This choice: Go to the party, and plan it tomorrow. • Go Back...Chapter #21Go to the party, and plan it tomorrow. by: smitch   You've been wearing Sean's mask for half a week now, and maybe some of his caution has rubbed off on you. Your double shrugs as you demur, looking a little disappointed, and follows you back to the locker room.
You're starting to change out of your work clothes when your father walks in and hands you an envelope and a clipboard, which you sign. You peek inside the envelope, to find a check made out to Sean. "Look like the right amount?" your dad asks.
"Uh, yes sir!"
He claps you on the shoulder and turns to Sean, who dutifully signs the clipboard. But he's left empty-handed: no envelope. Prescott senior raises an eyebrow: "Forgotten our deal?"
Sean's eyes flick at you, then widen. "The loan. Aw, shhhh--" He turns the curse word to "sugar" just in time. "Can I pay half now, and the rest later?"
"Nope." He strides from the room.
"Kinda leaves me short until then," Sean mutters.
Guiltily, you rummage through your jeans and hand him a few bucks. His face brightens--until it hits him that it's his own cash because they are his own jeans. He snatches his paycheck from you. "At least I can get some cash outta this, enough to take Umeko to the movies tonight."
You kick yourself, as it would have been quick and easy to stop him going out with your cousin. "No problem," you say through gritted teeth, and kick yourself for not being able to stop him.
As you turn to continue changing, you remember the four masks you made earlier in the week. "Hey, I've got something for you." Sean looks over as you pull two masks from your backpack. "You were right about that electric polisher. Fast and easy."
He studies their surfaces, then glances over. "You got two as well?"
"Yep." You hand him a tube of sealant. "Some of this for you, too." You can see he's thinking as he slips them into his bag. "You got some ideas already?"
"You bet!" He smiles, then looks at the clock. "Shit, I gotta get ready for tonight!" He gives you a cheery back slap as he dashes out the door.
You make your way home more slowly, thinking about possible targets for yourself.
~~~~~
As you drive to the party--in a favourite polo and cargo shorts--you reflect on the way Sean managed to get Umeko to go out with him. There's no mystery to it. Sean has a natural ease around women of all ages, something you haven't mastered unaided. He's able to say all the right things, all the time. You think for a moment and realise it isn't just women, it's everyone. You guess that's how he got the 'good guy' tag.
You pull up at the house of Cameron Huber, the football team's QB, and recognise the cars and pickups of Chris Ratliff, Ethan Nieves and Devin Haney from the wrestling team. Chris opens the door with a smile. "Hey! Sean!"
"Bro!" You grab his hand and pull him in close, bumping shoulders. "Who's here?"
"The usual suspects; just a guys night, you know, talking shit and stuff." He hands you a can of beer and leads you into the den. "The big guy's here!" he shouts out.
You work your way around the group, bumping fists, and collapse in the chair next to Cameron, who's watching a recording of the final period of one of Westside's football games. You punch him on the arm as he throws a perfect line. "Yeah! That's what I'm talking about, fucking awesome every time."
He pushes you back with a laugh, but notes your silence at Scott Bickelmeir catching the ball. He rests a hand on your shoulder. "Yeah, it's a shame he's such a dick 'cos he's a good player."
"Whatever."
Cameron looks at you, and rises. "Come on, lets get some air." You follow him outside. "So what's the history with you two?"
You take a gulp of beer and knead your forehead with your knuckles. "It's complicated. He was friends with Taylor, worked at Salopek before getting fired for drinking on the job." You suck air through your teeth. "I saw Taylor driving away with Bickelmeir the night he died." You sigh. "When I asked Bickelmeir what happened, he refused to talk, even acknowledge they'd been together. I just shut him down, pushed him away. And then he followed me to Westside, like he was stalking me." You finish your beer.
Cameron puts his arm around your shoulder. "Bro, I know its been hard. I can't change history, but I'll talk with him, tell him to keep out of your way." He takes your empty can. "Let's get you another."
When you return to the den, the middle of the room has been cleared. Ethan and Devin are setting up the closet door on a couple of chairs.
