Reaper's Lullaby

Lucas: Broken Pieces

"It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men."
-Frederick Douglass

Lucas didn't tell Nora or anyone else that he was planning to rob his own house. In the thirty minutes he had between the time his mother left and the time Nora came by to pick him up for school, he managed to take Brian's laptop, both iPads and the jar of cash he knew his mother kept high in one of the closets. The cash, about two grand, was an emergency savings in case the world went to shit and access to technology was gone. He made sure to wear gloves so no one could identify him as the thief.

He raided all the medicine cabinets. Sarah had removed every trace of opiates from the house last year after finding out about the Oxy, but he did find some Phentermine, a diet pill she had taken for a few days before complaining that she couldn't sleep. Lucas figured he could sell it off to some speedfreaks somewhere. And, of course, he took Brian's Klonopin again.

In fact, Lucas hit Brian harder than anyone. He tried not to take too much from his mother, but he took just about everything he could get his hands on in Brian's office: handfuls of dollar bills and change, fancy awards made of gold and crystal, a pair of pricey cuff links, even the nice pens. Then he trashed the place, throwing neat stacks of paper all over the room, ripping the leather chair open with a kitchen knife, breaking the glass on the pictures and certificates. He stopped short of graffitiing the room with spray paint even though he wanted to. His handwriting would get him caught.

As for the rest of the house, Lucas didn't trash it too much, just opened every closet, drawer and cabinet, knocked over tables and chairs, cut a few cushions open and smashed a couple of vases that he knew his mother had no attachment to. He stored all the goods upstairs in his closet just as Nora knocked on the front door. He was glad he had thought to lock it. She was jiggling the door handle as he ran down the stairs, out of breath from setting the stage for the robbery.

"Hey, baby," she said cheerfully when he opened it.

"H-hey," Lucas stammered.

"You seem surprised to see me."

"No I just lost track of the time."

"Well are you ready?" Nora asked.

Lucas shouldered his backpack, which he'd strategically placed by the front door. "Yep. Let's go."

As he dug for his house key, Nora asked, "You still up for that party tonight?"

It was a Halloween party that Jack had invited them to, an actual college party. He'd described it as a "rager". Mostly they were going to score more dope from someone who sold cheap shit. Jack's prices were becoming increasingly impossible to pay. They were going to have to settle for some heavily cut product, at least for now.

"Yep," Lucas answered.

He locked the front door just like always and didn't look back as he walked to Nora's car.

———————

After school was over, Nora drove them home, and as she turned onto the familiar street they saw two police cars in the driveway of Lucas's house.

"Oh my God," she said softly.

Lucas did his best to look shocked and horrified.

"You think it's Sam?" Nora asked with fear in her voice.

Lucas shook his head. "Can't be. He's in daycare for another hour."

"Should I come in with you?"

"Yeah," Lucas said.

Once inside, they saw Brian chatting with a rotund police officer as three other cops looked over the crime scene, searching for fingerprints and clues.