This is the continued story of Simon’s Journal.
I would highly recommend you read the first volume of this story,

Simon’s Journal Thirteen Days – The First Crusade
before you begin this novel.

 

The following narrative is nearly a complete work of fiction.
Any similarity to actual individuals living or dead is completely unintentional.
If reading a coming of age story about boys wearing diapers and exploring

their awakening sexuality is offensive or illegal in your area, then might I suggest

you go read War and Peace or something equally stimulating.

 

 

Simon's Journal

Volume II

 

 

Thirteen Nights – After the Crusade

 

 

Written by

Danny
Author of Thirteen Days

 

 



 

Chapter - 8

PART 5 – Sunday, March 07, 2004 – Bump in the Night, Continued

 

For the last competition there were twenty four of us that had made it and I was so thankful that we were allowed to bring one adult backstage with us because I was so nervous that I couldn’t even talk and I felt like I was going to have a breathing attack at any second. Actually, I wasn’t the only one backstage that was so very nervous because when I went to the bathroom to go pee there were at least a dozen nervous boys in there waiting in line to pee too.

 

Mom and dad had stayed out front while Molly had escorted me to the back. As luck would have it, they had us perform by high scorer first and since I had the lowest score out of all twenty-four of us by two and three-quarters points, I had to go last. This meant Molly and I had to stand backstage for over an hour while we watched each kid perform. We each were given exactly three minutes to show our stuff while the panel of eight judges scored us on a multitude of categories.

 

After the first five had finished I was feeling like I didn’t belong with such fantastic champions. After the fifteenth I was ready to throw in the towel and go home. While the boy that was a head of me was out there something happened that breathed new life into me.

 

The International Junior Yo-Yo Champion, Sherry Yimmerman walked up behind me, tapped me on my shoulder. Someone had told me that after winning the competition last year she had apparently decided not to compete again this year but instead had come to support everyone else. So when she tapped my shoulder I was both surprised and not surprised. I had seen here a couple times throughout the day but never imagined I would ever get to talk with her. I only turned partially around because Molly had a hold of my right hand and was massaging my fingers. Her voice didn’t seem to match her appearance; she sounded younger, much younger and I think it at first distracted me from what she said next because it wasn’t until she left that her words reached my brain. She had said, “I have been watching you and I think you are good enough to win today.”

 

That’s it; that is all she said to me, and she had said it soft enough that none around me heard her but it was plenty strong enough for me. As a matter of fact, it pumped me up so much that when they called my name and number I ran out onto the stage determined to win and nearly fell over my own two feet in the process.

 

While I was performing on stage, something unexpected happened to me during those three minutes. I honestly do not remember anything that happened after the spotlight hit me, I mean as far as my performance that is. Had Molly not told me about my performance afterward I’d probably never have known; really all I can recall is thinking about the fact that I only had three minutes which lead me to thinking about the number three. This then sent my mind off on the wildest thought process and I found myself thinking about stuff that I didn’t even know I knew about. Here’s how it went . . .

 

“Three minutes—three minutes—three—three—three. In school I remember learning that it is possible to go three weeks without food and still live. And there was this one guy, I think his name was Gandhi, he went longer, but he cheated by drinking orange juice. I also remember learning that in a pleasant climate I could go three days without water, but less in hot weather? But what I really found amazing from that lesson was that it is possible to go a full three-minutes submerged under water without any air but any longer and I would drown. When I asked what would happen if I were to stay under longer but didn’t die-drowning and my teacher had said that if I happen to survive I would probably wish I had drowned because I might have brain damage. So I guess the order of importance to my existence is oxygen first, then water and last food.

 

It wasn’t until I was backstage again that I came back to my senses. Actually it took Molly shaking and hugging the stuffing out of me to bring me around.

 

“Molly I can’t breathe!” I managed to eek out despite her bear hugs.

 

“Oh Simon you did better then I could have ever hoped!” Molly said squatting down in front of me and wiping a tear away that had managed to leak from her left eye and was racing down her wrinkled face.

 

Earlier in the day I had given her my jacket and she had stuffed it into a big canvas hand bag that she always carried with her. However she was pulling it back out at this moment which I thought was very odd given that I had sweat poring off me.

 

“You can hold it, I’m too hot!” I said pushing it back to her.

 

But she gave me that look that she always gives me when she is training me and I want to be goofy, so I stopped resisting. Instead of putting it onto me properly she wrapped it around my waist and using the sleeves she tied it to me.

