Ad-Hoc: Five
Dave
Irony my ass!
That sly asshole! I should have known! Who else would go to George’s bar and give girls free drinks?! Shit, I hope he hasn’t done anything bad to Karen. She’s so naïve and idiotic, she would probably even go into a big, white, windowless van if she were to be offered candy and ice cream.
And why was he in his English accent?! Was this one of his ways to con women and take them into his arms?! This was one of his ways to lure women into his house, then…well, you know what will happen. And I didn’t want that to happen to Karen, or any girl for that matter. I just wish Mr. C would put him down with a double dose shot. He’s not the pretty English boy you really think he is.
I watched Karen as she smiled at Johnny. He couldn’t stop but smile his sly smile at me. That shit-head—I’ve known him for so long; I already knew what he was thinking.
“Oh, Davey, can you help me with these drinks?” asked Karen. She took two in one hand and one in her other hand.
I took the two other mugs, one in each hand. Karen took Johnny’s hand and led him to the table as I was left behind holding all the beer mugs. I hate both of them
Johnny
This is so great, very great, superb great. It couldn’t get any better than this.
I didn’t know what made Davey so mad. Maybe my presence here or my presence that has pushed Dave’s presence away and forgotten was the reason.
Karen sat in the middle of us talking on about the movies that she’d just seen and then about her job as I in turn talked about the movies I’d seen and what my job was like.
“I can’t believe all you do is computer work! Doesn’t it ever get boring?” she asked.
“Um, yeah, sometimes,” I say.
“Well, I do the same thing generally. But my work gets fun! I can’t believe you get big pay for that. It isn’t fair.”
I didn’t answer. My pay is terrible. My money comes from my parents.
She sighed. “As much I like my job, I really like painting and freelance art better. It’s free!’
I laughed, “Yeah, it’d be nice to have your own hours and such.”
Dave growled maybe hoping that Karen would be able to hear but she didn’t.
She talked on again about how the whole animation process works. It was fascinating really, but not as fascinating as the look on Dave’s face. I hadn’t had this much fun since the last party I had gone to in L.A.
Then that guy, Kevin, came by and immediately Karen jumped right up from her seat.
“Kevin!” cried Karen. She took his hand and they both walked away talking to themselves. That left Dave and I alone. I tried to ignore him and drank a bit more of my beer. He turned back and forth furiously.
“Get a grip of yourself, man. It’s sad to see you like this,” I say laughing at him.
“Shut up!” he snapped.
Dave hadn’t changed. He’s always been this way, grouchy and hard. Even when we were children he’d snap at other kids. I was the only one who was ever willing to play around with him, tease him, annoy him. I was lucky to be alive today. Dave was a sad, sad child.
“Hey Mr. Nice-Guy?” asked Karen tapping my shoulder.
“Oh, yeah?” I asked turning over around the couch.
“Do you know Davey well?”
“No. Why do you ask?” I say casually.
“Well, he’s been glaring at you for a while,” she whispered into my ear. “Davey never does that.”
I looked over to Dave. He was trying to act normal taking quick glances at us making sure I wasn’t doing anything stupid.
“I don’t know,” I say. Maybe it was my English accent that made it seem so convincing. “Maybe your friend just has some sort of tic that he can’t control. He should get it checked.”
“You really think so? I’ve always thought there was some mental problem he had but I was never really sure. It’d make sense if he really was a sociopath,” she said thoughtfully.
I tried my best to hold in my laugh. Even she agreed with me. Dave truly was a sociopath, psycho, mental maniac—anything that dealt with mental deformities. Blame it on his childhood.
“Sorry if he’s bothering you. He wouldn’t know any better,” she said patting my shoulder.
I smiled. I was a genius. “Yeah, it’s okay. I’ll just talk him into liking me a bit more o’ somethin’—he doesn’t scare me.”
She smiled and went back to join her friends.
“Psychooo!” I tease.
“Shut up!”
