Chapter 2

“Chuck!” Julie screamed, her eyes blazing with a fire of both horror and rage. Her shocked face then turned from Chuck to Henry’s terrified face and then to the face of the thief. The giant man was now smiling and, in a move that only frightened Julie even more, he let go of the pillowcase and walked over to Henry placing the barrel of the gun against her son’s temple.

“Mom!” Henry now cried. His face was as white as a ghost and his eyes were bulging and Julie thought she had never seen another human being who had looked so frightened.

“Like the boy said” the thief now repeated “only way we gonna know if what you say is true is if you either do it or not and then stand there and watch as your son gets kilt. Choice is up to you lady but, way I see it, that’s the only way we gonna know if you was saying the truth.”

Julie still couldn’t believe this was happening. Her life had always seemed so normal and now, in the matter of only a few minutes, she had been thrust into some sort of horrifying and incomprehensible nightmare.

“I-I’m not going to m-m-make out with a-a-a dis-guh-gusting f-fourteen-year-old boy! Do you even hear yourself?! Do you even have any idea what you’re asking me to do?!”

“Hey that’s cool lady. I mean, I guess you made your choice and I guess my nigga over there-”

The thief now momentarily waved the gun towards Chuck before pressing the barrel back against Henry’s head.

“-he was right to call bullshit on you and your little high and mighty statement. You talk like you willing to do anything for your son. In the end though, it only took about five seconds for a fuckin’ fourteen-year-old black boy to come up with something that you wouldn’t do to keep me from shootin’ your son.”

“I-”

But the words ended there as Julie couldn’t think of what else she could say. The thief couldn’t be serious, could he? She was a happily married woman and Chuck was not only a fourteen-year-old child but also the person in this world that she found most repugnant and the only person Julie had ever actually hated.

“Sorry kid,” said the thief and, with his right thumb, he now cocked back the hammer on the silver snub nosed revolver.

“Guess your black friend was right and your mom was just lyin’ when she said she do anything to protect you. But I guess we’ll only really know if she meant it unless your actually dead. Up until then I guess she could always change her mind. So, here’s what I am going to do. I’m gonna give your mom five chances to change her mind. I’ll start countin’ down, startin’ with five, and once I get to zero then blammo all your fuckin’ brains go onto the carpet. That, and of course, if your mom tries to rush me or run out of the room. Then that too will end with your brains flyin’ out of your head.”

“His name is Henry” Julie pleaded but the thief only smiled. His eyes were trained only on her and Julie saw nothing but an absence of conscience reflected in hie eyes. To Julie, the thief’s eyes were just black. Black and solid, like the eyes of a doll. Julie had only seen eyes like that once before and she felt a shudder of revulsion as it crawled beneath her skin.

“Five” said the thief, his fixed stare never moving off Julie.

“Please sir, you ... you got what you wanted. K-can’t you p-please just take the bag of jewelry and just leave.”

“Four” said the thief, not responding to Julie’s pleas.

“B-but I’m married” Julie now whimpered as her face contorted into a mask of awkwardness and agony.

“Three” said the thief and a deep and merciless chuckle now escaped his lips. He was clearly savoring every moment of her agony and his bemused look quickly convinced Julie that, when he got to zero, he was going to shoot Henry directly in his head.

He’s really going to do it. God help me, I think he’s really going to do it!

“He ... for God sake’s sir ... he ... he’s just a child” said Julie now referring to Chuck. “I ... I ... really, I’m doing this as much for him as I’m doing it for me.”.

“Two” said the thief now sounding more impatient and Julie thought she saw his finger tighten around the trigger.

“OH! O.K.! O.K.! I ... I’LL DO IT! I’LL DO IT! JUST PLEASE FOR GOD’S SAKE STOP!!!.”

The words came, in a rush, as they shot out of Julie and the pretty Jewish mother could hardly believe that she said them as her shoulders slumped forward in humiliating defeat. Had she just agreed that she would make out with Chuck? It seemed impossible. It seemed so horrible that it was something that never could have happened and yet here she was. One monster was threatening to kill her son while another one was backing her into a corner so that he could then make her do something that was unbelievably gross. Then again, the big man was threatening to kill Henry and anything, even having to engage in the most repulsive act imaginable, was better than that. Julie’s indecision and fear were now paralyzing her but she was terrified for Henry so, when Chuck came up behind her and put his hands around her waist, the pretty Jewish mom didn’t immediately pull away. Instead, as he then gently pushed her over towards the bed; Julie’s brown eyes closed and she tried not to cry. A moment later, her shins hit the solid oak sideboard that made up the bedframe and Chuck was then turning her. Slowly, the fourteen-year-old black boy rotated the pretty Jewish mother a full half circle and then he pushed her back so that she sat on the bed.

