The Kid in the Neighborhood[]
I was about 10 years old when my family and I had to move from the cold, chilly streets of New York to the hot area of Miami, Florida. I was pretty young, so unfortunately I cannot remember the address, but I do remember the neighborhood and the nervous feeling I had when I would enter the new elementary school, all those faces looking at me, whispering things like, "His hair looks funny" or, "He looks boring". I wasn't bullied in that school, but I barely had friends and I was way too nervous to start a conversation with somebody. It was until one day on a weekend when I was helping my parents with the boxes for the new home in the neighborhood. "Hey, you need help with those boxes?" It was a grown man who looked about the age of 43 with a black shirt and jeans,"Hi, my name's Caleb, I can tell you guys are new to this neighborhood, and I was wondering if you guys would like to come over for dinner tonight, I have a wife and son." Later that night we all got dressed up and headed to Caleb's house,"Do we have to do this?" I complained. "You never know, Caleb has a son and you might just like him!" My mom happily replied.
When we arrived at the house we were greeted by Caleb and his wife who we now learned to be Margaret. The two were setting up the dinner table but I noticed something that was out of place, their son! I wanted to ask where their son was but I didn't want to sound rude. The parents started engaging in boring conversations so I simply stood up and said, "Um, what happened to your son, is he out or something?" " It's fine Jacob just went out to play with some friends, you could catch up with him if you'd like, I don't think he's gone far." Satisfied from asking I stood up and left into the cold darkness that awaited me. Fortunately, the community had lots of lights so the place was actually not as scary. As I continued walking I was suddenly stopped by a group that was full of older kids. "Seems like a new kid entered the place! Hey after all he does look wimpy and stupid!" All the kids were laughing at me and it hurt, it hurt so bad like I was getting stabbed in the throat, I could feel the fire burning in my heart like a demon waiting to possess it's prey. I clenched my fist until a boy who looked about 13 came into the group, "Quit bothering this kid, cut him some slack, he's new here", the boy looked tall and brave with long black hair. He grabbed a rock and threw it in one of the kids faces, they all ran away with one kid saying," you'll pay for that!". " Are you Jacob?" I asked the boy. " And you must be Kevin, how do you do? My parents told me you were coming over with your family." A few minutes had passed and Jacob and I were already getting in full length conversations, I felt like I finally had someone to relate to, the thing that puzzled me was why a 13 year old would want to hang out with a 10 year old. I guess that's why I liked him.
Every day that school happened I would always be excited to play with my new friend Jacob and talk about our own troubles. Jacob and I would end up being friends for almost a year, it was the last month of school when I noticed a black and blue mark on his cheek. I asked Jacob about his mark, and his face got quiet, almost as if he was trying to forget a nightmare. The next few weeks I wasn't able to see him anymore to the point where I almost forgot he even lived in the neighborhood. The only thing I could hear was rumors from kids in the neighborhood, they all said the same thing, which is that Jacob's black and blue mark got worse and that his sleep deprivation caused him to get black circles around his eyes. Then, one day when I least expected it, word broke out in the community that Jacob fainted.
A month later summer was starting and Caleb was arrested for child abuse. Jacob recovered from the hospital and It appeared that he got brain damage due to the beatings his father gave him. One night I was walking just to get some fresh air in the playground areas. I heard a slight groaning to find one of the kids that used to pick on me impaled with a kitchen knife. My heart beat like a drum, being a young child I just ran away and quickly went to tell my parents what I saw. My mom freaked out and ran to her phone to call the cops. We stayed outside to speak to the cops when I felt a cold feeling in my veins, it was Jacob. He was staring at me from his window, such a cold and despising face. The cops found the body and told every one to stay calm. The last day I saw Jacob was on a Saturday in the grassy playgrounds of the community. His face wasn't the face I used to remember, instead it was a cold, dark and, emotionless face. "So how'd you do it, how did you manage to kill someone without fingerprints so that the cops wouldn't find out?", I said. Jacob looked at me with a cold stare and said, "I didn't use my hands" And after that he simply turned around and walked away leaving as all the metal and plants around him crushed, decayed, and rusted.
I honestly have no idea what happened and I still have no clue, I guess you people out there could figure it out for yourselves.