 

I was about to ask why and did manage to get out the words, “Why you doing it like. . .” but she answered in a soft whisper, “Because you have a wet spot on the front of your pants. I didn’t want to say anything before because I was afraid you wouldn’t have gone on stage if you knew.”

 

“Y-y-you l-let m-m-me g-g-go o-out th-th-th. . .” I wasn’t able to finish what I was saying because I was stuttering so bad.

 

“No one was looking at your pants!” she said gruffly.

 

Apparently, when I had gone to the bathroom before my performance I must have cut off my stream of pee before I was finished. After tucking my tiny boy penis back into my underwear, I guess I didn’t realize that more pee had come out; enough to soak through my underwear and onto my pants leaving a wet spot for the entire world to see.

 

Though for maybe two seconds I thought I might start crying from embarrassment, I didn’t have time to get all worked up before all twenty four of us kids were marched out on stage and given our final scores. They started the ceremony with the lowest score first and proceeded until down to the three finalists.

 

I was sure I’d get one of the lowest scores given that I had not been able to pay attention while I performed but that turned out to not be the case. As each score was given, a ribbon was pinned to each kid’s shirt before being escorted off stage. A couple of the kids left crying and one girl got plane rude and had to be carried off kicking and screaming by her father; at least I think it was her father.

 

I don’t think I realized I was still standing on the stage until someone announce, “And here are our three finalists!” It was Svetlana Vonovich who had won the competition two years ago and was fourteen years old now. She was standing to my left and had a hold of my hand so tightly that had I not been so nervous it probably would have hurt. To my right was Matthew Bender who aside from the year Svetlana beat him had been champion since he was only eight years old, he is now twelve and has a huge following. I don’t really care for Matthew’s style; I mean he’s really good but he seems to be all about the lights and glamour more then anything else. Maybe that’s why he hasn’t been able to win the last two years. And then of course there was me, dwarfed by two older and taller past champions and a jacket tied around my waist to hide the wet spot on my pants. I think I have a small idea what it was like for David when he went up against Goliath and his brothers.

 

The lady that had been announcing all of the others then handed the microphone to Sherry Yimmerman, who I had not even seen walk onto the stage. The crowd was deafening as they cheered for her. When the roars and clapping finally calmed down again, she was handed a three by five card that the three of us found out contained our names and whether we took third, second or first place.

 

“The third place champion is . . .” Sherry said slowly allowing the anticipation to continue a few more seconds; she really was good at drawing out the suspense. “Svetlana Vonovich!”

 

The crowd exploded even louder then they had when Sherry had come out on stage. Svetlana looked both happy and sad that she’d not won but she took her trophy and waved as she exited the stage.

 

That just left Matthew Bender and me. My ears were buzzing so loud that I couldn’t hear anything else and it wasn’t until I saw Sherry hand Matthew the second place trophy that I realized I had won the competition.

 

Mom, dad and Molly rushed the stage, swept me into the air and were parading me high for everyone to see. It was an experience that changed me forever.

 

When I thought things couldn’t get anymore amazing the crowd again went quiet and the lady who had been doing the announcing before Sherry Yimmerman had come out again spoke.

 

“Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls today has been magical and I would like to thank someone special for donating this year’s First Place Tri-State Championship trophy.” She held up a golden yo-yo for all to see. The crowd again cheered.

 

The lady announcer then turned to where mom, dad, molly and I were standing and said in a booming voice, “The world famous, Fabulous Molly Holly!

 

The crowd was quiet for a moment and then the murmurings began which grew louder and louder until I thought my ears might implode from the roaring applause of the spectators. They screams, whistled and clapped for at least ten minutes before anyone could calm them down enough to be heard. It finally took Molly stepping up to the microphone to hush the elated crowd.

 

“Thank you so very much for your applause! I am deeply moved and honored to be remembered by so many,” she paused momentarily, “but today isn’t about me and my accomplishments. I had my time in the limelight. Today is Simon Leonard’s day!” Molly said stepped to one side and motioning toward me.

 

The crowd of on lookers again broke into cheers and applause. It was the most wonderful and scary feeling to have kids who I had competed against coming up to me and asking me to sign my name on their yo-yo’s. Molly said it was one of the prices of fame. They kept coming too, and for over an hour Molly and I stood side-by-side signing our autographs for everyone.

