by Dan Cummings
‘Yawn. That was so awful I think it’s my new favourite movie,’ Lindsey critiqued.
‘Err, yeah, it-it definitely sucked. I can’t believe I just paid good money for that. You’re getting the next one,’ he teased.
‘What makes you think there’s going to be a next one?’ she teased better.
Neil tried to look cool and aloof. For real? Has she been weighing up Deb’s argument all this time? Maybe she’s getting off at the next stop, realised that she is way too good for me.
A mischievous glee washed away her flat expression. ‘You’re too easy.’
‘Okay, you got me,’ he smirked, hiding his relief. He felt like such a fraud, just waiting for this smart and beautiful girl to come to her senses.
‘We should have went to see that latest Pixar one instead?’ she reflected.
‘Which one is that?’
She shrugged. ‘Who knows, but there’s always some animated cliché on. Some are usually good for a cheap laugh.’
Neil couldn’t really dispute the claim. ‘Well it would have no doubt been more fun than another ghost movie. I’ll hold my hand up for this one, definitely a terrible choice of film. Haunted houses, haunted anything is just so played out. Monsters and serial killers are done to death too but they can still be fun.’
Lindsey seemed to be listening to this with some consideration. ‘I don’t know, that film sucked but at least it wasn’t just guts flailing everywhere. I’m guessing you’re probably into all that…visceral stuff.’
‘Visceral means sexy, right?’ He pretended to be some swaggering, mush-brained jock.
‘Exactly.’ She grabbed his hand as they walked, passing a few kids playing on one of the lobby’s arcade machines. The young boy gawped at the stitches around Neil’s eye. Neil was keenly aware that the youngster was not the only person who had been sneaking second glances.
‘I feel like I’m wearing a friggin’ Halloween mask,’ he said coyly.
She gave his hand a squeeze and stepped in front of him, stalling him with her patient brown eyes. ‘Who cares, it’s just a few stitches.’
His lips formed a rapidly diminishing smile of gratitude, as all around he could sense the crowd’s eyes on him. Maybe it was all in his head but it affected him just the same. ‘Does it bother you? Honestly?’
‘You know what bothers me?’ Her tone grew slightly more serious, more valid-point-making than fun chit-chat. ‘That you got beaten up trying to do the whole—’ she added a faux manly-man voice ‘—defending my girl’s honour thing. Don’t get me wrong, it meant a lot that you stood up to Lloyd for me, but look how it turned out.’ She caressed his cheek, careful not to go too close to the scar tissue.
Neil wasn’t sure what to say, his mouth making a variety of shapes in its struggles to settle on a vowel or consonant. ‘In spite of my “heroic deed”,’ he air quoted, ‘I think it was pretty clear that me and the guys weren’t getting out of there without an ass-kicking anyway.’ He felt a little uncomfortable, like a big idiot trying to act noble. With a tense smile, he said, ‘I could at least try and look like a bad-ass for you.’
She grabbed his jacket and pulled him down to her lips and kissed him, her tongue turning him into a giant sparking conductor. He felt himself grow hard quickly in his jeans and couldn’t help but feel horrified in case any passers-by caught sight of his bulge.
She released him. ‘Next time don’t risk an ass-kicking just to see me.’
He was soaring from the kiss. ‘I think it was totally worth it.’ He nodded towards the men’s room. ‘I’ll only be a minute.’
He pushed through the blue door, feeling better than he had in ages, unable to get the taste and sensation of her tongue out of his head, but he tried his damnedest to do so since pissing through a hard-on was a monumental effort of zen-like concentration. The white-tiled restroom was empty, playing some type of muzak which he didn’t care for. Standing over the urinal, he became slowly aware of a presence watching him. Glancing over his shoulder, he spotted Frogmore, standing there haughtily on his spindly legs beside the line of empty cubicles.
‘It’s okay to talk, we’re alone,’ Frogmore said. ‘You seem happy with her. Lindsey is it? It must be difficult to juggle your time between her, Sam and Matt. Makes me wonder where I fit in the picture,’ he chuckled with a croaky meekness.
