A CHILD BORN MAN

iUniverse, Inc.

Chapter One

Frightened by the roar of this man's voice, Kenneth ran into his room. Even though he hadn't done anything wrong, the little boy, still a baby at the age of five, stayed quiet, not making any noise for fear that the man would come into the room and start more trouble with him. Kenneth searched in his dresser drawer for some crayons; he wanted to draw pictures of the different animals that he loved the most. His favorite animal to draw was his cat, Tiger, which he had found under a car one day in the rain, frightened, just as he was. They had both been scared—Kenneth because he was a little boy who loved his mother's boyfriend, though this scary man didn't love him, and Tiger because he'd been left alone in the rain.

"Honk, beep." Tears had been about to fall from Kenneth's eyes because of Rich's yelling. But they stopped now when he heard this sound—the sound of a smaller boy moving down the long hallway and getting closer to his room. Kenneth had padded down that long hallway many times, going to bed without supper. Now, a toy car came to a stop in front of the door. A knock followed, and Kenneth, knowing who it was, opened the door quietly.

"Can my car and I come in and get some gas out of the drawer?" the three-year-old asked.

Kenneth laughed. "Danny, how are you going to get gas out of the drawer?" he asked.

"Well," he replied, "my car ran out of gas, and I asked Patty where I could fill up the car with some gas. She said, 'Danny if you must play with that big, dumb-looking thing, you can fill it up in the bedroom drawer—the one you and Kenneth sleep in when you're bad.'" Patty had told Danny that she and Rita, who was age nine, only had playhouses, with dolls and lots of little girl things—"no gas for your stupid car." She had suggested he fill up with crayons or go to their mother's room and get some perfume to fill the car up with.

Kenneth knew that Mommy's perfume wouldn't be the answer to little Danny's problem, but to please the little boy, he went up to his mother's room to see what he could find. Once in the room, he found himself in another world, not realizing what he was doing. With crayons in his hands, he started, unaware, drawing on his mother's walls. And in his other hand, he was pouring expensive perfume all over the room. Kenneth had completely forgotten about little Danny's fantasy of filling up the car with perfume, which would have caused the same problem that he had caused himself. He was in another world, until he suddenly felt two strong hands roughly squeezing his shoulder blades. He instantly knew whose hands they were. Kenneth's guess was right, because, as he was spun around, he looked up into the cold and dark eyes of Satan himself—Rich.

What is going to happen now? thought the little boy. Is he going to kill me and tell my mother that I ran away because of what I did in her room?

"You little piece of garbage!" Rich screamed. "Your punishment for what you did is going to make you remember. Everyone else will be eating chicken for dinner. If you're hungry, you can suck the marrow out of the bones that we throw at you while you're chained to the chair—but with a collar around your neck, just like a little dog."

At first Kenneth thought that would be his only punishment, but he was completely wrong. Rich took the little boy's clothes off and dragged him to his room. Kenneth started screaming, knowing that he was about to be beaten like some criminal who had just broken out of prison. "Please!" the boy pleaded. "Please, don't beat me!"

In the background, little Danny started crying. Danny loved his brother so much that it made him cry whenever he saw Rich beating his brother. Even though Danny and Kenneth had different fathers, they were very close.

Rich was a very cruel person. To everyone who didn't have anything to do with him, he was the meanest you had ever seen. He beat the little boy so badly that, after awhile, the pain was gone; his body had shut down, and he'd moved past the physical pain.

Danny hated when this happened to Kenneth because he loved his big brother so much. He would cry when he heard his father say, "That little bastard, Kenneth, and his two half sisters are nothing of mine. As far as I'm concerned, they're scum just like their fathers."

Rich would turn his anger on the children's mom too. "Bitch," the man would yell, "if you weren't such a tramp, these little crumbs wouldn't have even been created! But a woman who likes to screw as much as you can't help the problems that she causes." After these words of sarcasm, Kenneth would hear a few smacks. And later, Rich would tell Kenneth's mom that the only kids he wanted in his house were the two kids that were his—Danny and Reggie. Saying this, he would leave and go get drunk at a local bar. Then he would wander off and be gone somewhere for a few days.

When Rich finally did come back, he would bring flowers for the strong, but weak with grief mother of the household. Anne would give him a faint smile, the sadness never leaving her eyes. Even though she loved him, a part of her probably hoped that whenever he went out he would never come back. But he had to return because, after lying with some whore for a few days, he missed abusing everyone at home.

Dinnertime rolled around, and Patty and Rita were helping their mother prepare the meal. Rich was already sitting at the head of the table, as if he were a king. He was a big shot in his mind, though no one else thought of him that way. The baby was in his own little chair, with his table, playing with his spoon. Little Reggie was always a happy baby, and to his great fortune, he wasn't old enough to detect the depressing feeling that had set over everyone in the household.

