Suddenly it became a man by Daniel Scott (book club books .txt) 📖

antiseptic from the cotton swabs after they brushed my wounds and every bump in the road till the doors opened again at the hospital.

I transitioned from bed to wheelchair, from wheelchair to driven bed surfing the corridors to the emergency eye clinic with an entourage of doctors, nurses and a surgeon who was very concerned whether or not I’d signed a waver.

Of course then I did and her priorities shuffled back again to my well being, she gave her orders and took me into surgery.

They wouldn’t put me to sleep, but gave me something intravenous to ease the pain.

Staring into the bright light above, images formed and flowed out like bubbles.

Friendly faces began to form out of the light, funny voices moaned out of their strange mouths. I forgot what was happening listened more to the loudening voices from memories tainted by my imagination.

Father struck us till we saw stars, with the same hands at the picnic he handed out sandwiches and pats on the back.

The stars are beautiful, they begat the aspiration of stardom that eluded my brother Aleck who failed at all things academic.

When I walked in the footsteps of his failure fathers hands became a pair of remorseless tools that kneaded into me the reproach for both our short comings.

Father’s face reminded me of Aleck’s, fierce and loving and he had a heart equal in both qualities, but he saved all of his love for Aleck and alcohol and showed me the ferocity they both proved in him.

He loved the drink as much as he loved the fat girl he brought home each night, but truly never nearly as much as he had loved our mother.

With two arms I grabbed that fat girl from behind and pulled out her body from her spirit. I ran off with it hoisted up on my shoulders, Aleck was calling me to come back and so was the fat girls spirit but I was having too much fun to stop. I hid behind an empty house with the body and caught my breath. I thought about handing her body back but her spirit was shouting threats so instead I ran off again scaling roof tops to get away.

I looked through a window and my school friends were inside talking about how sad the girl was and I shared their remorse for her.

I decided to bring her back the quickest way there was, through the woods but as I went I tripped in the undergrowth and the fat girl’s body flew hurled into the air and landed in a muddy swamp.

A crocodile burst out of the mud, it was that crocodile

I hated and he knew I hated him. In spite of me it started devouring her, I dived in ferociously to save her and wrestled the crocodile but my strength faded as its improved.

Finally it prevailed and continued to gobble what was left of the girls body, then its tail emerged from the mud and it was a snake, a black snake with horrible brown off set eyes and when I saw it I was afraid.

The instant it bit me I burst into tears crying because I knew its venom was in me and I was going to die.

The crocodile swam down into the mud and I was left to face the fat girls spirit who was distraught.

I told her with tears that her body was eaten, she cried too but with anger and despair.

Waiting to die from the snake bite, I felt comfort, lay down and I saw my father, he said ‘Son I’m proud of you.’

 

I woke up in a hospital bed it wasn’t an unfamiliar feeling, my eye was wrapped in bandages along with half my head and face.

I needed to leave, the nurse at desk caught my eye.

‘I’d like to be discharged please’

‘Yes that’s fine but you’ll be discharging yourself and that means we take no responsibility from this point on.’

I rushed through the forms signed every dotted line and slid the form back to her bemused nurse.

‘This is for your course of medication hand it in at reception, if you notice any excessive bleeding or bad smells come straight back to A&E with this letter it can be a sign of infection’

‘Thank you I will’

 

I looked to the exit there were police outside guarding the wards doors, two officers armed and waiting, it had to be for me.

They must have investigated the emergency call I made even though I had made it perfectly clear in the call that I only needed an ambulance.

It was happening like I thought it would, first I’d be arrested, questioned and if I made one mistake it’d be all over for me.

My best chance was to act natural, skulking away to for a fire exit would be the same as a confession to the police, but I couldn’t help looking around for one.  

‘Hi there’

His voice came from behind me, when I turned I saw it was the detective from the Tom Baker case who called out to me.

He was sat in a chair next to one of the empty beds shielded by a half closed curtain, he was wearing the same suit from last time unlike before it was creased at the knees and his jacket was hung over the back of the chair, clearly he had been waiting for me to wake up and discharge myself.

‘Looking for another way out?’

‘No, why are you here?’

‘Okay lets go this way then, join us I’d like to ask you some questions’

‘Questions about?’

‘At the police station’

‘Am I being arrested?’

‘That’s right’

I walked out with the two escorts and the detective leading from the back, I said nothing till we arrived at the police station.

