Page 31 of Small Town Beast 2: Saverin's Duet

Grabbing the swing, he slung himself up and began to jerk back and forth like you had to do when nobody pushed you. If only Mama was here to push! He’d go soooo high and maybe go all the way around in a big circle. Amari liked heights. His dream was to fly, like a bird. Mama was always telling him not to climb up on things and jump off, but Amari knew someday if he tried hard enough he could jump very high and fly in the air. Amari loved heights. Mama was always telling him to stop climbing stuff. Pumping his legs on the swing he rose higher, higher…he had to time it right…just right…NOW!

He sailed through the air, like a bird! He was flying, he was—

CRUNCH!

The ground was soft with mulch but still, hard. He forgot to even breathe. His head rang like a bell.Ow…Dirt was all over his clothes and even in his mouth as he rolled away from the swing.Trying not to cry, he scrambled up… just in time to see Granny leaving the gas station. Amari hurried back to the bench.

“What happened to your clothes?” Granny snapped.

“I f-f-fell.”

Granny twisted his ear. “Didn’t I say to stay here on this bench?”

“Ow!”

“Shut up!”

Amari pulled away from her, his stomach twisting in fear, but she dropped his ear and sat down next to him in a huff.

“Nevermind, she’ll be here soon anyway,” she muttered.

Mama will be here soon…His heart filled with hope.

Without looking at him again Granny pulled out a stack of small papers from her purse. Amari watched them curiously. The papers all had different colors and numbers. One of them said, WIN BIG.

Granny scratched the numbers off with a coin one by one.With every number she scratched off, Granny got angrier. She cussed and threw the paper down on the ground, then onto another one, scratching, scratching.

Amari was by then so bored and tired he started falling asleep. But then a gray car pulled up and Granny’s head jerked up quick and she stuffed the papers into her purse.

“Let’s go,” she said sharply to Amari.

Days later Amari tried very hard to remember the car. He knew it was important– imperative– to know the car that the lint-smelling lady was driving. But he forgot.

He didn’t want to get in the car. He didn’t know that white lady. Mama said,never get into a stranger’s car. Granny took his small hand in her cold, dry, wrinkled one and began pulling him towards the gray car. He dug his feet in. Mama said,don’t talk to strangers—

Granny shook his arm so hard he felt it would tear off his body. “Come along, now! Don’t make me whup you!”

“No!” Amari burst out.

He was definitely getting a whupping now, he thought, but Granny’s voice suddenly changed back to the sugar-syrup voice she had used with Mama earlier that day, the voice that was calm and reminded Amari of Mama.

“Don’t worry, I’ll tell your Mama where we’re going,” Granny smiled. She soundedjustlike Mama. She gripped his hand tight and she was still Granny and Mama said to listen to Granny while she was gone, so…

He climbed into the backseat, a deep voice in his head goingbadbadbadbad. Sometimes he heard that voice. It was his daddy’s voice, though Amari had never met his daddy. The car door closed.RUN!Shouted his daddy. Amari reached for the door handle, but it was too late. The car sped off while Granny kept a tight grip on his arm. Her eyes said,don’t even think about it.

“Where are we going?” Granny asked the white lady.

“The bishop’s house.She’llbe here in a few days,” the lady replied. She said “she” likeSHE.Amari didn’t know who “SHE” was. Somebody important. He knew something bad had just happened, but what?

I want mommy!

Kidnapping was when somebody– astranger–took you away. You had to fight and scream very loud if a stranger tried to take you away. But he hadn’t kicked or screamed. Granny wasn’t a stranger. Could your own Granny kidnap you? He didn’t know.Maybe she wasn’t my real Granny, but a witch pretending to be Granny. But Mama would have said,there’s no such thing as witches.

And then they came to a big house, and he didn’t want to go inside but Granny dragged him. They put him in this room, and locked the door.

The room was small. There was a bed, a table, and a window. No TV. An attached bathroom (with no door) had running water, but no soap. And a big square thing with bricks in it, that look like somebody had burned stuff. Wind blew through it, making the room cold.

Outside the window had a clear view of the dog kennel. Amari counted one, two, three, four, five dogs.Bigdogs. The dogs barked and roared at anybody who walked past the fence. They barked and roared at the white lady. They even attacked each other, tangling up their chains.

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