“Quincy And That Unusual Friend Of His”
By Brian Roberson
Chapter 4
The electric garage door on
the side of Quincy's house made a metallic groan and started to open. It
clattered it's way up the railing and came to a shuddering halt once it was
fully open. A second later, Quincy and Erik came riding out on Quincy's bike,
laughing and shouting. Erik was sitting side saddle on the bike rail while
Quincy stood and pumped the pedals as he steered his way around the driveway.
Quincy would do a circle, go down the driveway, turn around before hitting the
street, and ride back up the driveway to repeat the process. As he rode, Quincy
noticed that Erik would keep perfect balance while he was on the rail, no matter
what he did. He also noticed that Erik added no weight to the bike. Quincy and
Erik had a vigorous wrestling session on his bed the evening before, and Erik
had pinned him down several times, and yet at times like right now with the
bike, he seemed to have no weight or mass at all. He seemed to be regular flesh
and blood if you actually touched him, but otherwise he seemed as though he
wasn't even really there, which Quincy thought was very strange.
It was Sunday, and Quincy and his parents had their first day at the McLean
Bible Church. It went longer than usual because of the congregation wanting to
meet the Congressman and his family. Quincy stood with his parents embarrassed
as people filed by and shook their hands, including some kids whom he would
probably be going to school with who were going to have a field day at his
expense over this, he thought. Afterwards he had Sunday School, and got home
right at lunch time. He then went up to his room and convinced Erik to go out on
the bike with him, after several minutes of hard negotiations.
"Whoa Quincy...! WHOA!! YEAH!!!" Erik yelled in delight with a giant grin as
Quincy plunged down the driveway, only to make a hard left turn onto the lawn
and back on up the driveway. Erik stayed perched right on the bike rail, hardly
moving. Quincy then rode back up to the top of the driveway and stopped right
next to the garbage cans.
"This is fun!" Erik grinned excitedly.
"I want to go into the street now, are you ready?"
Erik lost his grim immediately, to be replaced by a frightened, worried look.
"I guess..." Erik sighed.
"Don't worry, I'll make a right turn so we won't go over that spot. If you start
screaming and rotting again I'll turn right around back into the driveway, OK?"
"I'm scared." Erik said quietly.
"Don't worry. I'm here. I'll keep you safe." Quincy said.
Erik turned to Quincy and gave a brave smile. He then put his hands on Quincy's
right arm.
"Are you ready?" Quincy asked.
Erik hesitated, gave a deep sigh, and then nodded with his eyes closed.
"Alright, here goes nothing," Said Quincy as he began pedaling.
The two of them plunged down the driveway. Quincy gave a quick look to make sure
no cars were coming, and the two of them rode out into the street. Quincy made a
sharp right, and they were now shooting down Forest Lane towards Chesterbrook
road. Erik opened his eyes, broke into a huge grin, and began laughing and
shouting. Quincy burst into a huge grin at how delighted and liberated Erik
seemed to be.
"WOOOOOOOO-HOOOOOOOO!!!! GO FASTER GO FASTER!!!" Erik shouted while he held his
arms out. Quincy laughed and began pedaling harder. Soon they were on
Chesterbrook road. Chesterbrook was pretty well traveled, and cars were
continuously whizzing past them, so Quincy crossed the road to get to an asphalt
path on the opposite side that ran parallel to the road. Erik was pointing out
all the things that had changed since he had last been through there. Apparently
none of the neighborhoods and side streets they were seeing had been there, and
Erik pointed out a hill that was covered with recently built townhouses where he
said there had once been an abandoned old mansion that everyone thought was
haunted. Quincy laughed out loud when he said that, much to Erik's apparent
puzzlement.
They eventually arrived at Chesterbrook shopping center, about 3/4 of a mile
from the house. Erik showed Quincy a little shortcut behind a church and a
garden shop to get to the shopping center, which Quincy thought was pretty
handy. Once they were in the shopping center, Quincy rode past the Safeway and
parked his bike in front of the CVS. Quincy and Erik dismounted and Quincy began
locking his bike up on a bench.
"This used to be a Drug Fair." Erik said. He then stepped out into the street.
"I don't recognize any of these stores, except for the Safeway, and that looks
different too."
