Reeseys Peeseys

Reese Little and Tommy Boyd became best friends instantly upon meeting. Reese had moved for what felt like the thirtieth time in his life. He had stumbled into Golden Oaks Elementary school completely green on the scene. Thankfully, a nerdy little boy with a crack on his right lens walked up to him. He had come to little old Reese in open arms.

“What’s your name?”, Tommy said adjusting his glasses into a better position.

“I’m Reese”, He said, holding both straps of his backpack tightly.

“Reesey Peesey”, Tommy chuckled pronouncing the famous candy wrong, “that’s my favorite! So… I know you are new here, and, well, I would like to be your friend. Would you like to be my friend?”

Reese looked around at all the bodies of kids making their way around campus. He always hated having to get used to new schools. “That sounds good”, Reese half-mooned back.

“Sixth grade, right? I know you’re little, but you seem like it”, Tommy continued.

“How’d you know my last name?” Reese asked in complete confusion. He thought to himself for a small second that Tommy could read minds.

“I didn’t, your name is Reese Little? I like that. My last name is Boyd”, Tommy commented.

Reese was always the smaller kid in every school he attended; it was never a surprise. He just wasn’t thinking clearly next to all the overwhelmingness of everything being so freshly baked. “Oh yea, sorry, and yes I’m in Mrs. Bing’s class”, Reese said shaking his head into focus.

Tommy’s face lit up with happiness, and he raised his voice with a, “Me too!”

Their friendship had begun, and it grew strong quickly! They always talked about movies together, they always ate lunch with each other, and they always parted ways at the crosswalk that marked their paths home. “See you tomorrow”, became a phrase that was sad for both. They wished their days of being the dynamic duo could extend!

Eventually Tommy asked Reese if he wanted to come over to his house. He did, and that started to become the everyday ritual for the boys. Then there were actual movies at Tommy’s, and dinners too. Reese would leave a little after they ate, but the boys were satisfied with the new schedule. Tommy’s mom would ask Reese most days if he wanted a ride home. Reese always refused, saying, “It’s not a far walk Mrs. Boyd. I’ll be fine.”

One night after Reese left, Tommy could hear his mom complaining to his dad about Reese. She said, “That boy is a great kid John, but I just wonder why his parents let him do this all the time without knowing us. It’s kind of weird, but I don’t know, times change.”

Tommy lay in his bed that night wondering about Reese’s parents. Reese never invited him over, so he hadn’t even seen them before. That was his best friend! It seemed like they really weren’t friends with all the whited-out information. He decided that the next day at school he would talk to Reese about the situation. It would fix his mom’s thoughts and seal their friendship like some tung oil.

“Can I come over?”, Tommy asked almost nervously.

Reese became serious, “To my house?”

“Well yes, I haven’t come over yet!”, Tommy replied.

“You can’t Tommy, your house is better anyway”, Reese looked away from Tommy after he finished.

“I want to meet your parents Reese! I bet they are cool like mine! My mom wants to meet them too I think”, Tommy went on.

“No!” Reese roared with his voice growing larger than him.

A few kids looked at the two boys curiously. Tommy gave them a quick smile, cleared his throat, then quietly asked Reese, “Why?”

Reese grew a look of embarrassment on his face. He looked like he was going to begin to cry, but he stopped himself. He studied Tommy’s appearance for a second, and then said, “Listen, if I tell you a secret, will you never tell anyone?”

Intrigued Tommy responded, “I won’t.”

It was hard for him to finally say it; he scanned his surroundings in full security mode. Only his best friend could hear him say, “I don’t have any parents, Tommy.”

“What do you mean?”, Tommy asked, trying to solve the math problem himself.

The little skeptical boy’s eyes shifted back and forth, “At my house there are no parents, Tommy.”

Time did its job and passed fast like it was competing in a race. The boys went from sixth grade to life changing seventh, at Valley Oaks Middle School. Their routine barely rewrote itself because the campus was graciously located right behind the elementary school. The only big difference was that school would be divided into periods now with different subjects. Unfortunately, they only shared a couple of those classes.

In Social Studies, Tommy’s second period of the day, he found something that would start to sew its place into his heart. A brunette girl named Ashley was making him feel funny inside his body. He couldn’t stop thinking of her and found it hard not to look at her during class. However, she was a part of the popular group of students who probably wouldn’t want to be caught dead with Tommy. Four eyes Tommy, whose parents barley got around to replacing his fourth eye. He didn’t like people thinking about him that way, and he felt like it was time to fix that.

One day in class, Mr. Kirch asked Tommy, “What year was the declaration of independence signed?”, while his eyes were glued to Ashley’s hair.

As he exited his daze, he decided to make use of his opportunity and replied, “I don’t know Mr. Kirch, wasn’t it signed on your birthday?”

