Reality Lies by D.F. Downey (e manga reader .TXT) 📕

Jackie had felt strangely uncomfortable since Johanna’s plea. She still believed she kidnapped Robbie but there was something strange about it.

Robbie had stuck to his story about being a dog. He said he had been right there barking when she began looking for him and that she had kept him locked in the mud room. He went on to say that Mrs. Noll had only called him Robbie yesterday morning and promised to change him back. For her part, Johanna had said no such thing, only that they found Robbie in that room at the same instant she first saw him through the door.

That was impossible. He was five years old. He couldn’t have gotten there on his own. But then, how did he get there?

A couple of days had passed and Johanna was still in jail. Jackie found herself waiting to see Johanna. She hadn’t been able to raise bail. Jay had yet to be placed with a foster family. It seemed that there was no one available at the moment.

“You can see her now.” the guard stated coldly.

“How long do I have?”

“Half an hour.” He looked around. “But things are slow and sometimes a half hour feels more like an hour.”

“Thank you!” She didn’t know what to expect. He brought Johanna in, sat her down and attached her to the table, which was bolted to the floor. Johanna looked smaller in her orange prison jumpsuit. Her hair was flat to her head and obviously she hadn’t washed in days. She looked worn. She kept her head down as she entered, glancing up only once, shyly, to acknowledge Jackie. She even thanked the guard for shackling her. She was tired and defeated. They sat silently, facing each other. Jackie spoke first, “How are you?” She said with genuine concern.

“Lost.” was her simple reply.

“Lost?”

“My life is over. My son is alone. Everything is gone. I don’t think I can go on.”

Jackie thought about asking the obvious question but chose instead to show human concern. “Don’t give up. You don’t know what’s going to happen.”

“Yes I do. Let’s face it. I’m going to jail.”

“If you’re so certain of that why on earth did you take my son?”

Johanna didn’t hesitate, “I didn’t. I took a dog who was your son.”

“Not you too, so that’s where the story came from! I should have known that Robbie would never have invented that on his own. You’re crazy!”

“I suppose that’s what any sane person would think. It’s what I would think if faced with the same story.”

“If you know it’s crazy why did you say it. Oh, I get it; you’re trying to plead insanity.”

“No, I’m not crazy and when the time comes I’ll do what I have to do to protect my son. Even, if it means going to jail. Even, if it means losing him. I’m so sorry for all the pain you’ve gone through.” She showed no emotion. As she spoke, Jackie nodded. “I know you’re the last person I should ask but could you please take Jay in. He’s a good boy. He won’t be any trouble.”

“I’ve already been in contact with Child Welfare. After I leave here I’m going to fill out some paper work. He should be home by suppertime. I’ll have him at school tomorrow.”

Johanna shoulders shook. She sobbed quietly, “Thank you! I’ll miss him. I don’t know what else to say.”

“I’ll bring him to visit you once he settles in. Would it be okay to go by your house to get his things?”

“Sure! There’s a key hidden above the kitchen window.” She offered then added. “Thank you!”

“Time’s up” the guard announced from the doorway. Obviously, a half hour must have seemed like five minutes. As Jackie left she saw a lightened Johanna head back to her cell.

Johanna suddenly realized she needed to prepare Jackie. “I have to tell you something.” She said while turning her head. It was too late. Jackie was already gone. “Oh my God! What have I done?” she cried, to no one.

The people at Child Welfare asked surprisingly few questions. They needed to move Jay out quickly and welcomed Jackie’s help.

“You’ll be sharing Robbie’s room. Is that all right?” Jackie bent down to tell Jay.

Jay nodded. She patted his head then packed him into the child seat next to Robbie. They rode quietly for a few blocks. Jackie felt compelled to break the silence. “You ready to go back to school tomorrow?”

“Uh huh.”

“Did you miss it?”

“Uh huh.”

“Robbie will catch you up on the last couple of days.”

“Yeah, and Jay can tell me what I missed!” Robbie chimed in.

“Now Robbie, I’m sure the teacher has let you know what you missed.”

“Yeah, the ABCs and stuff.”