Jackie
I hadn’t thought of all the oddities that would happen when I had invited Steven to stay with us.
I had probably thought it’d be like a normal—just an old friend moving in and joining our odd clan. I had even hoped and expected that Dave would accept Steven’s presence right away. But he rejected him outright. Karen did as I had expected and I had thought James would be a bit happier than he was at home.
I had thought that I would be happier with him here. But I wasn’t.
“So, have you planned out what you’re going to do?” I asked spinning my mug around the table. Circles of water were all over the table from the cold beers. This place should use coasters; this would ruin the wood tables.
“No,” he said plainly. He hadn’t drunk as much beer as I had expected. Maybe a few more mugs would fit his profile but he had drunk only all that was given to him: one.
“So you’re not sure what job you’ll take while you’re staying with us?” I asked.
“No.”
And I already knew what that meant. He was going to leave.
Why was I so worried for him to leave? After living out in the streets for four years without getting hurt or killed, I should have at least a little faith in him right?
“Why are you like this?” I asked mad all of a sudden. “You should be grateful! We’ve provided shelter and space for you! You should be happy!”
He looked over to me thru his long hair. “I don’t want to be here, remember?”
I glared at him and then said calmly, “If you don’t want to be here, you would’ve left us last night when we were asleep. You’d be out of the city now if you had.”
He glared at me and then drunk the rest of his beer. “You don’t know me anymore Jackie.”
“You don’t know me either, Steven,” I say starring at him straight in the eye.
“Then this conversation would be useless.” And he left the table.
Karen
We left the pub thru the back door. We stood in the alley between the two buildings. It was just like before. We’d always escape the nightlife go into the quiet life. That was what I had always wanted.
“So, how’s work?” I asked Kevin.
He smiled and leaned against the brick wall. “Alright. I heard it’s going well for you.”
I smiled blushing looking to the black street floor. “Yeah, it’s alright at work.”
“But it’s not at the bank.”
“Yeah—I mean no. It’s not good there.” My smile faded thinking of all the bad things that would come as all my belongings would be lost and then I’d be a Steven.
“It’s alright. You know we’re here, we’ll help,” he said taking my hand.
I smiled lightly and took his other hand. “I know.”
I took two steps closer to him holding his hands tightly.
“Kevin, are you happy?” I say without looking at him.
“Sometimes. Not everybody is always happy,” he said.
I stepped closer to him and laid my head on his shoulder. “Well…I’m always happy when I’m around you,” I say softly.
I felt his chest rise and his breath wisp a sigh. “Karen…” he whispered.
I took my arms around his waist and held him tightly. Tears rolled out of my eyes and ran down my nose and then onto Kevin’s shoulder.
“Karen…” he said putting one hand on my lower back. “I…I know that….”
I somehow knew what he was going to say, but being Karen, being myself, I tried to shut his words out. I tried to fake the truth. Lies, lies. They were always happier than truths.
“Karen…I-I’m sorry. But you know this had a long time passed us,” he said. He put his other hand behind his back on my hand and held my hand tightly. “We—”
“No!” I cry softly. “I don’t want to hear it!”
“That was before. Now is now. We just aren’t meant for each other,” he said anyways. He said without regret in his voice.
I had known long ago his feelings for me and then even longer ago his feelings for me. Before, it was truly love. It was apparent and visible, that love. But as time had passed, that little glow had faded. Like a dying fairy, it faded and it wasn’t apparent anymore.
But I didn’t let go. I held him tighter taking in all in before he would say it again. I couldn’t find happiness. I had lost my only urn of love.
Dave
“Wow, it’s really late guys. We should get going,” said Cath looking at her phone.
“Yeah, you’re right, we should,” said Jackie looking up at the pub’s clock on the wall.
Karen raised her arms up and yawned loud and childishly. “Yeah, I’m tired.”
It was almost twelve, tomorrow was a Sunday and the day after was Labor Day. We were all tired and a bit drunk.
