Jeremy Stone Read Free Page B

alone hearing that voice
    but still kept feeling sorry for the stream
    and staring at a couple of
    used condoms
    hanging from the branches of
    birch trees.
    And there was Paper Clip
    with two other guys I didn’t know.
    That’s Robert and Tyler,
    Jenson said. A couple of
    fucks.
    I was thinking about Geronimo again
    â€™cause his people had been ambushed
    and then he fought back
    with the same tactic.
    Jeremy Stone, right? Thomas said.
    I nodded an Indian nod,
    made my back straight.
    Worried?
    About what?
    Us?
    It was what you might call
    kind of classic.
    A scene played out
    since
    the beginning of
    time.
    Right, Old Man suddenly said,
    like a bad TV show,
    like the old
    cowboys and Indians.
    Quick, change the channel.
    So I told Thomas
    (and Robert and Tyler)
    the troof.
    Jenson says
    I’m supposed to
    talk with you.
    Who?
    Jenson.
    Jenson Hayes.
    Paper Clip stared at me.
    Robert and Tyler (those two very ordinary
    looking white boys) looked puzzled.
    You know.
    Can’t say I do. He some asshole
    friend of yours?
    Not really, I said.
    Not when he was alive.
    Whaddaya mean?
    I sighed. I didn’t ask
    to get involved, I admitted.
    Involved in what?
    This?
    What THIS is
    is me coming here
    to beat the crap
    out of you.
    (Thomas
    was getting his old mean self
    back in focus.)
    Do you hate me?
    Of course I do. We all do.
    (Guess this meant Tyler and
    Robert—
    the Tybob twins.)
    Do you hate a lot of people?
    I hate people who are weak.
    I’ll take that as a yes.
    I hate people who …
    I cut him off. Yeah, I said.
    I know what you do to
    people you think
    are weak.
    So?
    So, I continue, Jenson says
    you can’t do that to anyone
    ever again.
    The two white boys were still puzzled.
    Fuck Jenson.
    You can’t tell me what to do.
    Of course not, I said.
    You need to decide
    that for yourself.
    I’m only telling you
    the troof.
    And, yes,
    it came out with
    the F instead of
    the Th and I felt my breath
    rushing out in a warm burst
    between my
    lower front teeth
    and
    my
    top lip.

What Happened After That
    I couldn’t see him
    but I heard Jenson’s voice again.
    Jenson told me that someone eventually found Caitlan’s stolen cell phone and a version of the text message sent to Jenson was still on it. So I repeated that information to Tommy.
    He’s here now,
    I added
    just for flair.
    Hey, I was now
    writing the script
    and I was tired
    of cowboys and Indians.
    Geronimo!
    I still don’t know why Thomas didn’t beat the crap out of me as in the original script. I don’t think I fully got to him. But he was confused the way people are when you rewrite the old cliché story, especially when you bring dead people back into the mix. Old Man kept coaching, saying, You’re doing just fine, Jeremy. Don’t be afraid.
    And I wasn’t afraid.
    What could he do to me?
    The phone thing was getting to him, maybe.
    Evidence.
    Paper Clip liked to sneak around
    and do his nasty work knowing
    he wouldn’t get caught.
    What cell phone? he asked.
    I don’t know about any
    stolen cell phone.
    But Jenson had nothing on this.
    And Old Man just shrugged.
    So I said squat.
    And that
    seemed to work.
    Thomas Paper Clip
    gave me the finger
    and threatened me
    with a look.
    Tybob just stood there too
    like they were waiting for
    Thomas to tell them
    what to do.
    So I decided
    to walk
    ever so calmly
    away.
    My back was
    to them
    and they could have
    tromped me
    but they didn’t.
    And the sad little creek
    just said,
    You did good.
    Just keep walking
    and we’ll watch your back.
    So I silently told the creek I would come back someday soon and haul those rusty shopping carts out of the water and clean up all the garbage.
    The flowing water just laughed.

What the Water Said Next
    Good work, Jeremy.
    Water runs downhill.
    Maybe you can teach those boys
    to take that hate they have
    and turn the energy into something good.
    I was thinking that maybe it wasn’t