“It’s for her own good!”
“For her own good? She’s beside herself!”
“That’s because she knows it’s true.”
My dad grabbed at his hair like he meant to pull it out. “Dammit, David! This is about that Purgatory nonsense, isn’t it?”
“It’s not nonsense!”
“What are you talking about?” asked Jackie. “What Purgatory nonsense.”
“Do you want me to tell her? Or shall I?”
I think my dad thought it would embarrass me. But I didn’t care. “Go ahead. Tell her.”
“My son is under the delusion this is Purgatory. And I don’t mean figuratively. He literally believes this is Purgatory.” My dad chuckled, walking a circle in the grass with his hands on his hips. “It was bad enough when we only had things like the aliens to worry about, but now the devil himself is parked just down the road. And just when I think it can’t get any worse, my son has to remind me of the single worst moment of my entire life. At least I got you back, David. Sam never got a second chance.”
“And that’s why Mummy has to admit what she did.”
My dad faced me, tears running down his cheeks. “I can’t handle this. I’ve got the whole settlement looking at me for answers, and I don’t know what to do.”
“Well, you’re in luck. Because I do.”
“Let me guess. The angel told you.”
“That’s right. This time tomorrow, Bill and his demonic friend will be a memory.”
Exhaling, my dad slowly shook his head and made his way back to the trailer. “Whatever, son. I’m going to see your mother.”
With the sound of the trailer door closing behind him, I slowly collapsed forward until my head rested on the picnic table.
“Do you really believe this is Purgatory?” Jackie asked, sitting beside me.
“I do.”
“That’s funny, because I’ve wondered the same thing.”
I lifted my head off the table to look at her in disbelief.
“I’ve thought about it since I first got here. I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want anyone to think I was crazy. But it makes total sense. It couldn’t be anything else. Well, other than Hell. But I’m not ready to go that far yet.”
All I could do was stare.
“And just so you know, your dad’s been amazing. And your mom, too. But your dad is what’s keeping this place together. He reminds me of a sheriff from an old western. While everyone else is hiding in the shadows, he’s out there front and center, taking control. He’s a good man, David. And he thinks highly of you, too. All he does is talk about you. Your mom, too. They love you. Dearly.”
I sat there, blowing air through my lips. “Man, you really know to make a guy feel bad.”
“Oh, come on,” she said, slapping me on the arm. “You know I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just that, if this is Purgatory, maybe what you need to be working on is forgiveness.”
It was like her words reached inside me, covering me in goosebumps.
“What’s the matter?” Jackie asked. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“You remind me so much of my first wife …”
“Sorry.”
“There’s no need to apologize. Jackie had a knack for cutting through the crap and speaking the truth, too.”
“That’s right. We share the same name, don’t we?”
“That, and only about a couple dozen other things.”
A silence followed, during which a demon swooped from the twilight to land on the picnic table. You would have thought it was a possum from Jackie’s reaction, diving screaming to the ground before scrambling on all fours toward my parents’ trailer.
“Oh my God, David! It’s one of those … things!”
“It’s all right, Jackie. He’s harmless.”
“You don’t know that! It might bite you!”
“He’s not going to bite me.” And to show how unafraid I was, I reached out and stroked the demon’s wing.
“What if it has rabies?”
“He doesn’t have rabies.”
The demon really seemed to enjoy the interaction, cooing softly with every touch of my hand.
Meanwhile, Jackie edged toward the table, face locked in a grimace. “How can you do that?”
“I’m telling you, he’s harmless. If anything, he’s a friend. Aren’t you, buddy?”
The demon responded with a series of clicks followed by a pop, like a kid blowing bubblegum.
“They seem to show up right before anything important happens. It’s like they know.”
It was then that the creature’s eyes flipped from mother-of-pearl to shiniest black.
“Did you see that?” I asked. “Isn’t that cool?”
“That’s the most disgusting thing I’ve ever seen!”
“How can you say that? Look how perfect they are. They’re beautiful.”
Curiosity seemed to be getting the better of Jackie, because she sat beside me, and after some time, she slowly held out her hand.
“Go on. Touch him. He won’t hurt you.”
So she did; timidly at first, but it wasn’t long before she was stroking its shoulder like it was a big, leathery cat.
The demon was in heaven, leaning into Jackie’s hand until, without warning, it flew into the sky while Jackie and I looked on in wonder.
“I think that’s the sign for me to leave,” I said. “Rosie? Where are you, girl?”
Rosie came trotting out of the darkness to rest her giant head on my lap.
“You have to stay here, okay? You have to take care of Dad and Mummy and Jackie.”
This was harder than I thought, and I gave Rosie a big hug before sending her to stand with Jackie.