 

After winning the Tri-State competition Molly continued to train me and I continued to complete. Most of my friends had grown bored with watching me practice at recess every single day. Most afternoons I would be off all by myself on the playground happily practicing.

 

Eventually I convinced Molly to train me to do the Galaxies Revenge, using things like trees, telephone poles and a punching bag as a stand-in while I learned. It was a good thing too because on more occasions then I care to remember, I’d lost control of one or more of my yo-yo’s and left a notable gash in the bark of the trees and the wood of the poles. It took a long time for me to master the Galaxies Revenge and to be able to graduate to using a real person. Molly was my first assistant and after some convincing, Sean agreed to let me practice with him. Only once did I ever hit anyone and it was Sean; thankfully I only nipped his nose and didn’t do any permanent damage.

 

The day finally came when I decided that I was going to use the Galaxies Revenge. My parents had let me travel with Molly to the Minnesota Junior Finals which was a three day competition in which I had to complete a total of nine times. Molly and I had not come alone, Sean who had sort of become my good luck charm when I completed was there too. I think he liked it because it meant he got out of going to school.

 

At the Minnesota Junior Finals I had made it all the way to the final four and I was the last one to compete just as I had been in my very first competition. I needed at least eight points to win and though I could have earned those in my sleep, I had decided that on this particular day I was going to retire from competition and wanted to go out with a bang. I had already told Sean my intentions before entering the competitors ring for the final time; I had kept my intentions from Molly because I was afraid she wouldn’t try to stop me or something. Only a few days before leaving for the competition she was saying that I still wasn’t ready to attempt the Galaxies Revenge in competition but she didn’t know that I had been practicing it with Sean in my backyard for over a week.

 

I started out with the normal routine Molly had trained me for and that would have been enough for me to win but I wasn’t aiming to win, I was aiming to go out with style. All I had to do was glance Sean’s way and he knew it was time. He stepped into the center of the competitors ring; I could see Molly off to one side holding both hands up to her mouth. The crowd of watchers and judges all around us watched in astonishment as I added each yo-yo one by one until I was up to all six at once. Not a sound was made, not even a gasp, until I was finished and then as if someone had fired off a canon everyone began screaming and cheering.

 

The three judges walked into the center of the Competitors ring carrying the First Place trophy, “Ladies and gentlemen, it gives me great pride to announce Simon Leonard as our first place winner!” one of the judges said while handing me the trophy which was nearly half as tall as me.

 

Molly was still standing just outside the ring looking as proud as I’d ever seen her. The judge who’d given me the trophy asked if I wanted to say anything to the crowd of spectators and I sure did.

 

I handed the trophy to Sean as the judge held the microphone up to my chin. “I would like to take this opportunity to announce my retirement from competition!”

 

Molly looked shocked at my statement and the crowd gasped with surprise.

 

“I have accomplished everything I had set out to do, and now I want to go back to playing Kick ball with my friends!” I said calmly.

 

After the crowds of kids began to disburse from around me and with Sean off with some other boys for a few minutes enjoying his own measure of fame from having survived the Galaxies Revenge, Molly sat herself down next to me and was stroking the first place trophy with a single finger.

 

“I suppose you are pretty mad at me huh?” I said looking down at my shoes.

 

“Mad? I could never be mad at you! Oh sure I might yell at you a lot when we are training but . . .” she said and I jumped in before she could finish. “I knew that you never meant it.”

 

“You know something?” She asked and I looked up at her waiting for her to continue, “I think what you did today was probably the smartest thing you could do. Maybe if I had been as smart as you, I wouldn’t be so old and alone today.”

 

“You are not alone!” I said looking right into her eyes, “You got me and I will still come visit, I mean if you will let me.”

 

And I did go see her after that; we would talk, play with our yo-yo’s just for the fun of it and have a good visit each and every time. However, I saw less and less of Molly over the next few weeks though I was always sure to stop by every so often just to visit with her until the day came when I had come to visit and found her house completely empty. There was an envelope taped to the front door with my name on it.

 

I opened and read it,

 

 

 

 

My dearest Simon,

 

Words cannot express the joy you brought back into my life. You gave me something that I never knew I had lost; something I didn’t know I was missng until you came beating on my door that day. These past few months have reminded me how much I used to enjoy life and so I have decided that instead of spending what time I have left sitting in this stuffy old house, I am going to travel the world once again!

 

Don’t be sad, rejoice with me and remember the dreams that together we made come true. Remember that the best is yet to be Simon; so do it well and do it right.

