The Damned Summer (The Ruin Trilogy) (4 page)

"And who gives a shit," he threw
his cigarette into the toilet and got into the shower. He quickly washed away
the sins and the hangover from the night before and went back to his room and
got dressed.

He heard the screen door open from the front
of the house. It had been opened all night most likely, neither he nor his mom
gave enough of  shit to lock up the house.

The heavy clumping of work boots told Jake
who it was coming down the hall. Grabbing another smoke and lighting it up, he
waited for his dark ego to enter the room.

Johnny, his best friend, walked into Jake's
bedroom with an evil smile. "Up and At 'em, bro," he said, leaning on
the frame of the door. "Time to raise some hell and deflower some
virgins."

Jake nodded his head, forgetting about his
previous thoughts. "Best idea I've heard in a while."

"My 'stang is still all fucked up,"
Johnny said, grabbing one of Jake's cigarettes. "Can we take your mom's
truck?"

Jake shrugged. "Not like she's driving
it anywhere."

"Cool," Johnny said as he lit up.
"Let's roll."

"You got any weed?" Jake asked as
they made their way into the kitchen.

"Course I do. I wouldn't show up empty
handed, now would I?"

"You obviously didn't show up with any
cigarettes," Jake replied grabbing a pack of smokes and a bottle of vodka
out of the freezer.

"You got your party favors," Johnny
said, pointing at the booze and smokes. "And I got mine," he pulled
the quarter of marijuana out of his back pocket.

Jake shrugged. "That evens things
up."

She watched them walk out to the truck and
leave from the upstairs window in her room. A tear trailed down her face as she
began to have a coughing fit that ended with her hands soaked with blood.

"What have I done?" she whispered
hoarsely in the dusty stillness of her bedroom. It wasn't the cancer that
slowly ate at her due to the decades of smoking that she spoke of. It was the
path she had set her son on that truly pained her.

"You've done what needed to be
done," the demon with the farm implementation hat explained, suddenly
appearing from out of the shadows. "You had no choice either way."

"My choices are my own," she rasped
out through a bloody throat and lips. "You have no right to make me damn
my own son!" The fiend's sudden appearance didn't seem to faze her at all.

The demon sat down on the window ledge, waving
her away as he watched the kids drive off. "That's a lost cause already
Margaret, and you know it. He's been on our side of the fence for a while."

"He can still change, he still has
time."

The demon tilted his head. "What good
would that do you?"

"This isn't about me."

That got a good chuckle out of the demon.
"Margy, this has always been about you! Remember all those years ago when
you were young, hot, and always looking to do the wrong thing with me and my
buds.

"I didn't know who you really
were."

"Yeah well, that's my kinds' M.O."
the demon said with the shake of his head. "And I let you just walk away
from it all for all those years. I even let you start a family like none of it
had ever happened." He leaned forward, the shade of the curtain masking
his face but doing nothing to the low yellow glow in his eyes. "Did you
really think you weren't going to have to pay up for what I had let you have
all this time?" He lightly touched her bloody chin. "Did you really
think I'd ever forget your pretty face?

"Sorry, Linda," Jenny the waitress
replied about having something stronger than coffee. "Cup of Joe is as
good as it gets."

"That will have to do then."

"And what can I get for you, miss?"
Jenny said to Sarah, one of her best friends.

"You know what I like," Sarah said
with a sigh.

"You got it," Jenny said, starting
to walk off.

"Hey!" Steve said. "What about
me?"

Jenny looked at the two females. "Is he
allowed to order?"

"No," they said in unison.

"That's what I thought," Jenny
said, walking off.

Steve looked at the two most important women
in his life with his hands in the air. "What the hell is going on?"

"Just deserts," Linda explained.

"A guy defends himself, and pays in
spades," Steve said with the shake of his head.

"Clueless," Sarah said, looking at
her mother.

"It's a man thing," Linda said with
a shrug.

"It sure is," Steve replied.

Jenny came back with three cups of coffee,
"Cream for the ladies, straight black for the gentleman."

"Thank you, Jenny," Steve said with
a bow of his head. "I knew you would understand."

"It's more about the tip, than anything,
Steve," she smiled.

"We understand," Linda said.

"Thank you," Jenny replied.
"That's what matters."

