It was some odd hour in the morning. Two or maybe three, but I rose up like every other day and grabbed my bag at the foot of my bed and rushed to the closet. I tugged on a long beige…it could have been white before, but it was a shirt that wasn't as dirty as the others. I slipped it on, along with some grey leggings that now had a bigger hole in the knee. I rolled my eyes and sat down on the floor to put on my boots. I slipped my left foot into the large black leather boot and laced it up till it hugged my ankle, repeating the same to my other foot. I stood then and grabbed my only good cold weather jacket and shrugged it on. It was a dark red. This always reminded me of my mother. She used to wear this red dress when she would go to parties with dad, it was the same red. I shook out of my thoughts and wiped an eye to step into the next room.
"Char?" I whispered into the red mess of hair sprawled on Charlena's pillow. "I'm going to work, make sure Nancy gets to school on time?"
"Mm-sprw…" Her head rolled to the other side to look at me through sleepy eyes. "Sure." Her head thumped back onto her pillow and began to snore. I'll be expecting a tardy call later, for sure.
When I was out of Char's room I was now in the small hallway where across from her was Nancy. Nancy was already up and reading a book. She smiled at me and I chuckled noticing her dark brown hair in floppy bun. She was wearing a big white shirt and purple bunny slippers. Nancy waved and I left with a wave of my own. I shut her door and slipped down the stairs, my feet made crushing noises as the mud that was caked to my shoes shattered, leaving chips of it down the entire staircase.
"Freaking wonderful." I sighed. Can't do it this morning. Can't be late, again! The clock read 4:00 am. Damn!
The house was cold and creaky. Along with that there was fog. I hate riding my bike in fog. But if I didn't go to work, that meant that this house, which has little value to anyone, would be shit in the dirt and above it would be a McDonalds, or another German Butcher shop. I worked at a store that was called 'Mutter' selling Danishes and other sweets. It was the most popular in our town and because of that everyone knew me. The kid with no parents. I was no kid now, I was 23. When my parents had the accident, I was twelve. It's been almost another 12 years.
My parent's accident was more of a freak tragedy. I was at school and had to be taken out because the beautiful home I once lived in caught fire, dad's cigar fell on the carpet I suppose and the whole house eventually caught fire. My mother wasn't burned. She died from the fumes, the gas, and she was locking in the bathroom. Father had died to a kitchen explosion. It was awful hearing it, but seeing it made it even worse. The house was discolored. The black rose from the bottom heavily and the roof, in some places, had collapsed. The garden out front was completely roasted. I was able to go inside and get my things, money, and when they took my mother out. I asked the paramedic for only one thing, her necklace.
It was a gold locket, oval shaped. There was swirling designs on the edges, along with one ruby that was set in the center. On the inside was a picture of father on the left and then a picture of me. I've worn it everywhere because if I let it go, I'd feel like I'd be letting go of her, too. It frightens me.
My bike was kind of rusted and I was riding around the side of the swamp. It was plenty dark and I kept shivering. When I was passing through the woods my bike jerked behind a rock, screaming, I flew off of it, onto some drain. My arm went through the square along with my foot along with that my hair was now dirty and wet... Something pushed my foot up. I screamed in shock and tried to yank my arm free, until pale burly hands took a hold of my arm and began to pull. I kept screaming for help.
"Please!" I yelled. "Let go-" The monster tugged again and I hissed in he pushed my arm upand I lifted my arm out.
"Es tut mir leid!" The voice was very, very deep. Almost menacing. "Es tut mir leid, es tut mir leid."
"You're sorry?" I asked. He came out from the side of the drain and looked up at me. He had a burly physique and was bald. Some stubble ran along his jaws. He had to have been seen recently, or he did this himself. But he had a large face, but even his face was strong. He had small lips. His jaws were quite large and he only wore this dirty white sheet wrapping around his…stuff. He was dirty, his face had dirt smudges and he had no shoes. He looked at me funny, like a child's expression. His mouth hung a little and he made these small noises. He was either uneducated, down in this drain for years, or he had a disability. He didn't look like he had anything wrong with him. "Du German?" 'You German?'
"Klein." 'Small.' He said as he reached through the squares of the cage and touched my hands.
"How long…" I enunciated in German. "have you been…down here?" I pointed down in the drain. But I looked around a noticed that this wasn't a drain, it was just a cage.
"Keep!" He held his hands up at me as he turned around to pick up a dirt box. He brought it to me a showed me that it was a German/English book, for children. He opened the book and held it up, once he turned to the page he was looking for, it showed a baby cartoon photo.
"Who left you here?" I pointed down at the cage. He had such beautiful blue eyes, that I almost missed what he said, it was terrifying, so much that it caught my attention.
