Backtracker (17 page)

"
Well I
'
m
sorry
!
"
sputtered Peggy.
"
Fred didn
'
t do anything to you, did he?
"

"
No,
"
growled Dave,
"
but he
could
have. He could
'
ve canned me right there.
"

"
But he didn
'
t
!
"
said Peggy.
"
When I talked to him, I told him what a hard worker you are, and how you
'
re always helping me!
I begged him not to fire you or anything, because you do so
much
and you don
'
t
deserve
to lose your job over a few chocolate milks!
"

"
Wow,
"
sneered Dave.
"
Thanks for putting in a good
word
for me, Peggy. I guess I
'
m supposed to
thank
you for saving my
job
now, huh?
"

"
No
!
"
shot Peggy, grimacing with frustration.
"
I didn
'
t mean...I just...I
'
m sorry.
I
'
m really
sorry
about this, Dave! I want you to understand that I didn
'
t mean for you to get in trouble!
"

"
Yeah, right,
"
curdled Dave.
"
Well, I want
you
to understand that I think you
'
re a
bitch
, and you better stay the
hell
out of my
way
from now on!
"

"
Look, I
'
m sorry
!
"
she said pleadingly.

"
By the way,
"
said Dave, his voice coarse with contempt.
"
Congratulations on your big
'
promotion.
'
"

*****

Chapter
12

Billy Bristol
'
s trailer was jammed with
people. From one end to the
other, the place was packed, so thick with bodies that it was difficult for anyone to move. It seemed as if it would be impossible to fit anyone else in there, and yet, people continued to arrive, somehow squeezing themselves into the crowd...which only made matters worse.

Despite the claustrophobic conditions, no one seemed to be uncomfortable or cross. They were all grinning and laughing loudly, clowning and shouting and having a good time. The mob was dense, the place was stuffy, but everyone was happy, thoroughly enjoying themselves. Another of Billy Bristol
'
s famous parties was underway.

The general good mood could be largely attributed to the fact that the people in the trailer all enjoyed each other
'
s company. They were all either full
-
fledged members of the Wild West gang or regular hangers
-
on, and most of them had known each other for years. Over time, the individuals in the gang had formed a close bond, a unique gestalt; their distinct personalities had grown to complement each other, merging into a family of sorts, a tribe in which everyone found friendship and played a special role.

Of course, the good mood in the trailer was also helped by the great quantities of beer that were being consumed. A keg of the stuff sat in Billy
'
s bathtub, surrounded by ice, and it was being drained quite rapidly. Except for one or two teetotalers, everyone in the place had a plastic cup full of beer, and as soon as a cup was emptied, it was swiftly refilled. Since it was nearly impossible to get from certain parts of the trailer to the bathtub, the gang acted in bucket brigade fashion to ensure quick refills; empty cups would be passed from person to person through the trailer to the bathroom, then filled at the keg and passed from hand to hand back to the cup
'
s owner. Though this made it easy for everyone to get beer, there was still a problem, unfortunately, whenever someone actually needed to
use
the inaccessible bathroom.

Though everyone was crushed together in the trailer, the crowd itself was divided into various groups, each one carrying on conversations of its own. There was a bunch of people talking and laughing in the bedroom, and another in the bathroom, and several in the short hallway. There were many sub
-
groups in the main mass of people in the living room and kitchen, each cluster discussing different subjects, telling different jokes and stories. The sub
-
groups fluxed and shifted as the party continued, people transferring from one orbit to another; the conversations overlapped, flowed together, broke apart, constantly altering.

One of the more vocal and colorful groups in the trailer was based in Billy
'
s kitchen, an area only divided from the living room by a counter and some suspended cabinets. Though the Wild West gang had no formal organization, the bunch in the kitchen could be considered the core of the gang, the officers of that ragtag battalion.

Gathered around the kitchen table, old members of the central group laughed and drank alongside newer recruits. Naturally, Billy Bristol was there, as were his lieutenants, Ernie Dumbrowski and Dave Heinrich; Jack Bunsen and Morris
"
Boris
"
Blovitz were also in attendance, a pair of jokers who had been with the gang from the beginning. Two other charter members were also there: Becky D
'
Amoto, a stocky girl who had worked at Wild West longer than anyone in the group; and Jane Niessner, a skinny brunette who was Becky
'
s best friend.

Mixed in with these old
-
timers was an assortment of fresher cronies. Darlene Rollins was there, snuggled in Dave
'
s arms; a newer member even than Darlene, Larry Smith also occupied the kitchen, blithely seated among the founding fathers as if he were one of them himself.

Laughing, gulping beer, clapping Billy on the back, Larry fit right in with the crew. Already, he exhibited an easy familiarity toward everyone; he really did act as if
he'd
known them all for years, not just a couple of days. Despite the fact that he was probably at least twenty years older than anyone in the gang,
he'd
quickly taken to them, and they had readily returned the favor.

As a matter of fact, Larry had held center stage in the kitchen through most of the party, entertaining the crew there with great success.
He'd
told one story after another, each one purportedly drawn from his experiences, each successive yarn funnier and wilder than the last. The band in the kitchen loved every one of his tales; the Wild West rogues hung on every word from his lips, exclaiming and laughing in all the right places.

