Part V: Aftershock, Year -4

You'll notice that from here on out, the format and pov change randomly around.

Part V: Aftershock

Year -4

Sydd is sitting in the rehab center in his room. He looks at his roommate and says, “I hate it here!”

“Well, it’s not all bad…”

“Yes it is! I don’t have a f*****g problem!  It’s my birthday next week and I want to celebrate, but I can’t because I’m here. It’s going to be my last year as a minor and I wanna get annihilated! I’ve been in this place 5 times in the last two years, and it obviously hasn’t worked. The hell with it, I’m leaving again, this is bullshit.” He packs his bags and heads toward the doorway. He stops and turns around, looks at his roommate and says, “Rat me out and I’ll slit your f*****g throat.”

“Y-yes S-Sydd.” He sneaks out through the back and manages to leave via his usual escape route. He makes his way to Carissa’s house and knocks on the door. She answers it and stares at him.

“I thought you were in rehab?” she asks.

“I-uh, finished.”

“No you didn’t, you told me that the last two times you broke out.”

“Look, I-“

“Save it, I don’t wanna hear it. We’re through.”

“Fine whatever, see ya b***h.” and she slams the door in his face. He decides to walk home. When he gets there, he opens the door and as soon as he does, his parents are staring at him.

“What are you doing here?” Moxxie asks.

“I’m done.”

“Well, then, let’s see the certificate. How come we weren’t informed?”

“Uh-“

“You broke out again, didn’t you?” his father asks. Sydd doesn’t respond.

“One year left.” Moxxie says.

“You have two choices: either you go back to rehab willingly, or we’ll have the cops do it. Your choice.” Sydd sr. says.

“Alright, fine. I’ll go back.”

“I’ll drive you.” Moxxie says, so she takes him back to the rehab and waits until he’s inside before pulling away. Sydd immediately runs out and heads in the opposite direction and runs down the street as fast as he possibly can. He keeps darting in and out of things, trying to constantly hide. He finally slows down and finally reaches Rob’s house. He knocks on the door and Rob answers the door.

“What can I do for you, Sydd?”

“Listen, I broke out of rehab again and my parents won’t let me back home until I finish. Can I stay here with you for a little while till things cool down?”

“Yeah, sure man, whatever you need. My parents won’t mind, they’re constantly drunk and high anyway.”

Sydd/Rob

“Thanks, man.” Sydd says.

“Sure, no problem. Hey, how bout since your birthday is coming up and you’re not in rehab, let’s make this a week-long adventure full of honeys, drugs, booze, and irresponsible fun, huh?”

“That sounds amazing.”

“Cool. To start things up, I have some horse, weed, and coke upstairs.”

“Aren’t you still on probation?”

“So are you.”

“Good point, let’s do this s**t!” So they go upstairs to Rob’s room and do lines and smoke. “Oh, I needed that!”

“Yeah, good s**t, good s**t. Here’s one bag of horse and a gram of weed for later.”

“ROBERT! What the fu-f**k is going on up there? Who- who’s up there?” Rob hears his mom yell from downstairs.

“Shut the f**k up, mom! It’s Sydd!”

“I hate you and your friends, you a*****e!”

“EAT S**T AND DIE!” he slams the door and his mom continues to yell. “Sorry you had to hear that, it’s like that around a lot here. Watch, later or tomorrow she’ll be super nice to me or us cause she’ll feel bad. Then, she’ll have a drink or ten, and be like this again. It’s a vicious cycle.”

“No wonder you hate like, everything.”

“It’s whatever. That, and I have multi personality disorder, we make too rich for welfare, too poor for regular insurance, so I don’t get medicated or get anything I need to help me. Heh, one time I woke up in my bed with a bloody knife in my pocket. I have no idea what happened or what I stabbed, but I- hold on, I still have it.” He goes to the dresser drawer and takes out the blood encrusted knife and rips off a sock.

“Dude, is that in with your clothes?”

“Yeah, I had to hide it from my mom so I just threw it in there.”  He takes the sock and another one off the floor and puts them on. “Oh, when you go to sleep, the only safe spot for you would be… over by the closet, it’s the largest available space. I don’t know if you noticed, but there’s moist patches in the rug that squish green when you step on them, so be careful where you step, I’ve pretty much mapped them all out by now, there’s seventeen spots, some small, some large, but yeah, that’s the biggest space without any patches.”

“Ugh, so, how come you guys don’t get that fixed?”

