A BOBBY STORY: TWO IN THE AFTERNOON

BY BLACKWIND

Bobby Rogers sat cross legged on the soft white carpet in his bedroom, working with some determination at getting a bathing suit onto the Skipper doll that kept slipping around in his hands. Across from him, also sitting cross-legged, his niece and playmate Stephanie sat with her elbows on her knees, chin propped in her hands, and watched with a mix of satisfaction and amusement.

Bobby had succceeded in getting the swimsuit on but the snap was messed up and wouldn't close right, and every time he thought he had it it came loose. He worked it again into place and put all the force he could muster into it, hoping to hear it snap shut. Instead it slipped out of his fingers, tumbling through the air and landing with a soft splash in the swimming pool settled between the two children, spalshing the carpet and their bare legs with lukewarm water.

"Oops", Stephanie giggled, her cheeks dimpling as she smiled.

"Well, at least she got to go swimming", Bobby said, shrugging. He fished the doll out and picked up one of the play towels to dry her off.

Bobby was small for ten, just four feet tall. He was often mistaken for a much younger child, and his quiet manner and soft voice didn't help. His hair, which over the years had been growing darker, was a shade of medium brown. He wore a light blue polo shirt, with white short shorts and white canvas mesh moccassins on his feet; his skin was browned from time spent in the sun.

Stephanie was four. She was a pretty little girl that stood three feet tall and had a slender frame and slender legs. She had blue eyes, round cheeks that dimpled when she smiled, which was often, and straight blonde hair she wore tucked back behind her ears, held with a small bow in back, with long bangs over her forehead. She wore a black polo shirt with white short shorts and white sneakers, and like her uncle, was tanned all over.

Bobby fished Skipper out of the pool and was trying his best to towel her off with the toy towel when his mother stuck her head in. "Hey, you two. It's a beautiful summer day out there. Why don't you got outside and get some fresh air?"

Bobby knew what that meant. "I want to clean the house and I don't want you two underfoot." It was a nice day out, though, so he supposed his mommy was right. "Okay mommy. Let's clean up and go outside, Steph."

"Okay", Stephanie agreed. Agreeability was something Stephanie had in abdundance. She never refused to do what she was told, never threw tantrums, never took things or broke stuff. From what Bobby had heard about his big sister Merry, Stephanie was nothing like her mommy had been as a little girl.

They gathered up the dolls and put them away, and together put the dollhouse up on the toybox, just as his mother returned with the vacuum and duster. The kids pressed past her and headed out into the yard.

Overhead the sky was blue and empty, the sun shining down warmly on the two children. Bobby considered his options: they could play on the swing set out back, have a game of hide and go seek, maybe play tag. Or maybe they could do something else he'd wanted to do. Nodding thoughtfully, he turned to look at the woods that surrounded his house on nearly every side.

Up until he was almost eight, Bobby was not permitted to leave the yard. He was not allowed to go out of sight down the driveway or anywhere near the road, nor was he to go into the woods. If he did, and his mother called to him and he didn't come back right away or he came out of one of those places, he would get spanked. And if a spanking wasn't enough of a threat, there was always the Sheep Monster.

What was the Sheep Monster? A horned, wooly monster than lived in the nearby woods and ate little boys who wandered into them. His mother had come up with it on the spur of the moment and it had been enough to scare Bobby-then six years old-into staying put. That his active imagination sometimes "saw" the monster lurking in the trees, only helped.

But Bobby was still a little boy, and little boys will be curious, if not always brave. Little by little he would creep closer, defying his mother in tiny bits, until finally she just gave in and let him roam as he would. He never went far anyway, and he always stayed away from the road, unless his mother was with him.

Even now Bobby didn't go near the road much, except to get the mail or catch the school bus. It wasn't so much the fear of the bad men who might snatch him up (as his mother so often warned would happen if he strayed too far on the road) but simply that the woods were his playground and a lot more interesting to explore.

Even more than the woods though were various abandoned buildings not far from his house. An old house, a junkyard (not a building, but so what), and an old slaughterhouse building always beckoned. His mother had warned him to stay out of them and he mostly obeyed, but again, his curiosity ended up winning out in the end.

Today Bobby wanted to go explore the old slaughterhouse. He'd been there once, about a week ago, but had only peeked around outside; it was getting dark and he had to go home. He hadn't gotten back because after that it had rained several days, then Stephanie had come to stay with them.

