In the Eyes of a Child

5

Marinello

In the Eyes of a Child

The men came in the night, as people doing things they shouldn’t always do. Stefan heard them coming up the road. The sound of the wheels on the gravel had woken him from his sleep. Outside, the silhouette of a large car drove up and stopped in front of the house. The headlights illuminated the yard for a moment, before the noise of the engine ceased and the scene plunged once more into darkness. Hushed voices echoed up through the open windows. Stefan crept to his bedroom window and peered out into the darkness, trying to identify the unexpected visitors. Two figures stood by the side of the car talking, their faces obscured in the shadows. The wind rustled in the trees and made it impossible for Stefan to understand them.

Downstairs, there was the sound of the bedroom door opening and shutting. Father came out into the hallway in his pyjamas and drew the curtain of the front window slightly aside. Stefan watched through the crack of his open door as Father quickly pulled the curtain closed again and hurried back into the bedroom. Stefan tried again to distinguish the shadows from the figures in the yard, but it was too dark. He couldn’t see them anywhere.

Three loud knocks on the door almost caused Stefan to lose his balance at the window. His heart began pounding in his ears. Part of him wanted to get away from the entryway and yet part of him was just as curious to see who the strange visitors were. As usual, curiosity triumphed. Stefan moved from the bedroom window to the top of the stairs, peering down into the dimly lit entryway below. The smell of the polished railing tickled his nose and threatened to make him sneeze. Stefan held his breath and watched. Father came out again, in the rumpled trousers and shirt he had been wearing the day before. As he went to open the door, Mother appeared and rushed up the stairs.

“Back in your room,” she hissed, shaking her hands at Stefan.

His excitement turned to fear and Stefan didn’t need to be told twice. With Mother pushing urgently at his back, he hurried back into his own room. Instinctively, he jumped back into bed. The light from the entryway shone into the room and cast bizarre shadows on the walls. Glancing toward the stairs, Mother closed the door.

“Stay in bed,” she whispered. “Try and go back to sleep. Is that clear?”

Stefan could do nothing but nod his head in agreement. Mother looked upset but he could tell he had done nothing wrong – but something certainly wasn’t right. She looked at him for a moment, as if there were something else she was going to say. Her hair was unkempt and tousled from sleeping but Stefan thought she looked like an angel. It didn’t matter that her make-up free face showed her true age and it didn’t matter that her pyjamas were wrinkled and one leg was pulled up higher than the other. Silently, Mother placed her hand on his forehead and then turned and left the room. Stefan, left in the darkness, pulled the blankets up closer to his face. With Mother gone, the room seemed much colder.

The conversation grew louder in the entryway. One of the visitors asked Father where the payment was. Father said he didn’t have it. Mother said something that Stefan couldn’t understand, which made one of the visitors laugh. It was a cruel, humourless laugh. Stefan lay as still as possible in his bed, straining to hear the conversation below. Curiosity began to mount again as he began to understand less and less of it. Unable to sleep, he pushed back the blankets and made his way to the door.

The four adults had moved away from the bottom of the stairs. Stefan slowly edged out into the hallway and down the staircase, careful to avoid the creaking edges. His moonlit silhouette stood out plainly on the carpeted floor. Quickly, he ducked to hide behind the edge of the bookshelf in the entryway. From this position, he could just see them standing together.

“I thought we agreed I had until the end of the week.”

Father stood facing the two strange men. The desperate sound of his voice surprised Stefan. He had never heard Father sound so afraid. The two visitors stood with their backs to Stefan. They were both of average height, dressed in dark trousers and winter jackets. The only thing out of the ordinary was the thick tension in the air.

“Please,” Father said, “just two more days? Just give us two more days!”

“Your position leaves little room for bargaining.”

One of them men reached into the pocket of his coat and withdrew a small pistol. Stefan crouched beside the bookcase, unable to move. Mother’s face echoed his feelings. The colour had drained from her cheeks. Stefan wanted nothing more than to rush into the room and snatch the gun from the man, but his feet felt frozen in place.

“That won’t be necessary,” Mother interjected quickly, raising her hand. Her voice betrayed her fear, but Stefan could see she was doing her best to hide it. “You’ll get your money.”

Mother edged toward the desk in the living room, keeping her eye on the armed visitor. The man followed her movements with the barrel of the gun. Reaching into the top drawer, she pulled out a small brown bag. Father watched her, his expression unreadable.

“Take this.” Mother untangled a long pearl necklace from the bag and showed it to the men. “It’s sure to get you something until we can supply the rest.”

Stefan stared in shock at the necklace in Mother’s hand. Grandmother had given the necklace to her on her wedding day. It had been in the family for decades. Mother had told him he would have it for his wife, if he ever chose to get married. Father looked at Mother in surprise as the unarmed visitor stepped towards the desk and snatched the necklace from her hands. In the entryway, Stefan found it harder and harder to keep still. His hands and knees burned from his weight on the floor and a cobweb behind the bookcase tickled his arm.

“We will consider your debt paid, for now.”

The first man lowered his gun and nodded. He replaced the gun in his pocket. His companion eagerly pocketed the necklace. Stefan hated the way the men looked. Stefan hated the fact they could come in and take what was so valuable to Mother. Stefan simply hated them.

Wordlessly, the two men turned from the room and reentered the hallway. Father moved to Mother’s side and placed his arm around her. There were tears in her eyes, though of fear or sadness, Stefan wasn’t sure. Either way, the visitors had caused it. He glared at the men from his hiding spot. They had to walk past him to get to the doorway. If he could just reach out and snatch the necklace back, somehow things would have to turn out all right.

Two more steps and he could reach them.

As the men passed the bookcase, Stefan sprung from his hiding place and clawed at the man’s leg. He could feel the pearls through the fabric of his pocket. In the background, Mother screamed. Hands clasped at him, tearing and pushing him away from his adversary. Stefan continued to scratch and grab, desperate to retrieve Mother’s treasure. He wasn’t even sure why he had done it in the first place. He didn’t know when the paralysing fear had suddenly turned into blind rage.

A gunshot echoed in the hallway and pain seared through Stefan’s leg. His grip lessened as he dropped to the ground, arms wrapped around his thigh in pain. Mother collapsed in sobs next to him, gathering him against her. There was a sudden scurry of movement and Stefan vaguely heard the sound of car doors being slammed shut and Father’s footsteps running down the drive. He could see Mother’s face, outlined in the light of the living room. Her tears dripped off her cheeks and splashed against his.

Stefan tried to reassure her, but the words wouldn’t form clearly in his mind. All he could think of was the blinding pain in his leg. Blood seeped out of his wound and stained their pyjamas dark red. Stefan blinked, trying to focus on her face. It was useless. Slowly her image became more and more blurry until it was completely black. His body went limp and Mother pulled him closer and began to rock him slowly. She felt something hard press against her cheek. Fresh tears began as she realised what it was. Clasped in Stefan’s bloodstained hand, was the necklace.