Blackened Spiral Down
Read Blackened Spiral Down Online
Authors: Pete Altieri
Blackened Spiral Down
A Collection of Dark and Twisted Tales
Pete Altieri
Copyright © 2016 by Pete Altieri
PeteAltieri.com Facebook.com/AltieriPete
@AltieriPete
Cover Art and Design by Brian Uziel of Chewdog Design
For my mother, Adele, and those rainy days at the
Paperback Exchange that inspired these stories.
1
“You little son-of-a-bitch!” said Richard under his breath as he shut the door to his step son’s bedroom. It was 2:10 am.
Jimmy sat on the bed, shaking with fear after having another one of his vivid nightmares. It was a dream that came to him nearly every time he closed his eyes. He could see a leather belt with a heavy brass buckle coming down on him over and over again. He tried to cover himself with the comforter on his bed, as if that would shield him from the blows, but Richard pulled it violently from him and tossed it to the floor. Jimmy knew he wasn’t dreaming now, but Richard scared him more than the leather belt. He knew Richard was capable of worse.
“I have to get up for work tomorrow, you little bastard. You wouldn’t know what that means – having to get up for work,” Richard said through gritted teeth and clenched jaw, so as not to awaken Jimmy’s mother, Kim. He was only an inch from Jimmy’s face as he uttered those words. Richard’s eyes were wide open and alive with contempt for the smaller-than-average boy before him. In some sick way, Richard despised any attention being taken from him. The way Kim would coddle Jimmy was less affection Richard was getting. Jimmy was quivering in fear at his hateful words. He didn’t know what to say that wouldn’t put Richard over the edge.
Jimmy had nightmares often. In his dreams he would re-live the horrible times he experienced with his real father, Donald, and how he would beat him with a belt for trivial things. Jimmy remembered having his arm broken one time, shielding himself from his father’s punches, only because he didn’t turn his television off one night. Donald didn’t care much about waking up Kim. Donald really didn’t care much about anything except drinking whiskey and sleeping around. It was when he came staggering in the front door, his clothes disheveled and the strong odor of whiskey on his breath, that Jimmy and his mother feared what he might do. Kim experienced the abuse herself. She knew of Donald’s womanizing, and when she brought it up, he would lash out at her both verbally and physically. Jimmy could hear him yell at his mother and hated him for it. She tolerated it, because she didn’t see a way out. Kim was worried that she wouldn’t be able to make it on her own, especially with a 9-year-old son. Her job at Murphy’s Irish Pub as a waitress and bartender didn’t bring in much money. Even with Donald’s meager income as a house painter – they struggled. So how could she possibly do it on her own? Donald worked for cash under the table, so there wasn’t going to be any child support, and she knew it. She was all too aware Donald beat Jimmy but found ways to justify it her mind. The prescription pain killers she was eating like candy helped hide the pain and reality of a life gone wrong. Kim was raised in a house where her own father beat her mother, much in the same fashion, over too much drinking and running around with loose women.
Her prayers were answered a year ago when Donald ran into the husband of a woman he had been having an affair with, at one of the bars he frequented. The two got into a heated argument in the bar, and Donald left and went home to get a shotgun. Upon returning to the bar, he found the man in the parking lot talking with some friends. Without a word, Donald shot the man in the chest and killed him instantly in front of at least a dozen witnesses. The police were there in moments, and Donald didn’t even put up a struggle. He was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to 40-years-to-life in state prison. The last time Kim saw him was at his sentencing. As he was taken away, she felt like a tremendous burden was taken off her shoulders, but the fear she had of being alone with Jimmy crept back in soon after.
Only a few short months later, Kim began dating Richard, who drove a truck for a restaurant supply company based in Chicago. He made better money than Donald and didn’t drink nearly as much. He also seemed to like Jimmy, as the two appeared to hit it off right from the beginning, and nearly six months to the day of Donald’s sentencing hearing – they were married.