The whole class laughed loudly as Mr. Kirch became a tomato. Ashley smiled at him and he photographed the moment into his memory. Those pretty teeth made him realize that this is exactly what he wanted now. Gage Belle even turned back to Tommy and gave him a “good shit” handshake. Gage was the top football player in their school, and he hung out in the same group that Ashley was in.

Tommy earned a call to his mother that day, but he was proud of it. A couple days later, Gage asked him to have lunch with his group. He hid his cold lunch, got himself a pizza pocket, and sat with him right Infront of Ashley. He had struck gold, and all it took was a stupid joke! Now he just had to impress the girl of his dreams.

That week Reese noticed a change in his friend. He had paid close attention to his eyes and noted to himself that Tommy was looking at the popular group a lot. He didn’t know why he was doing that, but it annoyed him that he wasn’t focused on talking about the details of the new Batman movie. Reese hadn’t found himself a girl that woke up his heart like Tommy had. Fictional movies, and his buddy was all he ever really thought about.

Reese sat in the cafeteria alone the first day Tommy was with the popular group. He ate his pizza pocket but found himself distracted at how much the popular kids were laughing at Tommy’s jokes. Maybe it was for the best that Tommy found new friends. Reese knew that soon enough he would have to move to another location with a different school. This was the longest he had stayed in one place.

The boys’ routine evaporated into thin air because of Tommy. Popular Tommy had been a thing now for about two weeks, and he hung out Reese to dry. Reese tried to keep the mindset that he would be leaving anyway, but he missed his friendship. He loved Tommy more than anyone in his whole entire lifespan. On Fiesta Burrito Day of the lunch week, Reese threw his trash away after eating and made his way to the popular table.

“Hey...”, Reese said hoping to grab the attention of the ecstatic Tommy. Yet no one acknowledged the tiny boy.

“Hey!”, He yelled louder finally getting more than just Tommy’s attention.

Tommy looked at him in embarrassment and looked around his group to study their thoughts. He then looked back at Reese and asked him, “What Reese?”

“What? Are you fucking kidding me Tommy? This is how you treat your best friend?”, tears built up in Reese’s eyes as he spoke.

“These are my friends, Reese”, He said while deep down inside he regretted his words.

Reese’s pieces broke apart inside himself. A monster showed on his little bitty face; there could have been smoke emitting from his nasal cavities. He cocked his arm back and punched his used to be best friends face. Tommy’s nose was hidden by his hand as he yelled out curse words. Reese’s mouth was wide open in shock as he realized what he had done in his minute blackout. He ran away from the popular group, looking back once at Tommy.

Gage looked at Tommy in disbelief, “Man, fuck that guy. You alright Tommy?”

“Yea I’m fine”, He replied looking at the blood from his nose painted on his palm.

“What’s wrong with him?”, Ashley asked Tommy.

Tommy thought about the secret his friend had once told him. He smiled to himself, and looked at Ashley, “Well, I don’t know exactly, but he told me that he lives by himself. I guess there are no parents or anyone taking care of him or something. I think that’s why he hit me too, he’s just jealous that I have everything that he doesn’t.”

Ashley replied to Tommy saying, “Wow, what a douchebag, he’s a loser for that one. Your sweet self doesn’t deserve that shit, Tommy.”

Tommy felt bad but remembered what he had achieved. He didn’t need Reese, all he needed was Ashley, and the others. “We need to get him back”, Gage said nodding his head. It was clear with his smirk that he had already devised a plan.

Instead of hanging out with the group after school, Tommy followed Reese past the intersection. Reese lived on Don Street, which was about a ten-minute walk away from the school. Don Street was a cul-de-sac where Reese was, and it branched off a street known as Sycamore. Tommy had heard weird stories from his parents about Sycamore Street, and they made him paranoid while he followed Reese. Once he confirmed where Reese’s home was, he left back to his parents’ house. This time, rushing back through the ominous Sycamore Street.

He told Gage the location that next morning. The two of them informed Luke and Matty about their plan for after school. They would go to Reese’s and give him his change in return. Tommy had a bad feeling that hovered over himself like a ghost. He didn’t want to sound lame to the guys though, so he kept his mouth shut. He especially didn’t want Ashley to know he chickened out.

Reese found out it would be his last day in the area. It sounded like he was going to be moving far this time around; across the country to some place called Maine. It told him it was time, and that it had enough. Over the years Reese had understood what enough was and he didn’t think twice anymore. He didn’t want people to know about it, but he also respected it. It was the only thing that stood with him, and it was his version of what others called “parents”.

Gage cracked his fingers as they all walked up Reese’s driveway. Tommy could feel his heart beating a million miles an hour. Luke looked over at Matty, and they both nodded heads to pump each other up. Tommy wondered to himself why he had done all this just to make a girl like him. He began to regret his choice even greater but still couldn’t dig up the courage to end the escapade.

