Free Skulls by Tim Marquitz Page B

of sleep at last.

Chapter Twelve
    The door to Jacob’s room flew open. Jacob popped up in bed as his father stormed in. He saw the fury in his eyes.
    “Turn that fucking shit off!”
    His dad came at him, the smell of the bar leading the way. Jacob covered his head with his arms. He suddenly noticed the music and realized he’d brought this on himself. Before he could apologize, his dad grabbed his arm. His strong fingers sunk deep into the muscle.
    “Did you hear me?”
    He yanked Jacob from under the covers and threw him at the stereo. Jacob tumbled across the bed and slammed into the small table. A sharp pain stung his temple as he and the table crashed to the floor. The stereo dropped onto his back and went silent, the CDs flying.
    His father went to step around the bed, but stumbled, nearly falling. His hand on the mattress to steady him, he didn’t move from there. He growled as Jacob scrambled to put his back against the wall.
    “This is my house, you little bastard. As long as you live here you’ll follow my rules.” His voice was raspy, his words slurred. He pointed a condemning finger at Jacob. “When you pay the bills, you can blast your damn devil music all you want. But until then, I don’t want to hear it.”
    Jacob nodded and muttered, out of breath, “Yes sir.” Sharp stabbing pains rippled along the side of his head.
    His father straightened and glared at Jacob. His eyes seemed to swirl in their sockets and he rubbed at them. As if he’d forgotten about Jacob, he turned and stumbled from the room. He slammed the door on his way out.
    Jacob trembled as he stared at the door. Heavy-booted footsteps trailed away to the other side of the trailer. He heard Ann’s voice, then the thunder of his father’s. She went quiet. After a few loud moments, his father did too.
    It was a few minutes later before Jacob managed to catch his breath. He reached up and touched his temple. He hissed and drew his hand away. There was blood on it. It wasn’t a lot, but his head throbbed.
    He got to his feet slow, his heart still pounding in his chest. His head twinged with every beat. Rather than go to the bathroom and tend his wound, Jacob pulled a shirt from his closet and set it against his temple. He held it there until the bleeding stopped. Once it had, he tossed the shirt onto the overturned table and crawled into his bed. He pulled the covers over his head and lay there trembling.
    It would be after dawn before he found the courage to sleep. The sound of his father’s truck rumbling down the street played him out.

Chapter Thirteen
    Hours later, Jacob dragged himself from bed. His head pounded as he stood. Blurry-eyed and tired, his dreams haunted him. He stared at the clock, which still lay on the floor, for several minutes before the time cleared in his head, two p.m.. He left the table and stereo where they were and staggered off for a shower.
    Intermittent flashes of the night before accompanied the flow of water that streamed over his head. It ran red for a moment and he felt a biting sting at his temple. He took a deep breath and waited it out. After a moment or two, the pain eased to a tolerable level.
    When the warm water finally cleared his mind, the angry dreams he’d woken up to slipped into the background clutter of his head. Once he felt a little better, he dragged himself out of the shower to get ready.
    Ann snored in her room as he slipped out of the trailer. He shut the door quietly and headed off down Sudderth. Jacob ran across the street and made his way to the library. Catching the librarian just as she opened the door at noon, Jacob mumbled a greeting. He traipsed inside to where they had the public access computers.
    Cass already suspicious of him and wondering what was going on, he didn’t want to bother her for her computer again. He touched his temple and winced as he thought about it. He didn’t know what to tell her. She didn’t need to know everything. At least now, she only