14

He took the short cuts to get the next logical location. He scurried on and on despite all the prior events. He was running on something and it was something that only he possessed, an unparalleled agitation for all things that held him down. It didn't seem to matter that he was suffering from bruising on his abdomen and ribcage. Like a hero in an internet comic strip, Kyle sprinted from his one conquered hell to the next. He raced over all the connections that brought Mayfield together geographically. As he bolted, the railroad schematic finally emerged in his brain. It was a crude hourglass with him at the center and the railroads connected four people who desperately despise the young man.  He tore up two of them in ways William Tecumseh Sherman would have been proud of.

            He came to Railroad Avenue, a street that ran right by the train tracks.  This street was the commercial heartbeat of Mayfield. The city offices were located in a sky blue building between the crop insurance office and the ceramic store. Kyle stared at the building heatedly and with deliberate stepping, he went for the structure and two occupants who worked inside.

            It was a sorry day for both Danielle and Aaron Dawson. Danielle was still working the phone trying to get their state senator to keep the mill levy in place and she was not having luck by any means. Aaron, on the other hand, had been pressed by Dusty Westfall to have a draft for the city budget for the next year ready by the following Monday. Considering how full their plates were, the last person they expected to see was their only child needing reprisal for the sins they committed against him.

            Danielle had the receiver to her ear and her eyes to the desk when the door suddenly swung open. She looked up and saw Kyle and the rage within him. She put the phone down and glared at her son furiously.

            "What do you want?" Danielle queried plainly.

            "Your admission of guilt right now and right here!" Kyle countered.

            Danielle squirmed in her seat like she did two days prior, "Of what crime am I accused?"

            "Emotional abuse and neglect," He answered without a skip in momentum. "It is for letting me undergo so much mental and physical anguish at school. I have pleaded with you and dad time and time again and I get nowhere. I have had it with the both of you and now it is time for you to come clean."

            Her stubbornness (or rather stupidity) would cave only under intense pressure, "I have nothing to admit to you, you little sack of s**t. You are one living in a dream world. You are the one who needs direction to a sanitarium…"

            Kyle's soul had turned into cobra venom, "Shut the f**k up, mommy dear! You're the one who's dreaming! I underwent a lot of s**t today and I am on the edge of doing something that might turn me into a bad movie of the week, so out with it!"

            Stubbornness happened to be a trait in Danielle's family, "Why don't you go tangle with a hopped up wolverine?!"

            Being a hardhead was a badge of honor for the tormented youngster and so was changing his vocal tone with relative ease, "You sicken me, mommy dear, almost to the point of knocking me cold. As for knocking cold, I gave your ex-husband a lump to remember. Too bad the trophy didn't crack him in the skull."

            Danielle's blood suddenly went cold and Kyle inched toward her desk, "You couldn't keep your marriage vows, could you? You wanted to play with someone else for the rest of your life and that left the other person forever invidious. What does jealously due to being jaded actually do to somebody? What do you think, mommy dear?"

            Kyle put his fists on her desk and huffed like a wolf before a kill. Danielle eased back slightly and did not say a word.

            Kyle huffed once more moved his head closer toward his mother, "I hate voluntary silence and I especially hate it when I deserve an answer!"

            "Get away from me, you psychopath!" Danielle screamed.

            Kyle became all the more enraged, "NO!!! Why didn't you tell me, Danielle? Why not step in on my behalf?! You are the f*****g lawyer of the family! Why didn't you stand up to your ex-husband?!"

            Aaron suddenly burst into the office. He grabbed his son and threw him against the floor. With his left fist, he unleashed a harsh blow against Kyle's face. Kyle fell back on his head and Aaron grabbed him by the hair.

            "I warned you and you didn't listen," Aaron said quickly and he smacked Kyle in the face once more.  He threw Kyle on the floor and stood over him.

            Aaron put his foot on his son's stomach, "You don't deserve any sort of explanation! We moved here and that was that! You are the one to blame for your own misery! If your own existence is reason enough for your abuse, then do something about it! The new rules are in effect, Kyle! You fucked with authority and they came back harder and stronger!"

