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| IMPOSTER BY MARIQUA |
CHAPTER 54 |
An invasive, paralyzing chill swept through Todd's soul as he thought of what his father would do if he indulged in such behavior, but the voice was very loud this time...insistent and demanding...as if urging him to take one step into a direction that was new to him. He wanted it in the worst way, and the voice knew that. There were things he wanted to know about life and people, and somehow he also felt he was on the brink of some major discovery about himself. Did he dare cross the line this once to sample what the world around him had to offer? Or did he close the door permanently and regret it all his life?
Her youthful face looked imploringly at him, and her thoughtful, caring eyes seemed to convey no threat. Eyes full of yearning looked downward toward her pretty mouth, and he wondered what it would be like to touch his lips to hers. The voice was saying that he would enjoy it, and that nothing was wrong with it.
His tightening throat wouldn't allow him to speak, but he nodded ever so slightly and waited for her response. Without hesitation she rose up on tiptoe to reach his lips, and in that moment he thought he must have died and gone to heaven. Her touch was soft and so full of pure sweetness that his guarded heart seemed unable to come up with any defense. A rush of pleasure tunneled through him, and he heard the voice exulting in the background of his thoughts...Go Toddy! In his enthusiasm, he forgot where he was and what he was doing as he pressed his lips deeper into hers. This is what he had needed for such a long time -- someone like this who would help push him out of his shell...someone gentle and kind.
Breaking away from him, he saw her look at him with surprised eyes and an awareness well beyond her years. "That was nice, Todd...I'm glad you let me."
A long, sleek black automobile had driven up quietly along the curb in front of the house, and the driver inside looked out through the trees shifting in the light wind to see a boy and a girl kissing on the front porch. His rather bony fingers clutched the wheel with a force that made the knuckles white on one hand, and his glowing eyes never left the scene being played out before him. Another hand reached for the open bottle of whiskey in a paper bag resting on the front seat of the car, and he brought it up to his lips -- downing several shots of the alcohol in seconds.
"I've got to go, Todd...Happy Birthday again! Remember that you can always come talk to me," she said and reached over to give his hand a gentle squeeze. "Later, okay?"
Todd remained rooted to where he was standing, and looked at her with a better understanding than before. The honest innocence of her kiss had touched some feeling within him that he barely knew existed, or that he had forgotten could exist in the environment he had been forced to live in. That feeling was a small tiny fragment of hope...hope that there were better days ahead and that he might be able to grab a little happiness for himself.
"Michelle...you don't know...well...thanks!" and he tried to appear as if her actions this day had not been the best thing that had happened to him in a very long time, yet he sensed she wasn't fooled by his attempt to be casual. Casting a last look at him, she smiled and quickened her steps down the stairs and out to the sidewalk.
"Bye Todd!" she waved back at him and left his sight moments later as she walked hurriedly away -- disappearing behind some trees.
Todd wanted to immerse himself in the sheer wonder of what had just happened, and he stood on the porch looking outward -- never noticing the parked car barely visible through the cascading tree branches. Already his eyes had glazed over in remembrance of her kiss, and his fingers came up to lightly graze across the surface of his mouth. A car door slamming caused his fingers to drop down automatically, and suddenly he knew that reality had come back with a vengeance -- erasing the tender moment he had been thinking of.
The figure emerging from behind the trees was a tall, sunken-eyed man whose pasty face was unhealthy looking. He carried himself as someone who was used to giving orders and expecting them to be obeyed, and his white blond hair was stiff and appeared unnatural. It would have been difficult to imagine that this man ever smiled much because his entire manner was one of contained disgust with the world. Years ago bitterness and hatred had taken root in his soul, and any compassion left in him was only that he allowed himself out of a sense of duty. What he had effectively done was to consciously forget that he ever loved anyone, and he constantly fed his sick, vindictive spirit with lies of what he felt were injustices done him all his life.
Walking somewhat unsteadily toward the steps, Peter Manning's cold eyes never left the face of his stepson, and as he reached the top step, his right hand landed squarely on Todd's shoulder with a dull thud.
"Inside!"
Slider's palms felt clammy suddenly, and he shuddered inwardly as he thought of what might be coming in Nick's story. Nick had paused and looked directly at Slider and in a tone that was frighteningly candid, he said, "The next part is no picnic, Slider...do you want me to go on?"
