A flashlight in the shadows.

Chapter 20: Art shows and rodeos.

We arrived in Augusta at around 2:30, and it was more busy then the last time I had been. Dad had decided on taking me there for my 14th birthday to visit my mom. When she didn't show, we just drove home after Dairy Queen. We turned on 27 Main Street and pulled up to an older looking town house. It had large steps leading up to a big oak door. I hopped out of the truck and hauled my bags up the steps. Bennett went to knock, but before he had the chance, the door flew open and he was swallowed in two small arms and cheers.
"Bennett! Quickly Harold! Come see our grand baby!" She ushered him inside. She was a small old woman with a pair of half moon glasses and wrinkled skin. Her white hair was tied in a tight bun and her facial features made me want to make brownies and garden. She was dressed in a yellow sundress with flowers all over it. Bennett nodded towards me,
"Grandma Aggie, this is my friend Sarah." He gestured to me. Not knowing what else to do, I gave a small wave and smiled.
"Hi, nice to meet you." She smiled and shook my hand.
"Are you here to celebrate his birthday with us?"
"Yes, he asked me to come." I said, smiling. She turned to him and whispered,
"She's really pretty, nice catch," then she went to talk to Bennett's dad while we took our bags to the living room. I set my bag on a chair near the corner and sighed.
"Well, she seems nice." He looked at me and shrugged.
"Yeah, grandma Aggie's always been an awesome grandma." We heard a noise that sounded like squeaking come from another corner. I turned to see a frail looking woman in a long brown dress and a shaw sitting in the corner. Her hair was so grey it was almost black. She had on glasses, but was squinting so much I couldn't tell she had eyes. Her hair was set in a perm and she looked to be drawing something.
"Who's that?" I asked, pointing to her.
"Great aunt Florence." I heard a strong voice say. I stiffened a little and turned slightly. The man had a cane, but besides that, he was like an exact replica of John Kramer from the 'Saw' films. He had the looks and the voice, now all that was missing was a trap to kill me with. Bennett smiled warmly and hugged the old man,
"Hi grandpa Harry, it's been so long since we've seen each other." They hugged tightly for a few moments before the old man pulled away smiling.
"Too long, how's my favorite grandson?" He laughed a little at that one.
"More like your only grandson, how've you been?" Bennett asked. The old man tilted his head and said,
"Ehh, pretty good." He looked over Bennett's shoulder at me and smiled. I smiled back. "Hello, what's your name?" He asked.
"I'm Sarah, Bennett invited me. " I replied. He shook my hand with a strong grip.
"My name's Harold, but you can call me Harry." He walked over to our bags and asked, "need some help?" He asked. Bennett quickly shook his head and said,
"No, grandpa. We can handle it." Bennett grabbed his bag and I took mine. I followed him up the stairs to a little hallway. There were two wall lights that illuminated it. There were four doors. We went in the second one to the right. We entered a bedroom with one dresser and a huge bed. Bennett plopped his bag on the bed.
"Well, what do you want to do?" He asked. I shrugged and set my bag in the corner.
"It's your birthday trip, you choose. What do you want to do?" I replied. He shrugged and looked down, an almost shy smile toying with his lips.
"Well...there is this one thing...." He trailed off. I crossed my legs on the bed and leaned on my elbows.
"What?" He kicked the side of the dresser and leaned against it.
"I wanted to put in my application to Gertrude Herbert institute of art." I smiled and grabbed my purse.
"What're we waiting for, then?" I started to walk out the door, but he grabbed my arm and pulled me away.
"No! If dad found out..."
"What?" I asked looking at him. He bit his lip and sat down, clasping his hands together. I frowned and sat by him. We were silent for several seconds until he muttered softly,
"It's no secret, Sarah. He isn't supportive or kind or anything you'd expect a father to be." He sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "He takes his anger out on me. No one except you knows that." He crossed his arms and wouldn't meet my eye. I straightened up a little and said,
"You mean, your mom doesn't-"
"No, and she can't ever know," he said, looking at me with concern. "Please, all she wants is for me to get to know him, she's always been there for me, so the least I can do is oblige to her wishes, please don't tell anyone, k?" He stared intently at me. I wiped some stray hairs behind my ear and sighed.
