Breaking Brooklyn (12 page)

That all changed one Saturday morning after
Mr. Howard left the house to go golfing. Elise was going to take us
to see the new Batman movie with Michael Keaton. We all jumped in
her minivan and headed to get lunch before the movie
started.

Alex and Travis were wrestling around in the
back, which was starting to drive Elise crazy. In fact, Alex and
Travis had a way of driving her crazy a lot of the time. When Mr.
Howard wasn’t around, which was nearly always, they were the worst
kids anyone could ever imagine. Looking back through the rear view
mirror Elise saw Alex and Travis fighting.

“
Boys, stop it!” she shouted.
“STOP IT!”

They acted as if they couldn’t hear her and
continued to fight. When the brawl was over Alex thought up a
wicked brainstorm. He wrote, “Help Us!” on a sheet of paper then
stuck it in the back window of the minivan.

Within five minutes I heard sirens then saw
flashing lights. A police officer pulled us over then approached
our vehicle. He wasn’t happy. He instructed Elise to get out of the
car, then looked back at the three of us. Fright was written across
our faces, but why wouldn’t we be afraid? He was a
policeman!

Alex realized his prank had gone too far.
Never being in this kind of situation before, Alex and Travis had
no idea what could happen. I knew all too well. I sat quietly in
fear, my knees shaking.

The police officer had Elise put her hands
against the minivan. Then he signaled for her to spread her legs by
gently kicking the inside of her right foot. She cried as he patted
her down. It got worse. He handcuffed her. Then he walked her to
his squad car and put her in the back seat.

When the police officer ran a background check
on Elise, it showed that she had two kids named Alex and Travis.
However, the officer saw three kids, which must have set off a huge
red flag. I couldn’t hear what was being said, but I’d been through
this before with my mother. I was sure he was interrogating Elise
about my identity.

The policeman held us hostage for over an hour
before he confirmed Elise's story. The officer then ordered all of
us out of the car. The questioning began.

“
Which one of you put the sign in
the back window of the car?”

We were speechless, motionless. Then Alex
stepped forward.

Thank you God, I thought.

Looking at the officer with the saddest eyes
ever, he said, “Jack did it…”

I let out a swoosh of air, my mouth hanging
open.

“
What! No, I didn’t! You
did!”

Unfortunately for me, Travis was very jealous
of my relationship with his brother so he validated Alex’s story.
It was all over for me. Neither the officer nor Elise would believe
anything I had to say at this point. After all, I was a foster
child from a broken home who was in Elise’s custody because I had
gotten in trouble with the law. I fit the profile. Now I had to
bear the burden of a crime I did not commit.

After the police officer scolded me for about
twenty minutes, he let us go.

Elise started in on me. “How could you do
this? I am trying to help you, Jack. You should be ashamed of
yourself!”

Elise was so upset we went straight home.
Batman was now out of the question. By this time Mr. Howard was
back from golfing. Elise told him about the whole incident, how she
was handcuffed and put in the back of the police car.

“
Why would you do such a horrible
thing?” Mr. Howard asked.

“
I didn’t make the sign! Alex did,
and he’s trying to blame it on me!”

"Jack, you may have never been taught about
the consequences of lying. But that's all going to change right
now.” Mr. Howard glared right into my eyes.

“
I’m going to ask you again! Did
you put the sign in the back window?"

"I am telling you the truth! Alex made the
sign and put it in the back window."

Anger blazed out of the blue in Mr. Howard’s
eyes. I felt like I was going to throw up. I didn’t know how to
convince him that I didn’t make the sign.

“
Go to your room! Think about what
you did and don’t come out until I tell you!”

Walking up the steps, I glanced back at Mr.
Howard, who was looking endearingly at Alex.

That piece of shit, I thought to
myself.

Shrugging his shoulders, Alex looked up at his
father as if he was the victim.

The next morning Mr. Howard came to my room
with a stack of pancakes. I think he was feeling guilty about not
letting me have dinner the night before. Sitting next to me on the
twin bed, he asked me if I was ready to tell the truth.

I had no idea what to say. I was telling the
truth! I was so confused. Had they even asked Alex if he was
telling the truth? Were they even considering that maybe Alex was
lying?

In my head I could hear Grandpa Bob quoting
his sobriety coin, “To thine own self be true!”

I pleaded with him once again. “I’m telling
the truth Mr. Howard. I swear.”

With a furrowed brow he explained that he was
going to have to do something he didn’t like. That it was for my
own good.

Like a Pentecostal minister, he threw up his
hands. “Spare the rod and spoil the child says the
Lord!”

Grabbing the wooden chair from under the desk,
he placed it in the center of the room. He then sat down. The old
wood making a creaking-cracking sound. He commanded me to come over
to him.

I knew too well where this was going. Mr.
Howard ordered me to take down my pants and bend over his lap.
Remembering what Grandpa Bob used to do to me, I started to panic.
I could feel my lungs collapsing. My chest felt crushed like a
gorilla was sitting on me.

Grabbing my arm, Mr. Howard again told me to
take down my pants. When I didn't respond he shook me. With my
hands shaking, I undid my belt then unzipped my pants. I pulled
them down to my ankles. Yanking me onto his lap, Mr. Howard began
spanking me with an open hand.

“
Thou shalt not lie! Thou shalt
not lie!” He repeated as he spanked me harder and
harder.

Then the strangest thing happened. See, I was
expecting the belt like all the times before. This was nothing.
This was a joke! It was almost comical to me. Spanking me a few
more times for effect, he stopped. Standing up, he slid the chair
back under the desk. I stood tall in the middle of the room with a
look that I am sure said, "You can't hurt me, asshole."

