Silt, Denver Cereal Volume 8 (41 page)

His human mind panicked. He was overwhelmed
with the rage that pulsed through each of these boys. The dragon
beat marched forward, but Jacob had lost his focus.

The boy in front of him hit him once more in
the face and Jacob fell to the ground. Through the chaos of running
legs and fighting, he saw that Wanda was getting pummeled. Noelle
fell next to Wanda. A boy kicked Buster out of the way to get to
Noelle.

His mind flooded and his entire life felt
futile.

How had his world become like this?

Why were young boys trading away all of
their opportunity for rage?

Why was being right more important than
getting along?

Why did the world give in to violence and
power games?

Somewhere deep inside, Jacob heard a human
heartbeat. He heard his mother tell him that someday he would know
just exactly what he was. He heard the dragon laugh.

One word came to his mind.

Enough.

“
Yes,” he heard the dragon
say.

He knocked the boy in front of him off his
feet and stood.

“
Enough!” Jacob yelled. “I
have had enough!”

He raised his hands and the boys in the
grove rose twenty feet off the ground. The young men looked
horrified.

One young man opened his mouth and pointed
to him.

“
Imma get you.” Jacob read
the boy’s lips.

He dropped the boy to the ground. The boy’s
legs broke like toothpicks and terror moved through the rest of
Jacob’s hostages.

He felt a hand on his right shoulder. He
turned to find his father standing behind him.

Jacob blinked. He had no idea if his father
was actually there or if he was looking at a dragon-induced
illusion.

“
I love you, son,” Sam
said.

Without releasing the boys, Jacob hugged his
father tight. He felt more than saw Sarah rub her head against his
leg.

“
I can’t do it anymore,”
Jacob said.

“
I know,” Sam said. “Every
man has a moment when he realizes he has to fight for what he
believes in.”

“
One tiny inch at a time,
they’ve taken so much,” Jacob said. “Now we’re fighting with each
other over stupid stuff because the bullies refuse to talk about
real issues.”

Sam gave him a wry look. He looked around
the grove.

“
Maybe it’s time for the
powerful few to stand up and say, ‘Enough,’” Sam said.

“
But you
said . . . You said never,
ever . . .”

“
I had no idea the world
would become like this,” Sam said. “Girls assaulted by thugs their
own age. Drugs, guns . . . hard work that means very
little in the face of bullies disguised as
businessmen . . . I don’t think anyone could have
predicted this.”

Erik ran over from across the grove. Sam
turned toward the street.

“
The police are almost
here,” Sam said.

Jacob watched his father. The boy Wanda was
with helped Wanda and Noelle up.

“
How are you here?” Jacob
asked. “Why can I hear you?”

“
You needed me here. You
willed it.” Sam smiled at him. “I’m having my afternoon nap with
Delphie at home. After all, we have a long night ahead of
us.”

Wanda, her friend, and Noelle jogged over to
Jacob.

“
But . . .”

“
Set them down on my
count.” Sam turned to Bestat. “You need to change.”

“
I can’t hold them without
her!” Jacob said.

“
You’ve never needed me,”
the dragon said. “You only needed to decide you were in the
game.”

The dragon faded. The woman appeared. There
was not a hair out of place on her head and her linen suit looked
freshly pressed. She gave Sam a bright smile. She kneeled down to
pet Scooter.

“
You’ve been in a fight,”
Sam said.

“
Good point,” Bestat said.
Before their eyes, her hair was ruffled, her shirt torn, and her
face bloodied.

“
Girls, you need to go
back to where you were,” Sam said. “Son.”

Noelle and Wanda nodded. They ran back to
where they were. The boy with Wanda jogged back to where he’d been
standing.

“
Erik,” Sam
said.

The plumber nodded and followed the girls
back to where he’d been.

“
Now,” Sam
said.

Jacob set the boys on the ground only
seconds before the first police cruiser drove up onto the grass. An
unmarked car approached from the other side. Sergeant Aziz ran in
front of a swarm of police officers. He found his brother and
hugged him tight. The boys scattered and the uniformed officers
chased them down.

