"All Hail The King of Burgers"

“All Hail The King of Burgers”

By Cody Williams

 

1.

He didn’t know why he decided to pull over into the parking lot of the damn toyshop. He needed to stretch his legs. At least that’s what he tried to convince himself. He knew that wasn’t the truth though. He knew all too well. It was damn bobble head. That’s what it was. It caught his eye for some reason. He could see it staring at him through the front window of the toyshop.

            To be honest, it didn’t look like much. In fact, it looked like any damn toy that would be given away at the local Burger King joint. That’s whom it looked like too. The Burger King mascot in all of their damn commercials. He stepped out of the car, slammed the door shut, and walked over to the glass window where the toy was sitting on a white wooden shelf looking out. He bent down on his knees and took another look at it. It didn’t seem too interesting. The bobble head was made of plastic and looked exactly like the King from Burger King. It had a crooked smile that was carved into the face of the plastic toy.

            On top of the toy’s head was a golden crown with the Burger King logo printed on it and a brown beard covered the toy’s face. The toy was mounted onto a black stand.

            The man began to reach out and touch the glass in front of it when the sound of a ringing bell startled him and the front door of the store swung open. He quickly stood to his feet and placed his hand over his heart.

            “Sorry there sonny boy. I didn’t mean to scare you!” An old man said. His hair was white as a piece of paper and his skin was pale. The old man was slightly overweight, but not too bad. He was wearing a stained white t-shirt and a pair of overhauls. There was scent about him. It wasn’t body odor. Not really. It was more like the stench of gas or as if he was rotting. “The name is Keith. Keith Belmont. I own this here store.” The old man said as he extended his arm.

            “My name is Bill!” the man said, as he finally was able to catch his breath. Bill shook the old man’s hand and then turned his attention back to the bobble head in the window.

            “You seem to be really interested in that bobble head don’t you son?” Keith asked him. The old man reached into the front pocket of his overhauls and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. He put one into his mouth and lit it up.

            “Yeah. How much do you want for the damn thing?” Bill asked him as he stood up and reached into his back pocket and pulled out a black leather wallet with a Nike logo carved into it. The old man placed a hand over his face and looked at the toy as if he was in thought. They both were silent for a moment before the old man finally answered back.

            “I’ll tell you what sonny, give me a quarter and it’s all yours!” Keith said as he threw his cigarette down onto the clay dirt and stepped on it. Bill looked at him surprised.

            “A quarter? Are you sure?” Bill asked in disbelief.

            “Yeah. I’m going out of the business and I need to get rid of all the s**t I can.” Keith answered him.

            “Out of business? What for? Don’t you get any costars around here?” Bill asked.

            “Enough just to get by. Just enough to pay the bills and keep food on the table. No, no., that’s not it. It’s just…I’m old. I’m sick. I think it’s about time for me to pack up and move on!” Keith said. Bill put the wallet back into his back pants pocket and reached into his front pocket and pulled out a quarter.

            “Sick? What’s the matter old timer?” Bill asked the old man as he handed him the quarter.

            “Cancer. At least that’s what those a******s at the free clinic say. They say I’m too far-gone. So I decided to sell most of this s**t and move down to Florida and slowly die lying out on the beach. Have you ever been to Florida there Billy?” Keith said as he sat down on the ground. Bill shook his head and sat down beside him. “Yeah, well, me neither. I always wanted to go there though. I just never really got the chance.” Keith said as he reached into his front pocket and pulled a red hanky out. He blew his nose and then shoved the hanky back into the front pocket of his overhauls.

            “Tell me now Billy, you got kids?” The old man asked him.

            “Yeah. A son. His name is Steve.” Bill answered.

            “How old is little Steve?” Keith asked.

            “He just turned six last week!” Bill said.

            “Well, I bet your son will really get a kick out of that bobble head there.” Keith said.

            “Yeah. He collects them. He has a whole shelf above the head of his bed completely dedicated to them.” Bill answered. “How about you Keith? You have any kids? A family?” Bill asked.

            “No. I was married once. I lost her in a car crash many years ago. She was pregnant at the time. I guess I just never did find another. I thought I would never love again.” Keith answered as a tear began to roll down his face. The two men sat in silence until they both began to hear the roar of an engine come from down the road.

