"The Return of Denny Bakerman"

“The Return of Denny Bakerman”

By Cody Williams

 

1.

            As city owned pickup trucks, dump trucks, and bulldozers roared passed the first ever job fair at McDonalds, the roar of the crowd of job sneakers grew even louder as they began to shout. Young Denny Bakerman watched as his mother, Jenifer, also shouted into the crowd. He began to look around as the dump trucks and other construction vehicles rushed by the restaurant to the construction site.

            “Denny, stay with mommy now. We’ll leave as soon as I get in for an interview.” She said as she pulled Denny closer to her and then turned her attention back away from the child. Denny was four years old and not quite old enough to be in school yet. Jenny, as Raymond, Denny’s father, called her, was responsible for watching over him, as they could not afford a babysitter. Denny pushed himself away slightly, as most children do, and began to look around at the crowd. Not really knowing what to think of the screaming job obsessed adults, Denny began to retreat from the crowd as he gently pushed himself out.

            “Hey Denny!” another local boy who was there with his mother said when he saw the little one. His name was Winston. He was a couple of years older then Denny, but lived in the same neighborhood. They saw each other almost daily so Denny didn’t really act shy around him and his friends as he normally would.

            “Hi Winnie!” Denny said happily. Winston patted him on the shoulder and stood beside him as he turned to face his group of friends also a couple of years older then Denny.

            “Alright fellas, this is my boy Denny! He lives just down the road from me!” Winston said introducing Denny to his friends. “Denny, this is Marco Yates.”  Winston said pointing to a boy who was wearing a pair of black glasses with white tape wrapped around the nasal strap. “And this is Bobby!” He said again as he pointed to a slightly overweight boy wearing a gray sweatshirt.

            ‘Hi!” Denny said waving his hand. The four boys stood for around in silence for a moment.

            “How about we blow this dump!” Bobby suggested.

            “And go where?” Winston asked him. Bobby thought for a moment before answering.

            “Lets just go over there! We can play Frisbee or something!” Bobby said as he pointed to area next to the large McDonald’s sign next to the street. The boys looked at each other in agreement. Bobby reached into a large blue duffle bag that was sitting next to his feet and pulled out a lime green colored Frisbee.

            “But what about my mommy? What if she notices that I’m gone?” Denny asked as he pointed into the crowd. The four boys looked into the crowd and then back at each other.

            “She won’t even notice that you’re gone! She’s too busy worrying about getting in for an interview!” Winston said. “Let’s go!” He declared as the four boys began to run towards the street corner. When they got there they organized themselves in the shape of a rectangle as they began to throw the Frisbee back and forth to each other.

            “Nice one Denny!” Winston shouted as Denny threw one at him. The boys continued to throw it until Marco received it and tossed it into the street.

            “Great job four eyes!” Bobby said as he gave him a shove and a slap on the back of the head.

            “Lay off fatty!’ Marco replied as the two began to shove each other. Winston walked over to the two and separated the two of them.

            “Don’t worry your pretty little heads about it. I’ll go and get it!” Winston said as he began to walk towards the road.

            “No!” Denny spoke out. “I’ll do it!” He said as he walked passed Winston and towards the road. Winston just looked as Denny took charge and walked by. Bobby and Marco began to shove each other around again before Bobby finally put Marco in a headlock and wrestled him down to the ground. Winston turned his back to his young friend and began to tend to Bobby and Marco.

            “Come on guys! Break it up!” He shouted as Bobby and Marco stopped. They both reached up and grabbed Winston pulling him in. “You guys are crazy! Let me go!” Winston shouted as the three boys playfully wrestled on the ground. They continued to wrestle before hearing one of the large dump trucks honks the horn loudly. The boys stopped and looked on as the truck was quickly approaching Denny.

