Billy Straight

63

I'm talking to Mom, trying to explain something important to her, but she's not getting it. She's not even listening.

I get mad at her, start to yell; she just stands there, arms at her side, this weird look in her eyes. Like I don't matter.

Then her face starts to melt and blood shoots out of her eyes like from red faucets. She cups her hands to catch the blood, splashes it all over her face, and then throws some at-

I wake up sweating. My head hurts, my arms hurt, my stomach kills worse than ever, I can't breathe.

I'm in a dark box with cold, hard walls. Glass walls. Trapped, like a bug in a jar- I really can't breathe- no air holes in the box. No matter how hard I suck in the air, it won't feed my lungs- then I see it. Crack at the top of one glass wall. A window left a little open.

Car window.

I'm in Sam's car. The backseat. Must have fallen asleep under the blankets.

It's making me sick being cooped up here. I want to break out, but the alley at night, who knows what's out there? At least let me open the window a little wider- nope, electric, they don't budge.

My Casio says 8:19. The Jews have been praying for a while. When they finish, Sam will take me with him. He's a stranger, and I don't know anything about his house, but there's no other place to hide, not with that $25,000 reward.

Maybe I should try to get the money, like Sam suggested… no, the police would never give it to a kid. Even if they did, Mom and Moron would find out and take it all and I'd be back in the trailer and they'd have dope money.

I could call the police without telling them who I was, let them know I saw PLYR 1 stab Lisa. But what if they had a way of tracing the phone and PLYR found out and went after me?

Who saw me and gave them my face for that picture?

No, I'll just keep my mouth shut. If I dream about Mom again, I'll try to figure out what it is I want to convince her of.