 

I forever remain your biggest fan!

 

The Fabulous Molly Holly

 

 

                 

 

I was never to see Molly again but occasionally I still get postcards from different places around the world. The last post card I received came two days before school started this year; she said she was in Romania teaching children there how to yo-yo.

 

 

I was eventually brought out of my mental blast to the past when the headlights of a car flashed on me momentarily as the car pulled into the parking lot. It only took me a second to recognize it as Bull’s car and I don’t think I could have been happier to see anyone then I was just then.

 

Emerging from my hiding spot, I raced to his driver’s side window and he was the first to speak. “Sorry Spaz, I had a hard time sneaking out of the house tonight! So what’s up little man? You ready to do this or what?”

 

Apparently, I must have been trembling like a leaf from being so cold because when I tried to talk all that came out of my mouth was the sound of my teeth chattering. Bull, seeing my nearly frozen condition slammed the gear shifter into park, jumped out from behind the wheel and pushed me into the front seat. I suppose had I not been so cold I might have been concern with the idea that as I crawled across the seat to the passenger side I was showing my amply diapered but to Bull. As soon as I was out of his way he got back in and closed the driver’s side door.

 

“I’ll crank up the heat!” Bull said pushing the controls all the way to right for maximum warmth.

 

“Th-thanks!” I managed to say still with chattering teeth.

 

“Man it is good to see you Spaz!” Bull said giving my leg a squeeze.

 

“I-I d-didn’t th-think you w-w-were c-coming!” I said placing my hands directly over the air vent on the dashboard of his car.

 

“Sorry, but I had to push my car over a block from our house before starting it or my parents would have heard it for sure.” he said petting the steering wheel as if he were petting a dog.

 

“Oh!” I was all I said back.

 

“So you said you have a gang of friends?” Bull asked.

 

I looked over at him, “Did I say gang?” I asked him.

 

“Uh, I thought you did!” he said giving me a light backhand to my still frozen arm. “So downtown then?” he asked.

 

I nodded and he pressed the gas peddle to the floor which threw me back against the seat with the force of our sudden acceleration.

 

Bull stayed mainly to the back roads just incase his parents had found out he was gone and had called the cops. While he drove he told me that some judge said that he is not allowed to go anywhere without one of his parents being with him and he isn’t even supposed to be driving at all. Besides the fact that his parents took his car keys, the judge also suspended Bulls license before releasing him on a $10,000 cash bond and into his parents’ custody.

 

When he was finished I explained, in better detail, that I thought I knew where Mikey and Tater might be, in the barn BJ and I had found and how Runt had told me to stay away from it.

 

“So that’s what your email the other day was about?” Bull asked.

 

“Which?” I asked in return.

 

“The one where you said you thought Runt was in some barn or something like that.” He said as we drove past the Kemmel Tire Plant. I only knew what it was because I saw the sign all lit up on the side of the factory building.

 

I then told him everything I knew that related to Runt since that day I saw Runt after having been chanced by the man in the rusty minivan. I told him all about the man in the van too but I left out the part about the old man whose house I had hid out in that same day. That was when I remembered about the package yet again and tried to make a mental note to remember to check what it was the second I got home . . . “If I survive the night!”

 

I’d not realized I had said that last part out loud until Bull asked, “What was that?”

 

“Uh, nothing. Just thinking out loud.” I recovered quickly.

 

Now I have not known Bull for very long but even still, he seemed to be reacting, for the most part, the way I would expect him to act upon hearing these things and yet there was something that I just couldn’t put my finger on about him right at that moment.

 

When he pulled up to Jamie’s building downtown I was shocked and disappointed to only see Jamie standing there alone. He spotted me and ran for the car. I opened the passenger door and scooted myself closer to Bull to allow room for Jamie to sit up front with us.  As Jamie sat himself down next to me I heard the unmistakable sound of a diaper rustling and knew instantly that he was defying his mom and was still enjoying wearing diapers. Bull must have heard it too because his eyes were about to bug out of his skull. I couldn’t help wondering where he got his hands on diapers but almost as quickly as I had that thought another replaced it, “Probably snuck them out of the bag when I was staying with him.”

 

“Where is everyone?” I asked returning my attention to my brother while he pulled the passenger door closed.

 

“They gave up and went back up about twenty minutes ago.” Jamie said after blowing onto his blue fingers. “They were too scared anyway!” he complained before adding, “Ah it is so nice and warm in here!”

