Breaking In

There was no mistaking it. The keys just weren’t there. He had fingered his pockets and checked his backpack. The only thing he found was his wallet, a half-finished pack of peppermint gum, his work laptop, a burrito still in the wrapper, a notebook, and two black ink pens.

“Jesus Christ,” he muttered under his breath and tossed his hands in the air. “Where the hell could it be?” he wondered and tried imagining the last place he had seen it.

After what felt like ten seconds he realized he was just too damn tired to think about anything other than the rest of the movie from last night as well as the half eaten cheeseburger that was still sitting on the third shelf in the fridge. He put down his backpack and looked up and down the hall, entertaining the idea that he was standing in the Overlook Hotel before shaking the stupid thought from his mind.

“Maybe I should just try picking the damn thing,” he thought.

And just as soon backed away from the idea since he had no idea how. To get a good sense of what it was going to feel like, he braced his left sneaker on the door. Surprisingly the thing was already unsteady. Any thief who wanted something from him would have had no trouble getting inside. That was what he thought until he saw the red dot in the corner of the ceiling. Had it not been for this situation he guaranteed he would have gone on living without ever knowing it was there. Whoever was on the other side had seen him playing footsie with the door and he imagined they weren’t all that impressed either. He rubbed his head and wished there was something he could do to prove his innocence. Then it dawned on him that whoever was on the other side was probably tired of seeing his face, especially at this hour. After all he had been living there for three years. It’s the job of security guards to know the faces of the people in the building. Still, the idea of having some three hundred pound bald guy with a nightstick slapping on handcuffs made him feel weak in the knees. He stood there for a while fumbling with the lock as if somehow it would turn loose on its own, all the while hoping he wouldn’t see either Tweedle Dee or Dum come walking around the corner. Then it came to him like a wasp sting. He knelt down and got out a pen and one of his notebooks and wrote the words LOCKED OUT OF MY APARTMENT with a big stupid grin on his face. He felt like a child asking for permission to take the last piece of pie at a party as he walked under the camera and held up the book. If they didn’t see it they weren’t doing a very good job as security guards. When he was satisfied the Tweedles had gotten a good long look he went back to his apartment and touched his sneaker on the door again. He got to thinking he would fix the lock first thing in the morning and save the landlord the trouble of asking him to do it. With one hard stomp there was the sound of splintered wood and a loud clang when the lock landed on the floor.

“Fuck me,” he murmured and picked up his backpack.

Maybe it was the warm water on his head or the euphoric sensation that comes with scrubbing one’s crotch. Whatever the case, he found himself recollecting the events of the evening to place the missing key. He remembered powering down his laptop and sliding it in his backpack before he got up from around the desk. He remembered feeling the key on his hip when he walked out of the office and got on the elevator with fat Janet. He remembered when he made it to the ground floor and walked out of the building with the wind attacking his head. Even in the taxi he remembered feeling it when he went for one of the gums.

“So where the fuck is it?” he asked, knowing quite well there was no one around.

He turned off the faucet. Whoever was outside his bathroom was trying hard not to be heard. He thought back to the clang the lock made when it landed on the floor and figured it was only natural for someone to break in on the night the door gets damaged. But he wasn’t going down without a fight. Since hitting a thief with a plunger was the same as waving a white flag he grabbed up his body wash and stepped from the shower. The idea was to blind the fucker the second he opened the door and then tackle him to the ground, taking whatever weapon he saw fit for tonight’s opportunity. The thought crossed his mind to cover up in his blue towel but he figured a naked man squirting a bottle of body wash was quite the horrific sight. He was at the door, listening to the breathing in the bedroom and hoping the fucker was a cat burglar and not an experienced killer.

 “I got me a gun. You best come on outta there right now before I start shooting.”

Jake dropped the body wash.

“Wait don’t shoot! It’s me Mr. Roberts!” he hollered.

“Who is me?”

“Jake Clayton. I lost my key!” he hollered and slipped on his towel.

When he poked his head outside, his face was inches away from the barrel of a shotgun.

“Jesus Christ I said it’s me!” he hollered.

“Hmm. Can never be too sure,” he said and holstered the gun against his gut.

Jake opened the door all the way allowing the white light to fill the bedroom. That was when he saw for the first time, how pronounced the bags were beneath the landlord’s eyes. He hoped the day would never come when he would look anything like that.

“Sorry for breaking the door. I’m going to have somebody look at it first thing tomorrow,” he said.

“You know you’re really lucky. I don’t think you even realize just how lucky. One of your neighbors called and said they heard somebody break in next door. I was going to turn you into confetti,” he said.

“Thanks for not doing that. I’m really sorry Mr. Roberts. I didn’t mean to frighten anyone. Just needed to get inside is all,” he said.

“Just don’t make a habit of it. I have a short fuse and I’m itching to finally use this on someone,” he said.

“What about the security?” he asked.

“What security?”

“The security. You mean the camera in the hall isn’t working?” he asked.

“Not at all. Those things been out of use since – well I honestly can’t say if there was ever a time when we used them come to think of it.”

“You don’t think you should fix that?” he asked.

“No. I don’t.”

With water still dripping from his head he watched as the old man shambled out of his apartment.