Jacob felt another fist slam against his
face.

“
Seriously?” he asked the
boy in front of him.

He shot the boy across the grove in front of
a uniformed officer. The officer slipped zip ties on the boy’s arms
and legs, and moved on. Jacob whistled for the dogs. They trotted
over to him and he clipped on the leashes. He saw that Bestat had
walked over to him. He gave her a sly smile. She flagged down a
uniformed officer.

“
Officer,” Bestat said.
“I’m a diplomat from Egypt. I was here with my son’s girlfriend and
we were attacked. We were separated and I haven’t been able to find
her.”

“
There are two girls over
here,” the officer said.

Jacob followed Bestat to where Noelle and
Wanda were being treated by paramedics. Wanda reached for Frankie’s
hand. He grabbed on. Bestat kneeled down next to Noelle. Erik shook
off a uniformed police officer and ran over.

“
How are they?” Jacob
asked the paramedics.

“
Are you their father?”
the paramedic asked.

“
I’m Noelle’s uncle.”
Jacob glanced at Noelle and she smiled. “Wanda’s father
is . . .”

“
Right here,” Erik
said.

“
They seem to be mostly
bruised,” the paramedic said. “They both have defensive wounds.
They said they were fighting this bunch. We won’t know if they
broke any bones until they get to the hospital. You have insurance?
‘Cuz the trip to the hospital is pricey.”

“
Of course,” Jacob said at
the same moment as Erik said, “Uh . . .”

“
We’ve got this covered.”
Jacob put his hand on Erik’s shoulder.

The paramedic nodded and helped the girls
onto stretchers. Bestat stepped into the ambulance with Noelle. The
paramedics took off with a scream of sirens toward the hospital.
Jacob looked back at the grove. The police were rounding up the
boys. Sergeant Aziz walked over to him.

“
Did any of you see a
young man about this big, low-slung jeans . . .?”
Sergeant Aziz asked. “We’ve been told he’s the leader. No one
remembers him leaving, but we can’t find him.”

“
Haven’t seen him,” Erik
looked at Jacob. “You?’

Jacob shook his head.

“
That’s a shame,” Sergeant
Aziz said. “He’s wanted in two states. I guess he goes from school
to school, gets the boys hooked on meth and violence, and then
disappears to let them take the rap.”

Jacob turned his right hand over. The boy
screamed on his way down the tree trunk. He landed on his rear at
the bottom of the tree and began to wail. Jacob raised his eyebrows
at Sergeant Aziz.

“
Is that him?” Jacob
asked.

Sergeant Aziz looked across the grove at the
boy and then back at Jacob.

“
Must have climbed the
tree to watch,” Erik said. “Fell out.”

“
Imagine that,” Sergeant
Aziz said. “Just a second before we got here, I could have sworn I
saw these boys floating above the ground.”

Sergeant Aziz looked at Erik and then at
Jacob.

“
Nothing?” Sergeant Aziz
asked.

“
Where’s Detective Red
Bear?” Jacob gave the sergeant a bright smile.

“
On leave,” Sergeant Aziz
said. “But I would guess you knew that.”

Jacob nodded. They watched a uniformed
officer arrest the boy that was with Wanda.

“
My brother,” Sergeant
Aziz said.

“
Why are they arresting
Frankie?” Erik asked.

“
He’s been a part of
this,” Sergeant Aziz cleared his throat and swallowed
hard.

“
I need to go to Wanda,”
Erik said. “When we’re done, we should talk to the police, because
Frankie saved my Wanda today.”

“
Frankie and Wade,”
Sergeant Aziz said. “They were always so close.”

Erik nodded. He held his hand out to
Jacob.

“
Thanks,” Erik said. Jacob
shook his hand, and Erik walked to his truck.

“
What was that?” Sergeant
Aziz asked.

“
He works for me,” Jacob
said.

“
Uh huh,” Sergeant Aziz
said.

“
I need to call Noelle’s
father,” Jacob said. “Get the dogs home
and . . .”

