A BOBBY STORY: THE CHOP SHOP

BY BLACKWIND

I was six years old, and this was the first summer I was allowed out of the yard. I'd spent most of my time so far exploring the nearby woods, getting to know them pretty well. There were a lot of trails so it made things pretty easy.

One thing I discovered early that summer was the old slaughterhouse building. It was down the main dirt path, really an old road; it was one story high, empty inside, with a big door out front, a heavy steel door on one side, and high windows and a peaked roof. It was kind of spooky looking, but after a trip or two inside just became boring. It was like the far point of where I would travel; to my six year old mind it felt like miles away. After my first few visits I mostly stayed away.

One day in late July, though, I was walking toward it and heard a lot of noises coming from it, sounds like tools make. Being a little boy with insatiable curiosity, I went closer to look, hiding behind a tree to do so. (I was pretty small-three foot two, very slender, so it was easy to hide). I saw men in coveralls standing outside, and to my amazement saw a car come up the path, from the direction I had never gone, and go inside. Then the men went in behind it and closed the door; the noise never stopped.

I thought that was so cool! I even thought about going closer to look, but was afraid of th men. I was so shy men actually scared me a little, some more than others. For some reason men who worked on cars and machines scared me more than others, I guess because they were mostly bigger guys or something. So I didn't go there. That day, anyway.

That night I couldn't stop thinking about what I'd seen-a car in the woods! My curiosity was unbearable. So the next day when I got up and dressed-a white short sleeve polo shirt, short pink shortalls and my favorite blue running sneakers-and went down to get a better look. This time I didn't see any men-but the was plenty of noise. Full of curiosity and a touch of bravery, I went right up to the door itself.

It was open a tiny bit, enough for me to look in. I saw men in coveralls, lots of tools, and two cars-one was missing doors and windows, the other one was covered in tape and paper. I had no idea what was going on but my courage failed at the sight of some many men, and I backed away-

A hand clamped over my mouth, and I was pulled off my feet with a muffled shriek. I didn't struggle as a strong arm went around my mid-section. "Looks like we have a cute little snoop!", the man holding her laughed. "Hey, open the door! Look what I found!"

The door slid open and a man with dark curly hair and goggles on his head looked at me. "Holy cow, look at this. Got a reguarly Hardy Boy here!"

"More like Nancy Drew", the man holding me said, as he carried me inside. "Little snoop was peeking in the door. Probably saw everything."

"Can't have that", the curly-haired man agreed. "Better tie him up until the boss gets back."

The man set me down on my feet, and didn't say anything when he removed his hand from my mouth-it was so loud he maybe did but I didn't hear. The noise quieted down as the other men gathered around to see, while the man who brought me in pulled my hands behind my back and tied my wrists with rope.

"What is he, about three?", one asked. "He's smaller than my nephew. How old are you, kid?"

"Six", I squeaked, quaking in my sneakers.

"His name is Bobby", another man said. "Lives just down there with his mother. Now her..." He chuckled, making gestures with his hands. "A little older, but nice bod, great legs, huge gazongas. I hear she's easy too."

"Wonder if Bobby here is", another man said. "Sure looks it."

I couldn't respond because next thing a blue bandana was pulled into my mouth and tied off behind my head.

"Okay, pervs, back off", the man who had tied my hands said. The man led me to the back and sat me down on a car seat against one wall, then tied my ankles together. "Great legs, kid", he told me, staring at them as he tied my ankles. "Now you just stay quiet. We're just going to keep you here a little while."

A little while turned into a long time. I sat there crying most of the time, the men pausing to stare at me, or come over and feel up my smooth legs. One man sat down and asked me if I'd ever been kissed by a man. I shook my head, and he kissed me on my gagged lips, and squeezed my thigh, and promised he would have more for me later.

One man even took my picture.

In between all of this the men divided their attention between me, work, and talking about Mommy. The man who knew me-I didn't know him-was doing most of the talking, using a lot of swear words. Sometimes another man talking to him would turn, look at me and use swear words as well. That scared me even worse.

I was more scared somebody would come looking for me and get caught, especially mommy. Some of these men were talking about her and saying crude things about her and what they would do if she was here. I didn't understand most of it but it sounded bad.

More time passed, and some of the men came back, rubbing my legs or looking at me; a few of them told me I wasn't going to ever leave, then laughed when that made me cry. The Kissing Man came back to give me another one on my gagged mouth. I was getting more and more scared and frustrated, and then-

"Boss is here", somebody said.

I heard somebody yell "You caught a what?" He had a thick New York accent. "Where?"

A second later he appeared, followed by the curly haired man with the goggles. He looked at me and knelt down. The man had a lined face, was tall, with dark hair and was muscular. He looked me over and smiled. "Hmm, very nice. If you've got to grab a snoop get a cute one. So tell me kid, what should we do with you?"

"I want my mommy!", I sobbed, but with my gag it came out like "I waa my mmphhy."

