The World's End Series Book One: Dymond's World (10 page)

Even with the power out, Fallon knew he had to go to work.  As he drove, he realized he hadn't seen any sign of God for quite a while.  He hadn't missed Him, with his laughing and pointing and rolling around enjoying Fallon's bad luck and poor choices. 
When was the last time?
  He thought it was probably the day that Dymond moved in with him.

It was hard at first.  His Airstream was fine for him alone, or even for a weekend getaway for a couple, but it was just too small for two people to live in comfortably.  On top of that, it rained for several days after they returned from delivering that car, so they were cooped up and got on each other’s nerves - and sleeping by himself on that little couch with her so close was uncomfortable.  He remembered dreaming of his ex-wife and waking with a terrific hard-on.  He'd never dreamed of her before except in nightmares.

Something had to give.  When the weather broke, they walked together to the lake to fish.  It felt good to be outside; the late summer air had started to cool and the blue sky and water, surrounded by the still green trees, made a scene that was picture postcard perfect.  They were alone in the park.

He didn't wait.  "Dy, what do you want to do?  I think you need to decide."

She studied him intently.  He'd only known her for a few days, but he could tell that she was deciding if this was his way of telling her it was time to move on.  Fallon didn't want that at all, but something had to give.  He reached for her hand.

She smiled in understanding.  She knew she wasn't being asked to leave.

"I thought about it, Mister.  I thought about it a lot.  I like your home, but . . . you know . . . it's a little tight."

Fallon laughed.  It had been a while since he really laughed and it felt good.  Dy was trying to spare his feelings.  "It's more than a bit tight, Dy.  It's totally claustrophobic."

Fallon remembered how she she'd laughed along with him, her normally serious expression abandoned for the moment.

"I think we need a bigger place - an apartment."

His mood went from warm to cold in an instant.  "I can't afford that, Dy.  You know I can't."

She was quiet, like she was trying to decide what to say.  She took off her sandals and wiggled her toes in a little patch of sand beside the rocks.  "Well, we could get some money.  You could . . . you could trick me out and then we'd . . ."

He didn't let her finish.  "No!  No, Dy. Just no!  If you want to go back to that life, it'll have to be without me.  I won't watch you do that.  I just won't."

She didn't seem surprised at his reaction, but she was curious.  "Why, Mister?  Most of the time I don't even know the john's name and can't remember what they looked like an hour later.  It's just like any other job - you do it so you can get on with life.  It doesn't mean anything."

He squeezed her hand and spoke, his voice suddenly soft, "It would mean something to me, Dy."

She turned to him and smiled her brightest smile.  She reached up and kissed him on the lips - gently.  It was their first time.

"Thank you," she said.  They sat in silence, looking at the water.  The pole bobbed, but neither of them reached for it.

"Do you think I could get a job? I mean a real job - like in a factory or something?  And I think you'll get that one down at the Seven Eleven.  With that and with your car delivering job, we could afford it.  I worked it out - it would be a little tight at first, but I could maybe get a second job and then things would be fine."

Fallon was shocked.  She had obviously been thinking this through - calculating their expenses and their income.  That was surprising enough, but what was positively shocking was how her plans were to stay with him.

Later, they talked and ate and talked some more.  She was right - with a little luck it could work.

But good luck had been in short supply for him for many years.  He looked up, expecting to see God smirking at the very idea that Fallon could improve his life.  But there was nothing there.

***

As he approached the entrance to the strip center, he saw a lady cop directing traffic below a non-working light.  There wasn't much traffic to direct, just Fallon and an old man driving a new Buick in the lane to his right.  The cop held up her arm to stop them and made a motion for them to roll down their windows.

She shouted, "Curfew Tonight starting at seven.  Be off the streets by then."  Fallon had tried the radio on the way in, but couldn't pick up any news.  The blackout must be a pretty big one.

He couldn't remember a curfew being put into place for a power outage. Just then, the old man to his right gunned the Buick and went by the cop, missing her by inches.  He yelled out the window, "Fuck you!"

The cop reached for her radio, but it must not have been working because she changed her mind.  She looked at Fallon with her hand on the handle of her sidearm, "What the fuck are you looking at?  Get the hell out of here."

He did as he was told.

***

With no power, the odds of being able to open the dollar store for business were not good, but as Assistant Manager, Fallon knew he needed to be there in case the power returned and their registers started to work, spitting out credit card authorizations for sales.

He remembered how his streak of good luck had continued that night and into the next day after he and Dy talked about the future.  Early the next morning, Patti called him and offered him his old job back - with even more hours if he wanted them.  "Fucking Janet got knocked up, so she quit.  She's been here a long time and I've never seen any men sniffing around her - must have met a really hard up guy."

He remembered that call so well; he'd answered the phone while he was holding Dy in his lap; she was naked and was rubbing herself against him.

"So you got your job back if you want it.  I'd advise you to pass, but it's up to you."

"Ah . . . I'll take it, Patti."  Dy grinned and started to stroke him, so it was hard to think.

"Ok, Fallon, but remember I warned you.  Get your ass in here by ten tomorrow or I'll fucking fire you all over again."  With that she hung up and he turned his attention back to Dy.

***

He was surprised to see Patti's car in the lot.  She was closing today and wasn't due in until one
.  Maybe some fuckwad from District was coming by for a surprise inspection or something.
  He let himself in the door, the mechanical bell announcing his presence.

She wasn't out front, so he went to the back room.  This was the room where she'd originally hired him over three years ago and it was the one where she fired him.  She’d promoted him to Assistant Manager six months ago out on the floor with the store full of customers.  She announced it to everyone and they applauded.

