Part IV: Cataclysm, Year -5

Part IV: Cataclysm

Year -5

Sydd is on the bus next to Rob after school. “I f*****g hate school.” Sydd says.

“Me too.” Rob says.

“Education is important, guys.” Marissa, who’s sitting behind them, says.

“They want to be stupid, that’s their prerogative.” Kelly says.

“What the f**k ever, I don’t give a s**t.” Sydd says. The bus stops at Sydd’s stop and Marissa gets off with Sydd. “What are you doing?”

“I’m scared, Sydd. You’re not the same person I used to know. I wanna talk to you.”

“There’s nothing to talk about.”

“Yes there is. Sydd, you’ve become distant, verbally abusive, and you never seem to be in touch with reality anymore. Are you on drugs?”

“Why do you give a s**t anyway? Why aren’t you yelling at Rob?”

“Because you used to be nice and friendly. Rob was always… vulgar. I’ve noticed you both have changed. But I’m more concerned about you because-“

“Because why?” They reach Sydd’s house and go in.

“Because… because I like you, ok?”

“That’s cool.”

“What does that mean?”

“I dunno. It’s just… whatever.”

“JUST WHATEVER? What the hell does that mean?” He shrugs. “Do you not give a s**t?”

“Honestly, no. So, are you done here? It’s kinda my house, ya know. Besides I wouldn’t go out with a fat slob like you anyway.”

“YOU SON OF A B***H!” she storms out of the house, crying. Sydd waits till she leaves, takes out a bottle of vodka from the cabinet and a shot glass. He pours and drinks four shots, rinses out the glass, and puts everything back. He goes upstairs and takes out his stash. He lays out a line of coke and snorts it, puts it away and smokes a bowl. He lies on his bed until Leon comes home.

“Hey bro.”

“Hey.”

“You alright?”

“Just a headache.”

“Oh. Mom said that you have to pick up Rayne from school.”

“But I picked her up yesterday and the day before.”

“Mom said.”

“Ugh, fine. Do you have a piece of gum? My mouth tastes horrible.”

“Yeah, sure.” Leon hands him a piece of gum out of his pocket and he puts it in his mouth, then he goes into the bathroom and puts in eye drops. He walks back into the room and sprays cologne on himself and heads downstairs and leaves the house. He walks over to the elementary school to wait for his sister. After about eight minutes, the school dismisses. Rayne walks up to him.

“I’m ready to go home now.” she says.  A white, short, fat girl with long, light brown hair and thick round glasses with a little girl approaches Sydd.

“Hi Sydd.” she says.

“Do I know you?”

“My name is Carissa, I’m a Senior this year.”

“Come on, I wanna go home!” Rayne whines.

“Hold on.” Sydd says.

“I was wondering, maybe you’d like to go out sometime.” she asks shyly.

“I guess, but where is this coming from?”

“Well, um, I see you around and um, you seem so quiet all the time and I see you only talk to your friends and nobody else, and um, I kinda think you’re cute and mysterious, and um, I’d like to get to know you.”

“You sure? I don’t think you can handle me.”

“Um, well if you don’t want to-“

“No, no its ok, we’ll go out.”

“Ok, um, I’ll see you at school then.”

“Whatever.” She walks away and Sydd takes Rayne home. They get inside the house.

“You could have been nicer to her Sydd.” Rayne says.

“You’re nine. What do you know about relationships and dating and all that stuff?”

“Nothing, but you were mean.”

“Whatever.”

“Is that all you know how to say?”

“Just shut up and do your homework.”

“DON’T TELL ME TO SHUT UP! Mommy said to stop telling me to shut up!”

“JUST GO DO YOUR F*****G HOMEWORK ALREADY!” Rayne starts to cry and grabs her backpack and runs upstairs to her room and slams the door.

“What’s your problem?” Leon asks.

“Nothing. Nothing is my problem.”

“Could have fooled me. Did you take your medicine?”

“Yes.” he lies. Sydd goes back upstairs and lies on his bed and falls asleep. He is awoken a couple hours later with the lights flashing.

