#NaNoWriMo 2017 Short Story #3 of 10: — Liar’s Debt

“No way, Jake. You did not!”

“Yeah. That totally happened. Ask my grandpa!”

As was the usual situation, Jacob Pertesky was overselling himself. He didn’t lose his favorite baseball cap in a fight against a bear. It happened when he was walking over a bridge and the wind blew too hard. One could hardly blame Jacob. Short and skinny, he didn’t exactly have the profile of a heavyweight champ. His shaggy hair gave the appearance that he didn’t care enough to make himself look good. He told stories about that too, but his parents couldn’t be troubled to get him a haircut more than twice a year.

Eighth grade was supposed to be different for Jacob. Older and maturing, he had big hopes for what would happen this year. In a new school and a new town, he had a chance to start over. In his previous schools, the story was always the same. He would tell the tallest of tales, initially winning him friends in the short term, but costing them in the long run when he couldn’t back up his boisterous claims. It wasn’t that Jacob was trying to mislead people; he just wanted friends. A boy will do almost anything to have somebody like him.

Jacob’s friends walked away, leaving him by himself all alone to eat his lunch. Contemplating the situation, he simply lost his appetite. Merely two months into the school year and the same thing was happening that happened everywhere else. He just wanted to be normal and fit in with everybody. But, whether it was his disheveled look or modest living, he lacked confidence in himself. His ability to tell stories was the only thing he could be proud of.

The day was only half over, and Jacob got up, threw out his trash, and headed to Math. It would be a long rest of the day after he saw his last few friends walk away laughing at him. After all, they were in these classes too. Entering the room, Jacob could sense they were talking about him as they flicked their eyes over to him, then back to each other, snickering. Sulking, he made his way to his seat at the very back corner of the room.

The bell rang, and the teacher made his way to the front of the classroom. Mr. Landry was one of the best teachers in the school, according to Jacob, He never made him feel stupid or called on him when he didn’t know the answer. The way he taught his class helped Jacob feel at home in the classroom. Never really thinking he was math minded, Mr. Landry changed that way of thinking for Jacob. In the last couple of weeks, he even volunteered to speak in class.

“Alright everybody, get with your collaborative learning groups. We need to go over yesterday’s assignment and discuss these linear relationships. It’s gonna be like People magazine for math up in here!” As per usual, nobody laughed by Mr. Landry. Many didn’t even know what People magazine was. The students shook off the corny joke and moved to their teams. Jacob, unfortunately, was in a group with his former friends. Before heading back to the group, he went up to Mr. Landry and pleaded with him.

“Umm…Mr. L. Can I get a new group?”.

Mr. Landry looked puzzled. “I don’t quite understand Jake. You’ve been doing great in that team. The discussions you have are rich and it has been fun to watch you flourish in your conceptual understanding. What’s going on?”

Jacob just looked at his toes and shrugged. “I don’t know. I just don’t want to.” In a moment when he could have used benefited from telling a story, he simply shrunk under the uncomfortableness of the moment.

Mr. Landry thought for a moment. He was a compassionate man, but didn’t want to set a bad precedent in his room. It was important to him that young people worked out their differences and didn’t just avoid them. “Jacob, I know things happening in middle school where we can just be friends all the time. But, our focus in here is to learn, both math and how to be better people. I know you can work through this.”

Defeated, Jacob turned around and made his way to the den of hyenas that awaited him.

Kevin, one of his former friends, made grand gestures motioning Jacob to take a seat. This boy was a good looking kid, with short, brown hair and expensive clothing. Initially, he became friends with Jacob because he made him laugh and thought they could have fun together. But the two had issues ever since he had Jacob over to his house and his parents scoffed at the unclean-looking friend. Add in the fiction Jacob liked to tell, and the friendship evaporated about as quickly as it started.

“So, Jacob, how was the rest of lunch? Did Godzilla come storming through cafeteria and knock over your milk on your shirt?” The other boys started giggling as Jacob looked down, noticing he head white marks on his baggy green hoody. He sunk in his seat, trying to hide.

Mr. Landry instructed the class to get out their notebooks from the previous day so they could discuss their work. That is when Jacob remembered that had missed that class yesterday because he felt sick. He never followed up with Mr. Landry, and thus he didn’t have his assignment finished.

“Alright students, take five minutes to discuss, then choose one student to share the most important take away with the class. Ready? Set? Let’s do this!” Mr. Landry jumped excitedly, trying to drum up some excitement. The students simply rolled their eyes and got to it. Jacob’s group did as well, and they were quick to notice that he didn’t have his out. Instead of including him, they made eye contact, hatching their plan, and then discussed the assignment quietly.

“Three…two…one…okay let’s do it. Group one. Where’s group one. What you got team?”

The boys at Jacob’s table looked at each other and pointed at him in unison. “Jake’s our spokesperson!”. Mr. Landry looked at them sternly, but let it pass.

“Okay Jake. What did you notice about question one?”

He was silent.

“Jake? Didn’t you take part in your team’s discussion? Where is your work from yesterday?” Mr. Landry was a good guy, but often was a bit short in memory. He had forgotten that Jacob wasn’t there the day before. And right when Jacob was about to speak, Kevin cut him off.

“Sir, I think he didn’t get his homework done because he was off in Narnia helping Aslan take out the White Witch!” The boys were struggling to control their laughter. Another boy, Pete, chimed in as well.

“Yeah, he was with Frodo and Sam on the way to destroy the ring. I hear he even got attacked by some orcs!” The room was starting to howl now. Everyone at this point knew Jacob’s reputation, and they were reveling in his pain. Mr. Landry fought back against the tide.

“OKAY! That’s ENOUGH! Kevin, hallway, now! The rest of you open page 51. Problems 1–5. They will be completed, with work, by the time I get back in this room!” He was furious and trying to manage a situation that was spiraling out of control. The room quieted down as Mr. Landry escorted Kevin to the hallway. Too little, too late, Jacob thought. He could feel everyone’s eyes on his as he opened up his textbook and started to mindlessly scribble in his notebook. After that episode, how could he possibly think about y = mx + b?

After a few minutes, Mr. Landry came back in, alone. As much as the class pestered, they didn’t get an answer out of him. He looked flustered, but regained his poise and eventually the class fell into rhythm. Before they knew it, the bell rang, and off they went. Jacob lingered and was the last to get up to leave the room as other students were filing in. Just before reaching the door, Mr. Landry stopped him.

“Hey, I’m so sorry about putting you into that position today. I wish you would’ve just been honest with me.”

