An Urgent Need for Ruin (Full-length Novel Version)

Mom had no idea what she had done.
I didn’t even have a plate of food to distract me now. And keeping my eyes down wouldn’t help any, not when I could feel his eyes on me and hear his words in my head. ”I plan ta.” They danced around in my brain, taunting me. Nothing good could come of those words. So I made a decision right then and there. I was going to stop being afraid: I was going to get angry. Anger could carry me through this like nothing else. So, with this new resolve controlling me, I slumped down in my chair, crossed my arms, and fixed the object of my fury with a steely glare. Too bad he wasn’t looking anymore.

Okay, a bit more immaturity here. But I promise you this part is important.

Now satisfied with the wreck she had made of my life (She didn’t know this. Of course.) Mom turned back to Stranger Danger and Dad and continued where they had left off. Except this time she decided to include Jordan and me. “So we were jus’ talkin’ ‘bout Frank’s livin’ condishuns an’ such,” she summed up quickly to no one in particular. But before Mom could say any more, Jordan did something I didn’t think anyone was capable of: he cut off Mom.
“Yeh…” Jordan’s voice rang out clear in the small kitchen as Betty Devereaux’s head whipped to find the source of this interruption. “I wuz wond’rin’ ‘bout dat.” He softly laid his spoon on the side of his bowl and folded his hand like he was deep in thought. “How does sumwhun his age end up livin’ by ‘imself?” he said to thin air, but we all knew who it was directed at.
Mom quickly started to answer, but the “’imself” in question slowly did the same as Jordan, pausing to clear his throat and run a hand through his hair before he answered. “Tha’s a perfectly valid questshun, Jord’n.” Stranger Danger took a deep breath and continued, ignoring the fact that Mom was glaring at Jordan.

What began next was a long rambling monologue from the age of eight. I knew he was lying the whole time. I just knew. The fact that he kept glancing at me the entire time, gauging my reaction, was a dead giveaway. Of course, everyone else took it as that he was testing the waters to see if I remembered anything about our past. Which I didn’t. I mean, yes, I did remember that the abandoned house not always being so abandoned and I was vaguely sure there’d been a family with one little boy living there, but that was it. No nostalgia about carefree days playing tag or making mudpies, and definitely not with the monster swearing to me that they did happen. Lies. All lies. Heaven help whoever believed them.