The Dark Witness Chapter Five

Local psychic saves woman from shark attack amidst lightning storm.

Standing on their front doorstep, I held the paper under my arm and licked my lips before knocking. The door opened almost immediately and a man with low cut white hair came walking out. He had on a green and yellow plaid shirt that was missing a couple buttons and a small sized hammer was poking out of his utility belt. He smelled like chicken grease and he was looking at me as if he was witnessing a miracle. I made a mental note of the silver ring on his finger and smiled.

“Hello Eric,” I said.

The last thing I expected was to be hugged, and I nearly dropped the paper when he stepped forward and wrapped his arms around me. I could feel the hairs on his arms rubbing against my cheeks as well as the bottom half of his goatee touching the top of my head. When he let me go he stepped back and removed his test glasses as if he were making sure this wasn’t a wild daydream.

“You’re really here,” he said.

“I am,” I said.

“You look rested,” he said.

“I feel great. Best I’ve felt in a long time really,” I said.

“I see you brought the paper,” he said,

“Yeah, just in case you weren’t keeping up with current events,” I said.

“You didn’t have to, we heard about it on the news. It’s all anyone seems to be talking about as a matter of fact,” he said.

“Listen, I’m sorry for leaving the way I did. It wasn’t fair to you and Hannah. I just didn’t want to lose you guys the way I lost them and I figured that if I could just put some distance between us then maybe nothing would happen,” I said, while tears were starting to form at the corners of my eyes. “The nightmares are gone Eric, they’re gone. I haven’t dreamt about anything since I saved that woman and that was three weeks ago. I just want you to know that I’m grateful for everything you and Hannah did for me and I’m very sorry for how things turned out,” I said.

“Angelo you have nothing to be sorry about. The worst thing that could ever happen to a child happened to you and you dealt with it in your own way. If your parents were alive I’m sure they would be proud of you,” he said.

I wiped my eyes with the sleeve of my shirt and he hugged me again. Together we went inside where his first order of business was to rouse Hannah who was sleeping upstairs and give her the good news.

The Dark Witness Chapter Four

I went through the trouble of liberating a small and somewhat sea worthy dinghy from the pier and made my way after them. Getting the ropes loose wasn’t as difficult as I’d imagined. What was difficult was getting the damn thing to go in the direction I wanted. For a while it seemed the dinghy was determined to take whatever route the water had planned, but after practicing my forward stroke with the oar for a little while, the damn thing finally started to co-operate. Soon I was heading towards the big scary outline of the Rancor Islands with my T- Shirt tied around my forehead. I imagined I looked like a poor explorer from a faraway land and I couldn’t help but crack a smile. The giddiness was back as well as that feeling of being on the verge accomplishing something great. Ever since the dream and the house fire I had felt tainted, as if something evil had rubbed off on me, and no matter what I did, it was never going to come off. For the first time, getting clean seemed possible.

I hunkered down as best as I could as the sea rocked me from side to side. I had placed the oar on the floor since it was suicide to try and gain any kind of direction in this kind of weather. The winds were so loud my ears were filled with them and my whole body felt wet and slimy with rain. I was blinking often now, and squinting, trying to catch anything out of the ordinary. That was when I spotted a yellow life jacket wedged into the reef from my dream. It was a few meters to my left and I was hoping the sea wouldn’t become vengeful and toss me towards it. Even in the harsh gray weather I was able to make out that someone was attached to it, and that whoever it was, they had been crushed against it. Along with the rain came another big wave that washed a few fishes aboard. I spat out sea water and wrinkled my nose as the little green and pink beauties twitched on the floor. Another wave came at me again and I gripped the sides of the dinghy. A few more fishes landed inside and again, I spat out sea water, only this time, it tasted more like coins than salt. Curious, I inched my ass off the seat and noticed the gray sea also had traces of dark red. That was when I spotted the two yellow life jackets up ahead. They were the size of teacups and they were surrounded by gray fins. Even though another wave was coming I grabbed up my oar and stroked at the sea. There was no way to properly steer the dinghy but I hoped my efforts would be enough to at least get me going in the right direction. When they were the size of bedroom pillows I called out to them. But it was as if I was in a room all by myself. The winds were too loud for them to hear me and I feared the dinghy veering too far left and going past them.

“Look here!” I screamed again.

But there was no response in my direction. It seemed the man was unconscious because the woman was the only one who was screaming and moving. I wished she would have stopped because the Wolf Sharks were notorious for repeatedly attacking their prey if they felt threatened. Without thinking twice I picked up one of the fishes from the boat and flung it at her. The thing bounced off her head and her eyes finally met mine.

“Swim!” I screamed.

I watched as she paddled towards me as the dinghy was going past her. She was only using one hand as her other hand was holding onto the life jacket of the man with the scar. There was blood coming from his mouth and inside I screamed for her to leave him as the gray fins were close behind her. When she was next to the dinghy I held out my hand and squeezed her arm. It was wet and slippery and I feared she would fall back. But she held onto the side of the dinghy and by some miracle, instead of tilting it over, she fell inside. The man with the scar was next. I reached out and grabbed a hold of his life jacket, taking care not to lean too far over the side of the dinghy. She held onto the other side of the jacket and pulled at him. But the more we pulled the more the dinghy threatened to tilt over. I felt the scales from the fishes flip flopping around at the back of my legs, as if they were anticipating the eventual capsizing of the dinghy.

