Timmy

CHAPTER SEVEN: TIMMY�S TALE

CHAPTER SEVEN: TIMMY’S TALE

    The next morning Angel and the other young performers piled into the lobby of the theater, quietly talking to each other. Angel searched the crowd and found Stephanie before hurrying over to her.  “Oh, Steph, you look awful.” Wincing, she said. Are you feeling any better at all?”

  “Not really.” Whispering, Stephanie replied. “My parents think I’m fine, though.” She groaned slightly, raising a hand to her head. “I guess it shows how good of an actress I am.”

  “Do you think you can make it through today?”

  “I- I don’t think so.  Right now, I just want to sleep.”

  “Don’t worry, I got it covered. Our friend will take your place again and hopefully you will be feeling better tomorrow.”

  She turned to the steps leading into the auditorium and waved, hoping Timmy would see her as Brandy walked into the lobby.

  “Welcome back, kids.” Politely, Brandy said.  “Tomorrow night is your big moment.  Now, I’m sure all of you are anxious and excited but we still have a lot of rehearsing to do today.” She motioned to her two sons, standing behind her. “If you will be kind enough to follow us, we will take you to the dressing rooms so you can get into your costumes.”

  The children followed Brandy and her sons out of the lobby while, unknown to them, Timmy was watching from inside a secret hall through two openings in the eyes of a painting. Timmy had waited for Angel, as he had promised and watched as she and the others entered the lobby.

  “I hope Stephanie is feeling better.”

  However, upon seeing Angel wave, he knew that Stephanie was still sick.  He swallowed hard and slid a panel, placing the painted eyes back into place in the painting and scurried down the secret hall towards a fixed ladder that would take him to the next floor. “I hope Angel remembered to put the dress in the other dressing room.”


  Back to the young performers, Jason excused himself from the others after looking at a beeper and hurried down another hall. “Where does he think he’s going?” Curious, Alex asked.

The boys walked into their dressing room and closed the door before Jeff turned to them serious. “There’s something you guys should know…”


  Meanwhile, inside the girl’s dressing room, after the girls had donned their costumes for the day’s rehearsals, Tarra turned to Angel with a cross look on her face. “All right, Angel, spill it!  Who was that little kid you were with in the hall yesterday? What on Earth was he doing with Stephanie’s costume?”

  Angel opened her mouth to talk but a soft knock at the door interrupted her, causing everyone to fall silent.

  “Who is it?” Walking to the door, Angel asked.

  “It’s me, Angel.” Whispering urgently, Timmy’s voice responded. “I- I need that costume to help you.”

  Angel sighed, remembering she had promised to place Stephanie’s costume in the women’s dressing room. She opened the door, revealing Timmy nervously standing alone in the hall. He was dressed in a clean white V-neck Tee shirt, worn backwards, and a pair of white shorts. He opened his mouth to speak but Angel quickly grabbed his arm. Timmy let out a short yelp before Angel yanked him into the room and closed the door.

“There has been a change of plans.” Quickly, she said. She turned Timmy around so he was facing the girls. She firmly held him by the shoulders, knowing he would want to run. “Don’t worry, they won’t hurt you.”

  Timmy turned to Angel, hurt. There was a clear sense of betrayal in his expression that instantly turned to panic as Tarra spoke up. “Who are you!? What were you doing with Stephanie’s costume!?”

  “I… I…” Timmy began to sob slightly. He had taken the chance to trust Angel but she has pulled him into the room with the girls. He did not know what to do.

  “Tarra, you’re scaring him!” Scolding, Rachel said. “Can’t you be gentler for a change!?”

  “Girls, I’d like you to meet the ‘Broadway Specter’.” Motioning to Timmy, Angel said. “He played Stephanie’s role on stage all day yesterday after she got sick on some of Brandy’s cookies.” She paused, giving Timmy a reassuring smile before she added, “Someone had poisoned them, hoping to get rid of him.”

  “It’s true!” Moaning, Stephanie said. “I was in the bathroom all day yesterday, throwing up! I still feel horrible!”