Another session in the bright mirrored room started, this time with a digital camcorder pointed at me recording every heavy breath, expression and sound I made.    

‘Steven Baker’

‘I didn’t know Tomas Baker, why am I going to know him?’

‘That’s right the brother of Tomas Baker, the young boy who was murdered I thought you’d remember him’ he handed me a recent photo, I tried to hide what I knew, that he was dead in my bedroom.

‘You may recognise him he’s been on Television.’

‘I don’t watch the news I go to work and I come home, I don’t know him’

‘Fine Since you don’t, I’m going to enlighten you with the information we have perhaps you can help us solve this mystery. Steven Baker the young man in the photo was reported missing yesterday, and we have a written statement from a reliable witness, stating that the last time he saw him he was breaking into your home, with the intention to attack you.

The statement seems to coincide with the date and time you were admitted to hospital and makes some sense of your injuries. My question to you is; what does that mean?’

‘Nothing because I didn’t mention anything about any boy in my attack’

‘And I didn’t say anything about him on the news until you did?’

His face changed and so did mine, I’d slipped up and we both knew it but if they knew he was dead, he would have announced it. All the questions he’d asked none of them had been about the attack until now.

They didn’t know, it was the only explanation.

Then it occurred to me they couldn’t have searched my home without a warrant, and the attack wasn’t reported as an official crime, they didn’t know.

‘I need to speak to my lawyer because you’re harassing me with this, I don’t know anything I’ve told you, if he broke into my house and attacked me he left after.’

‘Let’s speculate, what could be his motive?’

‘With all the media maybe he thought I had something to do with his brother being murdered’

‘After the attack what happened then?’

‘He must have realised he was wrong and left I don’t know where, I rang for an ambulance that’s all I know’

‘I believe you one question though. Why didn’t you press charges? Look at you’re face, I’d press charges’

That’s what he wanted and as soon as I did they’d find out everything.

‘I just want to leave’

‘we’re keeping you in custody for now’

‘But why?’

Suddenly another suited officer opened the door and leaned into the room. She had a high ponytail, colourfully painted nails and still looked more masculine than both of us, not because of her shoulders, missing neck and bulldog face, but the bad tempered expression that was spread across its great width insisted so.

‘Lance we’ve been contacted by Steven, need you in here’

The detective was clearly in shock, as was I.

‘He did?’ he asked with disbelief.

‘Need you in here’

‘Fine’

He took one long incriminating look at me and stood, the female officer left with the door open.

‘Okay you’re free to leave; I’m going to get to the bottom of this. I’m sure we’ll meet again. An officer will drive you home inconsideration of your injuries’

 

For a short time after I left the station I didn’t understand what was going on, that dawned on me later.

When police drove me home searched the house and found nothing but my blood. Steven was gone, there was no way he left on his own power, I saw him dead, his head was open there was no confusion in me about the facts.

The police left the scene that corroborated my lies, I found the closest seat to me and sat in wait for the maniac to appear but this time I really was, very grateful. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter Twelve: Infamy

 

That Tuesday was another empty mark on the calendar, another day in anticipation of the maniac, it was he that moved the body and I wanted to believe he did it to save me from incarceration, I wasn’t sure why living under the threat of blackmail and bludgeoning seemed any better to me than prison, but it did.

The police response after the arrest was to observe and belie the normality of anything I did.

A beacon like invitation to the dogged media already in tow, putting spin on spin, they span everything, inexplicably trying to unify me with the character I played on screen.

I’d stayed indoors since returning from the hospital, I was told in so many words that I was lucky to still have an eye and even luckier to have any vision in it when the bandages finally come off.

It’d been a week Ben was still away, I told him I was attacked but couldn’t bare to tell him what he had done to me. A career ending wound.  

The production team kept ringing me, everything that happened with Steven was on the news and insanely I heard my scripted character was being morphed by it.

Ben caught wind of it and reassured me it was good news. That he and Kyle already agreed that the murder of Tom Baker and the disappearance of his brother Steven would work only to boost the popularity and future ratings of the movie.

I didn’t agree all the hype only put me in danger and continually under the spot light.

The walls of the house weren’t thick enough to block out the noises outside, a small group of protesters arguing with the ground keepers, they kept getting louder and evolving tactics to ruin my day.

At first it was cursing alone then I heard accusations and possibly bottles