The Birth of Bane by Richard Heredia Read Free Book Online

place, the dishes
put away, the linens stowed, our bedrooms set-up and all else put
in storage in the attic, we had just enough time to eat, take a
shower, get our clothes ready for school and go to
sleep.
    We awoke the
next day thoroughly unprepared for the rigors of a school
day.
    I think at one
time or another, each of us dosed off in class only to be roughly
awakened by our miffed instructors. Eli was sent home with a note
detailing the importance of a good’s night rest prior to attending
school.
    My mother had
laughed away the memo and assuaged Elijah’s fears of being a bad
student. She was still too cheerful to be bothered by something as
ridiculous as an overzealous academic administrator.
    By the end of
the first week on instruction, we had carved out a degree of
routine and things begin to settle down.
    My mother began
her search for a landscaper to help her tackle the jungle that was
our front yard and a full-time gardener to make sure the grounds
stayed in tip-top shape.
    It wasn’t as
though she was above doing yard work, mind you. Every other day we
came from school we’d found her in some portion of the yard pulling
vines away from some hidden treasure, cutting back bushes from the
fencing or trimming the trees. She would always greet us tired, but
with a satisfied grin. Her face would be besmirched with grime or
dust or cobwebs, but she was unerringly fulfilled. There was no
denying the obvious. She loved the house and everything about
it.
    It was on the
Saturday following our move that Valerie’s knee-high moccasins went
missing. They were her favorite. She wore them more than any other
pair she owned, and she owned over twenty pairs of shoes. She had
us looking all over hell and back for them, but we didn’t find
them. She was pissed off something fierce.
    My little
brother tried to lighten the mood by saying the house had eaten
them.
    She had only
glowered at him. She would’ve said something bitter to him, if my
mom hadn’t been there in her room with us. So, unwilling to risk
her wrath, she stayed silent. She crossed her arms under her
breasts and turned away from us.
    I was fed up
with her childish behavior, so I left. I had a date with Myra later
on that day and I hadn’t done a damn thing in terms preparation. I
still needed to shower and shave and do all the mundane shit we
guys do to look presentable for you ladies.
    A few days
later, on a Tuesday, Elijah had been playing in the back yard, near
the toolshed. In a fit of overwhelming curiosity, he went to
investigate the smaller storage shed on the other side of the
stepping-stone walkway. He had opened the wooden door and peered
in, looking at the shelves on either side of him. To his surprise,
there were Valerie’s boots, sitting there, as plain as day, on the
middle shelve toward his right, toes pointed directly at him. It
was as though someone had placed them that way on purpose. Here I am! Here I am!
    Excited over his
monumental find, Eli ran to our sister’s room with the soft boots
in hand, saying: “I found them! I found them!”
    “ You little creep, why did
you hide my boots! ” was the
scream that brought us from the various locations about the
house.
    “ I didn’t hide
them, Valerie,” Eli said in defense.
    By the time I
got there, Eli was clutching the moccasins to his chest,
half-turned from her, while Valerie was pointing an accusatory
finger in his face. He was afraid, his eyes wide, one shoulder
bunched toward his ear, shielding that side of his body from the
angry onslaught of my sister.
    I was
infuriated. I had never seen Valerie act as aggressively with our
little brother as she had right then. I could tell there was
something more, feeding fuel to the fire, but still, that didn’t
give her an excuse to take it out on a six-year-old. Our asshole of
a father did enough in that department. There was no need for her
to add to it. She should’ve known better.
    I could hear my
mother barreling through the house. From