            “Two in one day. Wow. That’s almost unheard of.” The old man joked as he stumbled to his feet. It was an old Ford F-150 that was painted red but rusted out in several faces. The truck quickly pulled into the gravel driveway of the store thus kicking up dust, and parked. The driver side door swung open and man leaped out. The man was short and rather thin. He had a light beard growing on his face and his head was covered with long black hair that was tied up into a ponytail.

            “Can I help you their sonny boy?” Keith asked. The man pulled out a loaded 12-gage shotgun from out of the truck and pointed the barrel of it at the old man.

            “Shut the f**k up old timer! I’m not here to buy any of your s**t and a*s toys! I want your dough! So why don’t you and pretty boy over there lead the way inside, give me your damn cash, and maybe I’ll let you f*****g live!” The young man said. Bill began to make his way over to the young man to reason with him.

            “Take another step and I’ll blow your f*****g brains out! Okay?” The young man asked. Bill nodded and slowly stepped away.

            “Come on old timer! Go inside! Give me your f*****g cash!” The young man said. Keith did as he was told and slowly began to make his way towards the front door of the store. The old man slowly walked over to the cash register and looked up at the young man. “Well, what the f**k is you waiting for old man? Open the damn cash register!” The young man shouted. Keith obeyed and opened the cash register. The young man smiled and quickly reached in and grabbed all of the cash out of the register and quickly stuffed it into the front pockets of his black jeans. The young man smiled at the old timer and reached his hand out.

            “What?” Keith asked.

            “What do you mean what? Don’t be stupid you old b*****d! Give me whatever money you have in your pockets!” The young man shouted. Keith slowly reached into his pockets and pulled out a few stray one dollar bills, a single white button that had fallen off of his white shirt, and the quarter that Bill gave him for the bobble head. The young quickly snatched them from his hand and shoved them into his pants pockets and then looked over to Bill.

            “Alright pal! You’re next! Give me what you got!” The young man said. Bill nodded and reached into his back pants pocket, grabbed his wallet, and tossed it to the crook. “Is that it?” He asked. Bill nodded. The young man rolled his eyes and quickly walked over to him and grabbed him by the collar.

            “I don’t like it when people lie to me! Do you think I’m f*****g blind? I see the gold chain from a f*****g pocket watch! Give it to me!” The young man shouted.

            “No! No please! My father gave it to me just before he died last year! Please let me keep it!” Bill said. The man smiled and slowly started to back away.

            “Okay. It’s okay man! I completely get it! You old man gave it to you! I respect that!” The young man said. Bill smiled in relief.

            “That you so…” Bill started to say just before the young man fired the shotgun. Bill grabbed his abdomen where there were two bullet holes oozing with blood. He fell to his knees and then to the grown dead. The young man turned around and fired the shotgun once more at the old man. Two bullets from the chamber managed to piece his skull and blood began to ooze out. The man fell down to the floor and died.

            “You done good Charlie! You done good!” The young man said as he pulled the pocket watch from Bill’s jacket and shoved it into his pockets. He looked up and saw the bobble head staring at him. He walked over to it and with the stock of the gun, knocked the damn thing off of the shelf onto the floor. He smiled and walked out of the toy store.

 

2.

Charlie quickly got back into his red Ford F-150 and started it up. He put it into REVERSE and quickly backed out of the gravel driveway once again throwing dust into the air. Charlie put the car into DRIVE and then quickly drove away as the tires squealed against the asphalt.

            Charlie looked into the rear view mirror of the truck and saw nothing. There was nobody in sight. There was no way that anybody could pin it on him. He knew that.

            “They’ll probably never even notice that old fart is gone!” He said feeling oh so proudly. He sat in silence staring at the empty road in front of him until he saw something strange. “What the f**k?” He said as he quickly slammed on the breaks and came screeching to a halt. “It can’t be!” Charles said as he put the truck in PARK, opened up and driver side door, and stepped out of the truck. In between the two yellow lines in front of him was the Burger King bobble head that sat in the window seal of the toy store.

