Sage (manxman)

Chapter 5 - Etherial

Chapter 5 - Etherial           

            Ford lay in bed once again, the soft sheets pressing against his naked torso and chest. He was only in his boxers. Sliding his hand into his pants he closed his eyes tight and thought of Mr. Lenoir. Every thought of the teacher, of what could be, filled him with joy. The windows rattled as Ford started to move his hand up and down.  Wind began to pick up inside the room and Ford could almost feel Mr. Lenoir’s scruff of his beard press against his cheek. Suddenly the door opened and Ford quickly withdrew his hand from his pants.

            “What are you,” Nancy paused and closed her eyes. Ford quickly straightened himself up to a sitting position on the bed. “I don’t need to know.” Nancy put up a hand saving Ford an explanation. His mother smelled of alcohol and the odor drifted all the way from the door to the bed. “Did you finish your homework?” She inquired.

            “Yeah,” Ford replied, he hadn’t been on good terms with his mother. His heart skipped a beat.

            “Thank you for coming home on time today.” Nancy moved to the bed and sat down next to her son. Her worried eyes trying to remain calm but the alcohol worked adversely to that. “I know you think this is ridiculous. Me punishing you like this. But I am worried about your father and I can’t have you running around out of control.”

            “Okay,” Ford replied.

            “Don’t give me attitude.” Nancy started and then noticed Ford wasn’t fighting back. “I’m sorry, I just, I’m worried about your father.”
            “I am too.” Ford continued. He had gone above and beyond his mother’s restrictions and was sick of them. She had grounded him for no reason and had taken to drinking a bit too much recently.

            Nancy stood up and looked around the room. There were scattered papers around the floor and cloths strewn about. “You’re room is much messier now,” Nancy observed. Bending down she picked up a few pieces of paper and eyed them. There were pictures of satyrs and fauns all over it. They were print outs from the Internet, “What is this Ford?”

            “Homework,” Ford lied and stared his mother straight in the eyes. Although she had been drinking, she stared right back and knew the truth.

            Nancy put the paper down on Ford’s desk and pursed her lips. She was angry but didn’t want to fight. Maybe the alcohol that ran through her veins made her angrier but at this point it didn’t matter. She walked to the door of Ford’s room and in her most condescending passive aggressive voice that she could muster up this late at night she spat out, “clean this up.”

            Nancy shut the door and Ford gulped. His knuckles were white as they clenched his bed sheets and he glared at the door. This wouldn’t have happened if his father was still here. His heart dropped at the thought of his dad and his grip lessened on the blankets. It was his fault his father was in the hospital. Not wanting to think about it Ford whipped his hand out sending a gust of wind towards the lamp knocking it down and plunging the room into darkness.

           

***

            Ford parked his white truck in the school parking lot. He arrived early that day and looked over at his passenger seat. Now he knew what he was up against. The thing that killed the vice principal and a local police officer, he had read everything he could find about fauns and it was a mix.  Looking out his car window he spotted Hudson across the parking lot taking a rip from a pipe. Hudson dressed like a stoner. He wore a colorful beanie and a long sweatshirt.