"You want to go exploring, Steph?", he asked his niece. She answered with one of her dimpled grins, her little eyes crinkling up when she smiled. "Yeah, come on, this will be fun." Taking her little hand, he led her toward the woods and onto the nearest path. Stephanie had never been in the woods before and was totally fascinated. Clutching a well-worn baby doll (which didn't have a name) under one arm, she walked by her uncle, often pulling her hand out of his to point to something and ask what it was. They saw squirrels, chipmunks, and even, far off, a skunk.

Around them the woods were dense but Bobby knew them pretty well, at least where the paths, most of them made my deer, ran. The path they were on now was a big one, and he had heard once it was an old road or railroad. He'd been down it hundreds of times of before and could almost tell far he'd gone by how familiar some of the trees looked. Presently they came to the first real landmark, one of the old buildings that so fascinated him.

It was a single store, square structure that had once been used as cold storage for the slaughterhouse further along. There were two doors in, a big steel one on the side and a sliding one out front. The steel one was too heavy to open but the sliding one was usually partway open; inside it was empty and bare, nearly dark, with the only light coming from high, narrow windows in each wall. The trees grew so thick here, though, they all but shut out the light.

Bobby didn't stop to look; he'd already explored that place several times, not that there was much to see. A little further on, though, where the path forked and went toward the other buildings and a highway beyond that, lay the main slaughterhouse itself.

Bobby knew what it was because he'd asked his mom, who had grown up in this area; it had closed down before he was born and nobody knew who owned it. The path that led to it was lined on either side by trees and high weeds, giving to a clearing that the slaughterhouse sat in built partly into the side of a hill. In front of it stretched a meadow and then woods; beyond, the path continued into more woods.

The slaughterhouse itself was two floors high. The top floor had three windows on each side, one in back, and two in front, mostly boarded over. There was a ramp up to the main sliding doors, which were closed. On the bottom a pair of double doors stood above another ramp, which was toward the back of the building. The whole place was made of gray cinderblock, with a rusty metal roof. There were old bones and junk scattered all around, making it both eerie and really cool at the same time.

Holding his niece's hand tight, Bobby made his way down the slope toward the bottom. It was mostly low grass, which was good because he didn't want to scratch up his legs. Fortunately it level out pretty fast. He told Stephanie to wait and went over to the double doors, climbing up a small ramp to them. There was no lock but they looked pretty heavy. Bobby hooked his fingers into the crack between them and pulled with every bit of might and weight he had in his small body.

The door opened pretty easily, and he would have fallen had it not stopped just as suddenly. This left a narrow gap big enough for him to squeeze through, and beyond that, darkness. He motioned to Stephanie. "Come on, Steph. Let's go explore."

"No", Stephanie said with a shake of her little head. "Too scary."

Bobby kind of agreed with his niece; it did look pretty dark and scary in there. He wondered if there were rats. He hated rats. And snakes. And bugs. Not that it ever kept him from wanting to explore.

"Okay, you wait here and I'll come back real soon", he told her. "Okay?"

Stephanie, agreeable little girl she was, nodded. "Okay." Bobby smiled at her, made her promise to stay, and slipped through the narrow opening into the darkness beyond.

The place smelled old and musty but wasn't as dark as he thought; there were little windows high up, like in a basement, that let in some light, and he could see light around a corner to his left. It was very quiet in there. So quiet it was scary, and cold too.

Bobby waited until his eyes adjusted and started to poke around a little. It was mostly empty, some old bottles and cans on the floor, moldy hay, and piles of stinky stuff he stayed away from. He found a couple of old wooden chairs and a wobbly table, and a few rusty tools on the floor by it. The light here was better, coming from a window up above.

He found an old chute in one wall with a big, wooden swinging door hanging over it; a little light came in around the edges. He thought it would be cool to slide down the chute, but it was pretty rusty and he didn't want to get his shorts dirty.

He moved to some of the darker spots and could make out a wooden door, but didn't open it, suddenly afraid bats would fly out if he did, like on Scooby Doo. He laughed thinking of Shaggy when he did that, jumping around and calling it the Bat Toosie.

He went back to the more lit part and found another door; this one was partly open, wide enough to see through. Beyond it were a set of old wooden stairs; it was very light up top, so it probably went to the first floor. The stairs didn't look that safe to him, though. He decided maybe to see if he could get in through the upstairs doors instead of climbing them.

