Butterfly Moon: Short Stories

Choices

83 Choices Jessica Corbie was married to Elijah Corbie, a young man who fancied himself a rapper. He spent most of his time every day hooking up with his friends, Sam and Bobo, and with Jessica’s brother, Justin. They all trooped down to Sam’s parents ’ basement and sat around drinking beer and trying out new songs. Bobo beat time on his thigh as he rapped. “That was lame,” jeered Sam. “Dude,” said Bobo after the others laughed at his latest effort, “life is lame.” Sam rolled the beer can between his palms. He made a grimace. “Life sucks.” “And then you die,” said Elijah. They were quiet for a few minutes. Justin mumbled, “You guys got any money? We could go rent a movie.” Bobo stood up and pulled out the lining of his pockets. “See any money?” He plopped back down on the old sofa. “We should do something.” Elijah got up and paced the paneled family room. It was furnished with old furniture and a foosball table Sam got for his twelfth birthday. Two of the little figures were missing their heads. A dartboard hung on one wall, but there were no darts. A radio with a tape deck sat on a dusty bookcase. “Do what?” asked Bobo, listlessly. “I dunno know. Something.” “Like what?” Sam picked at a loose thread on the sofa. “I dunno, I said,” replied Elijah. “Do I gotta do all the thinking around here?” “We could go hang out at the mall,” suggested Bobo. Justin sneered and spoke in falsetto. “Oh! Oh! Let’s go hang out at the mall with all the high school kiddies.” 84 Elijah laughed. Bobo’s cheeks flamed. “Well, I was just saying . . .” Elijah sat down again. Everyone looked at him and waited. He was their leader, always coming up with ideas. Some of them were crazy, like the time he got them all to hop the freight train to Seattle. Bobo almost slipped and fell under the slowly moving wheels. Elijah had pulled him up at the last second. And then there was the time he goaded them all into a scavenger hunt. They had to shoplift items from a list. Bobo was the only one who chickened out. He “suddenly ” felt sick. He was almost voted out of their gang, but he brought them a bottle of tequila and they let him stay. They weren’t much of a gang. They liked to call themselves the Snakes. They practiced drawing snakes on their biceps with blue ink. They couldn’t afford to get real tattoos. They were twenty-one and considered legal adults, but none of them were self-supporting. Elijah’s wife, Jessica, worked as a cashier at a dollar store for minimum wage. They ate most of their dinners at her mom’s house. Jessica was a hard worker. She wouldn’t have married Elijah, but she’d been three months pregnant when they were married by the justice of the peace. She lost the baby a week after the hasty wedding. Elijah looked up suddenly. He snapped his fingers. “We need money, right?” The young men nodded. “Where do you get money from?” he asked. Bobo spoke up. “Work.” When the guys stopped howling, Elijah jabbed a finger to his forehead. “Think!” Sam shrugged. “My parents go to the ATM.” Elijah beamed. “Very good. You’re close.” No one said anything. Justin was worried Elijah was thinking of something very, very illegal. Finally, he said softly, “The bank?” Elijah stared at him like he was crazy. “What, you think we should rob a bank?” Justin shrugged, trying not to look confused. Elijah leaned forward, putting his elbows on his knees. He lowered his voice. “Do any of you morons think you could rob a bank, even if you wanted to?” he asked. Bobo gave a little laugh. “Nah. We’re too stupid.” “That’s not the answer I was looking for, Bobo, but coming from you it makes perfect sense.” Bobo frowned, trying to work it out. 85 “So what, then?” asked Sam. Elijah sighed. “I could rob a bank, but you guys are too stupid.” He held up a hand as Sam protested. “Think about it.” The guys did and had to agree. Elijah was clever in a way they didn’t understand. He went on. “They got cameras.” “We could wear disguises,” suggested Sam. The others nodded. Elijah ignored them. “They got panic buttons at every teller station. The...