Believing In You: Neighborhood Shindig 4 by Arthur A.M

Author:Arthur, A.M.
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Briggs-King Books
Published: 2021-06-28T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

The ghosts tried whispering in his ears, telling him he’d deserved the punishments. He’d deserved it all because he was a terrible, undisciplined son. That he didn’t deserve to sleep in his own bed because of his sins.

Jack’s hand in his helped Declan ignore their harsh words and study the bedroom he’d had for ten years of his life. As a child, all the dark wood and paint had been terrifying and somber. Now it was just…old. The formerly white bedspread had yellowed a bit with age. All the works of fiction on his shelf no longer mocked him; he was free to read anything he wanted now. To do whatever he wanted. Go wherever he wanted.

“What are you thinking?” Jack asked, his tone soft. As if afraid to startle.

“That it’s just a room.” He pulled Jack with him to stand by the bed. “I was fourteen the last time I slept in here. I could do schoolwork in here and read in here, and even rest after a punishment, but at night I slept under his bed.” Declan released Jack’s hand so he could turn and sit on the bed, testing the old springs. When nothing bad happened and no bogeyman came out of the closet to punish him, Declan slid farther up the bed.

He sat in the middle and lay down on his childhood bed for the first time in five years. And nothing happened. Well, one small thing happened: Declan laughed. The ghosts tried to whisper but he ignored them. This was his moment, damn it. To reclaim this one small thing. This single act of defiance against a dead man.

“You look so happy right now,” Jack said.

“I am. I’ve still got a long way to go but I’m getting closer. I suffered in this room but I don’t have to keep suffering. I don’t want to. No more running from the ghosts.”

“I’m glad. May I sit?”

“Yes.”

Jack slid onto the bed beside him, and Declan peered up at his smiling face. He should have been afraid of being on a bed with an adult male, but he wasn’t. Because it was Jack, not a stranger about to give him fifty bucks for the next hour of his time. Jack was kind, patient, endearing, smart, attentive, and so many other things. He was also respectful and that spoke miles about his character in general.

Declan raised his hand and Jack took it. Maybe he wasn’t ready for a hug yet but he liked holding Jack’s hand. A lot. Curious of his own limits, Declan scooted to the side. “You can lay beside me if you want, Jack.”

“Yeah?” Very slowly, as if trying not to startle a flighty deer, Jack eased down next to Declan. They still held hands but didn’t touch anywhere else. They were losing work time this morning but Declan didn’t care.

They existed like that for a while, staring at the ceiling or other points in the room rather than each other, and Declan soaked it in.

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