The Black Cadillac (4 page)

While his mom went into her room, Cody went to the bathroom to start the water for Olive’s bath. He added bubble bath to the lukewarm water. Olive went into her mother’s room to say good-night. She was lying on her bed with a novel in her hand. Their mother loved reading books.

“Good night, Mommy! I love you!” said Olive.

“Good night, sweetheart! I love you too, bug! Tell your brother good-night and I love him too,” she said, putting down her book.

“I will, Mommy,” said Olive.

Cody called his sister, “Olive, your bathwater is ready!”

Olive jetted into the bathroom, threw off her pajamas, and jumped into the tub. Cody turned away as a huge splash full of bubbles scattered across the bathroom floor.

He grabbed the shampoo and squeezed a dollop onto his hand. He started washing his sister’s hair with his sleeves rolled up to his elbows.

“I wonder why Mom is so tired. It’s early for her to go in her room already, isn’t it?” she asked.

“Because she works really hard to support us, and her work is super busy at this time of the month,” Cody replied.

“Oh well, that makes sense,” she said, even though she looked a little confused.

Cody changed the subject.

“So how was school today? Did you learn anything fun?” asked Cody.

“Kind of. We are learning about presidents. Also, I’m making something cool in art class for Mommy,” she said with excitement.

“That’s great! Who is your favorite president?” asked Cody.

“Um, I like the guy on the dollar bill,” she replied.

“Oh okay, George Washington. Good choice,” said Cody. “What kind of art project are you making for Mom?” he asked.

“Something really cool that she will like. It’s a surprise. Next week, I’m going to start making something for your birthday too,” said Olive, smiling.

“Oh, wow. My birthday isn’t for a couple of months, though,” said Cody.

“Well, I’m starting on it soon.” replied Olive.

Cody changed the subject. “Olive, do you know what to do if a stranger were to try and talk to you?” he asked.

“Yeah, dum-dum. I am supposed to say
no
. Everyone knows that,” she replied, looking like a white-bearded little girl with bubbles all over her face. Olive loved her bubbles.

“Okay, good—but especially if someone were to offer you a ride in their car, okay?” he said.

“Yeah, I got it,” she replied back.

“Don’t ever, ever get into a stranger’s vehicle, okay?” Cody told his sister.

“Okay, okay,” replied Olive.

“You know I will never let anyone ever hurt you, don’t you?” he added.

“Yes, I know. You’re my big brother!” she jokingly said.

Cody finished rinsing his sister’s hair with a cup.

“That’s right. Now dry yourself off, brush your teeth, and I’ll meet you in your room to read you a story,” he said.

Cody left the bathroom and went into Olive’s bedroom.

Cody sat on the wooden rocking chair in the corner. His sister’s room was pretty girly for an eight-year-old. Olive loved unicorns, so there was a unicorn of some sort in practically every corner of the room. The room was small with pink and white paint on each wall. He had painted a unicorn on her wall above her bed when she first got a big-girl bed. It was hot pink with a silvery mane and golden horn. Olive loved that he did that for her. It was her favorite unicorn of all, and her brother had made it just for her.

Olive, all dressed in her pajamas, pounced into her room and onto her bed. Then she quickly hopped back out and went straight for her small bookcase. She pulled out
The
Cat
in
the
Hat
by Dr. Seuss off the top shelf and handed it to her big brother.

“Here you go, brother!” she said excitedly.

“Great choice. This is one of my favorites,” Cody replied.

His sister hopped back in to bed and pulled the covers up to her chin getting comfortable for the story. She was excited and sleepy at the same time as she waited for her brother to begin reading.

“Thank you, brother.” she squealed.

“You’re welcome, sis.” Cody responded.

By the time
Thing
One
and
Thing
Two
were ready to clean the house up, Olive was fast asleep. Cody kissed his sister good-night, flipped on her unicorn night-light, and quietly closed the door as he left.

Cody grabbed a towel from the closet and headed for a much needed shower.

CHAPTE
R
IV
Lyin
g
i
n
Bed

I
t was going on 9:00 p.m., and Cody couldn’t even think about today’s homework. He scampered to his room and sat right back down at his desk.

The notes he had taken earlier were still sitting there, waiting to be further analyzed. He had almost forgotten that Zach hadn’t called yet. Cody tore off the first page of his sketchbook with the notes on it and put it to the side.

The memory of today’s morning would be etched into Cody’s head for the rest of his life. But that couldn’t be the end of it, could it? There was a reason he had asked Olive that question in the bathroom.

He began to wonder.
What
if
it
had
been
Olive
in
his
shoes
earlier
this
morning?
What
if
the
obviously
sick
man
had
jumped
out
of
the
car
and
tried
to
grab
her
after
she
said
no
and
started
running?
What
other
kids
were
out
there
that
this
had
been
done
to?
Had
any
of
those
kids
ever
gotten
in
the
vehicle?