"Mutter." He touched the ends of my hair and sniffed them. "Haah!" I snickered when he belted out such a sound.
"I'll be back later." He looked at me oddly. "See you later?" I spoke in German. He nodded, but looked very unhappy. "Wait?" I told him, patting his large hand as he hung from the cage, his body swung. He nodded again. He made whimpering sounds as I left on my bike.
If I were to take him into the house, he'd need a lot of food. He might be burly and all, but he could be lacking a lot of nutrition that he needs. That made me wonder, who the hell had been bringing him food and water and books while he was down there. If it was his 'Mother' I swear, if I see her when I get back to him, I'd beat the life out of her so hard, she'd disintegrate. But for the time being, I'd be working fast today and I could make an excuse that Charlena had been sick and be able to leave earlier. I needed the money, because food is just what you exchange for money, and if I had no money…no food, no home, no Nancy, no heater, no water.
When I opened the shop the store was freezing. I turned the heater on just a bit, then defrosted some of the pastries. Margo was marching down the stairs from the upstairs apartment when I was pulling my hair up, already donning an apron and gloves. She grinned a goofy morning grin and walked into the small kitchen that was on the far right of the store, where she'd roll up sweets and pop them into the oven behind her.
"Hello, little girl!" She had a such a heavy German accent, it might have even been heavier than her.
"Morning!" I smiled and put on the radio as some 80's hits played.
"Ah-nything new?" She asked.
"No." I lied. It frightened me to think that any woman in town could have been that man's mother. But Margo might have been too young to have him.
"Dang, I was expecting maybe…" She mused. "Oh I don't know a boyfrand? Maybe a crush?"
"Maybe." I smiled.
"Ahh! So you do have an admirer?"
"Not sure, I'll keep you updated." I couldn't help but let out a chuckle.
By the time the day ended, it started to rain. A lot. I was rushing to get my things and my money. I began to notice a lot of flooding. This was bad. Rushing out of the store onto the dark gloomy street I looked down at my bike, deciding finally, that on foot I'd be able to get to the man. I darted off the street behind the store and out to the dirt roads that were now mud roads. I zipped up my jacket and breathed as much as I could. My feet slammed the sludge beneath me and eventually maybe several minutes later, I was at the swamp. The cage was flooding and I rushed over to it and screamed.
"Hey!" I yelled, he came from out of the shadows and started yelling. My eyes began to tear. "I'm going to get you out of here!" I told him. The water was rushing in, it was up to his chest. I was running out of time. "Hold on. He reached out his hands to hand me what looked to me, like my necklace. But I didn't stay long enough to see.
At the house, Nancy had been with Char, at school I presume. Since Char would never leave her to be helpless. But the house was a lot colder than I had imagined and the ceiling job I'd done kept the water out. My feet were sore, I swore I would have blisters. In the back of the house, where Char would work on engines, I knew I would find a hammer, maybe a crowbar. I was able to find both, leaving the house behind me in my dust. The swamp was filling up fast from what I could see. The more I closed in on the woods, the more I doubted I'd be there in time. He was helpless and I could hear him screaming.
"I'm coming!" I yelled. He began to lose it, screaming and pounding on the cage.
The water was up to his neck and his arm was out of the cage, holding my necklace above the water. The only way I knew would work faster, is to go around the entire cage and remove the bolts. So I did. One by one the bolts flew out as I roughly tore them out. Refusing to keep any energy back. I needed him to live. I wouldn't let him die like this. He didn't know anything, he was helpless. If I were to quit, doubting I'd be able to save him, I'd be like his mother. Giving up on him. The cage was almost completely open, and he was gargling water as he screamed. I lifted the cage as much as I could. He pushed it off far enough for him to exit the side. He pulled himself out as the water became an obstacle for him. It kept pouring in around him. I held onto his hands and pulled him out, my feet against the edge of the cage bracing myself. But when I pulled him out, he fell on me. He was massive! If he was any more buff than he was now, I wouldn't have a rib cage! But what really crushed me, was his hug. He held onto me, and my heart felt like it was crushed under a ton of bricks. When he let go, he stood up first and lifted me up onto my feet like a rag doll.
"Danka." He smiled a massive grin. His large hands pet my hair down.
All he could say was 'Danka' all the way back to my house. He walked like his back was supported by a broomstick. Biting my lip at the thought, it made me want to laugh. After today, I'll need one. But once we reached the house he opened the door for me. He might have been an overly large, Vin Diesel looking baby…but he was a gentle man.
"Danka." I smiled, but it was no match- hell, it wasn't even in comparison to him massive toothy grin.
