Chapter 8: How Are Babies Made?

    I close the door to my grandmothers room and let her do her knitting, my trembling fingers let go of the door knob. As I continue to shake I grasp my hands together to stop it, I look over at Rose who seems to be examining the house. I look back at the door, I can still hear the mumbling of my grandmother. I shut my eyes I try and imagine something peaceful to get me through the night. The sound of the ocean maybe, but no wait that doesn't make sense because I've only heard the ocean through a seashell. The sound of rain on the rooftop, that's sound was the best I can think of to calm myself.
    When I open my eyes Rose has left my side to look at more of the house, I go back to the kitchen and sit down at the table. I pick up the salt shaker and feel the motion of the salt shifting inside go through my fingertips. My other hand starts to shake again, the temperature in this house is well below freezing or at least it seems to be. I tighten my hand into a fist but my fist still shakes, I pound it on the table causing it to stop. I have a fever I was in the cold to long maybe that's the reason it seemed so cold.
    I place the salt shaker back down as I get up and search the house for a blanket, I pass the stairs when I hear noises of movement. Rose must have made her way up stair, what could she be doing? Is she looking for something? While coming back to reality I find that I have taken myself to the houses study. Not that I am surprised I have had many different memories in this room. Like any other memories in my house or this one there are good and bad. The bad memories are the ones that seem to stick out more, they appear to be the ones easier to remember.
     My mind drift off into the memories I've had in this room, I was seventeen maybe and I had just gotten home from school. Mom and Dad were having sex and they told us that to my sister and I when we tried to go home before coming to grandmothers. Since I was seventeen it wasn't terrible for me to hear, but Susan was eight and she had been scared by the noises she heard before I could get her out. "Is daddy hurting mommy?" She asked me as I shook my head and didn't speak until we got here.
    "How are babies made?" Susan asked as the question had shocked me I had expected that to come from a little girls mouth.
    "You don't need to know that." I look out the window of the study as my sister looked at me with her cut little angry face.
    "I wanna know Johnny, I wanna know." She said that over and over again until I smiled and gave into her pleads.
    "Ok, you wanna know how a baby is made fine." I think for a second on how to put this to where she will understand. "When a husband and wife love each other very much." I say to start it off as she opens her mouth and interrupts.
    "But mommy and daddy don't seem to love each other, they are always fighting unless they are making weird noises from their room." I shook my head at what she had just said thinking about how disappointed I was in my parents.
    "Not the point, Back on the story ok?" Susan nodded her head as I get ready to continue the story. "Now when they love each other, they go and find a seed and they put the seed right there." I pointed to Susan's belly button, her eye's widened as she freaked out and protected her belly button by putting both hands over it.
    "Nobody is gonna put a seed in me no way." I laughed at her reaction, The door of the study burst open causing me and Susan to both jump as my father appears in the door way.
    "Don't you ever interrupt your mother and I like that again." My mind was boggled by the stupidity of my father. I hold up my hand stopping him from saying anything else.
    "Interrupt you, school was done and I picked up Susan from the Turners we came home the same time we usually do." I turned my back to my father and tell Susan to go outside and play. As she tried to get past him my father he blocked her way out.
    "This is for both of you, don't do it again." I hear a slap and turn to see Susan on the ground crying.
    "WHAT THE F**K IS WRONG WITH YOU." I yelled as I pick up Susan and take her to the other side of the room.
    "Don't yell at me whatever happen to respecting your elders." I laughed at the fact that he was serious.
    "Give me something to respect, because right now all you are to me is a mean and sad old man that's headed straight for hell." He swung his fist to hit me as I caught his arm and shoved him back out of the room and shut the door again. I turned and put my finger to my lips to motion to Susan to be quiet. I picked up on of the heavier books from the desk when I heard the sound of the door kicked in. I watched his shadow as it creeps up on me.
    When I decided he was close enough I swung the book uppercutting his jaw causing him to stagger backwards. I rushed towards him and swung the book one more time which sent him to the ground. I threw the book on his stomach which knocked the air out of his lungs. My breath was heavy from the adrenaline rush, but when I heard the crying of Susan I turned back to my calm self. I tried to comfort her but she wouldn't stop crying that night.
When I come back to reality I realize I have made my way into the chair by the desk spinning around in it. Rose was standing in the door way how long she had been there I had no idea. I stopped spinning as the room did not share the same decision as me I shake my head to try and focus. "Did you find anything upstairs." I ask her as she looks at me confused.
"I haven't been upstairs yet." My eyes widen as I rush to the stair case with Rose following me. I hear the sound of tapping over and over again almost in rhythm.
I look at Rose who also seems a bit freaked out also. "Whats making that sound then?" We look at each other as we both take one step at a time, once we reach the top I notice that the sound is coming from the room that Susan used to sleep in. The door is closed and as we make out way towards it the tapping sound seems to get louder with music going along with it.
    I wrap my hand around the doorknob and quickly open it, within seconds of being in the room I notice on Susan's nightstand was my grandmothers old music box. I walk over to it as Rose enters the room behind me. The music box had a ballerina that spun inside of it, the box has aged for many years. The spinning of the ballerina is followed by the clicking noise every time she goes around. I put my hand on the lid of the music box and shut it gently. The door to the room almost at the same times slams shut causing Rose to scream and me to jump.
    Rose runs over to the door and tries to open it with all her strength but the door is locked from the outside somehow, even though there is no lock out there. "We're stuck in the room." She says with fear in her eye's.

Reviews

[.quan.011.]

ugh! Parents having sex around the kids. That part i did not need to know. Otherwise another gripping chapter. Just can't get that image out of my head. So thank you.

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[Shep]

Very nice and gripping. You have touched one my rules what no to do. Fill a page of words without breaks. It looks like a sea of words. We all need air even though thought is not air. The mind still needs to breathe. Doing so will make errors easier to find and readers wanting to read it,instead of saying" this look like a mess, so long next story. Moving on

[Julie Beth]

"Rose must have made her way up stair, what could she be doing?"- Rose must have made her way upstairs; what could she be doing?

I think that you should have some sort of separator for when he things of something in that past, maybe change the font? It's up to you, your style so you don't have to listen to me. I can't get over how abusive his father is. It's sick of him to hit his kids, espically his eight year old daughter.
You ended this chapter on a great cliff hanger. It makes me want to not even review and just keep reading, but i wanted to leave a review so. This is so good, I'm getting addicted to this. Amazing chapter, reading on :D


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[Arianna]

YEAY! i really liked the end.
inconsistency - you said he was 15 and then that he was 17 all in the same paragraph.
and during the salt part you were telling again. gosh i sound like a broken record. but the rest of it was good:) i really liked the memory. diolouge is defenetly one of your strong points and i think you should have more of it because its defenetly what your best at, at least by ways of this book.
anyway i thought it was great! :)

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[Coyote Poetry]

A very good chapter. I like the memories of sister in the chapter. I like how he answer the question about babies. I like how you ended the chapter. No weakness in this excellent chapter.
Coyote