Gates Ferry

Chapter 1- Welcome Home

Gates Ferry


Written By Jonathan Kia

Chapter 1- Welcome Home

    These days were cool, but the nights were cold. Ryan Taylor was a mere eighteen years old. A cell phone in hand, a cigarette on his lip, for this, Ryan was unaware, led to his unpleasant slip.





    Ryan sat on his front porch, quickly burning the cigarette that rested upon his lower lip. He shuffled through the contacts of his cell phone, constantly parading up and down as if he forgot what his purpose was by opening the phone in the first place. After a long while of asinine button pushing he halted across the name Mark Bruno. Mark was a good friend of Ryan and the two had known each other since they were young children. Ryan pushed the “Call Sender” button and the phone began to ring.


    “Hey, what’s up Ryan?” Mark asked as he answered the phone. “At my house, bored as hell,” Ryan replied dramatically. “Ha! What else is new? Are you staying out of trouble or do you got something new up your sleeve like usual?” Mark shot back wittingly as if he expected Ryan was plotting something, for this was usually why he called. “No, just wanted to check up on you, you are my best friend after all. Also…... I’m getting ready to move out.” Ryan alleged, pausing every so often as he inhaled his cigarette.


    “You’re moving out? That’s crazy! You’ve got it made over there, don’t be an idiot. Plus you’ve got Julie right down the road, how do you think she’s gonna feel about it?” Mark stammered. Mark, unlike Ryan, used his intellect towards the positive. He had always attempted to lead Ryan down the right path, but most of the time his attempts were inept. “Where the hell do you think I’m going?” Ryan laughed while blew out smoke simultaneously. Mark quickly replied, “Haha wow, I should’ve known. I’ve gotta ask though, what is up with your financial situation. I know you don’t have a job. How are you gonna afford this venture? Ohhhh that must be why you called….. to borrow money, huh?” Mark replied disappointed, answering his own question.


      Ryan frowned and the cigarette fell out of his mouth as he quickly shot back, “No you dumbass, I just wanted to catch up with you. Julie is obviously taking care of my situation. Plus, I think she’s finally gonna let me take her virginity.” Ryan’s phone began to beep in the background alerting him that a call was coming in on the other line. He looked down at the phone and saw that Naomi, a girl he attended high school with who was very attractive was attempting to reach him. Ryan quickly put the phone back to his ear and said, “Hey let me call you back, Naomi is calling. I think I might give her a visit as well if you know what I mean.” “Dude that is so messed…,” Mark began to say, but was cut off by a dial tone as Ryan switched the line. He fumbled around the grass to pick up his cigarette while holding the phone up to his ear.


    “Ryan, are you there?” chimed a sweet, young lady’s voice on the other end. “Yea babe, give me a sec,” said Ryan painfully due to the slight burn on his finger from picking up the cigarette from the wrong end. He shook his hand to air off the injury and put the phone back to his cheek. “Hey Naomi, to what do I owe this unexpected pleasure?” Ryan’s charm usually paid off tenfold, but there were a few girls who knew him too well. “Oh Ryan, you know you don’t have to pull that crap on me!” Naomi laughed through the speaker. “I wanted to see what your plans were this weekend. I’m gonna be all alone and I couldn’t think of anyone else I wanted to spend time with more than you!” Ryan could sense the desperation in Naomi’s tone, but that excited him nonetheless. “I dunno Naomi, last time we hung out you wouldn’t stop calling. It was annoying, and plus I’ve got other stuff to do.” Although Ryan’s words could simply be interpreted in context, he had every intention of manipulating Naomi even more.  “Pleaaaaseeee come! You can spend the entire weekend with me, and my roommate is going to be at her parents. Do I really need to go into more detail?” Naomi said in a sexy, shy girl voice. Ryan paused on the other end for a moment causing Naomi’s heart to race substantially. Right before Naomi could ask if he was still on the line he answered, “Okay I’ll be there, but it better be worth it.” Ryan hung up before Naomi had a chance to reply. He flicked his cigarette into his mother’s flowers and returned inside the house.