Yes...yes! I have to know. This has got to be what changed everything for you, Z.
"Yes...go ahead, Nick."
Todd turned and moved quickly inside the house, his mind alarmed at the measured force of his father's voice. He had seen him blow up many times, but there was something much more terrifying about this controlled iciness he was displaying. Maybe it was that a nice girl had just kissed him and made him feel a little better about himself, but as he entered the front hallway, he boldly turned and faced Peter Manning with a stubbornness he had not shown in years.
"What? What's the matter, Dad? What did I do this time?"
The cockiness of his son was a surprise, and it enraged Manning that his son had decided to challenge him. His right hand shot out and backhanded Todd across the mouth.
"Who do you think you are?" he bellowed with livid rage written all over his face. "You think I don't know what you and that little trollop were doing...in my home?"
Todd stared at him in disbelief at his accusation, and because it was Michelle he was referring to, his usual caution left him and righteous anger spewed forth from his mouth.
"What the hell? Dad, we kissed...period! Don't you say another word about her!" He tightened his fists and felt the adrenaline pumping inside him.
Peter Manning looked at the red-faced boy with clenched fists and for a minute, he saw something he didn't believe he had seen. His wimpy son was standing up to him, but this sudden turnaround only made him want to put him back in his place where he belonged.
"From what I saw she looked just like a little..."
The ugly word left Manning's mouth, but as it was uttered a large fist had come up and hit him full in the face, causing him to fall back slightly -- holding his mouth in pain. Todd's mouth hung open as he saw the effect of what he had done without thinking. He had never done this before, and immediately he knew that he had crossed a line that was completely forbidden.
"Dad...Dad...I'm sorry...are you okay?"
Righting himself and still holding his mouth, Peter Manning lunged at his stepson and brutally yanked his hair -- turning him around and pushing him forward into the darkness of the front sitting room. He slammed the French doors savagely -- several glass panes shattering into pieces on the floor.
"You little bastard! You hit me! You're going to pay for this...you're going to pay more than you could ever imagine!"
Shoving Todd roughly to the floor, Peter Manning's visage distended into a horrible contorted mask, and the wild, evil abandon in his eyes caused Todd to push himself backward across the floor with his hands in fear. A steady string of repeated abuse had made its place in Todd's reality, but his instincts told him that this would be far beyond any physical or mental torture that his stepfather had inflicted before. The voice was thundering at him now...Get the hell out of here, Toddy!
"Dad...please...don't...stop...I'm sorry, Dad...I'm sorry!"
"You pathetic little wimp! You're such a mama's boy, aren't you...always have been...always will be! You'll never grow up to be a real man will you? You think that girl likes you, don't you, Todd? I'm sure she was just feeling sorry for you!"
Every bit of hope drained out of Todd as he heard the belittling words. He wanted to believe so much that there wasn't an ounce of truth in what his Dad had said, but his vulnerable, beaten-down ego felt otherwise, and even the companion voice he had come to rely on seemed to fade into nothingness as every word pierced through to his already damaged heart. Suddenly any strength of will he had left began to ebb away, and as he felt the rough arms of his Dad pinning him to the floor, the fight he might have mustered, capsized and sank to the lowest depths of his soul.
His father's harsh voice floated down mercilessly into his ears and they were the last words he heard. "Since you're such a mama's boy, you're going to get what every sissy like you deserves!"
Slider leaped up from the chair -- all objectivity gone and his emotions charging at him like a raging bull as Nick slowly and methodically translated the abject horror and cruelty of that night. The words echoed over and over in his mind. He couldn't release the unfathomable hurt and anger crushing into him as the truth was delivered and driven straight home with shocking force to his confounded intelligence. No...God in heaven...Z...your father...please God no! That miserable bastard raped you!!
Seeing Slider jump up, Nick shook his head emphatically as the story pored out of him. "He was dying...dying, Slider...I couldn't reach him...couldn't even get in! Todd had shut me out...closed down! There was only one thing I could do...there was only one way to deal with that kind of unrestrained evil. I had taken care of every detail...down to the last letter. He was already there...just waiting...waiting for his chance to take that bastard on!
Nick shut his eyes and opened them again.
"I let him go, Slider...I let Pete out!"
