Sunday, July 02, 2006

Part Four

A pounding bass line makes me lift my head. That son of a bitch Cobbs’s party? Already? Fuck, how long was I asleep? I sit up, and rub my head. I look out the sliding glass door into the backyard and sure enough, over the fence, I can see Cobbs’ house aglow with the going-ons of a party. I walk into the kitchen, grab the last bottle of liquor, rum, and hop the fence. I walk into Cobbs’s bathroom, and pee loudly. When I walk out, there is a short line. Some girl gives my an angry look. I smile at her and sit down on the couch.
Why am I here? I take a swig of the rum. Why the fuck am I doing at this douche’s party? Is it because I’ve been drinking alone too much lately? Maybe I’m feeling pathetic? Maybe I just came here to get a quick fuck in, you know, to help get over the enormous loss of Nat. Ha, that’s funny. Stupid cunt. I look at my wrist watch. Its gone. I remember I don’t wear a watch. I laugh.
Who is sitting next to me? Some girl. Almost a woman, maybe, 19? Shes ugly about the face. I gargle happily as I take another swig. My rum is almost gone. Damn, I might have to mooch to keep myself pickled. I wonder who would be the easiest to m-
“Hey!”
What? I look at the girl.
“You talkin’ to me?”
“Yeah! Hey!”
“What?”
“What’s your name?”
“Ed. Edwin.”
“Oh.” She waits for me to ask about hers. I don’t.
“I’m Miranda. My friends call me Andy.”
“You have friends?”
“Oh, stop it!” She laughs. “Why are you here?”
I shrug. “I guess because drinking alone makes you an alcoholic, and I don’t wanna be one of those, if I can help it.”
She laughs again, but this time its fringed with nerves. I take a good look at her breasts. They do not disappoint. She notices that I’m looking, and shies away a little. Her unconcious rejection of my gaze infuriates me. Why the fuck show ‘em off if you don’t want people looking?
“You know Cobbs?”
“Yeah. Why?”
“I’m just trying to make conversation.”
There is, for a moment, only the sound of the music.
“So are we gonna fuck, or what? Cause if you’re not gonna be naked by the end of the night, then you can go ahead and leave me alone.”
She gasps, and storms off. I smile, glad to be rid of her.
Cobbs confronts me moments later.
“What the hell, dude? Tiff is pissed at you.”
“Fuck her, man, she was being a bitch, calling my a wino and some shit. She and some fat chick threatened to get their boyfriends to kick my ass.” An lie, but Cobbs is too drunk to notice.
“A fat chick?” He asks. “Did she have blonde hair?”
“Yeah.”
“Probably Sherri, then. Sherri is a cunt.” Cobbs drinks from a red, plastic cup. A staple for any party-goer.
“You’re tellin’ me, man. She was a total bitch.”
“Yeah. I’ll talk to Tiff and Sherri about it.”
I mananged to dodge them the rest of the night, but somehow during the party some curvy little cretin attaches itself to me. We are both too plastered to drive, and she’s sober enough to know it. We take the bus. We end up at her place. She makes some Eggo’s, because I’m hungry. We get into bed.
And I can’t get it up. No matter how I try, no matter what she does, I can’t perform. What the fuck? This has never happened before. Son of a bitch! She moans in frustration, then pushes me away, and starts to shower. I can hear her moaning. Is she masturbating? Yup. I get up and start watching Conan. The TV gets bad reception, and I eventually turn it off, to sip on a beer.
Jesus this has been a bad week so far. What’s next? I’m going to have to find a job. The landlord is cool, but I can’t see him just letting me live in his place for free. I might want to get car, soon, since Nat probably took mine. It wasn’t really mine to begin with. Shit. Whatever.
Why am I like this? It seems that I’m merely surviving. I put forth no effort into anything I do, yet things usually work out okay. Is someone looking out for me? The God I abandoned years ago? Some other deity? Or maybe fate. Ha. Maybe it’s the Force.
Someone rattles the doorknob. My eyes go wide. A burglar? Fuck me sideways! I start to think, then I shout, “You better fuck off, man, I gotta gun!”
The burglar shouts, “Who the fuck is that?”
In my drunken stupor: “Its Ed, man,” Then I add, “Crazy Ed! Fresh outta prison!”
I hear the lock turning. He picked it! Fuck me sideways!
I stand up, chug the last of the beer, and then hold it by the neck, ready to smash in intruder over the head.
A man steps into the apartment, and ducks as I swing the bottle at him. The woman from earlier appears, wrapped in a towel, and shouts, “Steve!”
Me and the burglar both look up, then I smash his head with the bottle. He drops, clutching his head, blood dripping onto tile in the apartment entryway. The woman runs to me, and I expect a warm hug and gratitude, instead, I get slapped, and she goes for my eyes.
“Fuckin’ shit! What the hell? Get offa me! Get! Go! Stop! Hey, fuck off!” I shout as she claws at me.
“You son of a bitch, I’ll kill you for killing Steve!”
She knew the burglar? Then I realize, Steve’s the boyfriend! This bitch is another Natalie! Cunt smoker! I punched her hard in the shoulder, and she jumped back, clutching it hard. I see blood, and stitches, and realize that I hadn’t noticed the huge wound she had there. I squint at the bloody hand that she covers the cut with, and notice more wounds, a cut across the nose, a huge bruise on the shoulder, the leftovers of a black eye. I look at Steve, who is getting up, slowly, and I nudge him with my foot. I look at the girl.
“Fuck. Sorry, lady. I thought he was a burglar.” I shrug.
“A burglar with a house key? You fuckin’ queer!” She jumps at me again, stumbles over Steve, and is falls. Her towel comes loose, and reveals more bruises on her stomach and some cuts on her back. I cringe.
“Lemme help you.” I bend over.
“Get the fuck out!” She screams. I hear someone outside ask if we need help.
“Fine, I’ll go.” I step over Steve, and the woman, and I walk calmly away. Some neighbor asks about the noise.
“Steve’s beating his girl again.” I shrug. “She hit him with a bottle in the back of the head.”
The neighbor nods, then shakes his head. “When will she learn?”
I shrug, and walk off, following a Wendy’s sign that is bright against the dark, starless sky.

I don't really see this as going anywhere, unfortunatly. I'm going to discontinue the series.

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