Static

Feb 5th 2006

My fingertips felt a slight buzz as I typed furiously at the keys. I could almost feel the energy pulsing through my veins as the words rumbled onto the virtual page. I don’t know how many nights I sat in the dim blue light glowing off my monitor. I had my usual stale beer in one hand and a cigarette in another. There was no need for me to ever leave here again. All I knew was that I liked it here. I didn’t have to worry about anything here. But unfortunately I knew I had to leave.
I don’t really know when the last time I saw daylight was. Funny how things change. Now we were all afraid of the light instead of the dark. How ironic. Things that go bump in the night, now had a certain serenity to them.
I taped up all the windows at least nine months ago. They all said that it wasn’t airborne. I wasn’t taking any chances. How many years ago did they also say that about the small pox? We saw that take out Long Island in a whirlwind over a brief two-month period.
I guess this is going to be it. The radio has been dead for over two months now. I really don’t even know what’s going on outside our little town. At this point, I don’t really even care. It’s all a mess anyway. Trish called about two weeks ago on the C.B. Her voice was so garbled either by the bad connection, or the disease that had eaten away at her lower jaw. It started decaying her from inside to out. Sad. She was a hot little thing, but now her southern drawl was more of a curdled scour.
Dooley sat in the corner. His left eye was tearing a bit. He had nothing to worry about. We could hear the dogs howling and running wild in the streets, unaffected by the scourge that riddled my race. Funny that he wanted to stay here with me, when all the freedoms that any beast could want, was now at his whim. But here he sat, my sloppy pooch, just staring at me. Waiting. Waiting for me to touch the screen again. I wonder if he just liked the pretty lights, or if it put him at ease. It was my daily fix after all. Confirming and securing his fate. I guess it made him feel comfortable. A reassurance that I wouldn’t turn on him in the night and kill him. Maybe even eat him. Did he know? I’m sure he knew. He listened at the window seven days a week, hearing the other canines trampling over garbage like a medieval clan of bears. He listened to them being eaten. I didn’t.
I touched my hand to the blue screen and squeezed my temples with my left hand. It always hurt a bit the first few seconds, almost like an intrusion into my soul, kinda like a tear, that sewed itself up from behind as it dug deeper into my soul.
…Five, four, three, two one. That was about fifteen seconds, I guess. I had it down to a science now. I opened my eyes and that usual white glare seemed to fade within. I could feel the cleansing, kind of like a washing over, only from the inside. I looked back at Dooley, his sloppy ass pant almost looked like a smile. He had to know. He looked relieved.
“ Ok fucknuts, you watch the fort, I’m going to Disneyland.”
He barked.
Silly me.
Of course he knew.

I grabbed my keys and popped the power button off on my screen. I twisted my leg on some dirty jeans and headed for the door. I grabbed my boots and slid them on. Not tying the old laces, I kicked down each heal and the wet leather sponged to my feet. I popped open the apartment door slamming it back against the wall with a metallic thump.
Gabby sat there on the floor. Knees to chest, chin resting on her knobs, large black eyes glaring up, easily taking away from the attention the space between her teeth drew.
“Your late.” She said in her usual sarcastic tone.
“I’m always late. Get used to it. You got the spice?”
“Not like I had anything else to do.” She said, pulling a small crinkled brown baggy from between her sweaty breasts. “Right here where it should be. Where else.” She smiled.
“You wanna wait till we get there, or ya wanna we fire it up now?” She said with anticipation, obviously hoping I was as desperate, and as scared as she was.
“Didn’t your mom ever tell you not to eat without waiting a half-hour to go swimming?” I said as I jammed my keys deep inside my parched brown denims.
“My mom was a dirty coke slut, she couldn’t even wait a half hour before bringing me to school without doing a line, you think she gave a shit about what I did before I went swimming”
“Well if you keep smoking that shit your gonna be in the same damn boat, Gabster” I said, raising my eyebrows and looking down at her.
She just pouted with those plump red lips and slipped the tempting baggy back into her secret place. I slammed the door behind me and it clicked with a securing thud.
Gabby scampered her self up, straightening her wrinkled black dress around her slender hips, sending a small shrill up my spine that I always tried to shake off, but it just stayed with me for a while. I didn’t mind. Funny after all this, she still had a dress to wear.
We quickly walked the dark red stained carpet down towards the plastic cracked fire exit sign. Monty was waiting there of course. He never let his guard down at the door. I can’t tell whether he was so diligent out of fear or out of desperation. But the way he jingled that donut sized key ring, I always thought he would just shit his pants by the time he got all the doors relocked.
“You goin downtown Mr. Cross?” He asked with a small low shake of his head.
“As far down as it goes Monty”
He gave me that look of, your fucking crazy, or just a down-right, dumb, white motherfucker.
“You bringing your little snatch with you again I see.” He said with his usual chuckle.
“Fuck you Monty, maybe I’ll bring one of them back here to snatch up that little dick of yours.” Gabby retaliated.
Monty gave her a half snort grunt of comical disgust.
“You better watch that nasty mouth of yours young lady or maybe one day this old geezer will stuff something in it that you can’t handle.”
She looked at him and the side of her lips curled downward, with her usual, you make me sick face.
Turning to the door, Monty put his hands against the pale gray metal. He took a long breath and turned the first key slowly from his waist. He cringed his shoulders as he tried, ever so carefully to break the ice without snapping the key.
-Click-
“One down” He said with silent regret.
He shifted his arms up a few inches, holding the key ring against himself.
-Click-
“Two down”
He stuck the key ring into his pants forming an awkward, three-inch circle in his right pocket.
“Here we go campers,” He said in his best African Griswold fashion.
He slid the iron cuff off the shaft of the barricade and slit it back into the wall with a thud. Puffs of cold smoke seeped in around the edges of the door like fat through broken seams of chubby girls pants.
“Lets do it Gab” I said with a self-reassuring nod and a small huff of hesitation.
“I’m ready.” Gab said with an ironically small step backwards.
“Either of you come back with even a hair different I’ll smoke your asses before you reach the bottom of those stairs” Monty proclaimed with a steep bit of reality that made me swallow hard.
“Bet you’d like to smoke my ass you dirty old bastard” Gabby said with a small nervous chuckled.
“Bet your right” He said matter of factly, and slapped her playfully on her back.
“Be careful.” He whispered into Gabby’s ear with a small squeeze on her shoulder giving her his best attempt at sincerity.
Gabby looked up to him, with a small smile and a slow blinking nod.
“Thanks Mont” She said softly and gave him a soft daughterly kiss on the cheek.
“Go on, it’s going to be light soon” He took a step back from the door. Still shaking his head from side to side.
I pulled on my goggles, popped open the door, and pushed through the frigid cloud and into the whiteness. Gabby held tightly onto my T-shirt like a scared kid in a lunch line. The door slammed behind us. I heard the barricade slam shut and both locks click, almost about as fast as I think Monty shit his pants.