"Fine, but you shouldn't let him stop you from applying, we're going." I stood up and crossed my arms, waiting for him. He chewed on the side of his cheek and thought. I tapped my foot and sighed,
"You can come or I can drag you." He looked up and smiled. He got up without saying anything and set his hands in his pockets. We walked down the stairs to the living room. Bennett grandparents and his dad sat in the living room, talking in medium tones about the past few years, mostly about Bennett. Seeing Bennett's father in such a serene setting was, interesting. It's hard to believe he grew up in the same house. When they saw us, they smiled.
"Hi, where're you two lovebirds off to?" His grandma asked. I smiled and thought for a few moments.
"Well, I wanted to see the rodeo at the stadium, so Bennett said he'd come with. You know, for protection." I smiled. Bennett's dad squinted suspiciously, but kept silent. His grandpa nodded his head and smiled.
"You two have fun, be back by 7:00, if it's not too much trouble."
"K, love you." Bennett bent down and kissed his grandparents cheeks and we started walking down the street. It was only five blocks away, so we decided not to bother with a taxi.
"Well, we should stop by the stadium before we get back." He said. I frowned and shrugged.
"Why?"
"Just in case he gets suspicious, then we can show him the ticket stubs." I mulled it over a few moments.
"Yeah, I guess it makes sense." We passed by a man playing Beethoven's 5th symphony on the violin. He sat on the corner of the street with a hat on the ground. Bennett pulled out a $5 and set it in the hat. He smiled and nodded at him. We continued walking. I smiled and nudged him on the arm.
"You really are a sweetheart." He smirked deviously and said,
"I can't have you thinking that," he pushed me into a puddle on the ground and started running. I got up and calmly followed behind, taking my time. He stopped across the street and waited for me when it was apparent I wouldn't run. When I got there, he smirked and said,
"Am I too fast for you?"
"You're just proving my point, you know." I said, smiling to myself. He frowned and walked beside me.
"How so?"
"If you didn't care if I got lost or not, you would've kept running. Instead, you waited for me. So sweet of you," I giggled as we approached the edge of the campus. He rolled his eyes and looked ahead. His eyes lit up at the sight of it. It wasn't a particularly large campus, but it was still marveling. I like the feeling you get when you're on a college campus of any kind. It's not just the fresh air and happy faces you see, but it's the feeling you get. Of education and jobs and, effectively, brighter futures. Comforting, really.
"Wow."
"That's what I said," he smiled, walking ahead of me. We came to a large sculpture right in front of the administration building. It looked like a gigantic toothbrush. I pointed and asked,
"Who did this?" He smiled and stared at the sculpture with something akin to admiration.
"Claes Odenberg. It's made mostly of aluminum and recycling materials, he likes helping the environment." I looked over at him and smiled. He stared at the sculpture the way many people stared at a beautiful woman. His eyes were wide and his smile was on full blast. He stared at it with an intense longing. I looked over to the building and cleared my throat.
"Well, should we go apply?" He nodded and walked over with me. As we climbed the steps, I asked,
"Why didn't you just apply online?" He shook his head and smiled.
"Everyone depends on technology now'a days. I'd like to show the dean that I'd appreciate attending his college in person." I nodded as we entered the building. A tired looking woman with red hair and long nails looked up at us with a small smile.
"Hello, I'm nancy, how may I help you?"
"I'd like an application to the university, please." He asked her. She barely looked away from her newspaper as she handed him a blue ink pen and an application.
"Here you go. You can sit over there, if you'd like." He thanked her and we sat in a corner where several tables were. He leaned over and quietly filled out his application, eyebrows knit. I looked around aimlessly at the several different people there. A man and woman sat giggling in a table a few feet away. Another woman breast-feeding her baby sat in another area. A man in a turban and a dog sat just outside the steps. After about twenty minutes, he walked up to the desk and handed her the sheet.
"Thank you, have a nice day." She said. We nodded and left to the bus station. I smiled and sighed.
"Well, it's only...4:30, what should we do?"
"Let's get the ticket stubs, then we'll decide," he replied, handing me a bus ticket. The bus pulled up and we showed the man our tickets. He looked at it and waved us on. We sat down somewhere towards the back. An old man in a sweater and khakis touched my arm and exclaimed,
"God loves you." Then he walked off the bus. I frowned and looked at him.
"Well....that was random." He laughed a little and asked,
"Do you go to church?"
"No." I replied with a smile. He smiled and nodded. I smiled and asked, "do you?"
"I used to, but that's only because the churches in France were beautiful."
"What were they like on the inside?" I asked, crossing my legs. He smiled and looked off.
"Stained glass windows, intricate wooden details on the columns, they were masterpieces." He sighed. I smiled and nudged him again.
