Night Show (12 page)

She moaned as Jack’s hands slipped inside her sleeve holes and rubbed her shoulders.

‘Do you feel sorry for him?’

‘Hell no,’ Dani said. ‘He scares me.’

‘Then why did you encourage him?’

‘I want him to be with us, not against us. You be nice to him Saturday, okay?’

‘I’ll be charming.’

The hands squeezed warmth into Dani’s tight, aching muscles.

‘I’ve got one request,’ Jack said.

‘Uh-huh?’

‘Don’t ever let him in the house when I’m not here.’

‘You can bet on it.’

F
ROM HER
car parked across the street, Linda saw Joel leave his house. He started up the sidewalk, striding fast and swinging his arms high. His lips were moving. He was either singing or talking to himself.

Linda started her car. She pulled forward, turned around at the end of the block, and drove up beside Joel. He jumped at the beep of her horn, but kept on walking.

‘Hey Joel, want a ride?’

Turning, he ducked his head and raised his sunglasses. He squinted out from under the dark lenses. ‘Linda?’

‘Yeah. Where you going?’

‘The pharmacy.’

‘Hop in. I’ll give you a lift.’

‘Oh, that’s all right.’

‘Come on.’ Leaning across the seat, she swung open the passenger door.

‘Well . . .’ He shrugged, then loped over and climbed in. ‘Thanks a lot,’ he said. He slammed the door shut so hard the car shook. ‘I don’t want to put you out.’

‘I was going that way, anyhow.’

‘Well, thanks.’

She started the car forward. ‘Besides, it’s nice to have some company. I haven’t seen many of the kids since the accident.’

‘Yeah.’ He nodded, staring straight ahead. ‘That was too bad about your accident.’

‘Those things happen.’

‘You feeling all right, now?’

‘Fine, thank you.’

‘Good. That’s good.’ He rubbed his hands on his Bermuda shorts. He rested an elbow on the window sill. ‘This sure beats walking.’

‘It’s hot out there.’

‘Yeah. Sure is.’

‘It’ll be real nice over at the river.’

‘Yeah, probably.’

‘I’m on my way over there.’

‘Yeah?’

Linda gestured over her shoulder. Joel glanced around at the back seat.

‘Gonna have a picnic?’

‘Sure am. I’ve got fried chicken in there, and beer in the cooler.’

‘Beer?’

‘I’ve got plenty. How would you like to come along?’

‘Geez, I don’t know.’

‘Come on. It’ll be great.’

‘I’d better not. I have to pick up this stuff for Mom.’

‘Oh. Is she sick?’

‘No, but . . .’

‘If it’s nothing that urgent, you could just get it later, couldn’t you?’

‘I guess, but I’d still better not.’

‘Thanks,’ Linda said.

He frowned at his knees.

‘What, have I got leprosy?’

‘No!’

She shook her head and tried to look sad. ‘You probably think a girl like me has it made – a cheerleader, good grades, popular as hell. Well, I’ve got news, I’m a human being. I get hungry, just like everyone else. I sweat. I worry. I get horny. I get depressed. Believe it or not, sometimes I even get lonely.’

‘You?’

‘Yeah, me. The marvelous Linda Allison. Do you know who always asked me for dates? Jerks who thought they were God’s gift to women. They were the only ones with guts enough to call. Do you think they cared about me as a person? They didn’t give a damn about what’s in my head or heart. They just cared about what’s under my clothes. If you want to know how lonely feels, you oughta find yourself parked in the woods with a guy who thinks you’re a toy.’

‘I’m sorry,’ Joel said.

She stopped at the intersection. A right-hand turn would lead downtown, a left would take them toward the river. She stared at Joel. He looked confused and glum, but no longer nervous. ‘Normal, nice guys – guys like you – never called.’

He shrugged.

‘You thought I was too good for you?’

‘Sort of.’

‘You thought I’d laugh at you?’

‘Maybe.’

Reaching out, Linda stroked his hand. ‘Why would I laugh at you?’

He shook his head, and seemed to have a hard time swallowing.

‘Come on, Joel. Let’s go to the river. Please? I . . . I don’t want to be alone.’

‘Okay.’

She turned left.

The river, five miles north of town, curved through an area of dense forest. A portion of the woods had been cleared for the public, tables and barbeques set up, sand poured to make a small beach, a gravel parking lot laid. On summer days, it was usually aswarm with families, young couples, teenagers throwing Frisbees when they weren’t swimming. At night, it became a place for romance.

Linda had been there often at night. Outside, on blankets. Inside cars. Usually as an eager participant. But she’d been with enough jerks to know how it felt being used – enough to convince Joel of her sorry plight.

As usual, the parking lot was crowded. She drove on by.

‘Where’s we going?’ Joel asked, breaking the long silence.

‘Up here a ways. I know a real nice place where there won’t be a lot of people in our way.’

‘Oh. Okay.’ He patted his knees as if he needed to keep his hands busy.

‘You don’t mind, do you?’

‘No. Wherever you want’s fine with me.’ He kept drumming his legs. He stared out the windshield, out the side window, down at his tapping hands. He looked everywhere except at Linda.

‘No need to be nervous.’

‘Me? I’m not nervous.’

‘I don’t bite, you know.’

‘Just chicken?’ he asked, and made a weak smile.

Linda forced herself to laugh.

Joel grinned and shrugged. ‘Do you know why the chicken committed suicide?’ he asked.

‘No, why?’

‘It didn’t give a cluck.’

Linda laughed and shook her head.

‘Wait. Wait, here’s a good one. Do you know how to make a dead chicken float?’

‘No.’

‘First you get a dead chicken. Add a little ice cream, a little root beer . . .’ He started laughing.

‘Oh, that’s gross.’