“Cause mom’s either collecting t***y money or getting completely wasted and dad is either working as a store assistant manager, or coke and hookers.”

“So which is it?”

“No, I mean they do both, gotta be sober for work, but not sober for me, see how that works?”

“How did you- how did you survive this long?”

“I dunno, when I was a kid, they were there that I can remember, but a little bit before I turned thirteen, things went to s**t. Both parents lost their jobs right before the economy collapsed. New people with degrees got the jobs first because they were more vibrant and youthful and had time on their hands, or, something not under your control costs you your job. Dad was a teacher for twenty years; he applied to be the principal and had finally earned his master’s.  Because I was a kid, I needed attention and as I got older, dad went to night school and finally earned his master’s. He was in the running to be considered when some young punk who had a Doctorate’s degree in education applied a week after he did and immediately got the job. Dad was so depressed, he got smashed and drove around and crashed into a mailbox. He was arrested for a DUI and lost his job teaching, because getting a DUI immediately gets your teaching license revoked. He was in depression for a year before he finally decided to get a job as a store clerk. Mom on the other hand, was a nurse and she was taking care of some old people. They were on the side of the building outside all having a cigarette, my mom, an aide, and an old person. There was a ramp out on the side of the building in case they needed to wheel someone outside. Well, the old person rolled backward down the ramp and picked up enough speed that she spun out, hit a couple of people on the sidewalk, reached the edge of the curb and fell out. Needless to say, no one would hire my mom after that.”

“Damn.”

“Yeah, I feel pissed off now, let’s go stretch our legs.” So they head downstairs and leave the house. Rob breaks into the nearest car and gets in. He gets underneath and hotwires it.

“I thought we were stretching our legs?”

“I’m too lazy. Get in.” Sydd gets into the car with him and he starts driving like a maniac, running into anything that wasn’t bolted to the ground. He activates the car lighter and passes it to Sydd. “Start burning s**t and throw it out the window.”

“But-“

“Just do it.” So Sydd grabs the nearest object off the floor and holds the lighter to it.

“It’s not-“

“Fine.” He takes his own lighter out of his pocket and hands it to Sydd. Sydd lights the object on fire and throws it out the window. It lands in a nearby patch of grass and immediately lights. “Oh s**t!” Rob slows down the car and bails out. He starts running and the car goes out of control. Sydd takes the wheel and crashes into a tree. Within seconds, the cops arrive. Rob starts running as he hears the sirens behind him. He heads to Zakk’s house, and bursts through the door and slams it and peeks out the window. “Good, they didn’t follow me.”

Rob/Carmella

“Yeah, Burgsov’s niece is here, yeah, I think she’s pretty much in, didn’t take much effort. I gotta go, I got someone here.” He hangs up the phone. “Who didn’t follow you?” Zakk asks.

“The cops, I can’t say the same for Sydd though.”

“Oh, s**t, they better not  follow you here, I’ll turn you right in, I ain’t going to jail, no way in hell. I would rather kill myself than go to jail.”

“Damn, seriously?”

“Hell yeah.” Rob looks out the window.

“I’m good.”

“Good. Rob, this is Carmella, she caught me selling weed to her mom and she asked if could try it. She said I was cute, but I told her I was too old for her. I told her I had a friend for her that’s closer to her age, I didn’t know I meant you.”

“Nice to meet you.”

“Uh, huh?” She says.

“She’s still a little too stoned, virgin blood ya know.” Zakk says.

“How old is she?”

“Just turned fourteen.”

“She is hot…”

“Give it a go, man. Take her upstairs.” So, he takes her upstairs.

“Hey.”

“Oh, you’re cute.” She says.

“Yeah… hold on a second.” He walks downstairs. “What did you give her?”

“We smoked and I gave her a hit of E.” Carmella is walking slowly downstairs and starts grinding on him as he stands on the stairs.

“Ooh, you’re so soft and warm!” She pulls him upstairs and he lets her drag him into the room. Half an hour later, Rob comes downstairs with Carmella in his arms.

“I think she likes me.”

“Have fun?” Zakk laughs.

“Yeah, yeah I did.”

“Take her home with ya, have some more fun, she’s still good for a couple of hours. I got work to do.”

“Alright.” So he and Carmella go back to Rob’s house and have sex until they pass out. The next day they wake up. “Mmm, how are you, Carmella?”

“I feel good, and you were good! It hurt at first, but everything was just so…”

“I know.”

“So um, how old are you?”

“Seventeen.”