"Drug Fair? They really called it that?" Quincy laughed.
"Drug Fair was cool!" Erik said with a scowl. "There was a soda fountain in the
back that we used to go to."
"Well that's definitely not there now. Come on, let's go in!" Quincy said.
Erik and Quincy entered the air conditioned coolness of the CVS. Quincy walked
over to the soda cooler to grab a Pepsi. Erik was following him while looking
around the store.
"Wow, it's changed so much." He said. Quincy then tucked the soda under his arm
and walked over to the candy counter.
"Do you have any money?" Quincy asked with a smile.
"Ha ha, very funny." Erik said.
"Yeah, where would you keep it, right?" Quincy laughed. He began looking over
the candy selection. "So what kind of candy do you like?" He asked.
"I haven't eaten candy since...well, you know. I used to like Mounds."
"Yeah, Mounds is pretty good. I like Kit Kat and Take 5 bars."
"What's Take 5?" Erik asked.
"Here's one." Quincy grabbed a bar and showed it to Erik. "It's totally awesome!
It's a pretzel with caramel, peanut butter, chocolate, and peanuts. I think I'll
get that!"
"Sounds good. You better eat it right away, otherwise it'll melt out in that
heat." Erik said.
"Yes, Dad." Quincy smirked. He then heard a loud cough and looked over the
shelf. In the next row over was a heavy set, older woman with a very obvious wig
on. She had a shopping basket over her shoulder and was perusing through the
tiny grocery aisle next to where the boys were.
"It's Mrs. Rizzi from across the street! She's the one who called my parents and
told them about me running off when you freaked out the other day, at least I'm
sure that was her !" Quincy whispered.
"She must have moved into the old Papadopoulos house." Erik said.
"She's a bitch! I can't stand her!" Quincy hissed.
"Do you want to have some fun with her?" Erik grinned.
"What are you thinking about?" Quincy whispered with a big smile.
Erik walked over to the other aisle. Quincy peeked over the shelf and saw Erik
walk up behind Mrs. Rizzi. He clapped his hands twice behind her and vanished.
She looked behind her startled but saw nothing. Quincy laughed silently but then
exploded into belly laughter when her wig all of a sudden flew off of her head,
revealing a tight bun of thinning, grey hair. She screamed and grabbed at her
head as the wig fell down to the ground. She reached down for the wig and it
moved away from her. Quincy moved over to the front of the aisle she was in,
facing behind her, tears streaming down his face in laughter.
She continued to chase her wig down the aisle while bent over. She would get
close enough to grab it, only to have it move away from her by a couple of
inches. Eventually she wound up in the aisle that sold feminine hygiene
products. The wig then flew into the air in front of her and started spinning
while she shrieked in horror. The lights then went out and a big, howling wind
suddenly tore through the entire store, sending displays, greeting cards, and
the wig blowing towards the front. Mrs. Rizzi turned and ran out of the store
screaming in terror, along with all the other customers and employees. Quincy
ran out along with them, almost blinded by the tears of laughter that were
pouring out of his eyes. He ran over to the bench where his bike was and
collapsed onto it. Erik materialized next to him and the two of them rolled in
laughter on the bench while passerby walked by staring. Quincy thought he was
going to pass out.
"OH...OH...MY GOD!...OH MY GOD!!! DID YOU SEE...DID YOU SEE...!" Quincy got out
between guffaws. Erik was gasping with laughter. It took both of them a full ten
minutes to get even close to any kind of composure.
"Erik...remind me to NEVER piss you off!" Quincy finally got out. This made Erik
burst into laughter again.
"Quincy...Quincy...stop! I can't laugh anymore! I'll die if I laugh anymore!"
Erik gasped.
That made Quincy explode into another round of raucous laughter, it took another
five minutes for them to finally calm down enough to be nominally functional.
"Oh my God, that was so...oh my God, did you see her FACE!" Quincy said while he
wiped tears from his face.
"Unfortunately yes!" Erik said and the two of them exploded into another round
of laughter. Quincy then saw that a small group of adults in front of the
Safeway were staring at him.
"Come on, let's go to the 7-11. I still need to get my Pepsi and my Take 5 bar."
Quincy said. He had dropped those items in the CVS while Erik was tormenting
Mrs. Rizzi.
