I walk through the leaf strewn sidewalk, the pleasing sound and feel of leaves being crushed under my shoes calms me. A light sent of something burning permeates the air and fills me with inexpressible hope. Mom would have pumpkin cookies ready, Bax would have Nazi Zombies up and going, and, of course, there's always football to look forward to. The sun was bright, and the air was crisp. I close my eyes and take in the perfection of the moment. I opened my eyes and there, amongst the orange and yellow sea, he stood.
He was tall, with milky, almost translucent, skin. His mouth formed a heinous grin that took up most of his face and was filled with dozens of narrow, long, yellow teeth. His hair was whiter than the driven snow and his eyes... his eyes were large with a pink dot in the middle that were his irises. He wore a white suit that seemed two sizes too small and was soggy with urine and filth. The Albino. The Albino was back.
"Hey there, Jesse. How's kicks?" His voice was pleasantly monotonous and soothing, his head was tilted slightly to the right and he spoke without moving his lips. I could only hear it in my head. It's all in my head. It's all in my head. It's all in my head.
"It's all in your head. It's all in your head. It's all in your head," he sang childishly.
"Come on now, Jesse. Don't you think this is getting old?" I looked at him and saw that he had crept slightly forward.
"You're not real, because we got rid of you. We... We got rid of you," I was shivering so hard my hat fell off. I didn't dare look away from him, but I wasn't sure how long I could look and retain my sanity.
"Oh, but sweetie," he said kindly, "I am real. You tried to have me shoved away, Jesse. You wanted them to get rid of me, Jesse. But I'll always be here for you. No matter where you try to run to. I'll always be a part of you, just like you'll always be a part of me. Isn't that right?" his voice retained its monotony. "I don't have a choice and neither do you." His smile remained painfully tattooed across his face.
I could smell him now. It was like a force field that preceded him wherever he went. The smell of dank piss and vomit filled me. I noticed, for the first time, he wore only one sock, it was stained a yellow brown from decades of sweat build up and pus.
"I've really missed you, Jesse," his eerily calm voice echoed in my mind, but his face remained frozen.
I made my way towards him, head down and whispering reassuringly to myself that he isn't real. He isn't real. He isn't real. Hoping beyond hope he would just disappear, so I could go home and have a damn cookie.
"Look at me, Jess."
"Not real. Not real. Not real."
"Jesse. Look at me now," his voice lost its calmness only slightly, but I noticed. "Not real. Not real. Not re..."
"JESSE! Look at me you little shit or I'll skin your brother alive while you watch!" he whispered threateningly, like a parent in a supermarket trying not to be heard by others passing by while they tell their screaming child they will spank them if they don't stop.
I look up at him, tears blurring my vision.
"Why are you here?" any hope I had at this point was gone with that question, that acknowledgement that he was back.
"What do you want from me?" He kept getting closer.
"Jesse, you dumb ass little boy. I'm here because I want to be. Don't you understand after all the time we have spent together? Nothing brings me more joy than seeing those eyes build up with fear and tears. I want to physically hurt you, Jesse. I want to mentally break you down. I delight in seeing you suffer and doubt yourself and your sanity. That is why I'm back, Jesse."
I realized, depressingly, that he was now standing directly in front of me, intimately close. He was looking down at me. His pink eyes were glowing, filling me with self-hate and terror. He placed his lanky, filthy hands on my shoulders and then he put his fingers in my ears. He then started to rub my ear lobes. He remained silent and fixated on me. He put his fingers in my mouth; he grabbed my teeth and felt my gums and then he slapped me. The slap stung deeply and lifted me off my feet.
When I woke up, my nose was bleeding, and somebody was shaking me awake.
"Sweetie. Hey sweetie, you alright? You had a pretty nasty fall there and wacked your face somethin' awful."
I stood up and felt the throbbing pain in my nose and was filled with that inexpressible hope that one can only feel on a fall day after school. I looked at the woman, one of the older gals in my neighborhood, and thanked her with tears in my eyes for helping me. She had the biggest smile on her face.
I walked into my house and smelled the smells that made it home. Brown sugar, pumpkin spice, cinnamon. I looked at my mom.
"Hey there Jesse, how's kicks? Wanna cookie?"
I ate seven without a second thought and mom just smiled her giant smile. "Thanks mama, I love you."
"I love you too. I've really missed you Jess."
I head downstairs to play some videogames with Bax. He is reclining in one of our banana chairs, a controller in his hands, and the Albino sitting next to him in the other chair. The Albino's long skinny legs jetted out on the floor, they were staring at a blank screen, huge smiles across their faces and I joined them.