Steve looked from Jenny to Linda and Sarah
with a shrug. "Whatever, so long as I get some coffee."

The Indian Chief inhaled deeply as he walked
across the parking lot to his old Cadillac. The smell was even worse outside of
the building.

"Why couldn't these damn palefaces just
stayed home?" A voice asked him from behind.

The chief stopped in his tracks, saying
nothing.

"Wouldn't it have made all this
easier?" the voice asked. "Your kind knew better than to stay here
for long. Your kind always figured it out pretty quick compared to the
dumb-fuck palefaces."

"Why are you bothering me,
monster?" the chief asked without looking back.

"I'm just curious if you are going to
try and help these pieces of shit that destroyed your way of life, or if you
are just going to go home and let things play out the way they should."

"Your way is not the right way,"
the Indian replied.

"Neither is theirs," the monster
spit into the Indian's ear.  "Two wrongs don't make a right, but two self
destructs on land you'll never be able to reclaim can't be a bad thing for you
and your people, can it?"

"We will never be allies in any way,
shape, or form," the Indian Chief protested.

"No, of course not," the fiend
replied. "This is just a happy circumstance for both of us. Now get the
fuck out of here and don't look back."

The Chief did just that. Driving away,
wondering if he was doing the right thing, or just paying back in kind what had
happened to his ancestors in years past.

"Doing the right thing will help the
white people," he said to himself in the rearview mirror. "It will do
nothing for my people, " and with that he justified his decisions and
drove out of the conflict. The saddest part of it all was the simple truth of
his words.

Frank and Lloyd went on their morning walk.
They watched an old Cadillac, drive out of the dusty parking lot of the Cup of
Joe just a little too fast, the tail end of the car fishtailing slightly as it
made its way onto the highway. As the dust settled, they made eye contact with
the demon.

"You just missed the dialogue with a
potential ally," the fiend said with a deep chuckle. "Story of your
life, Franky."

Frank slowly shook his head. "We're not
looking for any new friends."

The demon's eyes got ice cold. "You
better not fucking be."

"We're not," Frank said with a
shrug. "Everything we need, we got right here." They stopped for a
moment as Lloyd urinated on a fire hydrant.

The demon growled as the symbolism wasn't
lost on him, making Frank chuckle and Lloyd sneeze as they moved off.

Jake and Johnny jumped into the old Chevy
truck and kicked up some dirt as they sped off.

"Where to?" Jake asked.

Johnny gave it some serious thought as he
loaded his one hitter. "Let's go to Joe's Cup."

Jake looked his old friend in the eye.
"Why would we go there?"

Johnny lit up the pot pipe and inhaled
deeply. "Cause Drew is working in the kitchen, maybe he can score us some
free food."

"How the hell would he do that?"

"I don't know, man" smoke crept out
of his mouth. "His fat ass will think of something."

Jake shook his head. "What waitress are
you looking to tag, now?"

Johnny looked at him with a smile. "Not
sure, keepin' my options open."

"You're such a slut," Jake said
with a laugh.

"You wish you could be me," Johnny
said as he lit up again.

"In some ways,"
Jake thought to himself.

"You want a hit?" Johnny asked,
smoke curling out of his nose.

"It's too early, you fucking
junky."

"Such a pussy."

"Kiss my ass," Jake said as he held
his hand out. "Load me some."

Jenny brought their food. She knew what Steve
normally ordered, and brought him a plate of hot cakes with some bacon on the
side.

"You're an angel, Jenny" Steve said
with a smile.

"Like I said," Jenny replied.
"It's all about the tip."

"Honesty is the best policy," Steve
said, popping a piece of bacon in his mouth.

Jenny turned to Sarah. "I'm off at two,
what are you up to, today?"

"Whatever you feel like doing,"
Sarah said with a shrug.

"Cool," Jenny replied. "I'll
swing by your house after I take a shower," she said, moving on to her
next table.

The front door dinged as it opened, everyone
turned and looked for a brief moment as the two stoned teenagers walked in.
Johnny smiled, loving the temporary spotlight as everyone went back to their
food. Jake couldn't care less if anyone noticed their entrance, until he made
eye contact with Sarah.

