"O Cousin, Where Art Thou?"
Cody Jackson laid out on the sand as he tried to pretend he was somewhere back home. He closed his eyes as he felt the window blow over his cheek. He felt the soft sand on the back of his neck and hands. He felt the warm sun blazing down on his face. He desperately tried to imagine he was at the beach with his two cousins or at the pool with his aunt and mother. Things seemed so much simpler back then…
"Cojack!" Johanna Emmett shouted. Jackson heard his cousin's familiar nickname for him and ran back towards the large cornfield behind their house. "Come on, Jackson!"
Jackson raced into the cornfield as he heard his cousin's voice again. He pushed most of the cornstalks aside and knocked off a few ears. Jackson could feel the corn leaves slightly cutting up the skin on his hands as he pushed by. He heard the rhythmic sound of the legs of his jeans rubbing together as he ran.
"Hurry up!" he heard Johanna's voice yell out again.
Jackson burst out the back end of the cornfield and turned to his left as he continued running. His brand new black Converse Chuck Taylor All Stars were making pounding sounds against the packed dirt. Jackson slowed down as he reached the edge of the woods and walked down the hill, through the balding brush, until he reached the edge of the river. He wiped off the leaves and vines stuck to his pant legs quickly.
Jackson walked out on the telephone pole going across the river and steadied himself. He regained his balance after he almost felt himself fall over the side, into the rocky waters. He took the last few steps and jumped back down onto solid ground. Jackson started making his way up the bank on the other side of the river, grabbing onto the trees for balance.
"Seriously, Jackson, come on!" Jo's voice called out again.
Jackson raced up the bank and finally reached their clever tree house in the middle of the woods. He gripped the rotting wood of the ladder firmly as he positioned his feet on one of the wood slats nailed to the tree.
"There you are! We were going to start without you any minute now," Jo replied sternly as she pulled open the trap door on the floor of the treehouse.
"Sure you were. You wouldn't dare start without me," Jackson said as he pulled his wiry body up the side of the tree. He pulled himself up through the trap door and closed it behind him.
"Where were you, Cojack?" Jo asked, her hands flying up onto her hips.
"Never mind that now. I want to start," Mark scolded them from the big, old chair from the basement of the house. Jo and Jackson walked over to the torn mattress in the corner of the treehouse and laid down, leaning up against each other. Mark cleared his throat as he opened their newest book, 'The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.'
This was what the three of them did daily. Everyday, after lunch, they would walk out to the tree house and read about these children who had such amazing lives. They read books like, 'Annie' and 'Oliver Twist.' Some of the kids came from nothing, like Jackson, but all of them ended up being adopted by some rich guy or becoming a hero. Jackson hoped that maybe his life would end up like those kids.
He was living with his mother, in his aunt's house. They had been evicted and finding a job had proved harder than it looked. Jackson found himself always playing with his cousins, Johanna and Mark, who had become like his best friends. He didn't have much else for friends. They all viewed him as some poor, white kid from the bad side of the streets. Most common of all, everyone viewed their family as trouble. On top of everything, Jackson's caseworker had been trying to take him away from his mother ever since his eighth birthday.
Mark started reading the first page of their new book with an unenthused tone, but he eventually got into it, reading each accent with a southern twist. Jackson and Johanna listened as they glanced around the treehouse, but always found themselves looking right back at the picture on the cover.
Johanna and Jackson eventually switched to lying on their stomachs. Jo had her hands holding up her head by her cheeks and her jaw slung open. Jackson was leaning up against her slightly with his arms crossed on the mattress and his head lying on them. He closed his eyes and tried imagining being in Huck's position.
Mark read for a long time. He read until his voice was sore and tired, which at that point, he handed Jo the book. Jo took the book from him and set it in front of her, holding the pages down with her hand.
She usually lasted longer than Mark or Jackson when she read. Mark lasted about 45 minutes on average while Jo could read for an hour and a half if she wanted to. Jackson usually only read for 15 minutes or so when her voice would get raspy, before Aunt Sam would call them back to the house. The book would get passed around until no one could speak anymore or until dinner, if they were determined.
Today seemed abnormally different. Jo had only been reading for about 10 minutes when they suddenly heard Jackson's mother, Aunt Judith, call from the house.
