The Damned Summer (The Ruin Trilogy) (20 page)

“It’s too early to go, the carnival doesn't
open until five,” Jake replied, putting his pipe away. “Besides, we’ve got to
pick Drew up at six thirty.”

“What the hell are we taking that fat-ass
with us for? He’ll just slow us down with the women and want some of our weed
and booze.”

“For starters,” Jake said, uncapping the
whiskey. “He’s got a case of beer in a cooler in the trunk of his car for after
we leave the carnival.”

“Beer chasers with the whiskey,” Johnny said
with a smile.

“Exactly,” Jake replied, tipping the bottle
at his friend and then taking a drink. “Besides, that mouth of yours will most
likely get us in a fight tonight. Drew is pretty tough so he’ll be good to have
around.”

“Yeah, I guess the boy has his uses. You
better just hope the girls have an ugly friend for his dumpy ass.”

Jake looked at the clock radio. “We’ve got
about an hour before we can pick up Drew, so lets just cruise the country route
while we catch a buzz.”

“Bout time you had a good idea,” Johnny
replied, grabbing the whiskey bottle and taking a drink.

Forty-five minutes later they pulled into the
parking lot of Joe's Cup with glossy eyes and big appetites.

“Chubby better be able to score us some
burgers,” Johnny said as he pulled around back. “I’m hungry as hell.

“He said he was going to try.”

“There is no try,” Johnny said in his best
Yoda voice. “Only do.”

They giggled like lunatics as Johnny parked
the car next to the dumpster. Jenny had just finished unloading a trash can
into the bin.

“Damn Jenny,” Johnny said, looking her up and
down. “Only you can make that waitress outfit look that hot.”

“Eat shit, jerk,” Jenny replied without even
looking at him as she pulled the trash can back towards the diner.

Johnny replied by making obscene noises with
his tongue, causing Jake to giggle even more.

“Drew!” Jenny said as she opened the back
door. “Your shit-head friends are back here waiting for you.” She slammed the
door close.

Jake stopped laughing. “You’re the one that's
been such an asshole to her,” He said, looking at Johnny. “I didn’t do shit!”

“Guilt by association,” Johnny replied with a
smile.

“Great,” Jake said, getting out of the car
and sitting on the hood. “Why do I hang out with you again?”

Johnny sat down beside him and lit up a
cigarette. “Cause you wouldn’t ever get any pussy with Drew as your wing-man.”

Jake replied with a shrug as he lit his own
smoke.

Loud rock music pumped out of the car
speakers as they waited for their friend to get off work.

Fifteen minutes later Drew came out the back
door with a white paper sack in his hand. “Throw this in your car,” he said
urgently, tossing the sack at them.

Johnny caught the bag and backhanded it into
the Mustang, just as Joe, the diner's owner, came out after Drew.

“Turn that shit down,” the short, bald
middle-aged man said as he pointed at the Mustang.

“Yes sir,” Johnny replied as he marched to
the car like he was in a parade and turned the music off. “Wouldn’t want to
disturb the paying customers,” he said, looking at the empty parking lot.

Joe gave Johnny a nasty look and then went
back inside.

“Do you mind not getting me fired?” Drew
asked as he opened his car door and threw his work clothes in the front seat.

“I’d be doing you a favor man. That guy is a
fucking Nazi, and his niece is a---”

Drew spun back on Johnny, his fist half
cocked.

Johnny threw his hands up, "and is way
too nice to be related to his ass, she deserves a better uncle."

Drew relaxed. "That sounds about
right."

“You still got the hots for her?” Johnny
asked with a laugh.

“Hell no,” Drew replied. “She’s cool, that’s
all.”

“I could give you some tips on what she
likes, you know,” Johnny said with a smile. “Might help you score.”

“I’ve heard enough of this shit,” Jake said
as he pulled out his flask of whiskey. “The two of you take a drink and make
peace.” There had still been tension between Drew and Johnny ever since the
fight at the pond last month, and Jake was sick of it.

Drew took the flask and looked at Johnny.
“I’m going to have a good time tonight, regardless of how much you run your
mouth.” He took a deep drink.

“That’s the spirit,” Johnny replied as he
grabbed the flask from Drew’s mouth. “Now grab your cooler and put it in my
trunk,” he said, drinking the whiskey and opening the trunk of the mustang.

Drew moved the cooler full of beer to
Johnny’s trunk and then opened it up, grabbing three cans. “Road beers,” he
said as he handed them out.