Jacob fought back, a little upset. “Why couldn’t you just let me sit somewhere else?”.

Mr. Landry frowned. It was pointless to explain the difficulty of managing students and responding to every single request to be moved. He simply said “we will come up with a plan tomorrow for a different group. For now, are you okay?”

Jacob and he both knew the truth, but Jacob lied anyway. “I’m fine. Just stupid kids, is all.” With that, Mr. Landry walked over to his desk, wrote Jacob a pass, and sent him on his way as the bell rang.

Jacob was in survival mode the rest of the day, and thankfully benefitted from over talkative teachers and boring lectures. On most days, he would have wanted to be active, create, and do something. But today, being passive was a gift. When the final bell rang, Jacob let out a huge sigh. It was Friday and he could escape for the weekend. He didn’t know what Monday would bring, but at least the next two days would be eventful and free from the teasing he had endured today.

Waiting for the bus to take him home, he found a relatively unpopulated spot near some trees outside of the school. He stood alone, hoping no one would notice him there.

“Hey, Jake.” He was startled, flipping around, his brain already going into fight or flight mode. In front of him was a girl in his grade, Marcie. He didn’t know her all that well. She wasn’t the most popular girl in 8th grade, but she fit in with most and was in a few leadership positions within the school.

“Uh. Hi.” was all he could get it, once again burning holes in the ground with this eyes, muffling his voice and trying to slowly back away. Marcie spoke again, calm and confidently.

“I just wanted you to know that I thought those boys were really mean today. I’m sorry they did that. I hope you’ll be okay this weekend. Not everyone thinks of you like those jerks. Several of us like your stories, even if you exaggerate pretty much everything.” She looks past Jacob for a moment, and then tries to find his eyes. “Oh, I think your bus is about to leave. You better get going. See you Monday?”

“Okay” he coughs out, rushing away to catch the 242. He thought to himself if Marcie was really concerned, or just trying to show a good face as president of the Student Council. It didn’t matter, his body was calming down and it was nice to be talked to like a human. Of course, she couldn’t let the story thing go. He had nowhere to hide from that.

He scurried through the doors of the bus just before the elderly driver cranked the doors closed, glowering at him. The bus was mostly filled, but he was able to find a seat near the front with no one in it. Rest his head against cold metal under the window, he closed and eyes and wished to be somewhere else. Even more so, he wished that he could be someone else. He hated the person he was. Why couldn’t he just tell people that his life was boring and that he didn’t do anything because his parents were working two jobs just to make sure he was fed? It would take the last of his pride to admit that truth.

After roughly an hour of bumps and stops, the bus finally made its final stop at Jacob’s house. The creaky doors opened and the bus driver, Wendall, yelled out, “Last call or you’ll be sleeping here this weekend!” Jacob staggers his way out onto the curb as the door quickly closes and the bus rumbles away. He finally made it home.

He walked up the concrete sidewalk to the front door. The home wasn’t much — a single story ranch style with two bedrooms and a bathroom. But it was the best home he had ever lived in. His parents had to move a lot, but finally found a place with stable work. Since the move, both of his parents added on extra jobs and he barely saw them, even on weekends. For most of the time, Jacob was home by himself. He fed himself, washed his own clothes, and did his own homework. The lawn was always mowed and the house was somewhat clean all because of him. Having been to other kids’ houses, he knew what life could be like where parents were around and the house was bustling.

Jacob entered the house and headed straight for the couch. Taking in the day’s events, he started to cry. It was tough enough to try and cover up the utter blah-ness of his daily life. Now, almost everyone at school made fun of his only coping mechanism. It wasn’t his fault his parents had to work so much and he had no choice but to take care of the house by himself. They lost everything when the market crashed in 2008 and fell even more behind the eight-ball when his mom went through cancer in 2013. Recovered now, they had no-savings and an incredible debt to pay back. The system sucked, but they were doing what they could to survive, and Jacob was doing his part.

He dreamt of becoming a professional athlete and earning millions of dollars so his parents would never have to work again. Wanting to be the star quarterback, he ran around the house, throwing socks at the outlets and celebrating wildly as if he just scored a game-winning touchdown. But reality was always the enemy of dreams. He was short. He barely broke one hundred pounds. He had never played an organized sport in his life.

That isn’t to say he wasn’t without skill. Living on a large plot of land extending into the forest, he would hit rocks past the trees and practice throwing a tattered football against set up lawn chairs. He really wanted to play football and baseball, but he had no way of getting to the events with the schedule his parents worked. His dreams would remain in his head. Having been laying down for almost an hour, he decided it was time to get up and take a walk before making himself dinner. He opened the back door and headed towards the forest.

It was beginning to get dark earlier now, so the sun had already set. Jacob didn’t bother bringing a flashlight. The path was fairly straight and he could see the house from the edge of the woods. The air outside was crisp, but nothing that his hoodie couldn’t protect from. He strolled along, breathing carefully and quietly. If there were any crazy animals out here, he didn’t want to get their attention. Once he made it underneath the limbs of the first row of trees, he turned in a diagonal direction deeper in the woods. He knew where he was going now — his secret hideout.

Over the course of his few months in this house, he would steal away a few hours here and there, gathering sticks, logs, and large sheets of bark. Now, he had a sizeable homestead in the middle of the woods. Here was his place to think and plot.

In the dim and fading light he found the small opening and scurried in. At last, he was in his safe place. A place where nobody in the world could trouble him. The soft earth was comfortable to lay on, and a mossy log provided a suitable pillow. Jacob laid back and stared up at the cracks in the ceiling. If he just stayed out here, would anybody even know he was gone? Finding himself in such a comfortable position, he closed his eyes, and rather unintentionally, he fell asleep.

Suddenly, Jacob found himself awake. How long he was sleeping, he wasn’t sure. It was definitely completely dark outside, but it would have been like that minutes after he passed out anyway. Feeling energized, he decided to crawl out of the hole. That was when he saw a bright light deeper into the woods. Filled with curiosity, he decided to head towards it. The lights were moving, almost like they were flashlights. Stepping carefully, Jacob tried to be as quiet as possible while walking on crunching leaves.

As he got closer, he could hear voices. Inching more closing and obscuring himself behind a tree, Jacob listened closely.

“So it goes down on Friday at three, right?” The voice sounded familiar.

“Yes. To give you the perfect alibi. You have the five thousand dollars I requested? I’ll need the rest after I do it. Are you still sure you want to go through with this?” This voice was deep and confident. The man who belonged to it must have been strong and tall. After Jacob thought about it for a second, he realized that he was using something to disguise his voice.

