Lenny’s Dad pulled up in our driveway one Saturday afternoon, still driving that rusty, green Nova with the sagging ceiling. Lenny and I had been friends in grade school before his mom and dad got divorced and he had to move to another part of town and go to a public school. I still went to the private school, although I didn’t much like it.

It was a religious school where they did a lot more bible thumping than teaching. My Saturday visits to the movie theater with him and his Dad were a sort of relief from the monotony of continual judgemental preaching. The fact that we were going to an R rated monster or slasher flick instead of some G rated, family friendly cheese was also a thrill.

Who cares about that mess? So boring.

Anyway, I put on my Nike’s and met them outside and teased his dad a bit. He didn’t have his own place after the divorce and was living with his own mom in a two bedroom apartment. I never said this but.. “Dude, get a job, man, so you can actually buy Lenny some decent shoes!” I never said it though, but I sure thought it.

We all got back in the green Nova and took off for the movie theater in the southside of town near the old mall. I don’t remember the movie much. It was a standard low budget slasher flick that littered every theater in the country trying to cash in on the Friday the 13th craze.

What I remembered most was what happened after we started to leave. As we got to the lobby, I reached into my pocket and got the candy out and started chewing on the little candy tablets. It had that tart/sour flavor that usually makes your mouth start to squeeze together in a sort of weird kissy face. It was good though, that is until I looked at the roll of candy itself and noticed that the other end had also been opened slightly.

“My candy roll looks like it’s already been opened from the other end.”

Lenny’s Dad didn’t miss a beat in his stride. He continued walking ahead,lumbering along and seemed to ignore what I had said. Lenny stepped a little closer to look at it.

Then, his Dad said “Did the candy taste funny?”

I looked back towards him and he hadn’t even turned around to look at me or Lenny. He just kept slowly walking towards the theater door.

“I don’t know. Tasted just fine to me”

He then lifted his head and shook it. I could almost feel the eye roll without seeing it.

“What?”

He finally stopped and turned his head towards me, but only over the right shoulder.

“You know that people have been putin’ cyanide in candy, right? “

I remember just freezing in the spot right then. “Cyanide? No. It can’t be”

He then started making his way to the car still shaking his head.

“You’re not serious. C’mon man!”

He calmly opened the driver’s side door and motioned for us to get in. His face was just a blank stare as he started the car.

“I hope you have everything in order. You’ve got seven hours left; maybe less.”

“What?!”

He pulled out of the parking lot and started heading down the road, eyes always looking forward. Suddenly, I started to feel as if I was suffocating. Lenny’s dad was a big man and overweight too, like my granddad and he took up most of the room in the Nova. I was squeezed right in between him and Lenny, he always looked like he was flattening himself to the passenger side door, hoping to jump out of the car.

“It takes about seven hours for the poison to take effect” he replied in a flat tone.

“Your kiddin’ me, man!”; I shouted, more to convince myself really. I felt something like a lead balloon forming in my stomach. I told myself that he was kidding and that he was trying to get me back for all that teasing I did. That had to be it. Part of me even believed it.

“It’s your own fault, you know”

“Hunh? I didn’t ask for this! I just asked for candy!”

He shook his head and this time, I saw him roll his eyes. “You should’ve checked the wrapper to make sure it wasn’t opened already. Now, you’re just gonna die.”

“What are they going to do when we get to the hospital?”, Lenny asked earnestly.

His Dad shrugged his shoulders and shook his head again. “Probably nothin’ They’ll just tell you what you already know. We’ll have to call your folks when we get there.”

As he drove, I noticed that we were not anywhere near my neighborhood. We had already passed the exit to the southside and were headed north to the city hospital. That’s when it really hit me.

Dying. I was really dying.

I felt my face grow hot and my eyes started clouding up with tears and tried hard to keep my lips from trembling.

“It’s not fair…” I mumbled. It felt like one of those old movies you see about a criminal or a prisoner being brought to the gallows to be hanged. Every step feels heavy and slow and you wanna run away but can’t. All you can do is delay the inevitable sinking feeling as the noose tightens around your neck just before they ask if you have any last words.

I was only 11. Why would anyone want to kill an 11 year old?

I think I heard Lenny arguing with his Dad about cyanide, but by the time, I was paying attention, his Dad was already scowling and shouting that Lenny didn’t know what the hell he was talking about and that he only got that information from his mother and her ‘damn books’

How did this happen? Did Lenny do it? Did his Dad poison me?

Lenny used to tell me about how horrible his dad was. I didn’t want to believe him but now that I’m in the car with him and I’m dying and his Dad is practically cheering it on like it’s a touchdown at a football game!

Lenny was right.

As we came to a stop near the hospital, his Dad motioned for Lenny to open the door and let me out. Lenny stepped out and I slowly scooted over and got out of the car. I think I was visibly shaking by this time. I saw the hospital looming in front of me. The windows seemed to stare at me like a judge pronouncing a death sentence. “Bud, you are pronounced guilty by reason of being completely stupid and incompetent. You bought candy without checking to see if it had been opened, so because of your stupidity, you are going to die! May God be with you!”

Maybe this was the religious school’s revenge for me being un christian or something or for not following the rules,or for not reading my bible lessons. Who knows?

That’s when I heard it

The laughter. The cruel laughter coming from that rusty green Nova. It seemed to echo off the bricks of the walkway to the hospital and spit at me mercilessly. It reminded me of those stories they kept telling me in school about a devil dressed all in red, holding a pitchfork and mocking those who made their way to hell’s fiery domain.

“That was unforgivable!” I screamed as I got back into the car, knowing full well that I had no choice. I remember screaming and shouting and he just kept on laughing just like it was all cheap entertainment to him. I really wanted to hit him. I was that enraged. Of course, I couldn’t. We were both stuck in the car with him.

After I got home. I went inside and told my grandparents everything. They couldn’t do anything about it except to listen and let me know that it was over and that I was going to be okay.

I stopped having Lenny come over for visits after that. I didn’t really blame him because he was just as much a victim as I was, and probably even more. I just couldn’t deal with his dad and I had a choice.

Years later, I actually saw Lenny again after we had both turned 18. He was working at a theme park and I just happened to be on the ride where he was working. I felt his eyes on me but…. I dared not look at him. I didn’t want to be reminded of that day at all