"Kids, come back now!" she shouted out from their small farmhouse. Jo stopped reading.
"That's strange," she replied, looking at Mark and Jackson. "What do you suppose the grown-ups wants?" Both the boys shrugged and they slowly made their way down the ladder.
"Hurry up, kids!" Aunt Sam called out this time.
The three of them walked down the bank of the river and back over the long telephone pole. They made their way up the other side of the bank and headed towards the cornfield.
"Remember we're on chapter ten," Jo replied, handing the book to Mark.
"Jo! You were supposed to leave that in the clubhouse!" Mark said. "Go put it back!" She sighed.
"I don't want to go all the way back. We can take it back with us tomorrow," she replied. Mark shook his head.
"Aunt Sam or Aunt Judith will find it and know we've been stealing books from the library!" Mark yelled back at her. Jackson shook his head.
"Chill out. It isn't stealing if we give them back. We just don't have the money to get a library card. Don't start yelling at each other. I'll go put the book back," he said calmly. Jackson took the book from Mark and ran off down back towards the woods. Mark shot Jo a glance.
"Lazy… come on, he'll catch up." Jo followed her brother through the cornfield and they walked back towards the house.
"I'm not lazy," Jo argued with him.
"Are too," Mark said back. Jo shoved him in the shoulder.
"Last one back to the house is a lazy redneck!" she shouted, running off ahead of him. Mark gave a competitive smile and took off running after her. They raced through the stalks, letting them knock their legs and arms. Jo felt multiple leaves cut her on her arms as she ran through. Mark was still running behind her, catching up fast. She started laughing and cut sideways, going through some of the rows and jumping into the yard first.
Mark ran out of the field right behind her. Jo looked beside her, at her brother, and tripped over a rock, falling with a tumble into the grass. Mark sprinted towards the side of the house. He could feel the wooden, dark blue, peeling shingles in his fingers. He reached out as he ran and suddenly saw the sheriff out of the corner of his eye. Mark tried as hard as he could to stop. He skidded right into the sheriff's potbelly and fell back into the dirt.
"Whoa, slow down there, son," he said in his usual cheery voice. Mark looked up at him from the ground.
"Sorry, sir," he obediently replied, getting up and wiping the dirt off his pants. Jo walked up beside them both and gingerly touched the house with her finger.
"I win," she whispered. Mark gritted his teeth and held back from slugging her on her arm.
"I came back to ask you kids if you know where your cousin, Cody Jackson, is," the sheriff said, trying his best not to sound like he was about to give bad news. Jo quickly looked over to Mark, who was giving her the same scared glance.
"Well?" the sheriff said again. "Do you know where Cody is?"
"Um…" Mark replied, shaky.
"He's not here," Jo quickly said. The sheriff raised his eyebrow.
"Not here? I thought he was always with you kids," he replied. Jo shook her head and the sheriff gave her a suspicious glare. "Where is Cody then?"
"It's not Cody, its Jackson," Mark interrupted.
"Excuse me," the sheriff said, somewhat frustrated. "Where is your cousin Jackson? I need to know." The two kids were silent. The sheriff glanced at Mark. "Mark, I know you're a smart kid. If you know how serious this situation is, you'd tell me where your cousin is. Please. Mark, I'm a sheriff… and technically, I could take you downtown, to the station. You wouldn't want that, would you? So stop playing games because this is important." Mark nervously glanced at Jo. He noticed she was paying no attention to what was going on, but rather, looking out into the cornfield. Mark saw where Jackson stood, half hidden in the stalks.
Jackson was watching and mouthing, 'NO' to them and was waving his hands at Mark. Mark looked back at the sheriff. He had noticed that the kids were paying no attention. He turned and followed Jo's eyes to Jackson.
All at that second, Jo saw her cousin start to run and saw the sheriff tense to go running after him. Jo kicked out with her right leg as hard as she could and got him square in his groin.
"Run, Cojack!" Jo screamed out. Mark and Jo followed Jackson, racing around the house, desperately trying to get away. Running back to the tree house would only lure him to their trail.
The sheriff sunk to his knees and held his groin as he sat there moaning.
"You damned little brats! Get back here!" he shouted after them.
