I Rize (13 page)

The flame retracted from lack of power. “Now you don’t.”

With force, she ignited the flame for the last time, watching the poem shrivel up into ashes. “Now you see me.”

Principal Cooper walked into the house, and smelled smoke in the air surrounding the kitchen. He watched Madison staring with a dazed look in her eyes, allowing the “high” feeling to take its course.

“Dad, isn’t my artwork beautiful? I call it
boom
.”

Minutes passed before the fire truck pulled up. When the firemen rushed through the front door, he pulled Madison into the living room. The veins in his face popped. No words were exchanged between them for a while.

He grabbed both of her arms and pushed them tightly by her side. She felt the increasing rush of his heart against her body. “Make me your punching bag like you did Mom.” He pushed her to the other side of the kitchen, causing her to hit the bottom of the stove. She looked up, noticing both of his hands in fists. With a fearless smile she whispered, “Go ahead, I dare you.”

She quickly left for the therapy session as if nothing ever happened. No one expected a thing, like it always was. He went upstairs to have a conference call as if nothing ever happened. No one expected a thing, like always.

Madison forgot her keys on the counter so she had to catch the nearest city bus. She waited for the walk sign to appear, signaling the time to cross the busy intersection. Junior stood beside her with his headphones on.

“Weirdo.”

When he didn’t respond, she dumped a few scraps of the burned poem in his hands.

His look of confusion satisfied her. “You should bury them with Adny in her grave.
Tick. Tock. Boom
.”

Madison smiled the entire time they crossed the street. Her smile grew larger at the thought of him getting more riled up over her deeds. In her mind, she was the sole winner of the demented game they played.

Mission accomplished.

W
hen she got to the appointment, the receptionist gave her a strange look as she kept tugging at her arm.

“Hello, good afternoon. Madison, is your arm okay?”

“Yeah, don’t worry about it. Is the detective ready?”

In the office, she sat down impatiently, ready to go as soon as she stepped in the door. She held her arm, trying to subdue the pain.

“Madison, is your arm going to be okay?”

“Oh my God, why does everyone keep asking me? I’m fine. Can we get this over with?

She could tell he was no longer fazed by her many attitudes.

“Have you been smoking again? It smells even stronger this time.”

“What does that have to do with this lame talk session?”

The handcuffs were placed in her view. “If you fail to cooperate, I can still have you arrested at the snap of my fingers.”

Madison was about to respond loudly, but then lowered her voice at the thought of going to jail.

“You always put this wall up when you are around people. Why?”

She looked down into her purse, trying to stay distracted. “In our last session you told me about your father.”

Before he could finish, she chimed in. “I’m not talking about him with you anymore.”

When Madison grabbed her purse to leave, the burnt remains of the poem fell out on the floor. Detective Miller got up to help her pick up the pieces. He studied the pieces of paper carefully and saw words similar to a copy of Adny’s poem Junior gave him.

“Is this the poem Adny wrote?”

She snapped her neck in his direction. “Maybe it is. It’s not a crime to burn paper.”

“It’s not a crime, but it is a problem. Adny isn’t in your life anymore, yet she still gets you so angry. Why?”

Madison couldn’t respond when she felt her body tense up while gathering her things in a hurry. “I’m not coming back to your lame question sessions anymore. Scribble that down in your notebook.”

W
HILE EVERYONE settled in his or her beds in North Carolina, it was the middle of the day back in Cape Town. Jace was out shopping for groceries at the local market. He stood in front of the food stand and dropped a fresh apple onto the ground when a girl walked by. Her dark hair fell down past her shoulders.

He called out “Adny,” and his eyes widened with fear when she turned around.

The darkness was surrounding him again from the dreams. His mind played tricks on his interpretations. He dropped the rest of the fruit, running off into the distance. The native townspeople looked puzzled and mystified by his actions.

The young girl picked up the bag of fruit he dropped and brought it to him.

