memory lane

“So is your grandfather really your grandfather?” Hunter asks as he watches Justin practically inhale the meal in front of him. “Shit, hungry much?” “You try running for most of the night and morning!” Justin shoots back. Putting his napkin down, he gulps down some water before answering the teen’s question. “Yes, my grandfather was really my grandfather. He died when I was ten.” Justin closes his eyes, remembering. “So did he, like, make you guys?” Hunter asks, pulling Justin out of his thoughts. Frowning, Justin takes a bite of fry, and then spits it out, “Too salty!” Shrugging, Hunters picks one up and tastes it, “Tastes fine to me. So what’s the story about your grandfather?” “I’m not sure exactly… I can’t remember much… but I know it was him who helped us escape.” Justin states as he relives the moment. --------- Lying down in his bed, J1 knows that something bad is going to happen to them. He knew as soon as Bad Man sent them to their rooms. Biting his lower lip, J1 tries not to cry. He misses Nurse Sammie. She would play with them, give them hugs and kisses, and even teach them silly songs that they could sing while moving their fingers, like one about a spider and another about a star that twinkled. She sang Happy Birthday to them too. J1 knows he’s four now, but no one has sung Happy Birthday to him, and it’s been months since he had turned four. He didn’t like the new nurse. She arrived a few months ago. Nurse Ally. She didn’t sing songs or give them hugs. She didn’t do anything except give them their morning vitamins and make sure they ate their meals. ------------- “Heeellooo? Earth to Justin?” Hunter calls out, waving his hand in front of Justin. “What the hell, man?” Blinking, Justin shakes his head, “What?” “Your grandfather,” Hunter reminds. “Sorry, I was just remembering the nurse.” “Was she hot?” “Hunter!” Hunter shrugs, “Hey, I’m bored here.” “Then go home,” Justin snarks. “Yeah right! Your boyfriend saw you get into the car with me! The cops are probably all over my place right now!” Hunter exclaims. Tears well up in Justin’s eyes as he thinks about Brian. Brian. “Come on, man,” Hunter tries. A tear slips down Justin’s face. Sighing, Hunter says, “Okay, okay, so tell me about the nurse.” “What?” “The nurse!” “Oh, right,” Justin fumbles with his words as he tries to forget about his lover’s expression when the shot fired, and instead to the present moment. “Well?” Hunter asks impatiently. “Um… well, we first had Nurse Sammie… she was really nice. She’s probably my first memory…” Justin smiles softly, “I had asked my parents about her once, and they told me that she was the neighborhood babysitter that used to watch all the neighborhood kids when I was little… but that her family moved away…” “But that wasn’t true,” Hunter confirms. Justin nods, “Now I know they were lying. They probably had no idea who Nurse Sammie was.” “And you never bothered to ask why you called her Nurse Sammie and not just Sammie?” “My dad used to say that the kids called her that because she always fixed up any scrapes we had when we fell while playing.” Justin answers softly before taking another sip of water. “She was much nicer than Nurse Ally.” -------------- “J1,” Nurse Sammie began, “You have to eat at least some of your peas.” J1 shakes his head, “No!” D1 whispers, “If you don’t, Bad Man will give it to you in a shot.” J1 bites his lower lip. He knew she was right. Bad Man had told them once that if they didn’t eat their food, he would give it to them in a shot. He immediately felt the tears begin to fill in his eyes. “But they taste so yucky.” Nurse Sammie smiles softly, “I’ll be right back.” The children watch as she returns with a white sock. Taking a black marker from her apron, Nurse Sammie draws too big dots on the sock before putting it on her hand. “This is my friend. His name is Gus.” J1 laughs out loud. He couldn’t believe it! A sock with eyes and now a mouth! All the kids stare in amazement. Nurse Sammie smiles and using ‘Gus,’ asks, “Can I be your friend?” All the children nod. “Hooray! I like having friends! Oooh, this looks good. What is it?” Gus asks. J1 looks at his plate, “Peas. But they aren’t good.” “Can I have some? Please oh please??!” Gus whines, making all the kids laugh. J1 spoons some up and is about to give it to Gus, when Nurse Sammie interrupts, “Gus doesn’t like eating by himself. How about you have some too?” J1 grins and with his hand, picks up a few peas, stuffing them into his mouth at the same time as he pushes the spoon of peas into Gus’, causing everyone to laugh as Gus the sock, chews the peas. --------------------- “Peas?” Hunters asks in disbelief. “Whatever,” Justin rolls his eyes. Of course the kid wouldn’t understand. “No, okay, fine, that’s cool.” Hunter offers, “So, um, the other nurse didn’t make puppets and shit like that?” Justin nods. “Bummer.” After a moment of pause, Hunters asks, “So your grandfather?” Justin nods, “The night after…um..” “When you guys went batshit and killed one of the doctors,” Hunter finishes for him. “We didn’t go batshit.. we…” Justin closes his eyes, “I don’t know… I don’t remember… I think we…” “Killed the fucker. I know, go on.” Hunter urges as he steals another fry. Swallowing hard, Justin begins, “Well we were sent to our rooms. It was evening, so we just got ready for bed…” ---------------------- Wiping away the tears, J1 lies down and rolls onto his side. He hopes C1 is okay. Suddenly, he hears the door unlock. Sitting up, J1 watches as a man he’s never seen before walks in. He puts his finger to his mouth to signal to J1 not to make a sound. J1 nods his head and continues to watch as the man closes the door and then sits on the bed beside him. “Hi.” J1 says softly. The man has kind eyes. “Hi, J1. I’m your granddaddy.” Frowning, J1 tilts his head to one side, making the older man chuckle. “I’m going to give you something to help you sleep. And when you wake up, you’ll be in a different room… in a house actually,” he says with a smile. J1 continues to frown, “Why?” “Because you’re going to live with your mommy and daddy.” “My mommy and daddy?!” J1 sits up straighter. He knew about mommies and daddies. He read about them in books that Nurse Sammie used to share with them. The older man nods, “Yes. They can’t wait to meet you.” J1 grins, “Really?” He nods again, and then becomes serious. “But I need you to promise me something.” J1 stops smiling, “What?” “If you wake up, and you’re still in this room… don’t take the vitamin that Nurse Ally gives you.” “Why?” J1 asks. He knew he’d get in trouble if he didn’t take the vitamin. “Because it has something in it that will hurt you.” The man states. Looking away, he pulls out a syringe. J1 covers his mouth, and mumbles behind his hands, “I don’t like shots.” The man smiles sadly, “I’m sure you don’t. But this will help you sleep. Remember what I said, J1.” J1 nods, letting the tears slide down his face. He wants to ask the man if he was bad, if that’s why Nurse Ally wanted to hurt him. He wants to ask him about his friends. But before he can say a word, the man sticks the needle in the small boy’s arm, and the child’s world becomes dark. ---------------------- “So you woke up in Pittsburgh?” Hunter asks, finishing off the fries. Justin nods. “Daphne, er, D1, she lived less than a block away. I don’t know where everyone else lived. I saw my grandfather a few months later, and I thought I remembered him, but he said it was probably from a picture I might have seen… but now I know. I remember now.” “I guess you’ll be remembering more shit now too, huh?” Hunter asks. Justin nods. He doesn’t want to remember a damn thing.