JEFF

UNUSUAL and TORN

  The fallowing few months went by normally or as normal they could get. Randy and his crew stopped Liu and Jeff by the bus stop for their weekly pay. Jeff wanted badly to clobber them but was always stopped by Liu. The headaches, though short, got more painful as the nightmares became more unpredictable and vicious. Everything stopped being completely normal when Jeff got into a fight with another student and threw them down the stairs. He couldn't even remember what the other kid did, he just sort of checked out for a few moments. He was later called to the office where both his parents sat waiting. The principle had already made up his mind on Jeff's punishment and was given a month of In-School-Suspension. He didn't like the thought of ISS but he didn't voice it. There was no way he wanted more trouble from the school. At least now he wouldn't have to suck up to Randy and his idiot duo. 
  Not four days later, early one morning, Jeff awoke to scratching on his door. It was soft but persistent and it made the boy a bit nervous. He shook his head, knowing well it was childish to be uneasy over something so small. Probably just mice, he reasoned. He tossed his sheets off his legs and went to his door. The scratching stopped when he placed his hand on the brass doorknob. He stood there a moment before going back to the side of his bed where the scratching started again, this time a bit more loudly. Getting agitated, Jeff strode back to his door and the scratching stopped. That moment, he was drenched with the feeling of unease. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up as he clasped his doorknob, taking a sharp breath, he opened his door quickly. It was just darkness standing in the hallway.
  Jeff blinked, adjusting his eyes before he looked out from his doors arch. He saw his parents and brothers headroom doors tightly closed and on the opposite side he saw the stairs and the open bathroom. The boy let out a sigh, realize how irrational he was being. He took another look at the bathroom as headlights aluminate the wall and his tongue seemed to catch in his throat. In the flash of dim light, a figure with a red smile stood with beady, black encircled eyes stared back at the boy. Jeff shut his door quickly and sat against it. He was dreaming. Dreaming and he would wake up soon in his comfy bed. After a few minutes, the boy plucked up the courage to look outside his room again. There was nothing. No weirdo in the bathroom or by his families rooms. No one was awake, except for him. He rubbed the back of his neck and scoffed at his stupidity before heading back to his bed.
  Liu woke Jeff up a few hours later for breakfast. He told his brother he wasn't hungry but Liu insisted. Jeff ended up downstairs, groggily watching his brother race around the house for his things before sitting at the dinning table to fix himself some cereal. His mother set a glass of orange juice in front of the boys. Jeff didn't touch his.
  "Can Jeff walk to the bus stop with me today, mom?" Liu asked their mom.
  "Why can't you go by yourself? You're a big boy now," Jeff asked sarcastically. Liu rolled his eyes at the remark as he sipped the orange pulp.
  "I suppose if your father doesn't mind," Margaret said, filling a thermos with black coffee. As if on cue, Peter hurried in, trying to straiten his tie with a brief case in one hand.
  "Dad, can Jeff walk to the bus stop with me?" Liu questioned his rushing father.
  "Yeah, I don't care," he replied, grabbing his thermos and pecking his wife on the cheek before heading to the door.
  "Don't forget to drink your oj before you go," Their mother reminded them as she kissed them on their heads. She got to the front door before looking back to her two boys. Even though he was half awake, Jeff saw concern in his moms face before she grabbed her coat and left. It was weird. It seemed his parents were always looking at him with worry nowadays. Never mind, he didn't want to dwell on it.
  The time came to head out to the stop and the teenagers walked quietly in the morning haze. The air was crisp as puffy grey clouds rolled by and heavy with the January chill. Jeff looked ahead and frowned deeply. The triple dick squad was already there, waiting for the two freshmen. Jeff gave a hard stare at his brother, knowing damn well Liu had known beforehand they would be here today. Liu looked rather sheepish as they approached. For an elder brother, he sure was skittish.
  "Mornin' faggots, you have the money for this week?" Randy asked in a sing-song manner. Liu started for his wallet but Jeff stopped him. He was in no mood for this bullshit.
  "We have no money this week," he said calmly. Troy and Keith actually snickered to Jeff's reply. Their stupid snorting made his eye twitch with irritation.
  "That's too bad," Randy tsk as he pulled his knife from his back pocket, "Because I'm sure your mommy will be so sad that she'll have to nurse one of her brats!" Randy lunged with his left hand at Jeff, sinking the blade into the boys right shoulder, just under the collar bone. Unfazed, Jeff looked at the knife then back to Randy, seeing befuddlement upon his face. Jeff's rage seemed to explode as he gripped the upperclassmen's wrist before breaking his arm at the elbow. Randy shrieked as he hit his knees, holding his shattered arm.
  "Get 'em!" He screamed through gritted teeth to Keith and Troy. Troy was first to rush Jeff. The freshmen took the knife from his shoulder and placing it in fat boys stomach, under the ribs and tripping him as he removed the knife. Keith then came at him with his own knife in hand. Stick boy swung wildly, missing each time before Jeff blocked the arm with the knife, earning a blade in Jeff's forearm, and landed a punch on his bony face. While Keith stumbled back from the force, Jeff sunk the knife into the side of the elder boys ribs and repeated the action thrice before Liu pulled him off of the boy. Jeff felt his heart racing and his face was sore from grinning.
  "Jeff the bus!! It's coming, come on!" Liu's voice reached Jeff's ears and he snapped out of his joy.
