Age 5
Considering the circumstances it is understandable why he is rather upset with his family. Asher watched gloomily in his chair at the dining table as his parents quickly rushed back and forth listing off the miscellaneous items they should bring with them on the trip. It was Cain’s birthday this week and they planned a whole week of fun with him. It was summer so school is out and Cain will be turning eight thus a big celebration would be held for him. They spoke of it as both a reward for his good grades, behavior, and what made the day so special. Everyone’s morales were high and the excitement of the trip bounced off the walls. Even Asher was ecstatic going to a park, that is until he found out he wasn’t going at all. Hence, he’s gloomy.
He stirred the cereal in the bowl around, watching the small bits of food bob and sway in the milk. The way they dipped under the white surface and came up, their bread-like skin a shade darker and denser with liquid. He wondered why the slight change in color as well as the reason they just sucked up the milk. Sure, like a sponge, but then why does a sponge do it? It doesn’t answer the question and only leads to another, a frustration he’s learned through experience with his parents.
He wasn’t paying attention to the frantic voices and pacings of his parents and the quick excitable rantings of his brother as he listed what he couldn’t wait to do at the park. He didn’t want to hear the items they were going to use on the trip he wasn’t going on and he most certainly didn’t want to hear all the fun he was going to miss out on. He spooned out some of his food and plopped it into his mouth, sending his brother a rather dejected look. Didn’t Cain get he wasn’t interested in what Cain was going to do at the park? It’s not like he was going to see him do it anyway.
“I heard they built a new rollercoaster too! I want to try that one! They say it’s faster than a car! How fast do you think that is?!” He turned to his younger brother, his eager face smiling in overwhelming joy.
Asher only tilted his head toward him, lopsidedly deadpanning back as he bounced his spoon off the tops of the exposed food in his bowl sending them down into the white fluid below. This was one of the few times he could take off his mask so his brother had a full view of his unamused face. The only thing that remained on his face were the sunglasses. He didn’t know how anyone in the house could stand the light, it hurt his eyes.
Cain didn’t seem to understand what that face meant though, “That must be over a hundred! I can’t even think of anything that fast!”
“A hundred what?” Asher didn’t even blink as he shoved another spoonful into his mouth. Though his mood was by no means improved, his intrigue was piqued at such a random number.
Cain looked confused, turning to look at his brother as if he were the one who didn’t make sense. “How fast the car moves.”
“…that’s just a number, not a speed.” He responded heatedly. It wasn’t a complicated question, why did Cain have to make things so complicated? You can’t spout out a random number and expect it to make sense. That’s common knowledge.
Cain opened his mouth to retort, his brows nestling down in irritation, but their mother’s voice drowned out the words before they could fly off the tongue, “Is the babysitter here yet?”
Dad turned to look out the window and nodded, “Yep, looks like she’s here.”
Mom sighed, her hand flying to her head, “Finally, She was supposed to be here almost an hour ago.”
Asher turned to Cain rather confused, “Baby sitter? Someone who sits on baby?”
Cain shrugged and turned toward the door as the doorbell sang its merry tune. No longer interested in his breakfast, Asher leaned forward to get a better view. Their father swung open the door and a teen girl bowed her head, “I’m so sorry about that sir. I was busy working on chores at my house I didn’t notice the time.” Her frantic voice so eager to quell any rage that may come at her from the eldest man in the house.
Shaking his head he stepped aside to let her in, “Not at all. It’s understandable. Come on in, my wife can show you the house.”
Mom walked over and waved her in, “Hello, you must be Vallery.”
“That’ll be me.” The teen curtsied slightly while pointing at herself with both hands, a smile adorning her face. Asher looked back at his brother one more time for confirmation that this wasn’t some delusion. Cain didn’t look any more certain than he thought. “I know my late arrival looks rather bad, but I can assure you I will take great care of your child.”
Then it clicked, “I’m not a baby!” Asher yelled. He figured it out, she was here to take care of him. Not only are his parents going to leave him, now suddenly he’s got some strange girl having to cater to him like he was some toddler. He was, but he wanted to prove he could be reliable, independent. He learned how to use the toilet faster than his brother for Pete’s sake. Didn’t that mean anything?
