They ate eggs, bacon, and hot English Muffins
drizzled with melted butter for breakfast. And though Harold had a ravenous
appetite, he was far too sullen to enjoy it.
He scarfed it down and showered and changed for
school.
But he was ready a good 40 minutes before the bus was
scheduled for pick-up. He told his dad he was walking down to see how Kait was
doing.
His dad looked out on the yellow light of morning,
and grimaced.
"Don't worry dad, it's day time."
His dad shook his head. "So it is. I'm driving
you either way. And I'll drive you to school too, if you want."
Harold knew it'd be a waste to argue, and after
keeping vigil over the shadows all night, he was too tired anyway.
He loaded into his dad's car, for a drive to the
other end of the block.
"I'll wait here. Let you and Kait have some
privacy."
"Thanks dad." He went up the driveway on
foot, and rang their doorbell.
Kait's mom opened the door, her eyes were red and
puffy. "Hold on a second Harold."
He heard her call for Kait from deeper within the
house. She came to the door- by comparison she made her mother look calm and
refreshed. Her cheeks were streaked with tear-stains and her eyes were wide and
frantic and bloodshot.
"My God Kait. Are you..."
"No I'm not ok Harry. No I'm really not."
"I heard you saw everything."
"Get inside quick, we'll talk after." She
reached out and grabbed his arm to tug him through the door. She slammed it
shut the second he was through, and he had hop forward a bit to make sure she
didn't catch his heel with the corner of the door.
"Jesus Kait."
"I know. But... Harry you didn't see. It was
awful."
"I Know Kait." He reached out and gave her
a hug. She broke into sobs against his chest. Her legs sagged, and he had to physically
support some of her weight.
"You don't know Harry. You don't. It-" her
speech was punctuated with sobs, "was so- fucking awful- he... oh
God!"
He half carried, half guided her to the living room
and set her on the couch.
There were wadded up tissues all over the floor.
"We don't have to talk about it Kait."
"Yes we do. I have to." She took a deep
breath, and then a few more, and finally managed, "Harold I saw him die. I
saw the animal that attacked him."
He kept his own thoughts and questions out of it,
just to let her speak.
"It was horrible. He tried to fight," her
face wrinkled into an ugly ball, she fought hard to prevent herself from
lapsing back into uncontrolled sobs, "but he didn't stand a chance."
"It'll pay Kait. I promise it'll fucking pay.
One way or another, that motherfucker is gonna die."
"No Harold. Don't try it-"
He grabbed her hand and squeezed, "I have no
choice. I need to, for Joe. Need vengeance."
She shook her head emphatically. "You can't.
Listen to me, I saw it attack Joe. It handled him like a ragdoll. He fought but
it made no difference. The thing was as big as he was-"
"So it wasn't a coyote?"
"Fuck no. It was big. And it was fast. And when
it growled it sounded like a laugh."
Harold puffed air through his nostrils. "A
bear?"
"I don't think so. it didn't look like a
bear..."
"What did it look like?"
She shut her eyes tight, squeezing tears out the
corners. "A monster."
He sat next to her on the couch and gave her a hug.
"I don't care what it was, I'm gonna see it
dead. I owe it,
for what it did to my best friend. Which way did it go, after
it..."
Her chest heaved and her voice was wracked with a
pitiful shudder. At last, she spat: "I don't know."
"It's ok Kait. Take your time."
"I mean I don't fucking know!"
"How? What do you mean?"
She raised her face, but didn't meet his gaze, she
instead stared at the ceiling. "I couldn't just stand there and watch.
I... I hid. I slammed the door shut, and hid and called the police."
Harold felt her shame, and tried to say something,
but the words clung to his throat and he couldn't shake them loose.
"You get it now Harry? While Joe was fighting
for his life- while he was losing the
fight for his life, I was hiding. Instead of helping him I was..."
"Kait.
It's ok." He squeezed her arm. "It's ok Kait, anyone would have done
the same."
"Would
you have done the same? Or would you have tried to help him?"
Harold
looked at the rage he had within and he knew he would have fought the
motherfucker with every ounce of hate and all the strength he could muster. But
he told her, "It's ok Kait."
"It's
not okay Harold. If I weren't a coward, maybe my boyfriend would still be
alive- Joe might not be..."
Neither
of them spoke for a long while.
At
last, she gave a kind of pathetic grunt, that might have been a laugh.
"But he's dead. Because I hid. I hid Harold, I fucking hid."
"Stop
Kait. Seriously, cut it out. You know you wouldn't have been able to help him.
You know that don't beat yourself-"
"Because
I was too scared." Then she looked directly in his eyes, and he could see
she still was, "I was scared. I've been scared since the night that thing
got Rufus. When I heard it outside my window. It's voice was so evil, so wrong.
I thought it was going to come back. I knew it was. But I felt safe with you
and Joe by the fire. And I felt safe while Joe was walking me back. And I
refused to think about it, while Joe was walking back alone. But I looked out
because I knew I had to, and that's when I saw the thing charge him from the
bushes. It looked as terrible as it sounded. And I'm still fucking terrified. I
heard it. Then I saw it. What's next Harold? I am. I'm next."
He
shook his head.
But
she continued, her voice rising in pitch, "I'm next and I know it. It's
been taunting me, and when it's good and ready it's going to pounce. When I
dream, I can feel it's drool on my face, and hear it's jaws snapping and
tearing at my skin. I'm..." She finally petered out.
And
all he could do was watch her quietly cry. He passed her the box of tissues and
she laughed.
"Lotta
good these are doing me, huh?"
He
asked her what she was going to do now... she said, "Stay inside. Until
the police confirm that monster is finally dead."
"So...
You're not gonna go to school? What about Joe's funeral?"
She
turned away from him, and shook her head gently. "No. I can't bring myself
out the door. I just can't."
"Kait.
I have to go. But look, you have my number. Call if you need anything."
She
made no response.
And
he offered one last, "You know... Joe wouldn't be mad at you. He would
have wanted you to stay safe."
Her
frown was so deep it looked painful. "I know that Harry. The last thing he
screamed before the thing got his neck was for me to stay inside."
"You
know, he really loved you Kait."
But when
she dropped her head in her hands, he knew that only made it all the worse.
He
touched her shoulder once more, and then stood up to leave.
When
Harold went back to the car, he was too stunned to say much to his dad, only
that Kait didn't think it was a coyote because it was far too large.
"Maybe
a bear then." He said.
Harold
fastened his seatbelt. "No, she doesn't think so. She said it's a monster."
"Poor
girl. How's she doing?"
"Real
bad."
"Jesus."
His dad backed up out of the driveway. "You know I called Officer Palmer
while you were in there."
Harold
perked up, "Yeah? What did he say? Did they figure anything out?"
But
his dad shook his head. "Nothing. They wouldn't tell me a damn thing.
Which means they don't know a damn thing, if they had caught the thing, they'd
be bragging about it and letting everybody know."
Harold's
shoulders slumped back down. "Damn."
He
looked out the window, at the wooded areas behind the track of housing, and
wondered where the fiend could be hiding.
--------------------
Jump to 16: Too Fool for School
Jump to 16: Too Fool for School
