The Demon Boy

A New Home

I feel the teacher staring at me as she walks past, and I absent-mindedly rest my chin in my palm; she sees my hand and leans over to me. "What happened?" she asks.

I pretend to look closely at my scabbed knuckles, "Oh, this? S'nothing special. "

"How did it happen?" she sounds worried, I look up at her face and see genuine concern in her eyes.

"Must've punched something." I say, exasperated by her concern. She makes a small sound in her throat and leaves.

Later that day, during lunch...

I see Austin and his groupies walking toward me in the lunch room and I make a beeline for the front doors. I really don't feel like dealing with a group of idiots. Just as I make it outside a hand grabs me from behind - not Austin, the grip is weaker - and I'm slammed into the brick wall. Austin's fat friend, Andy, releases his grip on the back of my shirt and switches it to the front. He jerks me forward and slams me back into the wall, trying to make me cry.

"You're gonna pay for what happened this morning," says Austin angrily.

"Come again? I don't speak stupid" I spit back, keeping a straight face.

He growls at me and nods to his boys. The three of them grin idiotically and step forward. My heart starts to race. I've never been scared of Austin's band of hooligans, but they've never ganged up on me to actually beat me up before. Zach swings first while Andy and Conner hold me back, he hits me square in the gut, knocking the air out of my lungs. Then he swings again, I twist and grab Conner and Andy's arms. There's a brief sizzling sound and they both scream and let me go. Zach doesn't slow or stop though, his punch goes all the way through, hits me straight in the jaw and snaps my head to the side. I hear a snap and the next thing I know, I'm on the ground.

Austin's friends gasp, then they start yelling at each other. Shut up! I scream at them, but not out loud. Where's my voice?! Why can't I talk? I see their shoes shuffle away quickly, the stupid boys still yelling at each other.

I wait several minutes after the bell rings, just lying there, until I can move my body again. I sit up slowly and pop my neck, loud cracks ringing through the school yard. I rub the soreness out of my neck and stretch. A voice rings out over the intercom suddenly, startling me.

"Will Dante Sanders please come to the Principal's office? Dante Sanders to the Principal's office."

I stand up slowly and walk to the main office. Austin and Zach are huddled in a corner whispering furiously at each other. I hear little snippets as I approach them.

"Not telling anybody!..."

"What are we gonna do?!..."

"Shut up, pea-brain...!"

"Ouch! What was that for? It was your idea!..."

I let out a laugh as I pass them. They freeze and stare at me as if they'd seen a ghost. I waggle my fingers at them and enter the main office. The lady at the front desk looks up as I walk in the door.

"I was called to the Principal's office?" I say.

"Dante?"

"Yeah..."

She nods, "Go on back."

I walk through the short hallway to the office and knock on the door. Principal James looks up and waves me in. I open the door and step inside.

"Close the door, please." he says kindly. I do as he says and sit down. "Your teacher, Ms. Winston, came to me earlier and asked me to talk to you about what happens at home. She told me about your hand and expressed much worry." He pauses a moment, waiting for my reply. I just stare at him. "May I see your hand?" I show him my torn knuckles and he sucks in a quick breath. "What happened?"

When I don't answer he gives me a stern look. "I punched a wall... probably in my sleep."

Another pause, "Uh-huh... she also mentioned that you had said that you 'must've punched a wall', but I don't think I believe that. What really happened?"

"My foster-mom did it," I say after a short hesitation.

"Why...?"

"Because I kicked Austin in the head." I try to hold in the laugh that threatens to come out.

"And why did you do that?"

"Because he was trying to kill me." I raise an eyebow at the tone in his voice. He does the same, as if urging me to go on, "he tried to smother me in my sleep..."

He blanches when I say that. "'Smother you?' As in, suffocate you?"

"Well I don't know of any other kind of 'smothering'." He gives me a look.

"I'll talk to the authorities about this and see if I can get you out of that house."

"Uh, okay... is that all you wanted?" I start to get up.

"Yes, you can go back to class now, thank you."

I stand and leave, closing the door behind me.

*    *    *

Almost as soon as I get home the phone rings. "Hello, this is Calvin Johnson, am I speaking with Dante Sanders?"

"Uh, yes."

"Oh, good. Go ahead and pack your things," he says quickly, "we've found you a new home. We'll have someone to pick you up in an hour. Goodbye." Without waiting for a "bye" from me, he hangs up. I shrug at the strange call and head to my room to pack my suitcase.

About fifty minutes after I load all my clothes into my bag I hear the font door open and close, then thunderous laughter as Austin and his friends walk in. They storm straight to my room and block the doorway, grinning fiendishly.

"We know how you did it..." says Austin, folding his arms.

I pretend not to hear him.

"You had a lighter or something, then you just pretended to break your neck..." he seemed proud of himself for figuring that out.

"Mm-hmm..." I say sarcastically. He doesn't seem to like that.

"You tryin' to play again?" There's malice in his voice. I hear his footsteps advancing on me and he grabs my shoulder. When he spins me around I slam my fist into his face, knocking him back a few steps, and he grabs his jaw. Just then the doorbell rings, I grab my suitcase and dash for the door before anyone can stop me.

"Hey! Come back here!" Austin's voice is muffled through the blood dripping from his nose. "Wimp!"

I rush through the door as he starts to scream for his mommy again.