“GET THE F**K OUT OF BED!” he hears Sydd senior scream.

“What? Huh?”

“I said, get the f**k out of bed!” He sits up.

“What’s up, dad?”

“You tell me. Apparently your sister has been crying since she got home. She said that you yelled and cursed at her.”

“I-I don’t remember.” he lies.

“Did you take your medicine?”

“Yeah.”

“Then it shouldn’t have happened. So either you took your medicine and yelled at her intentionally and remembered, but are lying to me, or you didn’t take your medicine which is why you didn’t remember it, again, lying.”

“Um-“

“I’m waiting.”

“Ok, I’m sorry I yelled at her, I just had a really bad day and she was getting on my nerves.”

“Go apologize to your sister. NOW!” So Sydd leaves his room and goes to Rayne’s room.

“I’m sorry I yelled and cursed at you.”

“You should be. It’s fine, it just hurt my feelings.”

“We good?”

“We’re good.” Sydd leaves her room and goes into his. He sits on his bed and watches tv with Leon and Lance.

“Everything ok?” Leon asks.

“Yeah, everything’s fine.”

“That’s good.”

“Yeah, can we watch something other than cartoons please?”

“No! My cartoons!” Lance says.

“It’s alright, bro, dinner will be done soon.” Leon says.

“Alright, fine.” Sydd sighs. The next day, Sydd gets up late, so he gets dressed, grabs his stash and backpack, and bolts to the bus stop. The bus is just rounding the corner just as he arrives. He gets on and takes his usual spot next to Rob. “What’s up, bro?”

“Nothing.”

“Hey a*****e.” Kelly says behind him as she taps his shoulder. He turns around and notices Marissa staring out the window looking annoyed. “What’s your deal?”

“Huh?”

“Marissa told me what you said yesterday.”

“Wha-“

“And lemme just tell you, I hope you choke on a thousand dicks for all eternity when you go to Hell.”

“But-“

“Shut up, I’m done talking.” The bus stops at the school and they get off. Sydd and Rob go around the school. They both do a line of heroin each and go into the school. They go into the cafeteria and Sydd meets up with Carissa.

“Hi Sydd!”

“Hey Carissa.”

“How are you?”

“I’m doing ok, I guess.” He glances over her shoulder and looks at Marissa who is looking at him, then turns away.

“That’s good, hey, what are you doing after school?”

“I dunno.”

“Wanna go somewhere? There’s a new movie premiering tonight.”

“Sure. What time?”

“Five.”

“Yeah, sure.” The bell rings.

Meanwhile, Leon is waiting at the bus stop.

“It’s too early for this s**t.” Aaron says.

“Yeah it is.” John says. Leon approaches a girl with short, black hair.

“Mary?”

“What’s up, Leon?”

“I was wondering, you know, do you wanna go out?”

“What happened to Teri?”

“Oh, we broke up last year, it didn’t work out.”

“Sure.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, you’re cute.” He blushes. The bus pulls up, and they board and take their seats. Instead of taking a seat next to John like he usually does, Aaron takes a seat next to Charlotte.

“When did you two start going out?” Leon asks Aaron.

“Yesterday.”

“Oh, ok.” Leon says. “Well, me and Mary have started going out.”

“Awesome, dude.”

“Yeah.” After a little while, they arrive at school. They go in and they get their breakfast and sit down.

“So, you and Mary, huh?” Charlotte asks Leon.

“Uh, yeah. You and Aaron, huh?”

“Yeah, it’s great. We made out for fifteen minutes yesterday.”

“Yeah, our jaws started to hurt.” Aaron says, and they proceed to make out for a few seconds.

“Please, we’re eating!” Gabriella says.

“Sorry, we can’t help it.” Aaron laughs. The bell rings.  Later that day, they both come home from school. Leon brings Mary home, and as Sydd hears the door slam downstairs, he gets his stash quickly hidden and sprays cologne. Leon reaches the top of the stairs and gets a mouthful of settling cologne.

