The Understorey

“Alright, where is this painting?” Danny asked.



“Hanging on the large Red Maple at the front of the house,” Jules said.



“Alright, come on Elliott, it’ll look better if it appears you came willingly. We’ll swing by Julia’s house and remove the painting for evidence. Maybe we can get a print on it,” he said to me before turning to Jules. “Julia, you need to stay here and explain things to Shelby when she gets here later and help to calm her down.”



Jules nodded and Danny left to his cruiser expecting me to follow suit, but I delayed for a moment. I grabbed Jules and kissed her roughly. I could taste the salt from her overflowing tears.



“See you later Jules. I’m off to the clinker. Will you wait for me?”



She fought the smile through her tears, “Can’t you take anything seriously?”



“I take you seriously. I love you Jules. Don’t worry. I’ll be out in a couple of hours.”



I pushed open the storm door and met Danny at his cruiser. I piled into the passenger seat.



“What? You’re not going to cuff me? I’m a violent criminal Danny. Maybe you should put me in the back. You might want the plexiglass between us. I’m dangerous.”



“Elliott, you seem to have lost your mind so I’ll remind you how serious this is. You could lose your scholarship if he does press charges. You know that? You should stew about that for awhile. Think about what that would do to your mom and dad.” He looked at me severely. “Why didn’t you just report it Elliott?”



“Honestly? I just found out about it myself today. Jules was too frightened to let me know all that he had done because she was afraid of my reaction.”



“Rightfully so,” Danny added.



“But when he had hung the painting up, she didn’t have a choice. She had to tell me everything. Jules couldn’t get it down and she had to ask me to. She didn’t want it scaring her parents,” I turned to face Danny. “What would you have done if someone was harassing Aunt Becky?”



“I’d call the police Elliott.”



“And what if you’ve told the police and they don’t believe you?”



“It’s not that I don’t believe you Elliott! It’s that I think you’ve pegged the wrong guy. Jesse was your best friend. You should know he wouldn’t do that. His record is spotless. It’s just not in his nature Elliott, to be so cruel.”



“He’s an incredible deceiver.”



We arrived at Jules’ house and I jumped out to see for myself what had scared my Jules so badly. The red maple was surprisingly beautiful. Its red leaves, on the verge of falling, dusted lightly with a recent blanket of snow. I circled the tree and found no painting. Always one step ahead, isn’t he?



“Where’s the painting Elliott?”



“Jules isn’t lying. He must have gotten it.”



“Jesse’s been at the station since you hit him. He couldn’t have done it Elliott.”



I sighed in obvious defeat.



“I know how this looks Danny.”



“Do you?” He asked me seriously. “Because if I didn’t know you personally, I’d think that you and Jules were out to start trouble.”



“But you do know us personally!”



“I’m starting to think that I don’t really know you at all. Get in the car!” He screamed.



He must have called Taylor, I thought. Damn it! I punched the dashboard and then brought both my fists to my forehead.



The tiny one room police station had several people standing around it as we drove up, including my parents and Jules’. Jules must have called them. I saw Mrs. Thomas standing next to my mom and they were talking quietly. Jules sat on the hood of her own Karmann Ghia biting her already short nails.



When she saw us, she jumped up and ran to my window. She placed her palms on the glass. I shook my head and she immediately started to tremble. Danny told me to face her so he could cuff me since everyone was standing around waiting for me.



“It’s procedure. I’m sorry son.”



I nodded in response. Jules and I both knew what it meant to have the painting in Danny’s possession. She came to the same conclusion as I did that Taylor had taken it.



“You have to go search Taylor’s house!” She screamed through the glass at Danny. Danny stepped out from the driver’s side and came over to mine.



“Julia, I can’t do that. I’d need a warrant and the judge is not going to issue a warrant over something with no evidence to back it up. Besides, if Taylor did take the painting, and I’m not saying she did, she more than likely didn’t take it back to her house darlin’. Now, go stand next to your mama.”



Jules did as she was told. I didn’t need to look at her face to feel the tears of disappointment pouring down her face. Danny removed me from the cruiser and I had to toss my head back to get the hair out of my eyes to see my poor family looking on at me in fear. I glanced at each one of them but lingered with Jules before breaking my focus and catching Jesse Thomas, or his angelic alter-ego, smiling at me in fraudulent pity. He intelligently didn’t say a word.



“Sit down here Elliott,” my uncle said and pointed to an old wooden chair.



I did as I was told but kept a cold hard stare on Jesse. He smiled an evil grin when he was sure no one was looking. Danny went outside to talk to our parents and Jules came in from the cold and knelt on the floor before sitting back on her ankles. She wrapped both her hands around the back of my knees and peered deep into my eyes.



