Kev Read Online Free Page B

normal, but there was a bloody
hole in my pants. How many pieces of clothing had I destroyed while
playing The Show?
    “What just happened?” I said.
    “You lost,” said Clive, coming behind me and
putting me into a chokehold. I couldn’t break free and soon blacked
out, saw a flash of light and found myself on the ground, Clive
standing over me.
    “What just happened?” I said.
    “You tell me,” said Clive. “Are you ready for
the next challenge?”
    “How about I give you a challenge,” I said,
the memory of falling and being choked by Clive still in my mind
but fading fast.
    “What challenge?” said Clive.
    “How about we play let’s drown Clive in the
stream?”
    Clive laughed harder than I had ever heard
him laugh before. When he stopped, he wiped his eyes and said,
“Won’t work.”

 
    Clive sometimes wrote in my journal, although
he never would tell me what he wrote, and I never read any of it. I
now know why, but at the time I just thought Clive’s thoughts were
better left to Clive.
    Later that summer, Uncle Joe flew up and
brought Clive and me down to Macon for a couple of weeks. Uncle
Joe’s model airplane collection fascinated Clive. Getting to fly
some of those model airplanes on Uncle Joe’s airstrip blew his
mind. When we weren’t flying planes, Clive and I went to the park,
where we would play The Show, the show I only sometimes remembered
playing in the past. In a five-day period, I broke my arm three
times, punctured an eye, almost had my ear cut off, and fractured
several ribs, all injuries that quickly healed.
    You might ask why I didn’t question any of
this. At the time, I didn’t know it was something I should
question. Throughout my life, all of my injuries had always healed
in a matter of seconds. I had never had any serious injuries while
around my family or friends (other than Clive), so nobody noticed,
and I never thought much of it. Of course, I knew in some vague way
that other kids were not like me, but I never really saw anyone
other than my parents get seriously injured, and I didn’t remember
that. So, to me, the healing didn’t seem abnormal or unnatural.
    On our sixth day with Uncle Joe, while at the
park, the girl appeared as I was picking myself up off the ground
after jumping off the top of the fort for at least the tenth time
that day, all a part of The Show.
    “Hey, dummies,” she said.
    Clive looked closely at the girl, a strange
look in his eyes, and said, “Who are you?”
    “I don’t think I know you well enough to tell
you that,” she said.
    “I’m Kev,” I said, dusting off my jeans.
“This is Clive.”
    “I know who you are, Kev, you doofus,” she
said.
    “You do?”
    “I knew you wouldn’t remember,” she said.
    “Remember what?” I said.
    “Me.” She held out her hand, showing me her
ring. “Do you remember that?”
    The ring looked familiar, but I couldn’t
place it. “Not sure,” I said.
    “You gave it to me,” she said.
    “Kev has a girlfriend,” shouted Clive.
    “I do not,” I said.
    “I’m his wife, Clive,” said the girl.
    “Excuse me,” said Clive, the strange look in
his eyes now transformed into something else, understanding.
“Where’s your ring, Kev?”
    I looked at my bare hands. “I don’t
know.”
    The girl came over to me and gave me a kiss,
and Clive, in his ever-cheerful way, sung, “Kev and the girl,
sitting in a tree, k i s s i n g, first comes love, then comes
marriage, then comes baby in a baby carriage.”
    “Shut up,” I said, annoyed. I knew that I had
a tendency to forget things, and was certain that I knew this girl,
but for the life of me couldn’t remember her name. “I’m sorry I
forgot you. I forget a lot of people.”
    “That’s okay, Kev. You’ll remember
eventually. So, what are you guys playing?”
    “We’re playing The Show. Kev is the
contestant. Do you want to play? You can be a contestant too,” said
Clive, a wicked grin on his face.
    “You don’t want to be on