Vallery turned, startled at the outburst. Mother only frowned in disapproval at the younger boy, “Asher, don’t be rude. She’s here to help make sure you stay healthy.”
“But my mask.” He snatched it off the edge of the table and dangled it in front of him. Is this thing that important if someone else had to ensure his health.
His father sighed and crossed his arms, looking ready to snap at him, but Mother nodded, “That will protect you, but if anything were to happen we need someone to be here. Come on Vallery, I’ll show you the house.” She turned and waved for the teen to follow. The girl quickly followed.
Asher turned to his dad, “But dad!”
Father shot up his hand, silencing him, “I don’t want to hear it, Asher. You can’t come with us and we can’t leave you alone.”
“Then why can’t one of you sta-?”
“That wouldn’t be fair to Cain. It’s his birthday, and he deserves to have both of his parents with him. That’s what he should expect for his birthday, just as that is what you’d expect for yours.”
The words died in his mouth. This was most certainly unfair for him, but he couldn’t explain it, the concept just felt like it should be obvious, not something he would have to explain. Yet here he is, trying to voice his thoughts unsuccessfully. It was times like these he hated his brain. He couldn’t think properly. Why was it something that needs no explanation but had to be justified something he couldn’t explain? It’s not possible, so thus it’s his brain’s fault.
He turned away from his father, tossing his mask back on the table, and continued stabbing his milk, his focus fogging up taking him away from the room. He imagined the specs of food floating there were mere bubbles for him to pop with vigor. He lost his appetite, the food being nothing more than entertainment now. The spoon pushing the food down and then it pops back up once released.
Asher paused, gently he pushed the small piece down again. He didn’t lift the spoon yet it popped back up next to it. He sat up, pinching his nose and dragging his fingers off the tip with a sniff. He cleared his throat and used his finger this time. He felt the cold rush of the liquid wrap itself around his finger, the bread his finger was on staying still till it was pressed to the bottom. He held it there firmly, counting the seconds in his head before releasing it around ten seconds. It popped back up almost the same time as his finger.
Humming to himself he pinched the small piece and pulled it out, inspecting it closely. Why was it just floating like that? He thought if he could force it to the bottom and keep it there he would convince it to stay. If that’s not the case then it’s something else that forces it up. He bounced it up and down in his palm. It is light, very light it didn’t even wear him out. Cereal in a bowl alone wasn’t that much heavier than the bowl, it isn’t till the milk is poured in that any weight is significantly added. Milk is heavier, maybe that’s why. Both want down but because milk is so fluent and heavier it practically forces the food up. Maybe, he wasn’t exactly sure.
Just as he was reaching for the bowl again he heard a feminine voice clear its throat. Irritated that his experiment was halted he turned to look at the source. The babysitter, his anger rising slightly more. His parents always told him to be respectful to others, especially those older than him. Politely he made eye contact and waited for her to speak.
“So, it’s just you and me now.” Stunned at the declaration he turned on the spot toward the door. He didn’t even realize his parents and brother had already left. His chest stung, they didn’t even say bye.
Vallery, as the babysitter is named, sat down across from him smiling. It felt somewhat offputting seeing her just sit where his father used to, still he waited for her to continue her thought, “So, do you do anything fun around here?”
“…I ask questions.”
She looked confused. “Questions? How is that fun?”
Sighing he shuffled the cereal in his hand, “Everything is… I don’t know. I don’t like ‘I don’t know,’ It’s scary. So I ask questions. When they’re answered I feel better because it’s no longer scary.”
Vallery gazed about the room as if a ghost had slowly passed behind her. Uncertainty plagued her words, “Okay?”
He didn’t notice her demeanor though, her lack of deterrence of the subject enforced his eagerness. He lifted the cereal in his hand, the babysitter eyeing it cautiously, “Why does it stay up?”
“The cereal? It floats.” Seeing the confusion in his face she continued, “It stays on top of a liquid, that’s what the word means.”
