Gift Giver Read online

research on the subject.”

  “Jesus Christ Duane! Quit the Goody Two-Shoes act for a while. It’s giving me a migraine.”

  I want to yell back at him, but I can’t think of anything clever, “You’re giving me a migraine!”

  He gives me look like he wants to kill me, shakes his head then asks Chad, “What are we going to do with these guys?”

  “Don’ no. Can’t stand ‘em and can’t kill ‘em.” He mimes shooting a gun at me, then at Lucas, then the rest.

  It takes a second for Lucas to un-freeze, “That wasn’t creepy at all.”

  “Screw you guys. I’m out of here.” Mark flicks his cigarette to the ground like he’s done it a million times.

  I feel pretty unnerved with the way things are going, but I need to know, “Why did you even come in here then?”

  “I just wanted to see if it worked for you babies also. Now that I know, I don’t need to be here.”

  I have just started to lay out the mornings snacks, since the Twinkies were to be served frozen. Mark took one while looking me in the eye and strolled home.

  When I look to the other guys to see what they are thinking, Boomer is playing his game and won’t acknowledge me, Timmy meekly shrugs and half smiles then finds something interesting on his arm, Lucas shakes his head, Chad is playing a confusing counting game on his fingers that I don’t know.

  I don’t know how to direct this, no one is listening, except maybe Lucas. It frustrates me when people don’t listen; Mom says it’s probably my greatest character flaw. She’s probably right but it doesn’t stop me from being frustrated, “Come on guys! This is some serious business.”

  “Yeah it is. Seriously… Awesome!” Timmy was looking at me when he was speaking, but one his eyes didn’t seem to want to meet mine, it was interested in his nose.

  When I look to Boomer he shakes his head in a quiet no then goes back to his game. Lucas frowns and gives me smallest shrug.

  Both of Timmy’s eyes are meeting mine, but he no longer seems to be behind them. Chad is still playing his weird finger double-dutch game. I’ve missed out on something that my friends didn’t. They were usually right, so I fought against my nature and shut up.

  The food disappeared in record time along with the soda and shortly after it was gone Chad threw out that he was tired and was going to go home and take a nap. Timmy chimed in with a thin excuse to head out also.

  After they were gone, Boomer looked up from his game, “Guys, this wishing thing is bad news and someone is going to get hurt. I’m pretty sure you guys aren’t going to lose your head or at least you won’t right away, but Chad is messed up and Timmy and Mark are next.”

  We all know Boomer has a lot more going for him upstairs than he leads on, but this is more insight than we are used to him revealing. I ask, “What are you getting at, Boomer?”

  “I’m not sure exactly what is wrong with Chad but I don’t think he is completely sane anymore. He is trying to act normal but if you watch him you can see that he’s not all there.”

  Lucas asks, “You think Chad is nuts?”

  “Well, yeah. He has always been walking a fence but this Malcolm guy pushed him over on the crazy side.”

  “I don’t know about that. You know how much his Dad messes with him. It might just be something going on at home.”

  “Well, that’s actually what I’m talking about. We all know how much his old man messes with him. Now that Chad knows a freaky old wood hermit that gives him stuff... like guns, he’s losing his grip.”

  When he put it that way, he made a bit of sense. “Do you think he’s going to hurt someone?”

  He throws his hands up in the air. “I really have no idea. But he is making me nervous and I think we should stay away from all three of those guys for a while. They all have the same look. They all look… greedy.”

  This is a shock, but given what has happened in the last couple days, it seem quite possible. “Wait, if you think they are losing their minds, shouldn’t we try to help them?”

  Lucas joins in, “Yeah, we should, but I don’t see how. There is no way we are going to talk those guys out of saying the rhyme.”

  Boomer sighs, “I think the old guy is the key. But I don’t think there is anything that we can do.”

  Something my Father said a few years ago comes to mind. “You guys, there is a term my Father would know to explain this, but I can’t remember it. It boils down to consent. The deal is they can quit anytime they want. They can take it or leave it at any time. That old guy is obviously wanting us to do this but he’s not forcing anyone. Which means going to Malcolm and asking him to stop is not going to work.”

  Lucas throws in, “We are idiots. It was yesterday at this time we decided to go see the old coot.”

  Something else that seemed a bit off finally clicked into place. “Lucas, are you tired?”

  “Nope, why?”

  “Are you tired Boomer?”

  “Yeah, the nightmare took a lot out of me. I could take a nap right here. I think the sugar is the only thing keeping me going.”

  I give Lucas one of those I know what you did type of looks.

  “Don’t get mad at me for asking, I just have to ask? Did you really get that truck from Malcolm?”

  He nods then aims the miniature vehicle at me. It misses at the last second. “Everyone else is ready to drop and you act like you just drank a pot of coffee.” Looking at Boomer, “Do you think he’s immune?”

  Boomer chuckles, “It wouldn’t surprise me.”

  Lucas stands up on the rock and does a little dance, swinging both his butt and an arm around in a circle. “I’m so excited, and I just can’t hide it.”

  Boomer amends, “Actually, very little about him surprises me anymore.”

  Dizzy

  Today was pretty much the same as the last gaggle of days, a treasure hunt for a nap, but something has been off. There is a disturbance in the force. Yeah, Faye made me love it.

  I didn’t notice it at first that our morning graveyard-esqe ritual was bit bleaker than usual. It wasn’t until my second nap that my subconscious made a point.

  I don’t’ dream of the old days much anymore. When I do it’s usually one of those dreams where I’m roaming around my old neighborhood, trying to go somewhere but not quite sure where. I don’t mind those dream so much as they are kind of fun to wake up to. This dream was more like the old nightmares. The ones back on my world. I don’t like waking up to these.

  I came to this world for two reasons: I’m a coward and I didn’t belong back there. I guess that could technically be one reason. It may sound harsh and self-deprecating, but I assure you it’s true. I wish I was a stronger man, but I’m not. I’ve come to grips with it mostly with Faye’s help. I could try to justify myself, but it’s not my style, I’ll just take the criticism.

  If you haven’t figured out, I’m not of this world, and I don’t mean figuratively. To keep things simple, I’m from the dimension just to our left. It’s similar to this world in many ways except it has considerably more magic. I don’t mean magic in the Disney wonder an awe sense. I’m talking more like the wand waving in Harry Potter.

  Of course magic is different than in whats-her-faces’ books, but there are similarities that give me pause. Enough to make me consider if there isn’t a link between her stories and the world of my birth. I continue to check into it, but I haven’t found anything yet. I’ve been quite villigant, and there are quite a few things here that seem to be associated with my world in one form or another, but so far I’ve not found a valid link with any of them.

  Faye thinks I’m being paranoid, but she is unfamiliar with the cruelties of my world. In my world the ethics are considerably different. There are still places on this planet where a daughter has a monetary value, where I come from everyone has a monetary value. This world claims to be free of slavery, and it might; my world has no slavery but is rife
with indentured servants. There is a difference, but only in semantics, prosecution, and execution. My world was a dirty and corrupt place, this one is a lot cleaner at least as far as magic goes, but not so much in everything else.