“I’m sorry!” I screamed and released the life jacket.

“No!” she screamed and continued to tug.

But there was no way to get him aboard without turning over the dinghy. He was too heavy. Still she was hell bent on lifting him inside. That was until, one of the sharks tore a hole in his life jacket and his body started to sink. I watched the face of the scarred man as it disappeared under the reddish gray waves and allowed my tears to mix with the rain.

The Dark Witness Chapter Three

Steve had his arm on her side while her head was resting on his shoulder. In the distance he saw the dark outlines of the Rancor Islands and for a brief moment he thought it looked like something out of an old monster movie. As much as he tried he couldn’t shake the sensation from his thoughts that he had been a bit of a bastard to the boy, having lost his father at a young age. Even after all these years the memory was still quite vivid.

It was in the middle of summer. He and his old man had been sitting in the family canoe out at sea with their lines casted, waiting to see who’d get the first bite. As usual, his old man was the first to get something, and like always he was grinning like a hyena.

“Stevie, Stevie, Stevie, at this rate, your pockets are gonna always be lighter than mine,” said the old man.

“Don’t worry, you’ll get your stinking money,” he’d said.

“Hey, mind your manners, don’t get fresh with me,” said the old man.

“Sorry,” he’d said.

“Jesus this one’s a fighter,” he heard his old man say and looked back at him.

Even though his arms were the size of canons it was obvious he was struggling.

“Pull it up,” he’d said.

“What’s it look like I’m trying to do,” said the old man.

In the official report he stated that something large enough to lift a man pulled his father from the canoe and that was the last time he saw him. But that wasn’t all there was. At the risk of sounding like a nut he neglected to mention in the report that while rowing back to shore he saw something following the canoe. To this day he still wasn’t sure what to make of it, other than the fact that it was covered in seaweed, and had the head of a man.

“You okay Steve?” asked Tonya.

“Yeah, I’m good. Sorry,” he said, and noticed the sky was no longer a pleasant shade of blue.

“You think we did the right thing coming out here?” she asked.

“Don’t start now,” he said and kissed her hand. “We both needed this.”

She kissed him on his scar before moving her mouth to his lips.

He opened his eyes to the sound of an explosion from above and had a hard time seeing anything out of his left eye. The top left side of his head was peppery and swollen and he dared himself not to look down at his feet. His tongue tasted as if he’d been sucking on coins and he did his best not to vomit. Just a few meters ahead, he spotted the bumblebee colors of a life jacket bobbing up and down the gray sea as forks of blue lightning shot across the sky above him. He tried dog paddling towards the figure and felt frustration rising in his chest like a poison with each stroke. He was struggling to keep track of the yellow jacket with his one good eye, but continued to push himself, kicking his legs, and allowing his life jacket to do its job. As he drew closer he gradually came to notice the scattered pieces of white wood that dotted the surface of the water. They surrounded his wife who was unconscious but floating with her life jacket. He figured the boat must’ve struck something hard and immediately remembered the little boy’s mention of a reef. He looked around but saw no saw sign of the captain nor a reef for that matter and surmised that they must’ve drifted pretty far from the crash site. Once he was close enough to make out her freckles he held onto her arms and was quietly grateful she was still warm. There were no obvious signs of injury but he figured like him she had hit her head on impact.

“Tonya!” he screamed and shook her.

He watched her blink her eyes wide open and saw a neat trickle of blood flow from her left nostril.

“Oh my God what happened!” she screamed.

“I’m here babe! I’m here!” he screamed.

“What the fuck happened! Where are we?”

“I think the boat crashed!”

“Oh my God you’re bleeding!” she screamed.

“I feel fine alright, I’ll manage. Listen! The boat was heading towards the island so we must be close to it! But I’m having a hard time seeing anything in this weather so we have to try and stay calm!” he screamed.

“Oh my God he was right!”

“Don’t you dare bring him up! Don’t you dare! We’re getting out of this!” he screamed.

Another fork of lightning shot out across the sky from one cloud to the next and she screamed.

“Just hold onto me! We’ll get through this!”

In truth he was panicking on the inside, but not about what the boy had told him. He hated to admit it, but even after all these years he was still that little boy who’d lost his father at sea. He’d had his reservations about the trip to the Rancor Islands when his wife had brought it up months earlier, and he was hoping that with their workload she would have forgotten about the whole thing. But he knew better than to hope for something like that since Tonya was unlikely to change her mind when she found something she wanted. It was a stubbornness he’d seen in her mother and he’d hoped it wasn’t genetic. He knew that when she got this way, the only way she would budge would be to propose a counteroffer that they could both agree on. In truth, he had no interest in going anywhere over the summer. He wanted to stay home and watch the Alliance Brothers finally take down the Howitzers and maybe even break out the old barbeque grill that had been handed down to him from his old man. But he knew she would never go for that, so he kept it to himself, until word about the trip reared its ugly head again. He convinced himself that what he’d seen all those years ago was the product of adrenaline and an overactive imagination but there still remained a small but stubborn part of his psyche that refused to let it go. He’d come to call it the Mossman, and though he’d only seen it once, he was reminded of it every time he saw a large body of water.