 

As if he’d only just saw Bull Jamie’s eyes widened and squealed, “Oh my gawd! Do you know who you are? Oh my gawd! You are John ‘The Brahma Bull’ Hawkins of the Panthers!”  I was so embarrassed for Bull to have Jamie gushing over him like that.

 

“Oh you are so amazing!” Jamie shouted and then squealed even louder, “How cool is this?”

 

I watched as Bull’s expression went from confusion to shear delight but I was just plain annoyed. “Would you please shut up?” I growled at Jamie and then directed my words to Bull, “Bull, this is my brother Jamie!”

 

“Sup J-man?” Bull said to Jamie, who was smiling like some scatterbrained little school girl.

 

“So what took you guys so long anyway?” Jamie asked while elbowing me in the arm.

 

“Sorry J-man! It’s not a pretty scene ‘round my place these days.” Bull said and I felt a twinge of gilt stir within my gut.

 

Bull drove while I again explained what I had in mind so that they were both clear on the idea. “We go in, find Tater and his little brother Mikey and then get the heck out of there!”

 

“What do we do if someone hears or sees us?” Jamie asked.

 

“We just have to make sure we are not seen or heard!” Bull answered for me.

 

Seeing how the front entrance to the sports park is always blocked off by a gate after dark, the three of us decided that it would be smarter for us to go back to the corner store and leave Bull’s car parked behind the store where it was not likely to be seen.

 

The three of us started for the park on foot with Bull leading the way, me taking up the rear position, which left Jamie in the middle and right in front of me so that I could check out the diaper bulge in the back of his pants while there was still light enough to do so from the street lamps. Now from the Corner Dairy store’s Parking lot, about a block away, there is another back entrance to the park that goes past the basketball courts, which is the path we chose to take. It served us in two ways, it got us off the streets so that we wouldn’t be seen or picked up for being out after dark and also it was much faster then going in the way I usually did!

 

I’m not sure why I didn’t get scared walking through the park after midnight. I guess having Bull and Jamie along gave me courage I otherwise wouldn’t have had.

 

From the basketball courts inside the sports park there is actually a shortcut that leads down to the running track but it isn’t exactly part of the normal paved paths that wind through the park; it’s actually just a dirt path that’s been made by so many people wanting to shave a couple minutes off there walking time. However, Bull didn’t want to go that way due to all the mud we’d have to trek through. He said we needed to stay on the paved path that took us past one of the two concession stands in the park. Of course the stand was closed and locked up during the winter but the water fountain that is mounted on the outside usually is still working most of the year. However, it wasn’t tonight and I figured it was either froze up or someone shut if off inside to keep the pipes from freezing. I probably didn’t need more to drink anyway. I could tell by the way I had to walk that my diaper was filling up fast which made me wonder about the condition of Jamie’s diaper as well.

 

We had made it to the main part of the park fairly quickly but stopped when we saw the silhouette of a car sitting in the middle of the parking lot. I knew that the park rangers closed the drive gates at dark and would normally chase any cars out so I figured this car must have been left here by someone.

 

“Maybe it’s broke down.” Jamie whispered just before letting go a very loud and very wet sounding fart.

 

Bull and I both just looked at him in complete disbelieve that he had actually done it. I was about to accuse him of trying to give us away but he spoke first, “Sorry but that happens when I get nervous!” He had directed his words to Bull rather then me since I already knew this fact about him.

 

In the dark I could barely see Bull smiling as he said, “We better not take any chances with that car down there.”

 

So, the three of us decided to take the long way around instead of cutting straight across the parking lot. The long way, oddly enough, was the running course and took us past the park entrance I normally use when coming from my own house.

 

One of the good things about staying on the running course is that it kept us from sinking into the muddy ground which was the main reason we’d not taken the short cut earlier. We discovered just how muddy the ground was when Bull accidentally stepped off the paved path onto the brown grass and sank up to his ankle in mud.

 

“Oh that’s disgusting! Like stepping on one of Jasper’s used diaper!” Bull commented and I’m not sure he even realized what he had said but Jamie and I sure knew. We were looking at each other and giggling while Bull was attempting to clean his shoe off with a stick he had pulled off one of the many trees around us.

