The Magic at the End of the World (Do You Remember, Book 5)

Monday, January 15, 2001

You're not going to believe this, but here's the story behind everything that's been going on so far...

At the beginning of the year, we have a massacre in which over 50 partygoers died because the noise from their party triggered an autistic boy's wrath. (The autistic boy is currently sitting in a padded jail cell.) People start protesting because a Black man just happened to be one of the victims of the massacre, writing off the other 50+ people who had died.

Now, an autistic Black girl snapped and killed her entire family because her brother was her father's stepson. People are upset, as very few people in the Black community even know what autism is. (To be fair, NO ONE really knows what autism is, not if we keep shoving autistic kids away in back rooms and denying their existence. Some autistic people are forced, usually by their families, to pretend that they don't have autism, which not only denies them the right to live their own lives, but they're also banned from the family if they refuse to live like everyone else does.)

And PLEASE don't get me started on the abuse that they have to endure, mainly because nobody really bats an eyelash when a disabled person is being abused. Just don't.

Anyway, Jimmy, Mary, and I are sitting in the shed that Friday night; we were preparing to go deep into the dark corners of Jimmy's mind, the dark corners that have been threatening to spill out since he was rescued from his kidnappers several months ago. You might have seen a glimpse of the fallout following the rescue, such as Jimmy not returning to school for several weeks and even the "Dana Barron" episode, but this new thing we're doing is the major leagues.

There was no turning back now.

Jimmy said, "Are you guys sure you want to do this?"

"Why are you asking?" said Mary. "Is there something that Jed and I should know?"

"Well, there's a quote that Tracy used to tell me, which is that if you stare into the abyss for far too long, it tends to stare back," said Jimmy. "She was always telling me to smile, as frowning will get you nowhere in life."

"So, she made you smile even if you suffered an obscene amount of abuse?" I said. "Well, this is sad."

"Sad or no, it's time for us to finally know the truth," said Jimmy. "Remember, I alone have the power to send those freaks to jail for the rest of their lives, so we better not blow it."

Well, this was it.

With a few whispered words, Jimmy, Mary, and I found ourselves back in the "house of horrors", where Jimmy had spent the last few years of his life. There were several other people sitting in cages besides Alex Lawrence, Benjamin Underwood, Tracy Hammond, Terrence Powell, and Stacie Whitney. Several of them I could recognize, mainly due to the fact that their names were Connie Whitaker, Tara Pope, Jared Morgan, Tommy Snider, and Becky Petersen. (Christina Brewer was already dead by then, or she would also be there.)

I said, "Did you know Christina?"

"I did," said Jimmy. "Don't forget, I had a life before I was forced to come here. Plus, I have gone to Emerson High School using the name Marley Stevens, so there you have it."

"And about Christina," I continued as we watched the events inside the house unfolding. "What was she like?"

"Well, she was kind of like both you, Mary, and a bit like Jem," said Jimmy. "She was also slightly delusional and fancied herself in love with Declan Caesar."

"i see," I said while thinking about Declan. The guy would have been 18 years old by now had he not been killed by Micheal Kidd, Luke McPherson, and Danny Peck. Yet many people didn't like him, so hardly anyone shed a tear when the public was notified about his death.