The Second Chance of Benjamin Waterfalls, page 15
When the truck stops, I make a smooth movement and cup the compass into my hand and grab my backpack. As I open the door, I drop it into my backpack and step out. I could probably sell this for at least twenty bucks back home. Everyone needs direction.
At Lulu’s I get the stuffed wolf and shove it into my backpack. She doesn’t ask any questions, barely looks up from her guitar. Some rock star.
We keep driving until we can’t see the sky through the trees. The road ends at a campground. What the heck are we doing here?
We exit the truck. Hank slaps his arm around his son. “Alex. This guy here is going to tell you what I’ve been trying to get through to you this whole time. Okay?”
Alex shrugs. “If you say so, Dad.”
“You’ll see. It’s a man thing. Over time, you won’t even think about it. It will just be as natural as breathing air. Ain’t that right?” he says, and looks at me.
He thinks I’m going to side with him, but little does he know that I don’t like dads. But I also can’t blow Niimi’s cover for whatever cockamamie plan she concocted.
“Well, it’s a little more complicated than that, pops,” I say.
The father looks at me like I’m a puzzle he’ll never finish. Niimi laughs out loud. “Buckshot Benny is right. Hunting is nothing like breathing air. And if you want your son to ever become a master hunter like you, you can’t go filling his head with such wacky comparisons.”
“I just meant—”
“I’m sure you meant well, but let the expert handle this.” Niimi flicks her hand at me, which can only mean that it’s my cue to take Alex deeper into the woods and allow her to work her so-called magic.
Hunting. So that’s what this is about. I’m supposed to pretend to be a master hunter. This guy wants his kid to kill things. The only hunting I know is merchandise hunting. I steal stuff, not lives. This ought to be interesting. I can’t wait to see how Niimi pulls this off.
“See you manipu-later,” I shout to Niimi, and hope she catches my dig at her. “Let’s go, Alex,” I say, and walk off. Alex follows, kicking up dirt with each step.
“Don’t you need the rifle?” Hank shouts to us as we stroll down a hunting trail.
“Ninety percent of hunting is mental. Let them reach the first ninety before we go handing the guns out,” Niimi says.
I take Alex far away enough where we can no longer hear or see Niimi and Hank. I’m not sure what she wants me to do or what she wants me to say, so I turn to Alex.
“So, what’s the deal between you and your dad?” I ask.
“He wishes I was more like him,” Alex says.
“Well, one way to do that is to eat nonstop,” I say. “He’s pretty fat.”
Alex laughs. “He says I’ll never be a man unless I start acting like one.”
“Sometimes dads suck. Sorry, but it’s true.”
“Does your dad want you to kill animals too?” Alex asks.
“Mine sucks in other ways. Maybe you can just tell yours that you don’t want to kill animals.”
“I’ve tried. He never listens to me,” Alex says. “That’s why Niimi is here. That’s why you’re here.”
“I don’t even know why I’m here,” I say. “I’m supposed to be in some boot camp to stop stealing, instead I’m walking around the forest with a scrawny little kid—no offense,” I say.
“It’s okay. But I do know why you’re here. You’re the decoy. Right now, Niimi is not making me more like my dad, but making my dad more like me,” he says.
“How do you know that?” I ask.
“My dad asked for her help, but secretly, I paid her eight dollars to help me instead. Now give me the wolf,” he says.
Niimi took money from this kid. And she calls me a thief?
I pull the wolf out of my backpack. He removes his orange shirt, and under it is a gray shirt with a white patch near the belly. It’s long-sleeved and bunched up at his elbows. He rolls the sleeves down to his wrist and flips up the hood. Two fabric-stuffed wolf ears pop up on the hood. I bet Niimi got him that while she was getting the turkey and pig costumes. He then reaches into his pocket and pulls out a piece of coal. “Coal?” I ask.
“It’s my nose,” he says, and rubs it against his nose, making it as black as a wolf’s nose.
“I heard it’s pretty dangerous to dress up as a wolf and play in the woods, especially with people like your dad around,” I say.