“Oh! You must be the friend Zakk was talking about!”

“Yes, yes I am.”

“Let’s go out!”

“You like me that much already?”

“I thought, well, you know, since you took my virginity…”

“Oh! Sure! Why the hell not?”

“Ooh! My first boyfriend! We’re gonna be together forever!”

“Sure, why not?”

“Oh! I’m supposed to meet Charlotte at the mall in twenty minutes! I gotta go, I love you, text me.” And they exchange numbers.  Carmella runs out of the house and heads toward the mall. She texts Charlotte and finds her.

“You’re late.” Charlotte says. They start walking around.

Carmella/Charlotte

“Sorry, I was with my boyfriend.”

“You have a boyfriend? Spill it!”

“Ok, so I met this guy named Rob, and he’s an older guy!”

“How old!?”

“Seventeen.”

“Ohmigosh ohmigosh, a high school boy!”

“Yeah, I know, and next year, I’ll be a Freshman and he’ll be a Senior, it’ll be great!”

“Today, me and Leon are going on one month together!”

“Already? I thought he was with…oh yeah, Mary moved, right?”

“Yeah, right after she did, I asked him out, I was tired of Aaron anyway. So, how’d you meet Rob?”

“Oh, this cute guy came over my house and sold my mom some pot; weird, right? But I didn’t care, he had a sexy beard but said he was too old for me, but he had a friend who was perfect for me who was around my age. So, after my mom went to her room, I followed him and found out where he lived. So, I knocked on the door and he let me in and I hoped he was kidding when he said he was too old so I started flirting. Then, he gave me some pot and I smoked it, and took this weird pill, but the next thing I know, I’m upstairs with Rob and um…”

“You didn’t!”

“I did and it was great!”

“Why did you do the drugs?”

“I wanted to see what it was like, and I like it. I like it a lot.”

“Just promise me you’ll still be my friend.”

“Of course! BFF’s forever!”

“So, what’s it like?”

“What?”

“Any of it.”

“The pot was good, it makes your head spin a bit, it feels weird, but I like it and sex hurts the first time.”

“Oh…”

“Yeah. Ooh, look at that skirt, Charlotte, oh, I don’t have enough for it!”

“Oh, I’ll have money for it, but not until tomorrow.”

“Aw man, that sucks.” Carmella’s phone vibrates. “Ooh!” she writes back.

“Come on, I wanna go, I’m hungry and the food court is right down on the other end, across from us.” They start walking again, but Carmella is blindly walking, bumping into several people in the process. “Pay attention, Carmella!”

“Sorry, he just sent me something.” They reach the food court.

“I want a sandwich and soda please, and she’ll have… Carmella!” Carmella is standing a couple of kiosks down, texting. “Forget it, just take my order.” She takes her seat and sits down. She’s about to eat when Carmella joins her.

“Aww, you got food already? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Seriously?? Ya know what? I’m not hungry anymore.”

“Can I have it?”

“Sure.” And she forcibly pushes the tray across the table.

“Hey, thanks.” Carmella spends the entire time texting and barely eating. Fifteen minutes later, Charlotte gets fed up.

“C’mon, we’re going home.”

“Um, ok.” They head out of the mall and start walking until Carmella breaks off from her down the street, still texting and bumping into people. Charlotte keeps going her way, texting Leon as well, but paying more attention to her surroundings. She finally reaches Leon’s house and knocks on the door. Moxxie answers it and lets her in. She walks upstairs and walks into Leon’s room.

“What’s up baby?” Leon asks.

Charlotte/Leon

“Oh, nothing, just went to the mall with Carmella, she has a new boyfriend, and they’ve only been together two days.”

“Oh yeah? Who?”

“Some guy named Rob, he’s your brother’s age.”

“Oh, he’s heavy into drugs like my brother.”

“Yeah, she told me she did some too.”

“Charlotte, I hate to tell you but the way it sounds, you might lose her to the drugs.”

“Look, I thought of that too, but she promised me we’ll be best friends forever.”

“Ok, that’s good. C’mon, lay down with me, watch some tv with me.”

“Alright, happy one month anniversary babe.”

“You too, babe.” So, they watch tv for a couple hours. “Hey babe?”

“What?”

“C’mon, let’s go hang out with Gabby, she just messaged me.”

“Alright.” She says as she rolls her eyes.  So, they head down to the park and meet up with her.

“Hi Leon!” Gabriella says enthusiastically.

“Hi Gabby.” Leon says back.