Things with Richard were good at first. Kim and Jimmy moved into his house on the east side of town, a much nicer neighborhood than the apartment they had been living in on the west side. Then things changed. At first, Kim began to get the feeling Richard wasn’t being totally honest with her. Money seemed to be short all the time, but she knew the paychecks that he was bringing home should have allowed them to be much more comfortable. They began to argue about money all the time. She suspected he was spending the money on other women and at the local watering holes. Kim still thought he was good with Jimmy, but every now and then she would hear him raising his voice to the boy, but when asked about it, he would make her think she was imagining things. Jimmy didn’t bring it up to her, so Kim was able to believe things were fine. She didn’t realize he was petrified of Richard, and that’s why he didn’t say anything.
Jimmy was having nightmares often, mostly about his father and the abuse he had dealt. Richard would not allow him to sleep in their room on nights the dreams petrified the boy. Still, Kim didn’t want to believe he was being harsh to Jimmy. She didn’t want to go through that all over again. It was easier to pretend it wasn’t happening. Her choice in husbands had not improved, despite her new lease on life the day that Donald was taken away in handcuffs and a prison-issued jumpsuit.
There was, however, another person who knew what was going on with Richard and Jimmy. It wasn’t a concerned neighbor or a friend from school, because Jimmy was too scared to say anything. It was the man with spots. That was the name Jimmy had given him. He knew what was going on, and he didn’t like Richard at all. The man with spots didn’t like anyone who didn’t treat Jimmy well. Right now, he was sitting in a chair by Jimmy’s bedroom window, slowly rocking back and forth, and watching Richard throw the comforter on the floor and yell at Jimmy. His beady eyes were seething with anger as he watched the spectacle before him. The man with spots was not an imaginary friend of Jimmy’s. He lived inside the television in Jimmy’s room, and most nights, he crawled out of it and sat quietly in the closet, or lay underneath the bed – a mere breath away. When there was an altercation and he felt that he needed to be more involved, the man with spots would sit in the chair by the window and watch. No one but Jimmy could see him. If they did see the strange man, they would have run away screaming. His appearance was disturbing to say the least, but Jimmy knew he wouldn’t hurt him, so the man with spots didn’t scare him at all. The man with spots didn’t like Richard one bit, and it was only a matter of time before he would tear him into pieces - very little tiny pieces. That’s what he told Jimmy he would do to his stepfather if he ever raised a hand to hit him like his father had.
It was after Jimmy’s father went to prison that the man with spots first started showing up. He didn’t say much. In some strange way, he connected with Jimmy and didn’t need to communicate in a normal way. As odd as his appearance was, Jimmy knew he wasn’t going to hurt him, so the man with spots was not feared. When he made his presence known to Jimmy, there was a certain calmness that washed over his bedroom, knowing that no one was going to hurt him again. There would be no more beatings. No more leather belts with large buckles pummeling him in the night. The man with spots wasn’t going to let that happen ever again.
“You’re going to sleep in your own damn room and leave us alone! Only sissies have nightmares and cry about it!” Richard kicked his mattress as he turned and shut the door behind him.
Don’t worry, Jimmy. Go to sleep now. I’ll stay awake until the sun comes up to make sure you’re OK. He won’t hurt you.
Jimmy smiled as he picked the comforter up off the floor and lay back down. He knew the man with spots was rocking in his chair behind him, keeping the bad stuff away. He was fast asleep in ten minutes.
2
Three nights later, Jimmy woke up from another nightmare. He was screaming. It was only 9:45 pm, and the man with spots was still inside the television. He normally didn’t come out until midnight or so, and he was back inside before the sun came up.
“Oh my God! What was that?” Kim cried out, groggy and out of a deep sleep in their bedroom at the other end of the hall.
Richard heard it. It was hard not to, as the hairs on the back of his neck were standing at attention from the shrill scream coming from Jimmy’s bedroom.
“God damn that kid!”