“I trust Niimi,” he says, and takes the wolf from my hands.
There’s that word again: trust. What an annoyingly common word that has been lately.
“Go back to my dad and Niimi. Tell them I found a wolf,” Alex interrupts my thoughts.
“Nah, I don’t think leaving you alone dressed up like this is a good idea. I don’t care if you trust Niimi or not, and neither do bullets,” I say.
“Niimi planned this out already. Just go,” Alex says.
“Niimi is just a kid a few years older than you. And look at me. Would you put your life in my hands? No. Plus, Niimi wears a mask and believes in superheroes. She probably believes in Santa too,” I say.
His eyes open wide. His eyebrows rise. “Are you saying Santa isn’t real?” he asks.
Crap. Forgot the kid is so young. Kids are supposed to believe in that stuff.
“No. Santa is real. Obviously. I just meant maybe we shouldn’t put all this faith in a girl who only shows half of her face. That’s all,” I say.
“The Flash only shows half of his face, and so does Captain America. I trust them. Now, go,” he says, and kneels down and gets on all fours, placing the wolf to face him.
* * *
I walk back to where the truck is parked, leaving Alex with his stuffed wolf. I feel bad for him. I know what it feels like to want your dad to be your hero, even when he proves otherwise.
When I reach Niimi and Hank, they both look at me like I’m missing an arm.
“Where’s Alex?” Hank asks.
“He found something to shoot,” I say.
Hank’s eyes light up. “Really?” he says, and grabs his rifle, which is leaning against the truck.
“Well, what are we waiting for?” Niimi asks. I see her mischievous grin. Her plan is working.
Hank, Niimi, and I walk quietly back to where Alex is. We step carefully over the ground, trying not to snap twigs and crush leaves too loudly.
I have no idea what’s going to happen, but I feel uneasy about how excited this man is. “Be ready,” Niimi whispers into Hank’s ear.
He nods and softens his footsteps. “Alex?” he whispers two or three times as we tiptoe farther. “Where is he?”
“I see the ma’iingan,” Niimi says, and points left. “That means wolf.”
Hank whips the barrel toward the left. In his sights, he sees his son, dressed as a wolf, on all fours, innocently playing with the stuffed wolf. His eyes widen.
“What the…,” Hank says under his breath.
“Tell me what you see,” Niimi whispers into his ear.
“I see my boy.”
“What is he doing?” Niimi asks.
“Playing,” he says as he slowly lowers his rifle.
“What else do you see?” she asks.
“I see … a wolf. A baby wolf.”
Wait. What? He should see a stuffed animal, shouldn’t he? I do.
“With one bullet, you can take away both childhoods.”
“What?” Hank says, and looks at Niimi with confusion tugging at his forehead.
“Your father taught you to hunt, didn’t he?”
“Yes,” Hank says.
“When you were your son’s age, did you want to kill animals?” Niimi asks.
Hank pauses. “What’s going on?”
“Your innocence was shot dead in a forest just like this, wasn’t it?” she says.
“I don’t … remember. I don’t know.”
“But you do remember, Hank. You do. When you were Alex’s age, did you want to kill animals?”
He looks down, near his feet, remembering his childhood … “No. I was … like my son. I didn’t want to do it.”
“Please don’t make me shoot it, Daddy. Please,” Niimi says, causing more of Hank’s memories to flood back.
Hank opens his mouth. But words don’t come out. Just a deep breath he’s been holding ever since he was a kid. “Alex says the same thing to me. My God. I’ve turned into my dad.”
“Maybe your dad was wrong, and you were right. Maybe your son is right. Maybe we’re not here to teach him; perhaps your son is here to teach you,” Niimi says.
Hank looks at Alex, who plays with the stuffed wolf, but Niimi and Hank aren’t seeing what I am seeing. I see Alex bouncing and hopping around the toy. Nothing out of the ordinary. Kids do that, right? But Hank sees something different. I can tell by the tears ganging up on his eyes, ready to unload on him.
“You’re seeing what I’m seeing, right?” I ask them both.