“Yea…ah. Umm.” A sound of rustling was heard. “Here it is. And this won’t be connected to me in any way?” Jacob was sure he knew the voice, but the distance away and the sound of the wind and rustling leaves made it difficult to be sure.

“Not at all. I’m a professional. By this time next week, you’ll be a single man. And your wife will be dead.”

Jacob held his breath and his heart was pounding. Did he really just hear that? He tried to be as still as possible and keep himself obscured.

The voice he recognized spoke again. “I can’t believe I’m finally going through with this. She is the worst thing that has ever happened to me. After making my life miserable the last ten years, now she is having an affair. How…how much did I owe you for the final fee?”

“Fifty thousand dollars.” At that moment Jacob peered around the tree and tried to make out who was talking. What he saw shocked him: it was Mr. Landry. He was paying a hitman to kill his wife. Unfortunately, the only person who knew was Jacob. The boy who no one believed was the only who knew what was about to happen.

He stood quietly behind the tree, waiting until the two men walked further away. Then, once he was sure the coast was clear, he sprinted as fast is he could through the woods back toward the house. As he passed through the trees and into the backyard, he looked up, noticing the moon was bright and the stars were numerous. It was definitely late. The lights were still on and as he got closer, he could see his mom pacing frantically around the house. Of course. It was so late, she was probably worried sick. She didn’t usually get home until after nine, so it had to be even later than that.

Jacob approached the back door and slide it open. His mother, startled, jumped and turned around the see her son.

“OH Jacob! Where have you been!” His mom ran over, embracing him tightly. Through the stranglehold he spotted a clock showing a time of midnight. “I’ve been worried sick. I called the cops and the neighbors. Nobody knows where you have been. What is going on with you?”

Jacob briefly forgot about what he heard, but now those thoughts were pressing to the front of his mind. Trying to push them away, he gave them the most basic form of the truth.

“I was just really tired and upset after school, so I ran to my fort in the woods. I fell asleep and woke up just a little while ago. I’m sorry to have worried you.” Jacob did a good job showing emotion, but after all, he was feeling a flood of them at the moment. This explanation appears to have satisfied his mother. At that moment, his father, walked in the front door.

Puzzled, he looked to his wife. She came over and talked to him quietly while he took off his coat and put it away in the closet by the door. He listened intently to what happened, then spoke softly.

“I’m sorry you had a bad day Jacob. You know that even though we are at work, you can call us from the home phone. I know, I have to work late often, but you are more important and we can make time. Please just don’t scare us like that again.” With those words, he approached Jacob, gave him a tight hug, and then waltzed off to the bedroom.

Jacob’s mom had some words before she headed that way as well. “Honey, I know that some days school can be tough. But running off to the woods won’t solve anything. We aren’t around as often as we’d like to be, but you need to come to use with these things. It is hard to wait for us to come home, but we can’t help if we don’t know.” It wasn’t a great explanation as much as it was the truth. His parents couldn’t help if he wasn’t open with them, but it wasn’t realistic to expect him to just wait around hours for them when he was clearly hurting before. Too tired and shook to argue further, Jacob simply hugged his mother again as they parted ways to end their nights.

Jacob laid in bed, wide awake. His mind was racing. The only teacher he liked and the only one who seemed to care back wanted to murder his wife. This seemed impossible, like some sort of dream. Jacob lived in a relatively small town in Wisconsin. It didn’t fit with his idea of what life here was like. It seemed peaceful and sleepy, but now he knew the truth. There was much more danger here than met the eye. The hour was late and as much as Jacob tried, he couldn’t think of a way out of this. He felt helpless to do anything. In his bed, he tossed and turned, and struggled to sleep more than a few minutes at a time the entire night.

The sun rose and filtered through his shaded windows, letting Jacob know it was okay to get out of bed. Exhaustion filled his body, but sleep was a luxury last night. Too much had happened. Instead, Jacob made himself a bowl of cereal and plopped on the couch to watch ESPN. He had to do something to distract himself. Time to lose himself in another College Football Saturday. Unfortunately, the first games were still several hours away.

It wasn’t too long before Jacob’s parents woke up and came out to greet the day. However, Jacob didn’t get too excited. They also had to work Saturdays as well, so they wouldn’t be spending all that much time with him. Making a quick meal and sitting on the couch for a few minutes, his parents both hugged him and headed out the door. He was alone with his thoughts again.

He needed a plan of action. Hours of sleeplessness convinced him that he couldn’t just let someone die without doing something. It didn’t matter to him if they didn’t believe him. He didn’t need everyone to follow up, he just needed one. Jacob considered calling the police, but he didn’t think they would believe the word of an 8th grade student. The only adult he trusted was the one he was trying to stop. Maybe he could talk to Marcie. She seemed to care. But they barely knew each other. He couldn’t just bring this to her. At least not without trying to get to know her better. A week was a short amount of time, but perhaps if he could build a friendship this week, they could do something by Friday.

After a Saturday filled with football and mindlessness, Jacob squeezed in a few moments of planning and he thought he had a strategy. On Monday, he would approach Marcie and ask her for some help on his English paper. She was a straight A student and would be more than capable and willing to help. Then, he would ask if she could help him everyday after school. Hopefully, the answer would be yes. If everything worked out, he could bring this to her on Thursday in enough time to stop Mr. Landry.

The bigger concern was having to survive math class knowing what he knew. That the teacher who he trusted wanted to commit murder. How can you learn from someone who is that evil? Jacob also wondered if something bigger was going on. After all, it wasn’t cheap to hire a hitman, and it seemed to be a bit out of the price range of a simple school teacher. Perhaps if Jacob could catch him and stop him from calling his wife, he could also discover what else Mr. Landry was in to.

Saturday night arrived and Jacob’s parents arrived home just in time for dinner. As would be a usual Saturday night thing, they brought home pizza instead of cooking. The family sat down at their modest kitchen table and began to enjoy the local specialty.

“So honey, how was your day?” Asked his mother.

“Well, Ohio State lost, so it wasn’t bad!” Jacob exclaimed, feigning excitement over something that barely raised his pulse. Football normally got him that excited, but he just couldn’t enjoy it the way he always did.

“Ahh of course. How did the local team do?” his father asked. It took Jacob a minute to decipher he meant the Wisconsin Badgers. He just recently learned that they were the only Division 1 football school in the state.

“Umm…I think they had a bye” Jacob stated quietly. “Alabama plays tonight. Hopefully they lose too, but they are so good.”

