Part VI: Fault Lines, Year -3

Chapter VI: Fault Lines

Year -3

Brian/Zakk

 “Brian! There’s someone outside.” Zakk says as he’s sitting on the couch rolling a joint. Brian gets up off the chair and answers the door. A skinny, blonde girl with a baby carriage is outside.

“Zakk?” She asks. He lets her in.

“Oh, Laci, you made it! I, uh, didn’t know you’d brought your son.”

“It’s just until I get back on my feet.” She says.

“Fine, you got two days.”

“It’s all I need.” Two days later, the baby disappears and someone is with Laci instead.

“Who’s this?”

“My boyfriend Richard.” She gestures toward a small, Puerto Rican guy.

“’Ey buddy, don’t worry, I got a job so I’ll make sure to contribute. It’s gonna be great livin’ together, buddy!” He says in an unusually high pitched voice. He whispers, “If ya want, buddy, you can be generous and give us a drug or two, you can have Laci for a few hours or whatever, she’ll take it in the a*s and she swallows like a champ there, buddy.” She nods in agreement.

“I’ll do anything to contribute.” She says. They do nothing but freeload and she trades sexual favors with Rob, Zakk, Brian and Sydd for heroin and after about a week things sour.

“My horse supply is missing!” Zakk yells one day. He searches room to room until he busts down the locked bathroom door. He sees a few bags of heroin on the floor, some empty bags in the trash, bulging pockets on the clothes on the floor and Laci bent over in the tub and Richard snorting the heroin off her a*s.  “WHAT THE F**K?? Give me my s**t back and get the hell out of my house!” He gathers all the full bags and drags them both naked out into the street and slams and locks the door. He gathers their clothes and throws them in the big garbage can on the porch. He hears a knock so he peeks out the window to see a short, brown haired guy with a lip ring and a short, fat black haired girl. “Yo, I thought you were in jail, Chad!”

“Nope, got out thanks to her.” He gives her a kiss.

“Who is she?”

“Lori. She’s only fifteen, but she’s very mature for her age.”

“Dude, you’re like, twenty eight.”

“Ha ha, not for a couple more months.”

“Well, don’t start any s**t, or you’re out.”

“That’s cool.”

A few days later, Brian, Zakk, Rob, and Sydd are all smoking when there’s a knock at the door. Brian gets up and answers it to a small, shriveled looking man. “What do you want?” He asks.

“May I come in? I have something to tell you.” The man says.

“Now’s not really a good time, I have people over and I don’t want them asking questions.”

“Fine, I’ll make it brief. To summarize, my master sent me here to tell you that you are a ‘freakin’ genius’ and that he loves you, you promising tycoon.”

“Nothing I didn’t already know.”

“That would be all, sir.”

“Later, Brick.” Brian rejoins the others.

“Who was that? Sydd asks.

“Wrong number.”

“Oh, ok cool.”

They finish smoking and Sydd and Rob leave. Ten minutes later, there’s a knock at the door. Zakk gets up and answers it to a man, a crying woman, and a policeman behind them. “Can I help you?” He asks.

“Is my baby here? That awful man gave her this address. Please, I just want her home where she belongs.”

 “I’ll get him. Yo Chad!” Zakk yells up the stairs. Chad and Lori come downstairs and as they approach the living room, notice the people in the doorway and immediately make a run for it. They run through the kitchen, to the back porch, where they fall down the stairs into the backyard. The cop immediately arrest Charlie; Lori’s parents drive away with her.

There’s another knock on the door. “Who the f**k is it now?” He answers the door and sees Aaron standing there nervously.

“Um, are you Zakk?”

Zakk/Aaron

“Who’s asking?”

“Um, well, see, I tried weed the other day, and um, I heard you were the guy to go to.”

“Are you a snitch?”

“No, no, I swear!”

“Prove it and have a bowl with me.”

“Um, sure.” He walks in and sits down as Zakk packs a pipe puts a lighter on top and hands it to Aaron.

“Oh, I got my own, thanks.” Aaron pulls a lighter out of his pocket and lights the pipe. He coughs violently as he passes it back to Zakk.

“Where’d you get a lighter from? You’re how old?”

“Fifteen, started smoking last year.”

“Weed?”

“No, cigarettes.”

“Oh… how much you need?”

“Whatever twenty bucks’ll get me.” They finish smoking and after Aaron pays him, he puts a baggie together and hands it to him. “Hey, thanks!”

“No problem, lemme know if you ever need more or anything else.”

“Yeah, sure. No problem.”

“Wanna chill for a little? I got a couple people comin over and we’re gonna burn.”

“Hell yeah! When?”

“They should be on their-“ There is a knock on the door. Two girls, both short, one skinny with long, blonde hair and the other one fat with short black hair are standing there. Ashley! Suzie! You guys made it! This is my friend Aaron, and he’ll be joining our blaze session.”

“He looks pretty toasted to me already.” Ashley says.

“Yeah, but he’s only had weed.”

“What else would we smoke?”

“I put a little surprise in the blunt.”

“Ooh! Crystal or horse?”

“A little of both.”

