Prodigal Sons

by Mike Miner

  Mark sighed and Luke laughed. Matthew laughed too.

  After the meal Luke said, “What’s the plan?”

  “Pay this bill, check out, get this asshole home.”.

  Matthew cleared his throat. “This asshole needs to run one errand before we go.”

  Luke had a feeling this was about the girl he had seen in Vegas. The girl driving the jeep.

  “The fuck you do.” Mark’s face turned red.

  Luke tensed and waited for this to play out.

  Matthew seemed amused by Mark’s reaction. He took a sip of his beer, put the mug down, licked his lips and looked at Mark. “Calm the fuck down.”

  “Fuck you.”

  “Here’s the deal,” Matthew said. “This girl I’m traveling with, if you want to call it traveling. We got mixed up with a guy and she’s still there and as you can see,” he held up his hurt hand, “he’s a bad dude to be mixed up with and…”

  “Can I ask a question? Who gives a shit?”

  “I do.” Matthew seemed surprised by his own answer. “And I’m not leaving her there.”

  Mark rubbed his face and couldn’t speak. The color of his face was closer to purple now. Luke tried to think of something to say but couldn't believe this was really happening.

  The waitress came by and asked how everything was.

  “Best burger ever.” Matthew winked at her.

  The waitress blushed and dropped the check.

  “This is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard,” Mark said.

  “Maybe not the best ever. The Chateau Marmont on Sunset has a pretty good burger.”

  Mark made it clear he was in no mood.

  “Look, it’s Friday night and these guys like to party. We’ll wait until late, sneak in and grab her and we’re done. A snap.” Matthew snapped his finger. Then he looked at his other hand and grimaced. No snapping on that hand for a while.

  “Do you even know where this place is?” Luke asked.

  “I can find it.”

  There was no doubting him.

  THE RESCUE OF TOMIKO JONES

  “So, Dude,” Mark said, “did you just fucking lose your mind?” He’d kept forgetting to ask.

  Matthew had been waiting for this question or one like it. He guessed that Mark had been too overwhelmed by immediate events to think of it until now.

  Matthew smiled and shrugged. “I guess. A little.”

  Amazing the effect a shower and a decent meal could have on you, Matthew thought. Now, driving with his brothers, he felt almost normal. But every now and then he’d bump the stump of his missing little finger. A reminder that he had gotten off the normal train a few stops ago.

  “A little? Man you’ve been drinking and fucking your way across the country.” He laughed. “You guess?”

  “Seemed like a good idea at the time.” Matthew took a pull of his a beer. He would’ve preferred something a little stronger but would take what he could get at this point. He didn’t want to get wasted, just wanted to stop the shaking. It was good to see his brothers and he couldn’t keep a small grin from creeping into his expression every once in a while. Still it bothered him to see the furtive looks they passed to each other whenever he opened a new beer. They were probably right about him losing his mind.

  “What about this place?” Mark pulled into the parking lot of a sporting goods store called Fred’s Favorite Sports.

  Matthew looked at the sign. “As long as baseball is one of Fred’s favorite sports we should be cool.”

  “Why baseball?” Luke asked.

  “You’ll see. Come pay for this.”

  Luke rolled his eyes and followed Matthew out of the van. “You should probably finish that.”

  Matthew looked down at the beer in his hand. “Good idea.” He chugged the rest of his beer and dropped it on the pavement.

  “Nice.”

  Matthew belched.

  Once inside Matthew found the section for baseball bats. He picked up a blue aluminum one and hefted its weight in both hands. He felt his missing little finger try to wrap itself around the handle. The pain was bearable.

  Luke looked at him curiously. “What’s that for?”

  Matthew held the bat like Yaz. “What do you think?”

  “I thought this was going to be easy.”

  Matthew took a practice swing. “Better safe than sorry, Dude. You think aluminum or wood?”

  “I’ve always been a purist when it came to that. I don’t like the sound an aluminum bat makes.”

  “Yeah.” Especially against a human skull, he thought. “You want one?” He grabbed a wooden Louisville Slugger.

