Spacecraft

by Benjamin Broke

smiling. “The guy was so fucking eager to buy that thing you wouldn’t believe it. I don’t know what you told him, but it worked.”

  “So how much?” I asked.

  “Six hundred. The minute I walked up, he immediately offered me six. I wish to hell I’d told the first guy a thousand. That fool had a big ass smile on his face too.” He said.

  “Alright, three hundred each.” I said. “Not bad for a morning’s work.”

  “Actually, it’s two ninety each, ‘cause we gotta split the original cost of the guitar, but yeah, that’s not bad at all. And there’s more where that came from too. The Rose Bowl flea market is next weekend, so we can try this shit again if you’re up for it.”

  “Yeah man, I’m in. I can’t believe we got that guy’s money and we didn’t even have to break any laws.” He stopped in front of my house and took out a wad of cash. He counted off three hundred dollars.

  “You got a ten?” He asked.

  “No, not on me. Can I get you later?”

  “You know what? Forget it. It’s cool, you did such a good job I’m not even worried about the twenty bucks.” He said, handing me a stack of bills. “I’ll see you later Nick, it was nice working with ya.”

  In my room, I got the roll of money from the car sale and the bike out of my backpack. It was six hundred dollars, and I had three hundred in my pocket. I took forty out and put it in my wallet, and added the rest of the money to the roll which was now worth eight hundred and sixty. I still had a large amount of weed too. I was rich. I wondered why anyone would bother working for a living, this was easy. I owed Kate a hundred and fifty for this month’s rent, but she could wait. I liked having the money and not giving it to her. I had to pay the late fee anyway, so I might as well be as late as possible. I thought giving her all the money on time every month would’ve been a bad move. It was better to let her think I was sweating it and working my ass off to pay her, after all, that was what she wanted.

  I went to the AM/PM to get some breakfast and ate it on the steps of the grade school. I was on my way back, still drinking my Big-Gulp, when I noticed Mya sitting on the steps of her front porch. She was in her pajamas -a light blue sweater and gray sweatpants- and she was eating a bowl of cereal. I picked up my skate and walked across her yard. “What are you doing running around so early?” She asked. “You just come from church?”

  “Yeah, actually. It’s big-gulp day down there.” I held up my sweaty cup. “Bobble head Jesus day is next month.” I sat next to her on the top step. I noticed that the milk in her cereal was pink. “You put strawberry Quik in your cereal?”

  “No, it turns this color ‘cause the marshmallow ghosts are pink. This is Ghostbusters cereal,” she said, “ever had it?”

  “No, too gay. All pink and shit… I only eat manly cereal like Raisin Bran.”

  “You eat man-cereal?”

  “Manly cereal. Manly.” I said. “You know, this is the first time I ever saw you in the morning. I thought you slept all day like a vampire.”

  “You shouldn’t make assumptions about people, it’s rude.” She said.

  “This is ruining my whole image of you, I always imagined you sleeping in some kind of nightie.”

  “Are you trying to tell me this outfit isn’t sexy? You don’t even know. I love the feel of thick cotton on my titties.” She said.

  “Yeah, that sounds sensual. Is it sensual Mya?”

  “Fuck yeah.” She held the bowl to her lips and tilted it, slurping loudly. When she was finished she wiped her mouth with her sleeve. “I ain’t afraid of no ghost.” She said. I opened a new pack of cigarettes and offered her one. She took it. “You shouldn’t smoke, it’s bad for you.”

  “I know.” I said lighting her up with my new red lighter. “But you have to admit, people who smoke are cooler.”

  “Yeah, cancer is cool. That’s why I don’t have a dad.”

  “Well I don’t care if I get cancer ‘cause by the time it kills me the world will be burned up by the sun anyway. There’s a hole in the ozone layer you know.”

  “You think I don’t know that? And even if that doesn’t get us, the big one will. This whole fucking state is rotten with fault lines and when the big one hits, it’s all going to the bottom of the sea.” She said.

  “Don’t forget nuclear war. Just ‘cause Ronnie Reagan don’t have the button anymore doesn’t mean we’re safe. George Bush would probably start a nuclear war to prove he isn’t a wimp.”

  “Yeah, and what about an asteroid? I heard that an asteroid big enough to destroy all life on the planet hits earth every ten thousand years or so, and we’ve been due for one for like a thousand years.” She said.