She quickly looked down, acting like she
hadn't seen him. Jake kept looking at her until the old guy sitting next to her
got in the way, staring back at him.

Jake turned his head away casually,
"Daddy
doesn't like his little girl getting eyed,"
he thought to himself with
a half smile.

Sarah's heart was suddenly in her throat as
she started slicing up her pancakes with slow, strong cuts of her fork, trying
to get her breathing slowed back down.

Luckily, her actions grabbed her dad's
attention, making him forget about the two kids that just walked in.

"Are you cutting up your cakes or trying
to crack that plate?" He asked with a half smile.

She forced a smile back. "Just
hungry."

The boys took a seat on the stools at the
long diner table.

"When's Drew going on break?"
Johnny asked the waitress behind the counter.

"No clue," she said with a blank
stare. "You ordering something, or just wasting my time again,
junior?" It was obvious she had dealt with Johnny in the past.

He glanced briefly at her name tag and then
replied: "I'd like a heaping plate of your steamiest special of Sue, with
a scolding side of wet foreplay," he smiled like a crazed monkey.

Sue's face didn't change a bit. "You
think you got what it takes to ring my bell, pup?"

"I know I do," he said with a wink.

"You can prove it by answering one
question."

Johnny chuckled. "I was hoping for
something a little more challenging than that."

"Don't get ahead of yourself, kid,"
she said, motioning him closer.

With a smile he lowered his ear to her mouth,
as she asked him something intimate.

His face melted like ice cream on a hot stove
top as her mouth quietly moved, his eyes going vacant as something hit his
brain like a silver bullet.

"Bullshit," Johnny stuttered as he
came off the stool, stumbling away from her. He pointed at Sue with a shaky
finger. "Fuck you, bitch," he whispered, turning towards the door and
making his way outside without looking back.

Jake looked at the waitress in awe.
"Damn, Sue. Nobody's ever shut Johnny down that quick! What did you
say?"

"Gonna have to find out from him, Jake. I
wouldn't want to spoil the surprise."  

Jake shook his head with a smile as he saw
Drew in the back.

Drew tilted his head to outside. "I'm
going on break, Sue."

"Sure thing, Hon," she replied,
winking at Jake as he made his way outside to meet Drew.

Johnny was outside, stalking back and forth
like a caged tiger.

"What the hell took you so long?"
he said with hands in the air.

"I was getting Sue's number," Jake
replied. "She's a wild one."

"More like a crazy bitch," Johnny
corrected, pointing at Jake's pack of cigarettes.

Jake tapped out two cancer sticks, handing
one to his friend. "Drew's meeting us out back."

"He bringing out food?"

"You need to get on the list for food
stamps, man," Jake said with a chuckle. "You're always scrounging for
food."

"We just smoked an eighth of weed, man!
It's only natural to be hungry."

They turned the corner and saw their friend
Drew lighting up.

"Hey chubby," Johnny said with a
smile. "Careful with that lighter, your greasy ass might go up in flames
with all that Crisco on your apron."

Drew's pudgy middle finger came up as he
finished lighting his smoke. "Sue sure did shut your loud mouth ass
down," smoke crawled out of his mouth as he grinned.

"Yeah, whatever," Johnny mumbled.
"So, when do you get off work?"

Drew cocked his head in wonder for a moment.
"That's not the reply I expected. It's like you're trying to change the
subject."

Johnny blew smoke into Drew's face.
"Don't fuck with me, little man."

It was true that Drew was a good six inches
shorter than Johnny, but with his extra weight he was an easy twenty pounds
heavier, and he was no pussy in a fight. Jake had seen the two of them in
enough brawls to know that neither was scared of the other. Hell, there had
been at least three occasions now where they had beat the shit out of one
another, all because of Johnny's mouth.

"I'm not the one fuckin' with you,"
Drew said with the shake of his head. "Sue was fuckin' with you, but now I
think it's you that's fuckin' with yourself."

"What the hell is that supposed to
mean?"

"You tell me, stud," Drew said with
a chuckle.

Johnny threw down his smoke. "I'm gonna
fuck you up."

"Bullshit!" Jake said, pushing
Johnny back. "Walk your shit off," he pointed out at the road.
"It's too early for this shit."

Johnny looked him in the eye for a moment,
deciding on whether to go ahead with it or not, knowing full well it would be
both Jake and Drew he faced.