She turned into the driveway and stopped just in front of the garage door. Jackie had barely unbuckled the pair before they were out of the car and racing to the front door.

“I’ll beat you to the house.” Robbie called as he took the lead.

Johanna was pulling up the rear. “Wait guys, let me get my keys out.”

She was glad to see that Jay was adjusting so quickly. She smiled. It was even better to see Robbie more like himself again.

“Jay, I moved your stuff into Robbie’s room. I’ll show you where you’ll sleep.” Robbie squealed and they were off. It looked like they wouldn’t return for hours. She set about taking advantage of the down time to get a few things done not the least of which was Jay’s laundry. Johanna had been unable to get to it for obvious reasons.

She checked in on the boys one last time before heading downstairs. They were getting along just fine playing with the X-Men action figures that Robbie’s cousin Michael had handed down. Robbie had learned all their names when they used to play with them together. Michael had outgrown them, although Jackie suspected that was his mother’s idea. He still played with them every time he came over.

It was safe, so she thought. But she wasn’t downstairs two minutes when she heard a loud crash from above. She darted up the stairs two at a time. She arrived to see an array of action figures performing…well, actions, running, jumping, fighting, throwing things, totally without an assist from either boy. She stood motionless for a second then instinctively grabbed the boys.

“What are you doing mommy?”

“Playing a game dear. You’re going to wait in the living room and mommy’s going to see about the toys.”

“Aren’t they neat! I didn’t know they could do that. Jay showed me.”

“He did? Jay how did you do that?”

“I didn’t do it. You said they were action figures so that’s what I thought they did.”

“Huh?” slowly it dawned on her. ‘I said they were action figures so he thought they were action figures. So they did. . . actions. Now get a hold of yourself Jackie, do you realize what that means?’ A whirl of thoughts locked her in place.

“Mommy, can we go back to my room and play now?”

“No honey. Mommy’s got to fix something. Jay would you come with me?” she took him to the hallway. “Jay you know when I called them action figures that didn’t mean they actually did anything, right?”

“It didn’t?”

“No, it only meant you could play with them and pretend they were doing something. They’re only toys and they don’t really do anything.”

“No? Then how did they move?”

“They didn’t really move. It was your imagination. Come, I’ll show you.”

She let him enter first. Sure enough the figures were lying around, albeit all over the room. But none were moving.

“See Jay,” she said as she picked one up, “only toys.”

***

She had finally gotten the boys to sleep. Robbie had insisted on being tucked in. When Jay looked at her she realized she would have to expand the ritual.

Joey had arrived home late, so they were finally sitting down to dinner. Conversation was at first formulaic then she drifted into the incident with the toys.

She related it just as it happened, no embellishments. He sat silently taking it in, his attention growing with each fantastic detail.

“So what do you think?” she queried hopefully. She hadn’t provided the subtext that had led her to her own jump to judgment.

“Unbelievable.” was all he could muster. “You have any dessert?”

She let his words hang then accepted that he would have to digest what he heard before she moved on.

They spent the slim remainder of the evening, separately together. He turned on the TV to catch the ten o’clock news. She cleaned the dishes, folded the laundry, very Ozzie and Harrietesque. He went to bed first without a word. She was watching, waiting for her moment so she quietly followed him in. She had to get to her. . . revelation. He pretended not to notice her but she knew he was awake. He held on to the charade as long as possible. He knew he would get very little sleep if he allowed her to get started.

“Honey, are you awake?” She nudged him softly as she spoke. He drew himself tighter as she persisted.

She waited a few moments then spooned close against him, rubbed him a little and said, “I know you’re not asleep.” He did a pretend roll towards her and then away to get a little separation. She moved in again, this time more directly. “We have to talk. I have to get your opinion.”

He rolled over, opened his eyes. “I’m not getting rid of you tonight, am I?”

“No, you’re not. It’s important. It concerns Robbie and Jay.”

“I’m listening.” he gave in.

“You know how Robbie said he was a dog, Jay’s dog?”

“Yeah, that was crazy. By the way did you ever keep the appointment with the therapist?”

“No, we were scheduled for next week.”

“I guess they’re really booked, must be a lot of crazy kids in this town.”