            Charlie slowly began to make his way towards the toy. The black base that the toy was once mounted on was gone. Charlie stopped suddenly. He could swear that it started to move. He stood still for a moment. One of the legs on the toy swung into the air and the toy began to walk and make its way over to Charlie.

            “What the f**k?” Charlie shouted. He stood there for a moment more. I mean, what can a damn bobble head do to you, right? The toy’s left arm began to move. I reached behind it and out of nowhere pulled out a small pocketknife. The toy stopped moving as it approached Charlie’s foot. The toy opened up the pocketknife and quickly lodged it into Charlie’s foot.

            “Agghh!” Charlie screamed as he fell to his knees and grabbed his foot. The bobble head began to crawl on Charlie. He shook himself trying to knock the toy off, but the bobble head hung on. The king managed to make its way onto Charlie’s shoulder. It slowly reached over and sank its teeth into Charlie’s ear and ripped it off. Blood began to spew from where his ear used to be a Charlie fell onto the pavement. The toy reached up and bit Charlie on the throat. Charlie’s body began to spasm and shake before finally it quit. Charlie was dead.

            “All hail the king!” The Burger King bobble head toy said as it slowly began to walk back to the abandoned toy store.

Copyright 2014 by Cody Williams
Courtesy of TRUE TERROR PUBLICATIONS
A division of TTP Entertainment

Author's Note

I've been working on completing a list for a upcoming short story collection. I don't know if this one will be included, but I think it is an interesting read. That for reading! Comments and reviews are welcome as always.

-CW

Reviews

[Dayran]

Its hard to get to the top and when we do we work very hard to stay there. That of course doesn't excuse us when we appear to be standing in the way of new experiences growing in the society around us. A good message to the fast food cos and to pave the way for greater value in nutrition. Nice ...

[Cody Williams]

Thanks for reading Dayran!

-CW

[Stephanie M]

I enjoyed reading your story. The title caught my eye.

[Cody Williams]

Thanks for the review!

-CW

[Sami Khalil]

A very sad ending to both but a good revenge on the crook. Excellent story with imagination. Hail the king of burgers...:)..........

[Cody Williams]

Thanks for reading Sami!

-CW

[Sami Khalil]

You are welcome. Now can you serve us some burgers...lol

[Sami Khalil]

Just kidding of-course. I like the Whoopers...:)....

[Cody Williams]

I like Hardee's quarter pound burger myself.

[Sami Khalil]

Hahaha. I will stop in TN one day and we will dine there. Lol
I do like Hardees too....:).....

[A Ghost of Myself]

It was (the) damn bobble head.

Don’t you get any (costars) around here? (customers)

two bullet holes? If he’s firing a shotgun at close proximity his abdomen would be pretty much obliterated, also shotguns are scatter guns.

This is an interesting story, Cody, there are grammar mistakes, but you’re getting better. This seems to remind me of a ‘tale’s from the crypt’ episode where a slavers doll came to life. Not the same story just brought it to mind.

[Cody Williams]

Thanks for reading Jack. I'll go back to this during rewrites and make some corrections.

read moreThanks for reading Jack. I'll go back to this during rewrites and make some corrections.

-CW

[NoelHC]

This has potential, but needs polishing. Your introductions have improved, descriptions are a little awkward and long winded at times. For example "pulled out a black leather wallet with a Nike logo carved into it. " could be "pulled out a black leather Nike wallet. We really don't even need the Nike.
I expect that you meant customers where you wrote costar.
The description of Bill's and Keith's shooting needs work. The "two bullet" holes in each of them, from a shotgun seems wrong. Shotgun wounds are a lot more destructive than that.

[ANTO]

CW, A Zen master might say - "Overuse of 'damn' stopping flow..." ;P

But I liked this and could see it again as a little Twilight Zone episode - I would've made the bobble heads face resemble the old man who was just murdered but hey... getting better mate.

[Cody Williams]

Thanks for reading Anto!

-CW

[Leslie Philibert]

Like this, although I have to admit I didn`t read it all, but I liked the way you introduce the character in the first paragraph, no explanations, just an emotional picture that says a lot about the character in an indirect way ( I hope this makes sense !), good job.

[Cody Williams]

Thanks for reading Leslie!

-CW