“Are you okay?” She asked.



Jesse leaned forward to eavesdrop.



Knowing this I said, “I’m great. I’ll be out of here in no time at all and we can go back to our life.”



“Your life is over Elliott,” he said and winked at Jules when she turned around to glare at him.



I nearly jumped up but restrained myself with everything I had.



Instead, I said, “Lip is lookin’ a little fat Jesse. Sort of matches your head now. You should consider those once a day to even things out. I can work something out if you wish.”



Jules turned back and pleaded with her eyes.



“Don’t,” she mouthed so Jesse couldn’t hear.



She was warning me to stay as civil as possible. She knew the power lay entirely in his hands and this visibly terrified her. This was working out so well for Jesse and it just infuriated me. Whether he pressed charges or not, he looked the innocent, but I knew if he didn’t, it also meant he had something larger up his sleeve and he wanted the police as little aware of him as possible. Plus, it added to his Eddie Haskell-like intentions and he would look like the bigger man. It was a win-win for him. The exact opposite of the catch twenty-two he very decidedly deserved.



Jesse got up to talk with his parents, mine and my Uncle Danny. Jules got up and sat in the chair next to mine. She reached her left hand behind me and wove her fingers through my imprisoned hands. That helped, a lot, for both of us. We were suddenly prepared for it to go any direction he wanted it to go. We were ready. We waited patiently as the conversation became slightly elevated, then died down and ended with handshakes all around.



My parents and Danny came back inside, stomping the snow from their boots.



“Jesse’s decided not to press charges,” Danny said.



“I already knew that,” I scoffed.



“Oh yeah?” My dad said angrily. “How could you be so confident of that, huh? Is it because you knew he was a decent kid who’d forgive even the most heinous of grievances for a friend who basically abandoned him? Or maybe because he just wanted to put this all behind him and forget about it so you wouldn’t lose your scholarship?”



“Is that what he told you?” I hollered.



“Yes, son, it was. He’s a good boy.”



“Damn it dad! He’s lying! Why can’t you just believe me?”



My dad slammed his hands on the desk beside him. “Enough!”



The entire room became deathly silent.



“You’re lucky that you’re free to go today. Do you know how close you came to ruining yourself? I know you think you’re justified in how you feel about Jesse but it’s got to end. These are my demands Elliott, you will not talk, look, breathe around or near Jesse Thomas, you hear me? Or I’ll transfer you to Charleston so fast your head will spin. I’ll call your Principal in the morning and see about rearranging your schedule. Are we in agreement?”



I only needed to nod my head. Jules and I were in this alone and that was painfully evident.



That night I sat at my kitchen table with a handful of my hair in each hand. My mom asked that Jules not come over that night so she could talk to me.



“Elliott, I need to know just how far you think things have gone with the ‘unexplained’ occurrences.”



“It’s serious mom,” I said, shocked she was taking me seriously.



“Did you see any of the things that Jules claimed she saw?”



It was her emphasis on the word claimed that made me feel uncomfortable.



“Jules doesn’t lie mom,” I said defending her.



“Son, I didn’t say she did.”



“But you implied it.”



“Did you see it, Elliott?”



I grumbled in vexation.



“I saw the note the first time they violated her security and that was enough to back up any claims, as you say, she has made. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be in my room.”



If she had anything further to say, I couldn’t hear it. I meant no disrespect but I was so hurt that she, above anyone, would think anything different than what I had told her. I was so hurt that she didn’t trust me. I launched myself onto my bed and let the weight of my body sink into the mattress, heavy with stress.



My parents never told me I was grounded but I was pretty sure leaving the house after my curfew was out of the question, whether I was or not. I had to check on Jules though. I hated that she was sleeping alone and tonight would be the perfect night for Jesse to terrorize her regardless if people’s guards were up. He reveled in that sort of thing. It was critical that I protect her, so I waited for the snores and tucked out of my window and onto the roof below. I swung from the Oak by my window and landed on the frozen ground. My boots pierced the snow and the sound was deafening. I braced myself to hear a rustling through the house but no one woke.



I was grateful it hadn’t really snowed for a couple of days. I treaded lightly through the parts where the snow had melted and my tracks wouldn’t give me away when my dad left for work in the morning.



I walked to Jules’ house because my missing truck would have given me away. I nearly froze from the bitter cold. I wrapped my coat as closely to my body as possible.



The night was dark, too dark for me to see but I followed the sparse streetlights and used them as a makeshift guide. Each time I’d pass underneath one I saw my breath freeze in mid air. I wondered if I would make it there in one piece. I hadn’t even thought about how I was going to get in without scaring her half to death. I’m sure she was on edge as it was. Not to mention, she was probably sleeping in the living room.