Chapter One
Jesse ~ 10 years old
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The other girls are waiting on the curb for their turn on Rick’s bike. I’m sitting on the ground doodling with sidewalk chalk. Everyday their mama shoos us outside to play. Sometimes we roller skate but today they are taking turns on their brother’s bike. Rick is the only one with a bike. It’s a big family so there’s a lot of sharing that takes place here. I’d never ask for a ride and, he’s never offered to give me one. Not that I would want to ride with him. I’m content sitting here in the sun creating my pictures.
My stomach growls and I think about going in to see if I can sneak a piece of bread or something. They feed me here, but it isn’t like grandma’s food. I think Janet puts a full saltshaker of salt in everything she makes. Luckily, their dog, Mop, likes salty food because I wait until everyone leaves the table and then I give him mine. I try to eat it, but I just can’t.
I don’t know how long I’ll be here. The lady in the suit told me I had to stay until they found my Aunt Renee but, I don’t know how long that will take. I’ve never met her. My mama died when I was little. Grandma said mama took too much medicine and it killed her. I don’t know how that happens. I looked at Grandma and Grandpa’s medicine bottles and it says right on them how much to take, clear as day.
Grandpa said my mama was a bad egg. I don’t know what that means but he told me I was a good egg. I don’t know how he could tell one way or another. You can’t tell if an egg is bad unless you crack it clean open.
Anyhow, I don’t really mind it here. There is always something to do. The Ditsworth’s have eight kids. Four boys and four girls. The girls are around my age and they are nice. I like them. They let me follow them around all day and did I mention they have roller skates?
I do miss Grandma and Grandpa though. Like a lot. So much that I cry myself to sleep almost every night. I’d give anything to go back to living with them. I’d even give up the roller skates to go back home.
I take my whole hand and smear over my drawing. Perfect, now it looks like a real sunset. A shadow darkens the sidewalk in front of me. I squint, shielding my eyes from the sun to find Rick hovering over me.
“Want a ride on my bike?” he asks, his forearms draped across the handlebars.
“Um, I don’t know,” I say quietly, dropping my eyes back to my sunset.
“It’s real fun,” Cindy tells me. “Go on.”
“Okay.” I stand up and dust my chalky hands on the front of my t-shirt.
Rick motions for me to sit on the banana seat in front of him, so I do. He tells me to put my feet up on the middle of the handlebars with my hands beside them. I don’t know about this. It doesn’t feel very safe, but Rick is bigger than me. He’s a teenager so he knows what he’s doing. The other girls ride with him all the time and they’ve never crashed.
We take off and ride a few blocks till we get to the school parking lot. I’m worried I’m going to fall off, but Rick is nice and puts his hand on my hip, so I don’t slide off the seat. We ride for a few minutes in circles when I notice that Rick’s hand is not on my hip anymore. He must not know where he is touching me. With my legs like this my shorts are riding up. He doesn’t know. My cheeks heat and I wonder if I should tell him. He would probably be embarrassed if he knew cause I sure am.
Rick continues to circle us around the parking lot and I’m starting to feel more uncomfortable. I hope he takes me home soon. I don’t like this. The longer he digs around the more it hurts. He must know what he’s doing.
In school they taught us that people shouldn’t touch your private spots. But, Rick is. He’s touching my private spot. Panic bubbles inside me. My eyes dart around the empty lot, looking for help.
Does he do this to his sisters too? Or just me?
“Isn’t this fun?” he whispers in my ear. I shake my head no and he laughs. It hurts and I want to go home. Tears are threating to spill down my cheeks. I try to sniff them back. I don’t want Rick to think I’m a cry baby. I’m not a cry baby.
Suddenly, he stops, and both our feet drop to the ground. I look up at what made Rick stop abruptly. A man is standing in front of us. A scary man with pictures all over his skin. “What’s going on here?” he asks as he lights up a cigarette, blocking our way.
“Just giving my sister a ride on my bike,” Rick answers.
I drop my eyes to the hand Rick just had in my shorts. Blood is caked along the nail of his finger. My eyes slowly rise up to the man standing in front of us. His eyes are where mine had been…on Rick’s hand. His gaze rises to meet mine. “Is that so?” he says. Smoke rolls out of his nose like an angry bull.
“I’m…I’m not his sister,” I sniff, pushing Rick’s arm off the handlebar so I can get out from between his arms. I stumble a few feet away from the bike and cross my arms over my chest. The man crouches down in front of me.
“What’s your name, sweetheart?” he asks.
“You’re not supposed to talk to strangers,” Rick grumbles beside me. The man gives him a look that shuts him up real fast.
He looks at me again. His eyes are so pretty. They don’t match the rest of him. His eyes are blue green. When he turns his head, they change color. Just like my mood ring. It was mamas. It’s the only thing I have of hers, well had. I’m not sure what happened to it after grandma and grandpa died. It’s usually blue when I wear it but one time I got angry at the paper boy for throwing Grandpa’s paper in the mud and it turned black. That’s what this guy’s eyes look like, like he’s caught between angry black and calm blue.
“My name is Jesse,” I tell him. I don’t know why I tell him. Usually, I don’t talk to adults much. But, this guy made Rick stop his bike so that’s something.
“Jesse, just the girl I was looking for. Your daddy sent me to give you a message. He wants you to know that he’s real sorry for what happened to your grandparents and he’ll be coming for you soon.”
“I don’t have a dad.” I chew on my bottom lip, sad that this guy has the wrong Jesse. If I had a dad then I could live with him and I wouldn’t have to eat Janet’s salty food every day.
“You do and he’ll be coming for you as soon as he can.” He takes my chin in his hand. His hand is black, there is a skull inked over the entire thing. His skin peeks out where the eyes, nose and mouth are. “Now, one more thing. Don’t let this little prick touch you ever again. I see you’re a nice girl, Jesse, but sometimes you have to be mean. Especially if you are protecting what’s yours. Got it?” He tips his head and his eyes catch the sun making my heart all gooey.
I glance at Rick nervously, nodding my head slightly.
“Go on, head back to the house. Prick will be along shortly.” I want to giggle at how he keeps saying Rick’s name wrong, but I don’t.
Instead of running home like the scary man told me to, I hide behind a tree on the corner of the lot and watch them. The scary man stands in front of Rick and it looks like he’s really scolding him.
He takes Rick’s hand and holds it up in front of his face and bends his fingers. It looks like it hurts. And. Then. They. Snap. Rick screams and I cover my mouth so that I don’t do the same. The man looks up and his eyes meet mine. I take off running and don’t stop until I get back to the house.