leafy branches could hold.

Her exact words were, "A world could be hidden in all of those leaves.I bet there is a whole kingdom of orange people and green people and red people-like in the fall.A different shade for every season..."

Her sentence trailed off into admiring quietude.She knew,she absolutely knew that the leaf people glided from branch to branch,more delicate,more graceful,more gorgeous than a monarch butterfly.

She imagined how all winged insects were modes of transportation and how squirrels supplied the food and how when autumn and winter arrived ,the leaf fairies would turn completely invisible(since there were no leaves to conceal them) and would resort to living in the trunk to escape the chill.She was positive that if she could only climb to the uppermost branch that she would find them.She wondered if they would turn her into a leaf person and allow her to ride their dragonflies,like mini helicopters they seemed.She slurped in her breath and tilted her head back to view the vanishing limbs,the very top arms obscured by clouds,just a few fingers sprouting into space,wearing a few of Saturn's rings.

Jake and Laura simultaneously decided they would scale The Giant,as everyone in town kindly referred to it.Jake and Laura,both eight years- old and best friends for as far back as either's memory could reach went to Laura's house,they constructed a plan.

The plan was simple,they would use a latter to reach the lowest branch and free climb from there.That very afternoon they returned,equipped and ready.The two groped and climbed until breathless and took seats on a fat,sturdy branch.

A week later they built a treehouse.Jake stood on the roof attempting to scrape away a bit of the sky's paint,Laure hardly blinked hoping to capture a glimpse of of her leaf dwellers.

Of course they never scraped paint from the heavens or discovered a secret civilization,but they realized as the days and weeks,then months and years passed that the tree inspired them every moment of every day.Their other dreams flourished like the limbs of that tree.

Of course there was the day when they were thirteen that Laura had painted the ceiling of the little structure bright blue and surprised Jake.

"Your mural sky,and it's still wet-touch it,you'll have a piece of the sky."

He did,and sure enough his fingertips were stained blue,he laughed and surprised Laura the next day.He made doll sized people of leaves,constructing makeshift wings of construction paper.Laura soared them into the branches,they weren't as graceful as butterflies but they were her leaf people.

Then,as they sat at the base of that same tree at eighteen years of age (no longer trusting the branches that seemed much smaller with their almost adult bodies)they spoke of The Giant.

"I think that even though the tree has been silent all of these years it's been shouting something," Jake said.

"What's that?" Laura questioned.

"Reach for the sky,ya know,there aren't any limits.Like discovering gravity,Newton never woud've done that without his tree."

"Huh," Laura reclined in the moist crabgrass ,"the sky?Why stop there?Reach for the moon."

"Or the stars,"Jake suggested grinning,"trees,they're reason for inspiration."

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