Chapter 7

• The basement smelled dank and musty, the windows having been painted shut many years earlier. Lee’s form was huddled into the corner, his fingers and toes having lost all feeling. He shifted against the metal bars of the cage and the chain leading to the collar around his neck rattled and echoed around the basement.
• The metal band around his neck had rubbed the skin raw and his eyes flitted open as his body shivered in the cold. A cough wracked through him, the phlegm tearing up his throat and making him gag. His throat was raw and it hurt to swallow, his tongue swollen from lack of moisture.
• The smell of urine permeated the air around him and his eyes closed again. He had no semblance of time and he had no idea how long he’d been down in the basement. His shoulders stiffened as he heard the key in the lock.
• “I brought you some porridge.” Another key scraped against metal and Lee’s eyes focused on the woman in front of him.
• “Mommy…please…”
• “I can’t let you out, Lee, you know what he’ll do, eat quickly before he wakes up.” Her voice was a mere whisper.
• Lee’s fingers were stiff from the cold and the spoon fell from his hands, twice. He gripped the bowl with shaky hands and slurped the porridge up. It was more like a soup but it was better than nothing. It had no taste but Lee didn’t care.
• “I’m cold…Mom…please help me.”
• Lee’s mother took the plastic bowl and locked the cage’s door again. Lee’s head lowered towards his chest and he wrapped his arms around his legs, trying to warm up. The door at the top of the stairs was shut softly and Lee closed his eyes.
• He had long since given up on crying, it just made the beatings worse. His father liked to hear him scream, liked to see his tears and his face twist in pain. Lee had learned how to keep his expression stoic, how not to show any emotion.
• He was twelve years old and for as long as he could remember he’d spent the majority of his time down in the basement, chained inside the cage like a dog. Hours went by and he could smell his mother’s cooking wafting through the door and his stomach rumbled with hunger pangs.
• Lee drifted in and out of a troubled sleep, dreaming of sunshine and warmth, waking up to his harsh reality as he shivered and his muscles cramped. He wished for death, dreamt of death, prayed for that release of not feeling anymore.
• “What the hell is this?” The harsh whisper of the strange voice woke him up and Lee blinked his eyes a few times to adjust to the darkness around him.
• “Help…”
• “Mike, there’s a kid in here.”
• “Shit…we need to go…”
• Lee heard shuffling sounds and then the man’s face was close to his on the other side of the bars. His eyes reflected the horror of the situation and Lee struggled to keep his eyes open. He just wanted to sleep and never wake up.
• Shouting and loud footsteps from the floor above woke Lee a few hours later. Faint sunlight shone through the dusty window and the door leading to the basement was kicked open. More footsteps sounded on the stairs and a man appeared in Lee’s field of vision.
• “We’ve got the kid! Get the medics down here!”
• More voices spoke over each other and then warm hands pulled Lee out of the cage. A blanket was wrapped around his shoulders and a stethoscope was pressed against his naked chest. He was dirty, hungry and giving up.
• “Stay with me, kid.”
• His eyes rolled to the back of his head and he was pressed close against someone. “…need to get him to the hospital…move people!”
• Beeping noises infiltrated Lee’s senses and he blinked his eyes open to a stark, white room with a blanket tucked around him. He noticed the warmth first, he wiggled his toes and a faint smile appeared on his face.
• “Hey…Lee…my name’s Durandt Black.”
• The man wore jeans, a button-up shirt with a jacket over it. He had soft, kind brown eyes and his brown hair was a bit longer than was professionally acceptable. Lee looked at the man as he stood up and pushed a trolley table closer to him.
• “Do you want some water?”
• Lee nodded and the man picked up the plastic glass and held the straw closer to his mouth. Lee’s lips were dry and cracked and he could taste blood in his mouth as he took a tentative sip of the water. It was the best thing Lee had tasted in a long time.
• “Thank you.”
• “They have you on a soft diet for now but when you feel up to it, I’ll bring some pizza or cheeseburgers. Would you like that?”
• “How did you find me?” Lee was hungry but more importantly he needed to know that it was all over, that he was now free.
• “That’s quite an interesting story. A man barged into the police station, telling the front desk officer that he had broken into a house but found a kid chained in a cage instead. He led us back to the house and we found you.”
• “What’s his name?”
• “Steve Jones.”
• “He saved me.”
• Durandt nodded his head as he looked at the boy in front of him. His hair was stringy and matted to his head, his eyes seemed lifeless and dull. He was severely underweight and bruises marked his body. They had taken pictures while he was unconscious and Durandt had no idea how the boy had survived for so long.
