The Price

Of course, Jerry Rolestein knew it was wrong, but he also knew that it wouldn’t be much longer until his family would be out on the streets. With his parents’ marriage already wavering as it was, how much longer would it be until his father’s sanity cracked and he left them? It wasn’t unbelievable, was it? But truth be told, how often does an opportunity come around like this? And it was no mere coincidence that this book would find its way into his locker, he knew that much. No, someone placed it there. The only question now, was the person acting as an angel or a devil?

At 15 years old, there wasn’t much he could do to help his family financially, though he had tried. He had worked evenings and weekends for months now; sacrificing homework and projects at the expense of mowing lawns, laying mulch, plucking weeds, and all manner of odd-jobs in gardening for his neighbors just to help fluff his parents bank account. It was clear that his grades were sacrificing, in fact, he was mortgaging his own future to supplement his family’s finances. What is family for after all?

“Ask me for anything and I will provide. The bigger the need, the higher the price. Be it money, luck, power, or glory – everyone pays in the end.”

He had read the foreword of the book over and over to try and make sense of it, but he imagined that it was as simple as it seemed. It took him weeks to work up the courage to finally write something in that book, he figured he would start small and see what happened. It’s not like he believed that some little black book could really grant him his wishes, but he had flipped through the pages of requests it contained already, each one crossed out, so naturally his curiosity was piqued.

“What’s the harm?” he said in an exhausted breath. Sitting at the small desk in his bedroom, he grabbed a nearby pen and jotted down his small request on a fresh page, a faint smear of dirt glided on the page following his hand.

“I wish I had a hundred dollars…”

He waited a few moments in eager anticipation, but nothing happened. He wasn’t surprised, but he was disappointed. Not that the book didn’t provide as it promised, but that he believed so naively that it would. He suddenly felt jarring pain stabbing him in the side. It moved through his skin as if someone were slowly dragging a knife from back to front, just above his hip. He writhed in pain. He lifted his shirt and saw the scar forming. He felt every inch of movement in pure agony; watching his flesh dissolve away, replaced with matted uneven scar tissue. When the pain finally stopped, he noticed his note in the book was now crossed out in what looked like fresh blood. He wiped at the glossy streak of blood expecting it to smear, but it didn’t, it simply dried into the parchment like paper.

He was so locked in fascination at the book that he hadn’t noticed the stack of money sitting on the corner of his desk. A banded stack of single dollar bills that Jerry knew before he counted it would equal out to one hundred dollars.

Like the gears of a clock beginning to turn for the first time, the pieces of the puzzle fell together in Jerry’s mind. The first thoughts to race through his mind were to ask for a large sum of money that would easily dig his parents out of debt. Maybe he could write a number large enough to cover his college tuition as well, or better yet, buy him a house that would be ready for him after college. The thoughts faded quickly as an aftershock of pain rippled from the newly embroidered scar on his side. All that pain for one hundred dollars, he could only imagine what a few million would cost. It may even kill him.

The door burst open as Jerry quickly brushed the book from his desk. His mother had come into the room, halted by the sudden spur of movement. The look of surprise faded quickly.

“Oh, I’m sorry Jerry, did I interrupt anything?”

“No, n-no,” Jerry stumbled breathlessly. Shock still etched onto his sweaty and dirt speckled face. “I was just, uh. Just. Just reading.”

“Ok,” his mother nodded hesitantly. “Ok, well, dinner is ready downstairs.”

“Ok, ya,” Jerry said, trying to collect himself. “Thanks.”

“And honey,” she leaned back in the room. “It’s perfectly natural, you know. Just next time lock the door, give yourself some privacy.”

“MOM!” Jerry shouted as he slammed the door shut behind her.

A new emotion planted itself on his face: exasperation. A little embarrassment intermingled as well. For a moment his mind was pulled from the book, but it wasn’t long before he found the thought again.

“What am I going to do?” he stared at the book laying on the floor.

He felt he had some great tool that could solve all his problems, but the cost seemed steep. He wondered if sacrificing his body was worth the cost. A thought occurred to him. He was already sacrificing more than that for much less. The ache in his back and knees became vastly more apparent and his slipping grades and waning future ambitions became clearer than ever.

Everyone pays in the end.

He noticed a faint imprint at the bottom of the page. It was hard to make out, but it seemed like lettering. He placed a piece of scrap paper over the top and shaded gently over top. The letters popped from the graphite like old typewriter font.

…omnis enim anima mae…

He knew enough from his etymology class to recognize the language as Latin, but it wasn’t enough to tell him what the words meant.