"Drew makes any faces at him at this is
going to be a shit-storm."
Jake thought to himself.

Drew didn't make any faces, because Johnny
turned around and walked away.

Jake took a drag on his smoke, watching
Johnny walk a ways off before turning to Drew. "What the hell was
that?"

"What? He's the only one that can be an
asshole?"

"No, but you've usually got a good
excuse, like being drunk or stoned out of your mind."

"True, but come on, that was truly a
first with Johnny being shut down like that."

Jake couldn't help but to smile. "Yeah,
it was."

"I'm off work in about an hour, we gonna
go raise some hell tonight?"

"After your greasy ass takes a
shower."

"No shit, genius."

"I don't know," Jake looked over at
Johnny and back at Drew. "Can you two love birds get along after
this?"

Drew flipped his spent smoke out into the
road. "As well as we ever do, Mr. Referee." He went back inside to
finish his shift.

Jake's spent cigarette followed after Drew's
as he walked back towards Johnny and the truck. "Let the good times
roll."

"C'mon, man!" Johnny yelled,
climbing into the truck. "Let's go see if my piece a shit dad has my
Mustang fixed yet."

Shane Copper spat a wad of tobacco juice
through his teeth into the floor drain of the car garage where he worked and
grinned at his employer with yellow teeth. "Hell, boss, a rebuilt
carburetor, new plugs and points," he looked a little closer at the engine
of the vintage 1970 Chevelle. "Maybe a new distributor cap, and she'll be
good as new."

"Whatever you say, Shane," Chuck Nugent
replied. He owned the local grocery store and was the only beer distributor in
town. He also owned a couple of smaller businesses like the car repair shop,
mainly to have his own mechanic to work on all of his muscle cars, which he
drove the hell out of, but probably couldn't change a flat tire on one if his
life depended on it.

Chuck's expensive hobby was the sole reason
Shane had a job, because Shane was a raging alcoholic that only made it to work
on time if he was still drunk at 8am. Chuck didn't care, since he knew damn
well that Shane was a great mechanic whether he was stone cold hung over or
four sheets to the wind. Shane was one of those guys that might not come into
the shop until 2 in the afternoon, but would stay and work on the sweet rides
until the dead of the night just because. He was a true blue gear head and
Chuck exploited that to the extreme, by paying his overtime in cheap beer and
watered down whiskey instead of cash. In Shane's mind, he had the perfect job.

"Mind if I work on my boy's car after I
get the Chevelle up to snuff?" Shane asked, pointing out to the faded
black 1982 Mustang parked in the grass.

"Sure, sure, so long as it's after
hours."

"Course," Shane said with another
spit.

Chuck looked down at his watch, it was almost
noon. "You ready for a beer?"

Shane looked at his boss with the closest
thing he could come to genuine love. "Always."

Chuck pointed to the Chevelle. "You tear
into the carburetor and I'll go get us a couple a cold ones."

Shane did what he was told just as the old
Chevy truck pulled into the lot.

Johnny climbed out of the truck and waltzed
into the garage, a cigarette dangling from his lips.

Shane pointed at the burning cancer stick.
"Get that shit outta here! There's gas all over the place, you dip-shit! You
wanna light this whole place up?"

"Take it easy, ya fuckin' drunk,"
Johnny flicked his smoke into the parking lot. "It's gone, okay, Smokey
the Bear."

Shane got right up in his son's face.
"Watch your mouth, boy."

"Or what? You won't fix my car? Fucking
lost cause, anyways."

Jake leaned up against the truck and waited
for whatever was going to happen next. He had seen Johnny get into more fights
with his old man than he had with Drew, so it was nothing new.

"That old 'stang just needs a little
work, is all," Shane said, looking at the old car. "If you would help
me out with her, we could have her up and running tonight."

The father looked at his son, waiting to see
if he would catch the hint. Johnny caught it easy enough, but was completely
uninterested. That ship had sailed a long time ago.

"To hell with that," Johnny said
with a spit. "I ain't no grease-monkey."

"Fine, Shane replied. "Get your
lazy ass out of here then." He went back to the Chevelle.

Jonny nodded to Jake, "Let's get the
hell outta this dive."