• “Do you think you can talk about what happened?” Durandt’s voice was gentle and Lee swallowed nervously. “Your parents are in jail, they’ve been arrested. With your story it’s unlikely they’ll ever get out of jail.”
• “My mom was scared…she brought me food some days…mostly I was hungry and cold. My dad has a temper, he kept me in the cage, beat me. Some days he’d put a collar around my neck and make me crawl towards a bowl in the corner…fed me dog food.”
• “Your doctor noted plenty of old scars on your body.”
• Lee blinked again. Of course they did. “I’ve been his dog for a long time.”
• “Your uncle is here, a judge has granted him temporary custody of you. He wants to take you home with him.”
• “I have an uncle?”
• Durandt’s heart broke for the boy in front of him. He’d never seen anything as horrific as the state of this boy chained in that cage, treated like a dog, the cuts and bruises told a story of horrors that nobody should ever live through.
• “His name’s David Munroe and…” Durandt’s voice lowered to a conspiratory whisper. “He’s a good man, Lee. He will take care of you.”
• Lee didn’t answer him, plainly because he didn’t believe him. Why would a stranger treat him well when his own mother and father hurt him? Life wasn’t a fairy tale and everybody wanted something, nobody was just good.
• Lee spent the next two weeks in the hospital and his parents were arraigned and charged in court. The judge allowed Lee’s verbal testimony as sufficient evidence to convict. Lee never saw the inside of the courtroom and Durandt was the one to tell him that his parents had been found guilty and was currently in a federal penitentiary.
• “Hello, Lee.” The man stood by the end of his bed and he had a nervous smile on his face.
• “Hello, David.”
• “Your doctor says you’re ready to come home.”
• Lee only nodded his head. Home. He had no idea what home was supposed to mean or represent. He had never had a home before, only a cage.
• He followed David out of the hospital and into a shiny, new SUV. Inside it smelled like new leather and he looked out of the window the entire time David drove them to his house. Lee was memorizing the route, in case he had to escape and could find a way to escape.
• The first few months were hard, Lee had terrible nightmares of being back in that cage, being force fed dog food and he was always cold. David and Cecile, David’s wife, were patient, loving and never forced him to talk, instead they just showed him affection and understanding.
• He had twin cousins, Blair and Blaine, a year younger than he was. They were mischievous boys, always getting into some sort of trouble but they looked to Lee as their silent leader, never asking what had happened to him, but sometimes just sitting outside his room and talking to him through the closed door.
• Lee rarely talked to anyone and the Munroe family accepted it just as they had accepted Lee into their house. Lee also rarely showed any emotions, not on his face and not in his grey eyes, his eyes seemed dead to the outside world.
• Three years went by with Lee being homeschooled, rarely going outside except now Lee partook in conversations with his family and his bedroom door remained mostly open. Lee had grown tall, filled out because now he actually ate three times a day instead of once a week.
• “Cecile and I’ve been talking and we were wondering how you’d feel about going to school for the last two years of high school.”
• “Do you want me to go to school instead of staying at home?”
• “It’ll be your choice, Lee. I just think that high school has a lot to offer. There are clubs you could join, sports and friends.”
• “Okay.”
• David smiled and the twins high-fived each other. “It’ll be awesome having you at school.” Blaire was piling pasta onto his plate as he kept talking about everything Lee just had to do.
• Lee’s first year in school went off without a hitch. People tended to avoid him because he was broody, quiet and he sat alone at his own lunch table and nobody bothered him. He wasn’t teased or bullied because he was a big teenager and Lee came to like his solitary position in school.
• “Lee! Dude!”
• “What, Blain? You look like you just won the lottery.”
• Blain was clearly excited. “Rumor has it that Janey’s hinting for you to ask her to the Spring Fling Dance.” Blain was wiggling his eyebrows and Lee had no idea why. He looked ridiculous doing it.
• “No thanks.”
• “What the hell do you mean ‘no thanks’? Janey’s one of the hottest girls in school!”
• Blaire plopped down on Lee’s bed and grinned at his cousin. “Yeah, Lee, what the hell?”
• “Why would a popular, beautiful girl like Janey want to go to Spring Fling with me?”
• “Uh…Lee, have you looked in the mirror lately?”
• Lee frowned slightly as they both started to laugh. “I look in the mirror every day.”
• “Lee…they call you THM.”
• “What the hell is THM?”
• Blaire grinned widely now. “Tall, hot and mysterious.”
• “So…are you going to ask Janey to Spring Fling?” Blain looked hopeful.
• “No.”