Kim winced at his words as she felt her husband climb out of bed and reach for his bath robe. She knew he was upset. Richard got up every day at 5:00 am for work, especially during the summer months when he was busy, and the humid temperatures meant they had to get started early to avoid unloading their trucks in the afternoon sun. Working 10-hour days at least six days a week took its toll, and he was very cranky when he didn’t get the sleep he needed.
“I’m sorry, Richard. Please don’t yell at him. He’s had a tough time dealing with Donald going to prison,” she said, sitting up in bed now wide awake.
Richard grunted something indistinguishable as he walked out of their room and into the hallway toward Jimmy’s room.
Kim was grateful to have such an understanding husband and went back to sleep.
3
The door of Jimmy’s bedroom was flung open as Richard stood in the threshold, angry that he was awakened with the high-pitch scream. He had a long day ahead of him at work, and every minute he wasn’t sleeping was going to make the day that much more difficult. Jimmy was sitting up in his bed shaking uncontrollably as his stepfather turned on the light and stepped into his room.
“What is your problem, Jimmy? Another nightmare scaring you?” His voice was taunting the frail boy who still quivered in his large shadow. Richard was nearly 6’2”, and Jimmy was small for his age. The hand-me-downs from his cousins draped over his little body like yard sale clothes on cheap plastic hangers.
“And what did I tell you about leaving that damn television on? That’s probably why you’re having nightmares. Christ!” Richard was turning red now, as the rage that was typically simmering was now ready to spill over. He walked over and turned it off.
“I’m sorry R-r-ichard,” the boy stammered to get out.
“You’re sorry? Sorry? I have to get up an hour early tomorrow, and you’re sorry?”
Jimmy began to wonder if the man with spots was already out of the television and in his room somewhere. He didn’t see him in the chair. Maybe he was under the bed or hiding in the closet again?
Richard went over and pulled the electrical cord from the television and picked it up over his head.
“Please don’t hurt me!” Jimmy was cowering on his bed, looking around for something to defend himself with. He knew that Richard was madder than he had ever seen him get. He knew the man with spots warned him that his temper was even worse than his own father’s.
“Oh no, I won’t hurt you. Your Mom wouldn’t let me live that one down you little bastard!” he said as his voice was escalating to yelling now. “I’ll do something worse!” Then he threw the television across the room, and it smashed against the hard plaster wall, shattering the screen! The loud crunch of glass woke Kim up.
“No!” screamed Jimmy, wondering if the man with spots was still inside. He still didn’t see him by the window. There was no sign of his large friend. Just then, the bulb in the overhead light in Jimmy’s room shattered. The room was dark except for the nightlight near his bedroom door. It also seemed to get about 10 degrees cooler in an instant.
Kim heard all the yelling and the glass breaking, and feared the worst. She knew that Richard’s fuse was lit, and she hoped she could get to the bedroom in time before things got out of hand.
Then the bedroom door slammed shut with a resounding crunch. It appeared the heavy wood was on the verge of breaking in two! Jimmy was petrified, as Richard was now coming at him in the dark bedroom with the door shut and no sign of the man with spots!
“Jimmy! Richard! Open this door!” Kim cried out as she began to pull and push on the doorknob to no avail. It didn’t move! The door was firmly in place and would not budge. She began to pound on it in desperation but only heard silence on the other side. Had she been too late? Had Richard done something terrible? Kim could feel her eyes well up in terror.
Now Richard stepped over the broken television on the floor, and he was nearly upon Jimmy, who was shielding himself from his enraged stepfather with his frail little arms. He closed his eyes and hoped that the man with spots would show himself. He was supposed to be there to protect him in the hour of his most dire predicament – he needed him now!
Richard felt something grab his leg. He figured his pajama pant leg got hung up and tried to shake it off, but it was something else. Then he felt a very strong grip on his other leg as something in the darkness below had a firm grasp on him. The pressure on his legs became stronger by the second.
