In the Silence, I Hear

Inspired by the writing prompt by Emily Stroia in her article,

*** Warning — This story contains Adult content around physical abuse and incest **** Much Darker than my normal writing. ****

Fredrick Appelton

Fredrick Appelton was born deaf in June of 1966. His mother was a beautiful soul, his father a product of strict discipline, a solid yet distant patriarch.

After his younger brother was born, his father ignored him.

“Fred, why won’t you take Fredrick out with you and Robby to play catch?” Mrs. Appelton would ask.

“He doesn’t like physical activity; he wants to read,” his father would say.

At school, well, kids will be kids.

“See that kid over there?” Jimmy asked. “He’s deaf, that means he cain’t hear,” Jimmy continued. “Hey, watch this,” Jimmy ran up behind Fredrick, stopping inches from him, and screamed at the top of his lungs.

It wasn’t the first time. Fredrick felt the vibrations of Jimmy’s feet on the ground and smelt his breath but didn’t give him the satisfaction of reacting.

Jenn signed, “They are making fun of you.”

Fredrick signed. “Jimmy is stupid.”

Fredrick’s hair was gray by the time he was five.

“Did you see Fredrick’s eyes?” Albert asked Jenn.

“Yes, I think it is interesting. Don’t you?”

“More like weird, a brown eye and a blue one,” Albert said.

“Fredrick Appelton,” The teacher called role.

“Hear,” Fredrick responded, the sound a little off due to learning how to speak but not being able to hear.

Fredrick’s mother ensured he received professional physical therapy, so he read lips even at a young age.

“Jimmy, how often do I have to tell you that mocking Fredrick is impolite? I won’t tolerate it, young man. Now take your chair to the hallway and think about what you’ve done.” The teacher said.

Fredrick knew that meant Jimmy made fun of the way he talked, and, “Jimmy was making fun of the way you talk,” Jenn signed as they ate lunch together.

“Jimmy is stupid,” Fredrick signed.

“No, he’s a bully,” Jenn replied.

Few kids signed, and Fredrick was afraid to talk, so he often was alone even if he was in a group, alone in the silence of his flaws.

By the time Fredrick was sixteen, He was an outcast at school and home.

“Fredrick, help me with this word,” Alice, his sister, showed him her picture book.

It was an apple. “Apple,” Fredrick said, hoping it sounded the way “apple” is supposed to sound. His father came into the room.

“Come on kids, I’m taking us for some ice cream. Fredrick, make sure you get the yard mowed.”

At that, his three normal, younger siblings followed their father out of the room. Fredrick went out and mowed the yard. He finished cutting and was cleaning the lawnmower when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“Jenn, hi. What is wrong?” Fredrick could see she’d been crying.

“My dad is mean to me,” She signed.

Fredrick’s father pulled into the driveway about that time. He signed, “Me too, I am sorry.”

Alice, Robby, and Troy ran over to Fredrick, holding an ice cream cone. “Fredrick, look, we brought you some ice cream.”

“Thank you, would you bring me a small bowl to share with Jenn?” Fredrick looked to his father to acknowledge his appreciation for the ice cream.

“Make sure you put everything back where it belongs,” he said and walked into the house.

It was the summer of 1984.

“Hey Jenn, maybe you, David, and Alexa could come over Friday night; we could watch a movie. My family is going to Disney Land, and I convinced my parents to let me stay home.”

“Sure, it sounds fun; I will ask David and Alexa for you. I have them in my next class.”

“Awesome, thanks.”

Then Jimmy bumped into Fredrick, almost knocking him down. Jimmy and the group of boys with him laughed and mocked Fredrick.

“Aaahwthum tanks.” They pointed and laughed.

Fredrick looked to the ground, turned, and walked away.

“Why do you have to be such an ass, Jimmy. Bully.” Jenn said.

“Whatever,” he said, and he and his friends walked on.