His father nodded, and they continued eating. Then, Jacob asked a question he never really asked. “Mom. Dad. How was work today?” Seemingly surprised by the question, his parents looked at each other and then his mom spoke up first.

“It was good. This is the new job that I have to work Saturday’s for. Just a lot of paperwork nonsense. Pretty boring but it pays the bills. Jeffrey, how was yours?”

The father let out a deep sigh and stated,”Well, they want me to travel a little more to meet with some clients. Hopefully it won’t lead to much later nights but you never know with these things. Some clients have very specific needs met. You know, your mother and I hate not getting to spend time with you. No child should have to take care of themselves the way you have to. We promise, once things get back on track, we will be home more. We just need the extra money for a little while.”

Jacob nodded. He understood, perhaps more than any student. There were kids in his class that had one parent at home and lived on welfare. It wasn’t a pretty life. It as hard. All he had to do was a little work around the house and never worry about there being food or shelter. Even if they weren’t the top name brand, he also got new clothes as well. A little less time with his parents seemed like worthwhile sacrifice. More so than other eighth grade students, Jacob really understood what needed to be done.

The rest of the dinner was a quiet affair. Even though they all seemed to understand the life they chose, it was obvious that it affected how they interacted with each other. Space has a way of affecting things and it was clear that this family needed to spend more time together. However, the circumstances were what they were, and they had to play the hand they were dealt.

After they finished eating, Jacob took a break from helping to clean to reside himself to his room. Once there, he opened up a dusty old notebook, sat down at his desk, and began writing about his plans for the week. Maybe if he kept a log of what happened he could do something to get justice, even if he couldn’t stop Mr. Landry.

The remainder of the night was uneventful, and Jacob went to bed feeling a little bit of hope. The events of nearly twenty four hours ago seemed more distant, and he had a plan of action to do something about it. However difficult it would be, he was the only one that could save this person he didn’t even know. He fell asleep easily, dreaming of being a knight that slayed a dragon to save the princess.

Sunday was always a fun day. His parents usually didn’t have to go into work. They would wake up, go to the early service at church, and get back with plenty of morning left. Many times, they would hang out in the backyard and throw and catch footballs for hours, only breaking to watch some of the NFL games on TV. Today, however, the rain poured outside, making any activities that used the grass difficult. After church, they simply came home.

While his mother worked on making some chili for lunch, Jacob and his father broke out the Cribbage board and started a game. Cribbage was another popular pastime in this family. A simple card game, each player looked to make fifteens, pairs, and runs of consecutive cards in their hands of four. They would take turns playing the cards, and then count what they had. It was a fun, quick game. It also helped Jacob with his math skills in being able to add to fifteen in multiple ways.

“Fifteen two, fifteen four, fifteen six, and a pair is eight. Guess what dad. I just beat you!” Jacob exclaimed. His father smiled, but, being a little competitive, it didn’t last long. He was ready to deal and play again. And on and on they want, alternating between Cribbage and watching football while Jacob’s mom kept them fed and happy. She rarely played this role, but every once and awhile found it to be a nice change of pace from her normal life.

As Sunday came a close, Jacob revelled in how fun a normal day could be. When he could hang out with his parents and feel like life was perfect. Even though it probably wasn’t true, he imagined all of the other students at school getting to enjoy this everyday, whereas he only got it once a week at best. It was these mind games that led to the stories, and the stories that led to the ridicule. Perhaps if he realized that other students led uneventful lives as well, he would feel more comfortable sharing his.

Starting tomorrow though, everything would change. He had very little time to save Mr. Landry’s wife. As he put his head on his pillow, he said a little prayer for strength. He would need all he could muster this week.

In a blink, Jacob’s alarm was blaring and it was time to get up, get ready, and get on the bus. His morning routine was simple. He would wake up about thirty minutes before the bus arrived. A quick shower was followed by the usual brushing of teeth and hair combing. Or, at least the best he could do to tame the crazy mess that sat atop his head. After that, he would throw on some clothes, never really regarding whether they were clean or not. Quickly giving them a smell check, he’d shrug if acceptable and move on to the rest of his morning. Leaving himself only five minutes to get out the door, Jacob devoured a couple of granola bars and left the house. His parents were always gone before he was, so he didn’t often see them in the morning unless something unusual happened.

On the bus, it all came rushing back. Friday he had been humiliated by kids who were once his friends. Now, he had an actual story that no one would believe. Thankfully, for now, he could avoid dealing with this. He was the first stop on the way to school, so he had the whole bus to himself. Finding a seat in the very back, he slunk as low as he could, pulling a book out of his backpack to read for the duration of the trip. Other students began to slowly trickle onto the bus as it made its way through the town. A few sent some rude laughter Jacob’s direction, but for the most part, they left him alone.

Finally, the bus arrived at school, and the students spilled out and headed toward the doors. Jacob took his time, following the back of the pack. The bell rang signalling that students could enter, and Jacob made his way to his locker to pull out the materials he would need to start the day in science. Kevin passed him in the hallway.

“What did you do this weekend Jake? Go undercover and bust a drug ring? Can’t wait to hear all about it at lunch. Ha ha!” he chortled as he slapped Jacob on the back, knocking him slightly into the locker. Jacob bit his lip. If only Kevin knew. Maybe, if Jacob could figure this out, then people would believe him again. He would be a hero. In his eighth grade mind, that was now just as important as saving someone’s life.

Walking into science class, he spotted Marcie in the back. He almost forgot that she was in some of his classes. Taking his seat, he hoped that there would be some time in class for them to talk. The teacher, Ms. Clemens, got things started.

“Lab today everybody! I think we are going to shake it up a bit too. I know I usually let you choose your own partners, but today we’ll get to work with someone new. Here on the screen find your randomly generated team.”

Jacob looked intently, trying to figure out where he was. Drats, he thought. He was stuck with Henry. Even though Jacob was a bit of an outcast at this point, Henry straight up smelled and he was the last person he would have wanted to work with under normal circumstances. Marcie was paired up with Kevin. A worst case scenario.

The students went from station to station, testing different chemicals. Henry had the difficult task of keeping Jacob focused, as he kept wanting to look over at what Marcie was doing. Was Kevin talking about him?

“Hey, uh, Jake. You wanna grab the acid strips there and dunk em in the vial?” Henry stated, somewhat nasally. That was another thing. He always sounded like he had a cold.

“What?” Jacob snapped back to attention. “Oh, yeah. Sure. What are we looking for again?”

Exasperated, Henry scolded, “You know if you’d been paying attention you would know.” He took a deep breath and snorted. “We are looking at acids and bases.”