            “Denny!” Winston shouted. He untangled himself and began to run towards the boy. Denny just looked at the front bumper of the truck and screamed as it hit him in the forehead and the trucks large tires bounced over his body. Winston fell to his knees as some of the crimson blood that splattered across the tuck’s bumper also drenched his face. The boys just stood and began to weep as the sight of what was left of his body. His lap was now on sideways and he was wearing what looked like a crimson suite. What was left of his head was cracked and missing a large piece and his brain was exposed. The driver slammed on his breaks causing him to turn sideways and pierced the windshield.

            The crowd began to dissipate and walk curiously towards the turned over dump truck. Jenny also began to walk towards the incident.

            “Jesus Crist! Looks like somebody got creamed!” One man in the crowd said. Jenny looked around noticing that her son was gone.

            “Denny!” She shouted and began to run towards the truck. She shoved people out of the way as she came closer and closer to the incident. That’s when she saw him. She began to remember the day he was born. She remembered bringing him home from the hospital. She remembered him. But that’s all she had now. Her little boy was dead. She dropped to her knees and began to sob.

            “No! No! No!” She shouted as she broke down and began to cry.

 

2.

            Jenny sat on the front row of the Pillsbury Funeral home staring at the casket that Denny was stuffed it with a glazed over look in her eye. The casket was silver and made of metal. She stood up and walked to the front of the chapel to the coffin.

            She reached her right arm out and placed her hand on the coffin rubbing it gently. Tears once again began to roll down her face. Jenny laid her head down on her dead son’s casket and began to sob hysterically. She waited a few moments before she noticed that she wasn’t quite alone. She life her head from the casket and looked to her left. It was her mother, Benny. She had short gray hair in the hairstyle of a perm. She was short, and her pasty white face was covered with wrinkles.

            “Mom.” Jenny said softly as she reached out her arms and started to lean in for a hug.

            “No!” her mother said quietly holding her harms out to stop her. Jenny looked at her confused for a moment and shook her head. The look of morning grandmother of Denny suddenly changed to the look of anger.

            “You b***h!” Benny said to her daughter as she pushed her away. Jenny looked at her mother with a surprised expression.

            “What?” She asked her as if she wasn’t paying attention.

            “You b***h! You’re a b***h!” She shouted at the front of the chapel. Jenny slowly began to back away and continued to look at her mother with a confused expression.

            “Mom?” she asked as she did not really know what else to say. Benny pulled back her right arm and gave her daughter a hard slap across the face. Jenny fell down to the ground and imminently grabbed her face where a handprint was now visible.

            “You no good b***h! How could you do this? How could you let this happen? You just need to rot in hell!” She began to shout with anger. She began to kick her daughter hard in the abdomen and in the face. The Paul Bearers quickly leaped from their seats and grab a hold of the old woman pulling her back.

            “Calm down Benny! For God sake it is your grandson’s funeral, and she is your daughter.” One of them said as she began to shake herself free.

            “No! I have no daughter! You’re dead to me!” She shouted as her daughter began to cry again. The six men carried Benny to the front door of the chapel and opened it.

            “I think it would be best for you to leave!” Another said to her as they tossed her outside. They went back inside the chapel to carry the casket to the hurse leaving Benny alone.

            “You’re absolutely right! It would be best for me to leave!” She said whispering under her breath. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a set of car keys and walked to the parking lot disappearing into the mist of the rainy day.

 

3.

            Jennifer wiped the tears from her eyes and stepped out of the little blue Trans Am that sat in the gravel driveway. The thought of seeing her little boy lowered into the ground was sickening to her. She fell to her knees and began to sob. Jennifer remained there for moment is she finally wiped the tears from her eyes again and stood up. She walked her spaghetti legs over to the front door of her home and reached into her purse to search for her keys. Jennifer grabbed them and dropped her purse down to the concrete floor of the front porch. She took her shaky hands and slowly placed the house key into the keyhole and turned it.

            Jennifer paused for a moment and leaned onto the door and let out another cry of despair.

            “Why God? Why?” She shouted as lightning lit up the sky and a loud clap of thunder followed. Jennifer jumped back startled at the sound of the thunder. She placed her hand over her heart and let out deep breath before finally walking inside and shutting the door behind her.

