Escape from Dolphin Street

by David Sharp

  Escape from Dolphin Street

  David Sharp

  Copyright © 2017 David Sharp. This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons living or dead, businesses, events or locales is purely coincidental. Reproduction in whole or part of this publication without express written consent is strictly prohibited.

  All rights reserved.

  ISBN: 1976211182

  ISBN-13: 978-1976211188

  Visit:

  davidsharpwriter. com

  www.facebook.com/Writer.DavidSharp

  This book is dedicated to aspiring DIY writers everywhere.

  CONTENTS

  Punks

  Concrete Wasteland

  The Delinquents

  Cutouts

  Violent Playground

  Bad Boy Adam

  Untamed Youth

  The Born Losers

  Just for the Hell of It

  Hate Alley

  The Damned

  Retribution

  Dolls

  Rockin’ Bones

  Punks

  X

  On the streets there are sharks and dolphins.

  The sharks are street punks of different sorts, dangerous and aggressive in form.

  The dolphins are runaways who play in the street surf — carefree and unaware that sometimes sharks eat dolphins.

  Concrete Wasteland

  X

  The sound of the skateboard’s wheels on the paved alleyway relaxed Jason. The hum over the rough concrete along with the warm vibrations in his feet and legs did the trick. He always felt comfortable on his board. It was his only escape from the problems in his head. The wheels turned and there were no thoughts of the harassment from the many, sometimes faceless, bullies — no judgment from his peers, real or imagined, to color his thoughts. None of it mattered when he was riding.

  The sound was soothing and for a moment he almost forgot where he was. The concrete wasteland was a familiar place in the city that he had followed his older brother, Trevor, to before he had gone away. He knew that one day he would go away too and never look back. It did not matter that he could not put a name to the place, because it felt right. He kicked his foot down a couple of times to keep the momentum going. The thrill of being out of suburbia was great. Jason was free. He tingled all over as if shackles and chains had been released from his arms and legs. He kicked the concrete a few more times enjoying the sensation.

  If only it was always like this. I could ride and just do my thing and be left alone.

  Adam was waiting for him, one foot against a concrete back wall of a club, a cigarette burning bright orange from his lip in the dark of the night. Jason stopped, swishing his board to the side to kick it up to his open palm with one foot. Casually he caught it and came in stride as close as he dared to Adam. The thrill of being so near the street punk was electric.

  “What are you doing out here?”

  “Waiting for you,” Adam said then let his foot slide down the wall scraping it.

  “That doesn’t make sense. Nobody knew I was coming here.”

  “I did.”

  “How is that?”

  The cigarette glowed brightly illuminating both of their faces: Jason’s smooth and innocent and Adam’s unshaven and rough.

  “You had to come here eventually.”

  “I guess…”

  “So shut up and get over here.”

  Adam tossed the butt. Sparks kicked around its rotation on the gravel.

  Jason smiled, even felt strangely confident, as he walked into a rough kiss. The moment was perfect. Adam’s stubble rubbed his face as their tongues collided. He could feel the warmth of the punk’s body as Adam pulled him close. Newspaper began to float down in the background. The kiss took Jason’s breath away. He had thought about this moment so many times and it was happening. He did not want to part faces. Yet, his attention went to the trash that slowly rained down. The sight did not make sense. The light in the alley darkened making the fence and bushes that lined the other side ominous as the trash continued to lazily fall from above.

  Breathing heavily, Jason reluctantly pulled free from the lip lock and asked, “Why did you take off without me?”

  Adam studied him with his intense hazel eyes, mysterious like the eyes of a cat.

  “I am right here, now. Say, do you want to go inside?”

  The back door of the club was ajar. Shapes moved in the half-light beyond the entrance.

  “I can’t.”

  “Sure you can.”

  Adam grabbed Jason by the hand and gently pulled him through the opened door into a large darkened room filled with steam. The air was thick and oppressive. The door to the alley seemed smaller.