“Yuck! What the heck, bro?”

“Oh s**t, sorry dude.”

“Why’d you spray?”

“Makes the room smell better. Better to smell like cologne than a*s and foot.”

“Dude!”

“Oh, sorry, didn’t know you had a lady with you.”

“Uh, yeah, didn’t you notice she came into the room with me?”

“Sorry bro.”

“It’s alright. Mary, this is my older brother Sydd. Sydd, this is my girlfriend Mary.”

“Nice to meet you.” She says.

“Listen, I got a date with Cari, you sure you two will be fine until mom comes home?” Sydd says.

“What about Rayne and Lance? Don’t they need to be picked up from school?”

“Grandma’s picking them up and mom is picking them up when she gets home from work.”

“Oh, ok.” Sydd leaves the room and goes into the bathroom. He opens the medicine cabinet and takes a couple pills out of his dad’s medicine bottles, takes one and pockets the other, then he puts in a couple of eye drops and heads out of the house. Fifteen minutes later, he meets Carissa at the movie theater.

“Oh! You made it!” She says.

“Yeah, so what are we watching?”

“Phoenix.”

“Oh yeah? What’s it about?”

“A warrior who was supposedly killed during a battle and he comes back as ‘The Phoenix’ a super warrior who gets revenge on the people who supposedly killed him.”

“Seems interesting.”

“Great, let’s get our tickets and our seats.”

“Alright, sounds good.” So, they get their tickets, snacks, and take their seats. Five minutes into the movie, Sydd passes out, but Carissa is focused on the movie until the end. The theater wide cheering and clapping wakes Sydd up.

“Wasn’t that a great movie?”

“Huh, oh yeah, it was awesome.” They get up and leave the theater.

“Um, listen, I have to go right home, but I’ll see you tomorrow at school?”

“Oh, yeah. Bye.”

“Bye.” They both turn in separate directions and Sydd takes the other pill he had in his pocket and goes home. The next day, Sydd wakes up especially early, 6:30 in the morning. He grabs his stash and sneaks off into the basement and smokes a bowl and snorts a line of heroin. He jumps in the shower and gets dressed, and then he checks the time, 6:55. He sneaks back into the basement and smokes the rest of his pipe to top off his high. He leaves the house, and heads to the bus. He takes his usual spot next to Rob. “What’s up?”

“Feel like s**t; please tell me you’re holding.” He whispers.

“I gotcha bro.” Sydd whispers back.

“Good, I’m jonesing bad.”

“Hey.” Sydd hears behind him. He turns around and looks at Marissa.

“What’s up?”

“When we get to school I wanna talk to you.”

“Ok.”

“Why the hell are you talking to him?” Kelly asks Marissa.

“Because we need to sort this out.” Marissa answers back.

“Keep out of it Kelly.” Sydd says.

“Screw you Sydd, I’ll say what I want to who I want when I want.”

“B***h.” Sydd mutters. The bus stops at the school and they get off. Sydd waits until Marissa and Kelly go into the school, and he and Rob sneak off to their usual spot behind the school.

“Whatcha got?” Rob asks.

“Weed and horse.”

“Gimme gimme gimme!” Rob says greedily. Sydd packs the pipe and hands it to Rob and takes out two bags of heroin. Rob takes a hit and Sydd dumps the bag on his notebook and straightening the lines while they pass the pipe back and forth and as they take out their straws to snort their lines, Marissa and Kelly come around the corner. Sydd and Rob snort their lines and Sydd looks up and sees Marissa standing there, and Rob passes the pipe.

“Just getting some air, huh?” Marissa asks through tears. She starts to cry.

“I-I-“ Sydd stammers.

“So now I know what you guys do every day, drugs. Nice, I’ve been replaced by drugs. I came to talk to you, I was hoping we could talk and sort everything out but obviously, what is it you’re snorting there? Whatever it is, has replaced me.”

“Heroin.” Rob laughs.

“Dude!” Sydd says.

“So, I was replaced by heroin, and what is that? Pot? I’m glad our friendship means so much to you that you’d replace me with drugs.”