He looked around once more, trying to see if he missed anything, then slipped back outside; the sunlight was so bright he had to close his eyes for a minute. When he opened them and turned to tell Stephanie he was back, he didn't see her.

Right away Bobby started to panic. He ran over to wear Stephanie had been sitting and saw her doll lying on the ground. An image of a bear sneaking up and dragging her away-brought on my a story he'd read recently-filled his mind. He began calling his niece's name, but she didn't answer. Frantically he scrambled up the slope, toward the path, still calling out-

He froze, startled by the sight of a car parked there where none had been before. It was gold and white, a two door. He didn't see anybody in it. He didn't see anybody anywhere. His mind was conflicted, unsure what to do: go over and look closer, run home and tell his mother, stand where he was. He was crying now, scared, confused and completely without a clue.

He turned and started to run toward home, then changed his mind. The car meant people, but Bobby was scared of strangers. Right now, though, he was more scared for Stephanie. Maybe the stranger-strangers?-would help him. He went over to the car.

It was empty, like he thought, but in the reflection from the window he saw the doors to the building behind him were now open a bit. He scurried up the ramp and pushed inside.

He heard a muffled cry nearby, and suddenly a huge hand clamped over his mouth and nose, and a strong arm went around his small waist, lifting him off his feet. He grabbed at the hand over his face and flailed his legs, unable to breathe. He heard somebody say, "You're suffocating him" and the hand shifted off his nose, letting his breathe. He stopped kicking but kept clutching, trying to get the hand away.

All at once he saw many things. He saw a man in a black t-shirt and pants, with small blue eyes and thin brown hair, watching him. In front of him, seated in a chair too big for her small frame, was Stephanie. Her ankles were tied with white rope and her feet dangled several inches above the floor. Her hands were behind her and a blue bandana was between her teeth, tied behind her head. The man had his hand under her chin and was tilting her head back to look up at him.

"See, I told you we'd find kids here", the man holding Bobby said, then, to Bobby, "now you kid, you be quiet, I'll let you go. Don't make me hurt you." Bobby didn't have to be told twice to be good.

The man let him down, and even without seeing him, Bobby knew he was big, towering over the little boy. "He's cute. Nice legs", said the man behind Stephanie. "Sure he's a boy?"

"He's a boy", the man behind Bobby said. The little boy, free of his grip, stood quietly, not reacting as a blue bandana was pulled between his teeth and tied off behind his head. "How old you think? Seven? He's pretty small."

"Seven, six, doesn't matter", the other man said, letting go of Stephanie's chin as Bobby's captor pulled the boy's hands behind his back and began to tie his wrists. "Thing is that he's here."

"Yeah, so", Bobby's captor chuckled. "They sure are growing kids small these days." He finished tying Bobby's wrists and turned him around, grasping his chin and tilting Bobby's head back. Bobby could see now the man was very big, with dark, curly hair and dark eyes. He wore a white t-shirt and smelled vaguely of sweat. "Cute though." He let go and pushed him away. "So it looks like we have a couple little guests for now."

"Yeah, just what we needed", the other man sighed. He retrieved a wooden chair that had been laying on it's side nearby and set it up next to Stephanie. The curly haired man pushed Bobby over to it and sat him down, then knelt and tied the little boy's ankles together.

"You worry too much", the curly haired man chuckled. "They're little kids."

"Little kids who are going to see everything. Little kids we kidnapped and tied up", his partner argued. "Say, doesn't that strike you as a just a touch risky?" His voice rose on the last words. "No, wait, of course not. Not you. Not Mr. Confident."

The curly haired man finished tying Bobby's ankles and patted the little boy's knee as he stood up. He went over to his partner, pushing him back toward the wall. "Listen to me. They're little kids. Nobody's going to believe anything they say. We keep them here until we get out business done, then we leave. Kids get loose, by the time they get home, we're long gone."

The two men came around to stand in front of their bound, frightened captives. "Okay you two, listen to me. My and my friend here have a meeting with another man here, only we didn't know you two were going to show up and snoop around, okay?"

The two children nodded slightly.

"Good, glad we got that cleared up. When we get done we're going to leave, and you two kids can go home. In the meantime you just sit there and be quiet, and we won't have any problems, got that?" Again both kids nodded, and the man patted their knees. "Good kids. I think we'll get along just fine."