Movie night was mind-numbing to Fredrick. He felt so free without his father staring at him. They listened to Rush, Ozzy, and Journey; well, Fredrick read the lyrics and watched the others sing. They watched Holloween. David brought a six-pack of beer he took from his brother, and they all drank. Jenn only drank half a can.

“My dad would ground me forever if he found out,” Jenn explained. But, being good friends, no one pressured her.

“Oh crap, I have to go. My dad said midnight,” Jenn said.

“That stinks; thanks for coming and telling David and Alexa,” Fredrick said and signed.

Fredrick woke to David shaking him. At some point in the evening, he had left David and Alexa watching TV and went to bed.

“Ummmm, hey, did you and Alexa sleep here last night?”

David made a circle with his index finger and thumb of his right hand and used the index finger of his left hand to indicate, with a wide goofy grin, that he and Alexa had made love.

“What, where! Dude, no way,” Fredrick exclaimed.

“In your brother’s bedroom, I cleaned up, and I already took her home, man. I came back to help clean up. It was a good night, man. Thanks for inviting us. Come on, though; I have to go to work soon.”

They cleaned up. David left for work, and Fredrick did the chores. His father left a list and said, “You won’t be lying around doing nothing while we are gone. Make sure you take care of everything on the list.”

Fredrick went to bed early Saturday. The words of others haunted his dream. It was an odd dream, blackness, terrifying deep darkness; he saw no images. Instead, Fredrick heard the words of Jenn and her dad.

“You little slut, I know you are screwing the deaf kid next door. Why would you be friends with such a freak, gray hair, strange eyes,”

“I promise Daddy, we are not having sex,” Jenn sobbed.

“I will be able to tell. I’ve told you only me. Remember that girl. If you spoil yourself, I always have your sister. She is almost twelve now. Remember that’s when I gave you your first lesson.”

Jenn sobbed, her father moaned. Fredrick woke, shaking; the coolness of the house chilled the perspiration that soaked his clothes and sheets. The torment of that first dream, the dream that revealed the evil next door, haunted him. Every night from that time forward, Fredrick would hear the conversations of people he had interacted with that day. Always they were scary dreams. Mr. And Mrs. Edwards arguing, Mr. Edwards slapping his wife. George from third period telling someone he wanted to die.

A week later, Fredrick couldn’t avoid Jenn any longer.

“Fred Appleton, you stop,” Jenn stood in the hall at school, scowling at him.

“Oh, hi, how are you,” Fredrick signed, looking at the floor.

“You don’t get to do that,” She signed when he glanced up at her. “Why are you avoiding me?”

“I thought you were mad at me,” Fredrick lied.

“What,” she said out loud.

“Hey, Jenn, I see you finally caught the jerk. Come on, David is at the car; We’re getting lunch.”

“You coming?” Jenn signed. They turned and walked away. Fredrick followed, haunted by the dream he could never tell anyone. Fearful he might now have another like it.

That evening in the silent blackness of his dream space, he heard them talking.

“I wish he would die,” Jenn told Alexa.

“Why don’t you leave? You are almost nineteen. He can’t stop you from leaving,” Alexa said.

“I’m afraid he will do this to Annie. He has told me he will. I have to find a way to protect her.”

A week later, Jenn turned nineteen.

“Hey Fred, what can I do for you, son. Jenn is not here,” Jenn’s father said, answering the door.

“I wondered if you could help me; my parents are not home.” Fredrick saw Jenn’s father’s face morph with disgust at the sound of his voice.

“Possibly; what’s the problem?”

“I ran out of gas, I have gas in the can at home, but I wondered if you would give me a lift to my car?”

“Um, Sure, let me get the car; you get the gas can.” He said.

Fredrick sat with his back to the door to see if the man spoke while they drove. It wasn’t long into the ride.

“So what kinda disease do you have that caused your hair and eyes to be like that?”

“It’s called Waardenburg-shah syndrome; it’s a genetic mutation.”