“Oh, Ah yes. Of course. Let me just test that so we can get the results written down.” Jacob decided to give up monitoring Marcie’s interactions and focus on the task. When twenty minutes had elapsed, the activity ended, and they came back together as a class to discuss the results. As they were taking their seats, Jacob glanced over at Marcie, who also caught eyes with him. She gave a nod and a smile. The ice was broken and Jacob felt a little more confident. He needed to approach her after class to initiate his plan.

The class discussion was as exciting as usual since Jacob struggled to stay awake. A first hour class is always tough like that. But, relief came as the bell rang and the students scurried to their next classes. Jacob locked on to Marcie, and when she was approaching the door and met her.

“Oh. HI Jacob. Nice to see you today. Was your weekend okay?” she warmly stated.

“Yeah. Good actually. Yours?” he returned pleasantly.

“You know. A lot of work, plus my parents have their own business I have to help with. Can we walk and talk so we’re not let. You are headed to Social Studies next, right?” somehow she didn’t sound impatient as she made her request.

“Of course. I did have something important to ask you.” He gulped hard. Everything hinged on this moment. “I’m just really struggling with that big paper on colonialism in English class and was wondering…umm” he trailed off. It wasn’t true. The paper was coming along just fine as writing was a strength of his. All the times he lied and told stories, he struggled to tell this lie.

“Jake? Oh, I see. It is pretty hard. Plus, three pages. That is a big one! You know, I wouldn’t mind some discussion and work on it too. That is what you were asking for, right?” How could she be so perfect? She made it easy for him to simply nod and accept the offer as they reached their social studies class. “So could we meet after school?”

Jacob hadn’t thought this through. How would he get home if he missed the bus? His house was several miles away. He put all of his hopes on her.

“Well, I take the bus…I really really want to, but…” he said sheepishly.

“Oh, it isn’t a problem. My mom picks me up and wouldn’t have any problem dropping you off. I’ll text her to make sure. She’ll completely understand. The paper is due Friday at the end of the quarter and it is a huge grade! Let’s meet in the library, okay. We better take our seats!”

It was incredibly to Jacob to be treated like a normal person by someone. Of course, this all snapped back to reality when he had to take a seat next to Kevin and his cronies. All through social studies, they kept jeering and poking fun at home. They kept calling him Mark Twain and demanding he make up excuses for why they didn’t have their stuff done, or were late for class, or skipped school. It was non-stop for the entire class. Just when Jacob thought he couldn’t take it anymore, the bell rang, taking the teacher by surprise, who had been caught in a vibrant discussion about economic systems with some students on the other side of the room.

The rest of the day brought more of the same, although Jacob got a bit of a break from the ridicule during a few specials classes, like phy ed, where he didn’t have to face Kevin or the others. Lunch was tough, as Marcie had her own packed friend table and he couldn’t really sit with his old friends. No kid should ever have to eat alone at lunch. He could stand the ridicule for the most port, but loneliness was nearly impossible to overcome.

Math was incredibly awkward. Jacob knew what Mr. Landry was doing, and at times it felt like the teacher knew that Jacob knew. But how could he? Instead, every interaction and conversation with filled with a lot of long pauses and darting eyes. Mr. Landry was adamant about checking in with Jacob and making sure he was okay, while Jacob was determined to not give away what he knew. As he was leaving the class, Mr. Landry stopped him again.

“Jake, are you sure everything is okay? You seem like a completely different person today. I can’t help if I don’t know what is going on. Did something else happen with Kevin this weekend?” Jacob wanted to shout “yeah, something did happen this weekend. I know you are going to kill your wife you monster, and I will stop you!” But instead, he simply shrugged and said, “I just didn’t sleep much.”

He didn’t have time for Mr. Landry’s concern and broke away as soon as he had an opening. This would be a difficult week regardless of what happened Friday. But what about after Friday? In any case, Jacob tried to think about just this week first.

When the day finally came to an end, Jacob headed to the library to meet with Marcie. She was there, eager and ready to go with a few reference books and two laptops for them to type their papers on. Once they quietly set their work spaces up, they started to discuss the ins and outs of the assignment. Marcie was actually impressed by the level of understanding that Jacob showed, and was a bit skeptical of his intentions.

“You know Jake, you really seem to know your stuff. Are you sure you wanted my help on this, or…? It was rare for Marcie to be unsure of herself, but Jacob had put her in this position.

He thought for a moment, and then came back with something to disarm her. “I appreciate the compliment. I guess I just don’t have a lot of confidence in myself, so it always helps to run my ideas by someone else. I hope it is still okay if we work together after school this week. You have such good ideas and maybe I can use them to make my writing even better.” For once in an interaction with Marcie, he was able to use his storytelling skill for good. He wasn’t looking to make a friend right now for life. He just needed her to hang with him until Friday.

“Hey, you know, that makes sense. I always feel like I know what I am doing, but sometimes I’m not sure and it isn’t a bad thing to ask for help even when you are feeling good about something. It bothers me those other boys make fun of you. You sure are an interesting character!” They both shared a healthy laugh, and Jacob was feeling as good about himself as he had in a long time.

They worked together for about an hour, and Marcie’s phone buzzed indicating that her mom was there to pick them up. The pair packed up their books, put away the computers, and headed out to the parking lot. Marcie’s mother drove a fairly new Kia Soul and Jacob smiled, for some reason enjoying the look of that vehicle.

Jacob tried his best to be polite as they climbed in. “Thank you Mrs. Grace for the ride. Marcie was very helpful today and will be this week. I just really appreciate it.”

Marcie’s mom blushed a bit. “Oh well that is quite nice of you! Anything for one of Marcie’s friends. Although, I hadn’t heard much about you before. Are you new this year?”

Jacob responded, “Yeah. Been a good school so far. One of the better ones I’ve been to.”

Marcie’s mom nodded vigorously as the car pulled away. “Great to hear! I’m president of the pto, and we love supporting this school. Excellent teachers and respectful students, just like you.” Jacob couldn’t help but chuckle a little at the irony of that statement.

For the rest of the ride, Marcie’s mom lightly interrogated Jacob on different aspects of his life. Where he used to live before moving here. Bozeman, Montana. What his parents did for work. He wasn’t sure but something with crazy hours. His favorite food. Lucky Charms. The time passed quickly and soon, he was at his front door. Jacob thanked her again, and then exchanged a warm smile with Marcie as he exited the vehicle. It was almost dark now, and the lights were off in the house. Jacob took his time walking to the front door to avoid tripping.