“Oh, s**t, you’re in trouble now!” Rob says.

“He’s not the only one in trouble Robert.” Marissa says.

“What?”

“Yeah, you’re as bad as he is, probably worse. Both of you are now dead to me.” Kelly says.

“Fine, f**k both you b*****s.” Rob says indifferently, flipping a double bird.

“YOU’RE AN A*****E ROBERT!” Marissa says.

“BLOW ME!”

“I’m so sorry Marissa I didn’t mean-“Sydd says.

“How long?” Marissa asks.

“Huh?”

“How long has this been going on??”

“Two years.” Sydd says as he hangs his head.

“Two years. Nice. I hope you’re happy with your life, I won’t be in it.”

“Please, I’m so sorry.”

“Secrets don’t make friends and friends don’t keep secrets Sydd. I’m disappointed in you, and I don’t know if I could ever forgive you.”

“Please don’t rat me out.”

“Oh, no, I won’t, you’re going to get yourself into trouble.”

“I’m sorr-“

“Shut up.”

“But-“

“No. Come on, Kelly, let’s go.”

“I’m not surprised by any of this.” Kelly says. The bell rings and they go inside.

“F**k this s**t, I can’t handle this anymore. I hate school, everyone’s being an a*****e, I’m sixteen, legally I can drop out.” Sydd says.

“Sounds like a good idea.” Rob says. They clean out their lockers, throw everything out and head out the door. “Good idea, Sydd.”

“F**k yeah, I don’t give a s**t anymore. Looks like it’s just me and you from now on.”

“Don’t worry, I always got your back from now on, no matter what.”

“Thanks, man.” They fist bump. A couple of days later, Sydd is passed out on his bed in the late afternoon when he wakes up to his bedroom door being burst open. His father grabs him by the hair and holds up the letter from the school.

“YOU F*****G DROPPED OUT OF SCHOOL?”

“Dad, I-“

“YOU F*****G IDIOT! What the hell do you expect to do with your life?”

“I-“

“I hope you get a job like, yesterday, because no son of mine will be a freeloading loser!” He lets go and leaves the room, slamming the door on his way out. After about ten minutes, Sydd does a line of heroin and a line of coke and lies on his bed while the rest of the family eats dinner. He hears the door open twenty minutes later and Moxxie enters the room.

“So, you dropped out of school.” She says with her arms crossed.

“Yeah…”

“Why?”

“I got fed up with everything, the environment, atmosphere, people, situations, I hate it all.”

“That’s a poor piss excuse, and I’ll tell you why. Life is going to be full of people, places and situations that you’re going to hate, and you can’t quit because it’s inevitable. I hope you know what you’re doing, I really do. You have two years to get your life together, if you don’t then I won’t hesitate to kick you the f**k out when you turn eighteen, because then you are technically an adult. You’re my son and I love you, and I’m giving you a chance, but if you do not listen to me you will find yourself in a world of emotional hurt.”

“Okay mom.”

“You have to promise me.”

“I promise.”

“If you break this promise, you’ll be sorry and so will I.”

“Ok.”

“Your timing is impeccable. Your dad wasn’t on his meds because he’s out.”

“Oh…”

“Yeah. Oh, and by the way, you’re going back to rehab, I know you’re back on drugs.” And she leaves. The next morning, Sydd picks up Rob at his house.

“Yo, what’s up, fellow free man?” Sydd says.

“Hey, hey, to celebrate, I stole a hundred from my mom’s purse; I’m treating us both to a re-up at Zakk’s, come on.”

“Sweet!” So, they walk over to Zakk’s house and knock on the door.

“Yo guys, aren’t you supposed to be in school?” Zakk asks.

“We quit.” Sydd says.

“Oh. Come on in.” So they go into the house. “What do you guys need?”

“Whaddya got?” Rob asks.

“Coke, horse, crystal, weed, shrooms, E, lucy, whatever man.”

“Ok, I want a twenty sac of weed, a hit of lucy, and…E.” Rob says.

