The Search for Artemis - By P. D. Griffith Page 0,3
mom’s book collection created a kind of sound barrier in the apartment. If the door was closed, he generally couldn’t make out what happened in the other part of the house.
Normally, Landon ignored his father’s yelling. He always figured he was just screaming at the TV after his football team had made a bad play or calling for another beer, but the sound that woke him had sparked his curiosity. Landon wanted to see what was going on.
He slid off the bed, wiped his drool-covered arm on his pants, and dreamily walked out of his room. As he opened the door and entered the living room, he fought to become fully awake, rubbing his eyes with the side of his fingers.
When Landon’s eyes focused, he saw his mother, crumpled on the ground, pressed against a pile of books in the corner of the living room, tears streaming down her face. Mr. Wicker stood over her, forcefully holding her by the wrist, and he was screaming. The thud that had awakened Landon from his Dickens-induced nap was not someone knocking on his door, but the sound of his mother hitting the hardwood as Mr. Wicker threw her to the floor.
“I told you if you stepped out of line one more time that you’d regret it! And you just couldn’t do as I asked! You brought this upon yourself!”
“Please, John. It was an accident. It won’t happen again,” wailed Mrs. Wicker. “I . . . tripped. It . . . was . . . an . . . accident.”
Tears continued to pour from Mrs. Wicker’s eyes. Her pleas were staggered, forced out between her sobs.
“Let her go!” Landon was surprised to hear himself speaking with such force. He never spoke back to his father, but the scene unfolding in his living room caught him totally by surprise. He knew his father had a temper, but he always yelled. Outside of the butter knife at dinner, Landon never knew of his father to be violent.
“Landon, please . . . go back to your room,” Mrs. Wicker sobbed.
“Yeah, you heard her, go read your book,” Mr. Wicker said mockingly. “That way you don’t have to see how stupid your idiot mother is.”
As he spoke, he yanked on Mrs. Wicker’s arm. She whimpered as it was pulled. She was completely overpowered and defenseless.
“Dad, stop! She’s obviously sorry for whatever she did!”
“Yes, John, I’m sorry. Of course I know better. It was an accident. It won’t happen again,” Landon’s mother pleaded.
“Oh, shut up!”
He raised his free arm, his hand wide open. It was poised like a viper, ready to strike. And, like a snake, he attacked, his hand speeding toward the side of Mrs. Wicker’s tear-tracked face.
To Landon, it went by in slow motion. He watched as his father’s hand descended on his helpless mother.
“No! Don’t touch her!” Landon screamed at the top of his lungs.
Mr. Wicker’s hand stopped mere inches from the cringing face of Landon’s mother. He strained as if he was shackled and a chain held his arm back. Mr. Wicker fought with all his might, but his body was frozen. Pulsing powerfully just under his skin, his veins bulged from his effort to move. His muscles tensed. Sweat collected on his forehead and dripped down the side of his face.
“What are you doing?” Mr. Wicker’s body stood motionless, but his eyes pointed right at Landon.
“You’re not going to hurt her!” A strange feeling Landon had never experienced before seemed to awaken within him. It exploded like a fire igniting deep in his body. Heat emanated from his hands and feet. He was losing control; his body was trembling and his legs were weak.
A cloud built up inside Landon’s head. He was confused, but he also felt a strange sense of freedom, as if something caged inside of him had become unleashed.
“What are you doing?” Mr. Wicker asked again, still motionless but with his eyes fixed on Landon. His voice was still booming, yet Landon heard a slight tremble at the end.
“No more!” Landon’s voice echoed through the apartment. His head was foggy, and his vision blurred.
Mr. Wicker’s inert body flew backward across the room as if an imaginary hook pulled him with all its force. He bowled into a large pile of books by the doorway into the dining area; an avalanche of pages quickly engulfed his entire body.
Landon watched in utter disbelief. The feeling that awoke within him possessed his entire