Asher sat back, somewhat satisfied. Somewhat. “That’s what it’s called, that isn’t why.”
With a heavy sigh, she sunk in her seat, hand scratching her head irritably. This kid was annoying. “I don’t know. I think it has something to do with surface tension.”
“Surface… tenson?”
Vallery shook her head, the anger boiling in her chest. “Look kid, this is advanced education. You’ve never been to school yet.”
True, that’s why he was so excited to go to school, a place where every answer he had could be answered; a building where he can learn anything he wanted, understand anything he didn’t right now. It is something he couldn’t help but plead with his parents to take him already, but he wasn’t old enough and he didn’t want to argue with them since everyone else in the family didn’t start till they were five. Right now he just had to wait till his school started, patience is a virtue as he’s heard. He didn’t know what it meant, but it was clear that it means patience is important somehow. “I still want to know. I think it’s cool.”
She stared at him dumbfounded, slackjawed, and temple resting on the tips of her fingers she shook her head, “Oh my god, a five-year-old nerd.”
Asher blinked at the term, he hadn’t heard it before yet the way she phrased it led him to believe it was some negative remark regarding his proclivity to ascertain knowledge. It confused him to consider curiosity as something underrated or irrelevant, how does one ever learn without wanting to learn it in the first place? Still, it wasn’t his place to question her, not that he wanted to. Her rather negative remark rendered him speechless.
Without bothering to see if her comment struck a chord with the young one in front of her, Vallery pushed away from the table and strolled over to her bag left on the couch, she unzipped the first layer and pulled out a rectangular device, and walked back over, her face less than amused. She plopped it right in front of the kid and pulled up its lid. Asher eyed it up and down with uncertainty. It was a laptop. His mother had one too, but he never got to be up close and personal with one before, if anything he was told he couldn’t be anywhere near one at his age.
He watched as his babysitter pressed the button on the top left of the keypad, the screen slightly brightening up before glowing bright as the computer turned on. Asher remained quiet as he studied what happened. His interest being pulled along by her strange actions. She typed in a password as the screen prompted and pushed it closer to him, “Look, you want to learn something? Google it.” Then pushed away from the table one final time and walked straight toward the living room.
Confused and hurt at the same time, Asher brushed his hand along the smooth surface of the touchpad. The cursor on the screen moving along with his fingers. He turned toward the babysitter, “How do I-?”
“Google! It!” She snapped. She turned on the tv and slunk down on the couch, her legs and arms crossing.
He turned back toward the laptop, his heart racing, mind panicking. His trembling arm brushed the pad once more, hovering the mouse over one of the images on the screen. The limited understanding he had of these things was based on his observations of his mother and father using their own. He knew they pressed on the pad as well as stroke it to manipulate the screen. He pressed the bottom left of the pad and the symbol highlighted. His heart skipped a beat at that. He did something, what now? He brought his face closer to the screen, swallowing hard. Wasn’t something supposes to pop up now? When others did this something came up.
He shook his head, hand coming up to his nose and pulling on it. Surprised he turned to look at the table, his mask still sitting there limp. He mumbled under his breath as he picked it up and stored it in his pocket. He was supposed to wear that around strangers, at least his parents weren’t there to scold him for it. However, he couldn’t dwell on it. The screen beckons him to solve this predicament.
He tapped on the mousepad once more, nothing happened. Frustrated he tapped even harder, still the same outcome. He then began to repeatedly tap it, his anger assuming this would teach it that it had to do something when he pressed. On the second click, the whole screen changed at some website popped up. His anger quickly evaporated as it replaced itself with awesome wonder. He did it, and he guessed the icon correctly, he is already at Google.
“Hey, Tom.” His ears perked up at her voice, his attention leaving the screen and watching Vallery on the phone. “Yeah, I’m at the house. Sorry I had to rush out of bed. Listen, I’ll make it up to you.”
“Wait, you weren’t doing chores?” He couldn’t stop the words coming out of his mouth.