“Rosie will keep you safe,” I said. “Just make sure she gets her pumpkin pie.”
“What does that mean?”
“You’ll see.”
I stood up and allowed myself a final look at my Rosie-dog. She knew her role had changed; I could see it in the way she was standing beside Jackie. God certainly blessed me bringing that animal into my life. Now she had someone new to protect.
And so I left, making my way to Bill’s wagon, where I was met by Nathan and his friends. They were carrying machetes, and the three walked up to me, grinning fiendishly.
“Best call off your goons,” I said. “Cause I’ll shoot them. I’m not bluffing.”
Bill smiled from atop his perch on the wagon, cigarillo clamped between his yellowed teeth. “Go ahead. Shoot ’em. I don’t care.”
“See?” I said. “This joker doesn’t care about you. So if you’d kindly move —”
“What do you want?” demanded Nathan, resting his machete on his shoulder.
He looked insane. Fortunately, the chikka was doing a good job of making me appear calm, and I stepped forward, pressing the barrel of my gun against his chest.
“It’s got nothing to do with you.”
“That’s where you’re wrong.” It wasn’t much, just a twitch of his arm, but I knew what he intended to do, so I pulled the trigger.
BLAM!
Bits of Nathan went everywhere. Everything from his head to his stomach was gone, leaving his legs to just kind of buckle before falling to the ground.
“I told you I wasn’t bluffing.”
The other two backed away, staring wide-eyed at their friend’s remains.
And that’s when the laughing started. “Oh, yer good,” said Bill, removing the cigarillo from his mouth.
“You like that?” I asked, approaching the wagon
“Nothin’ better than a man following through on a threat. That’s how things get done.” The old man placed the cigarillo back in his mouth, watching me while a cloud of black smoke exited the side of his mouth. “So what do you want, Eno? You come to give me my bottle of chikka?”
“Actually, I got something even better.”
Bill’s eyes narrowed. “What are you talking about?”
; “I thought I’d share with you the secret ingredient that makes chikka chikka.”
“Secret ingredient?”
“It’s quite something. We just have to go up to my farm —”
“Forget it. I ain’t going to yer farm,” said Bill, crossing his arms.
“Don’t you want to know the secret?”
“Bah! Who cares about secrets when you can just give us one of yer bottles?”
“But that’s just it,” I said, forcing a smile. “After showing you the secret, I was going to present you with a batch of my finest brew.”
Now that seemed to catch the old man’s attention, and he leaned forward, breathing smoke in my face. “It’s better than the stuff I already got?”
“There’s no comparison. This chikka is black. Like ink. And it’ll mess you up. But in a good way.”
“I like the sound of that …”
“You’d be the first person other than me to try it. Even SYS doesn’t know about it.”
If bullfrogs could chuckle, that would be the sound that came out of Bill’s throat, and he removed his cigarillo, regarding me with a devilish smile. “Then go get it, boy.”
“Don’t you want to know the secret?” I asked, fighting to remain calm.
“You’re wasting your time, son.”
I spun round to see my dad standing with his arms folded, Jackie beside him. Rosie was there, too, her beastly presence keeping the remaining machete-wielding thugs at bay.
“Can’t you see?” continued my dad. “Bill’s scared. That’s why he doesn’t want to come with you.”
The old man frowned, blowing air dismissively through his lips. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“I see you looking at his gun. You’re afraid he’s gonna kill you.”
“Is that what it is?” I asked, turning around. “You think I’m going to try something?”
“I ain’t scared of nothin’. Specially not some skinny Brew-Master.”
“I don’t know. He looks pretty scared to me,” said Jackie. “Of course, I would be, too. David did make his way to the SYS building and back.”
“Is that really what it is? You’re scared of me? Wow. That’s kind of funny.”
Bill glared at me, the pillar of fire roaring in the background. “I told you: I ain’t scared of nothin’. But you know what? It’s gettin’ kind of boring sitting here all day. Maybe I will check out this special ingredient of yers. Speaking of scared, you ready to sit next to me, boy?”
Actually I wasn’t. But I’d gone through too much to give up now, and I jumped up onto the wagon bench, allowing the chikka in my system to at least give me the appearance of feeling calm.
With an ear-splitting whistle, Bill yanked the reins, starting the armored wagon to the farm.
“See you soon!” I called, waving to my dad. “Keep dinner warm for me. And don’t forget to tell Mummy I love her!”
So this was it. Gun on my lap, I kept my gaze locked in front of me while the horses trotted down the road. Meanwhile, I could hear Bill’s friend moving inside his cage.
“Don’t think I don’t know what yer up to,” said Bill, breathing smoke in my face.
My heart stuttered. “What do you mean?”