“Let’s smoke this s**t!” So they light it up and smoke. By the end, Aaron is feeling lightheaded and he passes out on the floor. He wakes up after what seems like hours on the living room floor.

“You ok bud?” Zakk asks.

“Yeah… how long was I out for?”

“Bout half hour.”

“Oh s**t.” He stands up. “Listen, I gotta go, I was supposed to meet my buddy so we could smoke this about fifteen minutes ago.”

“Ok, remember to drop by.”

“Definitely.” So he regains his composure, still feeling buzzed, meets John at the park.

“Yo, you’re late.” John says.

Aaron/John

“Sorry dawg, things got a little crazy.”

“So? Did you bring it?”

“Did you bring the sheet of tinfoil?”

“Yeah.” So John takes the tinfoil out of his pocket and Aaron fashions it into a pipe. He takes out the bag of weed and packs the pipe. He passes the pipe, along with the lighter, to John. John lights it up and immediately starts coughing violently, eventually throwing up.

“Couldn’t handle your first hit, huh?”

“Shut up, ya dick!”

“Don’t call me a dick, n***a! Want another hit?” he asks as he takes another hit and passes it towards John.

“Yeah.” He takes another hit. They smoke until they are stoned and head down to the nearest fast food place. “I’m hungry. You?”

“Hell yeah, dawg, we got them munchies, son.” They walk in and up to the counter and talk to the guy behind it. “I’ll have… three cheeseburgers, medium fry, and a large soda.”

“Me too.” John says.

“That’s great and all, but, I’m just here to fix the sink. The cashier is down there.” The guy behind the counter says as he gestures towards the bright red uniform of the cashier a couple of feet away as opposed to his grey one.

“Oh…” Aaron says. So they go to the cashier and place their order again. After they eat they leave and step outside. Aaron lights up and starts to smoke a cigarette. “Dude!”

“What?”

“What a rush, dude!”

“Dude, that’s awesome!”

“Yeah, ya want one?”

“Nah, man.”

“Ok, this cigarette is harsh, it hurts anyway.” He puts it out on a nearby building and puts it back in the pack while coughing violently.

“So what do you wanna do?”

“Well, the afternoon is still early. Wanna see if Leon will smoke with us?”

“Yeah, sure. Why not?” So they head to Leon’s house and Moxxie lets them in. They go upstairs to find Leon in bed with Charlotte watching television.

John/Leon

“Hey guys, what’s up?” Leon asks.

“Brought a little something.” John says.

“Oh yeah?” What?”

“Weed, n***a!” Aaron says excitedly but hushed.

“Really? You’re going to offer me drugs after it destroyed my brother? Are you guys insane?”

“Dude, calm down, it’s just weed.”

“Yeah, and what if there’s something in it?”

“We already smoked some.” John says.

“I’ll try it. Babe, you comin’?”

“Yeah, sure.” She says. So they all head downstairs, Leon tells Moxxie that he’ll be back and they all leave the house. They all go into an alleyway and light up.

“So, how do you feel?” John says.

“I feel, I feel good.” Leon says.

“Yeah, I got it off this awesome dude, Zakk-“ Aaron starts.

“Zakk?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Dude, he’s the one who got my brother hooked on drugs. He gave my brother weed and I think it was laced with something, because my brother came home covered in puke.”

“Whoa dude, seriously?”

“Yeah, this doesn’t make me sick at all.”

“Maybe your brother was a p***y the first time he did it, like John over here, he puked his first time too.”

“Shut up, man.” John says.

“Nah, he’s a big guy, he woulda been able to handle it, plus he was flushed and real sickly looking.”

“Woah! Guys, I feel like I’m floating!” Charlotte says.

“Ok… well…back to what I was saying, this doesn’t have the same effect on us, so we should be good.”

“Ok, that’s good.” John says.

“Aaron?”

“What up, dawg?”

“Do me a favor.”

“Sure bro, anything.”

“Don’t buy from Zakk again. Find a new weed dealer, someone who only sells weed.”

“Gotcha bro.” Charlotte starts to twirl in place, and Leon notices something.

“Babe?”

“What?” she asks.

“What’s all over your arms? I didn’t notice before…” She rolls down her sleeves.

“Nothing. Don’t worry about it.”

“Alright, fine.”

“Yo Leon.” Aaron says.

“What?” Leon asks.

“Thanks for looking out, I didn’t know that was the dude who fucked up your brother.”

“Just make sure it’s good and won’t put us in a coma.”

“Yeah, yeah, I got you homie.”

“Yeah, I don’t wanna lose another brother to drugs.” Leon’s phone vibrates and he checks it. “Speaking of brothers, I gotta jet.”

“Why?”

“My brother showed up, he turned eighteen a couple of days ago, so my parents were expecting him. Let’s go, babe. Peace, guys.” He runs home as fast as he possibly can and arrives in the middle of a screaming match between Sydd and his parents.

Leon/Sydd

“…A F*****G JUNKIE, I WILL NOT HAVE IT IN MY HOUSE!” Sydd senior yells.

“Did you clean yourself up?” Moxxie asks.

“I-just-but-please-I-“

“Well?”

“Not completely, but-“

“Then get out.”

