Authors: Marc Buhmann
“What are you talking about?” asked Sam.
“Nothing,” Elliott responded, ruffling his hair. “Nothing at all.”
Willem stood and went to the door.
“Where are you going?” Elliott wanted to know. “Mom said to stay in.”
Willem said nothing, just opened the door and walked out.
In the backyard was a tire-swing their father had put up for them years ago, and it was there he went. Inside the tire was a pool of stagnant water. He dumped it out as best he could, then crawled through, kicked, and started to swing lazily.
Elliott said the rumors weren’t true, but what if they were? He suspected Elliott was protecting him and Sam by lying, much like his mother had done last year. It felt like Elliott knew more than he was letting on, something he didn’t want his brothers to know about. From William’s reaction it seemed that he, too, knew something more. If he couldn’t get answers from Elliott maybe William would spill the details. He wasn’t sure he would like what William was going to say, but he had to know. Were people spreading lies about his family, or were they simply stating facts? Next time he saw William he’d find out.
“Are you okay?” The soft voice of Sam brought him back to reality.
“Yeah. Why do you ask?”
“Seems like something is bothering you is all.”
“Just stuff on my mind.”
“I get stuff on my mind, too.”
Willem hesitated, wondered if he should say anything. Most likely everyone at school had heard by now, so might as well be upfront with Sam.
“I got into a fight at school. Broke a kid’s nose.”
“Why did you do that? Was he being bad?”
“Yes. He was saying mean stuff.”
“What kind of mean stuff?”
“It doesn’t matter. What matters is I got angry and I shouldn’t have.”
“And you got in trouble?”
“Yes.”
“Mom will probably ground you.”
“Probably.”
“It’s okay if she does. I’ll keep you company.”
Willem smiled, his sullen mood lifting.
“Can I have a turn?”
“Sure.” Willem dragged his feet in the grass until he stopped and pulled himself out. He held the tire as Sammy climbed in.
“Can you give me a push?”
Willem obliged, pushing Sammy one, two, three times, each push getting Sammy higher and higher. He laughed and giggled and kicked his feet, his smile so infectious Willem couldn’t help but laugh. At first he had been terrified about coming home in the middle of the day, but now he was glad. He hadn’t played with Sam like this in a while and having his baby brother so joyful eased his mind. He realized in that moment that he hadn’t felt happy in a long time.
His father was gone, his mother was working, and Elliott had started doing odd jobs around town. When was the last time he’d seen Sam smile? Not since before their father had disappeared, that much was certain. He felt a pang that maybe, just maybe, things would be okay after all. He didn’t know what sort of mood their mother would be in when she came home tonight, but he decided he wouldn’t worry about it until then. No sense souring the day with worrisome thoughts when there was nothing to worry about at the moment.
And yet, as happy as he was, the words Bobby said lingered in the back of his mind.
Your mother is a whore.
As much as Willem tried to quiet the words, to let them bounce off him, he just couldn’t do it, the anger starting to fester again. No… he didn’t feel bad about breaking Bobby’s nose or taking out two of his teeth. In fact, he felt pretty damn happy about it. Really, really happy.
He laughed with Sam as he pushed him even higher.
* * *
Willem and William sat on the edge of Willow Creek Bridge. Both had a fishing pole in hand, lines cast to the water below. Neither had had a bite since they started a half hour ago. Not that they cared; it was nice to be out of the house after a week of gray skies and on-and-off showers.
Willem’s gaze kept drifting to the willow tree, wondering if their buried treasure would be safe. If it rained anymore there was a good chance the creek would crest and flood the surrounding area. At one point he’d even considered going to pull the box from its hiding place but had thought better of it. The creek was higher than usual, and its rapid movement had scared him from getting too close. Even sitting on the edge of the bridge made him nervous, but he didn’t want to appear scared in front of William.
It had been a month since school had let out and the fight with Bobby a distant memory. He’d expected retaliation early on, but as the days crept by the on-edge feeling he’d constantly felt when out and about started to subside—the beating he’d expected never came. Now it was summer, school was out, and he rarely saw anyone from his class.
He felt safe.
A topic he’d wanted to discuss with William had been postponed several times as the time never seemed right. It was a delicate one and he wanted to make sure there were no interruptions, no way for William to change topic. He’d told himself many times that he should just let the rumors go, but the stories of his mother haunted him, and he needed to know what was being said.
“William? I have a question for you, and I want the truth.”
“No I’m not secretly a fan of
Archie
. I told you—horror and supernatural only—and you will not get me to try it.”
“I’m serious.”
“So am I.”
William glanced at Willem, realized his joke wasn’t getting the laugh he’d hoped for, and stopped grinning. “Okay,” William said reluctantly.
“You remember those rumors that got started at school? The one about my mom?”
“Yeah,” he said cautiously. “What about it?”
“Was there any truth to it?”
William gave a cursory glance. “I don’t know. You know how rumors are. Someone says they like potato chips, that’s passed around ten times and suddenly werewolves are space aliens from Mars. Don’t you remember the experiment in Mr. Miller’s class?”
“Yeah, but I think a couple kids deliberately changed up the story.”
“That’s exactly how rumors work. People change them to make them more interesting. Whatever was said about your mother I wouldn’t worry about it. They were rumors, and that is all.”
Willem wished he could—had tried—but he hadn’t been able shake it.
“Who started the rumor?” he asked.
“You serious? How should I know?”