He looked at her face again; all was back to normal when he was able to take a sigh of relief. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me. You just reminded me of someone I know.”

Before their conversation could go further, Mosi pulled him away and said, “Stop.”

Jace didn’t move from his position and kept muttering as if his bottom lip were too numb to move. “Mosi, I have a weird feeling something is wrong with Adny.” They made the long, hot walk back home.

P
IPER CAME over for the afternoon to watch cartoons with Darla. Michelle pulled into the driveway and noticed Terri and her father laughing with one another. She ignored their interactions, but on the inside, the burning flame simmering over the past week, burnt. Layers upon layers of anger caused her final breaking point to reach new dimensions.

She went to Adny’s room and stared at her alarm clock still stuck on 8:30. The alarm clock was unplugged and thrown against the wall. It was about to be thrown out the window when Darla’s voice prevented further movement.

“Momma, what are you doing?”

“Darla, take Piper back downstairs and turn the cartoons up really loud. Do not look away from the TV. Listen to Mommy.”

Darla grabbed Piper’s hand and rushed downstairs. When they were out of view, she threw the alarm clock out the window. It fell between Terri and her father. Neighbors heard the sharp screams fill the air outside. They both looked up to her evil glare from the upstairs window.

She grabbed a knife from the kitchen, cradling it in her hands. The handle of the knife was gripped between her fingers.

Terri’s father approached from behind. “Give me the knife, and everything will be fine.”

She gripped the knife tighter. “Your daughter took Adny away from me.”

Terri stood behind her father as he continued to plead with his enraged wife. “Michelle, put the knife down.”

Michelle paced the kitchen back and forth with swift, sharp movements. The knife twiddled in her right hand more forcefully. “The father, the husband, and the lover were all the perfect roles for you to portray.”

She formulated in her mind the perfect moment to attack. Eyes bloodshot red, she approached them closer. “You mess with my daughter, I go for blood.”

She charged forward. The knife rose higher above her head. With each accumulating step, blood rushed up through the veins in both hands. The adrenaline rush empowered her movements. Her husband pushed Terri behind him. Her body propelled across the kitchen. The knife slammed on the counter beside them, shattering in half.

Back in the living room, the signal went out on the TV. The echoes of screaming could be heard from the kitchen. Piper turned and asked, “What was that noise?”

Darla covered up Piper’s ears with her hands and placed Sunshine in her lap. “Hold Sunshine so you won’t be scared. Momma said we couldn’t look away from the TV.”

Terri and her father left the house. Darla heard her mother’s cries and ran up to hug her.

Their eyes turned toward Piper jumping up and down, yelling, “Look! Look! Adnyyy!”

Junior left one of Adny’s videos on for all eyes to see on the old, fading table in the corner of the kitchen. Darla placed it in her mother’s lap.

M
ickey had been avoiding the one person he needed most—Junior. He sat in the living room waiting for his parents’ confrontation; something he could not avoid any longer. Hesitation ensued while slowly stepping into the kitchen. Both of his parents stared him in the face.

Before they started talking, Junior drove up in front of their house. He rehearsed what he would say to Mickey, as if it were lines for a school play. In the kitchen, Mickey prepared himself for their reaction. Confession time was near. Junior approached the door and began to knock, then in an instant, pulled his hand away.

Mickey took a deep breath. “I’m … I’m … gay.”

A smile formed across both of their faces at the same time. “Honey, your father and I have known since you were a young boy.”

Mickey was taken aback by their reactions. “How did you know, and why didn’t you ever say anything?”

His dad chimed in. “We wanted you to tell us when you were ready. I knew something was different at the age of seven when you stole the neighbor’s Barbie doll and wouldn’t give it back.”

His mother playfully slapped his father on the cheek. “I almost forgot how you inherited your weird sense of humor from your father. We will never fully understand a person wanting to be gay, but love has no form. When we see you with Junior, love blossoms between the both of you.”

The sigh of relief was long overdue.
One hurdle down
, he thought to himself.