“Yer hopin’ that by givin’ me this little tour I’ll spare you and yer family. But don’t you worry. You keep supplying me with chikka, I’ll make sure they stay safe.”
I could feel him grinning at me, and it took everything I had to keep from recoiling in fear.
Less than ten minutes later we were at the farm.
“We’re going to have stop here,” I said, as the wagon pulled into the drive.
“So where’s this secret?” asked Bill, as I jumped to the ground.
“Oh, we’re not there, yet. What I want to show you is way off in the back, back fields.”
“Well, get back on the wagon, then. Cause I ain’t walkin’.”
I shook my head. “It’s too heavy. We couldn’t go two feet without it sinking. We’re going by tractor.”
I could see the old demon didn’t trust me, and he puffed on his cigarillo a while before climbing down to join me in the barn.
“Ever been on a tractor before?” I asked, climbing into my seat.
The old man looked at me, sullen, annoyed.
“Here, why don’t you let me help you?”
But Bill ignored my outstretched hand, preferring to make the climb on his own, standing on the little platform directly behind me.
“Uh, you might want to sit. It gets kind of bumpy.”
“Just start the damn tractor.”
I had to give Bill credit: the old man could balance. He stood the entire way, casually smoking his cigarillo as the tractor rumbled across the soil to the back, back fields. It was distracting, and I found myself constantly checking behind me to see if was still there. But no, he made it, and as I brought the tractor to a stop next to a patch of beets, Bill climbed down from the tractor to look me menacingly in the eye.
“So where’s this ‘secret ingredient’?”
“You’re looking at it,” I said, nodding toward the beets.
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“These are sugar beets. They’re what make chikka chikka.”
I knew it was the SYS programming, or brainwashing, or whatever those bastards did to me, but that beet patch was beautiful. The way the leaves swayed in the wind; it was enough to give me goosebumps. Yet from Bill’s expression you would have thought I’d showed him a lump of dog shit.
“Eno, you better pray that special batch of chikka you promised is as good as you said.”
“Oh, don’t you worry about that,” I said, grabbing my gun from the tractor seat. “But first, I’ve got a little question for you.”
“And what’s that?”
“Do you know someone named Flea?”
The old man’s eyes narrowed. “Of course I do, the little bitch. Why?”
“She wanted me to give you a message.”
And with those words, I shot Bill in the face.
I’d hoped that would be enough to kill him right there. But as Mr. Winter said, Bill was an interloper, and a powerful one at that, so when he grabbed his face only to reveal nothing had happened, my knees went weak.
“Oh, now you done it,” growled Bill, flashing an evil grin.
A distant howl filled the air, and I staggered back as Bill lit himself another cigarillo. “My friend’s gonna enjoy dealin’ with you. And when he’s done, he’s gonna deal with the rest of yer family, too.”
Bill’s friend was getting closer. The sound it made, screeching and braying. It was horrible, and I glanced at a nearby corn patch, wondering if I should run inside.
“Go ahead! Hide! He’ll still find you!”
I was paralyzed with fear, and all I could do was watch as Bill’s demon galloped into view.
What have I done? I thought, collapsing on my rear.
It was almost on me, and in a final act of desperation I shielded my face with my arms when a most beautiful thing happened.
Whale song.
It was like time stood still, and all three of us stopped to look in wonder as a whale leapt into the air only to disappear back into the soil a few acres away. And then another whale appeared, and then another, each one closer than the last, until the archangel appeared. He was huge, bigger than I remembered, and as he flew into the sky I had enough time to turn and see the expressions of terror on the demons’ faces. There was no escape. All they could do was stand with their mouths agape as the wrath of the leviathan rained down upon them.
And while they screamed, I thought about how wonderful it was that I was leaving Purgatory behind. No more chikka. No more aliens. No more SYS. No more pain. But most of all, I thought about my brother, Sam. It had been such a long time since I last saw him, I couldn’t help but wonder, would he recognize me?
The End
About the Author
Benedict Martin lives in
Ottawa with his beautiful wife and two children. He used to live in Vancouver, but a cheeky genie moved him to Ontario when Benedict asked for some ore in exchange for two wood. Benedict was right peeved. And to top it all off, the genie is no longer answering his phone. So now Benedict has to somehow earn enough money to make the trip back west. (A word of advice, if a genie invites you to play Settlers of Catan, decline)
If you would like to learn more about Benedict and his exile to his nation’s capital, you can visit his website: http://www.benedictmartin.net If twitter is more you style, you can follow him @benemartben And finally, if you enjoy liking authors’ Facebook pages, you can like Benedict’s page here: https://www.facebook.com/BenedictMartinAuthor
Planet Purgatory Page 16