“I want you to close your eyes!” he screamed suddenly.

“What? Why?” she asked.

“Just do it!” he screamed.

And as her brown eyes came to a close he made a mental note of all the gray fins that were heading towards them.

The Dark Witness Chapter Two

“My name is Angelo Emerson, I’m sixteen years old, and I have nightmares every single night. When I was eleven I dreamt that my parents would die in a house fire and the next day it came true. Since then, I’ve been seeing people die in my dreams, and last night, I saw both of you die in a sea storm. Believe me, I know how mad all of this sounds but I’m begging you not to go to wherever it is you’re planning on going today. This curse has been following me for years and not once have I ever been able to save someone. I’m hoping that maybe this time, if I can save you, then maybe the curse will be broken and I can start living a normal life again,” I said.

“Now look here. I don’t know what kind of game you think this is, but if you don’t put my wife’s bag down right now I’m gonna make you wish you didn’t open your mouth this morning,” he said.

“Hold on Steven,” she said.

“Babe he’s a scam artist. His parents are probably the ones that sent him out here,” he said.

“Just give me a second,” she said and stepped a little closer. “Hey there, I’m Tonya, Tonya Watkins. I teach High School Science. You said your name is Angelo right? And you’re sixteen?” she asked.

“Yes,” I said.

“If no one told you this before, let me be the first to say that I’m very sorry for your loss. May I ask what exactly happens to us in your dream?” she said and wiped a stream of sweat from her eyebrow.

“I saw both of you die in a storm. Your boat breaks on a reef and everybody ends up in the water. You were wearing yellow life jackets and you were screaming because sharks were everywhere,” I said and tried to hold back the tears. “I saw them rip you apart.”

“Jesus Christ! You’re a sick little fucker you know that! I saw the weather forecast last night and there’s nothing but clear skies for the whole weekend,” he said.

“Sometimes they get it wrong,” I said. “Just give me a chance to prove I’m right. Don’t go anywhere today.”

“Angelo you seem like a nice sensitive boy and I would more than love to believe you, but I think you know how odd this whole thing sounds. If you were me, and I came out of the blue like you just did, would you believe me?” she asked and wiped another stream of sweat.

“I’m just trying to save you,” I said.

“Just give me my bag Angelo. I won’t let my husband hurt you,” she said.

“I’m not trying to scam or sell you anything. All I’m asking is for you guys to sit out today,” I said.

“Angelo my husband and I have been planning this little trip for months. I’m afraid we can’t just do that,” she said.

It was obvious that neither of them were going to listen to a word I had to say and I couldn’t blame them. All the clothes I had on were stolen and didn’t fit and I was here talking about seeing the future. I doubted even the most naive person on the island would have believed me under the circumstances. When her husband pulled out his cellphone, no doubt to call the police, I handed her the bag without argument. I watched as she placed a hand on his chest and eased him back a bit. I watched the two of them descend the ladder and into the speedboat. And just like that, the giddiness that came with being on the verge of accomplishing something great was gone.

The Dark Witness Chapter One

Déjà vu is that unexpected wait a second vibe someone gets when they feel as if they’re experiencing something familiar. What I was going through wasn’t unexpected. I was certain that in a few hours, the calm blue sea would become something straight out of my nightmare. And in the end there were going to be bits and pieces of human flesh all over the place. Sometimes I would see their names in our local paper. One of the latest ones was an eleven year old boy named Rohan Gray. He had been mauled to death by a Cheetah Bear that had been missing from the parish zoo for over two weeks. I had to steal a new pair of boxers from one of the stalls when I woke up from that one. There was also sixty two year old Sharon Leech who had fallen down the stairs of her apartment complex. I had tears in my eyes when I woke up from that one because she looked a lot like my mother. And then there were the times when their names weren’t in our local paper. These ones I would only hear about from strangers on the street or taxis parked on corners with their radios turned up for the whole town to hear. Sometimes I didn’t catch the names. Sometimes I only heard what happened to them. The Jane’s and John Doe’s of the world. Not that it made much of a difference since all the names were impossible to keep up with. I used to believe I would have gotten used to it, but as it turned out, there was no such thing as getting used to seeing the faces of the dead. And every night it was a different face. Every, single, night. I was sitting on the railing by the pier thinking about the one from last night. I was wondering if maybe some of the ones I hadn’t heard about were still alive. But the longer I sat there feeling the early morning air blowing on my chest through the neck of my oversized T-Shirt, the more I felt like I was doing nothing more than wishful thinking. I was staring at what was left of the moon as the sun was just on the horizon, and in that moment I knew it was never going to end. I was doomed to bear bad dreams each and every night. I thought back to that afternoon in April when I was only eleven and squeezed the railing. I missed them so much. I was starting to loosen my grip when I heard the sound of footsteps coming down the pier. I looked up and squinted at them through the orange sunlight. The first thing I noticed was that they were both wearing flip flops and sunglasses. The second was that the woman had freckles all over her cheeks and her hair had been done up in a ponytail, while the beast walking next to her had a huge scar on the bridge of his nose. It was as if someone had knifed him across the face, and judging by the size of his arms, I imagined whoever it was didn’t live through his response. At the same time I had the funniest sensation across my forehead.

