Riley Wyler

“Are you sure this is the right house?” Ash asked, her voice slightly quivering. The Idea alone was a really stupid one, but I thought that if I was losing my family anyways than what’s the big deal. Ash and I skipped school just to plan for tonight, and since she was leaving in less than three days from now, I figured we might as well go out with a bang. She completely agreed to my logic, which now seemed no more logic than a chicken crossing a road... pointless.
“Yes, I found it in her planner, she keeps everything in there. Literally,” I answered as I rolled my eyes thinking of just what I saw. I thought my mother was cheating on my dad, but it turns out she was having an affair as well. The thought alone was turning my insides into mush. My thoughts on the topic were interrupted by Ash’s soft whisper.
“What are we going to do if we get caught, you know, plan B?” I could tell by the way she spoke that she was nervous, which really surprised me; this sort of behaviour was not like her at all.
“We run, of course,” I replied with heavy sarcasm.
“Wow, what a bullet proof plan that is,” she said, mimicking my sarcasm and rolling her eyes.
“What are you so afraid of?” I asked while mulling over our battle plans and seeing no point in which we would possibly get caught. Well unless the bastard had outdoor cameras which are highly unlikely in the city of Windsor, Ontario. I mean between all the people who get mugged randomly and shot on the streets you’d think someone would have caught the killer on tape, but that is never the case. Besides, even if there were cameras, which there aren’t, we were dressed in the classical black from head to toe, including the well known ski mask. If anything we would appear to be no more than a black blur.
“Um, let’s see... Going to jail maybe?” Ash said, hoping I’d change my mind and make a run for it while I still could. I refused the offer, however colourful it might have sounded.
“Stakes that high have never stopped you before. Remember the old Dawson house? Do Not Enter; Trespassers WILL be Prosecuted.” I pointed out in my scariest horror flick voice; hoping that she’d calm her nerves when she remembered all the past reckless acts we had committed together.
“Yes, but that was completely different, no one was even living there!” She argued [one point for Reid, Zilch for Wyler].
“Okay, how about Steve’s then,” I said, determined to win the argument and get a move on already. “We broke into his bedroom through the upstairs window while his mother was downstairs backing pie! And all for a CD you wanted back and that expensive video game you bought him.”
“Well, that’s different too,” she whispered, avoiding any eye contact which told me she knew that it really wasn’t.
“Not really... break and enter, stealing, and violation of one’s property.” I was ready to continue but she looked up at me with confusion.
“Violation of property?” she repeated, trying to find the answer in between the lines I suspected.
“Ash you burned all the kids boxers so he’d have to go commando,” I said, not even the slightest bit convinced that she’d forgotten.
“Oh, right,” she giggled at the evil memory, no matter how corny it was.
“Anyway, my point is we didn’t get caught, not even after we’d singed his panties in his own garbage bin and dumped the ashes in all his clean clothes while laughing our heads off. So we aren’t going to get caught this time either.” Ash smiled at my confidence and then slipped the ski mask over her head and said,
“You got the bologna?”
Seconds later we were across the street and in John’s driveway throwing bologna slices all over his very expensive 1971 Challenger. It was almost a crying shame to ruin the paint job of such a beautiful car, but in desperate times, desperate measures are called upon. I knew for a fact that if we ever did get caught our asses would be grass. Not the green grass you see on the wealthier persons lawn, but the dried out yellowed grass that is six feet high because no one wanted to go over it with the mower... basically we might as well be dead. But as far as caring went to anything involved with my mom, was a waste of my precious time, and if a classical car got in the way while I was skipping on my yellow brick road then so be it. I was the eye of a raging storm and nothing could even begin to stop me.
When I was happy with our meat masterpiece I moved onto the garage door. Using the fluorescent orange spray paint that Ash and I bought at Canadian Tire I wrote the word ‘Dick’ in big bubble letters to cover the entire door. I stepped back to where Ash was and looked at the work of art. It was perfect.
“I must say, it turned out better than I expected.” I said, and ash nodded in agreement.
“Well now that we’re done here, we might as well go back to our comfy beds and dream of the faces we will miss when your mom and... what’s his name see the damage.”
“Actually...” I stared
“You have more plans? Seriously?” She asked. I could tell that she didn’t want to hear them, but at the same time her curiosity was strong. I smiled. I had left this one out this morning because if I had mentioned it she would have refused to come with me. This was going to be our dirtiest deed by far.
“Follow,” I said, and was surprised when she did.