 

While we waited for Bull to finish cleaning his shoe, I had time to notice and thought it kind of peculiar that on all the areas of the park normally covered in grass, the snow had melted but on the sand of the ball diamonds and volleyball courts, the snow was still unaffected by the recent warmer weather. I made a mental note to ask my science teach about that when I get back to school tomorrow.

 

When we finally reached the point that we had to leave the running course and head for the trees to get to the barn we stopped long enough for me to have second thoughts about what we was about to attempt. Not because I was scared and not because I was getting cold but because I knew from this point on we would be getting very, very muddy! Kind of stupid to think like that but it is what was going though my head just then.

 

As I took the first step into the mud and saw my shoe vanish in the mud I again heard Jamie rip another fart though this time it wasn’t as loud but it sure sounded like he was crapping his diaper. I stopped, turned my head to look at him; Bull had the flashlight shining on Jamie. “You just shit yourself?” Bull asked in a funny sort of voice that I’d never thought him capable of.

 

“NO! I just farted!” Jamie said.

 

Forgetting I had one foot already in the mud I started to walk without watching a head of me and went down in the mud face first. This little spectacle of mine caused Jamie and Bull to bust up laughing with fits of hysteria. I rolled myself onto my back and began laughing too. We were all three hushing at each other and trying not to laugh but it was just too funny.

 

Bull took two steps into the mud and helped me to my feet but Jamie wasn’t budding yet so I slogged over to him, took hold of his arm which caused him to exclaim, “Oh Simon you are getting mud all over me!”

 

“Ssshhhhh!” Bull hushed at him.

 

I gave him a tug and he took only one step and fell forward onto his hands and knees. This got Bull and I laughing all over again.

 

The drudgery to the barn was as bad as we had all expected it to be and all three of us were covered in cold caked on mud. Now I am sure that if anyone had been looking out of the barn as we emerged from the trees, they would probably have thought we were some kind of mud monsters out roaming the woods for fresh brains to dine on. Jamie, despite his own appearance, seemed to get a kick out of seeing Bull and I covered head to toe in mud and kept breaking into fits of quiet giggles until I punched him right in the stomach to shut him up.

 

Since I was the only one that knew about the little arched doorway inside the barn, I lead the way in. We found the door closed and with Bulls awesome strength he was able to open it despite the fact that it had been nailed closed again but only with two nails this time.

 

I was never so glad to have brought the flashlight then when we started in through the door. Outside we had some light from the moon and stars to see by but inside the barn it was completely and utterly dark except where the flashlight was aimed.

 

The spot where the ceiling sloped down and the floor ended turned out to be a very steep set of wooden stairs that seemed to go down forever with the occasional jog to the left and right. We also quickly figures out that these stairs were not built to normal standards as even Bull had to watch his footing or risk falling down into the darkness.

 

Bull said something that at the time I’d not got the full jest of but now that I am writing about it, I can’t believe I missed it. “Seems like we must have gone nearly halfway by now.”

 

I think it was all the cobwebs and dead rat skeletons on the steps that was weirding me out which caused me to miss that obvious clue.

 

Since I had the flashlight and was leading the way with Bull right behind me that left Jamie at the back of our procession pretty much in the dark. For safety sake Bull was holding my free hand and Jamie was holding tightly to Bulls other hand. Jamie was silent as we descended stairs and a few times I stopped just to check that he was still with us.

 

We reached a level section in the ever declining corridor where to our left the stairs continued downward while straight a head of us was a level corridor that was low enough that Jamie and I could barely stand upright but Bull would have had to almost crawl through.

 

I shined the light on Jamie who looked like he was in considerable pain, “What’s the matter?” I whispered to him.

 

“I think I need to . . .” his words trailed off at the end so that I couldn’t hear what he said.

 

“You got on a diaper, so use it!” Bull whispered in a rather matter-of-fact sort of tone.

 

Jamie looked up at Bull with loathing written all over his strained face. I think he was also taken back that Bull had put words to what we all already knew. I took a shallow breath before adding, “If you can’t hold it, then just go so we can continue!”

 

“No, I can hold it!” Jamie said with a grimace.

 

Without another word uttered by any of us we stopped and listened. Down the stairs we could hear faint unrecognizable sounds where as down the corridor we heard absolutely nothing. With a simple shrug from me, Bull took the flashlight and continued down the stairs with Jamie next and me now taking up the butt-end position in our ill performing conga line.

 

The further we descended the louder the sounds got until finally we reached the bottom of the stair case. We were standing inside a small darkened area that opened up to a humungous cavern. It was the first time I realized that the air I was breathing was so moist and warm.

