Zombie Pink (22 page)

"How ya doin...uh...what's your name again, babe?" he asked, turning on his megawatt charm.

His damn dick seemed to be responding already
. Byron
took a deep breath, willing it to behave.

The girl seemed taken aback at being called "babe."
But she quickly collected herself, happily rising to the flirtatious opportunity that was presenting itself
. She
tossed her long blonde hair with the black roots over her shoulder suggestively.

"Lucy!" she informed him, licking her teeth. "Can I get you the keys to a cart?"

Lucy leaned closer to Byron, which emphasized her oversized milky white cleavage that literally spilled out of her unbuttoned blue and white striped polo shirt.

She peered up at him, furiously batting her fake eyelashes.

"You're tall..." she purred.

"That's how God made me!" Byron quipped.

God, this girl was obvious. That's okay, though. She was just what Byron needed. Someone cheap and easy to get his mind off his
fucking
cheating wife.

The girl's polo shirt, crisp white shorts, and sneakers did lend her a rich sporty look that appealed to Byron; aside from the buck teeth, oozing cleavage, and black roots.
Plus, she was wearing a single pearl in each of her milky white earlobes.
Probably not real, but
a nice touch, nonetheless.

The girl was at least trying to be classy.
He gave her an A+ for effort.

Idly, Byron
wondered how old she was. He couldn't ask her...she looked young, but old enough...

At least he hoped.

Lucy. Sounded like the name of an old lady.
The name didn't suit
her. Lucy.
I Love Lucy
. The contradiction of an old fashioned name on
such a sexy young girl was intriguing
. Lucy...

Once upon a time, Byron thought the name "Daniella" was interesting...

Not anymore.

"What time do you get off, Lucy?" Byron asked suggestively, leaning on the bar counter. No one else was in the club house
It was just the two of them.

Byron felt the urge to scratch that damn mosquito bite, but
resisted. He was well aware that scratching himself at this pivotal moment of The Flirt would not come across as being very sexy.

Just then, an older woman entered the clubhouse
. She was heavy-set with obviously fake curly blonde hair extensions poking out of her shoulder length stick-straight hair.

The woman had a giant mosquito bite on the side of her nose. Byron
thought this was an odd coincidence, but quickly filed the information away as irrelevant.

"As a matter of fact, Mr. Blackwell...right this second!" Lucy exclaimed, walking out from behind the bar.

Well, well, well
...Byran
thought.
The girl has style
...

Daniella used to have style. But she seemed to have lost it all. Now all she cared about was writing that dumb book...

"It's all yours, Candice!" Lucy informed the older woman, who just stood there smiling blankly.

"Okay hon!" the woman said, eyeing Byron curiously.

Byron shot the pudgy broad a big grin which caused the woman's sun-worn face to blush a deep crimson. Hell, he probably just made her day!

"Are you ready?" Lucy asked Byron, in a come-and-get-me tone.

"Yes Ma'm
!" Byron responded, feeling a flush of sexual attraction like he hadn't felt in ages. "Let's go play some golf!"

Lucy sashayed out of the clubhouse in front of him, her firm young ass wiggling suggestively under her crisp white cotton shorts.
Only, Byron wasn't seeing the shorts any more. He was picturing the girl's buttocks
stark naked; poised for him to grab them and squeeeeze...

Maybe he could pull those damn shorts down and boink her right on the golf course....

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Daniella was hungry....so hungry....

She saw fresh delicious meat, right in front of her....beckoning ....so tempting...

Nothing else mattered but succulent sweet flesh....she was salivating in anticipation...she could taste it already......

Suddenly, Daniella became aware of an unpleasant metallic taste in her mouth, like blood...

She stopped in her tracks and swallowed.

Yes. It was definitely blood.

What? Was this some kind of dream
?

Where was she?

Food. She needed food.

She tried to talk.

"Let's eat food!" she wanted to say.

But it didn't come out that way.

What was going on? She didn't feel like herself.

Where was Brookie
?

She tried to find out.

"Brooo....?"

But that didn't come out right, either.

Had she suffered a stroke?

Was that Byron standing there?

No, it wasn't Byron. It was some short bald-headed man.

Did she know him?

He looked vaguely familiar.

Why was he holding a hammer?

Was he a repairman
?

Was something wrong with the deck?

Wait a minute. This wasn't her yard...that wasn't her deck or her house...she knew this house, but...

Suddenly, the bald headed man with the hammer was hurtling insults at her.

"Bitch!" he spat. "Fuckin diseased skank!"

Daniella was taken aback. No one had ever called her those words before. Not even
back
in New Jersey!

Why would someone say that to her?

Who was this jerk?

What the hell was going on?

Did she have a lapse of memory?

