Marjorie Liu - Within the Flames

What you’re doing now isn’t like you, Roland would have said. But he didn’t know everything about Eddie.

He hadn’t seen Jimmy’s eyes when he looked at his mother.

Aaron screamed beneath the duct tape, twisting wildly on the floor. Eddie moved with him, though his hand stayed in the same spot — hot with fire, burning the man as flesh sizzled. Smoke rose from between his fingers, and the scent of cooked meat filled the air.

Finally, Eddie let go.

Leaving behind a brand over Aaron’s heart, shaped like his hand.

The man curled on his side, shaking uncontrollably — his sobs muffled, wracking. His pants were wet. Eddie smelled urine.

He waited until the man quieted just enough to hear him, then straddled his body, grabbing his left ear and wrenching up his head. He leaned close, heart thundering, anger making his words thick and hard in his throat.

“I want you to remember this moment for as long as you live,” he whispered. “You were helpless and blind, and you had no voice. And I laid my hand on your heart, where you would never forget me. Where you would never forget the pain I caused you, and the terror. Because that’s your gift to your son, and your wife. That’s your only legacy. . what you did to them. Only it was a thousand times worse because you were supposed to love them.”

Eddie heard the rasp of feet coming down the hall. He tossed the remains of the polo shirt over Aaron’s chest and straightened as Jimmy entered the kitchen, clutching the small ugly dog to his chest.

Someone, probably Lyssa, had washed the boy’s face. The evidence of tears wasn’t entirely gone, and the bruises were turning purple. . but there was a fresh-scrubbed quality to Jimmy that made him look a little less miserable.

Jimmy held back near the kitchen door and looked at his father with big, pained eyes. Eddie crossed the room and stood in front of him.

“You look better,” he said. “No blood on your face.”

He peered around Eddie to look at the blubbering man. “What did you do to him?”

“We had a talk. I made sure he listened.” Eddie steered him from the kitchen. “Why don’t you show me your room?”

Jimmy’s room was about the size of a closest, with barely enough space for a skinny mattress that hugged the wall beneath the window and a stack of clear storage tubs that held his clothes. There were other boxes, but these held newspaper clippings gathered together in paper-clipped packets, and there were other stacks of newspapers on the floor, along with a couple robot action figures. Beside the bed was a cleared-away area for a bowl of water and dog food.

“What’s your friend’s name?” Eddie asked, gesturing to the little dog shaking in Jimmy’s arms.

“Icky,” he said, standing in his room and looking lost in his sweatshirt and big jeans, with his hair flopping over his face. “What’s your name?”

“Eddie.”

“Are you a police officer?”

“No. I’m a detective.”

Jimmy gave him an interested look. “Really? That’s what I want to be.” He pointed at the boxes full of clippings. “I’ve got cases. Murders, kidnappings, robberies. .”

Eddie was impressed. “Have you solved any?”

“I’ve got suspects,” he said proudly, but some of his energy seemed to fade, and his shoulders hunched again. “What did you want to talk about?”

“I think you know.”

Jimmy sat on his bed and hugged the dog until he whimpered. “My dad found Mom at work. I dunno how. He made her come home, then they started fighting. He was. . really mad.”

“How long had you been away from him?”

“Almost two years. We had to move around a lot.”

Eddie knew what that meant. Homeless shelters, doorways, alleys. “How’d you meet Lyssa?”

Jimmy gave him a wary look. “Are you friends?”

“I’d like to think so, yes.”

“She saw you this morning, and it scared her. I thought she’d go away, and I’d never see her again.” Spoken with a hint of accusation, and fear.

Eddie looked him straight in the eyes. “I would never hurt Lyssa. I’m here to protect her.”

Jimmy studied him. “You’re a good puncher.”

“I’ve had to be,” he said. “And I’d punch a lot more people than that to keep Lyssa safe. And you, and your mom.”

He swallowed, and rubbed his eyes. “Lyssa found us. We were looking for a place to sleep, and she showed up and took us with her into this abandoned subway tunnel. My mom was scared at first. She thought we’d get killed, or something, but I liked Lyssa. She helped us live down there for six months, then my mom got a job and Lyssa found this place for us.”

Jimmy’s voice dropped, and he gave Eddie a pleading look. “Don’t tell my mom, but the lady who owns this place. . she said Lyssa paid our first three months of rent.”

Eddie wasn’t surprised. “That’s sounds like something she would do.”

He looked worried. “I dunno how she afforded it. I don’t think she should be homeless when we’re not.”

You are a good kid. “She won’t be homeless anymore, Jimmy. You and I need to talk about that, too. But first, your dad.”

The boy hunched over his squirming dog. “I don’t want to talk about him.”

Eddie sat down on the floor in front of him and held up his hand. “See these marks?”

The boy stared. “Were you born with them?”

“I wish. They’re scars. When I was your age, I knew a man like your father. He hurt my sister very badly, and he did this to me, and other things.”

Jimmy stilled, and in that stillness there was a world of pain, and nightmare, and old wounds. It hurt Eddie to see. It hurt more than he imagined it could; because even after all these years, he was that kid. . suffering. . and it made him angry to think that Matthew Swint continued to have that much control over his life.

“You’re never going to see your father again after today,” Eddie told him. “Not unless you want to.”

“Okay,” whispered the boy.

“But you’re going to think about him a lot. I spent years thinking about the man who hurt my sister and me. I still think about him.”

“Is he alive?”

“Yes.”

“I’m sorry,” said Jimmy.

Eddie let out his breath, slowly. This wasn’t as easy as he’d thought it would be.

“So am I,” he replied. “But I want you to listen to something, okay? Every minute you spend thinking about that man is a minute wasted. He’s not worth your time. He’s not worth your resentment, or your fear, or any emotion at all. He’s too stupid for that. He could have had a son who loved him. He could have had a wife who loved him. He had the both of you, who any man with a brain in his head would be proud to call family, and he. .”

“Threw us away,” murmured Jimmy, tears spilling down his cheeks.

Eddie rested his hand on the boy’s shoulder. The dog peered at him from the folds of the sweatshirt, and whined.

“Hey,” he said, hoarse. “Look at me.”

Jimmy raised his eyes, and it was like looking into the face of heartbreak. So much pain and grief. Eddie tried to corner his own emotions, but it was impossible.

“Jimmy,” he said. “There are a lot of good people in this world. You’re going to meet them, and they’re going to love you. And you’re going to grow up to be a good strong man. . the kind of man who doesn’t throw people away. Okay?”

The boy nodded, face crumpling on a sob. Eddie swiped his own eyes and pulled him close for a hug.

“It’ll be fine,” he whispered raggedly. “I promise.”

“I’m scared,” he said in a small voice. “My mom’s going to be scared.”

“I know. But you’re going far away from here, for a new life.”