“Jerry,” his mother called from downstairs. “Dinner.”

“Coming,” he called back impatiently.

He paused for a moment, staring at the book, before going down for dinner. He came down to a surprising spread of food. A whole baked turkey, mashed potatoes, peas, corn, baked rolls.

“Wow,” Jerry gasped at the threshold of the small kitchen. “Mom, how did you-“

“I got a raise today at work and a nice bonus,” his mother was beaming as she straightened up the table. “I thought we’d celebrate and surprise your father.”

“This really looks amazing,” Jerry said as he sat at his usual spot across from his sister Kayley.

As he sat, he knocked his fork off the table. He reached down to get it when his mother gasped.

“Oh, god, Jerry,” she said rushing to him. “What happened? Where did you get that scar?”

Jerry realized his shirt had pulled up. Surprised he tried to think quickly.

“Oh, it’s nothing,” he said as casually as he could muster as he pulled his shirt down to cover the scar. “Just a cut I got a while ago doing yardwork. It’s no big deal.”

“It is a big deal,” she said lifting his shirt again. She paused for a moment looking at the scar, tears welling in her eyes. “It’s not right. It’s not right for you to sacrifice your grades and your health to make money to pay for our house. This is a burden that parents should have, not their children.”

“Mom, it’s oka-“

“It’s not okay,” she snapped, tears gliding down her cheeks in black rivers. “It’s not okay, baby. This isn’t your burden to bear.”

She placed her hands on his cheeks and brought his eyes to hers.

“You are going to quit those jobs you do; do you understand? You are going to focus on your school and get your grades up.”

“What’s wrong with the boy trying to make a little money,” a voice came from the other room.

Jerry’s dad walked in, a slight stagger in his step. Either exhaustion or the alcohol.

“If the boy wants to work, let him,” he said.

“Walter,” she began.

“Barbara don’t start with me,” he said as he staggered to his seat. “The boy wants to help his family and that’s alright by me. School never got anyone anywhere that hard work couldn’t.”

Walter looked over the table noticing the food at last.

“What is all this?”

“Well, honey,” Barbara started, wiping her eyes with her napkin. “I have some good news. I got a nice raise today and a bonus. So, I thought it would be nice if-“

“You thought it would be nice to spend that money on this useless meal,” he said as he grabbed the knife and began carving the turkey.

“Well, Walter, I thought it would be a nice surprise-“

“We are swimming in overdue bills that this money could have paid for and you thought that you’d prepare dinner as if we have funds to spare,” he said still preparing his plate. “Sometimes, woman, I swear you just don’t think.”

“Dad, it’s not-“ Jerry stopped as his father cast him a fierce stare. Jerry saw his sister’s head already pointed down, like a dog with its tail between its legs.

“Might as well enjoy it while we have it, I guess,” Walter continued. “I’ll have to break my back with extra hours just to compensate for your mother’s stupidity.”

“Walter, how could you even think-“

Walter pushed off from the table and grabbed his plate.

“I’ll have this in the other room where it’s quiet and I can think,” he said as he staggered away.

Barbara looked down at the plate with a mixture of confusion and anger on her face. She flapped her napkin hard a few times before placing it on her lap.

“Don’t mind your father, kids,” she said sternly. “We will not let him ruin this meal for us. Now, please make your plates, don’t be afraid to have seconds.”

They house was eerily quiet for the remainder of dinner and afterwards, Jerry found himself in his room, pacing back and forth, his mind plagued with only one thought. The book. He tried to calm his mind, he had seen the destructive effects of making decisions out of anger his entire life, but then again, he had never had the tools to make an actual change before. As he paced his room, thinking of the best way to use this new power, he found his thoughts drifting to darker places, but the answer became clear. While it was not ideal, he knew what must be done.

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The next morning his mother came to wake him for school only to find the room empty, save for a note on his desk. Jerry’s note was long and as she read it the realization dawned on her of what he had done. She refused to believe it, as a mother would, but she understood it. Jerry described in his note where she could find 25 million dollars and how she should take Kayley and leave Walter.

I know that this will hurt, but nothing is more wounding than watching you be subjected to his abuse every day. This decision was not easy to make, but it was a decision that I was glad to make to save you and Kayley. My only purpose in life was to provide my family with love and safety and in doing this, I believe I achieved both. Please, do not be sad. This is what I wanted; this is how I can protect you both. I love you both, and for that I would make this decision over and over. No matter the deed, in the end everyone pays the price. Just make sure it’s one worth paying.

Your son,

Jerry Rolestein