“It’s a pup. With my boy,” Hank says, and begins to cry—probably recalling all the wolves he shot and killed for fun.
He sees a wolf. Just like how Lulu saw real animals in her house. This is impossible. Am I missing something? All I see is a kid playing with a toy. But Niimi sees it too. I just know it. The way she’s smiling. Does Alex see it? Does he think he’s actually playing with a real baby wolf? Can someone please tell me what the flip is going on?
Hank drops to his knees, sets his gun down, and stares at his little boy.
“He doesn’t need a hunter. He needs a father,” Niimi says.
“Alex!” Hank shouts.
At the sound of his voice, the wolf turns its head, stiffens its ears, looks at us, and falls over. Okay … that was a little strange, but again, the wind could have blown it over.
“Dad!” Alex shouts back to his dad, rising to his feet and running toward his father.
They meet in the middle and embrace each other. Both squeezing tightly, and from the looks of it, it’s a hug they both have been wanting and needing from one another for a very long time. Right then, I realize I have not had a hug like this since before my dad left. I was so young then, as young as Alex. But I still remember it. How it smelled. How warm it was. How safe and protected I felt.
Hank releases his son and looks at Niimi. “Not exactly what I had in mind, but thank you, Niimi.”
“You wanted your son to be strong,” she says. “That’s what you got.”
What are they talking about? Why is everyone acting like something huge just happened? I look over at the stuffed wolf, but it’s gone. There’s no trace of it.
“Where’d the wolf go?” I ask.
“Didn’t you see it run off?” Alex asks me.
“No. Of course not,” I say, frustrated that everyone is in on this except me.
Niimi walks up to Alex. He hugs her. “Raise this big guy well,” she says.
“I will,” he replies as he stares at his father with hopeful eyes.
“Let’s go home.” Hank takes his son’s hand, and they walk back to the truck.
I turn to Niimi. “What just happened?” I ask.
“A boy just became a man, and a man just became a dad.”
“And the wolf? You’re telling me they saw a real wolf?”
“They saw what they needed to see to bring them together. You saw what you wanted to see,” Niimi says. “Plus, killing wolves is illegal in Minnesota. I knew he wouldn’t listen to the law, so I found a better way to reach him.”
“Through his son? You tricked him.”
“Telling a father to pay closer attention to his son is not a trick. It’s an act of kindness.”
“Kindness? To who?”
“Well, for one, the wolf. And his son, and to him. Everybody wins when he puts down the gun.”
“And just like that, he’s no longer a hunter? Come on,” I say.
“No, Hank has a long road ahead of him. He’s been a hunter his whole life. He’s only been a nonhunter for about a minute. But the superhero in him is awake. Now they fight,” she says. “It’s up to him who wins.”
I am getting pretty tired of this silly superhero talk. It doesn’t take superpowers to tell someone killing animals is wrong. Why is everyone falling for this girl’s tricks?
“You guys coming?” Hank shouts back to us.
“No. We still got some work to do,” Niimi says back.
“We do?” I ask. “I need to get George’s bike.”
“Don’t worry about the bike. Hank knows where to put it.”
“Put it? Why are we not going back with them?” I ask.
“You thought you were the decoy to get me alone with Hank, but maybe they were the decoy the whole time. Maybe I just wanted to get you alone in the woods.”
I look around. I have no idea where we are, or even which direction is home. All I do know is that Niimi somehow planned this. She kept me from stealing and got me into the middle of the forest. And our ride just left. But why does she want me out here?
“No more games. How do we get home?” I ask, but she doesn’t answer me with words. Instead, her feet answer me. She starts walking.
CHAPTER 17
LOST IN THE TREES
After a lot of walking, I notice that everywhere we’ve been looks exactly the same. “Do you even know where you’re going?” I finally ask Niimi.
“Forward. Always forward. Never backward, Benny.”
“Yeah. So … in other words, we’re lost?” I ask.
“It appears that way. Doesn’t this tree look exactly like the tree we walked by twenty minutes ago?” she asks.