    Ryan’s parents, Jackie and Martin, were on their way home from work. They owned and operated a deli market a few miles away from where they lived. One would think that this profession did not generate a ton of revenue, but the location was preferable and they had a solid clientele base. They would’ve been able to upgrade their lifestyle immensely if it wasn’t for their self centered son who wanted everything he came across. Most of their earnings went directly into his pocket, and they were even late on bills a couple times due to Ryan’s champagne taste and beer budget. Martin was fed up with Ryan’s behavior and had threatened to kick him out before, but this only led to the destruction of household items, (Ryan’s favorite outlet for anger) while leaving Jackie in tears, begging Martin to forgive Ryan and let him stay. Ryan would often storm out of the home and come back in the late hours of the night, heavily polluted from excessive drinking. As the parents pulled into the driveway Jackie began initiated a conversation about Ryan’s recent streak of wrongdoings.


    “You know Martin, Ryan can be a terrible son at times. He has abused our generosity, and I am completely aware of that. You, more than anybody, know that he has caused us both a great deal of anxiety and pain, but you cannot forget that he is still our son.” She stared deep into Martin’s eyes as his lay frozen ahead on the garage door. It was obvious that he was drawn into deep thought by the statement. Her eyes stayed locked on Martin, waiting for some kind of response. “You know Jackie,” Martin started to speak turning his head towards hers; “I have given him so many chances…so many warnings. I don’t understand why he continues to surround himself with low lives. He is so bright, he has so much potential. I have threatened him a lot in the past, but has it ever worked? Not as far as I can tell. Maybe we’ve just been too hard on the boy. I think he’ll grow out of it, and I am willing to let him stay in our home as long as he stays out of trouble and continues to progress in a way that we deem appropriate.” Julie began to smile and placed her hand atop of her husband’s. He shot a smile back slightly, but deep down he was already beginning to regret his decision. Martin knew that there was something horribly wrong with his son, but he couldn’t help but utter the one thing that brought about the tiny amount of happiness that remained within in his wife. Martin pulled the keys out of the ignition and the couple exited the vehicle, making their way to the front door of the home.


    As Ryan’s parents entered into the foyer, Martin heading towards the kitchen and Jackie heading towards the stairs, they were both unaware that Ryan was home. Ryan had just recently wrecked his vehicle while driving under the influence of alcohol with friends and lied to his parents claiming that it was stolen and the thief crashed into a ditch shortly after. Ryan, now having no means of transportation, had to make his way around by means of his friend’s.  Jackie reached the top of the stairs, headed straight to her bedroom door, and began to turn the handle.


    As Jackie entered the master bedroom she was shocked to see such an inexplicable sight and immediately covered her mouth with her hand. Her heart dropped into her stomach. The drawers were pulled out of the dressers, the mattress was flipped, and the closet had been completely ravaged. The room was a disaster, and Ryan was rummaging through one of Jackie’s jewelry boxes. Jackie began to stutter, “Ryryan…….what are you doing sweetheart?” Ryan jumped back. He had been unaware that his mother entered the bedroom because he was so engaged in the theft of his parent’s items, all of which were appraised at a very high value. “WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM?” Ryan screamed at his mother. “I HATE THIS PLACE AND I HATE YOU! I’M TIRED OF YOU, YOU’VE NEVER DONE ANYTHING FOR ME” Ryan shouted again. Jackie trembled under Ryan’s voice.