We stood in front of the bar for a while talking, laughing. Karen leaned on Kevin’s shoulder the whole time, and it seemed that I was the only one who noticed. She’s still googly-eyed over him.
“So I guess you’re moving out tomorrow,” said Jackie to James.
“Yeah, it’s the most convenient way…Labor Day and whatnots.”
“Then we should get Stevie’s room ready!” cheered Karen.
I groaned and turned away from the circle. I didn’t like talking about that guy.
Johnny seemed to notice my shift. He starred at me for a while probably wondering why I was mad and wondering if it was him who was bothering me.
“Hey, guys,” I say interrupting Karen. She was babbling about a new room color and James was arguing why he couldn’t have a room color change. “I gotta take a piss, be back later.”
“Okay,” they said and continued their conversation.
“Don’t get your balls cut!” shouted Karen.
“Shut up!” I yelled back.
I went back into the bar where it was still a bit rowdy. People were drunk now and there were less people here now than before. I passed the bar and went to the back into the back but I didn’t go into the restroom.
I sighed and rubbed my temples, then took out my cigarette packet and lit one of the cigarettes. Taking deep whiffs I let the smoke choke me and rot my brain. I had nothing left to think about. Shit, I’m treating it like drugs, the shitty drugs.
“I never knew you smoked.”
I turned around and low and behold there was Johnny. He was genuinely surprised. He didn’t think I could bad things like this.
“Everybody knows you do,” I say turning back to the wall. This was what smokers do. They’re either starring into streets or at walls when they smoke. Usually I would count the number of bumps or the dirty spots.
He starred at me for a while still in surprise. Then he laughed and walked to my side, “Can I have one then?”
I took out my pack and squeezed one out. “You have a lighter right?”
“Always,” he said lighting the cigarette in his mouth. He took in a whiff and let out a puff.
“You should be ashamed of yourself,” he said sticking a hand in his pocket, the other holding his cigarette.
“Why? Smoking was never against my morals. I’m not a hypocrite if I smoke. Anybody can smoke,” I say.
“But you’re not the type. And not only that I’m sure you’ve signed some ‘Smoke-Free’ pledge at that school you teach. That’s hypocritical. You’re lying to your students.”
“No, I’ve never signed those things. I crossed my fingers when I wrote my name down when I was a child and I’ve never lied. They’ve never asked me.” I sounded cold and still. Like smoking was a natural habit for me, like I was born to smoke right out of my mother’s ass.
“You have. You were the high and noble kind, Dave. You were good and judging the rights and wrongs. Smoking isn’t your thing. Who’re you trying to impress now? That girl?” He proved a good point. Smoking isn’t my thing. I wasn’t born to smoke. I wasn’t a natural smoker.
“No…” I say slowly looking down to the wood flooring. “Stop…stops talking like you know me Dave. We haven’t seen each other in “years” from our last meet—which was only a month ago.”
“But I feel so close to you now! Like, you’re my BFFL! Man, that month—emotional! We had some serious bonding shit going there,” he said sarcastically.
I rolled my eyes and took in the cigarette again letting out a low puff of smoke.
He smiled and smoked his cigarette.
“So, what’re you doing here? And I mean here with Karen? I thought you’d be into better girls. And what’s with the accent?” I asked.
“You know why I use the accent,” he said as if it were an obvious question.
I was about to say something, but then he really was right. It was obvious, “Yeah you’re right,” I say shrugging. “Then Karen—why her and why here?”
He shrugged. “Just felt like it.”
“Felt like it? Johnny, your kind doesn’t feel. What is it? Why’d you want to ask me out on a date earlier? You looked drunk when I saw you.”
He moved uncomfortably sighing and then inhaling his cigarette again. “I do that a lot, you know. I was…I was just trying around.”
