Chapter 5 - The Prince's Pawn

A Child's Terror

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Aria

October 2005

“Good riddance, Stink-bag!”

The boy’s voice caught my ear as I walked past the middle rows on the bus. It was low enough that I couldn’t tell who said it, but loud enough for all the kids in the front rows to hear it clearly.

The ripple of giggles followed me as I stumbled toward the door, catching a glimpse of my reflection in the mirror right before I jumped down the steps.

I could see the glob of yellow spit had made a stain on my shirt. Neil Arey had hocked a lugey on me in Math class this morning. For no reason. And Miss Thompson sent me to the bathroom to clean up. But when I got there, there were other girls standing in front of the sinks, and I was too embarrassed to scrub the phlegm and spit from my white tee shirt.

It had been sitting there all day, right in the center of my chest where everyone could see it. Now the stain probably wouldn’t come out, and I had to keep wearing it for the rest of the week.

The water was turned off in the RV again. Last time the landlord turned it back on when Dad promised to pay a little extra when he got some money. But that didn’t happen, so the water would stay off until Dad paid the whole bill.

He said we’d go to the laundromat this weekend. Quarters were always easy to come by and he could come up with enough for a load of laundry.

But that wouldn’t help me tomorrow or Friday.

The gravel crunched under my worn-out sneakers as I trudged home from the bus stop. I was alone today. Kelly Corcoran normally got off at this stop, but she was out sick. I didn’t mind. At least today I didn’t have to watch her practically break into a run to avoid walking with me.

My cheeks burned at the memory of Neil spitting on me. No one liked me! This school was the worst so far. At least at the last one, people didn’t call me stinky.

Why couldn't Dad just get a real job? Then maybe we'd have running water, and I wouldn't have to go to school in the same shirt all week. Dad said no one would notice. But that was a lie. They all noticed.

Just like they all noticed how we were poorer than everyone else, even in the trailer park. There was a pecking order here, just like everywhere else. The shiny double-wides sat up front and could be seen from the main road, while us in the beat-up RVs were pushed to the edges – the bottom of the bottom.

No one wanted to see us, not even the other trailer park people.

A dog barked from across the street, and I stopped, the hairs on my neck standing up. Most everyone let their dogs wander, and most all of them were nice.

But this bark sounded different – deeper, angrier. My heart started to race as I looked over to see a big brindle pit bull stalking towards me, teeth bared.

Don’t run, don’t run. Dad had told me not to run from dogs. He said to make myself as big as possible and yell at them.

But I couldn’t find my voice. I was frozen, staring at the dog as it stalked across the street toward me, slow and low… at first.

“Help!” I managed to scream just as the dog lunged, fast as lightning.

I gasped as I hit the ground, my head, knocking against the dirt, elbows and butt erupting in fire as the skin scraped off.

Pain exploded in my leg as its jaws clamped down and I screamed again.

“Daddy! Daddy help!”

Twisting to get away, I flopped like a fish, screaming so someone would hear me and come save me. Through my wet and squinted eyes, I saw the curtains on the front window in the nearest trailer yank shut.

Kelly Corcoran’s mom….

Something snapped inside me. My vision went red, and I flipped over, grabbing the dog with my hand instead of trying to crawl away.

I snatched his fur and skin and instead of putting up a wall against the sensations that always pushed in when I touched people and animals, I let them come… and pushed back.

I could feel the dog's insides, pulsing and alive. Without thinking, I reached out with my mind and grabbed hold. I squeezed and twisted, my own heart pounding as I felt the dog's start to falter.

Die! Die you stupid dog! Die and leave me alone!

The pit bull’s growls stopped, replaced by labored wheezing. It released my leg and stumbled back, eyes wide with fear now. But I didn't stop. I couldn't stop.

I stared at the dog and kept squeezing, feeling its heart slow, its lungs struggling to claw one last breath, and watching its pupils shrink to pinpricks. Finally, the light went out of its eyes and its big head collapsed in the dirt, its tongue lolling out of its mouth.