Vallery spun around on the couch, her stern gaze and contorted brow glaring at him with malice. He flinched under the gaze, his tongue practically withering in his mouth. “That was the brat I’m watching.” She turned to look back at the television, “Damn kid is a wannabe know-it-all, what were you saying?”
His chest felt like the insides wanted to burst forth, that one hurt more than anything else she’s said. Still, she was nice enough to let him use her computer, he didn’t have any business meddling in her affairs. Who Tom is wasn’t a priority anyway, though he still wanted to know. His focus returned to the laptop, his uncertainty returning to him. What exactly was he supposed to lookup? Everything was available now. Somehow it lost its value; like he lost some primal virtue he once held with observation and deduction. After all, he’s used to figuring things out by purely watching and studying.
Shrugging he did the only thing that made sense to him. ‘What is a computer?’ he typed into the search bar. A whole list came up, but the first thing was a dictionary that said, ‘an electronic device for storing and processing data, typically in binary form, according to instructions given to it in a variable program.’
He blinked at this description, it was completely abstract. None of it made sense to him. He scratched his head, shaking it while he was at it. Data? Binary form? Program?
His eyes traveled the page and got caught on a tab near the top. Videos? He moved the mouse and pressed it, the whole screen changed and some images popped up. He clicked on one which had ‘basics.’ He knew that word, kind of. It had something to do with easy if he remembered right. Nothing happened. Annoyed he double-clicked it, and immediately the video pulled up and started playing. He sat back triumphantly, he figured out how the cursed mouse worked.
His satisfaction was short-lived. Vallery turned around and yelled at him, “If you’re going to watch that put in headphones. I’m trying to watch something actually interesting.” She must have overheard the computer aspect and immediately got bored. Maybe she’s already learned this.
Asher quickly pressed the video and it paused on click, his panic racing back into his veins, “Sorry. W-why would I need a head phone, I’m not calling anyone.”
The girl made a noise a bit of a cross between a sigh and a growl. Jumping up she stormed over to her bag once more and ripped out something and rushed over to the table. She shoved the end of a wire into a slot along the side of the laptop and roughly pressed it into Asher’s arms, “Here! Here are some goddamn headphones! Now put these over your ears and leave me alone!” She then stomped back to the couch and continued her lying on the furniture, her hand snatching up her phone, “Sorry about that, I swear this kid is driving me crazy.”
He didn’t even do anything to her this time. Irritated at her lack of understanding, he pulled the oversized headwear onto his ears and pressed the screen again. The video continued. He watched it and once it was over he looked deeper into computers. He began watching, even more, pulling up this computer’s settings changing its functions and programming. He fiddled with everything he could get his hands on the screen, sound, power, multitasking, anything that he could look at.
He did a side-by-side comparison of his actions and experts’. He experimented, he tested, and he improved. For hours he messed with this device, not even noticing that he, at one time, was being watched by Vallery. She had noticed that he was just messing with her computer settings and it freaked her out but rather intimidated by some kid’s prowess she elected to wait it out and have some tech look at it once this week is over.
Every morning she came by with it and gave it to him. Each time she came he strolled up to her and asked for her computer. Nervous is what she can easily describe her emotions each time he took it from her, but Asher didn’t notice. He left her alone by going upstairs and messing with it in his room, even going as far as taking it toward the family computer and looking at displays and guides on desktops. Every time she went home for the night he would give it back, his excitement for tomorrow making him ecstatic.
The whole week was spent like this. For hours he would study, observe, take apart, and put back together with the computer. Once he was confident enough he even did the same with the babysitter’s laptop, but he made sure she was too busy to just interrupt him and freak out. He wasn’t even supposed to do this to the desktop of his parent’s and she was scary enough without doing something wrong.
The whole time he had learned about the hardware and the software. The coding, data, everything he could. Suddenly everything about that definition he first saw made complete sense and he never violated that primal urge he had. His greatest accomplishment yet. His parents had no way of dismissing it this time.
The day before their return everything changed.