“
You’re around?” Sergeant
Aziz asked.

“
You can reach me here.”
Jacob gave him his card.

Sergeant Aziz nodded. Jacob turned back to
look at the police officers and the boys. His mind replayed the
whole odd event. He grinned. He gave Sergeant Aziz a nod before
jogging off with the dogs.

At the dog park, Jacob kneeled down to check
the dogs. Somehow, they had made it through everything without a
scratch. Before walking to the school to get Charlie, he called
Aden, who was already on his way into town. Charlie and Jacob ran
back to the Castle to pick up his car. There was a note on the door
from Jill saying they had gone to the hospital. Jack let the dogs
in the Castle and took Charlie with him to the hospital.

They found Delphie and Jill in the waiting
area. Erik joined them a moment later. They settled in to wait.

~~~~~~~~

Monday evening—6:00 p.m.

Jacob stepped up to the podium in front of
the Lipson employees. His face was a mess of bruises and his right
hand was wrapped in gauze, but he was there. It took a moment, but
the employees stopped talking.

“
Thank you for being here
this evening,” Jacob said. “I’m sure you’ve heard that Aden’s
daughter and her friend Wanda, Erik Le Monte’s daughter, were
attacked this afternoon.”

He saw a group of employees whisper to each
other near the back.

“
Erik’s on our plumbing
crew,” Jacob said. “If you’d like to call, feel free to do so.
We’ll hold the vote until you get back.”

The men and women talked to each other and
one of them got up.

“
Wanda, Erik’s daughter,
has some broken ribs and a broken leg,” Jacob said. “Noelle, Aden’s
daughter, broke her hand on a boy’s thick head. Both girls have
some internal damage and facial bruises. They’re staying at the
hospital overnight, but the doctor’s expect them both to fully
recover. As you can see, I was there.”

Jacob grinned. The employees laughed.

“
We have an entire
presentation ready,” Jacob said. “But I’m tired and bruised. I’d
like to cut to the chase.”

Jacob looked out across the crowd of
employees.

“
We need to end Lipson
Construction’s involvement in the project by the airport,” Jacob
said.

There was a stunned silence.

“
Blane and Tres will walk
you through the reasons,” Jacob said. “They will also share with
you the expected cost of abandoning the contract. It’s going to
cost us, but it’s the right thing to do.”

“
For who?” a voice near
the back yelled out. “You?”

A few employees chuckled.

“
Please stand up,” Jacob
said.

No one moved. The mood of the employees
shifted. The people nearest to him whispered to each other.

“
Yes, that’s what we’ve
turned to,” Jacob said. “We fight with each other over nothing. How
do the rest of you feel about the constant back biting, toxic
cynicism disguised as intelligent comment, and arguing?”

Jacob shook his head.

“
I’ve had enough,” Jacob
said. “You want to grumble and gripe, find yourself another job.
I’ve had enough of it. Site managers? Do you agree?”

“
Fuck yeah!” Jerry
said.

“
Absolutely,” Rodney
said.

“
We’re with you, Jake.”
Bambi stood up in the middle of the room. She turned around and
pointed to a man. “You’re fired. I’ve heard you whine enough to
recognize your voice anywhere. Get out of here.”

“
You can’t do that to me!”
the man said.

“
Out,” Bambi
said.

A few employees near the front began to
clap. The man glared at Jacob and stomped out of the room. Jacob
waited for a few minutes for everyone to settle down.

“
We need to come together
to work together,” Jacob said. “Or we will not survive. Period. If
there’s anyone else would like to leave, I encourage you to do so
now. Remember what we said at noon, leave and your employment is
ended. And trust me, I’m dead serious about this. I’m sick of the
cynics destroying any forward momentum. We’re destroying ourselves
from the inside. I’m done tolerating it.”

About five people from around the room
slowly got up and left.

“
And the rest of you,”
Jacob looked out at the employees. “Are you ready to get to
work?”

“
Let’s get it done, Jake!”
Jerry yelled out.