Herring sighed.
"As if my life wasn't bad enough, now I got Blake to worry about."
Herring put his head down on his desk, and his thoughts began to drift back to the night of July 27th.
"What did that Pierce call me? Colonel . . . Hitler?"
Herring was angry for an instant, and then the anger faded away.
"Oh, well, that's nothing compared to what everybody at home used to call me."
He growled bitterly. "Rat-face!"
He began thinking about his childhood.
**************************
September 6th, 1920
"Boy, get down here this instant!"
Pearl Herring's shrill voice shattered the morning calm.
A five-year-old boy slowly came down the steps. His dark brown hair was tousled, and his blue eyes were filled with fear. "Yes, Mama?"
Pearl grabbed him roughly by the shoulder and forced him into the kitchen, where the boy's father, Jack, stood with a switch in his hand.
"Over here, boy!" he barked.
"My name's Gus. Not boy."
Jack was in a drunken rage, as usual. "I'm hearing the same mouth that the teacher heard yesterday, callin' her a witch!"
Gus was outraged. "She made that up, Papa! She hates me!"
"No wonder she hates you," Pearl said, "I don't see why ANYONE would like you, you miserable excuse for a human being!"
Gus knew his eyes were filling with tears, but if he let even one tear fall, he'd be switched. He struggled to contain them.
His parents weren't much to look at. Jack was a huge man, unshaven, smelly, and prone to drinking too much and throwing violent fits. He always carried that switch around, just in case his son was doing something he deemed wrong. His dark eyes glared out at the world, and his brown hair was always a mess.
Pearl was nothing like her name. Her blonde hair was stringy and thin, her blue eyes reflecting the coldness of her heart. Pearl had a voice that could break glass, and it was this voice that Gus was forced to listen to day after miserable day.
Both parents hadn't wanted a son at all. It had been purely accidental, if you can call two drunken strangers lying in a bed together accidental. In truth, they hated each other, but the only reason Jack didn't divorce Pearl was because she had a rich great-aunt.
Gus, in their eyes, was the reason they were unhappy.
A tear suddenly splashed on the kitchen floor, and Gus automatically winced, knowing what was coming. It came.
The switch lashed his face, and Gus fell to the floor. Jack picked him up and started slapping him as hard as he could.
When it was finally over, Pearl yanked Gus by the hair, dragged him upstairs, and locked him in his room. "I don't want to have to see your ugly hide today, Rat-face! I wish I never had to see it again!" Gus listened to his mother's footsteps, and when they disappeared, he went over to the gray wall, picked up a pencil, and started drawing, muttering under his breath all the while.
"I hate them, I wish they would die a long and horrible death."
The very next day, his wish actually came true.
**************************
Herring still remembered when the police officer came to school.
"Is a Gus Herring here?"
Gus slowly stood up, wondering if he was in trouble.
"Gus, come with me."
Nervously, he followed the officer out into the schoolyard. They stopped under a big oak tree.
"Gus, it's about your mother and father. They were in their wagon on the road to town, your father must've been drinking . . ."
Gus smiled for the first time in a long, long time. "They're dead?"
"Yes, I am so sorry, sonny."
"Don't be!"
The officer, needless to say, was puzzled.
**************************
Herring smiled slightly. He had liked that cop.
"Good man, changed my life."
"As if my life wasn't bad enough, now I got Blake to worry about."
Herring put his head down on his desk, and his thoughts began to drift back to the night of July 27th.
"What did that Pierce call me? Colonel . . . Hitler?"
Herring was angry for an instant, and then the anger faded away.
"Oh, well, that's nothing compared to what everybody at home used to call me."
He growled bitterly. "Rat-face!"
He began thinking about his childhood.
**************************
September 6th, 1920
"Boy, get down here this instant!"
Pearl Herring's shrill voice shattered the morning calm.
A five-year-old boy slowly came down the steps. His dark brown hair was tousled, and his blue eyes were filled with fear. "Yes, Mama?"
Pearl grabbed him roughly by the shoulder and forced him into the kitchen, where the boy's father, Jack, stood with a switch in his hand.
"Over here, boy!" he barked.
"My name's Gus. Not boy."
Jack was in a drunken rage, as usual. "I'm hearing the same mouth that the teacher heard yesterday, callin' her a witch!"
Gus was outraged. "She made that up, Papa! She hates me!"
"No wonder she hates you," Pearl said, "I don't see why ANYONE would like you, you miserable excuse for a human being!"
Gus knew his eyes were filling with tears, but if he let even one tear fall, he'd be switched. He struggled to contain them.
His parents weren't much to look at. Jack was a huge man, unshaven, smelly, and prone to drinking too much and throwing violent fits. He always carried that switch around, just in case his son was doing something he deemed wrong. His dark eyes glared out at the world, and his brown hair was always a mess.
Pearl was nothing like her name. Her blonde hair was stringy and thin, her blue eyes reflecting the coldness of her heart. Pearl had a voice that could break glass, and it was this voice that Gus was forced to listen to day after miserable day.
Both parents hadn't wanted a son at all. It had been purely accidental, if you can call two drunken strangers lying in a bed together accidental. In truth, they hated each other, but the only reason Jack didn't divorce Pearl was because she had a rich great-aunt.
Gus, in their eyes, was the reason they were unhappy.
A tear suddenly splashed on the kitchen floor, and Gus automatically winced, knowing what was coming. It came.
The switch lashed his face, and Gus fell to the floor. Jack picked him up and started slapping him as hard as he could.
When it was finally over, Pearl yanked Gus by the hair, dragged him upstairs, and locked him in his room. "I don't want to have to see your ugly hide today, Rat-face! I wish I never had to see it again!" Gus listened to his mother's footsteps, and when they disappeared, he went over to the gray wall, picked up a pencil, and started drawing, muttering under his breath all the while.
"I hate them, I wish they would die a long and horrible death."
The very next day, his wish actually came true.
**************************
Herring still remembered when the police officer came to school.
"Is a Gus Herring here?"
Gus slowly stood up, wondering if he was in trouble.
"Gus, come with me."
Nervously, he followed the officer out into the schoolyard. They stopped under a big oak tree.
"Gus, it's about your mother and father. They were in their wagon on the road to town, your father must've been drinking . . ."
Gus smiled for the first time in a long, long time. "They're dead?"
"Yes, I am so sorry, sonny."
"Don't be!"
The officer, needless to say, was puzzled.
**************************
Herring smiled slightly. He had liked that cop.
"Good man, changed my life."