Asher sat at the laptop typing in several lines of codes, nothing too extreme it was mainly practice. The only thing he found frustrating was the fact he couldn’t type as quickly as some of the instructors he’s been watching. Of course, his hands were too small for this practice and his rationale knew he would have to wait till he was older to be sufficient in it, but still, he felt contempt to try and pass his physical limitation. Vallery had given up trying to understand him, not that she tried hard, and fiddled with some of the pots and pans in the kitchen to cook a meal for them both with the TV on in the background.
A vicious knocking rattled the door, the frame visibly shaking as if it would be smashed and fall to the floor. Asher jumped and Vallery dropped several pots onto the floor, the loud commotion causing the knocking to intensify. Asher quickly got out of the coding screen and exited all the sites he had pulled up for learning. His heart beats strongly in his chest, turning toward his babysitter in fear. She looked just as scared as him though, her face pale and hands shaking.
“OPEN THE GOD DAMN DOOR, VALLERY!” A booming voice of a man cut the strenuous silence.
The girl’s face paled even more upon the first word and quickly rushed to the front door. Concern rising further Asher hopped off his seat and walked toward the hallway to peek around the corner. He watched her quickly unlock the door and pull it open, “T-Tom? What are you-?”
A hand shot out from behind the door and grabbed her hair, pulling her down as his red face rounded on her, “Shut up!” She frantically cried out in pain, grabbing his hand as he pulled her along toward Asher.
Panicking the kid jumped back and watched with wide eyes as this Tom threw his babysitter against the table and grabbed the computer, “What’d you do to this!?”
“Nothing!” She cried out, her eyes watering, the trembling in her voice panicking Asher further.
“What’s going on?” The young boy asked looking between the two.
“Mind your own fucking business!” The man yelled at him.
Shocked at the tone Asher obeyed. He had no idea what that word he used, but it sounded bad. He watched as the Tom worked on the computer, his raging eyes glaring at the teen girl every now and then. Vallery seemed too scared to move, her head bent down eyes trying desperately not to look at this stranger. The young genius slowly walked back toward the hallway and hid behind the wall, only peeking over the side to keep watch. He hoped his position behind the wall would keep him hidden while he can still watch.
The man’s eyes bulged, his glare spinning around on the girl who coward from him as he forcefully pulled her off the seat and shoved her head in front of the screen. “Look what you did! LOOK!”
Vallery slammed her eyes shut, tears streaming down her face as she tightly held the iron-clad hand tearing her hair out. When she didn’t answer the man pulled her back, and with a swift motion slapped her in the face. The loud strike startled Asher, he jumped behind the wall cringing from the violence. What was on her computer, he didn’t notice anything.
“Tom, I don’t understand any of that.” He heard her whisper desperately.
“Realy? Then what do you call all those websites you’ve been searching, huh!? A real sudden interest I might add.” Another loud smack echoed in the house, accompanied by her scream.
Asher jumped at the noises, that was him who searched the web. He got her in trouble. Desperately he wanted this to stop, his mind racing to find a solution. It wasn’t fair that she was being punished for something he did, so maybe the man will stop if he confesses. Asher crept around the corned, his eyes traveling over the sight of the man pulling Vallery close to his face as he yelled at her, his hands clamped around her throat, preventing her from responding.
“S-stop.” He said, and the whole room went silent.
The man slowly turned to glare at him, “What did you say, brat?”
He backed up at those words, “I-I did it.” Asher replied, “I was trying to understand computers.”
“Oh.” The Tom smiled, his face rounding on the girl. “You expect me to believe that? Seriously? Do I look stupid!?” He slapped her again. “Some kid can just take out some coding?”
Coding? Asher blinked at the word. There was something on the computer he found, something he deleted since it was a virus. The realization came to him in the split moment, “You were spying on her?” He blurted out. He instantly regretted it.
His mouth got him answers when he asked questions, but never in his life had he ever been in a situation where asking something got him in serious trouble, till now. The Tom closed his eyes, then threw Vallery onto the floor and rounded on the child. Asher stumbled back as the towering figure glared down at him, “I said ‘mind your own fucking business!’” Then a force sent the five-year-old’s head flying.
