An Echo is Begun

Description

EXCERPT ONE

This part of the park was isolated, so he expected solitude to be able to sort through everything on his young mind. Beyond the isolation of this area, the park was less occupied on a whole these days. The world wasn’t a safe place anymore, at least this part of Lake City. But VJ felt no concern for his safety. He didn’t fit the profile of the recent victims of specific crimes that plagued the area.

He thought first of what he would say to his parents when he got back home. They would likely be very curious about his sudden departure. Wondering again if he should tell them the secret he carried about his brother, a secret shared only with Camcorder, VJ had been urged by Camcorder to tell his parents. VJ had no doubt that Camcorder would not betray VJ’s trust, but telling them did not seem the right thing to do. Beyond that, he couldn’t face their reactions that he expected if he told them, reactions that would begin as disappointment and worsen from there. No, he thought, better to keep it between himself and Camcorder for now.

A voice stumbled into his awareness then, a young voice it seemed as it came closer. The person, likely a boy from what was heard so far, either was talking to himself, or had an unwilling someone else with him that failed to respond. As the voice approached, there were now footsteps also heard, a pair of distinct footsteps on the gravel path and so, a pair of persons. Would they continue on or turn down toward the river where VJ sat was the question?

VJ soon had his answer. They descended down the lazy incline of the dirt path that angled off the main path they were on that circled the vast park. Two young boys walked closely past the seated VJ, since the dirt path turned and traveled near the bench. By then the incline had leveled, and the path went to the railing that ran along the length and edge of the ground. That ground ended in the form of a ground-level cement wall, with the railing jutting up from the cement wall that then dropped fifteen feet to the water below.

The talkative one said ‘hello’ as they walked past, not concerned with a reply, which VJ sent slightly belatedly as a simple ‘Hi’. The talkative one wore what looked like a new, unzipped windbreaker and jeans that fit waist-wise but sacrificed slightly with too much length and were rolled up. The other, a little taller, quickly peered back to VJ awkwardly around an oversized hoodie, shocks of very blonde hair tufting out at various spots, with the bill of a baseball cap jutting out with black-rimmed glasses perched below.

The look just as quickly was pulled away when VJ looked toward them after his returned greeting. The talkative one carried a fishing pole with him and wore a fishing hat easily two sizes too big. His excited talk solely circled the impending fishing he was about to partake of. The quiet one recognized VJ as someone deep in thought, and not happy thoughts.

VJ watch subtly as the two stood by the railing. The talkative one, oblivious to VJ’s presence, explained the concepts of fishing to his friend, baiting his hook with what VJ believed was live bait. The friend seemed content to be along for the adventure without actually indulging in it, as the quiet one’s hands never left the pouch pocket of the hoodie.

As the complete lack of talking continued for Hoodie, a cause was given to the reason for the silence. A wheezing, hacking cough, the sound actually outsized for the slight build of Hoodie, made it apparent that Hoodie was or had been sick. The severity of the cough was acknowledged by the talkative one when he dutifully patted his friend on the back, more in support than aid.

As the coughing fit finished, VJ heard the low, raspy whisper of Hoodie tell the talkative one something in a short burst of what VJ imagined were painful words, judging by the horrid hoarseness of Hoodie’s voice the words were carried by. As the one returned to trying to bait his hook, Hoodie once more shot a look toward VJ to see if the coughing had gained any notice, which it had on VJ’s part. But Hoodie looked away immediately when it was apparent VJ was looking that way.

VJ wondered whether it was shyness or suspicion that had Hoodie appear quite leery of VJ. Either way, he, was content to remain seated on the bench and give the other two their space. As much as he appreciated the near-recent solitude, he admitted to himself that seeing these two young kids here fishing, correction, one of them fishing, gave VJ a vicarious contentment. They seemed to be about T man’s age, so VJ allowed himself the stepped-away-from sense of what it would be like if T-man was actually the one fishing.

