Trembling With Fear 06/20/21

Tommy Pitman is a . . . by James Rumpel

Tommy Pitman is a rat fink. 

Ever since I came to this school, I did really well. I was the most popular kid in sixth grade. Everybody liked me, even the teachers. I got better grades than anyone. That all changed when Pitman moved into town last month. I didn’t notice it right away, but slowly some of my friends started spending less time with me. Mrs. Fernholz began to talk about how good his schoolwork was. He was taking over. I had to do something.

Tommy Pitman is a cheater. 

I started spreading the rumor after he got an A on the science test. There’s no way he knew all that junk about bats and snakes. I told Mrs. Fernholz that I saw him looking at cheat notes during the test. She made him stay in from recess. 

“Can you believe that jerk? I hope Mrs. F gives him a week’s detention,” I said to Neil Berger and a couple of my other friends. 

“Are you sure you saw him use notes?” asked Neil. “He was studying the science terms all morning on the bus. If he studied that hard, why would he cheat?”

“I don’t know. Maybe he’s too stupid to learn the stuff.”

At the very end of recess, Mrs. Fernholz came out and pulled me away from our game of touch football. She asked me if I was certain that I had seen Pitman cheat. She said that he had aced the retake and that she had watched him closely. She was certain he didn’t use any notes on the second test. 

There wasn’t much I could do. I told her that I wasn’t completely sure and that I might have been mistaken. She gave me a speech about not being jealous and trying to get along with everyone. All I could think about was how I wasn’t done with Tommy Pitman.

Tommy Pitman’s family is a bunch of criminals. 

Neil and the gang shook their heads when I told them my theory. “Why would you think that?” he asked.

“Isn’t it obvious. They live in that creepy old brick house by the river; the one with the big fence around it. If you live behind a fence, you’ve got to be hiding something. Besides, doesn’t he look like a crook.”

Jerry White, who hardly ever talked, grabbed my arm and whispered, “Tommy’s mom and dad aren’t crooks. My mom took them an apple pie when they moved to town. His family runs the new funeral home on the edge of town.”

“Well, that’s still something bad. His parents touch dead people.”

Tommy Pitman is a vampire.

The rest of the gang laughed at me when I told them what I had figured out. Jerry wasn’t playing with us that day; he was hanging out with Pitman and his guys.

“No, think about it. He lives in a creepy house and his parents are undertakers. He’s got dark hair and knows all about bats and stuff.”

“If he was a vampire, he couldn’t come out in the sun,” said Neil.

“Maybe he uses a lot of sunblock or maybe that isn’t really true about vampires,” I replied. “Nobody knows all the vampire rules.” I was going to say more, but I stopped when I saw Pitman walking over to our group.

“Hey, Allen,” he said as he stopped right in front of me. He was about a foot taller than me and crossed his arms as he looked down. “I hear you’re spreading more rumors about me. I don’t know what your beef is, but you need to cut it out. Just quit making up stuff, okay.”

I nodded but I was already planning my next attack.

Tommy Pitman is a demon.

Neil and I were sitting by ourselves on the swings. Everybody else was playing keep-away with Tommy’s gang.

“I figured it out last night while I was watching a Halloween movie marathon. He’s got special powers. How else do you think he’s been stealing all my friends? Think about it, his name is Pitman. Get it, PIT MAN.”

“Maybe he’s nice to them and doesn’t spend all of his time making up lies about people.” Neil jumped off the swing and started walking towards the rest of the kids.

Right then and there, I knew I had to step up my game.

Tommy Pitman is a killer demon.

When Jerry White disappeared, everyone was scared. He had gone to bed one night in late October and wasn’t there the next morning. All his parents found in his room were a few drops of blood and some yellow powder. The police searched the whole county for a week. They never found him. 

We had a couple of days off from school. We got to go back on the day of Halloween. The town wasn’t going to allow trick or treating that night because of Jerry’s disappearance. I blamed Tommy and made sure to tell everyone what I thought. 

“The yellow powder has to be sulfur. Tommy has to have done it. I know he’s a demon. I bet he takes someone else tonight.” No one would listen to my warnings.

I had to sit by myself at lunch. Pitman kept staring at me. He had this evil look in his eyes.

After school, I took the short cut through Meyer’s Woods to get home. It was drizzling and starting to get dark. I was about halfway through the trees when I heard footsteps behind me. I stopped and turned to see Pitman running toward me. He did not look happy.

He stopped about five feet from me and shook his fist. “Allen,” he said, “I have had enough of this. You’ve been badmouthing me since the day I moved here. You’ve called me a cheater and a vampire and a killer. You need to stop.”

I smiled. “Do you know the one thing I haven’t called you. I’ve never said you were a poisonous monster from outer space.”

“No one would believe that,” he said.

“I know,” I replied as I exposed my fangs and prepared to pounce.