A Threat

Joshua Merritt said he had no reason to be suspicious when one of his friends texted him, asking him to hang out with two other teenagers they both knew. - Chicago Tribune

When the door closed the mood changed. He stood on a dirty door mat that sat on a dirty carpet and watched as a boy his age walked across the room to the window and shut the blind. Another boy put his arm around his shoulder.

“How you doin’, Joshy?”

He tightened his arm around Josh’s neck and pulled his head in close to his shoulder.

“We were just talking about you.”

He led Josh over to the couch and let go of his neck then pushed him in the chest and said: “Have a seat.”

There were three of them. All wearing the same stupid grin as they closed their circle in around the couch.

“What’s going on?” Josh said.

“Shut up!” one snapped. His hand curled into a fist and he slammed it against the back of couch. A puff of smoke rose up into the air.

“It’s our turn to talk,” he said calmly.

“You’ve been dating, Cindy, right?”

“No, no, we’re just…”

His words were hit out of his mouth from a blow with the back of a hand. Josh moved to get up. To fight back. But four hands firmly pressed down on his shoulders and his eyes darted quickly around the room.

“What do you want?” he said.

“You know what we want you fucking porch monkey. You stay away from Cindy.”

He leaned down and put his face nose to nose with the scared black teenager that sat on his couch.

“Because if you don’t. We’ll fucking lynch your nigger ass.”

For a moment their eyes were bound together by a mutual hatred. Josh could smell the stink of cigarettes on his breath. When he looked away, Josh felt like he had won a small victory, but before the feeling had enough time to be enjoyed, he felt something rough edges of his rope against his neck.

“You ever had your head in a noose?”

The frightened calm vanished from Josh’s being and was replaced with sudden panic. The man behind the couch tightened the noose and pulled the rope down below the couch. Josh swung his arms frantically, hoping to connect with the face of one of his assailants but hitting only air.

The three boys laughed and watched as the panic overtook him. His chest rose and fell violently. Spit dripped from his mouth. His eyes were wide with terror.

One of the boys put up his hand and Josh felt the noose loosen around the neck. He throw the rope off and stood up.

“Now you keep your spear chucking hands off of Cindy… Otherwise, we’ll find a nice strong limb to tie the other end of the rope.”

Josh stood in the middle of the room. His hands trembling. His body sweating. He wiped the spit from his lip and walked out of the room and into the light.