A Simple Mistake

Chapter IIII

A week went by, the wound on Vince's hand was hidden behind thick white gauze, some of which was stained in dried up blood. Eli had not been out of his room, even when Joel called him out for a questioning session he remained silent and isolated. On Saturday morning (a week after the incident) Eli emerged from his bedroom, bags under his eyes and unruly hair. Austin was sitting in the living room playing with a toy fire engine, Daisy staring intently as he ran the plastic wheels across the fire-lit carpet. Eli watched them for a moment, feeling a pang of guilt--they had witnessed his voice, he had taken some of their slowly dissolving innocence. Eli walked over to them, watching their faces turn simultaneously to the sound of his quiet footsteps. Austins face quickly expressed the great terror he was feeling--the sound of Vince's scream eliciting spontaneous tears. Daisy's face didn't change, she had seen Eli before the attack--she had two different images of him, which kept her cautious, but calm. Eli stopped, evaluating the scene, trying to come up solutions to each situation that could erupt if he sat down beside the two children who looked upon him as if he were the monster hiding under their beds. He slowly lowered himself down to their level, watching their wide eyes follow him down. Eli paced his palm on the rough texture of the rug; the heat from the fire seeping through the fabric of his sweater, filling him with artificial confort. Once he reached the ground, he looked at the toy the children were playing with, the fire's light glinting off the metal exterior of the metal fire engine. He reached for it, but Austin quickly grabbed it, holding it close to his chest, his eyes narrowed protectively. Eli blinked slowly, his hand slowly receding into his lap, but Daisy looked over at Austin with a pouty face, he arms crossed.

"It's my turn," she said simply, holding out her blue-tinted hands.

Austin grumble quietly before slowly releasing the toy into the custody of little Daisy. She looked at the fire engine for a long time, as if slowly building a personality for it, a world. But she handed it to Eli, locking eyes with him, forcing the engine into his hands.

"You can have my turn Eli--I don't mind," Daisy said with a toothless smile.

Austin looked at her with his mouth agape, but said nothing--knowing the little girl beside him wouldn't hesitate to smack him upside the head. Eli gripped the you and smile at Daisy, who had wiggled herself back so he would have room to move the car across the carpet.

"Did you lose a tooth?" Eli asked, noticing one of Daisy's front teeth had disappeared.

She beamed, "yeah! The tooth fairy visited me last night."

Daisy reached into her pockets and handed Eli a quarter. Eli examined it closely before nodding in approval, "Wow, I only ever got nickels, she must like you very much."

"Yeah, I write her letters, when I grow up I want to be just like her."

Eli smiled and handed both the quarter and fire engine back to Daisy, "I can't take the future leader of the tooth fairies turn."

    Austin watched Eli carefully, as if expecting him to suddenly pull a knife of unexpecting Daisy, but he never did, he simply got up and walked away leaving him and Daisy to continue their imaginary adventures.

    Eli walked around the house, hoping he'd run into Amber eventually--after all, the house wasn't exactly the Taj Mahal. He strolled through the hallways, running his hands down the peeled wallpaper and old paintings, some of which had titles or named beneath them. He stopped, he could hear chatter behind the open door a few feet in front of him, the light from the room bled out into the dark shadows of the hallways--which lacked proper lighting. He could familiarize himself with the voice of Dr. Hayes, but the woman's voice was entirely new to him, it was soft, yet firm and raspy--as if the owner of the voice had a cold or something lodged in her throat. He tiptoed closer to the door, listening to the heated conversation.