“So, uh, what are we doing here?” Charlotte says.

“I wanna hang out with you guys, you’re always in hiding nowadays.”

“So? Leon loves me more than he loves you, that’s why.”

“Shut up Charlotte.” Leon says.

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me, there’s no reason to be so mean.”

“Oh, hey Leon, I heard this song and it reminded me of you.” Gabriella says. She plays the song and afterward she asks, “Did you like it?”

“Yeah! Yeah, that was a pretty cool song.”

“I knew you’d love it.” Leon takes the earbud out. Charlotte is staring at him with her arms crossed, a couple of feet away.

Charlotte walks up to them. “Leon, can I talk to you?”

“Yeah sure.”

“Privately?”

“What?”

“Why do you hang around her?”

“Cause she’s my friend…”

“Yeah well, I don’t like her.”

“But-“

“Listen, we’ve been going out for like a month, so you should definitely stay away from her if you know what’s good for you. I don’t trust her at all.”

“But she’s my-“

“Look, if you don’t wanna lose me, then stop talking to her, don’t even look at her.”

“That’s a little harsh.”

“Look, just take me home, ok?”

“But-“

“NOW!”

“I’ll see you later!” Leon calls to her as she’s waves slowly, looking back at him. He walks Charlotte home and drops her off and then walks home.

Leon

“Whew!” Leon says as he opens the door and walks in.

“Everything ok?” Moxxie asks.

“What? Yeah, everything’s fine.”

“Dinner’s in the microwave.”

“Ok mom.” He heats up his food and takes it upstairs.  He settles in and finally at the end of the night, goes to sleep. He wakes up in the middle of the night to his phone vibrating. He checks it and sees that it’s Charlotte.

‘I can’t sleep. Keep me company.’

‘How do you want me to do that? I’m all the way over here.’

‘Just text me till I fall asleep’.  So he texts her until he falls back to sleep again. He wakes up a few hours later to angry texts from Charlotte for falling asleep on him. He throws his phone across the room. Lance, watching tv sees this and walks across the room and brings Leon his phone back.

“Thanks, Lance.”

“Welcome.” Lance says back. He gets up, sends a few messages, gets dressed and leaves the house. He meets up with Aaron and John.

“What’s up, guys?”

“Yo, what up n***a?” Aaron says.

“What’s up man?” John says.

“Nothing.”

“How are you and Charlotte doing, homie?” Aaron asks.

“I don’t know, she gets mad over the stupidest s**t, but other than that, we’re good.”

“Stupid s**t? Like what?”

“Oh, you know, talking to other girls, falling asleep while I’m texting her, you know, stupid s**t.”

“Hear anything about your brother?”

“Last I heard, he was in rehab.”

“Damn, n***a, what happened? He used to be so cool, now he’s like, fucked up.”

“I blame Rob. Speaking of which, you know he’s dating Carmella?”

“What? No way!”

“And she’s already tried and likes drugs, but she told Charlotte that they’ll still be best friends. Speaking of which, he may know where my brother actually is, because I doubt he’s at rehab. He’s broken out too many times.” So the three of them stop by Rob’s house and Carmella answers the door. “Rob home?”

“Wha-?” Carmella answers, messed up on drugs. Rob comes down the stairs.

“I got this babe. What do you guys want?”

“Do you know where my brother is?.” Leon says.

“Oh, he’s in jail again. Charged for stealing a car and lighting some grass on fire, violating probation, drugs, and other stuff.”

“Shouldn’t he be in rehab?”

“Ha, no.”

“Well, thanks.” They leave the house. “So, he’s in jail again. Great.”

“Sorry to hear that bro.” Aaron says.

“C’mon, let’s go back to my place and play some video games, get your mind off of it.” John says.

“Alright, let’s go.” Leon says, and they all head over to John’s house.

Brian/Zakk/Burgsov/Don

“Are you sure about this?” Zakk asks.

“Yeah, dude. Business is booming, the demand is growing and we need more supplies, I’m sure they’ll be down for it.” Brian says.

“But did we really have to have the meeting here?”

“I’m sprinkling a little bit of incentive toward their way, and I’d rather not be in public.”

“Alright, but you’ve got balls inviting them both over.”

“I figure, if I’m telling the boss, we might as well have Don here too considering he’s got territory too. And my plan involves his territory anyway. Look, I asked them both, and they’re both fine with talking with me together.”

“Alright, the last thing we need is a blood bath.”

“Oh, you’ve got nothing to worry about. We’re all partners, remember?”

