The Devil's Demeanor Read Online Free PDF Page B

rabbit
didn’t run away. It sniffed the air and seemed unable to move. The dog licked
the rabbit’s head.
    And then it bit
the head clean off.
    Thunder rumbled
overhead, with clouds appearing that hadn’t been there a moment ago. Lightning
cascaded across the sky, but none struck the animal.
    The dog looked
up to the sky...and smiled.
    *   *   *
    Don stared out
the window of his dad’s van as they cruised down the highway. The sun was
shining through the heavily tinted window, so it wasn’t completely blinding him.
    He was on the
soft floor, looking up. He could see the treetops of the woods on either side
of the highway. His cousin Candice was sitting in the seat on his right as he
faced the rear of the van. She had a book of Mad Libs in her hand and was
chewing on a pencil as she studied the page in front of her.
    “Give me a
noun,” she said to him.
    Don thought for
a second, then said, “Spiders.”
    She wrote it
down, then chewed on the pencil again. He hated when she did that. What was so
hard about Mad Libs? It was like her brain had to process how his responses fit
into the scheme of things, even though they were already laid out before her.
    Don looked at
his other cousin, Nina, who was sitting to his left. They both rolled their
eyes and laughed quietly. Nina and Candice, who were twins, were the same five
years of age as Don. Nina and Candice had the same-length black hair, but
Candice’s skin was darker.
    It was June of
1987, the year Don’s life changed.
    Only a few
people really know if the things that happened were real or just psychological,
but Don knew, even as he sat thinking of his childhood in his later years. If
it was the latter, it would make more sense, but then that would mean he and
his family were crazy.
    The Scotts were
driving to Florida for a family reunion. The van they were riding in was the
“popular” car. Candice and Nina’s parents were following them in another car.
They were all coming from Augusta, Georgia, and up to this point, had been on
the road for six hours.
    Don’s uncle
Johnny was lying on the couch-bed in the back of the van, his mom was in the
passenger seat, rubbing her pregnant belly and staring out the window, and his
dad was driving.
    He stared at
Mom, wondering what kind of name Hilda was. One time, a friend asked what his
mom’s name was, and when Don told him, the friend laughed and said it sounded
like a witch’s name.
    Mom looked back
at him and smiled. “Before this trip is over, I’m going to cut those toenails.”
    He sighed and
looked at his feet. His shoes were on, but he saw, as if with x-ray vision, his
long toenails. His fingernails were also too long. He just hated getting them
cut. Absolutely hated it.
    “Only girls can
have long nails,” Mom added. Don nodded absently and turned his attention back
to Candice, who was no longer chewing on the pencil. She was looking at him
expectantly.
    “Are you
ready?” she snapped at him. It took him a second to realize she was referring
to the Mad Libs. He nodded.
    It had
something to do with raining spiders. He laughed so hard he thought he was
going to die. He saw his uncle stir on the couch in the back and stifled his
laughter.
    At some point,
the family stopped at some little shack on the side of the road and bought a
few bags of boiled peanuts (something they always did on road trips). Don loved
boiled peanuts so much as a kid and regretted in his later years not treating
himself to them again.
    When they
stopped for the peanuts, Uncle Johnny finally woke up to join. “I sure love me
some boiled peanuts,” he said to his nieces and nephew.
    Uncle James and
Aunt Lydia had pulled in behind them on the side of the road. They were Candice
and Nina’s parents. Uncle James had a little Afro and mustache and Aunt Lydia
always had a smile on her face.
    They all
enjoyed their peanuts for a while, talked and stretched their legs before
hitting the road again. They were almost to Destin, where Grandma