Day one of Operation Stop Mr. Landry From Murdering His Wife was a success. He was working with Marcie after school and making positive strides. The only question was — would he be able to make her believe him by the end of the week when it mattered most? Even if he did, would there be anything she could do to help him stop Mr. Landry?

These were the things he contemplated as he made himself dinner and fell asleep early. He never even heard his parents come in. That wasn’t really all that unusual though. When he was tired enough, he was sleep by nine and his parents were almost never home before then. Sometimes, like Friday, his dad would be out past midnight.

It was Tuesday. Just three days left to do something about Mr. Landry.

Each day would be a battle. Jacob would do his best to focus in classes amidst the endless taunts from fellow students and the droning on of his teachers, but his real interest was getting to the end of the day and trying to continue building this relationship with Marcie. Survive Science. Survive Social Studies. Survive Careers. Survive Tech Ed. Survive Lunch. Survive Math. Survive English.

Once again, Marcie beat him to the library beaming and excited about something. Jacob walked in and gave her a questioning look.

“Well…what’s up with you?” He asked.

“I heard the juiciest rumor today. You know the math teacher, Mr. Landry?” She expressed with eyes wide. Jacob’s pulse quickened. Was it possible somebody already knew something? Was it time to tell her?

“Uhh…yeah. I have him in class. Super, umm…nice guy. What did you hear?”

“Well my mom is on the PTO, as you know. She was talking over dinner last night that one of the other moms went in for an after school meeting and accidentally walked in on him kissing Ms. Clemens! Isn’t that crazy??” She was giddy with glee over this news. For Jacob, it just gave him more evidence. But not yet, he told himself. Don’t bring it up yet.

“Woah…that is crazy. Isn’t he married?” Jacob asked, of course knowing the answer.

“I think so. A little scandal here at our small high school. Who says this place is boring, eh? Well, let’s get to it!” And with that, they continued to put together their research for their English papers. At the conclusion of their session, they really were close to finished. A little more typing and some proofreading should do it. Jacob was not getting worried he wouldn’t get all week. He would have to think of something else to keep it going.

It was a quiet trip back to the house with Marcie and her mom exchanging stories from the day, barely noticing Jacob. This was an unfamiliar feeling for him. In the past, he usually was only friends with boys. Marcie was truly the first girl he ever spent this much time with. Although he considered himself fairly mature, Jacob didn’t see girls quite that way yet. However, Marcie was certainly on track to change his mind.

Dropped off at his house, Jacob was alone in the dark again. Thinking about the new info, he felt he had even more credibility to come forward about Mr. Landry than before. In the conversation he overheard, Mr. Landry wanted his wife dead because of things she was doing. But what if it was due to his affair and wanting to get out of the marriage? It certainly changes things, and he strongly considers sharing what he knows with Marcie tomorrow.

Tonight, he decides to wait up and talk to his parents. He knows he doesn’t have to be specific to get some advice from them. They tell him all the time that he should come to them with anything. Maybe he should come to them with this?

Right on schedule, about 9:00pm, his parents walk through the door together.

“Hi Jacob! SO nice to see you. Man, we’re tired. I’m sure you are too. How has school been?” his mom said while holding back a yawn.

“Great mom. I actually made a new friend, Marcie. She’s helping me with a paper. And…maybe something else. Can I ask you something.”

“Sure, honey. You know you can ask anything.”

“Well. What if you knew something bad was going to happen but you also knew nobody would believe you if you told them?” He tried to ask it in as innocent of a way as possible. His parents shared concerned glances. Then his father spoke up.

“Son, is there something we should know? If you know something you need to tell somebody. You can tell us. What is going on??” He sounded worried.

“Nothing for sure. Just rumors. And I know I shouldn’t spread rumors. But what if I think the rumors are true?” There was a moment of uncomfortable silence.

“Well, honey.” His mom started. “If it is a rumor I think you need to let it go. You don’t want to be sharing those. You could really hurt somebody if you do that.”

“But what if it is true??” Jacob was pleading now and getting passionate.

“Okay, you are scaring me Jacob. You need to tell us what you are talking about!” His father commanded.

“Nothing. I just don’t know what I’m supposed to do.” Now Jacob was sobbing. His parents came over to console him where he was sitting on the couch. Both of them looked very confused, but did their best to comfort him.

“Jacob. You should always do what is right. If that means telling someone something that you aren’t one hundred percent sure of, just trust yourself. Would you want someone else doing that for you?” his mom responded. And with that, they dropped it, watched a little evening news, and went off to bed.

It was Wednesday. Only two days before the murder would happen. Jacob decided that today was the day he would make plans with Marcie.

However , the day had other plans. When Jacob settled into Science class, he noticed that Marcie was not there. She wasn’t in Social Studies either. Jacob was beginning to panic. Where was she? Without a cell phone and no way of knowing her number, he was incredibly concerned that his entire plan was falling apart before his very eyes. To make matters worse, he had to see both Ms. Clemens and Mr. Landry and expect to act like nothing was going on. Plus, Jacob couldn’t rule out Ms. Clemens being involved in the whole thing either.

Without the prospect of seeing Marcie at the end of the day, it was a tough slog to the final bell. The other students were seeming to tire from the insults and teasing, so that was positive development. Still, he was solely dependent on Marcie being there tomorrow. He simply didn’t think he had enough to go on to get the police involved. At this point, he needed another person on board. If Marcie was on board, he could get her mom there too. Then, they would have a case.

Jacob also struggled watching Mr. Landry show absolutely no signs of remorse. He was paying someone to take the life of his wife, but skated through class with humor and a smile. How could someone about to commit murder by proxy be so casual about it all? It was appalling to Jacob, and he found it difficult to even look at Mr. Landry, let alone focus on Math in class.

Sleep did not come easy that night. Do or die time, literally, was approaching. Marcie had to be there. If not, he just didn’t feel strong enough to go alone. But, he thought, how could he live with himself everyday seeing Mr. Landry knowing? It would be torture. No one should have to live with that. When his alarm went off, Jacob flailed on his bed, exhausted but hopeless to get any more rest.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Jacob couldn’t have been happier to see Marcie at school the next day. He approached her and asked, “Hey Marcie. Missed you yesterday. You feeling okay?”

“Oh yeah, totally fine. My mom decided that we needed a spa day. She’s so crazy. It isn’t like school is the most important thing, but it could’ve waited until the weekend, you know?” Totally nonchalant in her response, Jacob couldn’t believe it. He was hoping she could help him with matters of life or death. Yet here she was, fresh off a new pedicure. Jacob found himself feeling angry.