  Luke shook his head. “I’m all set.”

  “Suit yourself.”

  They settled on the Slugger.

  Matthew liked the feel of it in his hand. The dull pain in his finger was a good reminder for him and helped him imagine the effect the bat would have when he smashed Lee’s fat head with it. He imagined a satisfying hollow crack.

  “What the fuck is that?” Mark asked when they were back in the car.

  “Don’t ask,” Luke said.

  By driving into worse and worse neighborhoods, they found the house.

  “This is the place.”

  Mark found an out of the way place not too far from the house to park. Matthew rolled down a window so they could listen to the festivities. There was a lot of noise. Luke found a halfway decent radio station. After a few minutes, he turned off the radio. The music at the party was better.

  Mark fell asleep a little while later.

  “Do you miss Lucy?”

  Matthew sighed. “Yeah.” He did. So bad it hurt. He deserved all his pain. But Tommy didn’t.

  “What’s the story with this girl?”

  “Just a friend I’d rather not leave behind.”

  “Anything between you two?”

  “Not like you think. It’s hard to describe.”

  “Okay.”

  Sir Mix A Lot came on at the party, “I Like Big Butts.” Luke smiled. That morning in his apartment with Bear seemed so long ago.

  After a few minutes, Matthew said, “What’s your story?”

  “How do you mean?”

  “With the J-O-B. With the ladies,” Matthew dragged out “ladies.”

  “I quit my job. I don’t know what’s up with the ladies,” he said, mimicking the way Matthew said it.

  “You ever hear from what’s her name?”

  “Sometimes.”

  Matthew nodded. “Tough not to go back to the well once in a while.”

  Luke shrugged. He realized that he’d missed his brother, missed having him to talk to. “Why’d you quit your job?”

  “I found it difficult to breathe when I was in the office.”

  “I’m in touch with that sensation.” He wanted to ask more, knew there was more wrong, but didn’t feel qualified to offer help.

  “When’s the last time you were sober?”

  Matthew resented the question. “Mom know you’re back together with that psycho?”

  “Maybe take a day off from that stuff once in a while.”

  “Just watch yourself with that other one.”

  “You giving me advice, rummy?”

  “Free of charge.” Matthew toasted the air between them.

  They didn’t talk for a while. Luke grabbed a beer and opened it. Matthew nursed his beer as best he could. To keep himself from drinking too much, Matthew held onto the bat. Swing the bat, he thought to himself. That’s what his father told him to do in California. Get in the game, he said. Go out there and swing the bat. And if you’re gonna strike out, “Go down swinging,” Matthew whispered softly to himself. He wished the beer was something stronger. The party was going strong. “Why Can’t We Be Friends” by War was playing. Matthew wondered about Tommy. Maybe she had wanted to stay behind. Maybe she was having a good time. They’d know soon enough.

  Mark snored.

  “Probably take a while for the party to die down,”
Matthew said. “We might as well catch some Z’s.”

  Matthew dreamed that a black cat was crouched on his chest. He was lying down in the dream and when he looked up to see what it was the cat hissed at him. It sounded like a demented purr. The cat’s teeth were bright white and its eyes were bright yellow. Matthew wanted to move his arms to grab the cat but was paralyzed for some reason. The cat kept hissing.

  Finally, he forced his arms from their inertia and lunged at the cat but the cat disappeared and he woke up breathing heavy. His brothers were still asleep. Mark’s snores sounded just like the cat’s hissing in Matthew’s dream. The music had gotten quieter. “Just My Imagination” by The Temptations.

  “To have a girl like her,” Matthew mouthed the words. One more sip of beer and one more look at his brothers before he got out of the van. It was cold. He’d take care of this himself. It wasn’t their fight. Above him, the moon tried to shine through a few thin layers of clouds. Most of the stars couldn’t be seen. He walked quiet and calm toward the house with the bat tucked behind his arm. Nobody else on the deserted street.

