by A. R. Braun
The fans shouted encouragements, as well as the occasional discouragements from parents that lacked sportsmanship. The Caucasian players called out to each other for a rally. Don had to shield his eyes from the sun. He wished for a ball cap.
Don noticed that one of the teams was Native American. He realized he sat on the Caucasian team’s side, or the “palefaces,” as Pishuni would say. Ben, a thin blond boy, came up to bat. His mother called for him to hit a homer, and Don found himself rooting for the kid to put it over the fence. Looking at the scoreboard, he saw it was the bottom of the ninth, and one run would tie the game. A lean red-haired base runner took a lead from first, hoping to steal. Unlike the major league players, the pitcher didn’t try to pick him off.
The first pitch came, the red-haired kid took off to steal second and Ben lifted his front leg and creamed it. Deafening cheers erupted from Don’s side. He stood. Look at it go. If that’s not a home run, call me Running Bear. It was a home run, all right. It towered over the outfielder in left field. He stopped running right before the fence and gawked upward, then dropped his glove hand. While the ball was in flight, the sun hid behind the clouds as if…
… as if someone wanted to make sure Don saw how far it went.
“All right, Ben!” his mother said. “Way to go, slugger!”
Don was frozen on his feet.
Oh, no.
The ball never came down. It continued into the sky, soaring toward the clouds.
A man with a shaven head stood. He was at Don’s left, sitting with his prepubescent daughter. “Man, look at it go!”
Ben rounded the bases, wearing an ear-to-ear smile as he waved at the crowd.
In shock, Don sat.
Tell me I’m not seeing this! Pishuni, you said I had till tonight!
“You went and married that bitch to try to get rid of me. You have till tonight to give me power over Albuquerque, or you’ll lose Fay. As for me, I got tired of waiting. Meet Babe Ruth 2.0, my new servant.”
The sun came out from behind the clouds and blinded him. Don shielded his eyes again. He knew what he had to do. I’ve gotta warn that boy. He’ll never believe me though. Shit, he’ll think I’m a candidate for the nut ward. Yet he had to try, or Albuquerque was toast. Don hurried down the bleachers. The members of the crowd finally commented on how the ball never came down.
Ben jumped on home plate and high-fived his teammates. By the time the teens went into the dugout, Don stood against the fence, holding onto the steel.
“Ben,” Don cried.
Ben furrowed his brow. “Do I know you, Mister?”
The other boys forked Don the evil eye and crossed their arms.
“No,” he answered. “Listen, I know it sounds crazy, but a Native American god helped you hit that home run. This deity, he wants to destroy mankind. You’ve got to get rid of him.”
Ben’s head recoiled a couple of inches, and his eyes grew wide. “Are you feeling all right, sir? You’re not making sense.”
“I know how it sounds, but I’m not crazy. You have to believe me! This god wants to destroy Albuquerque.”
Ben shook his head. “Mister, I’ve gotta go tell those Injuns ‘Good game’ and all.”
“But it’s a destructive god — ”
“What the hell?” Squinty-eyed, the stocky coach stomped over. “Why are you bothering my slugger?”
“I’m not trying to bother him, sir, I just — ”
The coach stuck his finger through the wire and poked Don in the forehead, hurting his pride more than his flesh. “Why don’t you use that brain of yours? Quit hassling the kid and let him enjoy himself.”
Don shook his head frantically. “You have to listen to me! This city is in danger! I know I sound insane, but if I don’t get through to that boy, we’re all dead.”
The coach stomped out of the dugout. “I warned ya.” He headed Don’s way.
“Now, look, I don’t want any trouble.” Don backed up a couple of steps.
No dice. The coach followed, balled his hand into a fist and threw a punch. Don blocked it, tried to punch him, but the coach ducked, then charged him, forcing him to the ground. When he had Don disoriented, the coach knocked him out.
***
Don came to, realizing someone was slapping his cheek. He opened his eyes and recognized Ben’s mother.
“Sir, your tow truck is here.” She held an opened sports program over her head because the clouds rained down.