Danny walked into the dining room, and Kenneth slowly followed behind his little brother.

"Rich, what's the matter with Kenneth?" Anne wanted to know.

"He's not going to eat nothing for dinner," Rich snapped. "And if he's hungry, he can suck the marrow out of the bones that we leave when we finish. When he's done, he can go to his room, and I don't want him out till tomorrow night after I whip his little ass like I did tonight. You don't know what he did, do you, Anne?"

"No, what did he do?" Anne said softly, looking at her no-excuse-for-a-man husband.

"Why that little son of yours, he ruined our bedroom walls, drawing all over them with crayons and poured your perfume all over the room. Now, if he doesn't deserve the punishment he's getting, I just don't know what's wrong with anybody around here."

Rita giggled, but Patty didn't, as she, too, had been badly mistreated by Rich. Rita had just been lucky so far; Rich had hit her only a few times.

"Rich," Anne said, using a line she often tried, "I know Kenneth should be punished—I agree—but not the way you are going about it. You're showing more of the hate you have, as you say, to my son. And I don't like it."

"Shut up!" Rich growled. "I know what I'm doing. You don't know what the hell you're talking about, so let me do it my way, okay?"

Even though it wasn't okay, Anne put her head down, too hurt to fight. She wouldn't say anything more, so Rich had won again, like he always did.

After dinner was over, everyone left ready to go to bed or, for those who were allowed, to watch TV. When Rich wasn't there, everyone in the house would watch television and eat dessert together. The family could still do this when Rich was home, but nobody wanted to be around him if they could help it, so the kids generally made themselves scarce after dinner.

Tonight, Patty helped Anne wash dishes, and Kenneth went back to his room. Danny was sound asleep. Confused, Kenneth petted Tiger, who loved the boy very much. The cat would never forget the rainy day when he had been saved by his present master and faithful friend.

It was a star-gleaming, extra bright night, and Kenneth was looking out his window when he suddenly heard the door open. His heart jumped to his throat; he thought his stepfather had come back to whip him some more.

Instead, he heard his mother's voice. "Honey, I brought you some chicken. I wasn't that hungry, and Rich thought I threw it out, so hurry up and eat it before he comes in and sees you, because we'll both be in big trouble.

"Kenneth," she added after a moment, "I want to send you and your sisters away very soon. You have an uncle and aunt who are going to meet you very soon. They would like to adopt you, and you would become legally their son, with their last name.

"Your sisters will go to live with their real father," she explained. "I think you'll be very happy, once you leave here."

With that, Kenneth kissed his mother good night. While she was telling him her plans he'd finished up the meal that she'd snuck to him.

Wow, that might be really nice, he thought, imagining his aunt and uncle. I'll call them Mommy and Daddy. He decided he would really enjoy that. And they'll love me. He smiled.

* * *

The big day came when Kenneth was to meet his new parents—his future parents, that is.

"Look at that red-and-black car, Mommy."

Anne looked out the window. "Oh, yeah, that's your aunt and uncle," she told him.

The man and woman both got out of their car and walked toward the house. Smiles spread over their faces as they came inside to meet little Kenneth. Luckily, Rich was gone again, out on another of his few day sprees.

"Kenneth," Anne said, "this is your uncle Harold and your aunt Mary."

"Hi, Kenneth. How ya doin'?" Mary asked.

Kenneth looked up at the lady with the beautiful smile and said, "I'm doin' okay, Aunt Mary."

"Oh, he's something else, isn't he?" The man who was his uncle Harold, looked at Kenneth. Smiling, he added, "You need some meat on your bones, kid." Harold not knowing what type of food the little boy was eating, which was mostly the inside of the bones.

Kenneth enjoyed going out with Uncle Harold and Aunt Mary that day. Then the weekends he spent with them became more frequent. Soon, they decided to let him stay with them for a few weeks and see how that went.

Harold and Mary treated him really well. They took him to different places and bought him some clothes, as he really didn't have any. He often wore his sister's undershirts and other hand-me-down items. He basically was a little ragamuffin.

One day, Kenneth, Harold, and Mary were sitting at the table having dinner, and Uncle Harold said, "So, Kenneth, would you like to be my son?"

"Really?" Kenneth said. "That would be swell. Wow. You'll be my daddy, and Aunt Mary will be my mommy?"

"Yes, son, and we'll always do the best we can for you and teach you as much as possible about doing the right things in life," Harold said. "We'll ask your mother and see what she says, okay? Now let's go get some ice cream, and we'll have a good ride."