As disgusting and inappropriate as it sounded, it didn’t sound like the Johnny I knew. “’Trying around?’” I repeated. I took a step back and chuckled. “You’re kidding me. What’s going on? Why aren’t you out partying, or smoking a joint—whatever you people do? Why are you hanging around with Karen? Karen of all people! The worst person to get stuck with!” I say exasperated.
“Why do you hate her so much? She seems cool.”
“I thought you liked the hot type.”
He sighed and rubbed his temples. “Cool is cool too,” he explained.
“No, no, no. let me quote this—sixth grade in Mrs. Patterson’s science class: ‘Cool people are boring, it’s all about the hot ladies. Hot is the new cool’” I say replicating his “sly, cool” childhood sarcasm.
“I never said that!”
“Yeah. You did. I remember six-grade very well,” I assure him.
He sighed and rubbed his face. “Yeah, yeah, I know. Six-grade, six-grade. I know. But I didn’t say that! Cool is cool and hot is hot that’s all!”
“Whatever. Just tell me why you’re all of a sudden so messed up,” I say quickly moving that subject away.
“It’s just—just, just—you wouldn’t understand,” he groaned walking away.
“Hey! I just gave you a cigarette. You have to give me a decent reason,” I say grabbing his shoulder.
“What? Why should I?” he asked.
“I give you something you give me something back.”
He sighed and then walked back to his spot. “I made a promise.”
“To who?” I asked.
Promises? When promises ever come into this drama? Humans can’t keep the promise, swear the truth. Nothing but the Truth—no, it’s all lies. We can’t swear, even when our lives are on the line, especially when other’s lives are on the line. So many people divorce. What kind of promise is that? What promise can anyone hold?
“My parents,” he said.
“Mrs. Covington? What’d you promise to your mother?” This was news. The Covington’s rarely had a hold or even a grasp of their wild son. Johnny was the wild child of his family and a known disgrace (as I’ve heard through tabloids).
“No more parties,” he said plainly. He was a like a little boy again, miserable that he was grounded from what he loved most.
“Seriously?” I asked. “You’re serious. That’s all that you’re sad about?” He had to serious; no one can pout over that. He changed his whole personality just for that? No partying?
“I’m serious! You don’t know how boring it’s gotten since the parties ended! I found myself just drinking beer all day! I-I-I’ve become you!” he pointed.
“Me?” I asked astounded. “Me,” I say. “What’s wrong with me?”
“Well…you’re—you’re…boring,” he said slowly. “You don’t do anything. All you watch is infomercials, soap operas that you don’t even keep up with. Dave, you’re boring.”
Offended. Truly offended. And like any man, who takes insults seriously, I lunged back at him with my own verbal insults. “Me? Boring? You’re the one who’s the freaking man-whore! You have no life sniffin’ crack all your life! That’s why your parents are so ashamed of you!”
“Ashamed of me?” he cried offended as well. “You psycho! You’re messed up in the head! And you know it! You’re the one with no life! I bet you millions that you can’t even masturbate! At least I still talk to my parents! You left them!”
I was about to smack him in the face but then I thought better. “Fuck you!” was the best thing I could get out. I left the bar rushing quickly. That ass-hole.
Johnny
I found myself walking back and forth in the back room huffing and puffing. I growled at whoever walked in like a dragon protecting his lair. Pacing and trying to calm myself, I tripped.
“Fuck!” I hollered grabbing my head.
“That’s not a good word to say.”
I looked up to see Karen peering in thru the door. “What?”
“Did Dave make you mad? Sorry, he didn’t mean to,” she said apologizing for him. She shouldn’t have to because he really did mean it.
“You’re not going to talk to me anymore are you? Because of Davey,” she had a tone of sadness in her voice like a child. She didn’t even help me up.
I tried to get up but then I slipped again. “Damnit!”
“Here, let me help you,” she said pulling me up.
“Thanks,” I say. I quickly turned on my accent even though I didn’t really want to, now that everything in my body hurt.
“Sorry, I’ll go now,” she said leaving ht e small room.