“Whatever.” There’s a knock on the door. Brian answers it to Burgsov standing there.

“Carlos, good to see you.”

“Good to see chu too.” Burgsov says.

“Have a seat, Don should be here soon.”

“This must be a big idea for chu, eh?”

“I’ve got pictures and maps, too.”

“Oh?”

“I have a business idea for you guys.”

“Chu mentioned.”

“Can I get you anything while we wait?”

“Surprise me.” There’s another knock at the door. And there is a tall, fat, man with slightly balding hair, and a heavy New York accent.

“’Ey, what’s the special occasion?” Don says.

“Big Don, welcome. Have a seat. Can I get you anything?” Brian asks.

“A big, fat line of your best stuff, preferably on the whiter side.”

“No problem.”

“So what’s so important you gotta drag our aysses down ‘ere?”

“Alright, so. Business is booming, and we’re having trouble keeping up with demand, so…” He brings out maps of the city. “Ok, here’s Don’s territory, here’s Burgsov, here’s us. If we set up meth labs, here, here, and here. Drug labs, here and here. That’s where we’ll put party packs together too. We’ll make tradeoffs there as well.”

“Tradeoff?”

“Yeah, see. You rich people live up here, where the remains of the mountains are, before it turns into this mining pit here. You grow the grass in the mountains, it’s hiding in plain sight, get some crops growin there, and we should have a nice circulation throughout the city here. You guys can decide where to put your trap houses, me and Zakk are taking these properties here.”

“You sure this is gonna work?”

“Definitely.”

“I dunno, I heard that’s a hot spot.”

“Fine, we’ll find a better place. Are you on board or not?”

“I’m not sure.”

“Look, if we all hire people to run these places and put them under Zakk’s death contract. If anyone talks, they’re dead.”

“What if the news doesn’t reach us in time?”

“Don’t worry, it’ll be fine, We’ve got eyes and ears all over the place, we’ll know in an instant if anyone talks.”

“This could end horribly. This is a huge chance we’re takin’ ‘ere. It also means we’re going to have to move things around.”

“Alright, how about you guys take a day to think about it, and call me tomorrow with your answer.”

“A’ight.” Don stands up. “I’m heading out, I’ll keep it in mind.”

“Parting gift?”

“Sure.” He snorts a line and heads out the door.

“Boss?”

“Chu have a lot of balls inviting the boss here. This idea of yours better work the way its supposed to, or I’ll have both of your heads.”

“Wait, Don is your boss? I thought you were rivals?”

“Technically we’re partners, but I am silent. He’s the face, he’s the one handling the money, he pays the law to get off our backs. He runs the operation, I’m the ears and eyes of the street. He doesn’t like to be bothered, so I hope for your sake you didn’t just waste his time.”

“So… is that a yes?”

“I’ll think about it too.”

“Alright, fine.” He offers him a line too and he takes it. He leaves, closing the door behind him.

“Wow, they’re actually considering.” Zakk says.

“See? I told you. Watch, we’re going to end up owning the city when these two die. Then I can take half, and you can have half.” Brian says.

“When they die?”

“Yeah, down the line. They’re already middle aged now so it shouldn’t be too long, maybe ten, fifteen years. Twenty tops if not sooner considering their line of work.”

“Sounds like a lot of effort and waiting.”

“It’ll be totally worth it.”

“We need a contingency plan.”

“A what?”

“In case we’re ever busted.”

“I’m killing myself. I am not going to jail. I’ll try to take some with me though, I ain’t going out like a b***h.”

“You’d seriously die before going to jail?”

“Once I go in, I ain’t coming out, I’d die in that cell anyway. Not living that hell.”

“I gotta be honest with you, I don’t wanna end up in jail either.”

“Cool, we’ll kill ourselves together. Or- or we could do a murder suicide if we cant get it to happen at the same time.”

“Uh, no thanks.”

“P***y.”

“Shut the f**k up.”

“Fine. What’s your plan?”

“I- I’ll think of something.”

“You’re talking about contingency plans and you don’t even have one. That’s rich!”

“At least I’m not ending it all. Bit extreme, don’t you think?”

“Not at all. It’s the only solution that makes sense to me.”

“And you’re ok with death? You know there’s no coming back, right?”

“Exactly. All of my problems will be over and I won’t have to worry about anything else ever again cause I’m dead.”

“S**t, man. I think I’m gonna go for a walk, later.” He does a line real quick and heads out the door.

“Later, man.”