It was only a few minutes before it became obvious that the talkative one was having trouble with his line. Despite the constant rhetoric about fishing, the casting process was one he appeared unfamiliar with and Hoodie was apparently unable to help. The basic act of simply standing by the railing, extending the pole over that railing and then dropping the line into the water wasn’t what the talkative one thought fishing was. He wanted to fish as if he stood level next to a body of water, which meant casting the line into the water.

As the talkative one’s frustration grew, that frustration was stressed in a way that an uneasy realization came to VJ. The boy trying to fish was mentally challenged. Hoodie tried to sooth the agitated would-be fisherman, but the effort, with lack of a full voice, was not rewarded. VJ finally called over to them, believing it to be better that he bridged the distance between them first with words.

“Do you guys want some help?” he reassuringly asked, the question’s tone implying he could indeed help, if they allowed him. The one with the pole immediately accepted VJ’s offer, but was quickly cautioned by Hoodie, whose body language told VJ that his offer to help should not be accepted. The only word that VJ was able to clearly hear from Hoodie’s strained admonishment to the other boy was ‘Stranger’.

The simply purity of the talkative one’s rebuttal won the argument then, as VJ heard him respond to Hoodie, “Strangers are grown-ups. He’s not a grown-up.” Hoodie turned and took hold of the railing, staring at the river then, obviously being against VJ’s interceding. The talkative one turned toward VJ. “Can you help us? We never fished before.” VJ immediately was up and moving toward them, though in an unhurried pace. He wanted Hoodie to be comfortable with him helping them and being unrushed felt a part of providing that element of comfort. The talkative one, obviously, took care of the introductions.

EXCERPT TWO

Connor watched her approach. Hell, everybody watched her approach. She was stunning and yet, the way she had looked around the bar, gathering in people and sights, she seemed unaware of the attention she herself had gathered. He was curious to know what had been said between Vince and her. Vince’s grin that Connor saw a few minutes before was a tell-tale sign she had given Vince a verbal ride for his money. In these situations, the things that came out of Vince’s mouth usually weren’t slowed down at all by rational thought.

Connor had made eye contact with her several times, but it had been like that with her and other guys, so he was surprised when she leaned back against the wall next to him, her right foot sliding up and resting on the wall, as his did. With the din in the bar, talking would be accomplished one of two ways; nearly yelling to one another from where they stood, or leaning in closely to better direct their words to the other person. She chose, he happily approved, to lean in.

“It’s not polite to stare,” she said. Although she was certainly often stared at, he did not want her to feel he was like that because he wasn’t, as he now leaned in. “Sorry, I didn’t think I was staring,” he earnestly replied, hoping she believed him. Ryley smiled, knowing he was being serious, and said, “You weren’t. I was. I came to apologize.” With that said, she handed him one of the beers she carried, the kind he was drinking. He was immediately intrigued, knowing that this young woman, this gorgeous young woman, was so much more than just her looks, which was saying a great deal.

As it was perhaps lost on her, it was definitely lost on Connor the attention paid him by almost every female in the bar. To look at them, it was as if they had just stepped out of a catalog of the world’s most beautiful models. He wanted desperately to say something funny, but he was mentally knocked off balance, so he simply uttered a ‘thank you’ to her. He still had most of his beer left, but when a beautiful woman buys you a beer and she’s drinking out of a long neck bottle, you take it and drink it.

“I’m Ryley,” she said, extending her free hand, which he gladly took once he placed both beers in his left hand. “Is that your first or last name?” he clumsily asked, his seemingly awkward question requiring an answer. Smirking, she replied, “My first name. I don’t think I know you well enough to be on a last-name basis with you.” ‘My god’, he thought, ‘This girl is way out of my league’. He spent the next few seconds taking a very long drink from the bottle she had given him. When he was done, she said, “This is the part where you tell me your name.” He sheepishly smiled at his embarrassing lack of composure.

“Yeah, I’m, um, Connor. First name, by the way.” “Well, it’s very nice to meet you, Umconnor. Now Umconnor, is that Scandinavian or something like that? Do you, like, come from a long line of Vikings? Can I call you Um for short?” It had just become hopeless for him, Connor sensing that Vince had a role in Connor being tortured as he asked, “Do you embarrass people professionally? Because if you’re not getting paid for this, that just seems wrong.” Then he heard her feminine giggle, the kind of sound that can’t be faked.

