The Damned Summer (The Ruin Trilogy)

by Weaver, Scott

  Luckily, her actions grabbed her dad's attention, making him forget about the two kids that just walked in.

  "Are you cutting up your cakes or trying to crack that plate?" He asked with a half smile.

  She forced a smile back. "Just hungry."

  The boys took a seat on the stools at the long diner table.

  "When's Drew going on break?" Johnny asked the waitress behind the counter.

  "No clue," she said with a blank stare. "You ordering something, or just wasting my time again, junior?" It was obvious she had dealt with Johnny in the past.

  He glanced briefly at her name tag and then replied: "I'd like a heaping plate of your steamiest special of Sue, with a scolding side of wet foreplay," he smiled like a crazed monkey.

  Sue's face didn't change a bit. "You think you got what it takes to ring my bell, pup?"

  "I know I do," he said with a wink.

  "You can prove it by answering one question."

  Johnny chuckled. "I was hoping for something a little more challenging than that."

  "Don't get ahead of yourself, kid," she said, motioning him closer.

  With a smile he lowered his ear to her mouth, as she asked him something intimate.

  His face melted like ice cream on a hot stove top as her mouth quietly moved, his eyes going vacant as something hit his brain like a silver bullet.

  "Bullshit," Johnny stuttered as he came off the stool, stumbling away from her. He pointed at Sue with a shaky finger. "Fuck you, bitch," he whispered, turning towards the door and making his way outside without looking back.

  Jake looked at the waitress in awe. "Damn, Sue. Nobody's ever shut Johnny down that quick! What did you say?"

  "Gonna have to find out from him, Jake. I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise."

  Jake shook his head with a smile as he saw Drew in the back.

  Drew tilted his head to outside. "I'm going on break, Sue."

  "Sure thing, Hon," she replied, winking at Jake as he made his way outside to meet Drew.

  Johnny was outside, stalking back and forth like a caged tiger.

  "What the hell took you so long?" he said with hands in the air.

  "I was getting Sue's number," Jake replied. "She's a wild one."

  "More like a crazy bitch," Johnny corrected, pointing at Jake's pack of cigarettes.

  Jake tapped out two cancer sticks, handing one to his friend. "Drew's meeting us out back."

  "He bringing out food?"

  "You need to get on the list for food stamps, man," Jake said with a chuckle. "You're always scrounging for food."

  "We just smoked an eighth of weed, man! It's only natural to be hungry."

  They turned the corner and saw their friend Drew lighting up.

  "Hey chubby," Johnny said with a smile. "Careful with that lighter, your greasy ass might go up in flames with all that Crisco on your apron."

  Drew's pudgy middle finger came up as he finished lighting his smoke. "Sue sure did shut your loud mouth ass down," smoke crawled out of his mouth as he grinned.

  "Yeah, whatever," Johnny mumbled. "So, when do you get off work?"

  Drew cocked his head in wonder for a moment. "That's not the reply I expected. It's like you're trying to change the subject."

  Johnny blew smoke into Drew's face. "Don't fuck with me, little man."

  It was true that Drew was a good six inches shorter than Johnny, but with his extra weight he was an easy twenty pounds heavier, and he was no pussy in a fight. Jake had seen the two of them in enough brawls to know that neither was scared of the other. Hell, there had been at least three occasions now where they had beat the shit out of one another, all because of Johnny's mouth.

  "I'm not the one fuckin' with you," Drew said with the shake of his head. "Sue was fuckin' with you, but now I think it's you that's fuckin' with yourself."

  "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

  "You tell me, stud," Drew said with a chuckle.

  Johnny threw down his smoke. "I'm gonna fuck you up."

  "Bullshit!" Jake said, pushing Johnny back. "Walk your shit off," he pointed out at the road. "It's too early for this shit."

  Johnny looked him in the eye for a moment, deciding on whether to go ahead with it or not, knowing full well it would be both Jake and Drew he faced.

  "Drew makes any faces at him at this is going to be a shit-storm." Jake thought to himself.

  Drew didn't make any faces, because Johnny turned around and walked away.

  Jake took a drag on his smoke, watching Johnny walk a ways off before turning to Drew. "What the hell was that?"