  “What is this place?” Jason felt unsure. A weird discomfort had crept over him.

  Adam slid of his shirt and jeans a half leg at a time. “Let’s take a shower.”

  “This is crazy.” Jason watched Adam stumble as he ditched his boots to get his pants all the way off. His punk was naked in the shadows.

  “Is it?” Adam’s cat-like eyes never lost contact.

  The light played tricks over Adam’s body exposing flesh and muscle and even a flash of more that swung below. Jason could not contain himself and let go of his skateboard, tossed his shirt, and fought with the button fly of his jeans.

  “Come on, I will keep you warm in here.” Adam disappeared into the steam compelling him to follow.

  Jason won the battle with his fly and dropped his pants. Vulnerability washed over him like a cold wave. The wet concrete chilled his bare feet. Partially concealed by the steam, naked movement lied ahead along with the sound of running water. Jason shivered all over even as the humid, wet air coated his body.

  “Adam, where did you go?”

  The only reply was a muffled whisper of a sound. He was unsure if it was the shower or a voice. Jason looked down for his pants, but they were gone. Uncertainty filled his head and his excitement waned. Through the thick steam he backtracked searching for his clothes. That is when he heard the first animal noise. It sounded like a sheep baaing. Jason froze and listened. All he could hear was the shower running water in some far off corner. He turned back towards the door he had come through and could not see it. Disregarding his missing clothes, he went in the general direction he thought the door to be in. The baaing came again, closer. Jason spun around.

  “Hey, this isn’t funny.”

  He was out breath and scared, so he ran blind with his hands out. After an unnatural amount of time he found the wall through the haze. The wet concrete was cool to the touch.

  Other animal sounds came out of the steam. A hoarse horse whinnied. A goat made a short ruckus. A dog howled.

  Jason panicked. He moved his hands along the wall trying to find a sign of the exit. Whoever was making the sounds, and it seemed to be more than one, was moving closer tightening a half-circle around him.

  “Adam, if that’s you, stop it.”

  Jason could hear breathing and imagined hot breath on his neck and shoulder. His fingers found a ridge, the edge of the door. Not caring of being naked, he opened it and bolted outside into the alleyway. The steam was out there too he thought at first then corrected the idea.

  It must be fog. None of it makes sense.

  He shut the door tight. Although he was outside in the open, the claustrophobia was upon him pushing at his sides. The bushes by the alley fence moved in multiple places. The animal noises came again. Softly at first, they slowly rose in pitch. The gravel felt hard under his feet and Jason wished for his clothes and his skateboard so he could ride away. Some unseen thing lunged out from a bush. On instinct, he turned to run and hit something else solid as a wall. A dark hulking
shape blocked his way. He backed off with soft steps of his bare feet.

  “It can’t be you.”

  A prism of light caught Jason’s eye. He recognized the shadow man as a street punk named Hound. Before he could react, a knife flashed out of the darkness and bit into his wrist. He tried to yell, but inhaled instead. Jason grabbed the wound in shock. The blood flowed between his fingers followed by a sharp pain.

  X

  Jason sat up in bed and grabbed his wrist. There was no blood only a scar from some time ago. One brought about by his own hand. He rubbed the rough edge of the skin and looked around the familiar surroundings of his bedroom. He was covered in sweat. The sheet and his boxer shorts clung tightly to his body. He felt disturbed even though his body seemed still excited from the surreal encounter with Adam.

  The dream seemed so real.

  The truth about Adam was that he was already out there on the streets. He had left without Jason. More than that, the truth was Jason had invited himself and been denied. Now he was stuck in suburbia by his own designs or lack thereof. He barely knew Adam, but could not keep the punk out of his thoughts from the very first time he had seen him. The few conversations they had, Jason had clung to every word wanting to be included in something besides his mundane life. And Adam did not seem to care that he was gay. It drove Jason crazy not knowing if Adam was just cool or actually interested in him. He watched the shadows play on the walls as if they had a life of their own other than the wind outside and remembered the strange animal sounds. Not wanting to dwell on the dark part of the dream, he thought of kissing Adam and smiled.