“Wait a second,” I said and let go off the railing.

My bare feet barely made a sound when they landed on the boardwalk. In spite of the sunglasses and the flip flops, they were the faces from my dream last night. I opened my mouth but only an ‘Ah’ sound came out. The nervous jitters were all over me because ever since the nightmares started, this was my second time coming into contact with any victims. I was struggling to find words. What would I tell them? I wondered. How would I warn them without sounding like a maniac? They were only getting closer and I was running out of time. When the woman was close enough for me to smell her lemon scented perfume I hunched over and began to groan.

“Oh God, please help me,” I said.

The man was the first to stop but the woman took a few steps further before finally following her partner.

“Excuse me little boy, are you alright?” she asked.

“Please, I need the hospital. I think it’s my appendix,” I said.

“Babe don’t go near him, he’s a scam artist,” said the man.

The second I saw she was making her move to step past me I flung my arms out and snatched her cream colored handbag. She screamed and her partner rushed me, but not before I held her handbag over the railing and threatened to drop it. He stopped a few feet away, but still seemed prepared for a fight.

“I’m sorry to scare you like this, but I think you should listen to what I have to say,” I said.

Big Sky Country Chapter Six: Big Sky Country (First Person Narration)

The taxi stopped at the entrance to the motel’s parking lot. I got out under the big blue neon sign and told the wart faced fellow to keep the change without knowing why. As the taxi rolled back onto the road I turned my attention to the lot. A gathering of jeeps, station wagons, and mini buses filled each spot. They had no doubt been patrons of the evening’s entertainment. It crossed my mind that I had no idea there were so many people on the island who shared my taste in music, then thought that maybe they all turned up for the food. I shook my head at this and touched the .38 that was still in my waistband. Its very presence made me feel as if I truly didn’t belong with these people.

“Maybe I should’ve killed him,” I thought.

Just then I saw a trail of white smoke going up towards the starry sky. I followed it down to a petite pale girl in jeans and a blue long sleeved blouse. She was standing between one of the station wagons and what seemed to be a recently washed white hummer. Her eyes were on me and as I walked over with my hands in my pockets I realized I had a thing for girls with big hair.

“I thought you would have been sleeping,” I said.

“I was for a little while. It’s rude to smoke in a room with other people, especially when you’re not sure if they’re asthmatic. I’m guessing you got whatever was bothering you out of your system?” she asked.

“Some of it. They know I’m gone?” I asked.

“They haven’t changed positions since they went to bed. We might have to check their pulses,” she joked and took another drag.

I couldn’t help but a crack a smile at how easy going this girl was despite being a runaway like myself.

“Why modeling?” I asked.

“I used to get teased a lot back in Bleakport. When I was High School people would do these weird drawings of me and stick them on my locker. My parents thought I was overreacting. They thought I was being insecure about how I looked. They thought that up until people started sending us mail and I started getting banned from clubs around town. Then they just kind of went quiet and focused on their jobs, leaving me to deal with all of it by myself. I guess one day I just decided if everyone thought I was some ugly monster I was going to prove them wrong,” she said.

“But you’re not,” I said.

“Well…you try telling that to the good people of Bleakport who are convinced I’m a vampire. Trust me, I know how ridiculous it all sounds but that’s what came to their minds whenever they saw me. If the effort they spent spreading rumors about me was being used to catch all the killers who were there, maybe it wouldn’t be such a shithole of a town,” she said.

“I’m sorry,” I said.

“It’s fine really. Ignorance is for everyone, but there’s no cure for stupidity. At least that’s how I see it,” she said.

“Amen to that. You want to hear something fucked up?” I asked.

“Oh boy,” she said and sucked on the cigarette before finally shooting circular clouds from her mouth. “Okay, hit me.”

“I walked in on my father with my first girlfriend when I was in High School. I couldn’t stand to be around him anymore so I moved out, and not long after that I left town,” I said.

“Jesus. That’s not at all what I was expecting to hear but that’s almost Biblical heights of fuckery right there. You want to share this?” she asked.

“How about we go for a walk,” I said.

“Okay, that sounds good,” she said.

There was nothing above us but starlight. We’d been walking side by side for so long the big blue neon sign had dwarfed to the size of a coin and her cigarette smell had grown faint in the Black Bay breeze. Besides our breaths I heard nothing else but the sound of crickets calling to each other and wondered if they too were enjoying the stars above them.

“You know this is very nice and all but where are we going?” she asked.

I stopped and held onto her warm hand.

“I guess I just wanted to be alone with you,” I said.

I felt her warm lips touch mine before she jumped back with wide worrying eyes.

“What the fuck is that?” she asked.

There was no point in denying it. I lifted my shirt and took out the 38 that was wedged in my front waistband.

“Malcolm?” she asked.

“You want to know the truth?” I asked.

“Should I be worried if you tell me?” she asked.

