The Black Cadillac (6 page)
Read The Black Cadillac Online
Authors: Ryan P. Ruiz
In another dream, Cody was just sitting across from his Papa, asking him if he could help out with this mysterious black vehicle that tried to pick him up. While it seemed like his Papa would open his mouth and respond to the questions, he didn’t. He just had a worried look on his face and pointed toward the ground. Cody didn’t understand what his Papa was trying to say to him, and before he knew it, the dream was over.
The last nightmare was about all the police sketches of the man who took the girl from five years ago. The dream showed a bunch of sketches on Cody’s desk in his room, and the window was open. A strong wind blew the sketches all over the room. The nightmare ended with him standing in his room and catching one of the sketches with his left hand. It was different from the others. The drawing that he caught showed a completely different person. It was a drawing done by Cody himself. Who was this man in the drawing?
I
t was Sunday, and Cody was on his own for the day. Zach’s mother needed him all day and also thought the two needed to be separated for a day. The weather was actually pretty decent for an end-of-winter day. Spring was officially starting in just three days. The temperature was in the low fifties, which was very unusual. It was a perfect opportunity to get out his bike and go for a ride. Cody asked his sister if she wanted to go for a short bike ride down the street to the local store. He needed to pick up his pictures and more film for his camera. Cody thought it would be nice to take his sister for a bike ride.
“Hey, Mom, is it okay if I take Olive for a bike ride today? The weather is getting better, and it would be nice to get some fresh air,” asked Cody, knowing his mom wouldn’t have a problem with that.
“Yeah, that’s fine. Just be careful with her and go slow. She can’t keep up with you,” his mother said.
Olive was in the living room, listening in.
“Yes!” she screamed.
“Thanks, Mama. She will follow right behind me,” he explained. “Ol, get your jacket and meet me outside.”
Olive was excited to spend time with her brother, even if it was just a short bike ride to the store and back. They both went outside to the backyard. The bikes were in the beaten-down old garage that was slowly rotting away on the outside. Their garage was painted white, and it had black trim on the sides.
Cody opened the garage door and grabbed Olive’s bike first. And although she didn’t want to, he made her wear a helmet. Cody strapped the helmet on his sister and made sure it was secure on her head. He went back inside the garage and wheeled out his eighteen-speed mountain bike from where he'd left it the other day.
Cody opened the wooden gate that separated the back of the house from the front, and off they went.
“Stay right behind me, Olive,” Cody said.
“Okay, brother,” Olive replied.
The two came to the main light on Bunting Road. The crosswalk sign was completely red. They waited until it turned white and then crossed the busy street. On the way to the store, they pedaled slowly; Cody had to go super slow because Olive didn’t have very strong legs. She was only eight years old. He set the gear on his bike down to second.
“How’s that project going with Zach?” she asked as she pedaled along.
“It’s going good, but we are nowhere near the end. Ol, please be patient with me and I will make it up to you,” Cody replied.
They pedaled a couple of blocks.
Out of the corner of his eye, Cody saw something across the street while at a complete stop, waiting for Olive to catch up.
There across the street, parked in a paid parking meter spot, a black car sat. Cody was so occupied by this that he started pedaling and almost crashed into a fire hydrant.
Olive laughed as Cody dodged his front tire to the left of the hydrant.
“Stop your bike, Olive,” Cody yelled—but didn’t mean to—at his sister.
Olive came to a halt right in front of the back tire of her brother’s dark-green mountain bike.
“What’s wrong?” Olive cried.
Not wanting to let Olive know what he saw, Cody quickly thought of an answer.
“Nothing, I just thought I saw someone I know,” he replied.
“You’re a weird brother.” Olive laughed.
“I know. Let’s get to the store. I’ll buy you some Laffy Taffy,” Cody said.
When they got to the store, Olive headed straight to the candy aisle.
“I’ll be at the register, grabbing some film. Get your candy and meet me there, okay?” Cody asked Olive.
“Okay,” Olive agreed.
Cody went to the cashier and handed the woman his receipt stub from a couple of days ago for his pictures. He also asked for a roll of film. Olive returned with two cherry Laffy Taffy sticks and then set them on the counter she could just barely reach up to.
“If that will be all, it’s $9.56 please?” the cashier asked.
Cody pulled out a ten-dollar bill from his jacket and handed it to the cashier.
“Out of ten, forty-four cents is your change,” the woman said as the cash register closed. “You kids have a nice day,” the cashier said, handing Cody a bag full of the items.
Cody pulled one of the Laffy Taffy sticks out of the bag and gave it to Olive. Outside, they both got on their bikes and rode out of the parking lot. Olive had a stringy piece of candy hanging out of her mouth.
On the way back home, Cody once again gazed across the street at the church. The car was no longer there, and frustration took over. Cody and Olive continued home, pedaling slowly.
