Read Online 3 Ghosts of Our Fathers by Michael Richan - Free Book Online Page A

place the bottle somewhere Frank would run into it the next day. We
were betting that in his drunken stupor he’d never remember whether or not he’d
finished last night’s bottle before he passed out, and that he’d polish off the
remaining whiskey once he discovered it.
    “The next day and night Sean and I
were on pins and needles, wondering if our plan would work. Would he find the
bottle and drink it? Or would he just drink the new bottle he brought home
every day?”
     
    -
     
    Sean and Garth were lying in bed.
It was just after midnight. Neither boy had heard sounds from upstairs for over
an hour, and Garth was telling Sean he should head upstairs to collect the hair
and fingernails.
    “Easy for you to say,” Sean told
Garth. “You’re not going up to do it.”
    “I will if you want,” Garth said.
“You cut his hair, I’ll cut a fingernail.”
    “No, I’ll work the scissors,” Sean
said. “You might stab him and wake him up.”
    “How will we know if he’s really
passed out?” Garth said. “If he wakes up and finds us in his room, he’ll be mad
as hell.”
    “He snores,” Sean said. “I’ll be sure
he’s snoring before we start. You just stand watch while I clip him, whisper to
me if he wakes up.”
    Garth nodded. The two boys crawled
out of the bed and slipped upstairs in their bedclothes. They avoided all floorboards
known to creak. It was a warm evening and Frank had a fan going in his bedroom.
Its sound helped mask their movements.
    Sean tip-toed to the bed and
listened for the sound of Frank snoring. In the darkness of the room he could
see Frank’s chest rising and falling slowly, the careful measured breathing of
sleep. He glanced to the bedside table where Sean had left the whiskey that
he’d dosed with the powder. The bottle was empty. He turned to Garth. Once
their eyes met, Sean nodded, and Garth knew they were in the clear.
    Sean leaned over the bed and held
the scissors up to Frank’s head. He squeezed the scissors slowly so they
wouldn’t close all the way. He took only a few strands of hair so that Frank
wouldn’t notice when he woke up. Then he moved to Frank’s hands.
    Frank was lying on his right hand,
but his left was free and dangling. Sean moved the scissors down to the hand
lying about six inches off the mattress, hanging towards the floor. He
inspected each finger in the dim light, looking for one nail that he could cut.
They all appeared to be short, too short to clip. The longest nail was on
Frank’s little finger. He might be able to cut it, but he wasn’t sure. He raised
the scissors into position and tried to slide the edge of the nail against the blades.
    Before he could squeeze the
scissor’s handles he heard a creak from the base of the bed, and Sean looked up
at Garth. Garth was frozen in fear. He’d taken a step back from the bed and the
floorboard under him had let out a loud squeak. Frank roused.
    Sean pulled the scissors back and
stayed down low. Frank’s hand raised up and flopped up over his body as he
turned in bed. Both boys stayed frozen, waiting to see if Frank had been only
disturbed or fully awaken. Sean looked up at Garth again. He was petrified and
shaking, stifling a frightened whine. Sean held a finger up to his lips,
reminding Garth to stay silent.
    After a moment, Frank’s breathing
returned to normal. Sean mouthed the words “don’t move” to Garth and Garth
quickly nodded his agreement.
    Sean resurveyed the landscape.
Frank’s head was turned away from Sean, and his left hand was now on the other
side of the bed, but his right had become exposed. The hand was pressed tightly
against the mattress with the fingers spread out, and Sean saw several nails
that might work. Sean knew it would be difficult to get the scissors between
the nails and the mattress.
    He took his time, sliding the
blades of the scissors into position under the nails. As the bottom blade slid
in, it raised the finger a little from the mattress. He heard