Neil double checked nobody was about to burst in and catch him talking to a chatty frog or himself. ‘I’ll manage. Thanks for before by the way. That was pretty cool.’
Frogmore was spinning the rim of his flat cap around one long green finger, an affectation of calm, but when the amphibian cleared his throat it seemed to tell otherwise.
Neil picked up on the tension immediately. ‘What?’
‘I don’t want you to get upset.’
Neil had a sinking sensation. ‘What?’
‘Lloyd had an accident.’
Neil’s voice became lifeless. ‘What?’ he repeated.
‘I don’t know what happened. I went to pull another little prank on him at the school pool. You know, maybe try to find something I could use to humiliate him more in future, but when I got there he was face down in the water.’
Neil had finished peeing but found himself unable to move, just standing stock still, staring over his shoulder at what his friend was telling him. Frogmore was about as skilful a liar as a small child before an admonishing parent.
Neil’s voice continued to drop further and further from existence. ‘You killed him?’
‘No!’ Froggy cried in outrage. ‘I would never. Not after losing you once. No, he was already dead. You wanted rational reactions and that’s what I promised you. I was just knocking them down a few pegs.’
Neil zipped up and spun around to see him, feeling lightheaded. ‘You expect me to believe that?’
To Neil’s surprise and discomfort, Frogmore seemed to drop the act at the drop of a hat. ‘Can’t you? Can’t you believe it?’ he challenged with thespian menace, his rich sinister tone seemed to wonder what was so bad about the death of a vile bully who believed he could step all over his friend like it was some kind of privilege.
Neil exhaled a shuddery breath, feeling like he had Lloyd’s blood on his hands. For the first time he felt like a killer, a giant stone of choking terror lodged in his throat. ‘You promised this time would be different,’ he spoke in horror, ‘that what you did to Ben and Max would never happen again. Oh fuck, what have I done? How could I believe you? You’re an inhuman killer and I gave you a second chance.’
Frogmore waddled elegantly in his upright position looking oddly dainty; he could have dropped down into his natural squat form and hopped over but he wanted to lure Neil in with easier eye contact. ‘He wanted to hurt you. He confessed to this himself. He wanted to hurt you and he would not stop. None of them will.’ Frogmore’s voice started to become a pleading justification. ‘You’re my ward, Neil. Partners. Our link is for life, you know this. I can’t allow those savages to hurt you, or worse.’ Frogmore’s bulbous eyes stared up hypnotically into Neil’s. ‘I’m protecting both of us.’ His mud-brown webbed foot slapped softly on the hard tile as he took another step towards Neil. ‘Nothing can be traced back to you. You will never be on the hook for anything I do.’
Neil analysed the being standing before him, this ridiculous tweed-coated talking frog with a dignified accent. Something seemed to click inside his head, maybe it was his sanity switching off the light switch. ‘I’m not a killer,’ he almost screamed manically, managing to supress most of the outburst with his tight lips and clenched fists. ‘You can’t just go around killing people because they give me trouble.’ An expression of barely-contained hysteria swept across his face, the heels of his palms digging into his eyes. ‘Jesus fucking Christ, look at me. I’m arguing with an imaginary friend over murdering people. I should be locked up.’
‘Tsk-tsk. Don’t start with the imaginary friend hoopla again,’ Frogmore consoled. ‘Lying to yourself won’t make you f
eel better, that’s not progression, its regression. Our link is growing a little stronger each day. Soon I won’t be able to hide from the prying eyes of others.’
Neil slapped Froggy’s webbed hand away. ‘There’s only one way I can end this.’
‘Please, Neil, don’t shut me out again. It’s worse than death. It’s like being trapped at the bottom of a well. Dark, cold, barren, listening to the echoes of life drift from that tiny circle of light, reverberating tantalisingly off the cold stone.’
‘Maybe if you hadn’t murdered three fucking people I’d have a bit more sympathy.’
The wet slap of Froggy’s feet rang out on the tiles, and he held his hands out to Neil, begging. ‘If I could return to my realm, I would. But it’s just not possible, remember the tales I told you. They weren’t fibs. My kind are travellers, visiting different worlds on invisible safari. Unfortunately, safaris can be dangerous. We can accidentally encounter certain minds, forge a strong bond. An unbreakable bond. Please, not the drugs.’ His voice took on a bit more weight, a stern warning. ‘Don’t block me out again.’
