Cruel Justice

39

“THAT’S IT, ABIE. NOW just a few more.”

Abie stared into the camera lens and tried his best not to cry. He was so scared of Sam. The look in his eyes terrified him; he was certain the man would hurt him if he got mad again. If Abie didn’t do everything Sam wanted him to do.

Abie had stripped down to his underwear, no further. Sam had grinned, said something about taking it one step at a time, and began clicking the camera. He kept moving Abie around, repositioning him, telling him to act happy or sad or other words Abie didn’t even understand. Abie hated this, he felt … he didn’t know. Gross. Dirty. It made him sick, and it made him sad.

It made him want to be home with his mommy.

And dad.

Sam stepped away from the camera. “All right, then. Let’s try another pose.”

“Don’t wanna,” Abie whispered, backing away.

“Tired of posing? Well, I guess that’s fair. You’ve been working hard. Maybe we should take a break.” He reached out and grabbed Abie’s hand. “Maybe we should do something else. We could play a game. You and me, together. A real fun game. Would you like to do that?”

“No,” Abie said, lower lip protruding. “Don’t wanna play a game. I wanna go home.”

“All in good time, Abie. All in good time.” He held fast to Abie’s hand. “Do you like to be touched, Abie?”

Abie tried to twist away. “No!”

“What about when your mother pats you on the back to help you fall asleep? I bet you like that, don’t you, Abie?”

Abie continued to squirm. “So?”

“Well, that’s okay for little babies, Abie, but grown-ups have other ways of touching. Better ways. Would you like to learn about those?”

Abie was so scared he didn’t know what to do. Tears tumbled out of his eyes. He yanked as hard as he could, but he couldn’t get away.

“I said, would you like to learn what grown-ups do?”

Abie continued to struggle.

“Answer me, Abie.” The man pulled the boy close to him. His hands slowly moved around Abie. “Do you want to do something wonderful?” He stroked Abie’s chin. “Do you?”

“No!” Abie took Sam’s hand inside his mouth and bit down on it as hard as he could.

Sam shrieked.

Abie tried to break away, but Sam still held his arm firmly.

“You ungrateful brat!” Sam slapped Abie, hard, right across the face. Abie tumbled backward, falling onto the exposed concrete floor.

“I didn’t want to do that,” Sam said quickly. His breathing was becoming fast and irregular. “You made me do that. You’re a dirty boy, and you had to be punished. Now let’s see if we can do better—”

Abie pushed himself to his feet. Something about the slap had worked wonders, had shaken him out of his lethargic, dazed state. He felt a surge of energy charging through his body. He was free of Sam for the moment. He was going to make the most of it.

Abie ran behind the camera. “Stay away from me!”

“But Abie. We’re friends.”

“We’re not friends! You’re not my friend. You’re—I don’t know what you are. But I don’t like you anymore.”

A dark cloud seemed to cover Sam’s eyes. “Don’t be this way, Abie.” He stepped slowly toward the boy.

“Stay away from me!” Abie reached into the equipment bag, pulled out the Polaroid camera, and threw it at Sam.

Sam dodged the camera, but it fell with a crash onto the concrete floor, shattering into pieces.

“Now look what you’ve done,” Sam snarled. “You’ve ruined the camera.” He continued advancing toward Abie. “I don’t allow my little boys to hurt my belongings.”

Abie grabbed the black bag and hurled it at Sam. Sam caught it, but the impact knocked him backward.

“All right, Abie. Now I’m mad.” His jaw was tightly clenched. “And you don’t have anything left to throw, do you?”

Abie ran to the back of the room. He slammed against the door and turned the knob—

It was locked.

“How stupid do you think I am, Abie? Of course I locked the door. We wouldn’t want anyone walking in on us, would we?”

Abie kicked and pounded on the door, all to no avail.

“It’s pointless, Abie. It’s a very strong lock. I put it in myself.”

Turning, Abie saw Sam hovering over him, his face burning with anger. Abie pressed back against the door, more scared than he had ever been in his life. There was nothing else for him to do, nowhere else for him to go. He was trapped.

“Now I’ve got you, you dirty, weak little boy. And now you’re going to be punished. Over and over again. Until you’re clean.”

Abie screamed, but even as he did he knew that he was far, far away from anyone who could help him.