“I’ll take three bags of horse, a twenty sac of weed, and…  2 g’s of coke.”

“Ok guys, that comes to… a hundred twenty.” Rob hands over the hundred. “You guys still owe me twenty bucks.” Sydd hands over twenty dollars. “Enjoy, boys.” Rob takes the hit of ecstasy and LSD at the same time and Sydd does a line of coke and heroin at the same time as well. After about twenty minutes, Rob runs outside and starts breaking car windows with nearby rocks and stealing whatever he could reach. Sydd decides to join him. Within ten minutes, a cop car pulls up. Rob is lying on the ground laughing hysterically and Sydd makes a run for it. The cop car doors fly open and one cop bolts out of the car and chases Sydd while his partner calmly walks over and arrests Rob. About halfway down the block, Sydd stumbles and falls and is tackled and arrested by the cop. Three hours later, as Sydd is sitting in the holding cell, his father walks into the police station and approaches the cell.

“Dad, can you bail me out?”

“No. You want to act like an adult, you’ll be treated like one. You’ll serve your sentence whether it be probation, juvie, or jail. So, go ahead, be a man. Have fun.” And he leaves. Sydd turns around, and sits next to Leo.

“What are you in for?”

“Shooting off my BB’s. You?” Leo, a tall, blonde, muscular kid says.

“Breaking s**t.”

“I like breaking s**t.” Rob comes over.

“I like breaking stuff too.”

“Hey, since we both like breaking stuff, maybe we can break out.”

“I see what you did there.”

“You’re both crazy.” Sydd says. “I can’t believe I’m in jail. I never thought I’d be in jail.”

“Oh, relax. It’ll be a light charge, it’s our first offense.” Rob says.

“Still.”

“Eh, you worry too much. Look, I’m here too, so you’re not alone in this.”

“It’s your fault I’m in here!”

“So? Wasn’t it fun?”

“Not really, you looked like you were having more fun than me.”

“I probably did.”

“I know I definitely had fun.” Leo says.

“See? This guy knows how to live. Why did you beat me up if we think so much alike?”

“Honestly, I had no idea. I think it’s because Samson started picking on Sydd and since you were his best friend and I was Samson’s best friend, I figured I was supposed to.”

“Why’d you stop?”

“It wasn’t satisfying enough anymore, I wanted more and if I would have taken it any further, I could’ve killed you if I wanted to. But see, I don’t want to actually hurt anybody, I don’t seek it out, but if something happens, it’s kind of just a bonus, ya know?”

“I know exactly what you mean, although I’d go big. Go big or go home.” Rob says with a demented smile.

“So, what, are you guys best friends now?” Sydd asks.

“What? No, no. It would never work out, I’m going to military school to finish out high school.” Leo says.

“Oh.” Rob says. “I’ll do a line in your memory then, pick something and I’ll dedicate it to your memory.”

“Uhh what?”

“Never mind.” An officer comes up to the cell.

“Mickowski, Leo.” The officer says.

“Yeah?” Leo says.

“Time for your hearing.”

“Finally! Later, losers.” He goes with the officer.

“Maybe I should stop.” Sydd says.

“What? Why?” Rob asks.

“Cause I’m in jail.”

“But just think about all the opportunities you could have to get high, wasted.”

“That’s true. Speaking of which, I’m coming down and I don’t feel so good.”

“Yeah, me too.” They both sit down hugging their knees on their chest, looking nauseous. “Don’t worry, once we’re back out, we’ll head straight to Zakk’s and we’ll feel much better.”

“Alright, that sounds good.” The next morning, they’re woken up to the banging of the bars.

“Come on, you’re first up today.” The cop tells them. They’re led to the courtroom where a bored looking, fat, bald judge is waiting for them.

“Sydd Xero, you’re being charged with petty theft and resisting arrest, how do you plead?”

“He pleads guilty, your honor.” The public defender says.

“Six months probation and 500 dollar fine. Next.” Rob switches with Sydd. “Robert Serfass, you’re charged with destruction of property and petty theft, how do you plead?”

