The Adventures Of John B : The Sacred Stone

Chapter 41 - A Long, Long Time.

TOMMIE:

"Alright, now that you've told me your whole perspective-"

"No, there's more.  The story doesn't end there," the man responded quickly.

"..Do you want to talk about it?"

"Do I have a choice, this is an interview, right?" 

A sigh exited the writer's mouth, frustration racking his brain.

"You squeezed through the door, that's where we left off."

"So, are you gonna write an article or something?"

The writer expressed yet another sigh in the form of a shaking head, his impatience beyond belief.

"No, I'm writing a book.  Now can you answer the question please, Thomas?"

Tommie bobbed his head again, thinking about a long, long time ago.  Mustering all the memories of a time he had once wished to tuck away.

"Yeah, I squeezed through the door.  I'd have been damned if I didn't.  So I made a straight, fuckin-"

He paused, staring straight at the man he felt was interrogating him.

"Can I cuss?"

"It's fine, we'll bleep it out or something, go on."

Again, Tommie signaled his compliance with a nod before ignoring him again and turning to the woman recording the two.

"Is she gonna just record me- hey, you don't talk much, do ya-"

"Stick. To. The. Story." The man barked at him, a lethal look summoned from his eyes.

Tommie gulped, eyes wide- and gave a nervous smile.

"Fine.  Let's just say this. I made a straight, fuckin' break for it."

"You left them there?"

Narrowing his eyes, Tommie raised an judging eyebrow.

"I needed to get help, I'd rather have them die thinking I left them than die knowing I did nothing to stop it.  The guilt's too much.  It still is.."

"So where did you end up from there?"

"..This is where the story gets complicated.  Where everything comes together."

"Alright, and how?"

"We were a band of misfits.  That's why we liked each other so much, I think."

"Tommie."

"Alright, alright.  God, anyone told you you're such a bore?"

The writer didn't answer, tapping his pencil against the notepad that lay flat on his knee.

"I guess you don't take well to jokes either, huh."

The tapping quickened.

"..Tough crowd.  Well, it was another dark hallway.  But what laid beyond it.. how could I really explain that experience.."

Tommie knew the truth.  He just wasn't sure he wanted to tell it anymore.  So, he quieted for a moment- a rare action with a mouth as busy as his.  He stared, experiencing a cruel moment in time over and over.

Eventually the writer noticed and piped up.

"If it's hard for you, tell me what you thought at that moment.  You were about twelve years old, yeah?"

"Yeah, it's hard to believe.."

The interviewer gave him a second to recoup.

"Take your time, I know it's a lot."