Knock, Knock, knock, knock. Gages fist seemed to demand for the door to be opened. “Ready?”, Gage asked as he patted Tommy’s back. Tommy inhaled a deep breath and exhaled as the door opened.

“What are you guys doing here? Tommy what the hell dude?”, Reese was surprised at what he saw.

Gage smiled at Reese, “Tommy is here for his get back, little buddy.”

Tommy looked past Reese into the house. He saw something, something he wasn’t supposed to see. The body of a boy rested like lasagna on the tile floor in the back of him. It was not sauce that surrounded him and his exposed meat. It was obvious the boy was dead, and the more Tommy thought about it, he recognized the boy. He never talked to him, but he had certainly seen him around school.

Zach something, he couldn’t remember the last name. He did remember the first, and the face that was all over the most recent poster. His face was also on the local news just like the others; Tommy remembered his dad stuffing his face with a breakfast burrito while watching it last Saturday. Zach had been missing for about a week, and little old Reesey Peesey knew where he was the whole time. There was no debate that the other seven had had the same fate as Lasagna Zach.

A woman suddenly approached the door and moved Reese to the side like a chess piece. She looked directly at Gage and said, “Hello sweetie!”

“Mom”, Gage paused and his formed fist unclenched exposing his palm, “What are you doing here?”

“Why would you do that Tommy? I never wanted anyone to come here, especially you”, Reese said as a tear slowly trickled down his left eye.

“I didn’t...”, Tommy was cut off by the woman.

Her face deformed into another face. Facial hair grew, and her… no, its cheeks swelled slightly. It was a one-hundred percent matching duplicate of Tommy’s father. His dad spoke to him, “Did you like all the stuff that the news reporter said Tommy?”, his doppelganger father looked back at the boy’s body inside the house, “Zachy-pooo!”

“Fuck this!”, Luke sprinted like he was back in summer combine.

Tommy followed Luke’s lead, and Gage copied. Matty, the only lineman out of the four, was drastically slower. He was sweating already by his third step, but to be fair it was probably because of shock. Matty tripped on the gorge that separated Reese’s front yard grass from the sidewalk. He flew right over the four foot width of the concrete, landing on asphalt. The bloody scrapes that were tattooed from the impact would’ve healed, but only if he had gotten away.

Matty’s mother was now the painting on the morphing monster. She lifted his chin as he laid on the ground so he would look up directly into her eyes. The big boy was crying more than he had ever cried outside of his home. However, this time it wasn’t from his mother complaining about his increase in weight. This time it was because his mother was going to devour him. His fear was right too; she ripped the boy’s nose clean off.

“Now you really look like a piggy, piggy, piggy! Fat boy!”, Oinks came out of the monster’s mouth as a pig nose shaped on its face. Then it ripped Matty’s head from his body.

Tommy turned as he made it out of the cul-de-sac and saw Matty’s headless body slap on the asphalt. More adrenaline shot in his insides, speeding up his strides down Sycamore. Luke looked to his right and became worried as Tommy acquired first place in the race. Then both Luke and Tommy looked back at Gage. Gage did not look like his usual hot shot self.

Gage had been a fantastic quarterback throughout his short book. He was going to be a great prospect for future colleges, and it could’ve gone farther than that! Gage had never been sacked by a defender in his life, and that included practices. He was good at squirming his way out of situations if his O-line couldn’t hold it down. Bad judgement seemed to be the culprit for his last and only sack.

It was like a cartoon; His calves and shoes were the only things left running. Well, they were rolling pretty much immediately after the sack. When they stopped, the play was over for the could’ve been superstar Gage Belle. The two surviving popular kids unleashed their full potential after their second friends’ death. Tommy didn’t want to be popular anymore. He would’ve rather been talking about the new Batman with Reese.

Luke tripped on a slim asphalt lip around a manhole cover. It almost seemed like the lip itself grew for Luke’s crash landing. As he toppled and twisted, Tommy was ashamed to close his eyes and continue running. He did not want to die like the popular group. He wasn’t like them! He just wanted Ashley to be with him! He wanted to impress her! Why did he have to be here, right now, on the verge of the end?

His lids opened back up to a sign that read “Ben Maddox St.”. The exit was right in front of him; the end of Sycamore Street was the cure. Tommy slowed down when he saw Ashley emerge from a bush on the last property Sycamore Street had to offer his vision. She was so pretty, maybe the prettiest he had seen her. Her presence made him slow down until he was a brick wall.

“Hey Tommy!”, She excitedly blurted.

He turned his back once more and he could see a Doberman turn into Reese at the cul-de-sac entrance. He then looked back at Ashley; she looked different with her two-inch-long family set of fangs. Four eyes are much better than being in four peeseys.