  The house seemed to lean to the left, slowly sliding off its foundation. Matthew crouched behind a car across the street and surveyed the scene. Felt the nub of his finger and wondered if he’d leave any body parts behind tonight. A few people milled around downstairs but clearly most of the party had broken up for the night. Couldn’t see any faces so he moved across the street and circled the house, carefully glancing through the windows.

  He made a lap but she wasn’t anywhere on the ground floor. There were a few lights on upstairs. Didn’t figure anything too good to be happening up there. In the front of the house was a deck covered by a thin roof. He gave it a skeptical eye. It might hold him. He found a piece of lattice that would take him up. It was rickety but worth a try. About halfway up he started humming the James Bond theme to himself.

  Matthew pulled his waist above the edge of the roof and rolled on. Stood in a low crouch and checked out the windows from his dark perch. His breath billowed out of his mouth but he wasn’t cold. As he cracked his knuckles, shadows moved in the window to the left. Crept to the window and looked in.

  Tommy and Lee were there along with another man. All three were naked and all three were busy. Matthew leaned hard on the bat and gripped the handle tighter. He didn’t want to watch. Tried to concentrate on the expression in Tommy’s eyes but they were as blank as a television set with no signal. Nothing but snow and static. The grins on the men’s faces were evil and ugly. Like they’d found a new toy that they could play with at the same time. After a few seconds, Matthew stared at the dirty carpet in the room. He could sense the three of them moving on the bed but couldn’t see any details.

  He was waiting for them to stop when a sudden movement caught his eye. Tommy pulled away and started to cough. Lee squinted at her and then she threw up all over the other man, covering him below the waist in puke. Matthew shivered at the sight. Lee burst into hysterics, rolling around on the floor and clapping his hands. The other man looked down at himself for a few seconds and then punched Tommy in the face. Lee found this even more hysterical.

  Matthew smashed the window open with his bat and jumped into the room. Lee’s smile disappeared.

  In Luke’s dream, Bear sat next to him smoking a cigarette. He blew thick halos of smoke, which got smaller and smaller and rolled within the first larger circle. “My guardian angel?” Luke said.

  “That’s me.”

  “Bullshit. I’m just dreaming.”

  “Okay.” Bear kept smoking.

  “Guardian from what?”

  “Usually yourself.” Bear made a gun with his hand and then pointed at his temple.

  “Just me?”

  “I have a lot of clients but you and your brothers seem to keep me the busiest.”

  “You guard all of us?”

  “Among others.”

  “Like a Secret Service agent?”

  “If you like.” Bear closed his eyes and took a deep breath of his cigarette then flicked it out the window.

  “So what are you doing here now?”

  Bear slapped Luke across the face and screamed, “Wake up!”

  Luke was up. He touched his cheek where the dream Bear had slapped it. Matthew was gone. Mark snored in the driver’s seat. Luke shook him awake.

  “What?”

  “Where’s Matthew?”

  “That asshole.”

  “Let’s go.”

  The moon splashed everything the color of bone.

  Mark shook himself more awake. “You figure he went by himself?”

  “That’s what I figure.”

  They started toward the house. As they walked the clouds changed shape and broke the moon into separate shapes like coins in a jar.

  “I miss Vegas weather.” Luke blew on his hands.

  “LA was even nicer.”

  “I bet.”

  When they got closer to the house, Mark said, “Look at this shithole.”

  Bats. Everywhere.

  Luke didn’t say anything. He wasn’t surprised. It was almost a relief to see their familiar shapes. They covered the roof of the shabby house, their wings made the house shiver in the crisp night air. A bad sign. He knew they wouldn’t be walking out of here the same, if they walked out at all. Their chatter, half rat squeaks, half pigeon coos. Cars like skeletons with no wheels rested on cinder blocks in the front yard. Bats decorated them as well. And a trail of broken beer bottles led to the front door. Inside a few shadows moved to the music, “Mama Told Me Not to Come.”

  “Now what?”

  Luke looked up. Nothing flew in the sky. They were waiting. He sighed, “We find him.”

  “Let’s walk around the house.”

  “Okay.”

  After the first corner, Mark tapped Luke on the shoulder and pointed at the roof. For an instant, Luke thought he was pointing out the bats, but then he saw Matthew crouched next to a window. “What do you want to do?” Luke asked.