Quincy unchained his bike and Erik hopped onto the bar. The crowd of employees
and customers were still outside in front of the CVS. A Fairfax County police
officer was parked in front of the store and taking statements. Quincy and Erik
barely contained their laughter as they rode unnoticed past the crowd. They
reached the 7-11 at the end of the shopping center.
"This used to be a High's." Erik said as he slipped off the bike.
"High's, Drug Fair, what was everyone stoned in this place back then?" Quincy
chuckled and he and Erik burst into another round of laughter and giggles.
Quincy ran in and came right back out with his Pepsi and Take 5 bar. They went
to the side of the building and Quincy quickly devoured his snack.
"You sure you don't want any?" Quincy asked.
"You know I don't eat or drink, Quincy." Erik smiled.
"Or carry money!" Quincy laughed with a mouthful of Take 5. Erik laughed and
gave Quincy a friendly swat on his arm.
Once Quincy was finished he threw his trash onto the ground and hopped back onto
the bike. Erik hopped onto the bar. It was hot and humid out, so Quincy took his
shirt off and wrapped it around his waste. They rode back towards the Safeway.
The crowd in front of the CVS had dispersed. They rode past the DVD rental place
that was right between the CVS and the Safeway. A middle aged, red haired man
with an employee tag from the store was out smoking a cigarette by the curb. He
had a grey, light beard and a slight paunch. Erik drew his breath sharply when
he saw the man.
"Aaron?" Erik said.
"What, do you know that guy?" Quincy asked.
"Quincy, go back, go back!"
Quincy turned around and rode back towards the DVD store. He and Erik both
stared while they rode past, and the man noticed Quincy this time.
"Oh my God, it IS Aaron." Erik said, almost to himself.
"Who is he?" Quincy asked as he stopped on the other side of the shopping
center. Erik became silent and stared at the pavement in silence. "Erik, are you
alright?"
"He was my friend. He lived in my neighborhood. He was there that evening
when..." Erik said, as if he had forgotten all of this and was now remembering
it.
"Do you want me to ride past there again?"
Erik came to and looked at Quincy. "No." He finally said. 'Let's get out of
here. I need to be back at the house." He said.
"OK, sure, we'll go back to the house. Are you sure you're alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Come on, let's go." Erik said.
Quincy and Erik rode behind the shopping center and then went back the way they
came. This time, Erik sat in the bike seat with his arms around Quincy's bare
chest while Quincy stood up and pumped the pedals. They turned onto Forest Lane.
Erik had been quiet the whole way back. Just as they were about to get within a
block of the house, he asked Quincy to stop the bike. Quincy came to a stop in
an overgrown area next to a driveway, dismounted, and faced Erik.
"What is it?"
"Quincy, I want us to ride over that spot really quickly."
"Erik, are you serious? After what happened last time?"
"Please, I need to. I was scared to go outside and you took me outside. I was
scared to go on the street and you took me onto the street. I don't want to be
scared anymore." He said.
"Ok. We'll go over it really quickly, like you said, then I'll turn around and
take us into the driveway, alright?"
Erik just nodded, and he looked more scared than Quincy had ever seen him. He
put his hand on Erik's back, and Erik turned and looked at him. Quincy then got
on the bike and Erik wrapped his arms around Quincy's midsection as tight as he
could get them to be. Quincy then took off and started pedaling madly right
towards the spot. Erik buried his face onto Quincy's left shoulder as they sped
right towards where Erik had been hit by the car and killed. They sped past the
first house, then the Williams’ house...
"Here it is!" Quincy yelled.
Erik then bit right into Quincy's shoulder. Not a slight nip, but a full
strength, piercing bite. Quincy yelled in pain but didn't stop pedaling. They
sped right directly over the spot. Quincy braced himself for that awful scream,
but didn't hear it. Erik however, dug his teeth even harder into Quincy's flesh.
Quincy turned the bike around at full speed, and rode over the spot again, his
shoulder in agony from Erik biting it. He then pulled into the driveway and came
to a stop in front of the garage. Erik stopped biting Quincy's shoulder and
relaxed. Quincy braked his bike, jumped off, and grabbed his shoulder in pain.
Erik jumped off and started jumping up and down for joy.