  "What? He's the only one that can be an asshole?"

  "No, but you've usually got a good excuse, like being drunk or stoned out of your mind."

  "True, but come on, that was truly a first with Johnny being shut down like that."

  Jake couldn't help but to smile. "Yeah, it was."

  "I'm off work in about an hour, we gonna go raise some hell tonight?"

  "After your greasy ass takes a shower."

  "No shit, genius."

  "I don't know," Jake looked over at Johnny and back at Drew. "Can you two love birds get along after this?"

  Drew flipped his spent smoke out into the road. "As well as we ever do, Mr. Referee." He went back inside to finish his shift.

  Jake's spent cigarette followed after Drew's as he walked back towards Johnny and the truck. "Let the good times roll."

  "C'mon, man!" Johnny yelled, climbing into the truck. "Let's go see if my piece a shit dad has my Mustang fixed yet."

  Shane Copper spat a wad of tobacco juice through his teeth into the floor drain of the car garage where he worked and grinned at his employer with yellow teeth. "Hell, boss, a rebuilt carburetor, new plugs and points," he looked a little closer at the engine of the vintage 1970 Chevelle. "Maybe a new distributor cap, and she'll be good as new."

  "Whatever you say, Shane," Chuck Nugent replied. He owned the local grocery store and was the only beer distributor in town. He also owned a couple of smaller businesses like the car repair shop, mainly to have his own mechanic to work on all of his muscle cars, which he drove the hell out of, but probably couldn't change a flat tire on one if his life depended on it.

  Chuck's expensive hobby was the sole reason Shane had a job, because Shane was a raging alcoholic that only made it to work on time if he was still drunk at 8am. Chuck didn't care, since he knew damn well that Shane was a great mechanic whether he was stone cold hung over or four sheets to the wind. Shane was one of those guys that might not come into the shop until 2 in the afternoon, but would stay and work on the sweet rides until the dead of the night just because. He was a true blue gear head and Chuck exploited that to the extreme, by paying his overtime in cheap beer and watered down whiskey instead of cash. In Shane's mind, he had the perfect job.

  "Mind if I work on my boy's car after I get the Chevelle up to snuff?" Shane asked, pointing out to the faded black 1982 Mustang parked in the grass.

  "Sure, sure, so long as it's after hours."

  "Course," Shane said with another spit.

  Chuck looked down at his watch, it was almost noon. "You ready for a beer?"

  Shane looked at his boss with the closest thing he could come to genuine love. "Always."

  Chuck pointed to the Chevelle. "You tear into the carburetor and I'll go get us a couple a cold ones."

  Shane did what he was told just as the old Chevy truck pulled into the lot.

  Johnny climbed out of the truck and waltzed into the garage, a cigarette dangling from his lips.

  Shane pointed at the burning cancer stick. "Get that shit outta here! There's gas all over the place, you dip-shit! You wanna light this whole place up?"

  "Take it easy, ya fuckin' drunk," Johnny flicked his smoke into the parking lot. "It's gone, okay, Smokey the Bear."

  Shane got right up in his son's face. "Watch your mouth, boy."

  "Or what? You won't fix my car? Fucking lost cause, anyways
."

  Jake leaned up against the truck and waited for whatever was going to happen next. He had seen Johnny get into more fights with his old man than he had with Drew, so it was nothing new.

  "That old 'stang just needs a little work, is all," Shane said, looking at the old car. "If you would help me out with her, we could have her up and running tonight."

  The father looked at his son, waiting to see if he would catch the hint. Johnny caught it easy enough, but was completely uninterested. That ship had sailed a long time ago.

  "To hell with that," Johnny said with a spit. "I ain't no grease-monkey."

  "Fine, Shane replied. "Get your lazy ass out of here then." He went back to the Chevelle.

  Jonny nodded to Jake, "Let's get the hell outta this dive."

  Jake nodded back and they climbed in the truck and took off.

  Chuck came out with two cold beers just in time to see the truck leave the parking lot.

  "Was that your boy?" He handed Shane a can.

  "Supposedly," Shane said as he cracked open the beer. "I ain't convinced until the DNA report comes back."