 

As if he were invisible and with no signal to Jamie or I, Bull stepped out of hiding and into the open while Jamie and I stayed cowering in the shadows. We could see what must have been twenty or more children all about Jamie and my age with the exception of one or two slightly taller boys. Each of them were dressed in the same drab gray coats as I’d seen Runt wearing but none of them appeared to not be wearing any pants because there legs were bear and exposed from about mid-thigh down to their sandal covered feet. Each and ever one of them looked to be rather frantic as they scurried about carrying boxes out of the cavern room and down another large corridor.

 

“Bull!” I tried to whisper for him to duck down before he was seen but instead he took off at a fast walk and just that quickly he was gone leaving Jamie and I scared and alone. What was worse is that he took the flashlight I had brought from home so going back up the stairs would be ever so much harder should we chose to retreat at this point.

 

“What do we do now?” Jamie whispered into my ear and sounding almost hysterical with fear.

 

I was about to say, “Let’s go back!” when Runt stepped around the corner and grabbed us both.

 

He had a hold of the back of Jamie’s neck and had me in a headlock that made me feel as though my head might just pop like a zit if Runt squeezed anymore.

 

“Hey! Looky here what I found!” Runt shouted across the room.

 

The biggest and ugliest man I had ever seen in my life made his way over to where Runt was holding us. Jamie was still thrashing about in a vain attempt to escape but I knew he was just wasting his efforts.

 

The giant of a man grabbed Jamie by the leg and hoisted him upside down into the air. Though he was crying Jamie was still able to articulate his thoughts with very colorful words, “Let me down you over grown jackass!”

 

Unfortunately for Jamie, hanging upside down allowed several inches of the disposable diaper he was wearing to show and I guess he must have lost control of his bowels because crap was spilling out the back waistband of his diaper and plopping to the cavern floor beneath us.

 

The giant of a man spoke in a low menacing voice that seemed to reverberate off the cavern walls, “'Ey, loogy ‘ere!” he held Jamie even higher for the other’s on the other side of the room to see, “E’s sheet ‘emself 'n e’s gots un a nappy!”

 

“Oloph, put him down!” came a familiar voice but with Runt squeezing my head so hard I was having a hard time making my brain work. “Gently!”

 

“Na, O' dun’t ‘ink ‘o!” Oloph grunted.

 

“Let him go now!” another voice said and I recognized it as Bull’s.

 

Oloph obeyed Bull’s command and thankfully Runt released his vise like grip on my head. However, when he did, I fell backward right into an awaiting wooden chair.

 

“Oh, dat’s a gude ‘ace fer ya!” Oloph said dropping Jamie on his head and into the mess that had fallen out of his diaper.

 

“What the hell are you doing here?” Runt said to Bull.

 

“Where’s Madam M?” Bull asked ignoring Runt’s question.

 

“She’s not here! We have to get out of here tonight, someone tip off the cops about this place!” Runt said swinging his hand through the air drawing our attention to the multitude of boys still working as hard as ever like nothing had transpired.

 

“Son of a . . .!” Bull started to curse.

 

“I supposed you brought these little shits here too?” Runt said and Jamie, who was getting to his feet had to duck to keep from being hit by Runt.

 

Jamie was holding the spot on his head where he had hit the stone floor when Oloph had dropped him.

 

“I didn’t have much choice!” Bull said through clenched teeth.

 

“Bull?” I said in disbelief.

 

Oloph backhanded me so hard that both me and the wooden chair toppled over backward. Despite my plastic armor beneath my coat, the blow hurt enough to knock the wind out of me and I think I might have blacked out for a moment or two. When I finally was able to catch my breath and regain my faculties I saw Oloph laying face down on the floor of the cavern with a sizable pool of blood under him. I was still lying on the floor clutching at my aching chest. Jamie, Bull and Runt were no where to be seen and Mr. Segal was leaning over me.

 

“You alright?” Mr. Segal asked.

 

“You?” I said pushing him away and attempting to get to my feet.

 

My chest was screaming with pain but adrenaline began to course through my young vanes giving me the strength I needed to get out of his reach. I was still on one knee when I saw the gun in Mr. Segal’s hand.

 

“It’s alright; I followed you here!” he said trying to reach out for me but I managed to move away from his grasp.