  "Huh?" Jeff looked to his brother then down the street, seeing the yellow vehicle. Panic started to sink in.
  "Jeff get home, now before someone sees!" Liu shoved his younger brother toward their house.
  "Wait about you?"
  "I'll just run to school. Go, now," Liu said over his shoulder as he started in the direction to the high school. Jeff didn't know how hard he was running until he got inside his house. He hit his knees as he tried to breathe. His shoulder and arm surged with pain with every breath as he got up and climbed to the bathroom. He leaned over the sink, holding his injured arm to himself, gagging and coughing harshly. Sweat dripped from his brow as he looked at his reflection in the mirror. His hair stuck to his paled face and he saw the growing blood stain on his shirt. Shedding the ruined shirt, Jeff noticed the pocket knife embed in his arm and he felt himself start shaking. He took the knife by its grip and readied himself. He pulled the serrated metal from his flesh with a pain filled yell and threw it into the sink. He grabbed a towel and applied pressure to the wound. Jeff sat on the floor, still breathing heavily, blinking back tears. What have I done, he questioned himself.
  Gulping, Jeff got up and got his dad's first aid to mend his wounds. He painfully stitched up the gapping holes in his shoulder and arm and wrapped both with as much gauss and bandage he could for it to not bleed through. After he popped a few pain killers, Jeff cleaned up the mess he had bled as best he could for it to not seem like anything happened. He then locked himself in his room and waited. He heard the sirens come by his house, he covered his ears as they passed. Jeff stayed in his room even after the emergency services cleared out from the bus stop. His anxiety and fear made him stay where he was as the day passed.
  Around noon, he heard a knock on the front door downstairs but he didn't move to answer it. Not even to look out the window. It was police. He knew it. No doubt they had his brother in custody and were looking for him now. The knocks continued for about thirty minutes before they stopped. He heard voices of his parents and felt his throat tighten. He got up shakily and when to hide Keith's knife under his bed mattress. He didn't want the accession. He didn't want to be separated from his brother or mom and dad. He heard the door click open and his mom call his name. He scrambled to get a long sleeved shirt on the hide the bandages on his arm. Jeff then went to his door and opened it finding both parents and two cops, hands resting on their holsters, just entering the upstair hallway.
  "What's going on?" Jeff managed to ask. It surprised him on how calm his voice sounded.
  "We want to talk to you about a fight involving you, your brother and a few other kids earlier this morning," one of the officers said, motioning to go outside with them, "If you please."
  Jeff didn't really remember much between his house and on the way to the investigation room. It was all hazy and blurred but it snapped into clarity the moment a woman walked in holding a clipboard and a tape recorder. She had soft features but her eyes were hard. Deadlocked with a good amount of information and knowing. She took a seat across the table from Jeff and seemingly examined him with her hazel eyes as she pressed the record button.
  "Hello, I'm Amanda Greenwish. You're Jeffery, right? Liu's brother?" She asked almost causally. Jeff's fingers twitched at the mention of Liu.
  "Is he alright?" Was the first thing out of his mouth. Amanda nodded with a small smile that had a reassurance to it.
  "I've spoken with your brother already and he confessed everything," she said, dropping her warm smile. Jeff's blood ran cold and his face paled, "He has explained how the situation began and told me you had to pull him off."
  Jeffery couldn't believe what he was hearing. Liu covered for him. He wanted to tell her his brother was lying, that he was the one who started everything. His throat was dry as he tried to speak and his stomach twisted into knots. He felt sick.
  "I know how you must feel, Jeff-" The boy cut her off with a sob.
  "Yeah, he-he did it. I didn't know what was going on at first," Why was he lying? Why were these words spilling out of him like a broken dam, "I was so scared. I had to do something! H-h-ow-how was I suppose to know that Liu would go that far? But please don't take my brother to prison, he was just protecting me!" He hiccuped, covering his face. He felt so ashamed, so guilty of selling out his brother when he had don't the misdeed but he kept playing to Liu's initial lie.
  "I'm sorry Jeffery, but we have eyewitnesses and evidence. It's out of my hands, now that you have affirmed the confession," Amanda said with a small hint of sorrow etched her face as she got up from the table.
  "No! No! Please! Don't make him go, please," Jeff sobbed, pleading and begging. Amanda just shook her head and left him in there. He wanted to vomit. He wanted to die. To just not be as his world seemed to shatter around him. And it was because of him. Because he couldn't own up to assaulting three boys.
  It was only seconds that felt like hours when his parents and an officer came to get him from the interrogation room. His mother was ghostly and puffy eyed, she had been crying too while his father looked weary and ragged. The officer escorted them out of the station without letting them see Liu. The car ride home was somber and quiet, except from the occasional sniffle from his mom.
  "You did good, Jeff," Peter said breaking the silence.
  "Huh?" The boy replied.
  "You stopped Liu from doing anymore damage," That sentence sent a wave of grief over Jeffery, "I spoke with one of the investigators and they said the third degree assault potential sentence is five years."
  "Five years?" Jeff became hopeful. His father shot him a look through the rearview mirror.
  "The three boys parents are pressing charges for second degree, Jeff, don't get excited. The bail is too high as it is without the charges," Peter sighed heavily and he seemed to deflate in the front seat. His mother erupted into mournful sobbing. The new mark on his shoulder of his brothers lie burned throughout the night.