  Chuck cackled like a vulture, making Shane grin and the pang of guilt he felt over his words lessened as he took a long drink.

  Chapter 5 Stirring of Plans

  Two in the afternoon was the official end of the rush at the Cup of Joe, and Drew and Jenny made their way out to their vehicles.

  "What are you and your hoodlum friends up to tonight?" She asked as he lit up. "Can I have one of those?"

  He passed her one. "Make sure your uncle Joe doesn't see."

  "Thanks," she said with a beautiful smile. "I won't light up until I'm on the road."

  He nodded, his tongue still dry and knotted from her smile.

  "So," she said with a shrug. "Anything fun going on tonight?"

  "I hear there's a get together out at the pond," Drew said, looking out at the horizon, hoping he looked cool.

  "I'll check with Sarah, but that sounds fun, you got any alcohol?"

  He gave his best Clint Eastwood impression. "Always," he whispered menacingly.

  She giggled for a moment. "Cool, I'll see you tonight,"

  "Okay," he said with a squeak as his voice broke. He quickly started coughing, trying to hide it, embarrassed as hell, even though she completely missed it as she jumped in her car and quickly drove off in the dangerous manner of the inexperienced driver.

  "Shit," Drew said to himself. "I gotta score some booze."

  The old Chevy truck rolled down the road as the two friends sat in silence since the radio hadn't worked for about a year now.

  "What now?" Jake asked.

  "Whatever," Johnny mumbled, still looking out the window, thoughts of his father gnawing at him for some damn unknown reason.

  Jake's cell started ringing. Pulling it out of his pocket, he looked at the screen. "It's Drew," he said as he raised the phone to his ear. Johnny snatched it from his hand and answered instead.

  "Queers in the closet hotline, how may I be of assistance?" Johnny said.

  Jake could hear Drew rattling off quickly on the other side of the line.

  Johnny chuckled for a moment. "That was a pretty good comeback, chubby, I'm almost impressed. Now, what the hell does your fat ass want?"

  "Give me my phone back, dick-head," Jake said, reaching for the cell.

  Johnny pushed his hand away as he listened to Drew. "Well you better start figuring out how you're going to deliver on the goods, porky, cause I ain't savin' your ass."

  Drew started yelling, which caused Johnny to giggle, allowing Jake to grab the phone.

  "What's up, Drew?"

  "Hot chicks' are going to be out at the pond tonight," he replied. "We need to have plenty of booze for them so we can score."

  He looked at Johnny and shook his head. "Johnny's just fuckin' with ya, that won't be a problem. Where we hookin' up?"

  It was close to four in the afternoon when Jenny finally showed up at Sarah's house. They hung out for a couple of hours in Sarah's room listening to music and browsing on the net before finally going out for the night.

  "Drew and his friends are going to be out at the pond," she had told Sarah. "He said they'd have more than enough liquor for us too."

  "Cool," Sarah replied, wondering if Jake would be there. Wondering if liking Jake was a good idea.

  She had been coping pretty well with the memories of last night slowly drifting into the back of her mind, almost as if it was nothing more than a dream. Then Jake had walked into Joe's Cup, forcing her curtain of amnesia to quickly unravel.

  Anxiety had been chewing at her ever since, and the last thing she wanted to have to deal with was crossing paths with Jake during a party.

  ”Bullshit," she thought to herself. "If it doesn't mean anything to him, then it doesn't mean anything to me either."

  So Sarah steeled herself for whatever was going to happen tonight, refusing to stay at home, refusing not to be the one in control of her life. This would be the second decision she would have made in the last twenty-four hours that would make her life yet more difficult.

  Jake and Johnny sat in the bed of his mom's truck back at his house, smoking weed as they waited for Drew.

  "What's taking his big ass so long?" Johnny asked, cashing out his one hitter and handing it over.

  "He had to take a shower," Jake replied, reloading the pinchee. "You don't want him smelling like bacon all night do you?"

  "Pork is that boy's natural scent."

  Jake couldn't help but to laugh. "You are such a prick."

  "Yeah, that's what the bitches say too, right before they drop their panties."

  Jake lit up the small pipe and inhaled the marijuana smoke deeply. "Shiiiit," he exhaled.