“I watched my father destroy my mother and I came to town to kill him. But I didn’t. I gave him a choice instead,” I said and tossed the gun in the fields behind her.

Her initial shock waned a bit and there was even a faint smile. I took the opportunity to hold both her hands.

“I’m sorry for scaring you like that. Will you come with me to Portmuth?”

Big Sky Country Chapter Five: Emergency Room (First Person Narration)

The flickering fluorescent lighting gave the whole place a grey atmosphere and the smell of bleach and other antiseptic didn’t help. I was standing outside his bedroom, uncertain how much time had passed since the cab had dropped me off. I was honestly surprised I was still sober, even more so by the kindness of the nurse who allowed me to come up when it was already way past visiting hours. That stuff didn’t happen in Black Bay. Maybe times were changing. The others were off sleeping in another motel, drunk from white rum. Being the only responsible one left, I’d driven them there, got them into a room, and waited for them to finally fall asleep. At the time, given how tired I was, I was still considering whether or not visiting my old man was worth it. Lying in bed beside Lulu seemed a far sight better than leaving out into the Black Bay breeze, but I chose it anyways since I had no idea when or if I’d ever be coming to this side of the island again. I remembered them, smiling and laughing and dancing their asses off to the tune of Whippin Picadilly, especially Lulu, whose waist had taken on a life of its own through the whole thing. When the song was over we kissed and I could taste the white rum she’d been drinking since we arrived at the beach. I cracked a smile at this before stepping inside and sitting on a chair by the door feeling the weight of the .38 in my waistband.

“Is me Malcolm,” I said when the body on the bed stopped stirring.

There was a cough and he inched his way up against the bedpost. The lighting was so poor he appeared as a disembodied white hospital gown.

“Malcolm? I can hardly see you. I didn’t think you would come,” said David.

“You were wrong to think that,” I said.

“I see that. How things? How life treating you?” he asked.

“Not too bad. I work in sales for JIMALCO. Nothing impressive but it pays most of the bills,” I said.

“But hear you too. Nothing impressive? I were you I’d be grateful. Believe it or not there was a time people would fight like puss and dog to get a job like yours,” he said.

“You know you sound strong for somebody who had a serious stroke,” I said.

“You catch me at a good time. This morning I couldn’t feel anything on the left side of my body. Your mother come in and I could barely talk to her properly. Whatever the doctor is doing, it’s working,” he said.

“So how this happen to you exactly?” I asked.

“You don’t want to know,” he said.

“I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t want to know. How this happen to you?” I asked, leaning forward.

“If you must know I was with a young lady in the Jacuzzi at home around four in the evening. I lose all the sensation on the left side of my face. Then it spread to my left hand and all the way down to my toes. When I talk to the doctor he said I was very lucky I was with somebody at the time,” he said.

“You could’ve drowned,” I said.

“Yes man, I would’ve been on the fridge,” he said.

“You remember the young lady you were with?” I asked.

Even in the darkness I could tell he was pulling a face.

“I think her name was Sharon,” he said.

“I think you know you’re wrong,” I said.

“What you talking about Malcolm?” he asked.

“Because at the time of the stroke, that woman sent me a text message and her name sure wasn’t Sharon. Not even close,” I said.

As I said this my eyes had adjusted enough to see the white of my father’s eyes.

“Her name was Melissa Wright. She was my Senior High School girlfriend. You remember? The one I caught you fucking when I came home early that evening?”

I heard him kiss his teeth and suppressed the urge to launch myself at him.

“The only question I have for you is this. After finding this out, why you continue to sleep with her?” I asked.

“She’s an adult. She can make her own decisions,” he said.

“Let me put it another way then. After finding out that your son was fucking this person, why did you continue to pursue a relationship with them?” I asked.

“Because she was too old for you Malcolm,” he said.

I sat back in the chair and had to remind myself that this man was still married to my mother.

“What you talking about? I was eighteen. She was a year ahead of me,” I said.

“You didn’t know what you were doing. You weren’t ready for somebody like her,” he said.

“Is that your justification? You were saving my ass is that it? You want to know what I think?”

“No, not really,” he said.

“I think you don’t have any self-control. I think you’re so sick you manage to fuck your own son’s girlfriend,” I said.

“Hey watch your mouth!” he cursed.

“You’re the reason my mother is the way she is. She’s waiting for you to change. And you know what’s so sick about this whole thing? She thinks the stroke has changed you,” I said.

“You mother always crazy,” he said.

“No. She never always like this. She used to be happy. I remember that. You drive her to where she is now. She’s not perfect but she’s a good woman. Even after everything you’ve done she still wants you,” I said.

“You mother always crazy,” he repeated.

“You know ever since that day I had a long hard time to think about this. I’m partially to blame because I knew everything you were doing behind her back and I never said a word. I felt so ashamed when I saw you and Melissa together. It felt like karma. You did a sleep around so much it was only a matter of time before you got to her. You know I came here tonight to kill you but instead I’m giving you a choice. Either you choose my mother or you divorce her,” I said.

“Malcolm it sound like you really hit your head. Who the fuck you think you’re talking to boy? You have no”-

Even in the poor light the .38 was obvious enough to stop whatever stupid speech he was going to give. Although I didn’t hear it, I imagined he was wetting the bed as I aimed the thing at his head.