Asher felt the pain erupt on the side of his head, followed by a harder surface striking the other side of his head. His head spun, tears rolled down his cheek, mask torn off from his face, and glasses flying through the air completely shattered. His hearing fogged, his mind quickly rebooting from the punch as he tried to push himself off the tiled floor. His hand reached up to his head to nurse the pain and pulled back to reveal red.
His heart quickened, his eyes shooting themselves out of their sockets. He was bleeding. Panic etched into his mind as he remembered his parents’ words. He must never, EVER, bleed. If he does he had to call the… doctor. Right the doctor. The phone rested in the kitchen, but he had to pass the Tom man. Fear froze him in place, his ears too busy listening to the pounding in his head to hear anything. He shook his head as the dizzyness slowly subsided. Vallery’s phone, she leaves it on the couch in the other room when she cooks.
He stumbled away and toward the living room. He leaned himself on the couch when he almost tripped and used it to guide himself around it to the front. He had to call the doctor. He pulled himself up onto the bedding and looked around. He spotted the device on the cushions and quickly picked it up. He turned on the screen and immediately found the home screen. He looked around its surface, confused. He didn’t have a mouse, but he did notice Vallery just pressing on the screen.
He found the icon of a landline receiver and pushed his finger on the screen. His eyes traveled the words until he found ‘dial’ which he also pressed. He could vaguely hear yelling from the other side of the couch. His fingers then traveled across the screen typing each number for the doctor, just like his parents said.
He entered the number and pulled it up next to his face. In three rings a woman’s voice could be heard, “9-1-1, what’s the location of your emergency?”
Stunned at the abrupt question he paused, thinking being more difficult than normal. “I…” He tried to think, “I can’t… I don’t…” He shut his scorched eyes, the brightness of the room rendering his brain useless when attached to the throbbing already present there. Numbers, he was good with numbers, “5752… Something… road. I can’t remember.”
“That’s alright, tell me what happened.” The calm voice over the phone said.
He shook his head, “Some Tom hit me on the head. I’m bleeding, my parents don’t want me to bleed.” He tried to explain, but again his lack of putting thoughts into words couldn’t detail exactly what he wanted to say.
“Is this Tom still there?”
“Uh…” Asher strained his ears, he could hear yelling from the other room, “I think so. He’s yelling at Vallery about deleting a file from her computer. It’s… He’s been punishing her for it.” He was going to, but based on Tom’s reaction he didn’t want to try and explain he was actually at fault again.
“He’s been hitting her?”
“… Yeah.” He had to think about that? What was wrong with him, his brain was never this useless before. “I… I need to see a doctor. I can’t bleed.”
“What happens when you do?” The person on the line asked nicely.
Just as Asher was about to respond a horrific noise sounded, “WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING!?” The kid jumped as a hand snatched the phone out of his grip.
Tom stared at the phone and violently rammed the screen to end the call, “You were calling the cops?!”
The what? He didn’t know what ‘cops’ were. “I was calling my doctor.” He replied tensely.
“Like hell you were!” He grabbed Asher by the neck of his jacket and dragged him off the couch. “No one’s doctor is 9-1-1!”
“But my parents told me to call that if I bleed!” He desperately tried to explain, what was wrong with using that number?
“He has immunodeficiency, Tom. He’ll die if he gets infected, hospitals are the only ones that can treat it.” Vallery said. Asher couldn’t see her, but her voice didn’t sound any chipper.
He felt Tom begin dragging him toward the door, “We’re leaving! Now!” Before he got halfway down the hall a noise slowly grew. At first, it was hard to hear, but gradually the high-pitched, quick repeating noise caught everyone’s attention and Tom swore under his breath when he heard it.
The man quickly spun back around and tossed Asher onto the couch, then rushed over to the pots and pans to pull up the pot and fill it with water. Tom quickly rushed over to the pool of blood on the floor and tossed the water on the ground before placing it on its side next to the fresh puddle. The loud noise was right outside the house only abruptly stopping when the door burst open and two men with guns drawn strolled in.
The Tom stepped back with hands raised, “Officers. Sorry, there’s been a misunderstanding.”
