“Don’t worry, it’s okay.” He stepped away. “That’s what I wanted to know.” Where had he put that damned thing?
He found the shotgun in the front closet, yanked it out and returned to the bedroom. When Sky saw what he was carrying, she trilled in fear.
“I said don’t worry.” He put the shotgun under his arm, flicked opened the switchblade again with his other hand. Her eyes went immediately to that. He dug at the bond on her left hand, cut through it, did the same with the other. She tumbled off the bed, into a corner of the room. “What—”
“Just stay there,” he said. He went into the bathroom, closed the door.
“What are you doing?” she called.
He looked at himself in the mirror. Hollow-eyed, dead-tired looking, jaw hanging slack, a dewlap developing under his chin. Thirty-nine years old. Never wanted to be forty anyway.
He put the barrels under his chin, wondered if it would hurt.
“Todd?”
He heard the blast for a bare moment. Ye—
PART
VI
CHAPTER 32
SHANNON AND DEWEY GO TO TODD’S
“How does your grandma even drive this fucking car?” said Shannon.
“She doesn’t drive it very much. It’s better than nothing.”
“I wouldn’t be fucking caught dead in it.”
“Well, you’re in it now.” Dewey decided that if Shannon was going to be this shitty, he might as well speak up. “Don’t you think we ought to tell Todd about his car getting ripped off?”
“No, because I want to get it fucking back and tell him after. We know what retard fucking took it.”
“I think we ought to tell him. It’s his car.”
“Yeah, it’s his car, and after a while, once I start making more money, I’m getting another car anyway. Fuck this borrowing somebody’s car and then somebody steals it.”
“How you gonna make money?”
“There’s money in selling worm, man. That’s why we’re doing it, right?”
We, thought Dewey, he hadn’t said anything about cutting me in. “We haven’t made much yet.”
“That’s ’cause we’re just getting started.”
“I’m not sure it’s such a good idea anyway.”
“Now you’re gonna bitch about it, huh?”
“No, I’m just saying, the shit is bad for you and you can probably get in real bad trouble for selling it.”
“What do you mean? It’s not even illegal so far as we know.”
“I bet it is illegal, plus it’s bad for the people you’re selling it to.”
“Well, what, am I making them take it?”
“You’re enabling them to take it.”
“Enabling. Is that a word you heard on TV?”
“Everybody says that. That’s what it is. We did the shit ourselves and agreed we wouldn’t ever take it again.”
“Well, we’re not ‘everybody,’ are we? Kids want to do it, so let them. I didn’t say I wouldn’t take it again because I thought it was heavy or scary or some shit. I just thought it wasn’t much. It’s like speed or something. Less than speed, more like Jolt Cola or some shit.”
“It’s a little more intense than Jolt Cola,” said Dewey.
“It’s like shooting a couple Jolt Colas. That’s about it. It’s just hyped right now. We’re just meeting demand. If you’re so against it, why didn’t you say anything before?”
“I’m just saying I think Roni’s going to be worried now that she knows about it.”
“How the fuck does Roni know about it?”
“Heather said she was there when those kids asked for you, so she does know.”
“She doesn’t know what it is or what they were looking for me for. I told her I was going to manage their band.”
“Why would they want you for that?”
“Well, they were going to the Grasso, so maybe they were going to have a retro headbanger group. Might be the latest thing for the younger set. So, I’m well familiar with the shit they’re after, maybe.”
“Man, they didn’t go there, that’s where you got the place wrong. Don’t you even remember that, from yesterday?” Maybe shouldn’t have said that, Dewey thought, but sheesh.
“I’m not thinking about it. I got other stuff on my mind right now. Jesus fuck, will you get off my back?”
“Awright, I’m sorry. I’m just pissed off about everything today, same as you. So where are we fucking going anyway?”
“I guess let’s go tell Todd what happened. What the fuck. See how he’s making out with the chick.”
When they got to Todd’s house, both of them went up to his door to knock. There was no answer. After a minute, they knocked again. They could hear somebody moving around in there. The door opened, and Sky was there, wearing a bathrobe that must have been Todd’s. Her eyes looked funny, woeful, and one had a bruise around it.
“Hi,” she said, sullen.
“Hey,” said Shannon, acting cheerful. “Is old Todd home?”
“No. He’s asleep.”
“Well, like, we wanted to talk to him about something.”
“I can’t— I don’t want to try and wake him up,” she said.
“Huh. Well, when he does wake up, will you tell him we were looking for him?”
“Okay.” She seemed aggravated or something, didn’t want to talk. She barely glanced at Dewey, but seemed to watch Shannon warily.
“So, how’s things going?” said Shannon.
“Okay.”
“You… you guy’s gettin’ along okay, you and Todd?” Shannon grinned.
“Uh-huh,” she said, unsmiling.
“You sure? You seem a little…”
She tossed her hair as if impatient. “Everything’s fine.”
Her eyes said otherwise, Dewey thought.
“Okay, well, I guess we’ll see you around then. Don’t forget to, uh, tell Todd we stopped over, need to tell him something.”
“Okay. Bye.” She closed the door quickly.
They walked back to the Chevy. “What was that about?” said Dewey.
“Fuckin’ women, man,” shrugged Shannon, as they climbed back in.
Dewey glanced up at the sky. It was getting dark pretty fast. As they drove off, he said, “You noticed the eyes, right?”
“Yeah, the black eye. I saw it.”
Dewey meant more than that but let it go. “You don’t think he’s getting freaky with her, do you?”
“I dunno,” said Shannon. “I wouldn’t think so, but he has gotten to be a porn freak, I guess.”
CHAPTER 33
JAIME AND CLARE FIND TODD
“You want me to go up there with you?” Jaime said.
“Of course, you’re the one who started this.”
Jaime was going to say “I didn’t start it” but didn’t want to get hit again. He also didn’t really want to confront Todd or see the girl again. He felt a little guilty, as always, for being a snitch—in the presence of people he’d snitched on, anyway. But he figured they’d all be more interested in each other than in him, and he could probably lam out of there pretty fast after the door opened.
They knocked. Nobody answered. Knocked again. The door, unlocked, came open.
They went inside. There were clothes strewn over the furniture, dishes and empty wine bottles scattered around, VHS tapes too, and a lamp lying on its side on the rug. There was something ominous about the place, almost an odor, that disturbed him. He thought it might have actually been a sex smell, since he figured they’d been fucking a lot. When he peeped at her she was probably having a shower because they’d just had sex, or were about to, or whatever. But no, it was something else, something real bad.