Fallon found her at the little card table she called her desk.  She was sitting on a large carton of creamed corn.  They'd had chairs, but they broke and the company wouldn't replace them.

Something was wrong.  The expression on her face was normally sour, but her eyes usually glinted as if she understood it was all some kind of joke.  Today, as she looked up at him, her eyes were red.  He'd never seen her cry except for that one time when she fired him.

He sat beside her and took her hand.  He remembered doing the same thing with Dy.  "What's wrong, Patti?"

She sniffed and reached into her purse and pulled out a small pack of tissues.  They were the same brand they sold in the store.  She wiped her eyes.  "It's my fucking husband.  I’m done with him for good.  It was this morning.  I told him to pack and get out and I just got up and left.  I can't stand it anymore."

He knew she and her husband had more than their share of problems.  She said for a man with such a small dick, he was the biggest prick she'd ever met.

Fallon didn't know what to say.  He remembered how it was with his own ex and how they were probably both relieved to never have to see each other again.  He said what he felt, "I know it hurts, Patti.  But it's also probably for the best."

She wiped her eyes again and looked at her hand.  She seemed surprised to see his holding hers.  She squeezed.  "I can see how you got that child bride of yours.  Sometimes you say just the right thing."  She burst into fresh tears and embraced him.

***

At opening time, there were no customers in sight.  "I hope the fucking power stays off all day.  I'm going to close this fucker at noon if it's not on by then.  I hate to ask you this, but would you go back to my place with me?  Just to make sure he's gone?"

Fallon's first thought was of Dy.  He knew that she would walk to her job at Chick-fil-A a bit before ten and, as a shift supervisor, she had to work until five.  At least that was the plan - if the power didn't come back on, all bets were off.

But Fallon wasn't worried.  Their apartment was less than a half mile from the restaurant.  Dy would walk back home on her own if they didn't need her.  "Ah . . . sure Patti, but what if . . ."

"What if the bastard is still there?  I'll call the police and I'll throw his shit out on the curb; him too."  The crying was over.  She had up a head of steam.

***

At noon, Patti turned around the sign that said, "Closed, But We'll Be Back Soon!" and locked the doors.  That morning, even with no power and no lights, they'd had four customers. Two they had to turn away because they wanted to use a credit card.  The other two gave Patti cash - one guy bought two cases of creamed corn, the last they had.  They would have to find another chair for their office.  Patti tried calling home to see if anyone answered, but the phones didn't work.

The parking lot for the strip center was empty except for two cars.  Patti got in hers.  "Follow me.  My house is only about ten minutes away."

Fallon nodded and got into his car.  Even after a year, he was proud to be able to get into a car that he and Dy bought together.  It wasn't much, but it was a lot better than the Piece of Shit.  It was almost ten years old and made some strange noises, but it was theirs, free and clear.  After Dy got her promotion at Chick-fil-A, she paid it off early from the "buy here, pay here" place.

He turned on the heater and it felt good.  It was a cold, grey day.  Before they got out of the parking lot, it started to snow lightly.

***

Patti's house was a small structure in a big lot.  The yard was full of unraked leaves that had fallen from several large trees that would provide cool shade in the summer.  They both pulled into the small driveway.  Before them was a separate single car garage.  The door was closed.

Fallon got out and looked around.  No neighbors were in sight.

Patty walked to the garage door and peeped inside through a crack.  "Damn him all to hell.  His car is still fucking here."

Without another word, she turned on her heels and marched towards the front door, reaching into her purse and retrieving her keys.  She stopped as she approached the door and turned to him like she'd just remembered he was there.  "This was a bad idea.  You go on home to your child bride, Fallon."  She paused, "When you get there - if you love her, tell her, okay?  Women like to hear it sometimes."

With that, she put the key in the lock and disappeared inside.

The old Fallon, the pre-Dy version, would have left as soon as Patti released him from this potentially uncomfortable duty.  He would have driven away and looked up to see God's reaction to his cowardice.

But the new Fallon stayed put.  Dy had picked up an expression from her boss at CFA, "Do what's right, not what's easy."  Whenever they had a decision to make together, she'd repeat that to him like some kind of mantra.  It seemed to work, so Fallon applied it now.  What was right was to stay and make sure Patti was okay.  He walked near the porch and found a rake.  He leaned on it, waiting.  The snow continued to fall.

***

He didn't have to wait for long.  From his position, he heard muffled shouting.  He knew they were arguing.  He and Dy would get mad at each other once in a while, but they never shouted and were careful never to say anything that crossed the line - things that would hurt in such a way that the hurt would never totally go away.  He would, for example, never refer to her past career as a whore when they argued - that was a line he wouldn't cross.

Fallon doubted that Patti and her husband lived by any such rule.  The noise from inside was almost continuous for several minutes until it started getting louder and more strident.  He thought he heard a scream.  Instinctively, he walked to the front door, still carrying his rake.  Before he stepped up onto the little porch, he heard a "pop."  It wasn't loud, but it was followed by total silence.

Oh my God
.  He leapt to the door and tried the knob.  It was locked.  He turned it aggressively and pounded on the door.  "Patti! Patti, are you all right? Open the door!"  He tried to force the knob with his left hand as his right pounded harder until the door started to shake.  "Open up, Patti, for Christ's sake."

He felt the knob turn slightly; someone was trying to open it on the other side.  Momentarily, he had a mental image of himself using the rake to fend off Patti’s husband, but he realized that it had fallen off the porch.  He called out, "Patti, open the door!  It's me!"