  “So you are here to take Stephanie’s place again?” Raising an eyebrow, Lauren asked. “Okay, I’ll bite. How did you manage to pull that off?”

  Angel grabbed Stephanie’s costume and tossed it to Timmy. “Please trust me; we will need their help.” Gently, she said. “Use that closet to get into costume while I explain everything to the girls.”

  Timmy looked at Angel uncertain and whispered, “I’m scared…”

  “It’s okay, you can trust them.  Besides, they’ve already seen you and we could really use their help.”

  After a moment of thought, Timmy slowly nodded then walked into the closet, closing the door behind him.

  “What am I going to do?” trembling, he asked.

  *The girls have good hearts.*  Whispering, a woman’s voice said. *Don’t worry, they will help you.*

**********

  “You’re kidding me!” Inside the boy’s dressing room, Tex yelled. “He was performing with us on stage as Stephanie!?!”

  Jeff nodded. “He played Stephanie’s role all day.”

  Paul laughed. “Oh, he is good.”

  “But his cover will be blown the second he makes one slip up.” said Leuey, concerned.

  “That’s true, Leuey.” said Race. “But you know our friend; he never lets his guard down.”

**********

  Inside the girls’ dressing room, Timmy sat uncomfortably in a chair in the middle of the room with the girls standing around him. They listened with mixed reactions to Angel’s story. As she explained how she found Timmy in the crawlspace of the theater, Sue made a dash for her booth and presently returned with a notepad and a pen in her hands. She began to madly scribble down notes.

  Above them, inside the ventilation shaft, Jason was searching for Timmy and paused over the girl’s dressing room. Normally, he was not one to peek on the girls but he heard Timmy’s name being said. He looked down into the room and spotted his friend in Stephanie’s costume, sitting in a chair in the center of the room. He was surrounded by the girls as Angel finished her story.

  Uh-oh.  Timmy’s been busted!

  Jason’s first thought was to jump into the room though the air vent, startling the girls, then grab Timmy as he made a mad dash for the door.  Only common sense held him back; there was no way he was going to dodge all eight of the girls. That and his mother would come to investigate the girls’ screams.  He decided it best to watch and listen for a moment before making any rash decisions.

  Inside the dressing room, Angel finished her story. “Timmy took a big risk to help Stephanie.” Serious, she said. “That’s why I’m asking you to back him up on stage and not tell anyone that you now know about him.”

  Chris gave out a low whistle. “I can see now why they call him the Broadway Specter. How did you see through his disguise?”

Angel turned to her. “It was his eyes.”

  Rachel smiled. “So it was blind luck that you happened to get a good look at Timmy’s eyes while we were rehearsing on the stage.”

  Angel smiled back. “Yes, I guess you’re right.  If I had not caught Timmy’s eye, I would have been completely fooled myself.”

  “I’m impressed.” Softly, Tarra said. “There’s something that bugs me about your story, though.”

  “Tarra…” Annoyed, Karen said.

  Tarra ignored Karen. “Timmy, think.  There has to be more to the story.  Why did your parents just leave you here so long ago?  They had to have said something.”

  Sue scribbled down a few notes then moved in closer so she could hear. “This is front page stuff!” More to herself, she whispered.

  The other girls turned to her, annoyed.

  “I ought to slap you silly!” Snatching the notepad, Karen threatened. “What were you thinking!?!”

  “My mom and dad are driving me crazy!” Wailing, Sue said. “They’ve been snooping around all over the theater, trying to find this specter kid.” she suppressed sob. “They are completely embarrassing me!”

  Karen’s face softened slightly. “So you figured if you could get the story first they might stop snooping around, embarrassing you.”

  Sue took back her notepad. “If I write down just enough to give them a story, it just might get them off your back, Timmy.”

  “It also might wet their appetite more.” Serious, Tarra warned.  “Either way, it’s a risk.”

  “Go ahead and take your notes, Sue.” Sternly, Rachel stated. “Just let us look them over before you show them to your folks.”

  Sue nodded in agreement.  “It’s a deal.”  She turned to Timmy. “That is if Timmy is willing to tell us anything.”