  “Watch him. Maybe it’s better to have just one person go in.”

  They watched from behind an abandoned car as Matthew smashed a window open with the Louisville Slugger.

  The other man looked completely confused as Matthew shattered his jaw with the bat. The man rose back and swayed. Matthew nailed him on top of the head and the man teetered and fell. He didn’t move again. Matthew could feel his own pulse behind his eyes.

  Tommy moaned and heaved her insides onto the already filthy carpet.

  Lee stood up from the bed and fixed Matthew with a drunken scowl. “Motherfucker!”

  “She’s coming with me.”

  “The fuck she is.” Lee moved closer.

  Tommy looked at them both but Matthew could tell it wasn’t registering yet. She touched the spot where the other man had punched her. “My face.”

  “Whatchya think you’re gonna do with that bat, motherfucker?”

  “Come find out.” Matthew’s knuckles around the bat turned white.

  Lee nodded and lunged cobra quick.

  Matthew hit him hard in the side but then Lee had the bat in his hand and they both fought for it. I’m fucked, Matthew thought. He wouldn’t let go of the bat handle so Lee pulled him in close and slammed a sledgehammer fist into his nose. Matthew’s skull crashed like a cymbal and the back of his head hit the floor. Lee stood over him, naked, holding the bat. His body was a wall of carved muscle. Lee touched what looked to be a broken rib. “You dumb son of a bitch.”

  Matthew just laughed.

  Luke was quickest up to the roof. He cringed but didn’t pause as the bats parted for him. He looked in the window at a grotesquely muscled black man holding the Louisville Slugger over Matthew. Now the bats surged up. Their wings created a wind that filled Luke’s lungs. He leaped through the smashed window, the bats followed and charged forward. He buried his shoulder into the center of the black man’s body, drove him into something solid and heard a satisfying grunt from his vict
im. He hadn’t tackled anybody in a while but as his coach Mike Masse would have said, it was textbook. He’d taken out bigger guys in his day, but not much bigger. Still keeping an eye on the groaning man, he looked over at Matthew and said, “Hey.”

  “Hey.”

  Mark came in through the window. “Who the hell is that?” he said motioning to another man lying on the floor.

  Luke hadn’t noticed the other guy before. The man he’d tackled rolled back and forth on his stomach.

  “Just some dude.” Matthew tried to stand up but had to go to one knee.

  “What’s going on?” a girl in the corner said and stood up.

  Luke turned. He hadn’t noticed her before either. It was the girl from Vegas. Luke remembered her name from Pam in Utah. “Tommy?”

  “You okay?” Mark said to Matthew.

  “Just a little shook up.” Matthew watched nervously as Lee pushed himself up on hands and knees.

  Then the door to the room opened and a tipsy woman who looked like she was walking on the deck of a ship in a storm came in and looked around. “Hell no,” she said and turned around.

  Tommy looked at Luke then at Matthew.

  “I’m his brother Luke.”

  She nodded but still looked confused and scared. She pointed at something behind him but his eyes lingered for a moment on her face. Her left cheek was starting to swell. She pointed again.

  He turned and saw the man he’d tackled reach into a drawer and come out with a pistol. Luke had seen that weapon before. It wasn’t the first time it had been pointed in his direction. “Damn.”

  “Die bitch,” the man said and pointed the gun at Tommy.

  Tommy screamed. Her voice stirred the bats into a fury. They filled the room.

  Luke moved in front of her, his back to the man with the gun.

  The gun fired.

  Luke could have sworn he saw Bear out of the corner of his eye and heard him scream, “No!”

  A rose of blood appeared on the wall in front of him.

  Luke knew his brothers were screaming but couldn’t make out what they were saying. He turned to look at them through the whirlwind of bats. He felt the strange sensation of air moving through his insides. Then it hurt and the hurt made him shudder and drop to his knees. Tommy couldn’t stop looking at the spot where the bullet had come out. Her look, more than the pain, more than the bats only he could see, scared the hell out of him.