The girl left an hour after arriving at Jimmy Brezack's house. She walked slowly down the street, making herself look as if she was in no great hurry and knew exactly where she was going. Once she turned in a bend, though, she took off running. Suddenly wild with a strange energy the girl just ran. It was like chasing something, but there was nothing in front of her to chase.
If so.
Why was she running so freely and gladly?
She didn't care.
With bounds and leaps she went over bushes and benches and low walls. Soon she found herself quite lost. Panting lightly the girl sat on a curb and rested.
Talk about a rush, she mumbled.
Looking around she tried to figure out where she was, how long it had been since she'd left Jimmy's house, and just where she was going to spend the rest of the night.
Out of the corner of her right eye, the girl saw a slowly moving object. Without turning she looked at it.
Rattlesnake.
Keeping me on track, huh? she said. Very well then, I'll go and figure it out.
The girl was there.
The girl was.
The girl.
Was not.
In a wisp of smoke the rattlesnake image was gone.
In a tree nearby a rather startled little bird hopped around on a branch. He was dreadfully confused by what had just happened, but that past quickly when he noticed a beetle on the ground. . . .
*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*
Alan swallowed.
Magnet, please, do something!
He'd been trying to wake Magnet up for a few minutes now, but nothing had worked. He kneeled next to Magnet's cot and took his wounded hand. Amazingly, there wasn't a lot of swelling yet, but it looked sore enough.
What're you doing? demanded a voice at the door.
Alan shot up.
José needs his rest, Dr. Pendanski said. He'll be fine.
Alan backed out and into the open. He couldn't help but notice the syringe in Pendanski's hand. He ran to the Wreck Room and barged in the door. He quickly found X-Ray and whispered to him.
I think Pendanski's doing something to Magnet.
X-Ray inquired.
I saw him with a needle! He's got to be doing something.
It could just be meds against the bite, X-Ray informed him.
No way, Pen looked much too evil for that.
X-Ray nodded. Let's go check it out.
The two left and sneaked up to D tent. They could hear Dr. Pendanski and Mr. Sir inside.
Are you sure this is legal? Mr. Sir asked.
Is anything here legal? Pendanski said.
The Warden's driver's license is legal, Mr. Sir answered.
There was a silence.
Hand me the needle, Pendanski said.
Alan's face turned white. X-Ray, we've gotta stop them! he whispered.
X-Ray nodded.
The two boys barged into the tent. The two adults froze. Magnet looked the same as when Alan had left him. Was that good or bad? Dr. Pendanski was holding his arm and was about to insert the needle.
Get out! Mr. Sir yelled.
Too bad. He shouldn't have yelled too loud, but he did. Some boys filed out of the Wreck Room, and when they saw what tent the yell had come from, they informed the others. D tent quickly left. Even that strange silent boy followed. If it had to do with his tent, he wanted to know what was going on.
Mr. Sir and Pendanski were frozen in place when the other boys showed up. They were caught.
Get away from him! Zigzag said angrily. And take your-your-your-thing with you! He pointed at the needle in Pendanski's hand.
The boys chased the adults from their tent. The silent boy finally speaking: And stay the fuck out!
Everyone turned to him, shock plastered on their faces.
The boy smiled.
They frowned.
He can talk, Armpit said.
What's your name? Zig asked.
Sil Ent, the strange boy answered.
Zig said.
That's Silent, Alan said.
The boy nodded and walked out. The others watched him.
That's one weird dude, Zigzag mumbled. Let's check on Magnet.
They turned back to Magnet, who still hadn't moved. Alan kneeled by his cot again and picked up the arm Dr. Pendanski had tried to inject the needle into. He found a small red spot that looked enough like a puncture hole.
I knew they were doing something, Alan said.
Sure right, Barf Bag said. I wonder what it was.
What's it matter, Bag, all we can do now is hope it wears off, said X-Ray.
Slowly the boys left. Alan stayed. Just need a rest, he had said. Barf Bag stayed too, using the same excuse. They lounged out on their cots in silence. Soon Alan's eyelids began to close in sleep.
He hated the flavor,
He hated the pain,
Of the poison venom stain.
Alan opened his eyes and sat up. He watched Barf Bag, who looked like he was half asleep himself.
He wondered what had kept him alive;
Kept him sane.
Wondered how he had survived!
Alan said quietly.
What were you just singing?
Barf Bag sat up too. I'm not sure. Something that just sort of came to me.
Do you know what it's about? asked Alan. He was looking at Magnet.
Sounds like what happened out on the lake today. The first line is you, I guess, the second Magnet, and the third is just the rattlesnake bite. Maybe the fourth and sixth lines are Magnet and the fifth is you.
Alan shrugged. Sounds like today.
Do you think he'll be all right? Barf Bag nodded his head towards Magnet.
He better be, Alan nearly hissed.
Barf Bag laughed. Yeah. I'm getting some sleep now.
Alan nodded and Bag went to sleep again. He walked back to Magnet's cot and took his left hand and held it between his own. Slowly he began rubbing it.