  Why couldn’t the dream have gone straight to the shower part?

  Content with the imagined kiss, he swung his legs over the side of the bed and wiped some sweat off his brow flinging it to the wooden floor. A scream made him jump. It fully brought back the lingering fear from the dream. Jason rushed to the window and looked out on his backyard. He could see his best friend Kelly’s house across the way, another upper middle class two-story home. Only a small chain-link fence divided the properties. He waited in anticipation for another scream. He knew it had to be her. Kelly had told him stories about not sleeping well. He wondered if it was something worse than bad dreams that caused her night terrors. Even Kelly kept secrets from him. Jason felt so alone that it hurt.

  The scream did not come again. Jason watched the breeze softly flap an embroidered quilt on a clothesline in Kelly’s yard. The silence in suburbia was eerie. There were no shadows out there or animal noises, but the quiet and his imagination unnerved him. Jason sat back down on his bed and swore to himself.

  One day soon, just like Trevor and Adam, I will go and never come back.

  The Delinquents

  X

  The woods that surrounded the park were well kept with trails, a ball field, and a playground all infused with a sense of man-made artifice. Jason sat at a picnic table smoking a joint with his two friends, Kelly and Tanya. He brushed his bangs out of his face, glanced at Kelly’s long red hair and Hot Topic attire, then glared at the darker skinned Tanya as she twirled a curl of her black red-streaked hair with a finger.

  Why do I put up with her? Jason wondered. It has to be for Kelly’s sake and nothing else.

  Kelly started talking again and he tried to pick up the conversation. Absently, he spun a wheel on his skateboard as he listened.

  “I get what the both of you are saying, but it’s not like he is going through my panties or something sorted. He is just hard to deal with when he drinks.”

  Jason took the joint from Tanya, avoiding her judgmental eyes to focus on Kelly fully aware she was lying. “I am here for you girl.”

  “You could always stay with me,” Tanya said ignoring him for Kelly. She let her red curl bounce free from her finger.

  “Yeah, only if your mom didn’t live there,” Kelly said half-jokingly.

  “She’s a lot better to be around, now that she is never home.”

  “Be for real, Tanya. I can’t stay with you.”

  “You could, just think of it as a long sleepover.”

  “Are you guys diking out on me again?”

  Jason passed the joint to Kelly winking at her.

  “You wish,” Kelly said more cheerfully.

  Tanya glared while muttering, “You wouldn’t know what to do if you had it.”

  “Very funny.” Jason winced at the thought and remembered the scream from the night before. “But seriously, the problem is we all still live at home. We need to get away,” Jason said longingly.

  “I don’t see you getting a job and place with your white trash skills.”

  Jason ignored Tanya’s usual bitterness and tuned out. Suburbia sucked. Here he was sitting in a park with his best friend and her sidekick with nothing to do. There was no time to work and save up money. He had to get out of the place soon, even if it killed him.

  A low rumble of a V8 engine rose in volume as a tan colored 1968 Mustang pulled into the empty lot. Jason’s spirits also rose. He guessed the driver to be John and hoped that his crush was with him, the one he tried to keep to himself, but could not. They always seemed to be running around lately so it was likely. Jason stared hard. After a moment of uncertainty, Adam was that bad boy he could make out on the other side of the dirty windshield. Night and day he thought of him and let his imagination run wild. The rough kiss and Adam undressing from the dream spontaneously flashed in his mind. Jason looked to the piney woods to lessen his excitement. He exhaled before speaking to contain his changed demeanor.

  “Hey, check it out. It looks like John is back.”

  “Great,” Tanya said folding her arms in defiance.

  “Do you want to leave?” Kelly asked only half wanting to.