Shaking, I kept staring at its body, wanting to make sure it was dead, even though I knew that it was.

Tears streamed down my face as I looked up at the Corcoran’s trailer, my breath coming so fast.

She heard me! She heard and she didn’t care!

They always said in school to find a grown up if you were in trouble, or to call for help and someone would help you.

Liars!  I got up, everything hurting and still shaking. I wasn’t sure what to do.

Would Dad be mad at me for killing the dog? He told me not to show off how I can read people’s emotions when I touch them. But this wasn’t showing off. That dog was bad and might have killed me. A kid got killed by a dog just last year. I saw it on the news!

I clenched up my fists and walked home as fast as I could, my leg leaving a trail of fat blood droplets behind me.

I tried to come into the RV as quietly as possible, hoping Dad would be asleep in his easy chair. But he wasn’t, and he jumped straight up when he saw me limp inside.

“What the bloody hell happened to you?” he shouted, his gold crucifix bouncing off his chest as he lunged at me, reaching me in two steps. “Did that boy from the bus have a go at you?”

I shook my head furiously, afraid he would jump in the truck and drive over to Ronnie’s house and threaten to beat up his dad, like he’d done last time.

“It was a dog,” I cried, hiccupping.

“What fucking dog?” He growled, scooping me up and carrying me into our tiny bathroom. "That ugly black mutt that the double-wide cunts refuse to neuter? I’ll neuter the bastard myself, I will.”

He sat me on the sink and cursed as he turned on the tap, only to remember there was no water.

“It was a pit bull,” I sniffed. “I’ve never seen it before.”

Dad nodded, his fingers light on my jaw as he tilted my head up to look at him. He checked my face, my neck, saw the scrapes and cuts on my arms, and then gently traced down my legs, looking for any wounds other than the massive, oozing bite wound.

He darted out of the bathroom and came back with several wash rags, bandages, tape, and a bottle of his favorite whiskey.

“Deep breath love,” was all the warning I got before he poured whiskey over the bite marks drawing a sharp hiss from me, my body going rigid as I waited for the burning to stop.

"What happened to the dog?" Dad asked quietly as he wrapped a bandage around my leg. “Did someone come to scare it away?”

I hiccupped, the tears starting again. "No. No one came to help me. Kelly Corcoran’s mom heard me yell, but she stayed inside.” I swallowed hard, looking at the ceiling. “I... I killed it, Dad. No one was coming and I wanted it to go away. So I just... squeezed."

Dad's hands stilled for a moment. Then he looked me in the eye, his expression deadly serious. "Has that ever happened before, love? When the kids at school are mean to you?”

I shook my head, still not able to look at him, so afraid he would be mad at me.

“Oi,” he said, tapping my nose and waiting until I looked at him. When I did, I could see he wasn’t mad. He was worried, just like he’d been the first time I said something I shouldn’t have, when it made it obvious I’d read someone’s mind.

“You did right to protect yourself, Aria. You’re never wrong for that, because those bastards won’t help you. It’s just you and me, I’ve told you. No one else cares about us. But listen to me now, and listen well." He gripped my shoulders gently. "What you can do… never use it on people, lass. Even if they're bad and they deserve it. Understand?"

I nodded, a chill running down my spine at his tone.

“When you get bigger, I’ll teach you how to use a gun. And I’ll teach you how to fight. And I’ll even teach you how to get rid of a body. But that thing you do… it has to be a secret, pet. Promise you will never use it on a person.”

Never in my life had I seen my dad look the way he did now. It was almost like he was scared. Even though Dad wasn’t scared of anything.

I nodded, sniffing again to try to stop crying so Dad wouldn’t be upset anymore.

He pulled me into a hug, and I buried my face in his shirt, breathing in the familiar scent of whiskey and cigarettes. For a moment, I felt safe. It was going to be okay. No one would get me in trouble over the dog, and Dad would teach me things so I didn’t have to use my abilities on people.

And when I went back to school, I would tell Kelly Corcoran about what her mom did.

I’d let her know that she was wrong about me. I knew who the trash really was around here.