“Is that why you are deaf?” the man asked.

“Yes, sir,” Fredrick answered.

The man squinted his eyes and turned forward. “Hum, like the X-men but not as cool, I guess,” He said smiling.

“I always thought my eyes were cool.”

“No, just strange, and dang, it’s hard to understand you when you talk, son.”

“Yeh, others have told me as much. But I can’t expect everyone to learn how to sign. So I have to try, right?”

“Umm, I guess if you want people to think your stupid. So, you really like my daughter, do ya?” he asked, looking at Fredrick a bit too long for someone driving a car.

“Absolutely,” Fredrick said, deliberately sounding off and slurring the word a little more than usual. “She has always been my best friend. Never once that I can remember did she treat me differently or mean. she has even defended me when stupid people make fun of me.”

“Dang son, what are you doing way out here?” He said as he pulled off the road behind Fredrick’s car.

They exited the car; Fredrick retrieved the gas can from the trunk.

“I like taking long drives; they help me clear my mind,” Fredrick said as he poured the gas into the tank of his car.

“So you like that, hum, having a girl defend you,” he said, standing on the other side of the car so Fredrick could see him talking.

“No, sir, I’m just saying she has always been a good friend.”

Fredrick finished and opened the trunk of his car. He put the gas can in and picked up the lug wrench. As he shut the trunk, Fredrick swung the piece of metal and caught Jenn’s father in the left temple. Then jumped on him and wrapped his hands around the man’s neck, squeezing. They struggled; Jenn’s father hit Fredrick a couple of times, then grabbed his wrists, trying to break the grip. His eyes bulged, his face turned red, then he passed out.

“You like making fun of people who are different, do ya? You like hurting Jenn, do ya, you like that, do ya?”

Fredrick drug the man’s body to the passenger side of the car and put him in. As he put the man’s foot inside the vehicle, he noticed his shoe had come untied. Fredrick took the lace completely out and stuck it in his pocket.

Down about a mile from his car, at the top of a steep hill that became curvy at the bottom, Fredrick put Jenn’s father behind the car’s wheel. He put the car in drive and shut the door, jogging back to his car.

Later that evening, the police came to Jenn’s house.

“What’s going on, officers?” Fredrick asked, walking over as they knocked.

Both officers got that look; Fredrick had seen it hundreds of times before every time he met someone new. That, “What the hell did he say?” look.

“Sir, it’s a private matter. Please back up.”

Fredrick watched from the edge of the drive. Jenn started to cry and then pointed at him. The officer waved to Fredrick.

“What is going on?” he asked.

“My dad was killed in a car accident this afternoon.”

“Oh no.”

He took her into the house, the police followed.

“Miss, we know it is a bad time. Do you feel like answering some questions to fill in some blanks?” the officer asked.

“Sure,” Jenn said. Fredrick sat and watched the conversation unfold. He watched as Jenn’s shoulders relaxed as she realized her abuser would never hurt her again.

Months later, Jenn and Annie, her sister, lived happily alone next door to Fredrick. He often visited to watch movies and listen to music. Well, she listened; he would read the lyrics.

“What are those, Fred?” Alice asked.

Fredrick was at his desk in his bedroom. He played with the shoelace he had tied into a hangman’s noose. Alice picked up the button from the shelf where a blue Bic lighter, a quarter, a key chain with two keys on it, and a baseball sat. Fredrick looked at his sister and smiled.

“Oh, they are mementos from the adventures I have had.”

Find Episode 2 here

© 2022, T. Mark Mangum

I am T.Mark Mangum. From an early age, I was hooked, addicted to the imagined, unfathomable worlds of Star Wars, Star Trek, Conan, the Lord of the Rings, and many others. I love writing fiction tales. I love writing in multiple genres. However, my favorites are Sci-fi and Fantasy fiction. I am a father of six; we have two cats and two dogs. Tabletop gaming is a passion.