"Well, maybe you'll see them again." He looked at me and smiled gently.
"Yeah, hopefully." We sat in awkward silence for a few moments before he said, "would you ever want to see France?" I knitted my eyebrows and shrugged.
"I don't know. Not as much as I'd like to see India."
"India?!" He exclaimed, laughing. "Why on earth would you want to see India?!"
"I've always wanted to bring my dad to the Taj Mahal." I explained. He tilted his head and asked,
"Why?" He looked at me. I looked down and smiled.
"When I was little, he always told me how much he loved my mom. He told me when they were younger, she always wanted to see the Taj Mahal, because it was a symbol of eternal love, which is exactly what he wanted."
"What happened to her?" He asked. I stiffened a little and said,
"Who?"
"Steve jobs. Your mom, book theif!" He exclaimed. I shook my head and shrugged.
"It's not important."
"Whys it not-"
"It just isn't, ok!?!" I shouted. Some people looked back at me and scowled. I blushed and sat back in my seat. He set his hands up in mock surrender.
"Ok, fine." The bus screeched to a stop and everyone who wanted off hopped out. We walked up to the stadium doors and waited in a long line. A man in a cowboy hat and tight pants walked past us, spilling a little beer on my sweat shirt. I sighed and took some kleenexes out of my purse and started cleaning up. Bennett tapped the guys shoulder and said,
"Hey, you spilled beer on her!" The man turned and smirked at Bennett. He had a crooked nose and a toothpick sticking halfway out of his mouth.
"Yeah, so?"
"Say you're sorry." The man looked around and shrugged.
"Yeah, who's gonna make me?" Bennett took a step closer and pointed to himself.
"I, that's who."
"Bennett, you don't need to-"
"It's ok, book theif." The man wasn't afraid. Bennett isn't a small guy, at six-feet four-inches and nearly two thirty, he was not impaired size wise. But the cowboy guy was freakishly big, I'd say at least six-nine and three twenty. The cowboy man smiled down at Bennett and chuckled.
"I'd suggest not testing me, boy. Wouldn't want your girlfriend to see ya beat up." Someone handed the cowboy a baseball bat. He took it and dangled it in Bennett's face. Then, Bennett did something shocking. He simply reached out and took it away from him. He then tossed it aside and walked a few feet another way, spreading his hands.
"You want to tango, tuff guy?" He then set down his hands and smiled at the cowboy. 'He's gonna die,' is all I could think. The cowboy smiled and said,
"You got guts, pretty boy." He took the first swing. It hurdled towards Bennett's nose. Bennett almost casually side-stepped it and pressed the tips of his fingers together, using them to deliver a knife-hand strike to the cowboys neck. His eyes bulged and he gripped his throat. Bennett roundhouses him in the solar plexus and followed up with a palm strike to the nose. We heard a loud SNAP! He fell to the ground in screams.
"My nose! You broke it!"
"There are 206 bones in a human body, and that's only one of them, would you like any others to be disabled?" He asked in a calm, manner-of-fact voice. The cowboy shook his head with tears in his eyes. He nodded to me and said,
"Then what do you say to her?"
"I'm sorry!" He said, whimpering. Bennett smiled, bought our tickets, and started walking off. I followed him with wide eyes.
"What. The hell. Was. That?" I asked him. He rolled his eyes and said,
"You're in shock. It'll ware off eventually, let's go there." He pointed to 'The Morris museum of Art.'
"You didn't...he...that wasn't..."
"Ethical? Smart? Unecassary? Please spare me the lecture, book theif. I did what I did because he was being a rude asshole, and that's it." I stared at him for a few moments. I'd never heard him speak like that before. He was always using slang and abbreviations. It was weird hearing him talk like a human being, with feeling and emotion. We approached the doors and walked inside the hall. It wasn't a particularity big museum, but it was still pretty open-concept. The receptionist sat at a small desk in a corner. She smiled as we entered. Her face was old and worn, like leather, but it was oddly soothing.
"Enjoy the museum, and if there are and questions or comments, please don't hesitate to ask me." Her voice was high pitch and transitioned from word to word without really annunciating. We nodded and kept walking. Bennett pulled out a few sheets of paper and a pencil and we walked up to an exhibit. I've always loved museums, ever since I was a little kid. This one seemed like all the other ones I'd seen before, but Bennett seemed intrigued by every painting. It seemed like time was slowing down so he could see each one and study it. We stopped in front of a painting called, 'Rediscovered,' by Steffen Thomas. It looked to me like someone took a piece of rainbow paper and sent it through a paper shredder, but Bennett stared at it with intense interest and took notes on his paper. I giggled and asked,
"Why is it you're so interested in this painting? It looks weird." He looked at me like I was speaking Swahili.