“Oh, huh. Well, are we still meeting after school or what?” He gritted through his teeth.

“Yeah, sure. I’m just about done but it will be good for one final look over.”

Content with how well he held onto his emotions, Jacob headed to his seat and prepared to grind out another tough day. Every minute seemed to take hours. He wanted the end of the day to arrive so he could tell Marcie everything and make their plan for tomorrow. Hoping beyond hope that she would understand was all Jacob could do.

When he finally made it to the end of the day, Jacob was mentally worn out. But the hard work was still to come. It was time to dust off his storytelling skills and convince Marcie to help him.

“Oh, there you are. I was wondering if you decided not to come. Why the look?” Marcie asked. Jacob wasn’t hiding the consternation on his face well. It was time.

“Marcie, I have something really important to tell you. You have to hear me out. I promise this is the absolute truth.” Jacob had never sounded so grave in his life. He had Marcie’s attention.

“Oh my God Jacob what is it?” Marcie matched his tone.

“Remember when you said that Mr. Landry was having an affair?” She nodded. “Well, I think that is connected to something bigger. After school on Friday, I went home and went to my fort in the woods. Don’t laugh. I fell asleep and when I woke up, I saw some people talking in the woods. Talking about murdering someone. It was Mr. Landry. He hired someone to kill his wife.” Breathing heavily, Jacob finally sat back in a chair, a little lighter with that weight off his chest.

They sat for a moment, Marcie in stunned silence.

“Jacob, I know you have a reputation for telling stories. To be honest, I didn’t want other kids were saying to be true because I like you. But wow, this is pretty out there, don’t you think?” She questioned cautiously. She wasn’t wrong.

“I totally agree. I wouldn’t believe it myself. Trusting me would be hard, I know, but I have no idea who else to go to. My hope was that you might believe me and we could talk to you mom so she can call the police.” Jacob’s confidence was wavering.

“Hold on here buddy. You want my mom to call the cops for us? I need some more details.” Her voice sounded skeptical now. Jacob proceeded to tell her the rest of what he knew.

“So it will happen by 3pm on Friday, huh? Well, I mean. I can tell my mom, but I can tell you right now she won’t believe us. If it turns out to be a lie, which, let’s be honest, would be a very strong possibility for you, a false call to the police is a punishable offence. My dad is an attorney so I know some stuff.” He hadn’t heard it before, but Marcie showed a little arrogance with her tone there. She didn’t often flaunt her status, but she came close there.

“Well, what do you suggest. We have to do something!” Jacob was giving this all he had now. She thought about it for a moment. Then, her eyes shot at his.

“Well, it is simple. We just need to sneak out of school at lunch and warn her ourselves.” She stated plainly.

“Are you insane? If she really is going to be killed, that will be incredibly dangerous! We could be dead too!”

Marcie examined him closely. “Well, I have to say. Your reaction to that shows something. I think I do believe you. But I don’t think anybody else will. Listen, we can get there and lay it out. Either she listens or we leave. Question though — how do you know this will happen at their house?”

Jacob shrugged. He just assumed.

“Hmm. Well, that is the best we can do. I know it sucks but it is the best we can do. Just one small problem — where does Mr. Landry live?” Marcie was quite a thinker and asked the good questions. Jacob hadn’t thought about this. He looked at the clock — it was just past 3:30pm. The teachers should still be here.

“Let’s ask Ms. Clemens. We can say it is a surprise for him. But we better go quick — I’m sure she is leaving soon.” Marcie agrees and they quickly shuffle their way to her classroom. Fortunately, she was still there — alone.

“Hey Ms. Clemens. We had a little question for ya.” Marcie was doing the talking. Jacob thought that was a smart call.

“Oh hey kids. I was just about to head out. What’s up?”

“So, we wanted to send Mr. Landry a gift. He’s been so great this year and we just wanted to show our appreciation.” She was putting the sweetness on extra thick.

Ms. Clemens raised an eyebrow. “Why couldn’t you just send it through school mail? And why would you think I would know his address?”

Jacob jumped in. “We think it’d be a better surprise if he got it at home. And we just assumed all the teachers knew each other’s addresses.” Ms. Clemens couldn’t argue with that, and she obliged, writing down his address and handing it to Marcie.

“Have a great night kids!”

“You too!” they called as they left the room.

They had an address. They had a plan. Now they just had to execute and hope that Mrs. Landry would play along. The pair headed back to the library, discussed the plan for a few minutes before digging into revisions on their papers. Before they knew it, Marcie’s mom was calling and their time was done.

It was a nervous trip back. Neither kid spoke more than a word as Mrs. Grace tried to pry something out of them. Jacob’s biggest worry is that Marcie wouldn’t follow through, but given the level of effort she put into making a plan, he felt he could trust her with this. As he left the car, he gave her a big smile that she returned. They had a chance to play hero. If not, at least he would have someone to share this horrible knowledge with. As the old saying goes, misery loves company.

When Jacob’s parents arrived home that night, they seemed more stressed than usual. Jacob decided to interrogate.

“Mom, dad, is everything okay?” They were slightly taken aback by their son looking to help them out.

“Oh, you know honey. Tough day. Stressful clients. Not every person is easy to work with!” She joked a little. His father chimed in as well. “Yeah, sometimes I’d rather work with children than adults. Maybe I should have been a teacher? Then again, I’d have to actually care about people more than I do!” He chuckled as well. The way his parents played that conversation made Jacob feel a little uneasy and he dropped it completely.

That night was another one of limited sleep. He was so tired at this point, surviving the school days and engaging in very tough conversations. Homework pushed his bed time even further back tonight and it wasn’t a great situation whatever way you looked at it. He just wanted this whole episode to be over.

The sun came up, the alarm rang, and Jacob took the longest shower of his life trying to get himself awake. Today was the day where he could be the hero and Marcie could be the heroine. If they saved the day, maybe he could have a girlfriend. School would be more bearable and he could be on track to live the life he wanted. A lot was riding on what happened today.

As Jacob walked into Science, his heart was pounding. So many lives affect. Ms. Clemens may or may not know anything, but she could very close to being involved with a murderer. Mr. Landry could end up in prison for life or be teaching kids every single day with a death on his conscience. Of course, poor Mrs. Landry was the biggest loser of all — she is the only one is this scenario who ends up dead if she fails.

After Social Studies, in the hallway, Jacob bumped into Mr. Landry. He stumbled back a bit, and then spoke up.

“Oh, hey there Jake. Doing okay? You’ve definitely been off this week.” All Jacob could do is stare.