“You’re a good man, Charlie Brown,” Johnny
said, kissing Drew on the cheek.

“Get away from me,” Drew replied with a push,
but there was a half grin on his face.

Jake smiled and shook his head as they piled
into the Mustang. Maybe this would be a good night after all, he thought. He
was dead wrong.

Sarah sat in front of the mirror, putting the
finishing touches on her makeup. Her face seemed so puffy, no matter what she
did. She wondered if anyone else noticed.

There was a brief knock on the bathroom door.
“You about ready, honey?” Her father asked from the other side.

“One second dad,” she replied as she
finished.

His footsteps receded down the hall as she
looked at herself in the mirror and forced herself not to cry. “Just another
summer at the carnival,” she said to herself.

The doorbell rang, letting her know her
friends had arrived. Forcing a smile on her face, she walked out of the safe
cocoon of her bathroom.

“Jenny and Kara are here, honey,” her mom
called from the bottom of the stairs.

“I know, mom,” she replied in a condescending
tone as she descended down the steps. “I have ears.”

“And quite the mouth,” her father added as he
came up beside his wife.

“Sorry,” she said, looking at her father, not
her mother. “Hey!” she said with a smile when she saw her two friends.

“You’re ready, right?” Jenny said, seeming
quite prepared to start tapping her foot impatiently.

“Just got to grab my shoes. I’ll be home by
midnight.” She called from behind her shoulder as the girls made their way to
the door.

“Me and your mom are going up later,” her
father answered. “We’ll probably see you there.”

Sarah quickly spun around. “Dad!”

“Hmm,” Her father replied. “I guess you
should have given your dad a kiss good-bye.” He closed the door to leave her
smoldering on the porch.

He turned to see his wife looking at him with
a cocked head. “Are we really going to the carnival tonight?”

“I wanted to go before I knew her plans,” he
replied.

“Sure you did. When was the last time we
went?”

“Years,” he said as he swept her into his
arms. “Which is exactly why we should go. It will be like being kids again.”

“Oh, so then you won’t be looking around
constantly, trying to find our daughter.”

He smiled at her. “The watchful eye of a
father never closes, my dear.” 

“Figures,” Sarah grumbled, stomping across
the porch.

“He’s probably just saying that to piss you
off,” Jenny said as they made their way to her car. “He gets off on that kind
of shit.”

“Shh!” Sarah replied, looking back at the
house. “He might hear you.”

Jenny and Kara looked at one another and
laughed. “You’re right,” Kara said. “She is scared shitless of her dad.”

“Both of you kiss my ass,” Sarah said as they
climbed into Kara's parents' late model Chrysler, making their way to the
carnival, where fate awaited with a dark smile.

Frank sat on his front porch with his dog
sitting on his lap, watching the sun go down.

“First night of the carnival,” Frank said
rubbing Lloyd’s ears.

Lloyd panted in the early evening heat,
watching the cars drive by.

“I was thinking about going on a walk, it’s
only a couple of blocks from here.”

Lloyd took a deep breath and then exhaled,
laying his head down on Frank’s lap.

“What he wants us to stay out of starts
tonight. You can feel it same as I.” He looked down at the small dog as he
petted his head.

“If we went, and actually made it back home,
our peaceful nights would come to an end.”

The small dog did a quick exhale through his
nose.

“I think it would anger him.”

The canine let out a long, lazy yawn.

“You are fearless, you know that?” He ruffled
the dog’s head.

He sneezed in reply, shaking his head
vigorously.

“So, does that mean we should go?”

The dog jumped off his lap, onto the porch
and made his way down the stairs. As his claws clicked on the pavement he
turned and looked at his old friend.

“All right then,” Frank said with a smile. “I’ll
get your leash.”

The old Mustang parked in the grass of the
impromptu parking lot of the carnival, and the three teenagers climbed out.

“That’s bullshit havin’ to pay that much for
parking and it’s not even a real parking lot!” Johnny said as he slammed his
door shut, finishing his beer.

“We’re just lucky they didn’t call the cops
when they saw the beer can between your legs,” Drew replied, climbing out from
the back.

“Shit,” Johnny said, lighting up a cigarette.
“That skanky bitch was wet for me as soon as I set eyes on her. She woulda gave
me a B.J. right there.”

“Okay,” Jake said, closing the door of the
car. “Somebody needs to slow down a little.”