 

“Simon there isn’t time for this, we’ve got to get you out of here now!” Mr. Segal said holding out a police badge to reassure me that he was here to help.

 

“He’s not going anywhere with you!” a voice I recognized instantly as that of my Black Amazonian Guardian!

 

Mr. Segal flushed white as a diaper as he slowly turned and stood back up to see Officer Mecums standing behind him holding a shotgun to his head.

 

Everything that happened next seemed to happen so fast that I still have a hard time getting it all straight in my mind.

 

“Well Detective Thomas Segal!” Officer Mecums said derisively, “I had a feeling you might show up here tonight.”

 

“You’re making a big mistake!” Segal tried to tell her.

 

Officer Mecums started to say, “Oh don’t even try anything with me or I . . .” but Segal lunged at her. A second later I felt someone grabbing my coat. I looked around to see that is was Tater who’d taken hold of me.

 

“Come on we got to get you out of here!” Tater said with a tug.

 

“W-wait I’m h-here to save y-you!” I said trying to get my feet to keep up with the rest of my body.

 

We crossed the great cavernous room which was now devoid of any of the children I had seen when we first arrived at the bottom of the stairs. We rounded a corner only to come face to face with Bull. For half a second I started to panic but then I saw Mikey and two other boys I didn’t know standing looking horrified.

 

Bull reached out his hand, “Take them out of here!” he said while handing his car keys to Mike. “Simon knows where my car is.”

 

I looked up at Tater who looked like he was about to cry, he also looked thin in the face and was covered in bruises and partially dried blood. “I told you this would go bad!” Tater said to Bull.

 

“Yeah you did!” Bull said looking down at his leg.

 

I was taken off guard by the fact that Bull was no longer wearing his pants and was standing there wearing a blood drenched diaper. He pulled open his coat to reveal a humongous gash in his side. He pulled a gun from his coat pocket and said, “Get them the fuck out of here, I’ll try to find Jamie!”

 

I started to reach for Bull but Tater grabbed me and pulled me away. I didn’t have time to react or even think about what had happened until we stopped at the edge of what appeared to be a foul smelling underground stream.

 

“Go!” Tater grunted as he pushed all of us into the water. We continued in waist deep water that smelled like rotting eggs for about ten minutes before emerging on the far side of the park over by where they have the Independence Day carnival every summer.

 

I was so cold that I couldn’t feel anything below my neck and when I climbed up the concrete encased bank to the small wooden walk bridge I could hardly move. Tater made us all strip naked saying, “If we don’t get out of these wet things we’ll die for sure!”

 

The two boy’s that had escaped along with us, who I would later learned had been two of the boy’s that had been kidnapped locally, were named Billy and Brian and they were brothers. Without any hesitations or complaint they both stripped off their wet grey clothes until they were standing there in the night air cold, shivering and completely nude.

 

I on the other hand was feeling apprehensive as I was wearing a diaper but when I saw Mikey and Tater were nearly naked I swallowed my pride and stripped.

 

Had anyone been in the park then they would probably have gotten an eye full and more then likely would have fallen over laughing to see four completely naked and frozen kids running through the park while followed closely behind by what would have appeared to be a naked adult man.

 

Thankfully we make it to Bulls car without being spotted. The five of us pilled in, Tater, Mike in the front seat with Billy, Brian and me in the backseat, and we sat shivering until the car warmed up enough to begin blowing out some warm air. No one spoke, no one moved. The only sounds were that of our teeth chattering from being so cold.

 

Oddly enough it wasn’t until Tater started driving that Brian started to cry which got Billy and Mikey going. Tater wasn’t crying but he also looked like he had gone over the deep end and might never return. He sat looking out the front windshield of the car while rocking back and forth and driving.

 

“Where am I going?” Tater asking but the way he said it made me wonder if he was asking one of us or just thinking out loud.

 

I decided to answer anyway, “We have to go back for my brother!”

 

“We can’t go back!” Tater said dismissively.

 

“We have to!” I screamed at him from the back seat.

 

We were already on the far side of the park and I’m not sure where Tater though we were going. All of a sudden out of no where Tater, Mikey and I all saw Jamie come running out from behind a house and right in front of us. I never saw the tree we hit when Tater swerved to miss Jamie but I do remember hearing the squealing of our tires and the crunch of metal as all five of us were thrown around inside the car.

 

 

Next Installment:

Chapter 9 - Monday, March 08, 2004 – Scratchy, Heavy and Smelly

 

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