I made my way to the gate on the side of Dick’s house and peered over the edge to check for any movement. When there was none I clicked down on the handle and quietly slipped into the yard. Ash followed so quietly that I was sure she wasn’t even breathing. Breaking into an abandoned house, and into your ex boyfriends bedroom in broad daylight was way different than breaking into a strangers house in the middle of the night. And even though all I could think of at that very moment was revenge, I was still beginning to sweat.
To be honest though, I didn’t think sneaking into the back yard was going to be so easy. But what surprised me even more was the open window on the front porch. It was like he was expecting someone to break in tonight, of all nights. I made my way over to it and began to crawl inside.
“No way,” I heard Ash whisper.
“What?”
“We are not going in there, Rye. I mean, isn’t ruining a classic car and destroying a garage door pay back enough?”
“Oh come on Ash.” I moaned. “Aren’t you curious to see how rich this guy is? I mean, if he can afford a 1971 Challenger, then what else could he possibly have? It’s worth a look. Besides, we may just find something interesting.” I said with wide eyes, although in the dark I was sure she couldn’t see my expression. The only thing I hated most was when I had to convince Ash in order to get my way... like right now for a prime example.
“Fine, but only ten minutes and then we go,” she countered, so I accepted. Ten minutes was time enough. I was only half way through the window when my black sweater got snagged on something sharp and penetrated into my back. Tears welled in my eyes.
“Ah shit,” I mumbled as I tried to wiggle myself free.
“What’s wrong?” Ash asked.
“I’m fucking stuck,” I said while trying to avoid getting scratched with whatever was snagged into my sweater. Ash stepped closer to help me get loose but just as she was about to grab my sweater she instantly froze and whispered very softly,
“Did you hear that?” I could sense her fear which instantly made me ask...
“What?” although slightly irritated that I was still stuck. Ash was still frozen.
Then I heard it; a growl, and my heart jumped in my chest. Dick had a dog! As if this would happen right now, I repeated in my mind and tried not to make any sudden movements. Then I heard rustling and Ash say something like, “Want a treat boy?”
I tried moving again, and to my surprise I found that I wasn’t stuck anymore. When I made it through the window I turned back to see if Ash needed my assistance, but she just slipped though like nothing. I clicked on my flashlight and said, “That was a close one.” Ash didn’t reply so I didn’t say anymore.
“What exactly are we looking for?” She finally asked.
“Evidence,”
“Evidence of what?”
I sighed, “That my whore mom is really having an affair with this guy.”
“You already know she is so why do you need any more proof?” she asked with confusion.
I began to say that I wanted to bring this to court, but I was stopped dead in my tracks by something far greater than a little slip of paper saying my mom was guilty...
“Oh my...” Ash gasped. Maybe we should go.” She was frightened, I could tell. But this was big, and I was excited. There were bags upon bags of drugs, needles and pill bottles just sitting on the kitchen counter. And then it all clicked. The very expensive car and how ripped Dick was... He had to have steroids somewhere in this mess of chemicals.
“Are you kidding?” I asked. “We’ve just hit the jack pot!” I wheezed with my mouth wide open. “I could literally bust my mom, and Dick’s ass.”
“She’s your mother, Rye. You aren’t going to bust her ass even though she did hurt you by saying all those mean things.”
“Seriously,” I was shocked. “After everything I told you, you are taking her side?”
“You know I’ll always be on your side, Rye, but this just isn’t right... breaking and entering, snooping around. We could be thrown in jail for this.” Ash said with a direct tone, and just when she’d finished headlights pulled into the driveway. Ash and I glanced at each other, for we knew who it was. Ducking behind the counter we crouched our way to the living room to invisibly peer out the window.
“We have to go, now,” I said to Ash when I saw John and my mother get out of the car. They had started walking to the gate when I heard a gasp and John’s voice saying “What the fuck!” The dog in the back started barking and then footsteps on the porch sounded deep and strong.
Ash yanked on my sweater and we ran to the front door. When my hand was about to turn the knob the lights in the kitchen flicked on. At that point in time my heart jumped into my throat and I was about to give is away. Ash then opened the door, and pushed me outside. She shut the door as quietly as she could but it loudly clicked into place. The dog was inside the house now and was barking up a storm. It had probably caught onto our scent.
We ran like the wind to our get-away bikes on the opposite side of the street when a thought crossed my mind.
“You’d think someone with a nice car and a shit load of drugs would at least have an alarm system!”
Ash laughed in hysteria and so did I as we snatched our bikes from the bushes and got the hell gone!