I Think About You Ronnie Anne

15

       Imagine this, instead of picking at your scabs and popping those greasy zits on your face: A rabbit sits in its burrow, terrified by what it thinks is a wolf's growl. It determines that it is too dangerous to go out and therefore it hides in its burrow, too afraid to leave. After a few days of hiding, the rabbit becomes very hungry and knows that it must leave its burrow for food if it wants to survive. In preparation to go out, the rabbit sticks on its shirt, its pants, and its black polished shoes. To make sure it is fitly dressed to go out in public, the rabbit looks into the mirror. To its surprise, it does not see itself in the mirror, but instead a giant scary wolf! The rabbit runs in circles, flailing its arms and screaming "The wolf! The wolf! It's made its way into my house!" The rabbit eventually comes to understand that nobody has caught him yet, and it seems no wolf is chasing him at all. Once more, the rabbit looked into the mirror. Again, it saw the big scary wolf. This time, however, the rabbit noticed a detail it had missed before. The wolf's eyes were none other than the rabbit's, and there was no wolf that had growled. The rabbit was only scared of itself.

       I invite you to think about it. Ronnie Anne is an arrogant little girl. Fears her own ego being shattered by the slightest sense that she's not in control. "What are you talking about?" she asks. "Are you crazy?" I start back up the stairs and her words stop me. She loves to grab my attention before I leave. Maybe she doesn't want to be alone with herself? Maybe she wants my company after all. "I may be crazy, but look at yourself. Being tied up alone in a basement will make you go crazier than anyone. If you think I'm crazy, then prepare to meet the same fate." She didn't say it but her face really pounded words through to me. "I don't understand what you're talking about" I can imagine her saying. "What do you mean?" But I won't answer her, because she has to figure that out for herself. "You're mine Ronnie Anne. My name is on your arm. I shaved your head. You live in my house. Show me some respect, okay?" She tries to kick a plate at me, one she had eaten off of that morning, but she failed to send it anywhere far, only being able to flip it over with her toe. She screamed out of frustration. She feels trapped. These walls are really eating away at her.

       School was pretty fun. After my math class, I walked out into the hall, but a cop was already by my locker waiting for me. "Yeah, buddy, I just need a moment to talk to you. Will you follow me?" he said. He led me outside to the steps and had a very solemn look. "I busted your mom this morning. She told me you've been eating twice as much lately. Or at least, that's what she thinks, because food has been disappearing quicker than usual at your house." I know what he's implying. I'm not being paranoid; I know for a fact that he already thinks I'm suspicious. He thinks I'm storing a kidnapping victim in my house. "I'm going to be late for my next class," I tell him. "I don't think that matters right now," he says to me. He grabs me by the arm and puts his face up to mine. He grins. "When I was talking to your mom, I heard screaming. I couldn't take a look around because your lovely mother denied me permission. She said she couldn't hear anything. As soon as I get a warrant, I can search your house top to bottom." This cop is really a bother, isn't he? What a pest. "Go ahead and get a warrant, pig. I don't care." He laughs and wags a finger at me. "Just you wait," he says. "I'll search from top to bottom. Get your butt ready ready for jail." He left it there and went to his car. I went to my next class and was late. Some kids saw me and the cop through the window. One kid even heard the whole conversation and started spreading rumors. I heard one of the rumors from a group of kids in the corner of my English class. "See that white-haired kid over there?" one of them says. "He kidnapped a kid from our school! A girl!" Then all of them would turn their heads to get a good, hateful look at me.

       Rumors surround me now. That cop stops by the school sometimes, only to enjoy his lunch and give a scornful wink at me. In a matter of a week, the missing and forgotten Ronalda had become the prime target for pity and empathy. Everybody didn't bat an eye when she disappeared, and now suddenly it's all eyes on me? Who started those rumors about me anyway? That's a question that nags me. Somebody in this school decided to turn everyone against me. I ought to turn whoever that was inside-out. The final bell rings and the wall of students pours down the steps. Clyde comes out last like usual and I wave to him. He glances at me, and to my surprise, the guy walks right past me. I run to catch up to his side. "Hey man, what's up?" He ignored my words and even tried to walk ahead of me. I grab him by the back of his shirt and pull him back. "What's the deal? Why aren't you talking to me?" He smacks my hand off his shirt. "Because you're a kidnapper, Lincoln. Get away from me." He stomps off and my jaw drops like a cartoon. He gets a good distance ahead before a thought provokes me. "Clyde... do you know who started those rumors about me?" That's when he answers with a very cold reply that feels like a punch to the gut. Sirens and alarms going off in my head. A bomb exploding in my chest. I say all that, but I only say it for dramatic effect. It really just made me feel... scared. "It's not a rumor, Lincoln. I heard it myself. I only told people what happened. Now get out of here, criminal."