  “Where would we go?”

  “Y’all do what you want. I’m not going anywhere,” Jason said quietly.

  The Mustang’s motor was shut off. Tall, lanky John stepped out from the driver’s side a little bruised for wear. Adam exited opposite lighting up a cigarette. In a leather jacket in late spring, he emitted total coolness. He took off the jacket tossing it through the open window. Adam looked tough in the white muscle shirt that clung tight to his body and jeans that were even tighter.

  Jason could not help from smiling at the sight. The punk from his dreams was there in the flesh.

  Kelly tried to pass the pot to Tanya. Turned down, she snubbed out the roach on the wooden picnic table. “Who is that with John?”

  “That’s Adam,” Tanya said in disgust.

  “Is it really? He looks kind of messed up.”

  “The both of them probably are.”

  Jason leaned over the table using his elbows to prop up his chin. He liked what he saw and did not care what they thought. “I think he looks alright.”

  “You would.” Tanya flashed anger and leaned back to watch with a tsk-tsk of her tongue in protest.

  “I mean, he’s hot.”

  “Good luck with that.” Kelly ribbed him.

  Jason rubbed his face. The smooth sweaty muscles and the outline in Adam’s jeans were too much for him. “Damn, I am so horny.”

  Coming back in on the conversation like it never changed, Tanya continued her diatribe. “The only reason John is back is to get some money or steal something.”

  “I thought you were dating him?” Kelly tilted her head.

  Tanya took the bait. “Dating? I’m not dating that loser. He’s got a nice one, but not much else.”

  Kelly jested. “John is hung? I guess it’s true about those skinny boys.”

  Jason laughed then straightened up being skinny himself. Kelly rolled her eyes and thought of something. She was about to speak when a scuffle broke out. The threesome watched as John and Adam were horsing around; play fighting with those guys seemed to always break out into a real punch or two and they were ringside for the show.

  “I like watching them fight.” Jason reveled in the action, watching the muscles in Adam’s arms and back
when he slammed John on the hood of the car laughing as he did it. Jason reached into his pocket and put his ear buds in to add his favorite punk band, Institutionalized, to the soundtrack in his head.

  “Typical stupid boys,” Tanya said and took to twirling her red streaked hair again.

  Kelly returned her attention to Tanya. “What aren’t you telling me?”

  “Nothing.” Tanya tried not to look at Kelly.

  Kelly pressed her point. “Tanya, come on now.”

  The ruckus of the play fight grew louder with John wanting to give in, but being blond and stubborn he tried to keep his own. Adam was relentless in his force, full of sadistic mischief, and knowing he was in control he took advantage of the situation.

  Tanya used the moment to whisper, “I think I’m pregnant.”

  Jason pretended not to hear, but he could, even with the singer, Ian Paisley, pining in angst in his eardrums.

  Kelly leaned in. “No way.”

  “It’s been a couple weeks and still no curse.”

  “Have you told him?”

  “Look at him, he’s a loser. What should I tell him, that I want to play house? Are you fucking kidding me?”

  “What are you going to do?” Kelly watched as John weakly grabbed a hold of Adam in vain to get sucker punched in the ear. “Are you going to keep it?”

  “God no, it probably would be retarded like him.”

  “There is a clinic where you can do that, near the Montrose.”

  “You’ll go with me?”

  “You know it.”

  “Love you, Kelly, because I would hate to do it a….”

  The fight drained out of them, Adam and John walked over effectively killing the conversation. Tanya left her words and put on a fake smile. Jason popped out the ear buds and wondered if they knew that he had heard every word.

  Kelly was all teeth. “What happened to your face?”

  John awkwardly touched his eye. “Do you mean this?”

  Kelly nodded.

  The silence was long. Somewhere far off, a hawk screeched above the trails. Tanya chewed her nails. Adam casually leaned on the picnic table close to Jason, close enough so he could smell his slight musk.