“I have a clean shot. You dead before you scream. Is the last time I’m going to say this to you because there won’t be a next time. Either you stop fucking around with the woman you claim that you love, or you leave her. You overstand me?” I asked.

“Y-yes,” he stammered.

“Next time I talk to her I’ll see which option you choose. Melissa might’ve been a fucking bitch for stabbing me in the back like that. But you were supposed to be my role model, I expected better from you,” I said.

Big Sky Country Chapter Four: Homecoming (First Person Narration)

Needless to say we were all glad to be back on the road again. The guy at the car wash had taken one look at our faces and was kind enough not to ask any questions. Instead he’d collected Dodge’s money and went to work while we waited by the side of the road. The early morning spared us the embarrassment of having to deal with any gawkers. In fact, the only gawker we had was Lulu whose face went red with amusement the moment she walked up to the van. I asked her to knock it off and she understood immediately. My relief to be out of that frozen hell didn’t last long though, as the moment we were back on the highway in what seemed to be corn country, my phone went off and this time it wasn’t a chime. My mother was on the other end talking like she was some kind of fugitive. By the tone of her voice I could tell that she’d been crying. She was giving me some spiel about the blessings that came with forgiveness by telling me how free she felt when my father told her that the stroke had changed him, and that he was willing to make things right with her after all these years. My twenty six year old mind couldn’t comprehend what this sixty two year woman was telling me, and I tapped the end button the second she mentioned that God had a plan for me as well. I lied back and rolled down my window, allowing the wind to wash over my face as Bjork’s Human Behavior was droning through the radio speakers. I was thinking about that silver .38 that was just sitting in my duffel bag in the trunk. I’d almost forgotten I’d taken the damn thing with me. No license to carry. Just one of the things I picked up on my way to Portmuth. I remembered entering the bus park, still fresh with the anger of walking in on the bitch and the bastard, with no plan other than to get as far away from Black Bay as humanly possible. It was night time and I imagined I looked exactly like what I was at the time, a High School boy travelling on his own. To this day I still think it was stupid of me not to graduate, but at the time I couldn’t stand being in that house for another second. I was on my way to where the Portmuth buses were parked when some punk not much older than me stuck something in my side. I could tell by the way he sounded.

“Yow drop your bag and gimme your wallet,” he’d said.

I still remember the hard cold metal that was bracing on my skin. I now know that anger has to be one of those emotions that isn’t unlike a superpower because I turned around and grabbed that piece of metal. He must’ve saw the devil in me or something close to it, because he didn’t do anything but stare. Then he let go and ran off in the other direction, slipping once and getting up to continue before he disappeared around a bend. A part of me thought he was going to get his friends to come kill me but the bolder side of me thought I was the shit. That was until I looked down and reality kicked in. The weight of the .38 I was holding finally registered and I nearly threw up on the spot. Suddenly too afraid to toss the thing on the off chance of looking mighty suspicious I opened my duffel bag and dropped it in, after which I marched my ass to the bus that was first in line and got myself a window seat at the back. I couldn’t stop shaking. After an eternity the bus was finally ready to move and I calmed down a bit, still hoping the punk hadn’t gone for his friends and were en route. Over the years I’d thought about throwing it away on countless occasions, or maybe even turning it in to a police station, but I always decided against it, since I thought it was better for a man in a strange place to be armed than at the mercy at whatever was coming. Now I was on my way back to my hometown and seriously considering putting a bullet in the man that made me into a runaway.

“Hey what happened?” asked Lulu.

“It’s nothing,” I said.

“Hey don’t worry about it, he gets like that sometimes,” said Dodge.

“So where you come from originally Lu?” asked Piper, as she closed her book and tossed it back on my lap.

I took one look at the thing and thought about throwing it out the window when my old girlfriend came to mind.

“A little town named Bleakport,” she said.

“Bleakport, Bleakport, isn’t that where all the?”- Piper started.

“The same one,” Lulu interrupted.

“Jesus,” said Piper.

“No it’s alright. God! That came out wrong. Obviously it’s not but, what I mean to say is that I didn’t know any of them. At least not personally,” said Lulu.

“Wait what are you talking about?” I asked.

She looked at me and cracked an awkward smile, one of those smiles when someone was either embarrassed or feared disappointing someone else.

“Well you know how some places are famous for scammers and shootings?” asked Lulu.

I nodded.

“My town is famous for serial killers,” she said.

“Oh,” I said and felt a little bit like an insensitive prick.

“Yeah, oh is about right,” she said and lifted her camera at me.

I blocked my face the second the flash went off and her face turned chameleon red.

“I’m sorry,” she said.

“No it’s alright, I should’ve said something,” I said.

“Don’t they make a cute pair? I think they make a cute pair,” said Dodge to Piper.

“Oh shut up,” I said and held out my hand for her camera.

“So you’re a travelling photographer?” asked Piper.

“Yeah I freelance,” said Lulu, striking a pose in her blue tank top for me.

I took three snapshots in quick succession and handed her back the camera for assessment.

“So what was going on at the motel? You were butt ass naked when we first saw you. You certainly managed to get Malcolm’s attention,” said Piper.