“…ya ‘member, right, Toni?” he asked for the I’d-lost-count time. No. I didn’t. I wouldn’t. And I never wanted to. But I half-heartedly nodded and he continued even though he believed me about as much as I believed him. “An’way, at ‘bout ten, mah parents started talkin’ ‘bout movin’. Was kina heartbroken, but ‘cited still somehow. Sumwhere remote. Sumwhere we cud go ‘off-grid’ as they called it. We ‘scussed diff’rent places, but I think they like mah suggeshstun of H’whyie da most. By ‘leven, we were all livin’ there. H’whyie’s nice ‘n’ all. All tropical ‘n’ beachy ‘n’ really, really peaceful. But I was gettin’ homesick. I spent 8 years growin’ up in Lou’siana, ya know. Hard to ‘just from that to a peaceful island. Somethin’ brought me back. We still owned dis house so I jus’ made myself at home. This was ‘round 14…15, I b’lieve? So maybe rebelyon had a bit ta do wit’ it. Wanted to be a kina lone wolf figure, I guess.” He grinned a toothy grin. “Yeah, that’s prolyl it.”
Before he could continue, Jordan cut in once again. He was on a roll! “So you’ve been squattin’ – ahem, ‘scuse me, livin’ – in an ‘bandoned hus since…le’s see…fo’teen? Ain’t that illegal?” The little smart-ass! Who ever knew Jordan would be this sassy once he actually interacted with others? He blinked innocently, resting his head on his palms in fake avid interest.
Stranger Danger adjusted in his seat and hardened his gaze. “Yes,” he answered slowly, deliberately, “since tha’ young.” His tightened jaw dared Jordan to challenge him again. It was now I noticed just how strong his jawline was even without being clenched. But that wasn’t what held my attention. There was a gleam in his eye I didn’t like at all.
I think Mom could sense the tension and was still angry at Jordan, so she cut in happily with, “Well, squatter ‘r not, it’s legal now an’ he’s our neighba so we oughta be nice.” ‘Nice’ was emphasized by her slow pronunciation and a pointed glare at Jordan, who only shrugged and went back to his icecream, nudging my foot under the table.
I wasn’t paying attention to that, though. Stranger Danger’s eyes had no returned to “normal,” but I still felt uneasy. Well, more than usual. His eyes were still that awful prying green that made my blood boil and my stomach clench. The inherent threat apparently hadn’t fazed Jordan in the least (although occupied now, he wore the ghost of a smirk) but I was honestly concerned for his safety. No one else had noticed what Stranger Danger was really trying to say, it seemed. Not even Jordan. So much for not being alone in this.
Mom purposely let her spoon clang as she dropped it in the bowl. “So, Frank, how is da hawse? How are ya getting’ by?” She assumed Jordan’s pose, but hers wasn’t so sarcastic.
Stranger Danger looked taken aback for a second. “Um, sure, yuh. I’s fine. I mean, the huss is kina fallin’ ‘part ‘n’ all, but I’m thinkin’ ‘bout doin’ a bit o’ ren’vation. Spruce it up a bit. But I dun know an’thing rally ‘bout huss stuff. Kinna ‘ludes me, even at my best ‘tempts.”
I should have seen where this was gonna go. It shouldn’t have surprised me so much. But honestly, I was paying far more attention to my placemat than Stranger Danger’s lies. Which, unsurprisingly, turned out to be really bad.
“O’ course Toni’ll help!” Mom half-yelled way too cheerfully, with a fake grin spread wide, cutting her eyes at me. Mom wasn’t subtle in any sense of the word.
Oh hell no. I was not being stuck in a house with Stranger Danger for hours on end in the only free time I got. No. No no no. Not even if he was telling the truth about renovating, which he probably wasn’t.
I guess the disbelief of it showed on my face and I rolled my eyes or something because Mom went nuclear. “ANTONIA JULIET DEVEREAUX!” The rest was chopped, quickly whispered angrily in a voice just begging me to defy her. “Ya will NAH roll yer eyes a’ me. Ya will NAH be rude ta our guest. ‘N’ ya WILL be ‘elpin’ ‘im ren’vate. Are we unnastood?”
I gulped and slowly nodded, all defiance draining from me in a flash. Well now I was stuck. Like I said, Betty devereaux was impossible to say no to. Jordan gave my foot a reassuring nudge under the table, but kept his eyes glued to his butter pecan sludge.
The tension around the table quickly turned to excitement or groans when Stranger Danger whistled slightly and muttered, “Antonia Juliet. That’s quite a mouthful.”
“Oh, yus,” Mom started, cutting off Jordan’s and my groans and head bangs and Dad’s excited gibberish. “Arnold’s quite the Shikspur buff. Wanted our child ta be a boy so as he cud name ‘em Marcus Antonius. Then out popped this’um an’ we had to compromise. Can’t zactly name ‘er Marcus Antonius or even Marc Antony. So Antonia Juliet it was.” At the mention of my parents being disappointed I was a girl, Stranger Danger sent a grin and a wink my way; but other than that he listened intently, his eyebrows furrowed at the mention of Shakespeare. “Is beautiful nuff, though.” Jordan voiced my concern with a strangled whine from between his smushed mouth and his placemet. Dad still sputtered incoherently. Mom soldiered on through the criticism. “When we fin’ly did get a boy, Arnold had kina moved on from lit’trur a bit. He went through a weird ‘90s basketball phase when Jordan – get it? – was born. No idea where the ‘lijah came in.” Jordan adjusted his head on the placemat with a squeak, but otherwise kept it on the table along with me.
Stranger Danger cut in almost effortlessly. Dipping his spoon in his butter pecan soup, he casually commented, “I’ve ‘eard Shikspur’s all bad puns ‘n’ dick jokes.”
Chaos erupted around the table. Jordan’s head shot up so quickly his spoon shot into the air and narrowly avoided Stranger Danger. Mom shrieked out “J’mai!” (A Cajun phrase meaning “Well, I never—!” for shock) the loudest I’d ever heard her. Dad started choking, a horrible cut-off gurgling sound. And I just sat there, caught between shock Stranger Danger would even say that, concern for my dad’s psyche after this, and amusement that someone had finally combatted both my parents in one fell swoop. Jordan and Stranger Danger glanced at each other, wondering which should help Dad out. I guess they finally figured it would be better if Jordan did ‘cause he started patting Dad’s back hard. Mom was still in shock, speechless in a moment when she would usually be blowing up, her mouth opening and closing like a fish. Stranger Danger’s eyes whipped to me for help, but I was too busy watching Dad. After a few more hard smacks, he finally horked out the culprit. A lone pecan spiraled across the table and bounced out of sight. It wouldn’t be until a few days later that I found where it was: sitting at the foot of the table like another dinner guest.
Silence took over for chaos after we were done being fixed on the pecan. We all just stared at each other awkwardly. Of course, that was until Mom gained back her usual composure. She cleared her throat way too loudly and started, “Wull, Francis, Ah thi—“
Dad cut in. “Oh, nuh, nuh, hun. Frank’s comp’tly ‘ti’led ta ‘ave ‘is own ‘pinion on ole Shikspur.” He gave Stranger Danger’s shoulder a rough but friendly pat and shake. “Nuh ‘pology nec’sary.”
Stranger Danger still went a vivid tomato red and shrunk down in his seat a little.

