Cruel Justice

75

BUT WHERE THE HELL is the boy? Mitch thought as he entered the bedroom. That was the problem with little boys. They were always trying to get away, trying to escape their punishment. But that wasn’t right. It wasn’t fair.

“Where is he?” Mitch snarled.

That bitch, that whore—Christina, was it?—ran to the opposite side of the bed, her long red hair trailing behind.

Mitch’s mother had had red hair. At least he thought she did. Everything was black in the closet.

Please help me, Mommy. Please!

“I said, where is he?” Mitch leaped onto the bed. “Under here?” Mitch jumped up and down like a madman on a trampoline. If Abie had been under the bed, he’d have been crushed.

“What did you do with my boy?” Mitch bellowed.

“He isn’t here,” Christina said breathlessly. “He’s gone.”

Mitch slowly walked across the bed. “You’re lying again. I saw him. Where could he have gone?”

“Out the window. He climbed down. Just like a little monkey. He’s probably a mile away now.”

Mitch jumped off the bed and ran to the window. Christina quickly scurried to the opposite corner.

He surveyed the distance to the ground. “Not possible. You’re lying.”

“No I’m not. He’s gone.”

“The fall would’ve killed him.”

“He didn’t jump. He … climbed.”

“On what?”

“I … lowered him out the window. With a bedsheet.”

Mitch paused a moment. “Where’s the sheet?”

“He took it with him. He—”

“Shut up, you liar.” Mitch brandished the knife again. “I hate liars. Lying is a sin. Liars have to be punished.”

“But why—”

“It’s not nice to tell lies. It’s not nice to tell secrets. You have to keep the family’s secrets. Otherwise, you have to be punished.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Look, you’re probably not an evil person. You need help. Just put that knife away, and I promise you I’ll—”

“There’s nothing wrong with me!” Mitch screamed. “You have to be punished!”

He dove across the bed toward her, knife extended.

Christina jumped to the side, avoiding him by inches. She raced for the door, but he scrambled across the bed and beat her there. He grabbed her arm while running and swung her against the opposite wall.

She hit the wall face-first. Her eyelids fluttered, then she fell to the floor in a heap.

She didn’t get up. She didn’t move.

Mitch kicked her in the side. She appeared to be unconscious. At least.

She would have to die, but first things first. Where the hell was the boy?

Mitch scanned the room. The window was an impossibility. But if not there …?

He noticed the closet door was open.

The boy was in the closet.

How appropriate.

Mitch ran into the closet and pushed away the hanging clothes. “Got you!”

There was no one there. But how was that possible? Where could Abie be? And what about that baby?

He saw the books in a mess on the floor. That was odd. The rest of the apartment seemed very tidy, as if it had recently been cleaned. What could that mean?

And then he heard it. Crying. A baby’s cry. And it was coming from above him. On the roof.

Mitch smiled. He stepped onto the lower shelf and knocked the roof panel out of place. “Olly olly oxen free!”