I was hoping she wouldn’t have asked but under the circumstances I couldn’t blame anyone for being the least bit curious.

“Well I was actually supposed to do a photo-shoot that night. I’m trying to venture into modeling,” she said and gave me a thumbs up on the photos.

“So it never happened?” asked Piper.

“No, the guy didn’t show. I was waiting on him for about a week,” said Lulu.

“Is probably for the best. I hear some of those guys are creeps,” said Piper.

“I’m a big girl. The last asshole who tried to grope me lost an eye,” said Lulu.

The others were surprised. I wasn’t. I knew there was no way a woman who would go to her lengths to be seen wasn’t going to get into a few scraps.

“Yeah, I jammed my keys right in his eye socket. I’m kind of proud about it actually,” said Lulu.

“Careful you’re getting into creepy hitchhiker territory,” said Dodge.

“Sorry, no, it’s just a good feeling when somebody tries to fuck with you and you’re able to hurt them. Kinda like if you were able to get the jackass who sprayed your van,” said Lulu.

There was a moment of silence between the four of us and all we could hear was Bjork singing about how she was the hunter.

“I see the wisdom in that,” said Dodge. “We’re almost in Black Bay guys.”

I wasn’t sure how to act when he made the announcement. I wondered if I should’ve told them about my gun and my plan or lack thereof but decided that would’ve been a huge mistake. Come what may it was best to keep this information to myself otherwise I was going to become that creepy hitchhiker they were talking about. Lulu stopped checking her photos and leaned against me as we came up on the big black sign that said WELCOME TO BLACK BAY. For a moment I was expecting her to ask if I was okay. She didn’t and I was glad.

“What’s it feel like being back bro?” asked Dodge.

“I don’t know yet. Maybe when I get into the parish proper I’ll figure it out. One thing though, I don’t remember that sign being so damn big,” I said.

Big Sky Country Chapter Three: Dodge (First Person Narration)

The bedroom door was wide open. I got up and slipped into my soft white sneakers and yawned as I walked to the door, squinting in what little light there was in the young morning sky. Absolutely beautiful I thought for a moment before my eyes went back to the situation at hand. For some odd reason Dodge was standing in the parking lot in his boxers next to Piper, who was wearing his beach blue shirt that stretched all the way down to her knees. From the back they both looked like amateur fashion models. I didn’t quite feel the cold that came with the Grenada Parish morning until I stepped through the door. Why the hell weren’t they shaking as much as me I wondered as I walked closer. It was the fucking Kia Sorento. Some psycho had taken the time to graffiti the doors in green paint. I walked a little closer to the site of the disaster while trying to stop my teeth from chattering and gradually recognized that the words SUCK MY DICK were spelt across the doors.

“Mo-Motherfucker,” I said.

They both glanced back before returning their eyes to the van. I stepped in line beside them. It was even uglier up close.

“I’m telling you it’s him,” said Piper.

“Probably. But we never saw anything,” said Dodge.

“You’re serious? His car was here last night and now it’s gone. That’s all the proof I need,” she said.

“Just hear what I’m saying babe. This looks exactly like what it looks like. I understand that. But because we never saw anything, we can’t just jump to conclusions. It could have been anybody from around here,” said Dodge.

She turned her head to me with that deadpan no bullshit look she always pulled whenever she was not fucking around and asked if anything strange happened when I came in last night.

“N-not at all. His car was s-still where we s-saw it when I c-came in,” I managed.

“Wait what’s wrong with you?” she asked.

“I’m f-fucking f-freezing!” I said, a bit louder than I intended.

“Look babe, I want to tear this guy’s fucking head off. But unless we get a plate number and some camera footage, we can’t do anything. Let’s just go back inside so Malcolm can relax. Later we can find a car wash,” said Dodge.

She blew and folded her arms as if she was feeling the chill for the very first time.

“I hate tourists. I really fucking hate them Dodge,” she said.

We walked back to our room, well, I ran and they walked. Once I was inside I grabbed a hold of the bed sheets and turned myself into a man from the Middle East before plopping myself on the reclining chair.

“The fuck are you doing?” asked Dodge.

“You two are subhuman,” I said and felt relief when the door was once again closed.

The two of them stood in the doorway staring at me, the same way they did last night when I was about to go off with the girl, only this time they were half naked and looked just as mad as they thought I was.

“You can gawk at me all you want. This fucking place is a fridge,” I said.

“Enough drama. How it go last night?” asked Piper.

“Well in case you were wondering she’s not a prostitute. She’s a runaway like me and she takes pictures for a living. I invited her to the concert. I’ll pay her entry fee when we reach,” I said.

“Wow. Well that’s good then,” said Piper.

Dodge didn’t seem to agree because he was busy scratching his head and looking around the room.

“I think we should just pack up and get the fuck out of here,” he said and walked over to the bed where his knapsack was.

Piper joined him and yanked a pair of blue jeans from her black carrying bag.

Once I was warm enough, I uncoiled myself from the bed sheets and opened my duffel bag which Dodge had left beside the couch for my convenience. I opened it and grabbed a bottle of water. From between two shirts, my old silver .38 was looking up at me.