“I didn’t mean to tease you. I’m sorry. I’ve just moved to town and I noticed that you seem to know everybody, so if I met you, then I’d eventually meet everyone else in town. So now you have it. I’m just using you to save time. If I embarrassed you, it was unintentional. There, you feel better now?” Again, she laughed and this time he did as well. He could not recall the last time someone had made such an amazing first impression on him. If Connor was honest with himself, he needed her standards of what was considered a good first impression to be very low. One day, she would tell him of the first impression he made on her.

EXCERPT THREE

She paused, about to speak to the sudden change in that day, but added in what could only be interpreted as another point made to Connor, “It definitely seemed like he tried to get the two kids to go with him, because it was getting dark, but apparently the one fishing didn’t want to leave. My Mom could tell the other little kid appeared to want to go, but stayed with his friend. After the older boy left, it was just a few minutes before those three jerks showed up.”

She seemed to immediately regret her choice of words, but Ryley left no middle ground in letting the others situated around the fire know who she believed was the hero and who were the villains. “So, now you know that he was there already and left, and for some reason, and whatever that reason was, a lot of people, a real lot of people, are happy he came back. I’d say you know the rest.”

And the rest was known. Quite known. Vince hadn’t stirred from his resumed fire-induced trance. Lune and Colby were excited about seeing the video, their interest one of pure entertainment. Connor believed Ryley was waiting to pounce on his voicing of the slightest criticism of the young man that came back, but it was a rare strong opinion he carried regarding it. It was obvious to Connor this young man was the cause of people getting injured, whether deservedly so or not. Connor respected Ryley too much to want to think they could not differ on this matter.

Vince, knowing well Connor’s view of what happened that day, was now quite aware of Ryley’s opinion, which lined up with Lune’s. Without looking, Vince let out a low grunt when he realized Connor wasn’t going to let the matter drop. At least Connor eased into it. “Ryley, don’t you think it would have better if they just walked away once they were up the path instead of how the guy came back down?” It seemed a reasonable question, without any recrimination, but her answer wasn’t reasonable. Her tone arose from how incredulous it was for her to hear, that even with Connor’s pacifistic nature, that he could possibly deem the boy’s actions as wrong.

“No! Not at all. Not if you’re implying it was his fault. For whatever reason he came back down the path again, how can you possibly put it on him why it got so violent? Those two kids should not have even been there in that part of the park at that time of day and like I’ve already said, he tried to get them to leave with him when he left the first time. According to my Mom, it was obvious on the video.” This had a deep impact on Connor and he hoped it didn’t show.

Her passionate defense of the young man left Connor defensive, for he knew Ryley adamantly agreed with every word. He saw the whole incident as being able to be avoided if the young man and the two kids simply walked away when they had the chance. But that was the problem. There was nothing simple about it, even the way it seemed the police made it all go away.

He was saddened, though, that Ryley saw no room for interpretation despite her apparent disinterest in the matter, judging by her never having seen either version of the video. It seemed one more example of her mercurial emotional make-up. Or was it that his passive nature actually was an issue for her? She had been poised to pounce on him the moment he expressed his opinion that the matter could have been resolved without violence. It was Lune who sided with Ryley.

“Connor, for whatever reason, the other two kids also came back down the path after he did and I don’t think that was supposed to happen. That’s what made everything worse. He didn’t throw the first punch, either.” Connor quickly challenged that. “Yes, he did, the first time.” Lune countered. “Yeah, to get them to let the two younger kids go. I’m talking after he had gotten the two younger kids up the path. Huge difference. And then they attacked him from behind when he turned his back. The other three guys were the ones terrorizing the two younger kids and there isn’t a person in Lake City that ever had a problem with what he did. I don’t believe those three guys basically being held accountable for what they did should be overlooked.”

