The Knights of Darkness: 6

Click here for Part one

Art by Andy Norton

Six

     Your little brat creeps me out" the weird guy said as Jack sat in the corner pulling wings slowly off the grass hopper’s he caught.

     "Then don’t look at him" Mom said “He doesn’t have any friends, what else is he gonna do?"

     He burped and threw his empty can at Jack who was surrounded by other cans "Why you got to be so creepy, boy?"

     Mom didn’t say anything, she was breathing heavily out of a bottle, and was high on her medicine. Then she said wincingly "Hey, jerk! Leave him alone! Just…just let him do his bugs, who cares?”

     "How old are you, you little freak?" The man yelled to him. Jack ignored him while another can was thrown. "Answer me!" the man yelled, barley able to sit up. “You look like a three year old! A... Creepy three year old that acts like a… kid.”

     "Shut up!"  Laughed Mom "He's only, five" she said, to high to remember Jack was six. “He’s a baby, we gonna party or what?” she added as she laid on the couch not moving.

      Jack knew he was 6, he knew what that looked like on his fingers, but he was focused on ignoring the man. He liked how the bugs squirmed as he slowly pulled out the legs, the little body’s squirmed and fought to move around. He was in control of whether or not they could live. But that wasn’t his game today. Once he had separated all of the body parts, He held them all in his hands, he stood up calmly, walked over to the man, and dumped the pieces on his lap.

     The man jumped out of his seat hopping. He swore and screamed. Jack smiled and laughed at the man. He was acting so funny, like Jack knew he would. The man grabbed him by the hair and smacked him hard a crossed the face. Jack didn’t try to run, or hide he just laid on the floor and played dead as he listened to the man and Mom fight.

      He knew how to get rid of men he hated. No matter how much money Mom was going to make, or how much medicine she had taken, Mom would always fight if the man hit him. He lay their pretending to be scared, but watching, sometimes Mom won the fight, sometimes she didn’t. Jack didn't care; he enjoyed the chaos, it was when he felt at piece.

     The car ride scared him, Bruce didn’t want to go to school. He sat quietly next to his mommy, desperately holding her hand. He looked out the window the best he could as she ran her fingers through his hair.

     Ace rode along and squirmed around, as every sight excited him. He turned to lick Bruce from time to time in excitement.

     The driver slowed the car down. “I wish Alfred coulda bringed me” Bruce sighed.

     “I know darling” his mommy said “But you know he went to an important meeting with your Father. He can’t always drive us”

     Bruce just kept looking out the window. Daddy needed to work all of the time, Alfred needed to work all the time, Mommy left him with a nanny all the time. Ace licked him, he felt better, Ace was always there. “I love you ace” he said quietly.

     The car came to a stop and the driver got out and opened the back door. Mommy un-buckled Bruce and helped him out of his seat. They both got out of the car while mommy held his hand.

a lot of kids his age were getting out of cars and running into a large building, which looked to Bruce like a dark castle with dragons and their scary wings, hanging to the roof. They looked like the bats that sometimes hit his bedroom window at night.

      He remembered one that got into his room screeching its loud man eating scream. He leaned into his mommy not wanting to move. Ace leapt out of the car and ran away ten steps then bounded back, nuzzling Bruce again. “I don’t want to go” Bruce cried “I don’t want to go to bat school!” tears fell in heavy drops on his moms suit pants as he clung on tightly. Not even Ace could cheer him up; the driver was putting him back into the car.

     Martha Wayne had a meeting. It was going on right now, it was for a new hospital she had a vision for but she wasn’t going to miss her little sons first day of school, yet the meeting was in the back of her mind. She softly fixed Bruces hair and kissed him “Who’s my big little boy?” she said “Who’s not afraid of any old bat?” Not understanding his context but knowing his fear of bats. She tilted his head and wiped away his tears.  "It will be fun, and you can tell me how fun it was when you get home, this is the best school” she said as she stood “So let's go baby, and I’ll see you when you’re done ok?”

     Bruce looked back at ace who was barking out the window, he looked at the driver who stood at the car like a solder. He took a deep breath like Alfred taught him to do. And nodded his head. And hand in hand he and his mommy went in to the scary building for Bruce first day of school.


Click here for part Seven