“He pleads guilty, your honor.”

“Six months probation and 500 dollar fine. Next.” They’re escorted out of the courtroom and meet with their probation officers before they’re let go. They immediately go to Zakk’s.

“What happened yesterday?” Zakk asks.

“I don’t know, I need to get high.” Rob says.

“What do you want?”

“Horse. I’m not doing that again.”

“Yeah, I’ll take some too.” Sydd says.

“Where did you guys go yesterday?” Zakk asks.

“Got arrested.” Sydd answers.

“What? You didn’t say anything, did you?” He takes out his pocket knife.

“What? No, of course not, it’s not what we got arrested for.”

“Ok, good.” He puts it away.

“I’m so not looking forward to going home.”

“So don’t.”

“I have to.”

“Then put it off as long as possible.”

“Do you have anything you need to get rid of?” Rob asks.

“Can you flip this coke?”

“Probably.” Rob grabs it.

“Remember, flip it only, I expect the money back. You know what happens if you don’t.”

“Yeah, yeah.” He heads home. When he gets there, he catches his father mid snort on his way to his bedroom. “Watcha doin there, dad?”

“Uh, nothing. I was just uh-“

“It’s ok dad, I’m cool.”

“R-really?”

“Got some product if you’re interested.”

“Uhh, sure. Why not? Whatcha got?”

“Coke.”

“Good, I just ran out.”

“Cool, how much do you need?”

“Just a bit.”

“Wanna do a line together?”

“Sure, son.” Rob sets up two lines and they each do one.

“I’ll take an eight ball.”

“Here ya go.”

“Thanks, I hope I die.”

“Me too, dad. Me too.” He sells what he has and heads back to Zakk’s. “Done.”

“Very nice. You’re good at this, Rob. Maybe I’ll train you to replace me for when I inevitably die by cop.”

“That’d be cool..”

“Glorious. So, what do you want?”

“I wanna try angel dust.”

“No.”

“What? No? Why?”

“Because I know what you’re going to do when you’re on it.”

“What are you talking about?”

“As much as I enjoy people dying, knowing the fact that you don’t shut up when you’re on drugs isn’t worth the risk.”

“What the hell are you talking about? I haven’t tried it yet! How do you know what I’m going to do?”

“It’s the reason I don’t do it. You’ll end up killing someone. 100% chance if I give you a line.”

“What about me?” Sydd asks.

“I’m not taking the risk either way.”

“Come on, please?” Rob asks.

“Tell you what. I’m going to lock down the house. Then, I’m going to lock you both in the basement with a dead body for you to mutilate. How does that sound?”

“Count me out.” Sydd says. I’ll just trip on shrooms or something.”

“I’m down.” Rob says.

“Good. Before you go down, get naked.”

“What the f**k, homo!” Rob recoils.

“You dumb f**k. You’re easier to clean blood off of than clothes are. Come on, think!”

“Oh, yeah.”

“Alright, you ready?”

“Yeah. What do I have to work with?”

“Plenty of sharp stuff, swords, knives, chainsaw, axe, whatever man.” Rob does his line, strips, and runs downstairs. Zakk locks the door behind him. “Luckily there’s no windows or doors down there.” The sound of the chainsaw being started can be heard.

“I’ll take that acid now, I can’t stand that sound.”

“Aw, weak stomach?”

“Not at all, its more of a moral thing than anything else.”

“Oh, shut up and take this.” He hands him a tab. Sydd takes it and lays on the couch. He closes his eyes and drifts to the sound of the chainsaw. He imagines that the house is shaking. The shaking and the chainsaw stop. Hacking can be heard and to Sydd it sounds like it’s an echoing banging. Zakk gets up and unlocks the basement door.  “Are you done down there?”

“Yeah.” Rob answers back.

“Use the showers that are down there.”

“Oh, awesome!”

“You down?”

“Yeah, what a rush!”

“When you’re finished, come on up, we’ll have a snowy horse blunt.”

“Alright!”