            Kyle felt the incisor loosened on the left side of his mouth. His right eye was badly battered and the rear of his head ached intently. With only his left eye, Kyle saw both the parents he had come to revere in childhood were truly nothing more than fearful, spineless rejects. Everything he had ever known in his life had been than a complex fallacy, an intricate web of lies that had piled up so high that there appeared to be no end to the sight of it. When the final fist that collided with his eye, life as he knew it could never be as it had been. The acrimony came back swiftly and Aaron regrettably hadn't moved. Kyle suddenly lifted his left leg and it got Aaron in the groin. Aaron's head fell back against the desk and then to the floor. He was holding both his head and groin as Kyle scrambled to his feet. Danielle got out of her chair and grabbed a letter opener she had kept in a plastic cup.

            "Stay away from me, you rabid fuckhead!" his mother hollered angrily.

            Kyle saw the blade pointed directly at him and his eyes became doughy.  She garnished enough muster for some sort of retort.

            Danielle was anxiously vexed, "I never wanted you to begin with. I just kept you to spite that pathetic excuse of a man. You were just a means to an end. The only reason I kept you after that…"

            She suddenly paused and then began again, "On second thought, I can't exactly remember why I kept you. I just remember that you were a pain in my a*s since you were born and I was pleasantly surprised that you got some deserved payback for the trouble you caused me. It is rather ironic that my ex-husband put you through it but it happened that way."

            Danielle was beaming after her confession. She was standing right behind her desk still holding the blade-end of the letter opener at Kyle.  

            Kyle smiled horribly as he put his hands on her desk, "It's all a matter of cause and effect, mommy dear."

            He grabbed the front edge of the desk and quickly threw it up in the air. It sent Danielle running toward a nearby corner.

            "NO!!!" Danielle screamed as she looked around her office. Aaron hadn't reacted because his pain kept him down. Kyle sauntered over to the corner and spit on his mother.

            He howled supremely, "You brought this on yourself so now you’re paying for it!"

            Danielle cried and hollered, "Go to hell! Go to hell! Go to hell!"

            Kyle spit on her once more and flipped her the bird.  He walked back to the door and surveyed the office. William Tecumseh Sherman would have been doubly proud.

            He trudged to the main door and the face of a man he knew to well was in his path. 

            The voice was old, cranky, and meant business, "You crossed the line, boy! Now, you got to tangle with me!"

            It was Dusty Westfall and he was dressed in cowboy attire complete with shirt, hat, jeans, boots, and belt with the huge buckle. He had been in and out of the city offices a few times this day and it was mostly to harass Aaron and Danielle. The man reached for his belt and began to undo it.

            With full force in his left hand, Kyle bashed Dusty in the throat. Dusty immediately went down for the count before he could make a move. He fell backward against the door with his hands clutching his throat. Kyle grinned and bent down next to Dusty's ear.

            "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree now does it, you inbred shitkicker!" Kyle bellowed at full voice.

            He got to his feet and heard a loud noise coming in the distance. Kyle knew what the noise was, yet he wanted to get the sound at a closer range and a clearer pitch.  Leaving the three ravaged adults to wallow in their own miseries, the youngster left the sky blue building for a pair of parallel lines that were made from steel.

            A train loaded with corn syrup bound for Nashville made it to a railroad crossing a mile and a half north of the business district. Kyle knew what cargo the train might be carrying. Corn was the lifeblood of that part of world. The railroad is its circulatory system since it connects all parts of the Corn Belt via the need for freight transportation.  Kyle knew this because it was common knowledge. 

            He also knew that he had no one left to turn toward since everybody in the city would be against him now and forever. He walked through the gates of the railyard and he could see the main line only twenty yards ahead of him. He was at the center of his own misery, the railroads of his abuse crossed there. It all led back to four people. As he trudged the last twenty yards, the final parts of the railroad schematic came to him. A line connected his father to his mother, a line connected his mother to his coach, and a line connected his coach to his quarterback. He was at the center of an unfinished square that had the diagonals drawn in prematurely. 

            "Everything does come back to four," Kyle voiced as he kept trudging toward the tracks.

            The train crept closer as Kyle crept closer. Kyle crossed over the metal girder and stood on one of the railroad ties. He was equidistant from both girders. He could hear the horn blare from less than a mile away. Everything had ended for him and there was no hope for him anymore. 

            Time seems to slow down when one tries to take their life. 

            Kyle glanced up and saw the plate with diagonal black and white stripes coming toward him at ever alarming speed. He wasn't alarmed and he wasn't worried. This was the moment he was slated for. Weezer was right, the throat slash signaled the end for Kyle Dawson. The train came closer and he dug his feet in harder. It would take a violent force from the side to move the youngster. 

            "I am the one to abuse, the one to abuse," Kyle sang silently.