"Excuse me?" a female voice said from behind him. The sheriff got up quickly.
"What did you just call my children and nephew?" Aunt Sam asked angrily. Both Aunt Sam and Judith were standing there, looking pretty peeved. Aunt Sam had her arms crossed and Aunt Judith had her hands on her hips, tapping her foot impatiently. The sheriff stumbled to his feet.
"All I asked your children was if they had seen Cody and the youngest one goes and kicks me!" he shouted. "Down right rude, if you ask me!" Aunt Sam shook her head.
"We were standing here for the whole thing. Don't you dare threaten our kids again and don't go lying to us either! I was going to let you see my nephew and ask him a few questions, but now I take it back. Sir, please get off my property. If you ever come back you better have a warrant or the real police with you," Aunt Sam said stubbornly. Aunt Judith stood next to her with her arms crossed and a stern look on her face.
"Fine… fine, I'll go… but don't expect for me to be coming back with good news," he said, turning around. The sheriff stomped back to his car and got in, angrily starting the engine.
"He'd better not come back," Aunt Judith replied, both her and Aunt Sam turning their attention to the shed.
"Marcus… Johanna…"Aunt Sam replied with that usual angry parent tone.
"Cody…" Aunt Judith said in the same tone. Nothing happened.
"Get out here now," Aunt Sam finally said. Suddenly, Jo, Mark, and Jackson all peered around the side of the shed. "Come here… all of you." They all walked out in plain sight and stood in front of their angered aunt and mother. "First of all, Jo, you don't just kick someone and especially if they are your elders. Second of all, you don't run away from the sheriff. He only wanted to ask you questions about our life. Don't automatically assume that he's trouble. Thirdly, I think doing some dishes might be a proper punishment… especially since you three are all ready back. Do you think so, Judy?" Aunt Judith nodded.
"I think that might be a good chore to get done. Besides, if you all do your part, you should be done by the time dinner's ready," she replied, looking straight at her son. Jackson bit his lip.
"Don't do this again. Is that clear?" Aunt Sam asked.
"Clear as anything," Jo mumbled, leading the family back into the house.
Jo stood in front of the mirror as she squeezed some toothpaste onto her toothbrush. Mark leaned over in the sink and spit out the minty substance.
"Do you think Aunt Judith and Jackson are going to live with us forever?" she asked curiously. Mark shrugged.
"I have no idea… why?"
"Ii can't help but think something bad is going to happen. I really love Jackson and Judith staying with us and I want them to stay forever, but there's a horrible feeling at the pit of my stomach that something will happen if they stay here any longer," she said. Mark shook his head.
"Nothing is going to happen, Jo," he said, almost in a way that made her feel inferior to him. Jo gave him an angry look and was about to slug him on his arm, but there was a loud crash downstairs that diverted her attention. There were multiple shouts and they heard Aunt Judith's yell.
Suddenly, there were sounds of feet stomping up the stairs and more yelling. Jo and Mark watched in horror as large policemen walked past the bathroom and towards Jackson's room.
"Stop it!" Aunt Sam was screaming, running after them. Jo and Mark exchanged looks. "Leave them alone!" she screamed again. The first policeman burst into his bedroom door and yanked Jackson right out of his bed.
"Leave him alone!" Jo yelled, joining her mother. Mark stood out side the bathroom door and watched as his cousin was removed from their home. "Jackson!" Jo yelled. Mark swallowed his pride and started crying along with his sister and mom.
The policemen took Jackson by his arm and walked him down the stairs. They started to carry him out to the police car. "LEAVE… HIM… ALONE!" Jo screamed as loud as she could, at the top of her lungs. It was useless at that point. She stood up on the staircase and jumped on the back of one of the policemen.
"Get this kid off me!" he yelled. The policeman behind him grabbed onto the neck of Jo's short and yanked her off, sending her flying backwards. She landed on the floor with a loud thud.
"Let's get out of this psycho house," the policeman said, following the other four officers out the door. They walked out the back door, holding Jackson in their grip, and got into their cars.
Mark quickly ran outside, running after them as they pulled away. He saw Jackson's sad face in the back window.
"Jackson!" he yelled out as he slowly stopped running. That was the last time he saw his cousin's face.