    Ryan began to run towards his mother, and he struck her on the side of her head with his fist. She dropped to the ground, clenching her wound. Blood began to trickle down her cheek as she wept. “Ryan, please… stop. You can have whatever you want. Those things don’t mean anything to me. I’m your mother and I love you, please don’t do this,” Julie pleaded with her deranged son, trying to crawl backwards towards the door. Without the slightest hesitation Ryan began to strike his mother repeatedly. He pummeled her head until a pool of blood had formed underneath. With all the screaming and commotion occurring it was obvious that something terrible was happening, so Martin rushed upstairs towards the frightening sound. As he came into eye shot of the bedroom he saw his wife crumpled up on the floor, Ryan on top of her. Ryan jumped up as he saw his father and stepped aside. Martin rushed over to Jackie and fell to the floor attempting to stop the blood flow. “What have you done, Ryan?” Martin cried looking up at his son. He immediately locked his focus back on Jackie and began to weep. Martin ripped his shirt off of his body and wrapped it around his wife’s head, attempting to bandage the wound. As Martin was comforting his wife, Ryan slowly stepped backwards towards his father’s bed. Martin had always kept a baseball bat underneath of his bed in case of a burglary. He did not believe in owning a gun, so this was the alternative. Ryan picked up the bat and approached his father. With one swing towards his father’s head, the bat let out a violent “CRACK”. His body slumped over top of his wife’s, both of them now completely covered in each others’ blood. Ryan began to strike his father with the bat over and over until he was no longer moving. Both parents lied in their own mess, their limbs slightly shaking due to muscle tremor. Ryan stared down at the destruction and then began to shuffle all of his parent’s most valuable belongings into the duffel bag he had lying on the floor adjacent to his mother’s dresser.


    After filling the bag to the brim, Ryan walked past his parents, kicking both of their bodies while yelling at them, “THIS IS WHAT YOU DESERVED! YOU SHOULD’VE NEVER TREATED ME THE WAY YOU DID. HOW THE FUCK AM I SUPPOSED TO BE NORMAL WHEN MY PARENTS CONSTANTLY TREAT ME LIKE AN ANIMAL?” Ryan stormed out of the room and rushed towards his own. He ransacked his closet, throwing various assortments of t-shirts, jeans, and other accessories into an even larger bag. As he emptied his closet he muttered under his breath, “That’s what they get. They should’ve known this was going to happen. Who should put up with that? Not me. Maybe one day I’ll forgive them, but I doubt it.” He smiled as he finished.


    Ryan rushed down the stairs, passing his parent’s bedroom and getting one last glance at the disgusting mess he had created. As he progressed downwards Jackie opened her eyes. Her vision was blurry, but she could make out the sight of her son fading away. “Ryan… I’m sorry,” She began to mutter pathetically before her blood loss caused her to fade back into unconsciousness. Ryan ran to grab his father’s keys off of the kitchen table and noticed his father’s wallet was sitting close by. He shoved the wallet into his pocket and then realized grabbing his mother’s purse would be valuable to his collection as well. He rushed back up the stairs and into his parent’s bedroom, searching around for the purse. The floor and walls were covered in blood, so initially it was difficult to make out the location of the purse. Ryan was in such a hurry that he was completely unaware that his father’s body was not in the same place in which he had left it. Ryan bent down to pick up the purse and dug through it frantically in order to decide whether or not it was worth the trouble.  As Ryan was downstairs Martin had mustered up the strength to crawl over to the bat and pull himself up to his feet. He had been standing behind the closet door, and with Ryan’s attention being completely focused on the contents of the purse, Martin had trudged over towards Ryan and was now standing right behind him. He raised the bat over his head, a tear forming at the corner of his eye, and began to swing it fiercely towards his son. Ryan, seeing the shadow of the bat rise up through his peripheral vision, quickly ducked down, causing his father to miss. Ryan turned and kicked his father in the stomach and sent him to hit the ground. Martin looked up at his sadistic son and coughed up the last word he could. “Why?” Ryan picked up the bat and approached Martin slowly. With one last swing the bat came into contact with Martin’s forehead and ended his life. Ryan sprinted back down into the kitchen without any remorse and drew his attention towards the key rack. He saw that there were two different options. The first was the key to the Honda Accord, his parents work vehicle. The second option was the key to his father’s Mercedes Benz, a car that Martin never drove in order to preserve its low mileage. After all, it was a very prized possession of his. Ryan grabbed the key to the Benz, threw the two bags over his shoulder, and jolted out of the front door leaving it wide open whilst allowing the cool air to rush inside of the broken home.