You smile. "Beer pong, most excellent!" You count the guys again. "We need at least one more."
Cameron smiles. "Got it covered." There's a shout from the front door. "You know Danny Russo?"
As if in answer, Russo, the lacrosse goalie, walks in, dropping his kit bag. He raises both his fists. "The reigning beer pong champion HAS arrived, OOOH YEAH!"
He's about 5'8" but thick and stocky, with short cropped hair. Blue eyes shine from under expressive eyebrows, and it looks like he's got a couple of days stubble on his chin. He's wearing cargo shorts and a LX team vest.
He makes his way around the group, bumping fists until he reaches you. With a lopsided smile he bumps your fist, but there's a glint in his eye. "Sean! Big guy! Look's like it's you and me on the winning team tonight." He flashes a smile as the other guys roll their eyes and cuss him.
Danny sets up the cups, and pours beer into all but the middle one. "Hey Huber, you got any hard stuff for the bonus?" Cameron tosses him a bottle of vodka which he uses to fill the middle cup, winking at you.
You're first up against Cameron and Ethan. Danny paces back and forth, looking like he's going to explode. He throws the ball, and it arcs gracefully through the air to plop into the center cup. "OOOH YEAH! " He dances in a circle and punches the air.
You try a different technique, eyeing your target you bounce the ball on the table. It heads towards one of the back cups but Cameron bats it away. You bite your lip and curse, but Danny slaps you encouragingly on the back.
The games continue, and the cups fill up higher and higher. Danny clowns; you can't work out where he gets his energy. It takes a couple of hours, but you're eventually acknowledged as the winning team.
You collapse into one of the chairs, head swimming, and give Danny a goofy smile as he drops into the seat next to you. "Did good, bro, proud of yous," he says, his voice slurring.
The night deteriorates, as the discussion turns to the basketball team and Gordon Black in particular.
"Yeah, he's a jerk some of the time, but he's not all bad," Cameron groans.
"More like all the time," you snort.
"Yeah, well we've been talking. He's been giving me some tips, you know captain talk and stuff."
You blink, "Seriously? Cameron, you don't want to be taking any ideas from Black. Almost all his team are shit scared of him. That's not the way to motivate the team."
He nods, but says nothing.
~~~~~
You wake Saturday, bleary eyed, to find yourself on the couch with an unfamiliar weight on your torso. As you stir, four chairs tumble from your chest to the floor. You ignore them as you check the time on your phone.
And your eyes snap open when you realise you have to be at work in an hour. You also notice a lot of notifications from Facebook. Flipping through them you groan at the many pictures from the previous night, many showing things you don't remember.
You say your goodbyes to the guys that are conscious, and Danny shouts at you before you leave. "Hey! bro, give me a lift?" Without waiting for your okay, he grabs his kit bag and follows you out to the truck. To your surprise, he seems unaffected by the night's drinking; and to your irritation he keeps looking at you with a big grin on his face. "Where can I drop you?" you ask.
"Salopek will be great." He says with a chirp.
"You don't work there though."
"Danny doesn't," he grins. "Will does, though."
You slowly turn toward him. He points to his face, still grinning. "OOOH YEAH!" He yells.
You slam on the breaks, "Get the fuck out of here!"
He snaps his head down and does a little dance in the seat. "Snagged Danny in the car park, while waiting for Umeko. This guy has so much energy and is totally fearless. Damn! No wonder he's a great goalie."
"Weren't you going to the movies with Umeko?"
"She cancelled. Thought I'd take up the invitation to the party."
"I'm glad," you say.
He ignores your ambiguous remark and changes into your mask on the drive out.
"One down, one to go," he says as you pull up at work. "You thought of anyone you want a copy of yet?"
You suck on your lip. "I don't like the idea of Cameron taking tips from Gordon Black," you muse. "If I got a copy of Black maybe I could wind him up enough he'd realise it's a bad idea. Or," you slowly add, "we could take a copy of Bickelmeir, find out what really happened ... that night."
He shifts uneasily in his seat. "The thought of two Bickelmeirs makes me sick."  indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
| Members who added to this interactive story also contributed to these: |
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
More by this author