Authors: Richard Laymon
Fiends SSC (2 page)
‘Couldn’t be worse. Hungry?’
‘For what?’
‘How does popcorn sound?’
‘Popcorn. Sounds great.' Turning around, she scanned the people in the rear part of the theater. She had spent most of her twenty-five years in North Glen, and knew most of the faces.
‘You want the butter flavoring?’ Dan asked.
‘But of course.’
‘What size Pepsi?’
‘Medium.’
‘For an extra twenty-five cents, you can get a large.’
She laughed and said, ‘Medium will be…’ Her voice stopped dead as the man near the back of the theater smiled at her and she suddenly recognized him. She sat down fast and scooted low in her seat until the back of her head was against the cushion. She propped her knees against the sticky metal of the seat in front of her. She folded her arms across her belly.
‘What’s wrong?’ Dan asked.
‘Nothing.’
‘You sure?’
‘I’m sure.’
‘Okay. I’ll be right back.’
She grabbed Dan’s arm. ‘No. Wait. Don’t go.’
He frowned and looked worried. ‘What is it?’ he asked.
‘Do you think we could just leave?’
‘You don’t want to see the second show?’
‘I’m not… I feel sort of icky.’
‘We can go.’
‘You won’t mind missing it?’ she asked.
‘Hell, we can always rent it from Blockbuster if we really want to see the thing. We can leave.’
Dan got to his feet and Marty followed him, sidestepping carefully, trying not to tread on feet, tumble over knees, or bump into heads along the row in front. At the aisle, she took Dan’s arm and looked down so she wouldn’t have to see that face again.
She kept her eyes fixed on her sandals and the carpet until Dan pushed open the door and they entered the lobby. The lobby lights seemed very bright. Fighting the impulse to look behind her, she hurried with Dan to the exit doors.
‘Wait,’ she said, and took off her yellow pullover sweater. ‘Won’t need this outside.’
Dan pushed open the door. The chilly air from the theater followed them outside until the door shut. Then the muggy night settled over them.
Marty took hold of Dan’s hand. They walked down the block and round the corner. Dan’s old Ford was squeezed into a stretch of the curb between two driveways. He opened the passenger door for Marty.
She climbed in. The air inside was stifling. While Dan walked to the other side; she rolled down the window.
‘I’ll have the air-conditioning going in a minute,’ he said as he dropped into the driver’s seat.
‘Yeah, right. Mother Nature’s air-conditioning.’
‘The best kind. Doesn’t deplete the stratosphere.’
Marty managed to smile.
When the car was moving, a warm breeze came in through the window. Marty let her arm hang outside and leaned against the door to feel the air’s calm touch. ‘It’s a beautiful night,’ she said. ‘I love it when it’s hot like this. Makes the night seem so… friendly. Sort of friendly and quiet.’
‘And romantic,’ Dan suggested.
‘Why don’t we go somewhere?’
‘Do you feel up to it?’
‘I think so,’ she said.
‘Where to. My place?’
‘Nah.This is too beautiful a night to be cooped up.’
‘Cooped up?’ He put an arm around her shoulders and reached down to her breast. ‘I’m not sure I like the sound of that.’
Marty moaned at the gentle pressure of his hand.
‘I hate bras,’ he said.
‘They come off.’
‘I wish you wouldn’t wear them at all.’
‘My parents.’
‘I know. Your parents. Christ. You’re twenty-five.’
‘Am I?’
‘You oughta get a place of your own.’
‘So I hear.’
‘It isn’t normal.’
‘So you keep telling me. And like I keep telling you, I don’t see any reason to move out. I like it there. They like having me. And I don’t see any reason to find a place for myself until I’m ready to start a family of my own,’
‘Is that a proposal?’ Dan asked, not sounding especially amused.
‘This
is my proposal - let’s go to the lake.’
‘This
is my proposal - let’s go to the lake.’
‘Okay, okay.’
Outside town, the road had no lights but Dan drove fast as if he knew every twist and curve and bump, and he was taking them by instinct.
‘The air-conditioning works really good out here,’ Marty said. ‘Open your vent?’ Dan suggested.