            Jennifer left the lights off and walked into the kitchen blurry eyed. She poured her a glass of water and glanced out the kitchen window. Another streak of lightning lit up the sky and was followed by an unusually loud crack of thunder.

            ‘It must have hit land’. She thought to herself as she sat the now empty glass down in the sink. Jennifer turned and grabbed a bottle of Alive and took two. She walked out of the kitchen, down the hallway, and into her room. She shut the bedroom door behind her because Denny’s room was right across the hall and she couldn’t stand the thought of waking up and staring into that room.

 

4.

            Jennifer woke up startled at another clash of thunder. She sat up in her bed and reached over to grab her pair of glasses and put them on. She looked over to her bedroom door and saw that it was open.

            “I thought I closed that!” She whispered to herself.

            “You did mommy!” the terrifying voice of Denny uttered at the end of the bed. Jennifer’s eyes began to tear up.

            “Denny? Am I dreaming?” She asked.

            “No mommy.” Denny answered.

“How did you…”? She started.

“The lightning woke me up!” He answered again. Jennifer just sat there in shock and stared at her son at the end of the bed. He was wearing the same suit he was buried in but his skin was different, as he had never been hit. “Why did you kill me mommy?” He asked.

            “No. I…I didn’t! It was an accident! I would never do anything to hut you honey! You’re mommy’s litter man! It’s me and you against the world!” She said.

            “No mommy! You turned your back on me…and it killed me!” He said. Jennifer stood from the bed and walked over to her revived son. She knelt down beside him and pulled him close.

            “Denny, I’m so sorry! I’ll never let anything happen to you again.” She said. Jennifer held him for a moment before she began to feel a sharp pain on the side of her neck. “Denny? What are you doing? Ow!” She shouted. Jennifer pulled away and grabbed her neck. She noticed that there was chunk ripped from it and Denny’s mouth was blood covered. Jennifer fell down to the ground and Denny laughed. He leaped on top of her and bit another chunk from her throat. Jennifer’s body began to shake with shock before the life finally left her body. She let out her final breath and lay there with a shocked expression on her face.

            “Bye bye mommy!” Denny said as he waived his arm and continued to feast.

Copyright 2014 by Cody Williams
Courtesy of TRUE TERROR PUBLICATIONS
A division of TTP Entertainment

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Author's Note

Most of the time, I'm not quite sure where the origin of a story comes from. That's not the case with this one. One day a few summers ago, I was reading the paper and the front page was about a boy being run down by a dump truck at a McDonalds job fair. The story stuck in my mind for quite sometime. I wrote the story in May of this year but found it to dark to publish at that time. I hope you all like it!

-CW

Reviews

[NoelHC]

I remember the accident you used as an inspiration well. How very sad for that family.
This one is a good tale, with your usual twist at the end.
I found a bunch of errors but don't have time to point them out. Just one example "crowd of job sneakers", now that cracked me up! Read, review, edit and then hit publish, but you know I am going to say that.

[Cody Williams]

I see. Thanks for reading Noel!

-CW

[Sami Khalil]

Came again to read this. Powerful...:)..................

[Cody Williams]

I'm glad you liked it Sami!

-CW

[Sami Khalil]

I do. You are welcome...:)......................

[Sami Khalil]

No pun intended. You are one of the best story tellers on this site...:).........................

[Cody Williams]

That really means a lot Sami! Thanks again.

[Sami Khalil]

You are welcome...:)...........

[Dayran]

A smooth flow to the story ... that holds the reader's attention. Accidents do happen ... and it always reminds us if we could have done more. Nice ...

[Cody Williams]

Thanks for reading Dayran!

-CW

[Sami Khalil]

Wow. This is so sad and saddening Cody. I felt so bad for the mother and the grandmother.
I think you have a typo: Aleve and not alive.
Excellent...:).................

[Cody Williams]

Thanks for reading Sami!

-CW

[Sami Khalil]

You are welcome...:).................