  “I heard that too! Nova, right? I love that shit. Did you see the one about volcanoes? They said that Montana could turn into one huge volcano and kill everything in the western hemisphere. They even said it could knock earth off it’s axis and trigger another ice age.”

  “Nice.” She said. “What about killer African bees? You’ve heard of them right?”

  “Yeah, of course. They kick ass. There’s a swarm of them coming our way. The world could end today. I say smoke ‘em if you got ‘em.”

  “I know lots of people I wouldn’t mind seeing get stung to death by killer bees.” She said.

  “Me too. Hey it might be happening right now… You hear that?”

  “What?”

  “That siren.” I said. “It’s quiet this morning, but you can still hear it, listen.”

  “…Oh yeah. I can hear it. It sounds like an air raid siren. I wonder what it means.” She said.

  “It means we’re all going to die.” I said. Mya stretched her legs out and yawned like a cat. I leaned over and tried to kiss her, but she put her cigarette in the way and took a hit.

  “I gotta go feed my zombie.” She said, standing up. She flicked the remains of her cigarette and somehow it flew all the way across her lawn into the street. “Bye Nick.”

  “Bye Mya.”

  I sat there alone and finished my smoke.

  20

  Even with both flashlights on, the bunker was dark. “He thinks you’re a shit-starter, that’s all.” Don said. We were sitting down there with Jeremy, passing a fat joint around. It was tight with three people. Jeremy and Don had the chairs and I was sitting on the carpet, leaning against the dirt wall. The small space was filling with smoke quickly.

  “What do you think?” I asked.

  “Some people stayed with the guy who got his arm and leg all fucked up, and I was talking to one of them. He said you did the right thing. And the guy who was all bit up thought you saved his life. But Scott knows a lot about dogs. He said that when a dog bites someone it’s usually provoked in some way.”

  “So I must have provoked the dog, that’s what he thinks…” I paused to toke. “That’s bullshit,” I said holding my breath, “anyone in my position would have done the same thing.”

  “Maybe so. But he thinks none of it would have happened if you hadn’t been there.”

  I passed him the joint. “Well fuck him. Tell him to write a song about it. The Shit-Starter Strikes Again or something.” I said. Don took a hit.

  “How about Die Doggy Die?” Jeremy said.

  “Yeah or it could be from the dog’s perspective.” I said. “How about I Was Provoked?”

  Don smiled as he passed to Jeremy. “Or Ouch I’m Being Stomped To Death.” He said.

  “So what happened? Should I be worried about this Rob guy?”

  “I don’t think so. He was asking us where you went, like we were supposed to know. He had a gun, so I guess he was gonna shoot you. Kid Karl tried to talk him down. He told him killing you wouldn’t bring the dog back, but Rob wasn’t buying it. I don’t think he was even upset about the dog. He kept saying nobody fucks with me. He was more worried about his reputation. When the police came he changed his tune real quick. All of a sudden he didn’t have a gun anymore and he was all concerned about the guy who got bit.
He told the cops that the dog was usually gentle and he didn’t know what’d gotten into him.” Don said.

  The two beams of the flashlight were becoming more visible as the volume of smoke increased. One beam was pointed toward the ceiling and the other was pointed to the wall opposite me. I thought about Mr. Bennett’s science class experiment with the fog and lasers. The yellow smoke curled and spiraled in the light. “I like it down here.” I said.

  “I was just thinking it was weird down here. What if this shit caves in?” Jeremy asked.

  “It’s not that deep, we could dig our way out.” I said.

  “Those Viet Cong fuckers used to live in underground tunnels for months at a time.” Don said. “I couldn’t do it man, I’m feeling claustrophobic in this thing.”

  “We need some ventilation holes in here.” Jeremy said. “The air is all stale.”

  “Yeah, fuck this, let’s go skate. We should hit the Dairy Dee and pick up some Nite Train. That mixes good with weed.” Don said.

  “That shit’s closed,” Jeremy said, “it’s Sunday. I got some more tall-boys though.”

  “Hey whatever happened to the twelve steps?” I asked him.

  “I’m still doing ‘em, why?”

  “I thought you weren’t supposed to drink anymore. Doesn’t it work?”

  “Yeah it works. Lots of people who come to those meetings get off drugs and alcohol. It’s really inspiring man, for real. It helps people get their lives together.” He said.

  “What about you?” Don asked.

  “I can’t build Rome today.” He said, snapping off one of the