The two men in blue stared at him, “Step back, now!”
He complied sidestepping and standing by the counter. Vallery rushed over to Asher and pressed a paper towel to his head. The stinging made him gasp, but he didn’t fight her. He wasn’t in a position to tell her off.
“We spilled some water and the poor kid fell and hit his head.” Tom smiled charmingly. Asher looked at Vallery through squinted eyes. Why was he being so nice now?
The two officers holstered their weapons, the one who spoke answered, “Uh-huh. Then why isn’t the spill in the kitchen?” The five-year-old chuckled, it was impressive that the officer noticed the position of the pot with just a brief glance.
Tom shrugged, undeterred. “It is for some science project the kid was doing. Not going to do it in the kitchen.”
“What project?” The officer continued, giving no room to think about what he said.
Tom smiled and pointed toward the back door, “Something about plants, I don’t know. It’s my girlfriend who babysits him. I only came today and they asked me to help. Didn’t really ask what it was for.”
The other officer turned to face the two on the couch and began walking toward them. Asher felt the panic rise in his stomach. Were they just going to believe him? “He’s lying!” He yelled. All faces turned in surprise at the outburst. “He hit me and then hit her.” He pointed at Vallery.
The Tom looked at him with rage burning in his eyes, his head shaking ‘no’ and lips curling in to hold back his yell. The officer then turned to look at him, his stern gaze quickly catching the attention of the man. The second officer turned to watch his partner and suspect closely. “The kid doesn’t understand what he’s saying. He fell and hit his head, he’s been having problems thinking clearly.”
“Face the other way, sir.” The man opened his mouth to refute, but the officer stepped back and pointed at the other wall, “NOW!”
The Tom rolled his eyes and turned, “This is all just a misunderstanding.” He said as he put his hands on the back of his head. Ignoring the comment the officer cuffed one hand and quickly pulled the other to be chained together behind the Tom’s back.
Sensing Vallery’s fear, Asher knew she wouldn’t be of any help right now. His mind worked hard as he looked about the room. His eyes land on the corner of the room and the camera placed there. “My parents have a security system.” All eyes turned to him again, “I can show you what happened.”
The man’s face reddened and his eyes widened in shock, he knew he was caught now. The second officer faced Asher and nodded at him, “Alright, do you know where the screen that shows it is?”
Asher pointed at the far wall in the hallway toward the door, “That one. I know the password. It’s ‘positiveworld2.’” The second officer smiled and nodded before strolling over to the console.
Too stunned to do anything Vallery kept the pressure on Asher’s wound, just watching the officers move about the room timidly. Asher patted her hand, trying to get an understanding of what she was doing, it hurt so why was she doing it? His attention returned to the officer holding Tom. The officer looked toward his partner behind the corner, “You see the video?”
“Yep, and I see the suspect hitting both of them.”
The one holding Tom surged forward, pushing the man toward the door. His tone rather vile, “You’re under arrest.” As took him straight out while the second one came back in, walking right up to the two of them.
Asher squinted up at him while Vallery coward slightly. “Are you related to him?” He asked her.
“N-no. Babysitting. I can call the parents though, but we really need to get him to the hospital.” Her steady voice surprised Asher, she definitely was scared, but for now, she seemed in control. The opposite of what he saw earlier.
The officer nodded, “The ambulance is on its way, they’re almost here don’t worry. You’re going to have to go with him though.” Asher felt his sitter nod, “Good. We’ll meet you at the hospital to take your statement, we’re going to have to look around here a bit more. Give the parent’s number to the doctors and have them explain the situation to them. Alright?”
“Yes sir.” Her voice croaked.
Asher didn’t say anything, not even during the ambulance ride, nor when he got to the hospital. He felt that he shouldn’t say anything, that he’s already said more than enough. Even when his parents arrived to take him home he said nothing. Vallery understood and encouraged him to take his time. He appreciated her for it, but after all, that has happened he came to an absolute, irrefutable conclusion. He should never explain his ability with computers, he didn’t want his parents getting mad like that with him.