Marty opened it. A warm breeze rushed suddenly up her legs and under her skirt. She kicked off her sandals. The floor mat was gritty under her bare feet.
‘Can I ask you something?’ Dan said.
‘Anything you want.’
‘What was bothering you at the show?’
The question hit her like a blow to the stomach. She wanted to double over and hold herself.
‘You weren’t sick, were you?’
‘Not really.’
‘You were scared. That’s why you wanted to get out so fast. Something scared the hell out of you. What was it?’
Marty turned her face away and gazed out of the open window. Her arms felt cold. She rubbed them, trying to get rid of the goosebumps.
‘Tell me.’
‘I saw this guy.’
‘Who?’
‘Someone I used to know.’
‘You saw him during intermission?’
‘He was sitting near the back.’
‘An old boyfriend?’
She shook her head.
‘Was he an old boyfriend?’ Dan repeated.
She looked at him. His eyes were on the road and the rearview mirror. He hadn’t seen her silent answer. ‘No’ she said. ‘Not a boyfriend. I don’t think I want to talk about it, okay?’
‘Fine,’ he muttered.
‘I’ll tell you sometime,’ she said quietly. ‘But not now, okay?’
‘Fine. I just wondered if it might be him in the car that’s following us.’
Marty groaned. She twisted round and looked out of the rear window. She could see nothing except the curving two-lane road, most of it hidden in shadows cast by the tall forest on both sides. ‘Where?’ she asked.
‘About fifty yards back. No headlights.’
She kept studying the road behind them. And finally she noticed a dark shape against the lighter darkness of the blacktop, moving along like a low, hunching shadow.
3
Near Gribsby, four hundred miles above North Glen, a young man paced the end of a creaking pier.
‘About time, huh?’ he heard.
He looked toward the shore and saw Tina. She stopped beneath a light, waved, and ran up the pier to meet him. ‘Whew!’ she said. ‘I didn’t think I’d ever get away. Relatives can be such a pain in the butt, you know that?’
‘I know that, Brad said. ‘The good Lord willing, we’ll never be relatives.’
‘I didn’t mean
that.’
that.’
‘I know.’ He held out his arms. Tina stepped into them and he kissed the tip of her nose.
‘Lousy aim,’ she said.
He kissed her mouth. Her lips were warm and open, dry at first, then slippery. He moved his hands on her back, feeling her ribs through the soft thickness of the old sweatshirt that was far too big for her. The sleeves were cut off. He stroked her bare upper arms and slipped his hands into the sleeve holes and rubbed her shoulders. Tina hugged him more tightly.
‘I could stay like this forever,’ she said.
‘We wouldn’t get much fishing in.’
‘Creep.’
‘Ready to go?’
‘Nope.’
‘Yep.’ He kissed her forehead, then pushed her away. ‘Climb aboard.’ Squatting, he gripped the gunwale and held the boat steady while Tina boarded.
‘It’s a beautiful night,’ she said. ‘Get a load of that moon.’
He watched Tina instead. She stood on the deck with her bare feet apart, her hands on her hips, smiling as she looked from the full moon to the bright path it made on the lake.
‘Isn’t it something?’ she said.
‘
You’re
something.’ Brad climbed onto the deck. ‘You look like a pirate.’
You’re
something.’ Brad climbed onto the deck. ‘You look like a pirate.’
‘Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.’
‘Except for your fanny.’ He patted it.
‘What’s about my fanny?’
He stepped back and inspected it, frowning thoughtfully like an artist examining the lines of a statue. ‘Nothing is wrong with it… exactly.’
‘Oh, thank you.’
‘But it’s not the fanny of a pirate. They’ve got big, broad butts. Yours is much to graceful and delicate.’
‘Sorry.’
‘I’ll just have to grin and bear it.’
‘Bare it?’
The way she smiled made Brad pull her close, holding her lightly, kissing her, finally pushing his hand down the back of her jeans and feeling the cool smooth skin of her buttocks.
Tina squeezed him tightly, and let go.
‘Shouldn’t we be shoving off?’ she asked.
‘Should we?’ he murmured against the warm curve of her neck. ‘The fishies are waiting.’
