Free PillowFace by Kristopher Rufty

sunrise, we’ll go looking for him.”
    And find him one way or another.  
     

(II)
     
    Joel found the key to his parent’s room hidden in Haley’s jewelry box.  He’d have to be sure he put it back when he was done. Didn’t need her knowing he’d been snooping around in her room.
    He unlocked the door and went inside. The closed curtains blocked most of the sunlight from outside. The dark red veneer hanging in front of the window illuminated the room like an inferno. Not wanting to be in there any longer than he had to, he rushed to the closet. 
    He sifted through clothes, eventually finding some camouflage pants. Then he found a paper bag packed full of what Dad called his grease monkey shirts. Those he’d wear while changing the oil in the cars or doing any other repair work that he could handle himself.
    He took two; one was dark blue and the other gray. 
    He put the key back in Haley’s jewelry box on his way back to his room. He marched straight to the work table to find the mask he’d made out of burlap for a scarecrow prop he’d planned to build.  Having started it several times, he had never actually finished it. Joel took it from the Styrofoam head and quickly left the room. 
     
    (III)
     
    He rinsed the shampoo out of his hair.  The pleasure from his tingling scalp was nearly orgasmic.  It’d been too long since he’d gotten the chance to do this.  After finishing, he took the loofah from under the basket. 
    He used his thumb to flick open the bottle of liquid soap, then squirted a large mound onto the sponge-like ball.  He put the soap back and began scrubbing. This didn’t feel as good as it had washing his hair. The wounds and open slashes screamed at him.  He kept on though, knowing that he had to clean them before dressing them.  Hopefully, he’d get rid of any type of infection before it was too late. 
    He heard the door creak, followed by a light knocking. 
    “It’s me.” He heard Joel say, through the water in his ears. 
    The gash on his chest throbbed when the soapy water filled it.  He screwed his eyes shut, and punched the wall it hurt so badly. 
    “I don’t want to peek, just give me a thumbs up if you’re okay.”
    Slowly, he raised a trembling fist above the shower curtain, lifting his thumb upward to tell him all was well.  But, all was not well.  He was in some grisly pain.
    “Okay, good.  You scared me.” 
    The kid was silent a moment.
    “Hey, uh--I  have something for you if you want it.  It’s the mask you were looking at earlier.  The one you were wearing looked pretty bad off and I thought maybe you’d like this one.  I made it myself.”
    He stood under the water, listening as Joel continued. 
    “Here’s the stuff you needed.”  He heard footsteps toward the door.  “I’ll leave you alone to take care of all that; I’m going to toss these dirty clothes. Don’t want my sister finding them.”
    There was some rustling, assumedly from a plastic trash bag.  
    “When you’re done, just push that switch to turn off the shower, then twist the dial to cut off the water.”
    The door bumped as Joel exited.
    After waiting another moment to make sure Joel wasn’t coming back, he left the water running as he stepped out of the shower.  He stood on the floor mat, dripping onto the carpeted square, and reached over the toilet, filling both hands with supplies Joel had left him on the sink.
    Then he returned to the shower, keeping his back to the jetting streams.
    He twisted the cap off the peroxide and raised the bottle above his head. He took a deep breath, then upturned the bottle.  A peroxide shower ignited the openings in his body like liquid fire.  He gritted his teeth against the pain.  When it had subsided enough that he could move on, he chucked the empty bottle over the shower curtain.    
    Next he took the spool of thread, pulled out a lengthy line, and used his teeth to snip it off. Then he carefully removed one of the