  Timmy gave a low sigh. “I’m still having nightmares about that night mom and dad left me here.” he held back a frustrated sob.  “I’ve been drawing pictures of what I see to make sense of them but it’s not working.”

Angel sighed. That’s what the stick figure drawings were about; his nightmares of that night. She knelt down next to Timmy. “Please, Timmy; tell us what happened?”

  Timmy closed his eyes, reluctantly allowing the nightmare to quickly replay itself inside his mind. “Mom and dad found something somewhere in the theater the night they left me.” Finally, he said. “Something someone did not want them or anyone else to see.”

  “Inside this theater?” Confused, Lauren asked. “What could anyone possibly be hiding in here?”

  Timmy opened his eyes, shivering. Tears welled up in his eyes as he shook his head. “I can’t…” He paused, swallowing a lump. “I don’t know.”

  “What do you mean you can’t?” Worried, Lauren asked.

  Angel sensed Timmy’s reluctance and chimed in, “What happened that night?”

  Timmy sighed and began to tell the girls his story while, inside the ventilation shaft, Jason listened intently to every word. His friend had never told him or his brother what had happened in the alley the night his parents had left him alone inside the theater. He suspected it was a bad tale, he was about to find out.

  “I saw someone standing in the shadows, just out of the alley light.” Telling his story, Timmy said. “He raised a gun; I- I saw it in the light just before he pulled the trigger. There was a loud pop.” He held back a sob. “I heard mom scream just before he fired the gun again!”

  “Who was it?” Looking up from her note pad, Sue pressed. “Did you get a good look at him?”

  Timmy choked on his tears, shaking with fear and sadness. His face had lost all color and his lips trembled while he struggled to form a response to the question. I can’t! He will shoot them too!

  Finally, Timmy shook his head. “No, I did not.” He paused. “I did see a strange picture painted on his wrist.”

  “A tattoo?” asked Rachel.

  “What did it look like, Timmy?” asked Karen.

  Again, Timmy paused.  “It was a picture a red rose in the middle of a bright flame.  I saw it under the light in the alley as he- he...” His voice began to break with tears and he shook his head in frustration.

  “What happened, Timmy?” pressed Angel. “We have to know.”

  Timmy looked up at her, the tears flowing from his eyes. He did not want to say any more, he wanted to curl up into a ball and cry. "I-I can't..."

"Please, Timmy." Pleading, Angel whispered. "I know this is hard for you."

Timmy gulped, tears flowing like rivers from his eyes as he struggled to speak.  “I-I called out to mommy but she didn’t answer, they wouldn’t even move!"  He coughed, choking on his own tears. "I called out again but the man in the shadows heard me.  He looked up and- and shot me!”

  “Did he get you?” Worried, Chris asked.

  Tarra hushed her quiet. “Go on, Timmy; what happened?”

  “Something hot hit my shoulder, knocking me backward through the small crawlspace window. I landed on my back on the glass; it hurt so much that I couldn’t move.” He choked down another sob, his body trembling in tune with his shaking hands. “Then I heard the fire escape rattle; the man was coming after me!  I pushed away from the window as fast as I could and hid in a dark corner; I was so scared!"

Timmy again began to cry, his face stained with tears and scrunched up in wrinkles of utter misery as the girls intently hung onto every word. "How did you get out of that?" Almost whispering, Tarra asked.

"I- I heard loud sirens coming from somewhere and the rattling stopped." Quivering, Timmy replied. "I could hear yelling and echoing footsteps in the ally but I did not dare go back to the window, I was too scared!" He buried his face into his hands, sobbing. "I- I never saw mommy and daddy since.”

  “Oh wow!” Crying, Rachel breathed. "That is the saddest story I ever heard!” She pulled Timmy into a hug where he began to bawl on her shoulder. “You poor kid; this had to have been eating you alive!”

  Sue, just as saddened and shocked, nearly dropped her notepad. “What- What a story!”

  “Didn’t the police catch the shooter?” asked Karen.

  Timmy looked up at them as Rachel released him and shook his head.