“Where did you hear the rumor then?”
“I don’t remember. Jesus, Willem. I feel like I’m on trial or something.”
Willem had to make William understand why he needed to know, why this bothered him so much. Maybe then he’d be less reluctant to spill the beans.
“You know that itch you get under the skin, the one you can’t scratch away no matter how hard you try? That rumor is sort of like that for me. I can’t get rid of it, and I think the only relief will be knowing the truth.”
William gave Willem a long hard look, sighed, and said, “Why don’t you ask your brother? The rumors started with the older kids anyway.”
“I’ve tried, but he won’t say.”
“I don’t know…”
“Please.”
He sounded more desperate than he intended, but this was probably the last chance he had to hear the rumor for himself.
“Fine. What exactly do you want to know?”
“What is it you heard exactly?”
“It’s not a big deal, Willem. The story I heard is that someone saw your mom with someone.”
“What, like talking?”
“No not like talking!” A brief pause, then: “Making out.”
“Oh.”
That was it? His mom was spotted kissing someone? While the image kind of grossed him out he knew that people kissed. What was the big deal?
William’s mouth contorted into a sideways pinch. “A couple times.”
“A couple… How many?”
Another glance from William followed by a shrug. “Two, maybe three?” He obviously was avoiding giving a definitive number. He countered William’s look with one of disapproval. William sighed. “Five is what I heard.”
“At the same time?”
“Eww! No! See? This is how rumors go.”
While the gross factor increased he failed to see how making out translated to whore for people.
“And there was touching,” William relented.
Willem reacted as if slapped. “Like what?”
William gave him the most curious look, as if to say,
Are you kidding me?
That was answer enough.
“Oh.” While disheartened he was happy that someone had finally told him the truth.
“Remember this is all rumor. Who knows if it’s actually true, and it could have been someone that looked like your mom. I wouldn’t worry about it.”
“Easy for you to say. What if our positions were reversed?”
William opened his mouth, had no comeback, and closed it.
Yes it was a rumor, but Willem knew it to be true; he felt it in his soul. The woman that had raised him, taken care of him, comforted him, she was a different person, a person he no longer knew. Willem now understood that the world was a dark and ugly place. People lied, people did unspeakable things, and for what?
“Hey, uh… did I tell you I went looking for Caroline’s Cottage?” William was obviously trying to move the conversation away from Willem’s mother.
“Hmm? Oh. No you didn’t.”
“I heard someone talking about it a few weeks ago. I spent a couple days wandering the woods but didn’t find it. I did find something neat though—an abandoned road. Had a street sign and everything. There was an old bridge, too. And on the other side—and this was really cool—I found a pit. It may have been a well.”
“Why do you think that?”
“You know the cemetery on 8? Across from that. Deep in the woods.”
Willem found himself thinking about William’s find and less so about his mother. Good. He didn’t want to think about her right now. He suddenly wanted to see this place, could feel its mystery pulling at him. “Can you show me?”
“Sure. When?”
“Now.”
“Can’t—not enough time. Me and my folks are going to visit my cousins in a few hours. How about tomorrow?”
Willem wanted to see this place, was impatient to see it in fact, but wasn’t brave enough to go trouncing in the woods by himself. He’d have to wait.
“Fine. Tomorrow.”
* * *
It was Sunday, and as Willem headed out to meet William his mother had called after him, telling him to take Sammy with. She hadn’t known their agenda for the day—nor did he want to tell her for fear she’d put a stop to it—so he’d begrudgingly agreed. As their house disappeared in the distance Willem finally told Sammy where they were going. He’d been enthusiastic until the sky had darkened.
“I don’t know if we should do this right now,” Sammy said as they rode up to William. They’d decided to meet at the entrance to the cemetery.
“What? You scared?” William teased.
“No,” he scoffed. “It’s just… our mom might worry if we’re not home when it starts to rain.”
“It’s just overcast is all.”
“It’ll be alright, Sammy,” Willem soothed. “Nothing is going to happen. I promise.” He looked across the highway to the barely visible crumbling and overgrown road. “Is that it?”
“Yep.”
The boys continued on, the woods seeming to darken as they went in deeper.
A crow cawed, leaves rustled.
Several times they had to stop and carry their bikes over downed trees that covered the road. It weaved from left to right, down and up—a winding twisting road to nowhere.
“What do you think this was used for?” Willem asked.
“Not sure. Maybe logging? Hasn’t been used in a long time though, that’s for sure.”
William skidded to a halt, Willem and Sam following suit. “Why’d you stop?”
“There.” William was pointing to a rusty street sign. It’s where Pine and Oak crossed, though where Oak was he couldn’t say. There didn’t seem to be a cross street, yet this sign indicated otherwise. Maybe it had never been finished or had just been a dirt road.
A great flapping sounded above. He looked up and an eagle with the largest wingspan he’d ever seen was beating its wings, launching itself from a tree. Off to their left dead leaves rustled on the ground as something moved beneath them.
Probably a squirrel or chipmunk,
Willem thought.
“We’re getting close.” William started to move again, Willem and Sammy matching his speed.
“How did you find this place anyway?”
“I overheard some older kids talking about this place and figured it might be it. They’d mentioned the cemetery so I just started exploring.”
The road curved and was suddenly gone. “Whoops!” William said grabbing the brake, his wheels sliding to a stop. Willem and Sammy skidded next to him. “Sorry. Forgot it came up that quickly.”