Don sat up. “Thanks.”
“Welcome.” The woman ran for her car.
Don’s face and clothes were soaked. He blinked, then wiped his eyes. He saw dots. A good shiner was starting to stick out around his left eye. Dizziness made him wobble as he pushed himself up gingerly, noticing everyone else had left. He pulled his sleeve aside to glance at his watch; it was five p.m. His head throbbed as if he had a hangover. Wobbly on his feet, Don waited until the vertigo passed, then hobbled to the car.
A horrid realization hit him.
Oh, my God. Pishuni has a new servant, and he’s gonna destroy Albuquerque!
Don wiped the rain from his eyes as he stepped up to the man getting out of the tow truck. Clad in a rain slicker, he moved Don’s way.
It’s gonna be a long night.
***
When Don pulled into Jim’s driveway, the rain abated as if it had been there just to fuck with him. He dashed out and ran for the house, not even locking his car. With the rush he was in, he inwardly cursed himself for not leaving it running.
Fay opened the door as he ran up the porch steps. “Hey, sexy hubby. How was work?” She frowned. “Why are you soaked?” She touched his eye gingerly. “Oh my God, someone hurt you. Are you okay?”
Don shivered from the cold rain. “Pishuni chose someone else.” He smacked himself on the forehead. “Crap! Why have we been saying his name out loud? Running Bear said not to.” Don sighed. “Anyway, we’ve got to grab your mom and your uncle Jim and get out of here right now.”
“He… What?”
Don shook his head and rain poured off his hair. “No time to explain. Let’s get them and go.”
Fay stepped back and let him enter.
Jim looked up from his newspaper. He pulled his pipe from his mouth and, wide-eyed, gawked at him.
Georgia sat watching the evening news. She looked up, only for a second. “You missed dinner. It’s in the fridge. All you have to do is warm it up in the microwave. I wrote instructions on a Post-it.”
Jim cocked his head. “Did you get the license plate number of the semi that hit you?”
Georgia locked eyes with Don then, and gasped. “Good God. Did you get in a fight in the rain?”
“There’s no time for questions,” Don continued. “That Native-American god I told you about chose another servant since I wouldn’t worship it. That thing’s gonna destroy Albuquerque like he destroyed Rio Rancho. You need to get in the car with us. We’ve got to get out of here.”
Georgia snickered, then shook her head. She looked at Jim. “It’s nice to know my only daughter marries the handicapped. That man’s as crazy as an outhouse rat.”
“Don,” Jim said, “change out of those wet clothes and then come back in here. We need to have a little chat about this delusion of yours.”
Fay stepped forward. “Don’t you treat my husband like that! He’s right! I’ve seen the thing’s power.”
Georgia uttered a sarcastic laugh. “Two peas in a pod.”
“They’re not going to listen,” Don told Fay. “Come with me while I change.”
She turned her lovely head and looked at him. Fay was never more gorgeous than right now, clad in a red sleeveless dress Jim or her mother had obviously bought for her. The face of an angel, the golden hair of a goddess and those tantalizing blue eyes had Don taken aback. Her tanned skin didn’t hurt either. Her beauty simply never got old.
They moved toward the guest room.
Fay looked up at him. “Who did Pishuni choose?” She
put her hand over her mouth. “Whoops! I said his name again.”
Don shook his head. “Too late now. Hopefully, Running Bear was over-superstitious when he told me not to say it out loud.” He sighed. “Pishuni chose a high-school kid.”
Fay followed him in, then shut the door behind her. Don stripped out of his clothes and underwear.
“Ow!” Fay said.
“Unfortunately, there’s no time for that. We need to go now.” Don sat down. “Shit. I lost all my clothes when Rio Rancho was destroyed.”
“I’ll borrow you some clothes from Uncle Jim.”
“Great, that’ll go over well.”
Apparently not listening to him, Fay fluttered out the door.
Don sat with his chin on his fist, listening to Jim grumble. He could hear him from in here, that’s how angry the old man was.
After ten minutes, Fay rushed back in with a red polo shirt, blue boxers, tan chinos and black socks. “I hope these fit.”