“I know. You aren’t going to get away with this.” He stated coldly.

Mr. Landry looked at him with a puzzled look, and chuckled nervously. “Not sure what you mean there Jacob. Seriously, you should go talk to someone. I’d gladly do that. I’m worried about you.” He glances at the clock. “Ack. Class is starting soon. We’ll see you this afternoon!” Jacob walked away from that shaken. Was he wrong about Mr. Landry? Did he dream the whole event? Or worse — did he just blow the opportunity they had to stop it?

Panicked, he barely remembered his next two classes before lunch. They were a blur. He was questioning everything now. Worries filled him about their plan. As an eighth grader, who was he to think he could stop something like this? Why did it have to be him? What would even happen when they got to Mr. Landry’s house? Would they get caught on the way out and sent to class? Jacob was living in his own head, a swirling mess of anger, confusion, and concern.

At last, it was lunch, and he met with Marcie at their designated spot just outside the lunch room. Their plan was simple — they would each ask to go to the bathroom late in the lunch period, and then casually sneak out the front doors right next to them. From there, they determined, it would be a two mile walk over to Mr. Landry’s house. After that, it was anybody’s guess what they would find.

For once, everything went according to plan. They both successfully got excused to the bathroom (with the old asking two different lunch room monitors trick) and they were able to sneak out the front doors without notice, thanks to guests in the office preoccupying the secretaries. Now, time for the long walk to their final destination.

On the way, they were silent, quietly contemplating their role in all of this. The only conversation on the way was Marcie point the way with the directions on her phone. Somehow, Jacob thought, they both understood each other. They needed to process this separately on the way. It was a warm day, perhaps the last warm day of the year. What a way to spend it, Jacob thought.

Sweaty and breathing a bit harder than usual, the detective duo arrived at the house. It was time. Jacob and Marcie took a moment to collect themselves. They looked at each other, and it was decided — Jacob would do the talking. Taking a death breath, Jacob walked up and rang the doorbell.

A minute passed. Jacob thought no one was home. He looked back at Marcie, who shrugged unknowingly. Right before he hit the button again, the door cracked open, and there was a woman there.

She was beautiful, with long, flowing black hair and a form fitting dress. Jacob wondered what someone would be doing wearing such a thing during the day.

Quite surprised, the woman spoke first. “Oh, well hello there. I wasn’t expecting anyone this afternoon. Wow, you are little. Shouldn’t you be at school?”

Jacob cleared his throat, and tried to speak as loudly as he could. His voice was quivering. “Umm, well yes we should be. We actually have your husband as a teacher.” She flinched a bit when she heard his name.

Now she was more stern with them. “I don’t know what he is telling his students, but this is very inappropriate. You need to go back to school.” She turned to shut the door before Marcie spoke up.

“Ma’am, please. We aren’t here on his behalf. We’re here on yours. We think he is trying to have you killed.” All three let the words hang in the air. Mrs. Landry stood at the door, seemingly debating in her mind whether to trust the word of these two children over her own intuition. “If you just let us in, we will tell you more. But we think it might happen in the next two hours, so we’ll have to move quick. If you don’t believe us, we’ll leave, but please hear us out.”

A minute passed before Mrs. Landry made her decision. “Okay, I’ll give you ten minutes. But after that you need to leave.” Marcie and Jacob thanked her, and then headed inside. They walked through an open entry way with a beautiful chandelier hanging over head, before arriving at the large and comfy looking living room. How on earth did they afford all of this on a teacher’s salary, Jacob thought?

They took a seat, and Mrs. Landry was very direct. “Tell me what you know. Now.” Jacob revealed all of his information. Figuring she had nothing to lose as well, Marcie also told Mrs. Landry about the rumors at school about her husband having an affair with another teacher.

“Figures. Ugh. Men. Here I bet he thinks I’ve been doing all of that behind his back and he is getting revenge on me. They are just business meetings. Late ones happen. It helps us afford this place. I guess he just doesn’t get it.” Mrs. Landry fought back some tears. “It just doesn’t make sense that he would do this. I know he can be jealous. But hire someone to kill me? With my money? That seems a step too far.”

Marcie and Jacob both nodded. “Hey, I get it. I just moved into this small town. Everything seemed a little boring here. I don’t want to believe this either. But we don’t have much time. We have got to get you out of here.”

Mrs. Landry retorted. “I think I believe you, I do. But I have a business associate showing up soon and I need to make this sale. Especially if I have to get away from Mr. Landry.”

Jacob cried out at her. “Can’t you call the cops??

“And do what?” She fired back. “If the cops are here before the hitman comes, he won’t show up. If they come later, it will be too late. That is if they would even believe me. Let me just wait for my associate, then I’ll go. I promise. Now, get out of here.”

Marcie stood up and stared at her. “We aren’t going anywhere. We came here to save you. We have to see Mr. Landry every day. You are the only one that can help us bring him down.”

At that moment, there was a knock at the door. Everyone jumped a little and Mrs. Landry made her way over to the door. “Oh, don’t worry kids. Here is my associate. We can leave. Go ahead and go out the back door.” Jacob tried to steal a peek at the person, and he stopped dead in his tracks.

It was his father.

He couldn’t move. Marcie kept yelling in his ear. “We gotta go. Let’s go!” Jacob stood, frozen. His dad walked into the room with Mrs. Landry and was surprised to see his son, but nevertheless barely reacted.

“Oh, interesting. Hello Jacob. Who is your friend?” He calmly said, as if this was just business as usual.

“Dad, we have to go! Someone is coming here to kill her!” Jacob screamed.

His father just rolled with it. “Hmm…that is quite an accusation. Is that why you’ve been acting a little weird the past few nights?”

Jacob nodded. “Come on let’s go!”

His father opened his jacket, revealing a gun. “I’m sorry you have to be here for this Jacob.” He removed it from a holster, and shot Mrs. Landry right in the chest. Jacob slumped into a couch, speechless. Marcie started crying.

“This is really tough for me to do, bud, but we can’t have any witnesses to this. Your mom will be here soon to help clean this up. She won’t be happy about another body but this is the job. No way we can trust this girl. I’m really, truly sorry.”

One more shot was fired, and another life was taken. Jacob wanted to explode on the inside. He wanted to remove his eyes. He wish his father would shoot him too. “NOOOOO. Marcie NOOO!” he cried.

“Well, son. This was a terrible way for you to find out about this. But, I guess now is as good a time as any for you to learn the family business. Unfortunately, this job is hard and has long hours. It will be nice to have a third person on the crew.”