Yes.
Owen kept his arm at his side the entire time, just as Toby knew he’d do.
It was cruel to keep his best friend chained up like this. Sure, Owen loved getting to interact with somebody besides Toby (excluding the unfortunate animals he killed for food) but these conditions were becoming tiring. It was sadistic, as if he were bringing his son to gape at the sideshow freak every three or four days.
Regardless, it was several more months before Toby felt comfortable enough to let Garrett see him without the chains.
1996
There was no danger.
None at all.
Owen was gentle, even when Garrett started roughhousing with him a bit. Yes, Toby had to call for them to stop a couple of times-okay, a few times-when the game of tag got too feisty, but his son was far rowdier than his monster. Owen played with him like a grandfather might-having fun, but always aware that he was the adult and Garrett was the child and that it was his responsibility to make sure Garrett didn’t get hurt.
Garrett loved feeding him. He’d toss popcorn and beef jerky and jelly beans into his mouth, and Owen would show off his impressive catching abilities with far more glee than he’d ever shown with Toby. It was as if having a kid around made the monster feel young again.
“We should build a roller coaster out here for him,” said Garrett.
“No way. How much do you think a big guy like him pukes? We can’t be cleaning that up all day.” He playfully tapped Garrett on the head. “Use your brain, boy.”
“What about a merry-go-round?”
“No offense to Owen, but if I build a merry-go-round, it’s going to be for your sister.”
“She could use it, too.”
“How about we build him a chair? A rocking chair. You exhaust the hell out of the poor guy, and he needs something to relax in after you’re gone.”
Yes.
Garrett was fascinated by Owen’s love for ice cream, but not a fan of the process of lugging an ice-filled cooler out there to provide his friend with a nonmelted treat. However, once the first snow fell, the three of them scooped snow into bowls, added syrup, and had homemade slushies.
“Are you sure I can’t bring him to school?”
“You will never, ever be allowed to take him to school. He’s not a show-and-tell project.”
“What about his tooth?”
“No.” Owen had lost another tooth, and Garrett had volunteered to keep it under his pillow and split the unquestionably huge Tooth Fairy payout with Owen. Toby explained that the Tooth Fairy’s payment process was not based on tooth size, and that, no, he could not put the tooth under his pillow, and no, he could not bring it home, and actually, he shouldn’t even be touching it because, no offense to Owen, it was a nasty, smelly tooth.
“Will I ever be allowed to come out here by myself?” Garrett asked.
“Sure.”
“When?”
“When I’m dead.”
“But that’s going to be a long time!”
“And don’t sound so disappointed about that! What you mean is, ‘Gosh, Daddy, I hope you live forever and ever, even if it means that I never get to see Owen all by my lonesome.’”
“ ‘Gosh, Daddy, I hope I get to see Owen by myself tomorrow!’”
“Garrett!”
“I was joking!”
“Did you think it was a funny joke? Do you think it makes me feel good to hear you say things like that? Both you and Owen will be really sad if I die.”
“I said I was only kidding! Jeez!”
“I don’t care if you were kidding or not. There are some things you don’t joke about. I think it’s time to go home.”
Garrett folded his arms over his chest. “I’m staying.”
“No, you’re not. And if you keep up that attitude, I won’t bring you back.”
“Then I’ll tell everyone.”
Toby simultaneously wanted to throttle his son, and double over and throw up. “What did you say?”
“I’ll tell.”
“You’ll tell, huh? You’ll break your promise to me? Your blood promise?”
“There wasn’t any blood.”
“You know what I mean. I know that you’re just kidding, that you wouldn’t really tell anybody, but it’s really horrible of you to say something like that, even when you’re mad. What do you think they’ll do to Owen if they find him?”
“I don’t know.”
“They’ll kill him. They’ll cut him apart and study him. Is that what you want to happen to your best friend?”
Garrett looked mortified. “No.”
“Then you need to apologize to him.”
“I’m sorry, Owen,” Garrett said in a very soft voice.
“And apologize to me.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You’re not coming back for two weeks. And no Nintendo.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
1997. Age 52.
“Has Owen ever eaten anybody? Hey, Owen, have you ever eaten anybody?”
No.
“Would you ever eat anybody? I mean people.”
“Of course he wouldn’t,” Toby said. “Why would you even ask something like that?”
“If I were Owen, I’d eat people.”
“Well, that’s because you’re one disturbed little boy. Why would you eat people? Just people who were mean to you?”
Garrett shook his head. “I’d start with them, I guess. If I were a big monster like that, I wouldn’t just eat rabbits and squirrels and stuff.”
“He also eats deer.”
“Yeah, but I’d go for more challenging prey.”
“More challenging prey? What books have you been reading?”
“It’s this game I borrowed where you have to hunt humans because they’re the ultimate prey.”
“I’m so very happy to see that you’re basing your sense of morality on video games. Don’t talk to Owen about eating people. Ten-year-old boys aren’t supposed to be that sick. And you’re only talking to get out of work. C’mon, stop being a slacker.”
They were doing some desperately needed repairs on Owen’s shack, which they’d avoided during snowy season but which they could no longer justify postponing now that spring was here. Some of the wood had started to rot, and Toby had decided that even a creature in the forest deserved better accommodations than this.