  “I don’t know. I saw a lot of red and blue lights flashing in the alley and I could hear a large number of people talking outside.  I heard some of them call out my name but I was too scared to answer.  I couldn’t get myself to move from that dark corner until I saw sunlight shining in through the window.”

  “Just a minute.” said Tarra. “Which shoulder got hit, Timmy?”

  Still sobbing, Timmy pointed to his left shoulder.

  “May I take a look?”

  Timmy nodded and Tarra unzipped his costume and pulled down the left sleeve of the dress and tee shirt. There, in the middle of back of his shoulder she found a small round scar.  She checked the other side to find the same small scar in the front.

“He’s been shot all right; it looks like the bullet went clear through.” She turned to Timmy. “You were lucky.”

  Lauren’s face scrunched up into an angry scowl. “Those monsters; they shot him and left him for dead!”

  “It looks like it healed up pretty good.” Zipping up the costume again, Tarra said. “Did you fix this up?”

  Timmy wiped the tears from his cheeks, struggling to compose himself. “No, Jeff and Jason did.  It was the morning after that horrible night when we first met.  I never told them what had happened; not all of it.  I-I guess I didn’t want to believe it.”

  “I’m guessing you didn’t want to remember.” Raising an eyebrow, Karen said. “I don’t know what I’d do if that happened to me.”

  “This is front page stuff!” Beaming, Sue remarked. “My parents are going to freak when they read this!”

  “They’ll read it after we look it over, Sue.” Snatching the notepad, Angel countered. “That’s the deal.”

  She placed the notepad into her purse for safe keeping then turned to the others. “Okay girls, there is someone in this theater after Timmy and I’m guessing they don’t care who they hurt to get to him.”

  “If whoever it is finds out we know about him, we may be targeted next.” Fearful, Chris said. “That means no word of him should leave this room.”

“That and we don’t want anything to happen to him after all he had done for Stephanie.” Serious, Tarra added. She gave Timmy a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry, kid; we got your back.”

  Timmy turned to the other girls, who nodded as well. He teared up as a small, grateful smile touched the corners of his mouth. “Thank you.”

  Inside the ventilation shaft above, Jason could not help shed a few saddened tears of his own.  He remembered the morning he and Jeff first met Timmy.  The two of them had ran into the narrow alley behind the old theater and climbed up the fire escape to elude the city social workers.  Fearing that they might be spotted and caught, the two ducked through a broken crawlspace window where they found Timmy.  He was cowering in a dark corner, holding a small metal pipe.  The left side of his shirt was soaked with blood; he looked like he was in shock.  Still, they managed to coax him out of the corner and get him to trust them enough to help. They used what they could find to stop the bleeding and bandage all of Timmy’s wounds, saving his life.  From that day forward, the three of them shared a powerful bond.
 
  A soft knock at the door inside the dressing room returned Jeff’s mind to the present; he decided it best to get back to the boys. Inside the dressing room, Angel turned to the sound of their door opening and gasped seeing Brandy walking in. “It’s Brandy!” Urgently, she whispered.

  “Quick; hide Stephanie!” Grabbing a blanket, Tarra ordered.

  Timmy and the girls threw a blanket over Stephanie, who had fallen to sleep on the small couch, then turned to face Brandy.

  “Hurry up, girls!” Clapping her hands, Brandy said. “You have ten minutes to finish up, let’s go!”

  She stopped, concerned, upon seeing the girl’s faces, all still saddened by Timmy’s tale.

  “What- What’s wrong?  You are all in tears; what happened?”

  Timmy and the girls looked at each other, trying to think of a believable explanation.

  “We were, uh, just trying to get into character.” Thinking quickly, Chris blurted out.

  Timmy and the other girls immediately nodded to back her up.

  Brandy shook her head and Angel somehow sensed she was not convinced.  “Well, put on some smiles. You make me nervous, looking like that.”

  She paused, catching Timmy’s eye and stepped forward. Timmy froze as she placed a gentle hand onto his forehead. “I can’t quite put my finger on it but there is something different about you today, Stephanie.” she took her hand away and added, “You don’t seem warm but you look a little pale; are you feeling well today?”