‘You bet your green mottled ass I’m getting the drugs. I’m gonna call up Bernhardt and get so dosed up that you might never find your way back to me.’
Frogmore felt a flame blossom in the pit of his stomach, taking several quick strides towards Neil and grasping handfuls of his jacket. ‘I won’t allow you to cast me back into that space between. Hear my words, old friend. I beg of you to see sense.’
Neil glared down, frightened, shocked at the smaller creature holding fistfuls of his jacket like his message needed to be felt as well as heard. Neil barged towards the door, shutting out Frogmore’s spell.
‘Don’t make me find Doctor Bernhardt, Neil. It won’t end well for him. Understand me?’
Neil felt Frogmore’s imploring eyes stuck to his back. Another man entered just in time to almost be run down by Neil’s hasty exit, practically leaping aside in shock to avoid the young man’s path. The man glanced at Neil’s back then looked suspiciously at the empty restroom, blinking several times from a trick of his vision, the air warbling softly beside the sinks.
With each thunderous step Neil tried to ease a little more composure into his posture and face, arranging some semblance of normality.
Lindsey was sitting on one of the unoccupied tables in the lobby’s café, her earphones in, her foot tapping to the music. She pulled them out when she noticed him walking over. ‘Hey,’ she smiled expectantly.
‘Should we call a cab?’
Chapter 23
The intrusive ringing pulled Noakes from his reverie. After collecting his car from Garth last night, he had spent a good deal of the evening and small hours driving around town and beyond, speeding along the interstate and smoking too many cigarettes whilst his thoughts galloped along after him on the blacktop, outpacing him and escaping the confines of his doomed life. He reached out and checked the phone, wondering who the fuck would be calling at seven am? The screen said Grainger.
‘It’s early,’ he croaked from a night of restless sleep.
‘Lloyd’s dead.’ Grainger’s voice was firm and unflinching.
Noakes leaned up, bedsprings creaking, trying to process what he just heard. ‘The fuck you talking about?’
‘I just got off the phone with Principal Thornton. Coach Ennis found him in the pool. Looks like he drowned last night.’
That didn’t make any sense. ‘Drowned?’ Noakes challenged. ‘He used to be on the fucking swim team.’
Grainger’s voice remained in control. ‘That’s why I’m calling you. Ennis found a wallet belonging to some kid called Neil Karp near the pool. Any idea who that is?’
Noakes remained silent. He got up off his bed, his blocky frame shrouded in shadow and opened the blinds of his bedroom to a dark and cold morning. He reached for the wooden-handled resistance grips on the table by the window, his tense crush squeezing a squeak from the grip’s thick spring.
‘Jason, you there?’
‘Have you told Staubach?’
‘I thought I’d let you break the news to him.’
Squeak.
‘I know this isn’t business, Jason. What’s this about?’
Noakes continued to scan the miserable dawn. ‘Nothing I can’t handle. Just something that got a little out of control. I didn’t think Karp had it in him.’
Squeak.
Grainger’s tone softened around the edges. ‘Should I be concerned?’
Squeak.
Noakes held it tight until his forearm burned with acid. ‘No, I got this. Staubach started this fire, went nought to sixty on Karp and his friends. I’ll make sure he picks up after himself.’
A sigh carried across the line from Grainger. ‘I don’t like bringing it up, kid. But it was cleaning up other people’s problems that got your parents clipped. They were both stand-up people, always willing to get elbow deep in a friend’s troubles, but their loyalty to those who didn’t deserve such virtues was their downfall. When they helped that stupid old junkie, Flint, get out of his debt, they won the battle, but the war finished them both off. That’s why you need to stay professional with this, stay controlled. Staubach has his uses, but you’re smarter. You need to control him. Do you hear me? You’re all that’s left of my sister, I don’t want to lose you too.’