There wasn't much "getting along" to do; the bound and gagged kids sat in their chairs quietly, while the two men talked to each other and spent a lot of time looking out a space in the far window. They would look back at the kids now and then, but didn't bother with them.

Bobby looked over at his niece, who had calmed down almost to boredom and was swinging her bound feet back and forth under the chair. Bobby himself remained mostly still; now that it was pretty clear the men weren't going to hurt them he wasn't so badly scared, and he was kind of taking stock of things, noticing how the ropes felt against his bare skin, tasting the cloth gag in his mouth. It felt totally weird to be so helpless like that, but at the same time it was also kind of neat and exciting. At least at the moment.

"Finally!", the curly haired man sighed loudly, bringing Bobby back to attention. Outside he heard another motor, growing louder, then turning off. His little heart began to pound; he was almost used to the two kidnappers, but he was afraid of who might be coming now.

The door slid open and another man came in. He was tall, wore tan slacks and a dark maroon polo shirt with some kind of logo on one side, and sunglasses. He had a muscular build and was totally bald. He had a kind of rough face, a hard mouth and sharp nose. He looked pretty scary.

Right away he noticed the kids. "What in Hades is this?", he asked, in a deep, rumbling voice, pointing a finger at them.

"Take it easy, we caught them snooping around. They won't be any trouble."

"You call witnesses no trouble?", the man asked. He didn't raise his voice; he didn't need to.

"They're little kids. Listen, let us worry about them and let's just get this done, okay? Sooner we're all out of here the better", the curly haired man suggested.

The bald man frowned hard-not much of a change from his previous expression. "Fine. Show me what you got."

One of the men walked over and picked up a bag from the corner, and opened it up. He pulled out a big, white bag of what looked like flour to Bobby. "100% pure, uncut, Colombian. Only the finest for you." "Really?", said the bald man. He looked at the kids. "Maybe I should test it. Maybe on her." He nodded toward Stephanie. Bobby started to panic again; he whimpered, afraid for his niece.

"You saying you don't trust us?", the curly haired man snapped. "Fine. Find yourself another supplier." He shoved the powder back into the bag and was about to zip it up when the curly haired man stopped him.

"Wait. How much?"

"A hundred fifty for the bag."

"I'll give you half that."

"A hundred fifty or no deal", the curly haired man argued.

"You get that only if I get to test it", the bald headed man said, pointing at the tied up children. "I want proof."

The other man, who'd remained quiet, moved up by his partner. "Take the money, man. He shoots her up and you know what's going to happen."

The bald headed man nodded. "Listen to your buddy. Last time. Seventy five without tests, full price with."

"Let me see the money."

The bald headed man reached into his pocket and pulled out two thick wads of $100 bills. He tossed one to the curly haired man, who handed it to his partner. The man rang his thumb across the ends a couple times and nodded. "All there."

"Done. Here." The curly haired man shoved the bag into the bald-headed man's hands. "Now get lost."

"Certainly", the bald-headed man agreed, smiling for the first time. "Pleasure doing business with you." Clutching the bag under his arm, he let himself out. A minute later they heard the engine start and him pull away.

The curly haired man sighed with relief. "Not bad. Seventy five grand. I can't believe we got that much."

"Me either. I thought for sure he'd just kill us and take it all", the other man agreed. "On which note we might want to split."

"Yeah, just one thing before we go." The curly haired man walked over to Stephanie and pulled a knife out of his pocket. The little girl shrank back and whimpered; Bobby did the same, whimpering loudly as the man stepped around behind Stephanie.

"Easy kids, I'm not going to hurt you", he assured them, using the knife to cut the ropes on Stephanie's wrists. He shuffled around and cut the ropes free on her ankles next, then put the knife away and reached up to pull out her gag. "There, that better?"

Stephanie nodded. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." He went over and untied Bobby next. "There. Now get out of here, both of you. And don't ever come back here again, understand?"

"We won't", Bobby promised. "We won't tell neither, we promise!"

"Yeah, you remember that." The curly haired man pulled the door open wider and ushered the two kids out. "And kids...don't do drugs, okay?"

Both children nodded and scampered off down the path, leaving the men, the slaughterhouse, and their afternoon's adventure far behind.