The House

Chapter 4: Beth's Story

It was cold outside.

Too cold for a twelve year old to be outside, but I loved the wind. Remember I told you I like rain? Something about cold weather, the winter, the way everyone tells me to stay inside and dress up warm makes me want to go outside even more. My cheeks were numb, and my fingers were turning pink. Even though I had my warmest sweater on, the wind snapped under my clothes.

I was outside because there were boys in my house.

Not just any boys; not boys who have cute smiles and funny laughs; not boys who collect lizards and deliver newspapers on shiny bicycles; not boys who you stared at in school and drew their names on your notebooks, surrounded by heart stickers. These boys were loud, they were strong. They were cruel, with horsepower fists and sharp tongues, bodies that were too fast for a little girl to hide from.

They were Caleb Munch, Tim Sawyer, and Drew Hackle. Of all of them, Caleb was the leader, a brutish fifteen year old with a dirty mouth and a chin that split in the middle. He had a scar on his eyebrow that he said was from a fight, but everyone who was with him in second grade knew he got it from falling off a slide. During spring break, his life ended when he drank too much, and drove himself off the side of a bridge. He totaled his car and died from smashing his big scarred head into the steering wheel.

They had the funeral for him last year. People came with roses in big plastic bouquets, and cried and said what a bright light he was and oh what a shame, he died so young. I came later when the roses were wilted and the grave dirt was packed tight with everyone else's footsteps. I looked at his gravestone and thanked God another monster had been kept from the world. But that was last year. When I was thirteen, Caleb was very much alive.

Tim was his dark haired, sly accomplice, a pretty boy whom adults loved, his grades were perfect, and he kept acid in his locker that he would use to threaten me, holding my fingers over it while whispering for me to hand over my lunch money. I've seen kids with acid burned fingers walking around the school, before they quickly pull gloves over their ruined hands, and I know it's the handiwork of Tim Sawyer, that bastard. He's been accepted into Harvard, you know. He's leaving next year. He even has a girl friend.

And Drew...Drew Hackle. He was a nice kid before Caleb and Tim got their hands on him. A transfer from South Carolina, he moved here with his parents, little sister, and a dog named Buttercup. Smart, small, and desperately lonely, I even had a conversation with him on his first day of school. He was sitting in the back, wearing a big jacket even though it was summer, a Green Day T shirt and jeans.

It went like this.

"Hey there! I'm Beth!"

He looked absolutely terrified of me.

"Hi Beth."

"How are you doing on your first day?"

"I'm okay, thanks."

"Piss off, Anderson," that was Caleb, rapidly approaching between the desks. I ran away before he and Tim could come any closer. That was the first, only, and last decent conversation I ever had with Drew. It only took him a week to be transformed into a Tim and Caleb minion. He was the quiet one, always in the back and he did whatever they said without hesitation. He adored them; revered them. Yet I think at the same time, he was just another one of their victims.

That doesn't mean I forgive him though. How can you forgive someone, as two bullies are strangling you against the wall, and that someone just stands in the back and does nothing? Not doing anything is sometimes the worst thing you can do. Anyway...is this helping? Should I keep going?

"Sure, Beth."

Okay then.

Well, Tim's dad, Kane, and mine were friends. All the dads knew each other anyway. They helped coach the baseball and football teams, chaperone on field trips, stood around at barbeques while drinking ice cold beers and watching their kids wreak havoc. So naturally, with the winter surrounding us, my dad invited Kane Sawyer and his family to go ice skating on the river behind our grocery store. Of course, anyone could join. Young Tim Sawyer couldn't go ice skating without Caleb and Drew; the more the merrier.