The more questions he asked himself, the angrier he got. The pencil he had been holding was indented so far in the page of the sketchbook, a hole was being made on the top page.

He pulled the tip of the pencil out of the page and began drawing. With each stroke, vertical and horizontal lines were flowing on the page. Cody knew exactly what was being drawn. It was the mysterious black car. He sketched, erased, and shaded.

In just one hour, there was a fully drawn sketch of what Cody believed the car looked like. With as many details as he could remember, the nine-by-twelve pad had a drawing on it resembling a boxy and long car.

When he was finished, Cody gently smiled, set his pencil down, and lay down on his bed with the clothes he wore to school that day still on. He was exhausted.

That night, he didn’t sleep that well. Cody woke up several times and eventually changed into clothes more suitable for bed. When he finally did drift off to sleep again, weird dreams circled his brain.

He was right back on the sidewalk where the car had pulled up on his street. This time, when the man asked the question, Cody went to the passenger door and opened it. Olive was in the front seat, telling him that it was okay. He tried to pull his sister out of the car, but the door shut and the car drove off. He chased after the car as fast as he could and eventually lost sight of it.

Another dream had him on the other side of the street, watching the black vehicle pull up to another kid younger than Olive. The kid got in the car, and it drove off. Cody tried to yell at the kid, but nothing came out of his mouth.

The final dream that stood out had the black car in an unfamiliar driveway. As if he were floating through the air, Cody entered the house where the black car was parked. He went from room to room in the dark, creepy house and found the same thing over and over. It was completely empty. The dream ended with a door where light was coming from underneath. It was the basement door. As soon as he opened it, the dream was over, and he woke up dripping in sweat.

CHAPTE
R
V
Th
e
Pla
n
o
f
Attack

T
he next morning, Cody awoke to his mother at his door.

“Are you up? You’re going to be late for school, and Zach’s here,” she lightly shouted.

“Zach’s here?” he quickly thought aloud. “That’s right, Zach never called me last night, but why is he here?” he continued to think.

“Tell him I’ll be right down, Mom,” Cody said while stretching out his arms.

Cody rushed out of bed; went to his disorganized closet; grabbed a flannel shirt, jeans, and some socks; and put everything on. He hurried to the bathroom, rinsed his face with ice-cold water, and brushed his teeth.

He went back to his room, picked his book bag up off his desk, and raced downstairs where Zach was patiently waiting on the living room couch.

“What’s up, bud? I never heard from you last night,” Cody said.

“Yeah, I know. Sorry, dude. My mom had me do something that took forever,” replied Zach.

Cody’s mother yelled from the kitchen, “Zach, honey, are you hungry? I made a bagel with cream cheese for Cody—would you like one?” she said.

“No thanks, Ms. Roberts. We have to get going anyways,” Zach shouted back.

Cody and Zach threw on their jackets, shoes, and hats and scuttled out the door. Georgiana handed the bagel to Cody in a napkin. Although it was still cold, it was a little warmer than yesterday, and the wind was hardly blowing. As the two went down the driveway, an uncomfortable feeling ran into Cody’s stomach. They were headed the same way Cody went the day before.

“So why did you come to my house? School is just a block away for you,” Cody politely asked.

“I felt bad about last night and wanted to make sure you didn’t have to walk alone today. It’s what best friends do. Besides, I want to talk more about what happened to you, if you don’t mind?” Zach replied.

Though still shaken from the incident and nightmares, Cody appreciated his friend’s gesture and actually wanted to talk more about it.

Zach fired off all types of questions like “What kind of car do you think it was?” “Did you write down the plates?” “Was the guy young or old?”

As he answered Zach’s questions as best he could, Cody began to see a bigger picture. He saw how animated his friend was about the whole thing and then stopped walking.

“It happened right here, Zach,” said Cody.

“Wow, right here? In broad daylight? This guy has some balls,” Zach said toughly.

“Yeah, right here, and if I had gotten in with him, you probably would never see me again,” Cody replied.

The boys kept walking.

Cody continued, “Zach, let me ask you something. If I asked you to do something completely crazy, would you do it?”

“Depends on what it was, but most likely yes,” Zach replied.

“Good, that’s what I thought,” said Cody.

“Dude, if I didn’t care about you, I wouldn’t have woken up super early so I could be at your house to walk to school with you. I’ve known you since kindergarten, man. We are like brothers,” Zach added.

“I know. Please keep this a secret like I asked, and let’s meet up after school. I have an idea,” Cody explained.

“Okay, what is it?” asked Zach.

“We will talk after school, buddy,” replied Cody.

The two were almost at school. They walked into the main building.

The bell rang, and the kids both entered first period together. With the exception of lunch, the two only had one class together, and it was first-period homeroom.