Things calmed down quite a bit after that. It was barely 8:00, and even though Stranger Danger and I still had homework, we (well, basically Mom and Dad) invited him to watch some TV with us. Well, scan through channels and try to find something good. Thankfully, he didn’t make anymore…well, rude comments about it. Eventually, we settled on a B-rated Syfy original movie that we could really laugh at because it supposedly took place in Louisiana. Turned out he liked Syfy originals, too. I tried not to be too excited we had something in common. This was the enemy. So we caught the last 45 minutes, Mom and Dad in their claimed big chairs and Stranger Danger sandwiched between Jordan and me on the couch. I could tell he was kinda uncomfortable there in the middle while Jordan and I were lounging on the arms of the couch, our legs curled up under us. Would it be mean of me to say I was happy he was uncomfortable? Probably.

We stayed this way until the end of the movie, laughing at the stupidity and overdramatics. However, when the next one started up, a cheesy werewolf movie also set in Louisiana (all werewolf movies seem to take place there) Stranger Danger seemed to break out of whatever spell we were all under. He jumped up, moticing the time and thanking us for a “supah-delicious mell” and letting him watch some TV with us. Mom demanded a hug, telling him we needed to spend more time together “like buhfoe.” I cringed at the phrase and tried to fade into the background during the goodbyes. Dad settled for slapping him good-naturedly on the back and flashing him a knowing grin. I figured the “Shikspur” thing would always be an inside joke between them (which it was). Jordan gave him one of those quick chin-jerk things and was slamming through the door of his room before Stranger Danger could return it. That was probably the last he would see of Jordan and he grinned at this.
And then there was me. Mom and Dad went to put away the leftovers so I was exposed. Stranger Danger’s eyes locked onto mine as I slowly started backing toward my room. “See ya tomorrah, Marc Antony.” A wink and a smirk and he was gone, the screen door slamming behind him.
It wasn’t until I was safe in my room that I really thought about what he said. Julius Caesar… Awwww, crap. Everyone died in that one, right? I started panicking until I remembered that Marcus lives. That had to be a good sign. Right?

Notes

WHEW! No one will ever know how good it felt to write the last sentence of this chapter. This one kicked my butt. But for good reason! This chapter is the foundation of everything else in this novel. So much foreshadowing that it could practically be the dinner they're eating. But enough of that. I hope you enjoyed this monster and chapter seven should be coming your way fairly faster than this one.

~xoxo Ash