‘Yeah, isn’t it? That’s a good one. That’s one of my favourites.’

Linda slowed down and swung onto the road’s bumpy shoulder. ‘Do you pluck it first?’

‘No. The feathers are the best part.’

‘Ish.’

They climbed from the car, Joel still laughing quietly.
Linda
opened the back door. She handed out the picnic basket and cooler. She grabbed her towel and faded red blanket, then led the way into the woods.

‘Is the river very far?’

‘Just two or three miles.’

He laughed some more. ‘You know,’ he said, ‘you’ve got a good sense of humor.’

‘Thank you. See, I told you I’m human.’

‘Do you know what’s green and red and goes thump, thump, thump?’

‘No, what?’

‘Kermit the Frog in a blender!’

He kept it up for the next fifteen minutes as they trudged through undergrowth, climbed over deadfalls, ducked beneath low-hanging branches. Then they reached the river. Linda found a grassy clearing a few yards from the bank. She spread out the blanket.

She sat down on it, kicked off her sneakers, and stretched out her legs. ‘Can you tell the difference?’

He shook his head.

‘Take off your sunglasses.’

He lifted them, glanced at her legs, and shook his head again.

‘This is the one,’ she said. She patted her left thigh. ‘See? It’s not as tanned.’

‘They both look fine.’

‘You should’ve seen it when they took off the cast. All shriveled and white.’

He wrinkled his nose, lowered his sunglasses, and sat down to the far side of the basket and cooler.

‘You ready for a beer?’ Linda asked.

‘Sure.’

She took two cans of Genesee from the cooler. She popped them open and handed one to Joel. ‘Did you ever hear how it happened? My accident?’

‘You got hit by a car?’ His hand trembled slightly as he raised the can to his mouth.

‘That’s it. The thing is, I didn’t look where I was going. Stupid, huh? Just ran right out into the street and
wham
.’

‘Gosh.’

She squinted as the top of her can flashed sunlight in her eyes. She took a long drink. ‘Ready for some chicken?’

‘Sure.’

She set aside her beer and opened the picnic basket. ‘Sorry, I forgot the root beer and ice cream.’

He laughed a bit, sounding nervous again.

‘What do you like: thighs, drumsticks, breasts?’

‘I don’t care.’

‘I bet you’re a breast man.’

He blushed, his pimply chin turning a deeper shade of red. ‘Fine,’ he told her.

Linda gave him a crispy breast and a napkin. She took out a thigh for herself. ‘It’s really nice here, isn’t it?’ she asked. ‘So quiet and private.’

‘Yeah,’ he said through a mouthful.

‘Are you glad you decided to come?’

He smiled, and wiped his slick lips with a napkin. ‘I sure am.’

They ate and drank in silence for a while. Linda opened two more cans of beer, passed another breast to Joel, nibbled on a drumstick. ‘I don’t hold it against you, you know.’

He stopped in mid-bite. ‘Huh?’

‘My accident. I don’t hold any grudges.’

His sunglasses slipped down his nose. He poked them back with a greasy forefinger. ‘I don’t get it.’

‘Sure you do. You were just having some fun. How could you know I’d be dumb enough to run in front of a car?’

He frowned. ‘I still don’t . . .’

‘You, Arnold and Tony? The Freeman house? Jasper the friendly ghost?’ She shook her head and laughed. ‘I tell you, it scared the hell out of me. I thought sure ol’ Jasper was going to cut my head off.’

‘That was Tony,’ he muttered.

‘
Jasper
was Tony?’

‘Yeah. He, uh, stayed behind. He had all that stuff upstairs . . . the makeup and phoney head. And the ax.’

‘Figures,’ she said, and wondered why she hadn’t figured it out for herself. ‘The whole thing was Tony’s idea, I bet.’

‘Yeah. We had a ladder around the back. He was planning to use that, but then you got knocked out . . .’ Joel’s chin started to tremble. ‘Boy, I’m really sorry. I was a jerk to go along with him. Tony gets these crazy ideas.’

‘It’s all right. Don’t worry about it. I didn’t bring you out here to get into all that. I just thought . . . hell, you
might
be wondering about the whole thing, whether or not I recognised you. I just brought it up to let you know I’m not angry.’ She took a drink of beer. ‘Actually, it was a pretty neat idea. I wouldn’t mind pulling it on someone, myself.’

‘Really?’

‘Someone like Tony.’

Joel laughed. Turning away, he took off his sunglasses and wiped his eyes. ‘Tony deserves it.’

‘Of course, the Freeman house is no more.’

‘Yeah, wasn’t that something?’

‘The paper said it was arson. I wonder if Tony did
that
.’

‘No. He’s gone. Didn’t you know?’

‘He is?’

‘Yeah. He left after graduation. He went to Hollywood.’

‘What’s he doing there?’

‘Wants to get into horror movies. He’s always been big on those things, you know, but after what we did to you . . . I guess that made up his mind. He changed a lot, after that.’

‘How do you know he’s in Hollywood?’

‘He keeps in touch with Arnold. They’ve been writing back and forth. He’s trying to get Arnold to move out and join him.’

‘Has he written to you?’

Joel shook his head. ‘I sort of had it out with him. After what happened.’

‘It bothered you that much?’

He nodded.

‘That’s really sweet, Joel.’

‘I shouldn’t have let him do it.’

‘He just would’ve done it without you. More chicken?’

‘No thanks.’

‘How about another beer? We might as well finish them off.’ She gave him a beer, popped hers open, took a drink, and rubbed the cool wet can against her face. ‘Oh, that feels good.’ She opened the top two buttons of her blouse. Joel looked away as she slipped the can inside. It felt icy on her breasts, made her nipples rigid. Unfastening another button, she slid the can across her belly. Joel, facing the river, gulped his beer. ‘You should try it’.