Harold and Mary spoke to Anne about adopting Kenneth, and Anne agreed. She had to look out for her son's well-being, and she determined that being away from Rich was in Kenneth's best interest. She wanted him to have a better life than the misery he was living in—a life away from such a hateful person.

So Kenneth kissed his mother good-bye.

"I'll always be in touch with you, son," she assured him. "Don't worry. And I'm always going to be your mother."

"Okay, Mommy. I love you," Kenneth said. "I'll see you soon."

"I will speak to you soon, son," his mother replied. "But I want you to get adjusted, and maybe if you don't see me for a while, it'll be easier. That way, you can get used to being with Uncle Harold and Aunt Mary, who will be your other mommy and daddy.

"And you do the best you can and listen to them, okay?" she added. "Be happy and have a good life. I love you, son."

"I love you too, Mommy," Kenneth told her. "Good-bye!"

* * *

Kenneth was adopted, and his new name was Kenneth Harold Thompson. That was some name, huh. Anyway, he enjoyed being with his new parents, Harold and Mary.

The trio would ride around a lot, often going upstate to Monticello to see Uncle Brian and his wife, Aunt Sarah, and Kenneth's cousins. They all had a good time on those visits. Kenneth loved to swim in Brian and Sarah's pool because there were frogs in it. The frogs would hop in and out of the pool, and everyone had a lot of fun.

Uncle Brian was one of Harold's brothers. His other two brothers were Uncle Sammy and Uncle Chris. Later in life, these four brothers would become for Kenneth—who had become KenBrownEagle—representations of the four elements of directions: east, west, north, and south. These were the eagles—the mighty ones, from the Powhatan Nation and also the Montauks.

The family had gotten their last name, Thompson, from a chieftain of the Powhatan tribe in Virginia. Black Feather had married an English woman whose last name was Thompson, and they had inherited her last name.

* * *

The first school that Kenneth went to was a parochial school called St. Peter and St. Paul in Jamaica, Queens. Everyone wore uniforms, and the teachers were nuns. You might think the nuns were really nice, but they would hit you hard if you did something wrong, with a paddle. Kenneth got paddled a lot. Kenneth wasn't very good in school. He used to play a lot.

After parochial school the family started building a house in Greenlawn, Long Island, and Kenneth changed schools. His new school was called Manor Plains.

While the house was being built, Harold, Mary, and Kenneth went to live with a new aunt and uncle. Aunt Loraine and Uncle Buster lived in Islip, Long Island, and Kenneth went to school there temporarily.

Behavior problems started to arise with little Kenneth at the Islip school. Kenneth didn't like being picked on, and he would stand on his own two feet in defense. When a kid at the school targeted him, hitting him and picking on him, Kenneth took matters into his own hands. He was being bullied.

One day Kenneth said to the kid, "Hey, say ah."

"What do you mean?" the kid asked.

"Look, just say ah. Let me just take your temperature."

"I'll play your stupid game this once if you give me your lunch," the kid replied.

Kenneth agreed, and the kid opened his mouth wide. "Ahhh."

At that instant, Kenneth broke the ice cream stick in the bully's throat. Now that was quite a violent response for a little child, or anyone.

* * *

A year went by, and by now Kenneth was in first grade, as he'd been held back, mostly because of behavior. He had been suspended for nearly a year because of the ice cream stick incident, and he didn't return to school in Islip. The house in Greenlawn was finished, and Kenneth would start a new life there. He felt that his behavior problems would go through more obstacles and that he would deal with other people's behavior.

Another problem Kenneth faced was Mary's drinking; she used to drink a lot of wine. During the daytime, early in the day, she was a nice person, and then at night, she was completely opposite—a regular Jekyll and Hyde. She would abuse Kenneth by making him perform tedious or degrading tasks. One time, on his birthday, she woke him up at three o'clock in the morning and made him scrub the floor in the bathroom by hand with a toothbrush. Her behavior toward him was really cruel, and Kenneth didn't need to face cruelty at home again. These incidents had a spiral effect, and Kenneth's behavior in school became more and more unbalanced; he was either a class clown or very disruptive. And sometimes, he didn't go to school at all.

His truancy eventually got him in some deep trouble at home. One day, he sneaked back into the house after Mary had gone to work—as he'd done for the past three days. He planned to watch television all day again. He'd been having a great time acting like he'd gone to school. He would take his school clothes off, put his play clothes on and sit and watch shows like The Three Stooges and The Merry Mailman all day. He'd been using the key, which he had because Mary wouldn't be home by the time he got home from school. She was an excellent tailor, and her job as a seamstress for a very well-known store would get her home later than when Kenneth would get home from school.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from A CHILD BORN MANby KENNETH H. THOMPSON Copyright © 2012 by Kenneth H. Thompson. Excerpted by permission of iUniverse, Inc.. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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