Although Lune’s words were not of mediating intent, they did have Ryley withdraw her own words for the moment. No one there knew Ryley well enough to say anything to her, unsure of what direction, and its intensity, that her reply would take. Everyone sat quietly, with Vince hoping no one’s attention pointed to him. He did not want to deal with that day at the river and what he knew of it. Connor hoped that perhaps with a few minutes of silent reflection on everyone’s part, the issue could be put into a perspective which could be talked about.

The problem with that was Ryley’s perspective didn’t allow dissent. As Lune had said, Lake City’s opinion was set in nearly unanimous stone to the point where any objection was not likely tolerated. She broke the silence. Connor seemed buried in Ryley’s sincere belief he judged the whole matter wrong, and if there was any doubt, she moved to erase it, although her method might prove to contradict her

“Lune, you’ve seen the video. My friends you met the other night, Marcy and Julie, they used to talk about it back in high school. Only Julie saw the video back then and Marcy has seen it off one of those websites, and both say everything the boy did was to protect the two younger kids. Let me ask you something. Just from watching it, if they were already up the path, what do you think would cause him to not simply keep walking away?” It was Colby that answered, though, and not directly.

“He was walking backwards up the path, the older boy.” No one gained her implication, so she continued. “My grandfather said the older boy was shielding them until they were safe. When he came back down the path, my grandpa said it was because it looked like stuff was being said, so he was still protecting them, like he had to still fight the other three to keep the younger boys safe. I mean…he knew how to fight, so…”

Colby paused there to shoot a quick look to Vince, whose gaze was solely targeted to the fire. For Connor, hearing ‘he knew how to fight’ echoed from back when Connor spoke to the two detectives from Kohlerton, for it was exactly how Connor described Vince back then. Lune jumped back into the conversation to avoid Colby expressing a destructive sentiment, with Lune unaware that Ryley was trending in that direction.

“I agree with my Dad. That kid was a hero. Again, what had it get out of control was the other two boys coming back down the path.” Ryley leveled her accusation after hearing what Lune said. “So, Connor, what part of why he chose to come back down the path would you think doesn’t have anything to do with the fact that he was still protecting them in some way?” The duality of the question was blunt in its lack of finesse, yet sharp-edged for how deep she intended to cut.
It was somewhat apparent on the video to those who saw it that something was probably said to draw the young man back down the path, something that was enough to convince him walking away wasn’t what he needed to do. And Lune was correct, for the young man was attacked from behind when he stumbled as he appeared to be trying to go to the two younger kids. That they weren’t visible on the video at that point after they came running back down the path only added to the various theories.

Ryley felt Vince had gone too long undisturbed. Their ‘arrangement’ no longer mattered to her. “Vince, if that was you there that day, what would keep you from simply walking away?” Vince was agitated immediately. “Look it, Ryley, if you’re asking me if it was me there that day, I’m tired of answering that question. It wasn’t me and I don’t know anything about what happened there that day. I saw the video once, on the Fourth of July last year. I never even was in Lake City until three years ago after I moved here.”

Ryley ignored his ‘obvious’ lie once Vince finished, her only concession so far to diplomacy. Still, as Ryley glared at him, Vince then answered. “So, theoretically, yeah, I go back down the path if I’m still protecting those kids.” Vince himself didn’t agree with Connor, but that was already known. Lune, in a lack of foresight, remarked, “You know, they had a phone poll about it back then. 98% said that what that kid did was heroic.”

Strike three to Connor, as Ryley, in the hunt for the emotional jugular, seethed, “And I bet the other 2% never had a brave moment in their lives.” Even the youthful Colby understood the scathing meaning to Ryley’s harsh remark. Connor was stunned by not only the no-prisoner attitude of Ryley, but how she openly seemed to now regard him in the way he feared.

A weak retreat was all that he could gather. “I’m, uh…I’m going to head back up. Um, Lune, Ryley’s apartment is about four blocks out of your way. Do you think you could drop her off?” Connor didn’t actually care what Lune’s response was. Ryley, with her remorse cascading in her heart, now understood how far was too far. Connor appeared to be cutting ties with her.