The Lost Boy

Mother’s bony fingers stretch out toward my neck. She was so close I caught a whiff of her putrid body odor. In a flash Carlos and I weaved our way through the mass of smaller children. As we fled, I looked behind me. Mother seized Russell’s arm as she quickened her pace. Carlos grabbed my hand, leading me to the parking lot. My chest heaved from absolute terror and lack of oxygen. My arms swung wildly. I ran into the parking lot and again searched behind me. My eyes sought out any sign of Mother and Russell. Without warning, I tripped off the curb. As my body flew through the air, I tried to swing my head forward in an effort to regain my balance. A second later my chest collided against the hood of a moving car. Behind the windshield, a woman’s eyes grew wide. I felt myself rolling off the hood as I tried to grab anything that would keep me from falling. My hands slapped the far end of the hood, fingers flailing, as I tried to latch onto the wiper blades. I closed my eyes and felt my body sink in front of the car. My ears burned from the sound of my own scream.
    A moment later my head struck the pavement. I heard a screeching sound. I tried to cover my head with my hands. Somewhere in the crowd I heard someone else scream. I closed my eyes and emptied my lungs. Seconds later I uncovered my face and peeked through my fingers. Inches in front of my nose were the grooves of a front left tyre.
    Carlos plucked me from the pavement. I drooped an arm across his shoulder as he led me to the sidewalk. I looked back at the car. A young woman flung open the car door, and stood and shook.
    Without skipping a beat, Mother marched at full speed to her station wagon.
    Without my saying a word, Carlos understood my fear. My legs felt rubbery, and he had to practically drag me up the same small hill that I had, years ago, raced from into Mother’s waiting arms before we left for the river. Now that same hill seemed to be my doom. My legs became tangled, my knee scraped the sidewalk and my teeth were clenched from the jolt of pain.
    From the top of the hill Carlos and I could see small clusters of children and adults pointing in our direction. My eyes scanned the stream of cars as they emptied from the parking lot. I would not know in which direction to flee until I spotted Mother. After a few sweeps I shook my head. “She’s gone! She’s not there!”
    Carlos jabbed my sore arm. “There!” he pointed. Mother’s station wagon had climbed the hill in no time flat. I could see the rage on her face as she pounded wildly on her horn. Because of the traffic, she could not make her left turn. Carlos and I nodded to each other before running across the street and up another hill to his house. My energy seemed to come from nowhere, and my ears picked up the distinctive rumbling sounds of the worn-out muffler on Mother’s ancient station wagon.
    Carlos and I bolted up the stairs to his house. He dug into his pockets and fumbled with the keys to the door. “Come on!” I pleaded. Carlos’s twitching fingers dropped the keys. Even though I could hear the sound of Mother’s car chugging up the hill, I stood and watched the shiny reflection from the keys that tumbled down the stairs.
Keys!
I yelled at myself.
Mother wasn’t taking a knife out of her purse! It was a set of keys!
    Carlos’s shouting woke me from my spell. I raced down the stairs and tossed the keys to Carlos, who jammed a key in the lock before flinging the door open. On my hands and knees, I scrambled up the stairs, rolled into Carlos’s house and slammed the door shut. No one was home. Creeping to the front window, we stayed glued to the floor and peeled back the drapes as much as we dared, just as Mother’s station wagon rocketed up the street. Carlos and I began to let out a laugh – until I heard the familiar sound of Mother’s car creep down the street, as she tapped the brakes every few feet, her eyes piercing into every house. “She’s searching for us, ” I whispered.
    “
Si, “
Carlos replied. “Your mama, she
loca!
”
    After hiding behind the living room curtain for over an hour, Carlos and I walked to the halfway mark to Jody’s home. We grinned at each other. His brown eyes smiled. “Just like, eh, James Bondo!”
    “Yeah, ” I laughed. “James Bondo!” I shook his hand and nodded to him that I’d see him tomorrow. I watched Carlos stroll down the street, then disappear as he rounded the corner. I never saw him again.
    I jogged up