Then it started to come back to her....the sickness...the weird hallucinations.....the desire to eat her daughter and her cat
.

Daniella gasped at this preposterous memory.

Calling Byron's Mom....walking out the door....that was when her memory stopped cold.

Where was she?

It was night-time and she was standing in someone's backyard.

Daniella
looked around. There was a shed and a swing set. This looked like a back
yard from the Shady Oaks
neighborhood.
But whose?
Was it Sandy’s backyard
? No...

Was she at a party? How
did she get here?

The bald guy was standing right in front of her.

Who was he?

He looked so angry and he was wielding that hammer like it was a weapon.

Why had he spoken to her in that way?

Was this guy drunk?

Did she get drunk, and that’s why she couldn’t remember anything?

Getting drunk was not Daniella's style
. Not any
more, anyway
. Getting drunk was for low-lifes and losers.
She knew how to control her drinking.

Besides, she’d been so sick. She would never have accepted a party invitation, and the only person she was friendly enough to socialize with in the neighborhood so far, was Sandy.

Should she yell?

For some reason, she seemed to be having trouble forming coherent words.

Should she run?

Where was her cell phone?

It wasn't in her...wait...where was her purse? She never left the house without her purse!

"Where am I?" she finally asked.

Luckily, the words came out right.

But the bald-headed man with the hammer didn't answer.

It was so late!

Was the rest of her family here, somewhere?

What if they weren’t
?

What if she had been kidnapped
?

What if this guy was a rapist?

Where was her family?

They would be so worried!

Byron had probably called the police by now. And what about poor
Brookie...and who would feed Tippy....and how would she ever finish her children's book....and who would cook dinner and clean out the litter box.....

Did the bald headed guy mean to kill her? And if so...why?

"What time is it?” she asked.

Again, there was no response.

Then she tried again. "Who are you? Are you a contractor? Why are you holding that hammer that way?"

Daniella felt awash in panic.

This was like some kind of nightmare!

Maybe it was a nightmare...

That's when the bald headed guy said, "Damn. Time to go."

He swung away from her and flung open the door of the shed.
Then h
e kicked something out of his way and came out hugging a young girl who had her head down and was whimpering. The girl was wearing a frilly nightie, short shorts, and no shoes.

Was this guy a pedophile and he was afraid Daniella would rat him out?

But what was she doing out here in the first place?

She watched them scurry off as though they were afraid of her.

"Waaaaaa..." Daniella said.

Oh no! The words weren't coming out right again!

"I HEAR HER! SHE'S STILL ALIVE!" Daniella heard the young girl scream.

"It's okay. She'll be dead soon," the bald guy assured the girl.

"
Dead
?" Daniella managed to croak.

She probably looked terrible!

Was that why they said that? Did she look
that bad
?

And if they thought she was sick, why weren't they calling an ambulance?

Where was her purse? She never went anywhere without her purse. Her cellphone...

Something was buzzing in her pocket. Her cellphone!

Daniella took the phone out of her pocket. There were a million calls from Byron....more calls from Byron's Mom.....a call from Sandy.....

Then Daniella saw a snake coming towards her. A glow-in-the-
dark snake? Like those glow-in-the-dark lizards they sell at The Rainforest Café... only giant-sized...

Would she ever be able to go to The Rainforest Cafe again?

Only, wait. This wasn't a snake. This was a giant garden hose with a
green rubber head like a snake.

Oh no! More hallucinations!

Daniella dropped the cell phone onto the ground.

The snake wrapped its long glowing sinuous body around Daniella's legs.
She couldn't move. She
struggled to break free. She wanted those people to stop being afraid of her.

She needed their help.

She tried to get their attention.

"HELLLLLL..."

She screamed. But they didn't stop. What a terrible nightmare...needing help and nobody around to give it to you.

She would call 9-1-1.

Yes! That's what she would do
.

But as soon as Daniella looked down, the ground beneath her turned into a giant bowl of spaghetti.

The strands of spaghetti wrapped themselves around her ankles in a sinister way.

Who ever thought spaghetti could be so scary?
Daniella used to love spaghetti. Or "sgetti" as Brooklyn
always called it.

The strands of spaghetti tickled her bare feet and ankles.

Danielle giggled.

But it didn't come out sounding
like a giggle. It sounded more like a
snarl. A beast,
snarling...

Who would feed the cat
?

Brookie needs her mommy
!

Suddenly the tomato sauce in the spaghetti turned to blood. How did she know? Because it was thicker and darker....with bits of flesh and brain matter mixed in....and a finger tip there, and an eyeball over there...

Daniella felt hungry again. So hungry.

The bloody spaghetti suddenly disappeared, and she saw someone else.