"This is not weird. Do you even know what it is?"
"I don't think the artist knows what it is," I exclaimed, looking at it. He sighed and took a step back.
"It's not a depiction of any specific being, it's an example of expressional art. He painted his feelings onto the canvas." He explained. I studied it a little harder and shrugged.
"So, he was feeling mad and happy?" He chuckled a little and pushed me playfully. I sighed and decided to walk away and let Bennett enjoy himself. It was his birthday trip, after all. I had walked only a few feet before something caught my eye. It wasn't all that much. It was a sculpture of a large book, a dictionary or encyclopedia of some sort, and had sections cut out, revealing pictures and captions through out it. It interested me as I stared at it. I reached out to touch it, but a voice stopped me,
"That's museum property!" I froze in place, turning around. Bennett was smiling behind me and laughing a little. I smirked and punched his chest.
"Your an ass sometimes."
"But not all the time! You should have seen your face!" He laughed some more. I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms.
"It's not nice to scare people."
"I'm sorry, it was just too easy." He finished laughing and stood beside me, looking at the book. He frowned and asked, "what do you like about this one?"
"I don't know. It's just...interesting." I said, staring at it. He smiled and sighed.
"It's called 'Knowledge in Depth,' and it was made by an artist named Brian Dettmer. He has a masters in painting, but likes 3D art and specializes in it." He looked at the book with me. I smiled and asked,
"Does he only do books?"
"Mostly, he does like painting, too." He wrote something down on his paper and smiled at me. "Ready to go?" I checked the time; 6:30.
"Holy shit! We gotta catch the bus!" We sprinted out the door, well, he sprinted and I sort of wobbled behind. The bus pulled off just as we got to the stop.
"Shit!" Bennett exclaimed, frustrated and setting his hands on top of his beanie. I sighed.
"Should we wait for the next one?"
"No, we'll get there faster if we just walk." He sighed, his shoulders slumping. I nodded and we started walking towards the house. We decided to pass the time by playing 20 questions.
"Is it an animal?" He asked.
"Nope."
"Is it an object?"
"Yes."
"Is it a circle?"
"No."
"A rectangle?"
"Yes."
"Is it a book?"
"Yes!" I exclaimed, clapping my hands. He shook his head.
"You and books."
"I know, everyone comments on it." I said, rolling my eyes. He shrugged his shoulders and asked,
"What's the first book you ever read?" I thought for a few moments. A little kid came and rubbed ice cream on my jeans and ran off, his mother trailing behind.
"I think it was...green eggs and ham."
"I used to have that in French," he bragged. I rolled my eyes and smiled.
"Of course you did. Now, I've got a question."
"What would that be?" He asked, looking at me. I crossed my arms. The night was getting cold, and it being winter in Maine didn't make manners better. I looked at him and asked,
"What was your first poem?" He shuddered a little and was silent for a minute. Then he said,
"It was Dante's first sonnet from la vita nouvu. I remember my grandma reading it to me. It didn't make sense then, but I wanted it to. I wanted to know why it sounded so sad, so I decided to study it. And, after a while, I fell in love with it." He smiled and stared off into the crowds of people. I stared with him, because it'd be awkward if I just stared at him. He shuddered again and said,
"I've never told anyone that." I looked over at him. He stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and smiled at me. I smiled back and said,
"Thanks, I guess?" He laughed a little and we turned the corner to his house. When we walked inside, the whole house smelled like meat loaf and potatoes. I set my coat on the coat hangers and hung it in the hall closet. Bennett's grandma came around the corner and smiled.
"Ah, there you two are! Come on, you must be starving!" She had us sit at the table. I sat in between Bennett and his dad in the middle of the right side. Great aunt Florence and Bennett's grandma sat on the left side, and his grandpa sat at the end. We all said grace and filled our plates full of food. Bennett's grandpa nodded at me.
"So, your name is....Sarah, right?" I looked up from practically inhaling my food and nodded.
"Yes."
"Well, Sarah, I presume that you two are together?" I sat up a little, swallowing my potatoes.
"You'd presume wrong, sir. We're just friends."
