Proselyte

by Grace Ellis

“What do you think you’re doing here, you white-laced old man?!” Steven desperately tried to get off the ground, but at this point the scrappy kid was all over him beating his fists into Steven’s ribs and slapping him across the face. A number of other Skinheads formed a circle around the two and jeered from the sidelines.“Answer me! Your face is too innocent, like you haven’t seen enough of this. Like you come straight from your mama’s house, you brownnosing white trash.” Steven scrambled for his life, crawling on hands and knees anytime the kid permitted. Despite the guy’s size, he was hardcore.“What are you doing?!” Steven turned over to face the demon, and he realized that the kid had pulled out a knife. Steven instantly stopped struggling. His heart was pounding, and he knew he was about to die.“I bet you even prefer a gun to one of these,” said the kid softly, holding the blade up to Steven’s cheek. “But that isn’t how the Skinheads play.” He laughed loudly, and the group of men also began to laugh.The kid quickly folded the knife and tucked it into the front pocket of Steven’s shirt. He patted it twice. “You’re going to need that.”He stood, and helped Steven to his feet, and the circle of Skinheads clapped as if they had just seen a good movie. The kid smiled at Steven who stood on shaky knees and stared back at him.Then suddenly, as if the night could get any weirder, the teenage boy stood up straight and pulled his heels sharply together. He shouted, “Heil Hitler!” to which Steven had no reply.

169 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 18, 2010

About the author

Grace Ellis is a writer best known for co-creating and co-writing Lumberjanes, a New York Times bestselling, Eisner and GLAAD Award-winning comic, though you won't hear her brag about it unless you ask her directly. She has written several episodes of the animated series Bravest Warriors. Grace lives in Columbus, Ohio, where she co-parents a preternaturally smart cat, even though she's more of a dog person.