  Timmy turned to the girls, not knowing what to say.

  “She just hasn’t had the chance to put her make up on yet, Brandy.” With a genuine smile, Angel explained. “Believe me; she looks completely different with it off.”

Timmy blushed slightly as the girls giggled only Brandy shook her head as she continued to study Timmy’s face.

  Brandy shook her head.  “No, No, it’s something else.”  She paused then asked, “Didn’t you used to have green eyes?”

  “She’s wearing cosmetic contact lenses.” Casually, Rachel stated. “I’m always using them with my makeup.  Stephanie just wanted to try one of them out.”

  Brandy smiled then leaned towards Timmy.  “I think you look better with green eyes.” Winking at him, she whispered.  She turned back to the rest of the girls.  “I’ll come back for you when it’s time to go on stage for rehearsals; try to be ready by then.”

  She then left the room, quietly closing the door behind her. After she was gone, the group let out a collective sigh of relief.

“That was close.” Whispering, Angel commented. “That was fast thinking, telling her it was cosmetic lenses.”

Rachel smiled and moved to her booth, returning with a small box. “It was the truth, minus Timmy wearing them.” Simply, she said. “I have cosmetic contact lenses; I always use them with my makeup.”

  “Do you have wild green?” asked Angel.

  Rachel opened the box and pulled out a small container which was labeled, ‘wild green.’

  “I’m still worried.” After a thought, Lauren said. “Timmy’s disguise was great but this is the last day of rehearsals.  Brandy has a sharp eye for details; she will be watching us very closely.”

  It was just my eyes that gave me away.” Wincing, Timmy protested. “Now that they will be hid, I’ll be okay.” He paused, worried. “Am I right?”

  Sue gasped. “I just remembered our parents are going to be here to watch us rehearse today!”
  Karen moaned. “That’s right!  So, even if Timmy’s disguise fools Brandy, we still have to worry about fooling Stephanie’s parents!”

  Timmy swallowed hard, his nervousness steadily rising. What have I put myself into? “I- I’ll just have to do better, that’s all.”

  “Listen to me, Timmy.” said Lauren. “You’ve already proven that you’re a very talented young man but there is going to be a lot of people in the audience today.  They all know Stephanie very well and they are going to be sitting very close to the center stage.  You’re good but it’s not going to be easy to fool them all.”

  Angel stepped forward and keeled down in front of Timmy to look him in the eye.  “The girls and I are just worried, Timmy. Your last performance was great, it fooled us all.  We just think that your disguise needs to be perfected.”

  Timmy frowned, frustrated. The spirits had talked him through using the makeup step by step; he was so careful to do everything right as he had never done it before. “If you think you can make my disguise any better than I did…”

  Angel smiled; a mischievous twinkle forming in her eye. “I think we can.”

  She winked at the girls who Laughed as she pushed the chair Timmy was sitting in to a nearby empty booth. What are they going to do to me!?

  “All right, Timmy-” She suppressed a giggle. “I mean Stephanie.  Don’t worry about a thing.  You just sit back, relax, and try your best to sit still.  The girls and I will help you with your makeup and costume.”

  “We’ll make you look real good.” agreed Chris.

  Giggling, the girls went to their booths, returning with a large assortment of cosmetic items and accessories which they placed onto the small table in the booth Timmy was sitting in.  Watching them, Timmy could not help feel more and more uneasy. The amount of makeup and accessories the girls were bringing to the table was almost twice than the spirits had him use the day before.  He did not know what to expect but he doubted he would like it.

  Once everything was ready, Angel studied Timmy’s face for a moment then teasingly placed a light finger on his lips. “Now then, what shall we do with you, Hmm?”

  The other girls continued to giggle as they organized the makeup on the table while Angel picked up a small jar of cover up cream.

  “I don’t think any of us have ever given a boy a full makeover before.” she said to the girls. “This should be fun.”

  Timmy let out a low moan; he did not like where this was going. “Just don’t make me smell like flowers, okay.”

  The girls laughed again and Timmy cringed as Angel began to apply makeup to his face.