The man understood me. "You want your mommy? You wanna go home?" I nodded. "Sure you do. Then what are you gonna do? You gonna tell everybody what you saw here? What we did?"

I shook my head. "Oh really now? You're not going to tell? Just going to walk out of here on those sexy little legs and not tell a soul we kept you tied up here? Bull. You're going to squeal the minute you get home."

I started crying harder. I didn't know what else to do.

The man grabbed my chin and forced me to look him in the face. "Now listen, kid. I don't believe you won't tell, but I'm gonna let you go anyway. So you listen to me. You tell anybody, ANYBODY, what you saw here, or that we tied you up, we'll go to your house, take your pretty little mommy away, and you WILL NEVER SEE HER AGAIN. Do you hear me?"

I nodded. "Remember that." He took a knife and cut the ropes on my ankles, then took me outside, where he cut the ropes on my wrists and took out my gag. "Go on, get home. And don't you dare tell or come back here...or else."

I barely heard him, I was running so fast. I ran all the way home, crying. Mommy saw and asked me what was wrong, but I didn't tell her; I lied and told her I got lost in the woods, and a bear chased me. She put her arms around me and hugged me and soothed me, and kept me close to her until I calmed down, which took a long time.

Later that night, when she was tucking me in, and I felt better, she asked me if I went near the old slaughterhouse. I told her no, feeling scared. She told me she'd heard men were working down there, and tomorrow she was going to go see. "Don't mommy, don't!", I pleaded, thinking about the bad things the men had said they would do if she came there.

She stroked my hair and said, "Don't worry, the bear won't get me." She thought I was worried about a bear I made up! "Now go to sleep."

I started to argue but she shushed me, telling me to sleep and we would talk about it tomorrow. I was so tired I fell asleep right away after that.

-----

The next day I woke up real early. I was still thinking about Mommy going down to the slaughterhouse. I got up and got dressed; I put on short denim cutoffs, a red t-shirt and my blue sneakers. I went out into the parlor and Mommy was getting ready to leave!

She had on a pink blouse with short sleeves, tied up in a bow over her bare belly, white denim short shorts with a brown belt, and white sneakers. She was all nice and tan and looked very pretty. I told her I wanted to go with her. I don't know why but I thought if I could maybe she wouldn't go to the slaughterhouse.

"That's a great idea, we haven't had a walk together in a long time", she told me, taking my hand. "And don't worry, if we see a bear, we'll run."

I wasn't thinking about bears as we got into the woods. I was thinking about her, bound and gagged like me. I was thinking about bad dreams I sometimes had where men tied her up and took her away forever.

As we got closer I got more scared, and when we could see it I stopped and told Mommy I didn't want to go there. "It's okay, sweetie", she told me. "I'll just go look and come right back." She was thinking it was because of how shy I was around men, not something worse. If she only knew...

There was nobody outside and the big door was closed. Mommy walked up to it, looked at it, then slid it open. Then she disappeared inside. Just gone like that. I stood there and waited.

The woods were pretty quiet. I didn't hear any noise from the slaughterhouse like yesterday. I didn't hear any noise at all. I looked around, suddenly afraid of bears too. I didn't like the woods when they got quiet like that. I wanted Mommy to come back.

I stood there shuffling. It felt like hours since Mommy went in and didn't come out. I imagined her tied up and gagged and crying, wanting to go home. I was getting sick to my stomach with worry and finally I couldn't take it anymore, I ran over to the open door.

I ran right inside and stopped dead. The slaughterhouse was empty. No cars, no tools, no lights, no men...

No Mommy.

I felt like crying and tears formed in my eyes, then stopped when I heard voices. I ran back outside and around the side. A car was parked there that I hadn't seen. And there was Mommy! And there was...the man. He had his arm around her shoulders and was talking to her; I'd seen lots of men do that. Mommy liked it sometimes, but I didn't think she liked it now. She looked a little scared, and I didn't blame her.

"Hey!", I shouted, not thinking. They both looked. The man frowned, in a real, real mean way. "Well now, who is this?", he asked, in a hard voice.

"That's my son, Robert", Mommy explained.

"Is he now?" The man kept glaring at me. "I bet Bobby's a GOOD boy, isn't he? Doesn't go around telling STORIES, does he?"

I shook my head. I absolutely could not speak.

"No, he's really good, just very shy", Mommy told him. "We should be going. Sorry we bothered you."

"Sure. Whatever. Maybe we'll see each other again...sometime." He looked at me when he said that last word. Mommy ducked out from under his arm, took my hand, and led me out.

As soon as we were far away, Mommy whispered, "When we get home, you're getting the biggest hug. If you didn't come along I think that man was going to make me get in his car and take me away!" Then she reached down and hugged me impulsively. "You just saved me!"

I was a little surprised by that, but it did feel good. And when we got home, I got an even bigger hug. That felt even better.

After that day I stayed away from the slaughterhouse for a very long time. Being tied up wasn't so bad, but those men-that man-was absolutely scary! I kept looking around for him, sometimes dreamed he was in my room.

But I never saw him again.