Miraculously, they almost fit and were only a little baggy. “I need to go shopping for clothes.”
Fay sat at his feet. “Tell me what happened today, hubby, from the beginning.”
Don filled her in.
Fay rubbed his leg. “Poor hubby. Are you sure the kid didn’t just hit a whopper, and you lost it in the sun?”
Don stopped dressing and sighed. “That’s the thing. The sun went behind the clouds as I watched it soar. Pishuni wanted me to see it. Then he told me he was responsible, and I had till tonight to give him Albuquerque, or I’ll lose you. Obviously, he was already tired of waiting for me because he picked someone else.”
Fay sighed and shook her head. She looked away. “This was supposed to be our honeymoon.”
“Well… we’ll have to honeymoon in another town.”
“What about Mom and Uncle Jim?”
They’re fucked. Don trembled. Time to change the subject. “Any chance of turning that motherfucking air-conditioning off? For Christ sake, it’s raining.”
Fay nodded. She rose and left the room.
Don finished dressing, and Fay walked in and shut the door behind her, leaning on it. She locked the door.
“If we’re in danger,” Fay continued, “let’s consummate the marriage now, sexy.” Her voice had a sultry quality, and she looked at him with wickedly enchanting eyes. She lifted her leg and put her foot against the door.
“Like I said, I’d like nothing better, but Albuquerque’s in danger. We have to go.” Don stood.
“Wait… you said at first Pishuni will help that kid, and he won’t know why.”
“Ben.”
“What?”
“His name is Ben — Pishuni’s new servant.”
Fay sighed. “Whatever. I’m just telling you what you said. Then, after a while, Pishuni will reveal himself to him. It’ll take, what, about a week before he destroys Albuquerque?”
Don mulled that over. He nodded. “That may buy us a little time, if we’re lucky. But if Pishuni talks Ben into ‘blessing’ the whole city now, we’re skullfucked — his idea of blessing, anyway. That’s how he works; he tricks his servant into having empathy for the other citizens that haven’t been ‘blessed’. The problem is, when Pishuni leaves me tonight, I won’t have any idea when the city’s destruction will occur.”
“Well, Uncle Jim wants to talk to you right now.”
Don gingerly grabbed her arms. “But you don’t understand. When the devastation happens, everyone but that boy will be destroyed as he looks on, horrified. Including us. We have to be gone when that happens. I could banish it from Running Bear’s instructions, but that wouldn’t do any good now that the deity has Ben. That kid has to banish it too, and he didn’t listen to me.”
Fay eyes worried. She looked away and then met his gaze. “What about Mom and Uncle Jim?” She sobbed. “I don’t want them to… to… die.”
Don pulled her into an embrace. “I’m sorry, wifey. I don’t know what to say.”
“At least try to talk sense into them!” Her voice shook with grief, and her body likewise trembled. “Please, hubby, for me?”
“Like they’re going to listen.” He broke the embrace, leaned downward and touched foreheads with her, then inhaled the enchanting scents of her shampoo and her perfume. “All right, for you.”
She followed him.
***
Don sat with Fay on the couch. Georgia put her arm around her daughter before he could.
“You wanted to see me?” Don asked Jim.
Jim rose from his chair, newspaper in hand, and shook it at Don. “I don’t want to hear any more of this Indian god crap! You’re upsetting my sister. This is a Christian home and I won’t have it. Understood?”
“But, sir, I’m not making it up. Please, Pishuni is going to destroy — ”
Jim pointed at him with his free hand. “Not one more word! I mean it! I’ve been more than hospitable with you. Georgia didn’t want her daughter — only two years out of being a minor, mind you — marrying an older man. She didn’t want her to get married at all. Fay’s too young for that responsibility. You went ahead and did it, without Georgia’s blessing, to take advantage of this young girl.” He sighed. “I put up with that, even though I didn’t like it. But what I’m not going to put up with is all this crazy talk. You’ve upset your mother-in-law enough.” He shook his finger at him. “One more word about Pissy or whatever, and you’re out on your ear.”