A sunny day. It was a nice day out and José was extremely happy. He had been promised a puppy by his parents. He so wanted a dog.
The puppy arrived with his grandmother.
José jumped with joy.
His joy hadn't lasted long.
The puppy didn't play. Didn't seem like it was alive at all.
Three days later, it died.
José had been crushed.
His puppy, gone?
No!
He turned on his parents, on the world.
He went to some place he hadn't been before, and in his town the people called it drugs.
José started hanging with the bad crowd at school and stopped telling his parents where he was going and what he was doing. He began a new study, and it didn't have much to do with school. He tested marijuana and then heroin. Tried a little crack and a little coke. He tried snuffing.
The boy liked the last one best.
Right before spraying graffiti, he would snuff his spray cans.
Yellow made him higher than the others. José used a lot of yellow in his wall art. A lot.
You might ask, over a puppy?
Well, growing kids have needs and wants, desires and lust. José wanted, desired, for a dog and when he finally got one, it died. He snapped. Simple as that.
He snapped.
That was it.
His parents found out. His mother cried.
How did they find out?
Easy.
Overdose of heroin.
What else?
Passed out in his room, the needle point glinting in the light from the ceiling lamp.
Stretched out on his bed.
Suicide attempt?
Maybe.
Over a dead puppy?
José was torn for ever after. His insides twisted in a fate worse than hell. His dog, the dog that was his. Maybe he wasn't worthy enough for a dog. An animal didn't want to be with him.
But he loved them so much.
The pet stores kept them in cages with price tags on the bars. It wasn't right.
But his parents wouldn't allow him to get any.
He stayed at the per store a lot.
José liked to pretend they were his, all the pet store animals.
The owner finally kicked him out until he would come and buy.
The boy had gotten furious and half ruined his room.
Then the puppy.
That sweet puppy.
His life had seemed filled for so little a time.
Drugs were the only way to fill up that giant gap after the death of his dog.
Drugs and street gangs.
Guilt. Streams, no, rivers of it running through his veins.
Mom, Dad? Remember that thing about the school's broken windows? And the several cars with flat tires? The convenient store that was robbed? The trees cut down? The statue ruined? Or the dumpsters tipped over? How about the graffiti all over town? And the paint all over the town hall? The toilet paper all over the school? The broken swings in the park?
Worried glances shared. He noticed it, they thought he didn't.
We do son.
Mom, Dad. I was a part of it all.
Magnet suddenly opened his eyes. He was staring straight into Alan's face.
Sure is.
The drugs.
Alan's face turned dark.
What drugs?
Magnet grinned. Oh, man, the heroin.
Then he passed out.
Magnet? Magnet! Alan shook him. Don't do this to me again!
If so.
Why was she running so freely and gladly?
She didn't care.
With bounds and leaps she went over bushes and benches and low walls. Soon she found herself quite lost. Panting lightly the girl sat on a curb and rested.
Talk about a rush, she mumbled.
Looking around she tried to figure out where she was, how long it had been since she'd left Jimmy's house, and just where she was going to spend the rest of the night.
Out of the corner of her right eye, the girl saw a slowly moving object. Without turning she looked at it.
Rattlesnake.
Keeping me on track, huh? she said. Very well then, I'll go and figure it out.
The girl was there.
The girl was.
The girl.
Was not.
In a wisp of smoke the rattlesnake image was gone.
In a tree nearby a rather startled little bird hopped around on a branch. He was dreadfully confused by what had just happened, but that past quickly when he noticed a beetle on the ground. . . .
Magnet, please, do something!
He'd been trying to wake Magnet up for a few minutes now, but nothing had worked. He kneeled next to Magnet's cot and took his wounded hand. Amazingly, there wasn't a lot of swelling yet, but it looked sore enough.
What're you doing? demanded a voice at the door.
Alan shot up.
José needs his rest, Dr. Pendanski said. He'll be fine.
Alan backed out and into the open. He couldn't help but notice the syringe in Pendanski's hand. He ran to the Wreck Room and barged in the door. He quickly found X-Ray and whispered to him.
I think Pendanski's doing something to Magnet.
X-Ray inquired.
I saw him with a needle! He's got to be doing something.
It could just be meds against the bite, X-Ray informed him.
No way, Pen looked much too evil for that.
X-Ray nodded. Let's go check it out.
The two left and sneaked up to D tent. They could hear Dr. Pendanski and Mr. Sir inside.
Are you sure this is legal? Mr. Sir asked.
Is anything here legal? Pendanski said.
The Warden's driver's license is legal, Mr. Sir answered.
There was a silence.
Hand me the needle, Pendanski said.
Alan's face turned white. X-Ray, we've gotta stop them! he whispered.
X-Ray nodded.
The two boys barged into the tent. The two adults froze. Magnet looked the same as when Alan had left him. Was that good or bad? Dr. Pendanski was holding his arm and was about to insert the needle.
Get out! Mr. Sir yelled.
