Chapter 28

word count 932

Adam saw his mother run out of the bedroom, her hands clutching broken telephone pieces, her eyes filled with tears. He'd heard the yelling, the bang bang of flying objects. He should be crying, but instead a rage burned inside.

"Ma!' he called out. But that lady ignored him and rushed on. Soon he knew he'd hear the piano playing. She did it all the time now. Sad music soon made crazy when she lost control and started pounding too loud and too fast. It was wacky and it frightened him. His stupid father didn't seem to notice the fact his wife suddenly played the piano when she never claimed to have a talent for it before. The stupid idiot was too busy feeling sorry for himself.

'There has to be something I can do," he murmured, rushing to to his room. He kept a stash of money in his closet, way in the back hidden in a box. He used to have a blue piggy bank on his dresser, but he was too old for that now. He dug in and pulled out the box, flipping it open. A stack of bills rested inside, lots of ones, some fives. With hands trembling, he counted it...$29.00. Maybe it would be enough.

Later, at school, he searched for Jack and Steve. Normally, they kicked him around, but today he wanted something from them bad enough to take a chance. When he found them, he pulled them aside for a whispered conference, to be finished in a nearby park after class. He showed them the $29.00. They would bring it, they promised.

"What in the hell were you doing talking to those two?" Elliot appeared out of nowhere. Adam had hoped Elliot wouldn't find out he was dealing with the class bullies.

"Nothing."

"Nothing? What kind of answer is that?"

Adam turned to face the other boy. "Look, Elliot! What I was doing is none of your business. Now if you're my friend, you'll let it go at that."

"If you were MY friend, you'd tell me!"

Adam glared back. "Fuck off!" He said it and walked away.

It was hard to concentrate in class after treating Elliot that way. But what he was up to was more important than anything else. Later, maybe he could tell the other boy about it. But for now, he was meeting Jack and Steve in the park, and that was that.

At the appointed time, he waited. The two boys arrived, looking around to be sure no one saw them as they rushed up to Adam. Jack had something bundled under his jacket. He clutched at the bulge as though it were valuable.

"Do you have it?" Adam asked. His pulse was racing so fast he thought he might faint. He had never been so afraid in his life.

"Yeah, right here. You know, I wouldn't normally do this, but hey, you got the money, and it looks pretty good to me," Jack said, a wide grin illuminating his face.

Adam clutched the bills, which now felt damp in his palms. He held the wad toward Jack, who nodded to Steve to scoop it up, then lifted the item from under his jacket and handed it to Adam. It was a well-used revolver, a little one just like that guy at DQ had used. Small enough for a kid to handle. Just like Adam wanted.

"Here's some ammo," Jack said, dropping a handful of bullets into Adam's palm.

***
Gil returned to the stake out after visiting Buzz to find O'Donnell fast asleep. The fellow had dozed off and toppled over, in the process kicking over a tripod which was hooked up with a camera and zoom lens. The entire setup lay waste in the grass and O’Donnell was snoring loud enough to wake the dead. Gil saw red.

"You know that equipment is worth several thousand dollars!" Gil yelled, kicking O'Donnell, knocking him enough to roll the fellow over onto the other side. "And what about the stake out, you idiot!"

O'Donnell blinked in surprise, then scrambled to his feet.

"Look at that! His car is missing! Where did he go? You're fucking useless!" Gil yelled. His blood boiled while he considered strangling the other fellow. No, he couldn’t hurt a fellow officer. Turning, he headed back down the hillside he’d just traversed. "Clean this up!" he yelled back. “I’m gonna find him!”

He cruised for an hour looking for Leichtenstein. No luck. Where the hell could that piece of shit be? He needed to get inside the guy's head.

"I gotta think like him," he murmured. "Now where would a pedophile hang out..." And then it hit him, "wherever the boys are...the school!"

He knew he was right. He could feel it in his gut and gunned it toward Westside Elementary. Sure enough, there was Leichtenstein, hanging out on the corner at Elmwood, carrying a sign begging for beer money, waving at cars, grinning at pedestrians, a regular one-man sideshow. He held a sign that read, “I ain’t gonna lie. I just need a beer!!”

Gil reached over to the passenger side and rolled down the window, fishing in his pocket he grabbed a five dollar bill and tossed it out to the guy. "Dude, you do need a beer!" he yelled. In that instant, he caught Leichtenstein eyeing a blond kid heading his way. Gil's stomach twisted and lurched. That sicko! He had to keep him away from that boy.