“Wait!” I say quickly.
“You want to be friend with me again?” she cried prancing back.
“Um, no.”
“Oh,” she said. “You want money then.”
“No, no,” I say. “I just—just tell your friend Dave, there, that I’m sorry.”
“Oh, sure. Of course,” she said. “Then, um, I guess I’ll see you around.”
“Yeah, around,” I say.
She left the small stuffy room.
I rubbed my thigh that was probably bruising now. “Ow….”
Jackie
“We should go now,” said Cath looking at her watch. “It’s so late!”
“Aha, you’re right we should. I’ll see you tomorrow then right?” I say.
“Are you coming with us James?” asked Dave.
“Um…” he looked at Cath and then to us. “No, I’m gonna stay over at Cath’s tonight. I’ll come over tomorrow for my stuff.”
“Sure,” said Dave. “See ya.”
“See ya.”
Karen pranced over to Kevin who was halfway to his car. She said something to him that I couldn’t hear and then he responded. Her face was a bit sad for a moment and then she returned to us with her same smiley face. “Let’s go!”
“Bye bye, Kevin!” I shouted to him. He waved back and then went into his car. Karen still misses him, but he seems to have moved on.
We all piled into the car, Dave in the driver’s seat, Karen in the front passenger’s seat, and Steven and I side by side in the back seats.
The first few minutes of the ride were in silence, and then I started talking to Steven.
“You can sleep on James’ bed tonight. I’m pretty sure the sheets are clean.”
He looked to me in surprise. “They’re dirty?”
I smiled. “Maybe. Hey, Karen, when was the last time we changed his bed sheets?”
“Ahh…” she thought.
“Then I’ll stick with the couch,” he said.
It made me feel better now that Steven seemed at least a bit more opened up about living with us. I was sure that right now on his mind he wasn’t thinking of running away.
“Dave? Are you still mad at Steven?” I asked with a wide smile.
“Who?” he asked in his mean sarcastic way.
When we got home, Karen kicked off her heels and ran up the stairs slamming her bedroom door behind her.
“Karen?” I called.
“Don’t bother,” said Dave patting my shoulder. He went to turn on the living room lights and relaxed on his spot of the couch.
“What’s wrong?” asked Steven.
I sighed. “Maybe it’s Kevin again.” And I didn’t say anything more.
Dave was already asleep in his room. I could tell by his snores at night from which I could hear from my bedroom. Sometimes I could feel the vibrations on the floor boards since his room was right underneath mine.
I found it hard to sleep. I was used to Dave’s snoring and I could sleep right through it all the time. But Steven worried me. But why should I be worried? He could take care of himself. Steven was Steven; I shouldn’t worry about silly things like that. I shuffled in my bed turning back and forth through and through. But I never found the comfortable spot.
I sighed and got out of bed to get a drink.
As I walked down the stairs, I heard sounds of gun shooting from a T.V. I walked a little farther down the stairs crouched down, and peeked through the rails. Steven was watching a movie from a laptop.
“Steven?” I asked.
“Oh. You,” he said and then went back to watching his movie.
“Isn’t that Karen’s laptop?”
“Yeah, she told me I could watch her movies,” he said. “I never knew she downloaded so much.”
I smiled. “Yeah, she does a lot. Did she come down here and give it to you?”
“Yeah, she said she wanted to take a midnight bath and she found me here watching Adult Swim on T.V.”
“Oh,” I say. “What are you watching?”
“Um, Point Break. I haven’t watched it in a while,” he said and returned to the computer screen.
“I’m gonna get a cup of water. Do you mind if I watch with you?” I asked. “I can’t sleep.”
“Sure,” he said without even looking at me.
I quickly got my cup of water and sat on the couch next to Steven. It was a surf scene. Patrick Swayze was doing his moves while Keanu was still learning how to do it right.
After a couple of minutes I decided to break the movie night silence.
“Have you decided on what job you want now?” I asked.