Larry was already on his tenth story in two
-
and
-
a
-
half hours, and he was still holding the attention of everyone in the kitchen. That was no mean feat, considering the large quantities of beer that most of them had consumed.

"
Anyway,
"
said Larry, wryly raising one eyebrow.
"
Me and this guy Butch are hitchhiking, and there
'
s just
nobody
coming down that highway. The sun
'
s going down, and we
'
re out in the middle of nowhere...and believe me, the middle of nowhere is really
nowhere
in North Dakota. So we
'
re walking down the road, just
praying
that something
'
ll come our way soon, because it
'
s starting to get kind of cold out, and we don
'
t even have coats on. There
'
s something in the air, and we both
know
there
'
s gonna
'
be a hard freeze that night, so we wanna
'
get to someplace warm real quick.
"

"
So did any cars come by
?
"
asked Jane Niessner with great interest, leaning back against the counter that marked the boundary of the kitchen.

"
Not for the longest time,
"
said Larry, shaking his head.
"
After a while, the sun starts going down. Butch starts talking about what it feels like to freeze to death, and I
'
m about ready to haul off and pop him one just to shut him up.
"

"
Good idea
!
"
cheered brawny Jack Bunsen, seated across the table from Larry.
"
That Butch sounds like a serious pain in the ass! I
'
d
'
ve pasted him a good one a
long
time before that!
"

"
Well,
"
chuckled Larry,
"
it wasn
'
t easy, but I always tried to be patient with ol
'
Butch. He sure was a pain a lotta
'
times, but the thing was, he didn
'
t
mean
to be.
"

"
So, when did you finally get a ride
?
"
asked Becky D
'
Amoto, leaning against the counter beside Jane.

"
I guess it was about an hour after sundown,
"
answered Larry, frowning as if he were searching his mind for details.
"
Yeah, that
'
s right,
"
he smiled then.
"
It was almost exactly an hour, because Butch kept checking the time on his watch and telling me how long we probably had to live.
"

"
Oh, brother,
"
snorted Jack, wagging his head.

"
We saw headlights,
"
explained Larry,
"
and we both jumped out on the road and started waving like crazy. Anyway, it turns out to be a van, and it pulls right up beside us and stops. Butch runs up and tries the door, but it
'
s locked, and then the window rolls down and this guy squints out at us. He
'
s this wormy little guy with big glasses, and he
'
s actin
'
really nervous, so I start thinking that maybe he won
'
t give us a ride.
"

"
Oh no
!
"
laughed Billy Bristol.
"
He probably thought you two were mad killers or something!
"

"
Maybe
he
was the mad killer,
"
smirked Ernie.

"
Anyway,
"
continued Larry, reaching up to rub his goatee,
"
this little guy just looks us over, real slow, checkin
'
us
out, and I know
we look seedy as hell. So we
'
re both saying
'
Please, give us a
ride
, man, we
'
re freezing
out here,
'
and then he finally says
something, and we just can
'
t believe it.
"
Breaking the line of his tale at that important point, Larry pulled his beer to his lips and took a long swallow.

"
So what
'
d he
say
?
"
piped Darlene.

"
The guy gives us this real serious look,
"
smiled Larry,
"
and then he says
'
Are you two fellas born
-
again Christians?
'"

"
Well,
were
you
?
"
wondered Becky.

"
Nope,
"
Larry said with a shrug,
"
but we didn
'
t know what to say to him. I mean, we
needed
that ride, so we had to make sure we got on his good side, right? Anyway, I thought about it for a minute, and I figured the guy must be a Christian, or else he thinks Christians won
'
t be likely to kill him or something. Even though I
'
m not born
-
again, and I know Butch isn
'
t, either, I decide the best thing to do is lie to this guy.
"

"
Makes sense,
"
nodded Jack Bunsen.

"
You should
'
ve told him you were worshipers of the snake god Quetzalcoatl,
"
gibbered Boris Blovitz, digging a handful of potato chips from a bowl on the table.

"
Boy, you
'
re weird, Boris,
"
chided Jane, rolling her eyes.

"
Why, thank you,
"
beamed Boris.
"
I aims to please, sweet thing.
"

"
So what did you say
?
"
asked Dave Heinrich.
"
Did you say you were born
-
again?
"

"
Oh, yeah,
"
confirmed Larry.
"
We made ourselves sound like the most dedicated Christians since the original twelve Apostles.
"
Pausing again, Larry had another drink of beer.

"
So did he give you a ride, or what
?
"
Billy asked impatiently.

"
Well,
"
Larry said deliberately, leaning back in his chair,
"
the guy just stares at us. We finally shut up, and nobody says anything for a minute, but Butch and I figure we
'
ve got it made. So what does the guy say to us after all that?
"
Larry waited for just an instant before continuing, slowly rolled his gaze around the entire group in the kitchen.
"
He says
'
Shit, that
'
s too bad. Last time I gave a ride to someone who said he was born
-
again, I got the livin
'
shit
beat outta
'
me and my car
got stolen!
'
"