"In what sense?" He asked, smiling. I frowned and said,
"Well, we aren't the closest, but I'd say we're good friends." He nodded as if that explained everything. Bennett talked about France for the most part of the meal. At one point, his dad's hand 'slipped' and ended on my knee. I promptly crossed my knees and wouldn't make eye contact with him. After everyone had finished, I offered to help with the dishes. Bennett's grandma smiled brightly and nodded.
"Thank you, Sarah. You're so helpful." I bowed my head and brought some plates to the kitchen. We washed and dried silently for a few moments before she asked,
"So, did Bennett invite you?"
"Yes." I said, smiling. She smiled back and asked,
"Did he say why?" I stopped and frowned to myself.
"He...didn't want to come alone with his dad." I finally said. She looked at me, then down to the plates.
"That would explain it. William has always been...troubled. I've always suspected his behavior towards Bennett, but now..." She stopped, looking out the window. Her eyes were glossy. I looked at her and urged,
"Yes?" She inhaled slowly, closing her eyes.
"Nothing, you'd better get to bed." I nodded and walked up the stairs. I heard a few hushed voices coming from the bedroom. The door was slightly ajar, so I listened in;
"Can we please just drop it, please?"
"Don't pussy out, tell me why you took so long, and maybe you'll get it less worse-" I opened the door all the way, standing straight in the doorway. Bennett was standing in one corner, fear in his eyes. His dad stood in front of him, holding a belt. He turned when he saw me and smiled.
"Sarah, what're you doing here?"
"This where I'm sleeping, right?" I asked, looking between Bennett and his dad. He smiled and nodded.
"Bennett and I are having a conversation, can you leave?" Bennett looked down. I clenched my hands into fists and shook my head.
"I think I'd rather stay, I'm very tired, you see." He smiled at my response, looked back at Bennett, then lowered the belt.
"All right, I'm across the hall if you need me," then he left, brushing past me. I let loose a breath I didn't know I was holding and looked at Bennett. His eyes were glassy and he sniffled a little. I smiled and shrugged.
"So, which side do you want?" He smiled and looked at the bed.
"Uh, left, I guess?"
"Ok, sounds good. Should I leave to the bathroom and change?" I asked. He shook his head and grabbed a pair of sweatpants and a long sleeve red shirt.
"No, I'll go."
"Ok." I nodded. I threw on a pair of PJ pants with pencils on it and a black tank top. I sat criss cross on the bed and pulled out a book called, 'Sarah's keys.' I read a few sentences,
'We boarded the train with a rushed relief, they hadn't noticed that I wasn't a boy, and it seemed we were home free...' Bennett interrupted me by springing onto the bed. I bounced a few times and rolled my eyes. He sat to the side and asked,
"What're you reading?"
"Sarah's keys." I answered. He smiled and said,
"That's boring, here, read this." He handed me an old, worn out piece of paper that had been well read throughout the years. I frowned at it for a moment, then smiled and said,
"Dante's first sonnet from la vita nouvu?" He smiled and looked down. I shrugged and read;

'Joyous love, sing to me. The while he held my heart in his hands.
And in his arms, my lady lay asleep, wrapped in a veil.
He awoke her then, trembling and obedient, she ate that burning heart out of his hand.
Weeping, I saw him then depart from me.'

After I'd read it out loud, I smiled and whispered,
"Wow. It's beautiful." He nodded and looked at me.
"It was my grandma's," then, after a second of silence, he added, "you keep it." I shot up and frowned at him while shaking my head rapidly from side to side.
"No, I-I couldn't-"
"It's ok, Sarah. I have it all memorized, please, keep it." I looked him in the eyes. He smiled gently and pushed the poem into my hands. I folded it carefully and set it inside my bag. I smiled at him and said softly,
"Thank you." He nodded slowly and sighed.
"We'd better get to sleep. Goodnight."
"Goodnight," I laid down in my side and set my head down gently on the pillow. I was almost asleep, when I felt him shift to his other side facing me. I pretended to be asleep and relaxed myself. He set his hand on my side for a few seconds. I contemplated shaking him off, but for some reason, decided not to. He slid his arm all the way around my waist and pulled me a little closer to him. I leaned against his chest and could feel the muscles he had. He leaned his forehead against the back of my head and stayed completely silent. After a while, his breath shallowed, and I stared into the darkness of the night.

__________________________________________________________________________________

Sorry the chapter was so long, but I didn't really know how to end it, so that's whatcha got!tanks so much, enjoy the next one, bye!:D