He sighed and then looked down to his laps and then back to the computer screen. “Acting maybe. Karen told me I could be one of the voice actors at Pixar. Maybe mechanics, if I can find a job somewhere.”
“Am I bothering you about all that?” I asked.
He chuckled. “Yeah, a bit too much.”
“Oh, sorry,” I apologized.
“Yeah. It’s alright,” he said.
I looked around the tacky living room and then rubbed my fingers against the hard sofa. “Are you sure you want to sleep here?” I ask.
“I just got these sheets from the washer. I think we’re going to have to dry it out on the balcony,” I say carrying the soggy sheets and pillow cases.
“You don’t have to do this you know. I can sleep on the couch, I don’t mind,” he said.
“No, no, I’d be a terrible host if I made you do that. Come on, let’s hang these out.”
“Take that corner over there,” I say. “And then hang it over there.”
“Like this?” he asked.
“Yeah,” I say. The breeze was perfect; the sheets would dry in no time. “There, we can wait a while and we’ll be done. The wind is just right so it won’t be long.”
Steven sighed and looked out to the city. “Do you remember tenth grade?” he asked. “The end of tenth grade when Mark and Trevor and all the other seniors were graduating?”
“Yeah, of course,” I say.
“Remember the party?” he laughed.
I cracked up thinking about it. “Yes!” I say. “I remember that!”
“And, and when Dominic…” he couldn’t continue on. He was laughing too hard to say anything more.
“Yes! That was so messed up!” I laughed. Truthfully it was silly. Silly seeing us remembering the past again looking back at those memories. But it didn’t matter much to us. Those memories were ours, ours to remember, and ours to keep.
Johnny
I kicked the kitchen counter. And then I kicked it again. And two more times. I kicked again and again until a scratch mark was visible.
“Fuck!” I shouted. “That—that stupid asshole!”
I cursed a few more times and then kicked the kitchen counter again.
“Shit…” I moaned.
It wasn’t right. No. it wasn’t. I’m who I am. Not whatever Dave said. He doesn’t know me anymore. Just like before, he thought he knew everything and thought he was always right. But he wasn’t.
I was coming clean. I drank less—I hadn’t smoked drugs for weeks! I was going clean! Clean! Clean! Clean!
I kicked the counter again furiously until my foot hurt and then I stopped.
He didn’t understand what t felt like. What my life was like and others like me. He was right to call us our own race but wrong to think faultily of us. He didn’t know. He wishes he does, but he doesn’t and he probably never will.
I sighed and walked to the couch and slumped in. I downed another shot of tequila and then wished there was a bartender to fill up another shot for me. I gave up on the small cups and just drank the tequila by the bottle.
My phone vibrated in my pocket.
“Hello?” I asked.
“Ho, ho, ho! Johnny boy! You awake?” I wasn’t exactly sure who it was but the first person that came into my head was one of my friends Tom.
“Y-Yeah,” I say rubbing my eye trying to gain conscious of myself.
“Hey, we’re having a party here! And guess who’s in the house?” he taunted.
“Uhh…” I groaned. “I dunno….”
“Your ex! She asks for forgiveness—”
“Hey! No—Tom!” said Marissa…I think it’s Marissa…or was that Jessica?
“Come on over Johnny boy! The Sir Humphrey has brought some Speed and coke!”
“Ahh…I don’t think I can,” I say rubbing my head.
“What? Why?” he asked. “You know Sir Humphrey always has the best!”
“No, I-I-I just drank too much tequila here…and, and I…I’m so out of it,” I laughed on the phone.
“You have more booze over there? Shit! We’re coming over right now Johnny! Hey! Hey guys!” Tom started shouting and the background noise still continued to be loud.
“We’re coming over alright?”
“Yeah…whatever,” I say.
He hung up quickly.
I dropped my cell phone on my lap and fell asleep on the couch.
All I remember and recall that happened was everything that made a rated R movie; I starred as the main character.
The end.
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