“Fuck that, man,” Johnny said with a grin.
“I’m in the zone.”

“Great,” Drew said. “I wonder how quickly
we’ll end up in jail.”

“Only way you’re gonna get lucky tonight,
tubby.” Johnny said with a smile, making everybody, including Drew laugh.

As they started to move off toward the
carnival entrance, Drew noticed an old barn sitting a ways back from the car.
The middle of the roof slumped in and the whole building tilted to one side.
Drew guessed that a strong wind would be all that was needed to knock the whole
thing down, like a house of cards.

There was a guy leaning up against the barn,
looking Drew's way. A cigarette drooped from his lips and he wore a ball cap
advertising farm equipment. The two stared at one another for a long moment,
with the stranger finally  giving Drew a brief nod of greeting. Drew didn't
respond in kind, getting a bad vibe from the guy. He just turned and walked off
with his friends.

The demon kept watching Drew, paying serious
attention to him for the first time.
"Need to make sure chubby doesn't
cross paths with Franky. They got just a little too much in common,"
it thought to itself.

The sun disappeared as they entered the
carnival grounds. Electric lights glowed and whirled in the dark sky as the
rides twisted and swirled to poorly amplified music and adolescent screams.

The young men strutted and laughed, taking in
the scene, looking for new girls to meet. They stopped in front of the
Rock-O-Plane ride for a smoke break. It was the best ride and also a good spot
to see all the newly arriving girls from the adjacent parking lot. They were
expecting new meat, but instead got a haunting from the past.

Sarah, Jenny and Kara walked onto the
carnival grounds and immediately their paths crossed.

“All right!” Johnny said in an obnoxiously
loud tone. “Now the party can start.”

“Oh, Christ,” Jenny said as she rolled her
eyes, walking right by Johnny.

“Got a smoke?” Kara asked, stopping in front
of Johnny.

“I got whatever you need, baby,” He replied,
pulling out a fresh cancer stick.

“Shit,” Jenny whispered to herself as she
turned around and started making small talk with Drew.

Sarah and Jake stood in front of one another.
They hadn't spoken since the pond, over a month ago.

“Hey,” he said with a nod.

“Hi,” she replied. “What’s up?”

“Nada,” he said with the shake of his head.
He held up his pack of cigarettes. “Want one?”

“No thanks.”

He nodded his head. “Not a good idea for an
athlete.”

She nodded back. “I was wondering if I could
talk to you for a minute.”

He shrugged. “Sure.”

She looked around. “Could you walk with me?”

He nodded and they started to move away.

“Hey!” Johnny said as he pointed at them. “Do
you have a license to take such a fine looking girl off alone without
supervision?”

Jake replied with a middle finger.

“Watch out for him, honey, he’s bad news!”

Such a comment would have made her smile
before, but not now.

“Listen,” Jake said once they were away from
the others. “I haven’t said anything to anybody about that night and I’m not
going to.”

“I think I’m pregnant,” the words just
blurted out of her mouth.

His cigarette tipped toward the ground,
almost falling out of his mouth. “You’re fucking kidding me.”

She shook her head and tried to stop the
tears that slowly leaked from her eyes.

Sarah’s dad started up the SUV.

“Is this really necessary, Steve?” his wife
asked.

“We are going to the carnival, Linda,” he
replied, backing up the vehicle. “Are you going to ruin date night by saying
you’ve got a headache or something?

“No, but I didn’t know this was date night.”

“Yeah, well, I’m trying to be spontaneous.”

“Sure,” she answered as they drove down the
quiet street.

“We’ll do a lap around the park and then go
home, okay?”

“Which accomplishes nothing other than
embarrassing your daughter and showing how much of a nip-shit you are.”

“Peace of mind might not mean anything to
you, but it does to me.”

“False sense of peace,” she replied.

“It makes me feel better, if it doesn’t do
anything for you, that’s your problem.”

Linda looked out the window and chose not to
say anything. She could see an old man walking a dog.

“Is that Frank Tyler?”

Steve looked out into the growing darkness.
“Yeah, I think so,” He tapped his horn as they went past. Frank gave a brief
wave.

“He’s holding up pretty well,” Linda
commented.

“Frank’s always been a rock,” Steve said with
a smile. “I imagine he’ll be around for a while.”

Frank wondered who was in the dark SUV as he
waved.

“Just more people you’re going to hurt by
your actions,” the demon said, walking up beside Frank.