I’m a city kid. I can do sketchy neighborhoods and dark alleys, but I feel totally out of my element in forests. And I hate feeling out of my element. Especially when there are wild animals around.
“Niimi! It’s going to get dark soon!”
She laughs. “If only…”
“If only what?” I snap back.
She gives me the side-eye. “If only … we had a way of knowing which direction we were going.”
My stomach tightens. That’s impossible. I made sure no one was looking. Especially her. She was in the front seat. How could she possibly know I took it? Unless … “Holy crap! You totally set me up!” I shout.
“Set you up? Did I plant it in your backpack?” she asks.
“No. But you knew I’d take it,” I say.
“No one knew you would take it, except you,” she says.
“You walked me right into this trap. I should have never come to Grand Portage!”
“Your father said the same thing, many times, until the day he said coming here was the best thing he’s ever done.”
“Stop it! I’m not my dad. I’m nothing like him. And you know nothing about me, so just shut up and show me the way out of this stupid forest!” I shout even louder.
She thinks her blooming stuff is going to work on me. Well, it won’t. If she wants to get personal, then I can too …
“Forget my dad,” I say. “I want to talk about why you wear that mask.”
Her eyes turn wild. “Why did you take the compass?” she asks through her teeth.
“You tell me. You pretend to know all the answers. Or do I have to pay you first?”
She growls. “Tell me why you took the compass!”
“What does it matter?”
“Because everything we do matters. What we choose to do determines who we choose to be. Why did you take the compass?” she repeats.
“Because I’m a thief! That’s all I am. Without stealing, I am nothing!” I shout so loud that it sends birds launching out of the trees and taking to the sky. “You satisfied?” I ask her. “Forget it. Here’s your damn compass!” I say, and pull it out of my bag. I hold it out to her, but her hands stay at her waist.
“You stole it. It’s yours now,” she says. “Isn’t that how it works?”
“I was just gonna sell it when I left this place. But if you need it to get us out of here, then take it!”
“I don’t need it. I know exactly where we are,” she says, and walks off.
Another test? I’m so sick of this. “Oh, so you just lied this entire time about being lost? Just like how you lie about everything else. You trick them all into believing they can be superheroes. But I bet Lulu is still afraid to sing. Hank will still want to kill animals. Alex still won’t like his dad. People don’t bloom! What you sold them is a lie. And that makes you not a superhero, but a villain,” I shout as she walks, but … She stops, turns around, and approaches me.
Her eyes look aflame. “People do bloom. But you have to be brave enough to do it. Like your dad. Believe it or not, he’s a changed man. The only one refusing to learn from their mistakes is you,” she says.
“At least I’m not the one hiding my face from the world. I mean, are you ever gonna take off that ridiculous mask? Shouldn’t you have grown out of playing that silly superhero game by now? What are you, five?”
“You want to see my superpower, Benny?”
“You have none,” I say. “Superheroes are something only losers believe in because it distracts them from the truth. And the truth is, life sucks. They look for someone else to solve their problems, but news flash, Niimi, we are walking, talking skin bags full of blood, bones, and problems. At least I’m brave enough to admit that.”
“You are many things, but brave is not one of them,” she says, and shoves me in the chest.
“At least I’m not afraid to show my face,” I say.
“Sure, you are. You just mask it in other ways.”
“Is that your superpower? Just saying catchy little bumper sticker phrases all the time?”
“No, this is my superpower,” she says, and CRACK!
Niimi lands a crisp left cross. It hits me in the freakin’ exact spot George and Lulu hit me in. My nose stings. My knees buckle. I fall back, and my head slams onto the ground.
Lights out.
* * *
“Wake up, Benny Bear.”
Seconds pass. Maybe minutes. I have no idea. I open my eyes, and my vision immediately blurs. Did she seriously just hit me? I jolt from the thunder that loudly cracks above my head and rolls across the sky. Oh, no. Where there’s thunder comes rain. Niimi steps forward and stands over me. She removes her mask, but my vision is too blurry to make out her face. “Niimi? Is that you?” I ask, trying to clear my eyes by rubbing them.