"I did it I did it!!" He yelled in delight. Quincy was still clutching his
shoulder as waves of searing pain tore through it.
"Augghhh...Erik...! You bit my shoulder, Dude! Aughhh!"
Erik's smile disappeared and he came over and looked at the nasty bite wound he
had put on Quincy's shoulder.
"Oh my...oh Quince. Quince, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to...!" Erik said,
sounding like he was about to cry.
They went through the garage to the laundry room. Erik turned the water on in
the sink, and Quincy took a rag, wet it, and placed it on his shoulder.
"Oh wow." Quincy muttered in pain while Erik rubbed his shoulder with the rag.
Just then Quincy's mom came into the room with a load of laundry. The rag
dropped off of his shoulder, revealing the bite wound.
"Quincy! What on earth happened to your shoulder!" She cried out as she dropped
the laundry to the floor. She went over and looked at the wound.
"I...fell off my bike." Quincy said. He glanced over at Erik next to him. Erik
had a frightened look on his face.
"This is a bite! I can see the teeth marks! You didn't fall off your bike! Who
did this to you?" Carol yelled. Quincy just stood in silence, staring down at
the sink. She grabbed his chin and turned his head toward her.” Who did this to
you!?" She yelled. Quincy still said nothing. "Come on! We're going to the
emergency room!"
"But Mom...!"
"Don't ‘but Mom’ me! Put your shirt on and get in the car! And you WILL tell me
who did this!" She yelled. She went into the kitchen, grabbed her keys and her
purse, grabbed Quincy by his arm, and lead him out of the garage. Erik gave a
sad little wave as Quincy's mom practically dragged him out to the car.
Carol drove Quincy to the Kaiser Permanente in Falls Church, a few miles from
his house. They went through the lobby and were admitted to general medicine.
After a thirty or so minute wait, they were ushered into an examination room.
After another ten minute wait, a young Indian physician entered the room.
"Hello, I'm Dr. Singh. I guess that you are Quincy?"
"Yes, Sir."
"So it says here that you have a bite on your shoulder?" the doctor asked while
glancing at the paperwork on his clipboard..
"Yes, Sir."
"Quincy, tell him what happened!" Carol said angrily.
Quincy looked at the doctor. "I was playing football with some kids in a
neighborhood near me. I got tackled, and one of them bit me."
"And you can bet we're going to drive to that neighborhood tomorrow and you're
going to show me this kid who bit you !" Carol said.
Dr. Singh studied the wound, looked back up at Quincy, and then back down to the
wound. "So you say that you were bitten, Quincy?"
"Yes, Sir."
"Well, I do see teeth marks, and they do appear to be the teeth marks of a child
between the ages of nine and eleven." The doctor then checked Quincy's vitals,
checked his throat and so on. He then went to a cabinet, opened it up, and took
some equipment out.
"Quincy, I'm going to take a blood sample. If you will please make a fist."
"Oh man! I don't want a shot!"
"Quincy! Do what the doctor tells you to do!" Carol said.
"There's a lot of bacteria in a human mouth, Quincy." Dr. Singh said as he tied
off Quincy's arm. "We need to make sure you don't have any blood infections."
Quincy gave an exasperated sigh and winced while the doctor took the blood
sample. The doctor left with the sample and returned a few minutes later.
"Quincy, will you please leave the room and wait outside while I speak to your
mother?"
Quincy got up and left the room and the doctor closed the door behind him.
"Mrs. Lenhardt..." Dr. Singh said. "I'm going to recommend that you have Quincy
admitted to a hospital tonight for observation."
Carol gasped. "For a bite wound? Why?"
"Because that's not a bite wound." He said.
"What?"
"A human bite is a pressure wound. It is a puncture caused by the pressure of
the jaw and the teeth against the skin. That's not what I'm seeing on Quincy's
shoulder. What Quincy has is a burn."
"A burn?"
"Not just any kind of burn, but a radiation burn, or some kind of super ionized
plasma. I've never seen anything like it."
"Oh my God!"
"I think that we need to have Quincy checked for radiation exposure." He said.
Carol gasped with her hands folded over her mouth as the doctor began filling
out the admission paperwork. Outside in the waiting room, Quincy had his shirt
collar down and was looking at his shoulder. Erik's bite mark had completely
disappeared.