Images of his parents’ gravestones flashed in his mind, of guns, the faces of several dealers he’d been complicit in murdering, and yellow road markers guiding his dark road to a jail cell or a plot beside his gangster parents. A strangled part of him wanted to ask, dared to ask, his uncle if he could bow out before he got too deep. Take Garth up on his offer and work legit at the garage, get his hands filthy with oil and grease instead of blood and drug money. Start paying the utilities on his parents’ house with honest money. That niggling voice drowned in his doubt. It seemed no matter what, he couldn’t get out of this fast lane to damnation. His late father’s zippo caught the first caressing shimmer of pink dawn light.
ALL IN.
‘It’s okay, Ralph. I’m surprised as hell over Karp doing Lloyd in, but Staubach and I will end this. Karp is a dead man. His friends, too.’
Squeak.
‘Are the police involved?’
‘Just Detective Alvey,’ Grainger answered. ‘He knows the score. Someone drowns in the pool, it was an accident, right?’
Squeak, squeak.
‘Staubach’s probably at that skank’s place sleeping off a weed coma. I’ll head down there and wake his ass up.’ Noakes was quiet for a moment, thinking this through. ‘One thing though…He and Lloyd were close. He won’t want to make this quick, he’ll want to drag this out. Can you keep the police from sticking their snouts in?’
Grainger’s voice was solemn, even yielding to a degree. ‘Consider it done. Just do me a favour. Don’t let Shit Storm start any fires you can’t put out. You follow?’
Squeak.
‘I’ll keep him in check.’ Noakes hung up the phone and watched the morning mist roll across the long back lawn of his late parents’ home. He lit a cigarette and sat on the edge of his bed, watching the sun rise.
Chapter 24
Principal Thornton approached the assembly hall’s lectern, his face lined by grave knowledge and his steps aided by the bourbon and coffee he had for breakfast. While he gripped either side of the stand, his bushy silver eyebrows curved upwards in an arc as he took a breath. The senior student body sat before him, impassive, talking or half asleep.
‘I have called this assembly this morning because I have some tragic news. Last night, Lloyd Hagan drowned in the school swimming pool.’
The gasps and voices went up like a fierce wind. At the back of the hall, Sam and Matt exchanged shocked looks, utterly speechless. Neil wasn’t shocked. He just sat there amidst the noise and confusion staring at Thornton, his leg seemingly trying to run a three minute mile all by its self. His worried eyes swept across the vice principal and several other faculty members s
itting on the stage, then to the rest of the basketball team at the other end of the hall, watching them attempting to quell their outrage, then finally to Lindsey sitting beside Deb a few rows in front. She turned around and glanced at him, her mouth agape like the rest of them. He wasn’t sure if he even responded to her look or whether he just looked right through her.
‘Due to this atrocious, unforeseen event, Coach Ennis is postponing tonight’s game in honour of Lloyd.’ Thornton, an ensemble of grey fabrics and silver hair, scratched the capillaries spreading across the tip of his nose. ‘Lloyd was a great credit to this school. An impeccable athlete with a great future ahead of him. An individual who was destined to do this institution and town a great service. He was a polite, courteous, wonderful young man who I know we are all going to miss. I remember—’
Neil stopped listening.
‘I guess that explains the cop cars and ambulance,’ Matt mumbled in between Neil and Sam. ‘Shit, this is too heavy. Everything seemed so normal this time last week.’
Neil felt like he wanted to scream and run out of the building. He nodded slightly at Matt’s comment but didn’t contribute. Sam, on the contrary, looked quite pleased at this news.
Neil returned his attention to Thornton who, for some strange reason, looked like he was trying to place a curse on him with his stare.
After a few uncomfortable seconds, Thornton looked away, picking out select members within the audience. ‘If anybody would like to discuss their grievances at this trying time, Mr Braun will be in his office all day.’
*****
‘I still can’t believe he drowned. He swam like a fish.’ Matt looked baffled, reaching for another onion ring on Sam’s tray. McHale’s Diner was host to a few tables of soaking customers eating or drinking coffee until the rain stopped.
Sam looked more hopeful than he had in days, holding his head so high it seemed as tall as the stoop-shouldered, shrinking Neil. ‘What a shame. I must be saving my tears for later, I don’t think my grief has sunk in yet.’