Disheveled, Mr. Howard combed his messy hair
with this slender fingers.

"I hope by dinner you change your attitude and
tell the truth." He commanded as he left the room.

I was once again alone like a prisoner in
solitary confinement. Curling myself up in a ball I thought about
being back in Broad Ripple, walking along the railroad
tracks.

After a long nap I woke to a growling stomach
that smelled Elise's cooking, I was starving! If I wanted to eat I
was going to have to admit to something I didn’t do.

Walking down the back staircase that led to
the kitchen I saw everyone sitting at the table. Before I had a
chance to sit down, Mr. Howard confronted me.

“
What do you have to say for
yourself, Jack?”

Feeling defeated, I looked slowly around the
room at my accusers. They were waiting for me to tell them what
they wanted to hear. I am sure Alex was wondering how far was I was
going to push it before I gave in.

I silently weighing all of my options. I could
stand my ground and fight this all the way, knowing full well I was
right. But what good would it do? It would only make my time at the
Howards' harder. I decided to suck it up and make my life
easier.

My throat was dry as I tried to swallow my
pride. "I made the sign and put it in the window," I
confessed.

Looking at everyone at the table, I
apologized. But every fiber in my body wanted to reach across the
table and choke the life out of Alex.

Elise smiled as Mr. Howard's face went soft
with relief. In unison, they said, “We forgive you,
Jack!”

I looked at Alex with vengeance in my eyes.
The smirk he wore made me want to scratch his eyes out.

Taking a seat at the table next to Elise I
began to eat. I imagined Alex dancing and celebrating a win of
wills. All I could think was, "I may have lost the battle, but I am
not going to lose the war."

For my remaining time at the Howards' I tried
to stay away from Alex as much possible. When he would enter a room
I would quickly exit. I had to stay on my toes to keep out of
trouble. It was hard though, always being on guard.

I did well until one day, weeks later when I
let my guard down. Some friends from school came over to play in
the Howards' treehouse. The first thing Alex suggested was a game
of Spin the Bottle. None of other kids knew what it was, so Alex
explained the rules.

"The bottle gets spun and whoever the top of
the bottle lands on has to say either Truth or Dare."

I had no idea where this was going to go, but
it sounded like fun. Plus, I had a huge crush on one of the girls
that came over. Alex spun the bottle with force. It landed on Lisa,
the girl both Alex and I were gaga over.

“
Truth or dare?” Alex
asked.

“
Dare,” Lisa said, after
hesitating.

Alex thought for a moment then he giggled out
the words, “I dare you to kiss Jack.”

“
NO WAY!” Lisa
protested.

“
You have to,” Alex urged. “That’s
how the game is played, Lisa!”

Lisa leaned into me, looked into my eyes, and
then gently kissed my lips. We held the moment as electricity went
down my body. I had never kissed a girl before! Her lips were so
soft.

As Lisa pulled away we gazed at each other.
Suddenly, I thought about Brooke. My stomach filled with guilt.
When Alex saw what was going on he became jealous. Without wasting
any time he spun the bottle again. This time it landed on
me.

“
Truth or dare?” Alex
asked.

“
Um, dare."

I wasn’t going to give Alex the opportunity to
embarrass me in front of Lisa with one of his made up stories that
made me look like an idiot.

“
Okay,” Alex thought for a second
then continued. “I dare you to say the F word.”

“
What?”

“
You have to say the F word,” Alex
repeated.

“
No!” I replied.

“
That’s the game, Jack! Say
it!”

Looked at Lisa for her approval, she simply
smiled back and shrugged he shoulders.

“
Fuck!” I blurted.

As fast as I could I grabbed the bottle and
spun it. We all watched it spin, the glass clinking against the
concrete.

Please let it land on Alex! I sang to myself
over and over again in my head.

My prayers were answered. I could now confront
Alex about the incident with the sign, if he said truth. And if he
said dare, I could really mess with him since he wanted to impress
Lisa. Either way, this was going to be fun.

“
Truth or dare Alex?”

“
Dare,” Alex answered.

I thought long and hard about something I
could do to get him back for what he pulled a few weeks
ago.

“
I dare you to take your clothes
off and run around the house,” I instructed.

Lisa laughed at the thought of Alex running
around naked. With laser eyes fixed on me, Alex cocked his head
side. Without the slightest hesitation he took off his clothes and
ran around the house like a wiry little chicken with curly blond
hair. Lisa and I thought it was the funniest thing. We couldn't
stop laughing!

Elise, however, didn’t find it funny at all
when she saw her oldest son through the kitchen window above the
sink running around with no clothes on. Like a bolt of lightning,
she ran out of the kitchen and down off the back porch. She yelled
at Alex as she chased him around the yard. He ignored her because
he was on a mission to impress Lisa. Watching this reminded me of
an episode of Tom and Jerry. Alex was running through bushes and
trees that Elise couldn’t fit through.

When Mr. Howard saw what was going on, he ran
across the yard like a helmetless linebacker with pulsating veins
protruding from his temples. He finally caught up to Alex and
grabbed him by his scrawny arm.

“
Get your clothes and get into the
house." He then pointed at me. "Jack, you as well!”

Seeing the seriousness in Mr. Howard's
demeanor, I walked quickly toward the old farmhouse. I stepped
carefully around Elise, who stood with her arms crossed, then up
the back porch and into the kitchen.

Mr. Howard ordered both Alex and I to sit down
on the living room couch. He glared at us for a moment, and then
asked.

"What the hell was that all about?"

I sat patiently waiting to hear how Alex was
going to try and get out of this one. But when he began, there was
no stopping it.