Karma Hotel Ch 14 A Promise is a Promise

Beny finds dead Skippy hiding in the basement. Beny promises to not tell anyone about him.

Chapter 14

A Promise is a Promise

Oh boy! It's Saturday morning. Now I can help to find Ramona's baby. Like any kid, Beny needed a job, a way to be important. He pulled on his blue jeans and sent both feet into house slippers. With a hoodie for warmth, Beny opened his bedroom door and bounded downstairs. He slowly crept into the kitchen, hoping to sneak up on her baby. She might be hiding. He found no baby but noticed that the knife drawer was open as well as the oven. They often were. Beny dutifully closed both.

Having decided to give the basement another look, he slowly opened the door to the basement stairs. Stealthy like a mouse, Beny placed each foot on the well-worn oak stairs which nevertheless creaked in response. He looked behind the stairs and under the shelves. Nothing.

His curiosity lead him toward the furnace. Ducking under heat ducts that sent warmth in three directions, he heard a slight cough. It seemed to come from the large wooden framed box that took up the space between the furnace and the old brick wall. He was drawn to stare at it and listen for a moment.

Gradually he saw black dust billowing the atmosphere. His eyes bulged at the sound of thunderous rumbling. A cascade of what looked like fist-sized black rocks tumbled into the box. Once the dust settled, he again heard that slight cough. Someone's in there! Ramona's baby?

Peering through the gaps between slats that comprised walls of the box, Beny strained to see in all directions without success. He looked around and saw an old red metal step stool and placed it close to the wall. Hoping to inspect the box from above, he used it for a ladder.

The rusty metal folding step stool had, at one time, plastic footings for traction. Now they were worn, leaving bare metal. It seemed stable enough for a fifty-pound boy, if he was careful. Beny climbed up to the top of the step stool, which had a padded seat. Beny placed both hands on the brim of the box to pull himself up a bit to peek down.

Beny saw a grey misty form huddled into a corner. No baby, it was a boy who looked to be almost Beny's age. His face was buried between both thighs. With a ball cap on his head, the boy attempted to hide from view.

"Hi. My name is Beny. What's yours?" The boy remained motionless as if he could wait out the intruder.

"Wanna play?"

The boy shook his head, No.

"I got a new X-Box for Christmas. It's really fun. You can play with it if you want."

This time he rose one lonely eye out from under the bill of his cap. His focus darted around nervously to survey his surroundings. After this, he retreated to his private warren.

"Are you sure? Let's go play outside." Beny shared his enthusiasm. "I have a swing set too."

The boy shook, No again. Beny was about to give up. Just another boring ghost. Never any fun.

He pulled away down from the brim of the box and looked around for the floor.

He heard faintly, barely audible, "Don't tell anyone. Please don't."

Looking down into the box again Beny asked, "You mean don't tell anyone I saw you?"

The boy shook his head, Yes.

"Can't you at least tell me your name?" Beny sensed that he was really afraid of something. But holding onto the brim was demanding too much of his eight-year old arms. It was time to return to the safety of the basement floor.

Then he heard ever so faintly, "Skippy. But don't tell anyone. Promise?"

"OK. I promise. Can I come to see you again?"

Skippy gave no reply. So, Beny looked at his feet. His shoulders were shaking. To begin his descent, he lifted his right leg. Too scary. Rising his left leg first seemed to be the answer. But he had to depend on his right leg to bear his weight while descending to the step below. And with an unbalanced load, the chair stool chair slid to the right.

Beny landed on the unforgiving concrete, left elbow first. He screamed, "Oweee! Owee!" Writhing in agony on the cold floor. His tears became dark grey spots on the concrete.

Bob was in the kitchen preparing pancakes, a family favorite when he heard Beny's cries. In a flash, he ran downstairs to the basement. "Beny! What happened?"

"I fell off the stool. Oweee! It hurts, Daddy!" Beny's left elbow was now swollen.

"Let me take you into the kitchen. This needs ice." He scooped Beny up from the floor, careful to not touch the injured elbow. He got Beny situated on a kitchen chair with his left elbow resting on a towel on the table. Next, he filled two large plastic bags with ice. He then poured water inside of them, to better deliver cold to Beny's elbow.

Bob gave him ten minutes to calm and let the cold begin doing its job before asking questions.

"Beny, how did you fall down so hard?" His father was concerned. "Your elbow must really hurt."

"I fell off a stool." Beny did not offer anymore information, preferring to focus on the pain instead.

"What stool?"

"That red one."

"That old piece of junk! Beny, can't you tell whether or not a stool can...ah?" Oh what can I expect of a seven-year old anyway. "Were you trying to reach something?"

On top of the pain, Beny was dreading the inevitable questions. "Oh, I dunno. Just reaching up, I guess."

Bob spread his hands. "Just reaching up....for?"

"I dunno." Then, he bent over crying out, "Oweee! Oweee!" "It hurts so bad Daddy." The distraction was working. But for how long?

"Let's let the ice reduce the pain. I'll get some aspirin too. But I still want to know more about why you were on that old wobbly stool. It must be at least forty years old. That was dangerous." Bob climbed the stairs to find some aspirin in the second-floor bathroom cabinet.

That gave Beny a moment to think about his dilemma. A promise is a promise. But to tell a lie is bad. Beny wondered about Skippy? Why is he there in the box? And what to tell Mom and Dad. With two interrogators, Beny felt doomed.

The interrogation lasted five minutes till Beny pleaded, "Can I just not talk about it?" An offer neither Bob nor Lauren could refuse. It sounded reasonable for the time being.

"All right Beny," Lauren concluded. "We want to keep watch on your elbow. If it still hurts really bad by this afternoon, we'll take you to a doctor. All right? In the meantime, ice."

Bob added, "How about a pancake?"

End of Chapter 15

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