Either way, he knew she would be grateful for being allowed to sit all night long, which made him feel good as he started up the stairs to the trap door, which he slowly eased open.
Voices echoed.
Startled, Jimmy lowered the trapdoor back down, his mind having been prepared for someone to be around at some point, but not expecting it.
“Dude, if he came through here half an hour ago, then he’s probably long gone by now,” a recognizable voice said.
“Yeah man,” someone else said. “Besides, where the hell would he be going? He probably just pulled in here to take a piss or something.”
“No.” This voice belonged to Brett. “I pulled up and waited so I could clip him with my door or something, but he never came back out, so wherever he was going, he went through this way.”
“But there is nothing through there but forest and soy fields, man,” the first voice said, one which Jimmy now knew belonged to Matt.
“And the school,” the other voice said, this one belonging to Ron. “You can get there through there.”
Matt and Ron were Brett’s little sidekicks and had pretty much been by his side since the fourth grade when all three shared a class, one that Jimmy had unfortunately shared with them as well. As single identities the two couldn’t inspire fear in anyone, especially Matt who was about five three when walking with good posture. Alongside Brett, though, who would have been a formidable obstacle on the football field if he had the grades to play, the two had been able to instill fear in plenty of classmates and under classmates in earlier years. Now most didn’t give a shit and just saw them as idiots, ones who the system was going to leave behind eventually, but the three didn’t realize this and still felt like they were in control over everyone. They thought the lack of confrontation by other classmates was out of respect or fear, but really it was due to indifference. No one cared anymore.
“I don’t give a fuck where he’s going,” Brett said. “I just want to be here when he gets back. The little shit has been disrespecting me and needs to be taught a lesson.”
“Man, I don’t want to sit around here waiting for him,” Ron moaned. “What if he’s already gone?”
“If you want to be a pussy go on home, I don’t give a flying fuck.”
“Do we still have beer inside?” Matt asked.
“We should unless some cocksucker stole it all,” Brett said.
“So there,” Matt continued. “We can chill here for a while with a beer and see if he comes back.”
No, no, no! Jimmy silently screamed. He didn’t want to wait around for them to get bored and leave, especially with his bike tucked away in the bushes because they would find it if they decided to look for it. Even worse, he didn’t want any sort of confrontation near the fallout shelter even though it was well hidden because if he could find it by accident one day when not even looking, they could do the same, especially if they were interested in why he was hanging out here.
Jimmy lifted the trapdoor a little more so he could see out into the yard of the Hood place. Brett and Ron were sitting on the back porch lighting cigarettes — or what appeared to be cigarettes. A second later Matt came out through the broken window with some beers, the plywood covering the window, which they had probably pried open a bit at one point, slamming back in place.
“Seven?” Brett snapped when looking down into the bucket. “How much did we drink last time?”
“Don’t know,” Matt said, “but this is all that’s left.”
“Fuck me. I’m gonna have to get my brother to buy us more.”
“Man, can’t you find someone else to buy us beer,” Ron whined. “He charges too much.”
“Maybe you can find someone to buy it, shithead.”
Ron didn’t reply.
Jimmy considered his options. The three were about thirty feet away, which meant he could get on his bike and ride away from them without a problem, so long as he didn’t get tripped up somewhere. The only trouble was he didn’t want them seeing him anywhere near the fallout shelter.
What a mess.
He lowered the lid and looked back down at the main door at the bottom of the stairs and thought about heading back inside with Samantha, but really didn’t feel like it at the moment. He also had to pee really bad thanks to the handjob, something which always happened after he ejaculated and didn’t feel like using the bucket.
Thank God they weren’t back there when I went to clean out the bucket, Jimmy said to himself. He had taken the bucket all the way around to the hose on the other side of the house and sprayed it clean. While doing that he would have been completely vulnerable and while the metal pale would make a great weapon, especially if he hit one of them in the face, he would still have to contend with the questions on why he was hanging out at the Hood place, both from them and from the police who would undoubtedly investigate the fight, especially if he used the bucket as a weapon. Without it, however, he wouldn’t stand a chance. One on one he could take any of them down without too much trouble. Three on one, well, that was a different story.
He lifted the trapdoor again and looked out. The sun was setting, but not fast enough for his liking.
He lowered the lid and waited.
Once it was dark, he would be able to sneak away, though hopefully the group would get tired of waiting and leave before that. Until then he was stuck.
Chapter Six
Alan looked out the window to see if Jimmy was coming back on his bike yet, but his brother was nowhere to be seen, which surprised and frustrated him because the two had planned on playing some more Goldeneye the moment he came back home from his bike ride. That agreement had been several hours ago, however, and he still wasn’t home.
Where the hell does he ride too? Alan wondered.
The town of Ashland Creek wasn’t heavily populated but it did encompass quite a bit of space, which was something most people from up in the suburbs didn’t realize. They thought ‘small town’ meant ‘small area’ but when compared with the suburbs Ashland Creek actually had more landmass. Most of it was farmland, though, like the suburbs, they also had neighborhoods and a downtown area, both of which were pretty close. Unlike the suburbs one couldn’t simply hop a fence and be in another town. Instead one would have to hop a fence, cut through some woods, and then cut through a farm field or two, then cut through more woods. Once in those woods they would hit a town line of some sorts, but one which they wouldn’t know for sure they had crossed until they entered the scrubland beyond the woods, scrubland that butted up against more farm fields. A walk like that would take hours, and could be pretty dangerous. Alan had done it once with friends one summer day many years earlier, all of whom had started vomiting that night thanks to insecticide poisoning from the fields which had just been sprayed. Ever since then Alan had stuck to the roads when near a farm field and even then he didn’t like to be exposed to the fields for a long time, and always urged whoever was driving to keep the windows closed.
Was Jimmy riding that far?
Alan couldn’t see why his brother would do that, but then at the same time he couldn’t understand why Jimmy would be riding everyday to begin with. It just seemed really boring.
But maybe he isn’t really riding at all? Maybe he’s seeing Tina?