Drown #13: the story we tell, part 5.5

August 2086. Justin Kim is 26. Willow Nova is 5. Jeremiah Day is 29. 

* content advisory for Drown #13: the story we tell, parts 5.4-5.5: violence/gore


The little voice inside Willow’s watch said, "Keep talking to me, Willow. Can you crouch down on the floor and cover your face?"

"I can't. Justin needs help," Willow said.

"We're coming to help. We'll be there in three minutes. We can count together. Do you like to count? But first, I need you to stay safe. Can you get away from the glass?"

Willow couldn't do that. She saw was Justin’s arm fall limp to the ground, and in the pit of her stomach she felt a panic rise up inside her. She knew she wasn’t allowed to touch the door locks, but there was no question about it. She had to unlock that door. She got out of the car and burst across the concrete.




"Stop hurting my Justin!" She leapt and balled up her fists and jumped onto Jeremiah's back, a tiny fury of spit and nails and teeth. She bit him hard until he let go of Justin's neck to throw her off.

"You little witch, you bit me!"

Hitting the ground didn’t really hurt very much, but she started to cry anyway. Jeremiah reached down and pulled her to her feet.


"I'm sorry, baby," Jeremiah said. "But look, you're okay. You're fine. Hell, you're light as a feather, you just fell right off. But you're okay. See? Come on, now."

"You hurt my Justin. You’re not allowed to do that!"

"You're right. You're so smart. I'll stop right now. See, this is all that I wanted. I just wanted you. I already feel so much better."

Justin wasn’t moving. He needed to wake up. The lady in Willow's watch had stopped talking, and now the watch made a dull static sound instead.

"What's that sound?" Jeremiah asked. "Where is that sound coming from?"

"Get away! You hurt my Justin. You're not nice."


"But Willow, he took my family. It wasn’t fair. But you’re right, my bad temper. You’re so smart. You’re so good. How about you come live with me and help me be good like you? What do you say? Let’s go for a drive. You'll make me feel so happy, I won't have a bad temper anymore."

"No, I'm not allowed."

"But you are. I'm your daddy, and I say that you're allowed. Willow, I only ever wanted to be your daddy. They never gave me a chance. I would be so good to you if you would just let me. This is the only way. Come on, now. We don’t have much time, our train is leaving soon. I have the tickets in my car. We’re going to have so much fun together."

"No! No! No! No!"

"Stop shouting, somebody will hear you. Come here, come with me."

She snapped her teeth at him again.

"You little brat, you sure have a biting problem. Who raised you to act like that? I tell you what, my dad would have beat my ass black and blue if I disrespected him the way that you are right now!"


"I need to talk to Mama. Justin, Justin, wake up. He needs a Band-Aid."

"That doesn’t matter. Willow, he doesn't matter to you. He’s not your dad. I don’t know what he told you, but he’s not your dad. I am."

Jeremiah shook his head and looked around her, up and down.

"What is that noise?" He followed the sound to her watch. In silence, he could hear the muffled sound of voices behind the static. "What does that say?"


The screen blinked red and black, it read "dialing 911…"

"What is this? What did you do? Did you do this?"

Willow cringed. "Justin said I could press it."

Jeremiah glared at her. Then shook his head. "That's okay. That's fine. We'll just take it off. Go on, take it off."

"I don't know how."


Jeremiah took her wrist and examined the watch. This wasn't an ordinary toy watch. The strap was not even plastic, but some synthetic woven blend with a solid core. There was no obvious buckle. He turned it around, but he couldn't find the place where it latched. He pulled the strap, but it stopped at her thumb joint. It wouldn’t go over her hand.

"Ow, that hurts."

"How does it come off?"

"I don’t know."

Jeremiah pressed some buttons, and the watch asked for a code.

"What’s the code?"

"I don’t know it."

He tried some numbers. They were all wrong. Her birthday? He couldn’t remember her birthdate. He was too flustered, he couldn't even remember his own daughter’s birthdate. And that made him madder. He could only think of Stephanie’s birthdate, but that number was wrong, too.

"What’s the fucking code?"


"Only Justin knows it!" Willow shouted back at him.

Jeremiah let go of her wrist. In the distance, Jeremiah thought he heard police sirens. They were coming here, and that watch locked to her wrist was their beacon. He couldn’t take her with him. He couldn't drive her far far away. It was impossible. She was a living, breathing GPS target.

He stepped back from her slowly.


She crawled over to Justin and touched his eyelids, stroked his hair, held his hand. "It's okay, Justin, the ambblince man is coming now."


"He ruined you," Jeremiah said. "I don't even want you anymore."

Willow didn't look at him or give any indication that she'd heard him at all. He might as well be in another dimension. She had Justin's head cradled in her hands and she sang a cheerful song about birds and the rising sun, "Every little thing is gonna be alright..." Jeremiah hated that song now, because Stephanie used to sing it to her pregnant belly, Willow inside, all those years ago when he thought they would be a family.

"You're dead to me now," Jeremiah said.

There was a rustle in the woods. A man, walking a dog, came through the trees. There was no time left. Jeremiah had to go while he still could. Willow was his ruin, and he had to get as far away from her as possible. He had to run away while running away was still an option.






Willow lost track of counting the minutes, but it didn't take very long for the ambulance to arrive.

A lady in a police uniform had the same voice as the lady in her watch.

"Justin needs a Band-Aid," Willow told her.

"They're going to take good care of him now. Come with me, little darling. Let's go call your mom."

—

footnotes: who taught her to bite // Justin said she was a super hero // every little thing is gonna be alright