‘Very true. Thanks for reminding me.’
He let her go. Together, they untied the mooring lines. Then Brad turned on the ignition key and pressed the starter button. The twin inboard motors thundered into life. Tina came up beside him. He gave her a swat on the rump.
‘If you break it, you buy it.’
‘How much?’ he asked.
She held onto him as the boat lunged forward. ‘You probably can’t afford it,’ she said.
The bow lifted above the waves.
‘You’re forgetting, I’m a wealthy man.’
‘Right. Your dad owns a bait shop.’
‘There are different kinds of wealth,’ he said, grinning.
‘You’re wealthy in worms.’
‘How about ten bucks? Is that enough?’
‘Plenty.’ She smiled up at him. ‘You get a discount ’cause I love you so much.’
Brad put a hand on her shoulder. ‘Have I wished you happy birthday yet?’ he asked.
‘No. What’re you waiting for?’
‘Happy birthday. The big seventeen.’
‘Yeah. I’m ancient.’
Brad throttled down. The roar of the motors diminished to a sputtering whisper and the boat slowed, its bow slowly lowering into the waves. ‘Time for your party,’ he said, and killed the motors.
‘We’ll let her drift for a while.’ He lifted Tina onto the pilot’s seat. ‘Just sit tight on your priceless fanny.’
‘Ten bucks isn’t priceless.’
‘Right back,’ he said, and went below. In the galley, he opened his ice chest. Two glasses were tucked into the crushed ice along with two bottles of champagne. He left one bottle behind and hurried topside. Tina grinned. ‘Hey! Champagne?’
‘Happy birthday.’
‘Shouldn’t you have a towel to wrap round the bottle? They always have towels.’
‘A towel, a towel. Good idea. Hold these.’ He gave the bottle and glasses to Tina, then rushed below and found a beach towel. It was still damp and smelled of sun tan oil. He tucked it under his arm and picked up a flat, gift-wrapped box. As he reached the top of the steps, he heard a pop. A cork shot past his ear. It thumped the window. ‘Almost gotcha!’ Tina blurted.
‘Good thing you missed.’
‘Yeah?’
‘How far can you swim?’
‘Far. Very far.’ She scanned the shores. The nearest was at least a quarter mile away. ‘I could make it,’ she said.
‘This wouldn’t.’ He tossed the gift sideways. Tina gasped, but he snatched it out of the air with his other hand.
‘What if you’d missed?' Tina asked.
‘I never miss.’
‘But what if?’
‘Seriously?’
‘Seriously.’
‘I would’ve dived in after it. There’s no way I’d let
this
get away. No way in the world.’
this
get away. No way in the world.’
‘It’s something pretty good, huh?’
‘It’s something
wonderful.’
wonderful.’
‘Gonna give it to me?’
‘Later. First, we’ve got to toast the birthday girl.’
4
‘Why would he want to follow you?’ Dan asked without looking away from the dark, twisting road.
‘I don’t know,’ Marty said.
‘You’d better tell me. I’ve got to figure out how to handle this.’
‘Can you lose him?’
‘Maybe. For tonight. But he can always go after you tomorrow. He can wait around till he finds you alone. Do you want that?’
‘Of course not.’
‘Then tell me what he wants.’
‘I don’t know what he wants. I testified against him once. He went to prison.’
‘What did he do?’
‘Never mind.’
‘Thanks for all the information. At least we know one thing; if it
is
your friend back there, he probably doesn’t plan to shake your hand.’
is
your friend back there, he probably doesn’t plan to shake your hand.’
‘That’s for sure.’ She looked out of the rear window and gazed down the road, searching the shadows.
‘I’ll take you to my place,’ Dan said.
‘No, not your place.’
‘I’ve got a gun.’
‘No!’
‘Why the hell not?’
‘You want to
shoot
him? That’d be great.’
shoot
him? That’d be great.’
Dan glanced at her, smiled with one side of his head. ‘It might not come to shooting.’
‘But it might.’
‘In that case, may the better aim win.’
A few minutes later, he slowed down in front of his house. ‘Keep driving,’ Marty said. If you get your gun, someone might end up getting killed.’
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