Too bad. He shouldn't have yelled too loud, but he did. Some boys filed out of the Wreck Room, and when they saw what tent the yell had come from, they informed the others. D tent quickly left. Even that strange silent boy followed. If it had to do with his tent, he wanted to know what was going on.
Mr. Sir and Pendanski were frozen in place when the other boys showed up. They were caught.
Get away from him! Zigzag said angrily. And take your-your-your-thing with you! He pointed at the needle in Pendanski's hand.
The boys chased the adults from their tent. The silent boy finally speaking: And stay the fuck out!
Everyone turned to him, shock plastered on their faces.
The boy smiled.
They frowned.
He can talk, Armpit said.
What's your name? Zig asked.
Sil Ent, the strange boy answered.
Zig said.
That's Silent, Alan said.
The boy nodded and walked out. The others watched him.
That's one weird dude, Zigzag mumbled. Let's check on Magnet.
They turned back to Magnet, who still hadn't moved. Alan kneeled by his cot again and picked up the arm Dr. Pendanski had tried to inject the needle into. He found a small red spot that looked enough like a puncture hole.
I knew they were doing something, Alan said.
Sure right, Barf Bag said. I wonder what it was.
What's it matter, Bag, all we can do now is hope it wears off, said X-Ray.
Slowly the boys left. Alan stayed. Just need a rest, he had said. Barf Bag stayed too, using the same excuse. They lounged out on their cots in silence. Soon Alan's eyelids began to close in sleep.
He hated the flavor,
He hated the pain,
Of the poison venom stain.
Alan opened his eyes and sat up. He watched Barf Bag, who looked like he was half asleep himself.
He wondered what had kept him alive;
Kept him sane.
Wondered how he had survived!
Alan said quietly.
What were you just singing?
Barf Bag sat up too. I'm not sure. Something that just sort of came to me.
Do you know what it's about? asked Alan. He was looking at Magnet.
Sounds like what happened out on the lake today. The first line is you, I guess, the second Magnet, and the third is just the rattlesnake bite. Maybe the fourth and sixth lines are Magnet and the fifth is you.
Alan shrugged. Sounds like today.
Do you think he'll be all right? Barf Bag nodded his head towards Magnet.
He better be, Alan nearly hissed.
Barf Bag laughed. Yeah. I'm getting some sleep now.
Alan nodded and Bag went to sleep again. He walked back to Magnet's cot and took his left hand and held it between his own. Slowly he began rubbing it.
A sunny day. It was a nice day out and José was extremely happy. He had been promised a puppy by his parents. He so wanted a dog.
The puppy arrived with his grandmother.
José jumped with joy.
His joy hadn't lasted long.
The puppy didn't play. Didn't seem like it was alive at all.
Three days later, it died.
José had been crushed.
His puppy, gone?
No!
He turned on his parents, on the world.
He went to some place he hadn't been before, and in his town the people called it drugs.
José started hanging with the bad crowd at school and stopped telling his parents where he was going and what he was doing. He began a new study, and it didn't have much to do with school. He tested marijuana and then heroin. Tried a little crack and a little coke. He tried snuffing.
The boy liked the last one best.
Right before spraying graffiti, he would snuff his spray cans.
Yellow made him higher than the others. José used a lot of yellow in his wall art. A lot.
You might ask, over a puppy?
Well, growing kids have needs and wants, desires and lust. José wanted, desired, for a dog and when he finally got one, it died. He snapped. Simple as that.
He snapped.
That was it.
His parents found out. His mother cried.
How did they find out?
Easy.
Overdose of heroin.
What else?
Passed out in his room, the needle point glinting in the light from the ceiling lamp.
Stretched out on his bed.
Suicide attempt?
Maybe.
Over a dead puppy?
José was torn for ever after. His insides twisted in a fate worse than hell. His dog, the dog that was his. Maybe he wasn't worthy enough for a dog. An animal didn't want to be with him.
But he loved them so much.
The pet stores kept them in cages with price tags on the bars. It wasn't right.
But his parents wouldn't allow him to get any.
He stayed at the per store a lot.
José liked to pretend they were his, all the pet store animals.
The owner finally kicked him out until he would come and buy.
The boy had gotten furious and half ruined his room.
Then the puppy.
That sweet puppy.
His life had seemed filled for so little a time.
Drugs were the only way to fill up that giant gap after the death of his dog.
Drugs and street gangs.
Guilt. Streams, no, rivers of it running through his veins.
Mom, Dad? Remember that thing about the school's broken windows? And the several cars with flat tires? The convenient store that was robbed? The trees cut down? The statue ruined? Or the dumpsters tipped over? How about the graffiti all over town? And the paint all over the town hall? The toilet paper all over the school? The broken swings in the park?
Worried glances shared. He noticed it, they thought he didn't.
We do son.
Mom, Dad. I was a part of it all.
Magnet suddenly opened his eyes. He was staring straight into Alan's face.
Sure is.
The drugs.
Alan's face turned dark.
What drugs?
Magnet grinned. Oh, man, the heroin.
Then he passed out.
Magnet? Magnet! Alan shook him. Don't do this to me again!
