Under a Thunder Moon

by Batcher, Jack

  “I am just too wired up to go to sleep Jasmine, and Jim will probably call soon. The show is over by now. Jim and the band will probably do some drinking at the Boat House where they rehearse, and jam the night away. Anyway let’s check the email. Oh it looks like I’ve got a message from Jim…”

  Alyssa read the subject line “A sweet surprise for you.” “I wonder what this could be… a video.” Alyssa downloaded the video and hit play. The black screen went to a shaky image of Jim’s living room. “Hey! What the hell is Amy doing there?”

  Alyssa watched in horrid disbelief as Amy peeled off her pink baby-doll tank top, and knelt down between Jim’s legs. Alyssa shot up out of her seat, as her best friend went down on Jim. Alyssa covered her ears to try to block out the groans and slurping sounds coming from her computer. Her stomach twisted in a knot. She threw up in the kitchen sink. Finally the sucking stopped and the screen faded to black. Then suddenly Jim’s face popped up on the computer screen.

  “Hey Alyssa,” Jim said, “I know all about you and Trailer Park bitch! And I want you to know baby… There is only one way I’ll be satisfied.” Then Jim faded to black.

  “Holy shit Jim knows!” Her hands shook as she lit another cigarette. “I’ve got to warn Paul.” Alyssa called Paul on his cell phone.

  “Come on Paul answer the fucking phone!”

  Alyssa got Paul’s voice mail. She decided to text him instead. She sent Paul this urgent message… “JIM KNOWS!”

  10

  Paul’s cell phone buzzed in April’s purse. She pulled it out and looked at it. She saw there wasn’t a message, and put the cell phone back. Just as Paul pulled the van into Mike Vans father’s boat yard at the Maple Avenue dock in Bay Shore, the cell phone in April’s purse buzzed again.

  “Damn you are popular tonight April,” Katrina said.

  “Yeah I guess I am,” April said, taking out the cell phone again. “This time I’ve got a text message. Hey look at this Katrina.” Then April showed her the text message on Paul’s cell phone.

  Katrina read the message from Alyssa on Paul’s cell phone, “JIM KNOWS!” Then she motioned towards Paul and asked in a low whisper “is that his…”

  “Yeah it is,” April said.

  “April let me borrow your phone a minute,” Katrina said. She took Paul’s cell phone from her as everyone was getting out of the van.

  “Jim can I talk to you alone a minute,” Katrina asked, taking him by the hand.

  “Sure,” Jim said, and led her towards the edge of the dock out of earshot, while Paul, Tyler, and Mike unloaded the equipment.

  Paul had a bad feeling about this and wondered if he should get going while the going was good. He thought it might look suspicious, but even if that bitch did tell Jim what she saw it would be his word against some slut trying to get him away from his girlfriend. Jim would believe me over her… wouldn’t he?

  “Jim,” Katrina said, “I was going to wait on this, but I figured I should get it out in the open. I was trying to think of a good time to tell you, but there isn’t going to be one. So I will tell you now.”

  “What is it Katrina… you aren’t going to tell me you are a dude or something are you?”

  “No Jim it is this,” and then Katrina handed him Paul’s cell phone.

  Jim read the text message from Alyssa. “JIM KNOWS!” He smiled a devilish grin.

  “Where did you get this phone from Katrina?”

  “April got it somehow, but why are you smiling?”

  “It is this sort of a little game I am playing with Alyssa and Trailer Park.”

  “What game is that?”

  “Nothing for you to worry your pretty little head about Katrina,” Jim said, looking out at the dark water of The Great South Bay.

  “Um Jim I don’t want to, but I have something else to show you.”

  “What’s that Katrina?” Jim went to pull at the zipper of her dress. “I was under the impression you wanted to show me something.”

  “You are so bad Jim,” Katrina said, tugging on his arm. Katrina pulled her cell phone out of her purse. “This is what I saw in the parking lot tonight. Here is the picture I took.”

  Jim took her cell phone and looked at the picture of his friend Trailer Park and his girlfriend Alyssa. They were kissing next to her car. He was furious, but kept his cool. He had his revenge planned out and this changed nothing. It fueled an already raging fire, but gave him something else to torture them with.

  “Hey can you send that picture to this phone Katrina.”

  “Yes Jim why,” Katrina asked, but was already getting ready to do it, as Jim told her the number.

  In an instant the picture was sent to Paul’s cell phone. Jim then text messaged Alyssa sending her the picture with the caption that read…

  “THAT’S RIGHT I KNOW BITCH!”

  Then Jim text another message that read…

  “YOU ARE GOING TO DIE BITCH!”

  Jim erased the messages and the picture from Trailer Park’s cell phone. “Hey send that picture to my cell phone Katrina.” Then he told her the number to his cell phone and she sent it.

  “You aren’t mad at me for telling you this stuff. Are you Jim?”

  “Don’t ask crazy questions Katrina. It’s all good. Just let’s not mention this anymore tonight, because tonight is all about you and me having a good time. Are you into that?”

  “Hell yeah baby!”

  Katrina wrapped her arms around Jim’s waist. Jim draped his arm around her shoulder. They walked back into the boat house.