Once inside, he sat down on the floor in the kitchen. He shivered and I handed him as many blankets I could find about the house till he looked like the world's largest mosaic ball. The colors clashed but he didn't care, I'm sure. Then he sucked his thumb.
"No." I stepped over and reached for his hand, pulling his thumb out of his lips with a 'pop'. "No, no." I wagged my finger.
I was able to get a good look at myself in the mirror upstairs in my room. But the mosaic ball followed me. But he couldn't help but stair at the mirror, he even poked it. He looked so astounded by the way he looked. But I'm sure he didn't really notice it was a mirror. He then turned to me and touched my face. But when he looked back he saw himself repeating his movements and he tried to attack the man in the mirror's hand.
"No!" I yelled. He stopped and looked down at me. He looked like he was about to cry. "No." I soothed. "No, don't cry." I reached high up to his face and wiped the tears away.
"Yours." He held out the gold chain to me. The locket was in his fist.
"Thankyou." I was too busy touching his face, to take the necklace.
He had very blue eyes. They were very large and I could tell, but his eyebrows that he was dark, dark hair. I'll let him grow it out. So he'll keep that shiny head of his warm. He was still holding out my necklace, not moving. So I took my necklace and I gave him a smile. He had made sure it didn't get washed away in the flood and for that I'd give him a kiss.
I lifted myself onto my toes, holding onto his sholders, and kissed his cheek. When I pulled back, his eyes were closed. But they opened soon enough, they looked about the size of the moon right now. His cheeks even gained some color. So I towed him over to my bed and made him sit as I made a phone call. I leaned over to the wall where the very vintage phone was and lifted it off it's hook and listened to the tone. It was still working, so I dialed the school up.
"Hello?" The lady was older than me, that's for sure, but she had a higher voice too.
"Hello, it's Ebeline." I spoke into the phone.
"Oh Ebeline!" She sounded cheery. "Rain over here is slowing down, so Nancy should be leaving soon.
"I think Charlena might have gone to pick her up, I'm not sure."
"Charlena?" She mused. "Oh right, the red head. She came in earlier to drop off Nancy's lunch, but she left."
"Then I assume the rain wasn't as fierce over there?"
"Oh, just a little flooding, that's all. Some lightning here and there, but other than that, nothing serious."
"Thankyou. Bye."
"No problem." I hung up and turned around to see that the man had fallen asleep.
It might have been an hour or two later, but Char walked in the house as I was finishing up cooking. She smiled and sat onto the bar stool at the table in the center of the kitchen. Nancy came in right behind her, sopping wet. She stripped down to her underpants and left her cloths out onto the porch. Nancy was becoming like Charlena more and more, every day. But what knocked me out of my thoughts was a shrill that rocked through the house. Char ran upstairs and began to throw things.
"Stop!" I yelled at Char who stopped her arm, mid throw, and she set the vase down. "I have a lot of explaining, I know but just don't hurt him. He doesn't know any better." I ran up the stairs to see that inside my room, the man was huddled in the corner of my room.
"What…"Char tossed a towel at Nancy who locked herself into the bathroom. "the…fuck, Eb?"
"Sorry!" I threw back at her. "I took a detour to work and he'd been locked into a storm drain…cage? I don't know, but he's been down there since he was a child. He barely knows anything."
"Ohmigod, Ebs!" She stormed into my room, her arms crossed and her face all scrunched. "He could have a disorder, like a psycho!"
"He was drowning." I glared at Char. Her arms dropped to her sides and she sighed.
"As long as this doesn't go down like the jungle book where he goes around making messes and talking to animals, I'm good." She confirmed and stalked off down into the kitchen.
I pulled the blanket off of the man and he jumped out, hugging me. I fell to the ground with the man and he rolled till I was on top of him and he rocked side to side.
"That hurts." I wheezed.
When I was let go I pulled back and blushed at how intently he was staring at me. "Ebeline." He said. Still difficult for him.
"Yes. That is me." I pointed to myself. I rolled off of him and stared at him as he lied there staring back. "You?" I pointed to him.
"Ja-kob." He enunciated.
"Jakob." I smiled at him.
It was an odd dinner, that I am sure of. He was able to eat all the left overs too. He let out a large belch and Char wasn't even able to beat that. Nancy stared at him the whole time, she was really trying to warm up to the idea of having a guy in the house, but it was awkward for her to been seen in her underpants, for sure. After dinner I set him up to sleep on the sofa, but he just brought the blankets up after I left and fell asleep on the floor beside my bed. I let it go and slipped into bed myself. He snored a little, but I actually enjoyed it, opposed to crickets and Charlena's rambling voice in the next room, as she slept. I could get used to this.