They pulled up to the wooden gate in the driveway. Olive threw her bike down and ran inside. Cody gave her the other piece of candy before she ran inside.
“It’s okay, Ol. I will put your bike away for you,” Cody said sarcastically.
“Thanks, brother!” a little voice said from far away.
As Cody was putting both bikes back in the garage, he heard a voice from over the fence.
“Hello, Cody!” said the voice.
“Oh, hey, Mr. Durkbridge. You kind of scared me for a second,” said Cody.
“I’m sorry, son. I was just outside in the garage, doing some spring cleaning,” said Mr. Durkbridge.
Cody wasn’t very fond of Mr. Durkbridge. He was always calling him “son” every time he saw Cody. There was something about him that just didn’t sit right. Even Olive, who was one of the friendliest kids Cody had ever seen, didn’t like Mr. Durkbridge.
In his midforties, Mr. Durkbridge was a friendly neighbor. He had moved next to the Roberts family ten years ago. In some way, Mr. Durkbridge felt bad for Cody’s mother because she had to raise the two kids on her own. He was always working in his yard or outside of his house. There was something about Mr. Durkbridge that both Olive and Cody did not like. Maybe it was the fact that Mr. Durkbridge was the same age as the kids’ stepfather that had left their mother.
Mr. Durkbridge lived alone and was always home. No one knew if he had a job or what he did for a living. Cody and Olive always tried to stay clear of Mr. Durkbridge. He always wore these V-neck sweaters that people wore twenty years ago. The man had thinning gray hair and had a large nose. When Cody actually thought about it, Mr. Durkbridge looked sort of on the creepy side. The guy was probably harmless.
“Well, have a good day, Mr. Durkbridge,” said Cody quickly.
“You do the same, Cody, and tell your mom I said hello,” replied Mr. Durkbridge.
“Okay, I will,” said Cody even though he had zero intention to do so.
Cody walked in the house through the back door. His mom was washing dishes, and Olive was reading a jumbo-sized book in the living room. She had her Laffy Taffy pieces right next to her on the coffee table. His sister looked content.
Cody had some thinking to do. He ran upstairs into his room, shut the door, and sat at his desk. He pulled out the bottom drawer, opened his secret compartment, and grabbed his drawing of the vehicle.
Staring long and hard at the drawing, Cody tried to remember what the vehicle looked like at the church. More questions came to mind.
Did the black car at the church have darkened windows? What did the wheels look like? Whom did that car belong to? Why was it there? And was that the car Cody saw that frightening morning?
Cody knew he had to tell Zach what he’d seen. However, it was Sunday, and Zach wasn’t available today. It would have to wait till tomorrow.
He grabbed his sketch pad and started drawing what he saw today in the limited time he saw it. While he was drawing, he wondered what the odds were that the same vehicle would be there next Sunday or any other day of the week.
It took another hour, but Cody’s drawing, when it was finished, was eerily similar to the first drawing. Was it enough, though? He kept wondering what the odds of it being the same vehicle were. Cody put the drawings back in the drawer’s secret compartment.
It was the middle of the afternoon, and Cody was getting hungry and headed downstairs to make something to eat.
“Ask your sister if she wants something, Code,” his mother said, seeing her son open the fridge.
“Okay, Mom. Ol, do you want a sandwich?” he said.
“Sure. Peanut butter only, please,” the little girl said.
“How about some juice too?” asked Cody.
“Yes, please,” his sister squeaked while walking into the kitchen.
Cody made the two of them sandwiches and walked into the living room. Olive carried the glasses of juice right behind him.
They ate their sandwiches and watched television. Olive loved watching cartoons, and her brother didn’t mind them, either.
The two of them watched cartoons for a few hours. Eventually, Cody dozed off to sleep on the couch. Olive shortly followed his lead.
The evening came and went, and it was bedtime already. Cody said good-night to his mother and sister then hurried to his room. He sat on his bed and looked around his room. It was as if there were a presence in the room with him. The hairs on his arms shot straight up, and goose bumps took over his whole body.
“Papa?” said Cody.
He put his head on his pillow and drifted off to sleep. The nightmares began again.
T
he next morning, Cody woke up early and got ready for school. He decided he would meet up with Zach at his house and surprise him.
Zach was still eating his cereal when Cody arrived at his house.
“What’s up, dude?” said Zach, who was bright-eyed and bushy tailed for a Monday.
“Hey, Zach. Good morning, Mrs. Madden! I thought I would get here early so we could discuss some things about our science project, Zach,” said Cody.
Zach knew exactly what that meant. He finished his cereal, tossed his bowl in the sink, and grabbed his book bag.
“Well, let’s get going. Bye, Mom!” said Zach.
“Bye, honey, have a good day, you two, stay out of trouble,” Zach’s mother advised.
“Bye, Mrs. Madden,” said Cody.
“So I was thinking about this science project…” Zach’s voice trailed off as his mother listened.