“Pishuni,” Don corrected.
Georgia harrumphed.
Fay bounded from her seat, sticking her finger in Jim’s face. “Don’t you ever talk to my husband that way again!”
“That goes for you too, young lady,” he barked back. “You talk about it anymore, and you’re gone too.” Jim shook his head and took a seat in the easy chair. “Who shut off the dad-gummed air-conditioning? It’s sweltering in here.”
Georgia shot Don a look that could kill, made sure her daughter got the same glare and got up, walking past them. “Fay likes to think she owns the place. She probably shut it off because her husband was cold.” She lumbered toward the knob that controlled the central air.
Don got up and took Fay’s hand. “Baby, let’s just go.”
Red-faced, Fay took Don’s hand and stomped toward the door. They hurried across the lawn, then climbed into the vehicle, not knowing where they’d end up. That is, if they were lucky enough to end up anywhere, and not meet an abrupt end.
CHAPTER 22
“Jerks.” Fay buckled her seatbelt. “I hope they do die.”
Don fired up the engine. “You don’t mean that.”
“No, I don’t, but they didn’t have to talk to my husband like that.” She wiped a couple of tears from her eyes and sniffled. “’That goes for you too, young lady,’ ” she added, apparently doing her best to imitate the gravelly voice of her low-brow uncle. “That fucker.”
Don put his arm around her seat and pulled out. “Actually, Pishuni says you’ll get like that tonight if I don’t worship his ass.”
Fay sighed. “I won’t get like that. Christians are stupid.”
“I thought you were a Christian.”
“Not anymore.” Fay gritted her teeth. “Pishuni is the one with all the power anyway.” She looked him over as he sneaked a peek at her. “You know what? They’re just jealous. They wish they had romance in their lives.”
That was all she had a chance to say.
Don panicked inside as he stared straight ahead, and with good reason. Something soared toward them like a dodge ball.
Is that… a… severed head?
Indeed a severed head, it bashed into the windshield, etched in the spider web-like cracks it made. An eternity went by, it seemed, before Fay finally screamed.
Surreal, that.
Screeching brakes echoed through the neighborhood as Don stopped the car on a dime. They hadn’t even gone a few blocks. Time slowed while his heart triphammered in his chest, and he thought it would burst through his ribcage.
>
It couldn’t have started yet! He’s probably the victim of a serial killer. Please let it be a serial killer!
Yet no one stood behind the stealthy throw.
The head had cracked the laminated glass just enough to stick in it, and his eyes darted back and forth. Still panting as he panicked, Don insanely wondered where the man’s goddamned body was.
The poor guy’s reflexes are still working, like a chicken with its head cut off!
The severed head’s eyes stopped moving, and death shadowed him with its wings.
Don recognized the young man, one of the Native Americans that had been playing baseball at the park, the Indian “Braves.” So this is what comes of selling out to the white man. Worse than that, as Fay continued to shriek the longest scream he’d ever heard, the young man’s body appeared, searching for his head on the sidewalk. The soon-to-be corpse bent and felt around for the ten pounds that lacked, then fell to the pavement.
Besprinkled in blood, the safety glass bloomed where half his neck was, a rose from hell.
“Goddamn it!” Don said. “It’s not supposed to happen yet! Oh, Fay, we’re fucked, we’re fucked, we’re so fucking fucked.”
“He-he-he-he-he. I got tired of waiting and, as you know, revealed myself to the palefaced baseball player, the one that hit a homer to Mars. I told him I’d make him a major league star if he worshiped me. If not, he’d be a loser. This time, I picked a teenage boy with no regard for consequences. He was obedient, unlike you. Ben let me come upon Albuquerque right away, to ‘bless’ it, ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!”
You fucking bastard!
Fay shuddered and then looked as if she was having a seizure. “Get it away! Get it away! OH GOD, GET IT AWAY.”
“Um.” Don trembled as he reached for the head, then jerked his hands back. He reached and repeated the process.
“Get rid of it,” she yelled.