“Timmy, grab that camera.”

To Julie, Chuck now sounded excited while the pretty Jewish mom felt another shudder of revulsion crawl over her skin. As if it wasn’t bad enough what Chuck planned to do to her now, he was going to have this disgusting act, the one that would be her most embarrassing humiliation preserved for eternity. That was unless the memory card and maybe even the camera could be destroyed. Like everything Robert had bought, the video camera had to be the most expensive model available but, even so, Julie wouldn’t want it around. For the small box of plastic and glass, wires and metal would be nothing in the future except a painful reminder of the worst thing that had ever happened to her. Still, it did seem like this nauseating nightmare was about to happen. For, Timmy was walking to where the camera was and he picked it up from next to the pillowcase that the thief had just dropped. Then, once Timmy had it in his hand, the skinny and awkward white boy who seemed to always stare at the floor moved so that he was standing directly in front of Julie with about six feet of distance between him. Timmy, like most kids his age, seemed to have a natural understanding of how to work electronic gadgets as, in an instant, he had switched the gadget on. His face then started to stare down at the camera’s little screen that showed what the camera was seeing and, it was only another second, for him to find the button that said record.

“Rolling” said Timmy calmly, as if filming his friend’s thirty-six-year-old mother being forced, at gun point, to make out with his fourteen-year-old friend was the most ordinary thing in the world. Timmy still stared down at the tiny video screen while the lens of the camera pointed directly at Julie. To Julie’s left stood Chuck and he too faced towards the camera with a big smile spread over his young black face.

“Hi everybody” Chuck said enthusiastically still staring at the camera. “My name’s Chuck and I just turned fourteen and this here is my friend Julie and she’s ... uh ... Mrs. A, how old are you anyway.”

“Th-th-thirty suh-six” Julie said as the shocked and ashen look on her face revealed just how hard she was struggling to believe that what was happening was actually real.

“And this here’s my friend’s mom Julie and she’s thirty-six.”

Chuck now held out his hand in a twisted sort of wave as if he were one of the models on The Price is Right and Julie was the very next item that was up for bid.

“Julie’s married but, man, as suburban white moms who all secretly gotta have that fourteen-year-old dark meat, well here I am and, even if she is married, who am I to deny her the super passionate make out session that she’s been beggin’ me for? Isn’t that right Mrs. A.?”

The fourteen-year-old black boy now turned to his head so that he was looking at Julie instead of the camera while Julie kept her eyes on her son. In the brightness of the room Julie now swore she could see the thief’s finger grip the gun’s trigger a little tighter and Julie thought she might have less than a second to act before Henry got shot.

“Th-that’s r-right Ch-chuck.” Julie now said after swallowing hard. In the pit of her stomach was a nervous hive of bees and the fear and the disgust she felt, that kept the bees buzzing, almost made her feel as if she might vomit.

“And Julie, as a suburban white mom, she’s proud of how horny she is for her son’s fourteen-year-old black friend, so it was her idea to film this. After all, Julie wants the whole world to know just how much she likes black boys. And I, like I said, who am I to deny her? I mean she’s a great lady and if it gets her all wet, the thought of the whole world watching while she makes out her son’s fourteen-year-old black friend, then I’m gonna give this hot white MILF everything she’s dying for. Ain’t that right Mrs. Altmeyer?”

Chuck had turned back to the camera once he started speaking again but he now turned his head so that he was looking at Julie. Julie, for her part, was looking back at Chuck and her ashen and pale face searched his expression for any sign or any way through which she could escape this horrifying situation.

“Cut tape” said Chuck and then, without checking to see if Timmy had stopped recording, he turned back towards the thief.

“Well, I think we found something your mom is not willing to do to save your life Henry. Sorry that it had to turn out this way.”

His eyes then moved up to the thief as he spoke in a voice that held no emotion.

“She ain’t gonna do it so go ahead and shoot her son in the head,” said Chuck.

“NOOOOO!!!!!! WAIT!!!!!!!!!” Julie then shrieked.

“I-I’ll do it. I’ll say whatever you want. I ... I’ll duh-do what ... what ... whateh-ever you wuh-want. Juh-Just please ... please ... please don’ hurt my son.”