I am NOT a CRIMINAL!

CHAPTER ONE: INTRUSIVE THOUGHTS

POV:
MACKY!

I hate my job, really, I do. The noise, the screaming, the squealing and squeaking. Rambunctious, restless ravenous behavior. The sound resonates throughout my tent, bouncing off the walls. My job brings me migraines, awful long-lasting headaches. The children don't know how to calm down. I would do anything to shut them up, anything for quiet. I send them to time out, it's not enough, the small child turns away from the corner as soon as the timer runs out. Punishment is over. A smile crawls across their face that stretches from ear to ear and they are quick to separate their lips. Quick to return to the screaming. Quick to continue to add to all of the noise. Quick to dismiss the last five minutes of their lives.

The children make a mess. They leave my balloon animals popped and distorted, sprawled out along the confetti speckled floor. Cake crumbs and juice spills, they leave it all for me to clean up. Their parents aren't here, the children are my responsibility. They reside under my supervision for an hour, the longest hour of my life, wrecking havoc; the little gremlins, these tiny barbarians, just don't know how to get a hold of themselves.

"Okay everybody, gather around it's time for cake!" I announce with this fake animation coursing through my veins. I watch them pile all around the table, murmuring and squirming, praying upon the pastry like a lion to its prey. They hardly give the birthday boy any space. He stands there overwhelmed and unable to move. These rambunctious children just refuse to leave him room. The pressure is too much, the smile falls off of his face, tears welled up in his eyes, one by one they slide down his cheeks, trickle down his chin, his tears meet the floor, nobody seems to notice. The birthday boy lifted his head above the masses, up toward the colorful roof of my tent, where the party streamers hang and sway.

"Macky!"

He looks at me and continues to sob. He has told me without telling me-- that even he wants all of this chaos to stop.

"Alright kids, let's give the birthday boy some space, yeah? Remember everyone, it's his special day. He can't blow out his candles, if they're all being blocked, by all of your faces. Please back up, give him his space."

One by one they heed my instructions. Backing away, the birthday boy can finally breathe. He has space, tears stop streaming down his cheeks. It's almost perfectly quiet now, but we still can't start to sing. There's a straggler among the crowd. There is always one. One child who thinks that they are above the rest. I come up to the gremlin from behind and place my hand on his shoulder. I pull him back; it turns to look at me. The child stares me in the face.

"Back up little one, It's Devon's day, let's move somewhere else yeah?"

"Uhm." It began, dragging its hands down its face, "Nope! Macky, do a trick! Do something cool! Make balloons--or or...!"

"That was earlier, playtime is over, we're going to sing happy birthday to Devon and then it'll be time for everyone's parents to come and pick them up."

And this seems to be when all hell broke loose. If I could have dragged the child by the ears out of my tent and left him in the parking lot outside I would have. But that would get me fired. No, it'd get me sued. No, it'd get me arrested and I'd be charged for battery against this little wretch. The boy screamed and begged me to amuse him. I didn't give in. I let the thought of me just dragging him out play in my mind. It would be an easy fix. I thought and thought, while the gremlin screamed and threw hissy fits.

"Calm down little guy, please."

What a cry on death ears. It's as if my words hadn't even registered, the gremlin looked at me with its beady little eyes and continued to be a nuisance. I hate children, I always will, and this is why. That kid felt that the commotion he already caused was not enough and so he walked himself over to the birthday boy's table. Seeking attention, bashed the celebratory pastry in on itself with his fists, the room seemed to go quiet. Silence swallowed the room. Then suddenly, the most awful, sorrow-filled wailing made itself present, destroying that silence, Devon screamed.