Junior‘s finger inched closer to the doorbell. His hand was jolted back before it rang. He walked back to the car, unsuccessful.

Mickey looked down at his phone at all of the missed calls and text messages from Junior. His dad expressed a more serious tone when he asked, “Mickey, why are the police after you? Do we need to hire a better lawyer?”

He knew this question was coming, but no amount of preparation would give him the perfect words. Just as he was going to explain further, the phone began ringing. His mom got up to answer it. “Detective Miller wants to speak to you again.”

“I think I’m ready this time.” He grabbed the phone and went into a different room for privacy. This confession with his parents gave him the boost of confidence he needed to finally answer the Detective’s questions with ease. They talked late into the night.

J
unior drove back home, gripping the steering wheel. The frustration, anger, and confusion continued to linger in his heart for Mickey. He heard someone crying as he walked through the front doors. When he realized Michelle had the laptop, not a single heartbeat could be heard in the room. His keys dropped to the floor. His body fell limp in the kitchen chair. There was nothing he could do to unravel the damage.

Adny’s hair was ruffled out of place as she wiped her tear stricken face from view. She kept gripping her heart tight with her hands.

It’s been over a year since I thought about making another video. I’m very surprised I have made it to the end of senior year.

It’s 5:30, and I haven’t slept well in a few days. I should have listened to you when you told me not to go to the party. I got a text from Jace asking me to go. Of course Madison was there. Jace wasn’t.

Thinking back, it had to be a setup.

It was a Friday night. I wanted to have a little fun and forget all the mishaps in my life. The party was a total drag, such a waste of time. I couldn’t find Mickey anywhere, and I guess you were busy because you wouldn’t answer your phone.

I’m trying to remember, but my thoughts are becoming jumbled from this massive headache. But I think Friday was April 10th.

Junior’s mouth flew open when Adny said April 10
^th
. April 10
^th
was the same day the Valley High School cross country team won the meet.

Madison was extremely drunk as she came near me in the kitchen. There were a few other people standing around us when she started blabbering about her father. No actual human being wanted to listen to that crazy chick.

Adny stopped talking because of her loud, extraneous cough. With each cough, she clutched her heart even tighter from the apparent pain observed from the screen. Her mother came into the room while the video was still being recorded and offered to give her a glass of water.

Michelle could barely watch herself in the video without covering her mouth with her hands, unable to stop crying. She kept muttering, “I failed you, baby girl. I couldn’t see what was in front of me. I’m sorry, baby.”

I was ready to leave and couldn’t get in contact with anyone. Earlier that day and throughout the party, I kept getting weird texts from Jace saying how I should send nude pictures and meet up for sex. It just doesn’t seem like him talking anymore.

Maybe it never was.

Little did I know, I was being watched and followed by the hungry predators. They sat waiting from a distance for the perfect moment to pounce. Madison was the first to make her move after she had sobered up a little. I prefer her drunk because she is a little nicer and less deranged.

Her annoying, evil voice still rings in my head. ‘Has Jace texted you lately?’

I don’t understand how she knew Jace and I were talking. I felt someone shove me from behind, but I wasn’t sure who it was. Shandi and Terri came up beside Madison, as more people joined in laughter. I was the butt of the joke, but didn’t understand what was so funny.

I know it was all part of Madison’s sick plot to see my misfortunes glorify her ugly insides. Their whispers became tantalizing, stripping every last bit of my humility. My ears felt like they were starting to burn, as their taunts added fuel to the beginning of my fire.

Unfortunately, her voice rang out again. ‘Jace is mine, bitch. He doesn’t want you. So back off already.’ Those were the last words I remember anyone saying.

Mom always told the both of us to never pick up a drink after leaving it. I felt drowsy after drinking the soda. Everything moved in slow motion. My surroundings became one giant blur. I could make out Terri’s blurring silhouette and felt her and some other girl holding my hands down. I remember seeing the outlines of Madison’s blonde hair.