by B.M. Hodges
The deafening roar of a KC-130 Hercules thundering overhead from Miramar jerked Tomas out of his drug-induced sleep. He was half-lying, half-sitting on the couch in front of a muted infomercial wearing yesterday’s clothes and still gripping half a bottle of beer in his right hand.
Must have dozed off right after eating those burgers, he thought, stretching and checking his watch.
11:13 am.
Tomas crept to his father’s bedroom door, opened it a crack and peered inside. The bed was empty, still made up from the day before. Probably had things to do after work, Tomas reasoned. He wasn’t worried considering he had no idea what his father’s daily route was like these days. Maybe he went out to breakfast with some chippy, he mused.
He took a shower and called Jan, but she wasn’t answering. So he got on his laptop to see whether he could find her online. He saw she was logged in, but when he sent her a message to chat, she went offline. So he scanned her latest posts, looking for indications of who she was currently ‘dating.’
One hour passed, then two - and still no Andy. In his haste to get to work, his father had failed to give Tomas a contact number and now he felt stranded without a car or plan.
By seven o’clock that evening, Tomas was royally pissed and slightly worried. Why would Andy leave me with nothing in the fridge but a six pack of beer and expired bologna?
He contemplated phoning his mother but knew she would give little sympathy and it would only reinforce her negativity towards his father. Instead, Tomas ordered a pizza, took a green pill and spent the evening watching college basketball on the tube.