“We’re just going on a walk,” Frank replied,
ushering a growling Lloyd forward.

“You’re not much of a liar, old friend.”

“You’re not much of a friend, old liar,”
Frank replied, looking straight ahead.

The demon chuckled. “Such word play, old man.
I didn’t know ya had it in ya.”

“I’m full of surprises.”

“Not as many as me,” the fiend said into
Frank’s ear. “If you get involved tonight, I’ll eat your soul and your little
dog’s too.” The fiend did an excellent rendition of the wicked witch from the
Wizard of Oz.

“I guess we’ll find out,” Frank said, picking
up his pace as the demon faded into the darkness. Lloyd tugged at his arm,
trying to make the aging man walk even faster toward the carnival.

Jake took a deep drag off his cigarette.
“Just take it easy,” he said, his mind racing. She nodded silently, wiping her
eyes.

“Mom didn’t say shit about this,” he
whispered to himself.

“Excuse me,” Sarah asked.

“Nothing, never mind,” he took another puff
of his smoke. “So, what now? An abortion?”

“No,” she hissed, grabbing her stomach.
“Never.”

“Okay, that’s cool,” he said with hands
raised. “Just runnin’ your options by ya.”

“Are you going to be an asshole about this?”

“No,” he stammered. “Shit, I don’t know. You
kind of caught me off guard here.”

She crossed her arms and shook her head.

“Look, I’m sorry,” he replied,  throwing down
his spent cigarette. “What do you want to do?”

“We are going to have a child, do you
understand that?”

“Yeah,” he whispered. “I hope she looks like
you.”

“There they are!” A drunken Johnny yelled as
he pointed at them. “What the hell are you two up to?”

Jake reached toward Sarah’s hand.

“Later,” she said, stepping away as the crowd
came forward.

“Were you two getting’ it on in the shadows?”
Johnny asked as he draped his arms around the two future parents.

Sarah pushed him off and made her way toward
her friends.

“Oops,” Johnny said as he leaned on Jake.
“Did I spoil the mood?”

“Get off me, asshole,” Jake said, also
pushing Johnny back.

“Guess so,” Johnny said, stumbling off to the
side with a giggle.

“Let’s split,” Sarah said, walking up to her
friends.

“No way,” Kara replied. "Johnny owes me
a ride on the Clown Twister. Right, good lookin’?” She called over to Johnny.

“Whatever you want, baby,” he slurred.

“Drew was going to take me on the Twister
too,” Jenny said as she grabbed Sarah’s hand. “Why don’t you guys come to?”

“Yeah, Jake,” Drew called over to his friend.
“You’ve got some tickets. Why don’t you take Sarah on the twister.” Drew and
Jenny exchanged smiles for a moment.

“Alright,” Jake said as he pulled some
carnival tickets from his front pocket.

“You guys share a booth,” Johnny said,
pointing to the two other couples. “Me and this babe are going to have our own
private ride,” he draped his arm over Kara’s shoulder as he led her onto the
metallic barrel with a clown’s head on the top.

The four teenagers piled into the metal
barrel; two were laughing, the other two were eerily quiet.

The iron drum shut with a clang and slowly
twisted in circles as it moved around and around in a figure eight pattern.
Sarah watched Drew and Jenny laugh as they spun round and round.
“Is she
falling for him?”
she asked herself as her eyes fell upon Jake. He wasn’t
looking at anything, just staring into space.
“He looks like a trapped
animal,”
she thought as her eyes moved from him to Kara and Johnny in the
other barrel across from them. They were kissing passionately and his right
hand was up her shirt, squeezing her breast.

“Sinners in a barrel,”
she thought to herself.
“Sinners like
us,”
she thought, looking back at Jake.

He was looking back at her now, with the same
empty eyes he had from before.

Frank and Lloyd stood outside the entrance to
the carnival, watching the people as they seemed to run toward the hypnotic
neon lights as they weaved and bobbed in the night.

“It’s like the Venus Fly Trap,” Frank
explained to the small dog.

Lloyd looked up at him, let out a sigh and
sat down.

“They have pink leaves that attract insects.
Once the bugs walk onto the pretty color it closes and eats them. They never
know the danger till it’s too late.” He looked down at the dog, which simply
stared back.

“Okay, I’m being a little dramatic, but it
does fit.”

Lloyd simply cocked his head at Frank.

“Alright, never mind. Just an old man’s
rambling I suppose.”