            That is exactly what happened. Kyle was thrown clear of train a full three seconds before it passed the would-be point of contact. Kyle was dazed and perplexed.  An older man stared over him and was yelling something.

            "Kyle, are you okay?! Are you hurt?!" the man asked loudly.

            "Thomas!" Kyle replied.

            Thomas Steele put up his right hand, "Yes, Kyle! It's me, Thomas! Can you see my hand?!"

            Kyle voiced as loud as his voice would allow him, "I can!"

            Thomas asked another question, "Can you feel your legs?!"

            Kyle answered back, "Yes!"

            Thomas nodded happily, "I am going to lift you up!"

            Thomas Steele grabbed Kyle's right hand and brought the youngster to his feet.  Kyle looked around and saw many, many black cylinders pass by.  Kyle suddenly realized that his life had been saved but not at his own hand. The tears came back once more and his feelings were understandably mixed. As Kyle cried, Thomas hugged the young man.  Thomas consoled Kyle just let loose. Kyle was facing the train as it finished passing by.  Mary suddenly appeared and the youngsters made eye contact. Thomas let Kyle go and the young couple hugged one another.

            "It's all over, Kyle. It's done with," Mary voiced in his ear.

            "It's all a lie. My life is a lie," Kyle replied through the tears.

            Mary consoled him, "I know that, we both know that. What we have isn't a lie. I do love you and I will always love you. You are a good boy and you didn't deserve any of this. Nobody deserves the treatment you went through, nobody at all."

            Mary increased the intensity of her hug and it made Kyle do the same thing. The realization finally hit him and it hit him hard. He was cared for and it wasn't worth standing on the railroad tracks. The youngsters faced each other and she kissed him on the forehead. Kyle did the same to her and they let go of one another.

            "How did you find me?" Kyle inquired of Mary and Thomas.

            Thomas made the revelation, "After school had let out, I had been called into speak with the principal about the incident this morning. I reamed the principal, it was royally deserved. Mary was waiting outside at the football field to see you practice but she eyed you giving Weezer his other major injury. She followed the coach and heard what went down in his office. Apparently, you missed her as you scrambled away. She told me about what she had heard and seen."

            Mary interjected as well, "Considering your physical condition, I knew you had suffered something terrible. I had to tell somebody I knew I could trust."

            Thomas nodded in agreement, "By the way, I have something for you."

            Thomas reached in his pocket and pulled out a sheet of paper. He handed it to Kyle and the youngster unfolded it.  There was a name and phone number on it.

            "Who is this?" Kyle inquired.

            "A woman I work with has a sister who specializes in family advocacy. I suggest that you give her a call. I am sure she can get you in touch with a good lawyer," Thomas answered.

            Kyle became gratified, "I will do that. Thank you, Thomas. You kept your promise."

            Thomas remarked, "I try my best. That's the sign of being a great parent."

            Kyle and Thomas hugged for a second time. Without warning, a siren was heard and two police officers were approaching Kyle with their guns drawn.  Kyle stared at the two people who cared for him the most and then at the law enforcement officers. He quickly kissed and then mouthed the three sweetest words in the English lexicon. The badly battered youngster put his hands behind his head and moved toward the policemen.  They both motioned their guns downward and Kyle put his hands behind his back. One officer grabbed a plastic tie-wrap from his belt and placed it around Kyle's wrists. The other officer read Kyle his rights. Kyle was motioned into in the vehicle without a struggle. He looked out the back window and saw his parents standing by the sky blue building.

            "I hope you both burn in hell," Kyle voiced malevolently.

            Kyle turned back and gazed into the front seats.  The officer on the passenger side stared at Kyle from the rearview mirror.

            "You know that you are under suspicion of for causing a lot of harm and vandalism," the officer said.

            "Well, they harmed me first. It was only a matter of time," Kyle caustically replied.

            The officer pointedly replied, "You do realize you have waived your right to remain silent."

            Kyle verbalized lightly, "I rebelled against the system and the system always comes back harder. I knew what would happen to me and I still didn't care."

            The officer asked simply, "What are you hoping for then?"

            Kyle just shrugged, "I don't know. Only time will tell."

            The officer took his eyes off Kyle and put them on the road ahead.  Kyle closed his eyes and stared at the roof of the police car. The swan song came into his head and he sang it quietly.  He came to the chorus and opened his eyes. 

            He sang gleefully, "You are the one to abuse...The one to abuse."