Chapter 10: Indimidation

Tyler knew he was in trouble now, so he didn’t even bother to add “yes ma’am” as he climbed out of his chair and pulled the phone out of his pocket. As soon as it was out, Sam knew for certain it was his and rushed to get it. Ms. Lawrence looked at him oddly, and he realized he needed to slow down a bit. “This is my phone,” Sam nodded as he pulled it out of Tyler’s hand.

Tyler opened his mouth as if he were going to argue, but the look on Ms. Lawrence’s face was enough to keep him quiet. He dropped his head in shame and anger. “I…” he began, but Sam didn’t let him start his excuse or apology before he interrupted.

“Did you turn it on?” he asked, panic rising in his voice.

“No, sir,” Tyler lied, shaking his head adamantly.

“Liar!” Max shouted out. “He took it to the bathroom this morning and turned it on to make sure it worked! He told me so!”

He was standing and pointing now, and Tyler wished he was close enough to punch him in the face. “Liar!” Tyler shouted back.

Ms. Lawrence reached out and grabbed Tyler by the shoulder to keep him from crossing back over to Max. “All right, boys, that’s enough!” she said, the chipperness lessening with every passing moment. “Tyler, if you used Mr. Danny’s cell phone, you need to be honest,” she explained, leaning in closely.

“I swear I didn’t…” he began, but again Sam interrupted.

“Ms. Lawrence, would it be all right if I talked to Tyler out in the hall for a moment?” he asked, forcing a smile and patting Tyler on the arm as if they were buddies, and he just wanted to give him a good talking to.

Ms. Lawrence looked at Tyler one more time, hoping he would speak up, but when he didn’t, she sighed and returned her attention to Sam. “Yes, of course, Mr. Danny,” she replied. As Sam escorted Tyler out into the hallway, she added, “I’m very disappointed in you, Tyler.”

Sam shoved Tyler down the hallway away from the door and near a spot where he was hopeful he wouldn’t catch the attention of any of the other teachers or students as well. The hallway was empty, for the moment, and he knew as soon as he pushed Tyler he had been too rough. The boy stumbled forward, letting out a whimper as he did so. But Sam was about out of play pretend time, and he needed an answer--now. “Listen, Tyler,” he began, cornering the kid against the wall, “if you turned this damn phone on, I need to know right now!”

Tyler’s eyes widened. He’d never heard an adult use a swear at school before. “You hurt me,” he replied in surprise. “What’s the matter with you, Mr. Danny?” he asked.

“I’m not screwin’ around punk,” Sam said as he stepped closer, leaving Tyler little room to breathe. “Did you turn this damn cell phone on or not?”

“N--n--no,” Tyler replied quietly. The old man’s face was practically right up against his now, and he smelled of tobacco and stale coffee. His eyes looked funny, like they weren’t quite human, and he could see a scar in one of them that looked red and bumpy. “I promise I…”

But Sam had done enough interrogations to know pretty quickly he was lying. “Damn it!” he shouted. He picked Tyler up by the throat and held him against the wall. “You little jackass!” he screamed as the boy writhed in terror. Then, he did something he should have done a long time ago; he threw the cell phone against the cinder brick wall, shattering it into a thousand pieces.

At that second, he realized two things. One, he was not alone. A noise from the end of the hallway caused him to turn his head to see the daytime custodian, Juan, staring at him in fear and disgust. And two, the airplane flying overhead seemed very low--too low to be flying over a school nowhere near an airport. Obviously, his time as Danny Yokes was up. Dropping the boy to the ground, he took off running at full speed, past the other custodian, Juan, and out the glass door at the end of the hallway, shattering it, millions of shards of glass flying everywhere. As Sam ran across the parking lot, he heard the school announce they were going into “Code Red Lockdown,” which meant the police would be there in a matter of moments, but as he glanced up at the airplane circling back around, he realized that the police were the least of his worries. That stupid kid had used the phone and cost him everything!

Juan Arriaga had taken the job as the daytime custodian at the small elementary school in Lavon, Texas, after he fled Kansas City several months ago. After seeing a vampire at Bryan Health Hospital in Lincoln, Nebraska, he had moved his whole family to Kansas City to be a custodian at Saint Luke’s Hospital. He had left there when he watched in awe as a doctor cured a gunshot victim with his bare hands. Life had been pretty normal here in Texas; he had even begun to think of Danny Yokes as a friend. Now, he stood with his legs shaking, watching in terror as his co-worker practically strangled a child and then ran past him like a speed-demon, crashing through a glass door completely unphased. “Dios mio!” he exclaimed. As the teachers began to lock their doors in compliance with the announcement that the school was going into lockdown, he darted into the nearest classroom and joined twenty fourth graders hiding against the far wall in the dark. These kids knew there were bad people in the world that they needed to be afraid of; they had no idea what else was out there, and he prayed they would never find out.