  “Good… so let’s have some drinks, sing some songs, and then if you’re lucky baby… I’ll rock you till dawn. Are you feeling lucky Katrina?”

  “Yeah I am feeling lucky,” Katrina said, with a shy flirty smile, “but are you sure you can handle me?” Then Katrina leaned up and kissed him.

  Paul saw Jim and the chick heading back to the Boat House. He did not want to know what they were talking about, but at the same time he did.

  “Hey Trailer Park,” Jim said, as he passed him. “Is the van unloaded?”

  “Yeah Jim it is.”

  “So then you ready to get loaded? Jizzy up them beers Trailer Park?”

  “Hold on I’ll get’em,” Paul said. Then Paul headed to the back to get a round of beers for everyone.

  When Paul got back the guys were already set up for the after show acoustic jam. Paul handed out Budweiser’s to Tyler, Mike, and their “dates” for the night. Then he gave one to Jim. As he turned to take a seat Jim said, “Hey Trailer Park.”

  Here it comes Paul thought. “What’s up Jim?”

  “I found your cell phone… you must have dropped it.”

  “Thanks,” Paul said, and took it from Jim. He looked Jim over and got nothing in the way of you are a dead man, but then again he wouldn’t. Jim is a psychopath like that. The nicer he is to you, the deeper the shit you are in with him. Then it’s just waiting for the axe to fall.

  Paul looked at the cell phone.

  “Is there a problem Trailer Park?”

  “No Jim, I was just noticing that my battery charge was very low.”

  11

  Alyssa waited impatiently to hear back from Paul, while smoking a cigarette on the couch. She was relieved to hear her cell phone buzz with a new text message from Paul. As she read “THAT’S RIGHT I KNOW BITCH” a knot began to form in her stomach. The next message she received was a picture of her and Paul kissing in the parking lot. The tension she felt increased like a hot steel cable tearing her in half from the inside out. Alyssa felt cold and her hands began to tremble. Her cell phone buzzed again. Alyssa was terrified to read the next message, but read it anyway. The message read…

  “YOU ARE GOING TO DIE BITCH!”

  Her living room began to spin like The Gravitron at The Adventure Land Amusement Park. She felt like she was going to throw up again. This is not good she thought to herself. Jim is on the warpath. Where is Paul?

  “Oh my God I am going
to be sick.” Alyssa jumped up from the couch charging towards the bathroom. She tripped over her cat, and crashed hard onto the bathroom floor. She quickly lifted the toilet seat lid just as she puked.

  Emotionally drained Alyssa sat back against the bathtub and wondered what the hell she should do. Jasmine came up to her and curled up on her lap. Alyssa thoughtlessly petted her as she considered calling the Police.

  “Oh Jasmine what should I do?

  If I call the Police it won’t matter, and the messages came from Paul’s phone anyway. So there is no proof it was Jim, but I know it is Jim.

  I know Jim is torturing me. It is pointless to call Paul, because Jim has his phone. How did Jim get that picture of us? How did I get into such a damn mess? More important how do I get out?”

  “I suppose I could call the Police and tell them to go to the Boat House. Although I am sure Jasmine that Jim would expect me to do that. So if the cops show up there won’t be anything going on accept them jammin’ and drinking some beers. Jim would know why they were there and would be laughing about it. I just got this uneasy feeling that Paul is in some real trouble, but I don’t know what to do.”

  “I know what I will do Jasmine,” Alyssa said, staggering to her feet. “I will drive to the Boat House and see if anything weird is going on. If there is I will call the Cops. If not I’ll just wait until Paul leaves and then tell him that Jim knows about us. Then we can figure out what we are going to do.”

  Alyssa grabbed her car keys and headed for the door as her cat got under foot again, and pawed at her leg. “Look out Jasmine,” Alyssa said, pushing past her cat, and shutting off the light. “I’ll be back in a little bit,” she told her cat, while closing the door.

  Alyssa checked the time as she backed out of the driveway, and headed south on Commack Road. It was 1:00 AM. I will be at the Boat House in ten minutes. Alyssa was terrified about what she might find when she got there. She hoped her suspicions were wrong and that Paul was safe.

  Alyssa turned right on Main St. and fidgeted with the car stereo as she drove. She slowed to a stop at the red light on the corner of Main St and Maple Avenue. She was so close to the Boat House and it felt like an eternity before the light changed. Finally she was able to make the left turn.

  Alyssa cut the headlights as she slowed to a stop outside the boat yard, and turned off the car. She lowered the passenger side window. She could hear Jim singing I Used to Love Her from Guns-N-Roses.

  Alyssa also heard some girls singing along too. “What the hell are those bitches doing in there?” Alyssa said to herself. “I should go in and… do what? Get me and Paul killed?”

  She lit a cigarette and listened to the band play. Maybe Jim will hook up with some new girl tonight she thought, and break up with her tomorrow? That would be the easiest way out of all of this. Alyssa began to cry about that. “How did this happen? I didn’t want to lose Jim.”