  Johnny looked up at the top window of the old farm house. "I think your mom is watching us."

  "Good for her," Jake replied, passing back the one hitter.

  Johnny took it and started reloading. "Damn spooky having some half dead lady watch us get stoned."

  "What do you care what she does as she slowly dies?"

  "I don't," Johnny said with a shrug. "It's just spooky, is all." He lit up.

  A faded, blue, 1997 Ford Crown Victoria pulled into the drive. Drew had inherited the large sedan a few months back, after his grandma had gone to live in a retirement home due to a diagnoses of Alzheimer's.

  "'Bout time, chubby," Johnny said as Drew climbed into the bed of the truck. "You have to have a seven course meal or something?"

  "Shut the hell up and load me some of that skunk," Drew said, sitting down next to Jake.

  Johnny raised his eyebrows "Am I your bitch?"

  "You're about to be."

  "Fuck you, porky. I don't take orders fro..."

  Drew cut him off. "Cause if you don't do exactly as I say, I'm going to tell Jake what Sue whispered in your ear," the smile on Drew's face would have made a crocodile proud.

  The passing of time seemed to slow as Drew and Johnny looked at one another, the pipe still half loaded in Johnny's hands.

  "Bullshit," Johnny whispered.

  Drew's smile disappeared. "Try me."

  Johnny loaded the pipe and handed it to Drew without a word.

  "Good boy," Drew said as he lit up and quickly cashed out the load. "Now, I want an apology for all the shit you've ever said to me."

  "Fuuuuck you!" Johnny replied.

  "Is that your final answer?"

  "This is such bullshit," Johnny said. "I'll do what you want and then you'll just tell him anyway."

  "You have my word that I won't."

  "That don't mean shit."

  "You're the one whose word doesn't mean shit, not me," Drew replied. He looked at Jake. "Is my word good?"

  "Definitely," Jake replied without hesitation.

  Drew looked at Johnny. "Is my word good?"

  Johnny let out a long ragged sigh. "Yeah."

  "So, what's it going to be?" Drew said with raised hands.

  J
ohnny ran his hand through his hair.

  "I think this is the best conversation you two have ever had," Jake replied with a chuckle.

  Johnny stuck his finger in Jake's face. "Shut the fuck up!"

  "What's it gonna be?" Drew yelled back.

  "I'm sorry," Johnny mumbled.

  "What?"

  "I'm sorry!"

  "For?"

  "For all the shit I say, I don't really mean it, you're actually a pretty cool guy."

  Jake and Drew looked at one another.

  "Bonus," Drew replied.

  "More than I expected," Jake agreed.

  "You stickin' to your word?" Johnny asked Drew.

  "Absolutely," Drew replied. "I have no idea what she said anyway."

  "Motherfucker!"

  Jake and Drew gave each other a high five as they laughed.

  "That was beautiful, Drew-man," Jake said, wiping away the tears of laughter.

  "Pricks," Johnny said, lighting up a cigarette.

  "So what's the plan for scoring some booze?" Drew asked.

  "We've been trying to work that out," Johnny replied, flipping ashes over the side of the truck bed. "We haven't had any luck getting a hold of our normal suppliers."

  "So what were we going to do tonight?" Drew asked. "Stay home and watch the Discovery Channel?"

  "They play some pretty cool shit, sometimes," Jake said with a smile.

  Drew glared at him. "I'm not amused at your lame attempt at satire."

  "Satire?" Johnny said with a smirk.

  "Yeah," Jake agreed. "I don't think that is the right word for what you're trying to say."

  "Like you dumb-shits could pass a second grade vocabulary test, and you're going to tell me what words to use?" He shook his head as the other two chuckled. "So, we don't have anything?"

  "No, it's not that bad," Jake explained. "I've got at least half a bottle of vodka and Johnny's got plenty of weed, but we guessed the girls might want something a little more..."

  "Girlie," Johnny finished. "Spiked lemon-aid and shit, right?"

  "They're pretty cool, so beer would probably be okay."

  "Who are these cool bitches anyways?" Johnny asked, looking closely into Drew's eyes. "Do they really exist?"