  Alyssa stubbed out her cigarette in the ashtray. She was as burnt out as her cigarette. Resting her head on the seat, her eyes felt heavy. “Damn what a fucked up night” she said to herself. Alyssa closed her eyes to rest a minute. She took a deep breath of the summer night air, as she faded off to sleep.

  12

  “Slut…

  Bitchin’

  Fussin’

  Pissin’”

  Jim sang this to count the tempo of the song, as he percussively struck the muted strings. Everyone came in together on the one as The Howlers did an acoustic version of Gun’s-N-Roses, I Used to Love Her. Jim sang…

  “I used to love her

  But I had to kill her…

  I used to love her,

  But I had to kill her

  I had to put her

  Six feet under,

  And I can still hear her complain…”

  Katrina, April, and Jenny got up and started dancing as The Howlers played on. The girls joined in and sang with Jim…

  “I used to love her,

  But I had to kill her

  I used to love her

  I knew I’d miss her

  So I had to keep her

  She’s buried right in my backyard…”

  Jim went into a lead as Mike backed him on the Bass guitar, and Tyler kept time on the congas. Katrina and Jenny danced close together, playing seductively. April lit a joint. She blew the smoke into Mike’s face, and then passed it to Tyler. Jim and the girls began to sing the next verse.

  “I used to love her

  But I had to kill her

  I used to love her

  But I had to kill her

  She bitched so much

  She drove me nuts

  And now I’m happier this way…”

  Jim went into another lead. Paul sat back, watched the girls dance, and drank his beer. Paul thought to himself that maybe these bitches weren’t going to say anything. They are here partying with the band. Maybe Jim will hook up with this Puerto Rican hottie and dump Alyssa anyway. No harm no foul. Plus the band is getting ready sign with a label. So they’ll probably dump him as a roadie too. So why worry Paul thought. Just have a good time and tomorrow Alyssa will come by … it will all work out. Then Paul stumbled his way over to Tyler to get a hit off of the joint. Tyler passed it to Paul, who took a hit, and passed it back to April. Then everyone joined in on the last verse of the song…

  “I used to love her

  But I had to kill her

  I used to love her

  But I had to kill her

  I had to put her

  Six feet under

  And I can still hear her complain…”

  When the band finished playing Katrina got to Jim before they could start another song. She leaned in close and whispered in his ear, and then taking Jim by the hand she led him outside towards the docks.

  “Well,” April said laughing, “I don’t think we are going to see them anymore tonight.” Then she passed the joint back to Trailer Park and headed over to Mike. She wrapped her arms around him, and kissed him.

  Tyler grabbed Jenny and carried her off to a back room. Jenny screamed, then laughed pretending to resist. Mike led April away to a boat just outside. Paul slumped down on the couch in the front office of the boat house, and finished smoking the joint. He decided he was too wasted to drive and figured he would sleep off his buzz on the couch.

  13

  Katrina held onto Jim’s arm as they walked along the dock under the moonlight. Jim sang the lyrics to the beginning of Moonlight Drive by The Doors

  Let’s swim to the moon, uh-huh…

  Let’s climb through the tide…

  Penetrate the evening that the city sleeps to hide

  Let’s swim out tonight love it’s our turn to try

  Park beside the ocean on a… Moonlight Drive.

  “Come over this way Katrina I want to show you our boat.”

  “The Sea Howler,” Katrina laughed, “I like it.”

  “Would you like to go aboard Katrina?”

  “Yes I would.”

  Jim jumped onto the inboard cruiser. He helped Katrina make the step from the dock to the boat. Katrina stumbled and began to fall onto the boat, but Jim caught her. Holding her in his arms Jim said…

  “I guess those high heeled boots don’t make good boat shoes.”

  “I think they are working out ok,” Katrina said, as she leaned in to kiss him.

  “Easy killer,” Jim said, playfully pulling away. “Do you want to see the cabin?”

  “Yes Jim.”

  Jim led her down the narrow steps below deck. He turned on a dim light and opened a window to stir the hot stagnate air of the cabin.

  “I have wanted to get you alone for a long time Jim.”

  “Is that so Katrina?”

  “Yes, I have gone to as many of your shows as I could. I even bought your CD too.”

  “Thanks for buying the CD.”

  “You are going to laugh, but let me show you something” Katrina said, as she pulled out her cell phone. “I
have pictures of you from your website, and from your shows on my cell phone.” Then she showed Jim the pictures.

  “Wow, so how come we haven’t met before?”

  “We have met before Jim. We met at the CD release party. You signed my breast,” Katrina said, pulling down the left strap of her dress off her shoulder. “You signed your name right here,” she pointed, “over my heart.”

  Jim stepped closer to Katrina and asked, “Right here?” He placed his finger on her soft skin, and gently wrote his name on her chest again.

  “Yes baby, just like that.”

  Wild currents of excitement pulsed through her body under just the slightest touch of Jim’s finger. She looked up at him, and under the dim light in the cabin his Dionysian looks appeared dreamlike. She wanted to resist him, and not succumb to his rock-star charm too easily, but then Jim hooked his finger behind the zipper in the front of her dress, and pulled her towards him. Slowly he leaned in and brushed her lips with his gently. Then again he kissed her powerfully.