“NO!” Rayne comes downstairs with Lance.

“What’s going on?” she asks.

“Sydd!” Lance runs and hugs Sydd.

“See?” I can’t leave again.” Sydd says.

“Like that stopped you before.” Moxxie says.

“Mom, I-“

“Pack your things. You’re eighteen now and you failed. NOW!”

“But-“

“Listen to your mother, Sydd.” Sydd senior interjects as he stares at him directly in the eyes.

“Fine, whatever.” He heads upstairs and starts packing whatever clothes and necessities he didn’t have packed already. Leon comes upstairs while Sydd is packing. “This is bullshit.”

“Hey bro.” Leon says.

“What’s up?”

“What happened to you? You’re not the same brother I grew up with, you’re… different.”

“I don’t see how, I’m the same Sydd I’ve always been, you gonna lecture me too?”

“Yes. And no you’re not the same, you’ve become violent, distant, hardly anyone has seen you around anymore.”

“You sound like Marissa.”

“Yeah? You still talk to her?”

“No, she stopped being my friend because she didn’t like my lifestyle choice.”

“How’s that working out for you?”

“F**k her, I didn’t need that fat b***h anyway, Rob is my only true best friend, he stuck with me this whole time.”

“Dude, Rob helped destroy you, and you’re defending him?”

“Yes. Like I said, he’s my true best friend, so what if I do drugs? It helps me feel better. Since I’ve started using, I’ve had fewer attacks. By the way, Zakk told me Aaron was by today.”

“So?”

“So? So? Looks like you have a Rob of your own.”

“Shut the hell up! Aaron is nothing like Rob!”

“Coulda fooled me. He bought off Zakk and introduced you to weed, same as me.”

“Mine wasn’t tainted.”

“Neither was mine.”

“Bro, I’m telling you-“

“No, I don’t wanna hear it.”

“But-“

“Shut up, I’m outta here.” He gathers everything together and heads downstairs. “Well, I’m outta here.”

“Good.” Sydd senior says. Sydd stands on the porch and texts Rob telling him to meet him at his house. As he’s standing outside, Leon rushes out of the house. Sydd lights up a cigarette.

“Bro, c’mon, stop being such a dick.” Leon says.

“I’m not being a dick, everyone else is.”

“You clearly have a problem.”

“Know what? I’ll show you a problem.” He puts out the cigarette and pulls the pipe out of his pocket. He packs it and takes the first hit and passes it to Leon. Leon hesitates for a minute, then leans next to Sydd and takes the pipe and hits it. They smoke in silence for a few minutes and the pipe has nothing but ashes. “That’s pretty much cashed. Good burn session though, not bad for a novice, but then again, you’re my brother, so you’re like me, you took it like a champ.”

“I’m disappointed in you, I’ll never be like you. If no one else can take you down, I know I can, and I may have to someday.” He walks away and heads into the house. Rob pulls up in his parents’ truck and honks.

“Fine, whatever then.” He gathers his things and throws it in the car. They drive over to Zakk’s house. “You ready?”

“Yeah, I’m glad you thought of this, I don’t know why I didn’t think of it sooner.” Rob says.

“Yeah, usually you’re the mastermind when it comes to these things.”

“I kinda forgot I was eighteen, and therefore a legal adult.”

“I’m glad Zakk said we could live with him.”

“Me too, I didn’t think he would considering he’s so secretive.”

“Well, actually, I’m going to learn what he’s doing so I can take over when he dies and you might be too.”

“Wait, what?”

“it’s a condition of living there, we have to push and run.”

“You didn’t mention that!”

“I just did.”

“Whatever, it’s better than being homeless.”

“Hell yeah, my man.”

“Let’s party our nose off!”

Sydd/Rob

“Are you ready?”

“F**k yeah I am!” They unload the truck and bring everything into the house.

“Alright, you guys got the basement, Ron has the other room” Zakk says.

“Alright.” Sydd says. Rob and Sydd bring everything downstairs and get set up and settled. They go back upstairs where Zakk, and Brian are in the living room.

“Hey guys, wanna burn?” Zakk asks.

“Yeah, sure.” They respond. So, Zakk lights up the blunt and they all smoke.

“Oh hey.” Sydd says.

“What’s up?” Zakk responds.

“My brother said something about tainted weed.”

“What about it?”

“He said that the stuff he smoked was clean, but not the stuff that I smoked.”

“My bad, man. That was supposed to be for me, you weren’t supposed to get that bud.”

“Oh, s**t, seriously?”

“Yeah, I rolled it around in meth.”

“Really? What the f**k? I was a first timer at fourteen!”

“Eh, don’t worry about it, you’re high aren’t you? In fact, this blunt? The horse is running on the grass buddy.”

“Holy s**t! F**k…”

“Don’t worry about it, as long as I’m around, you’ll always be high.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“Aw, don’t look so glum. Think about it, you’re among friends, smokin’ some weed, nobody telling you what to do, you’re set.”

“Yeah, know what? You’re right, I’m just gonna sit back and chill.” So Sydd lies back on the couch and zones out. After a half an hour, he stumbles his way to his room and collapses on his bed. He wakes up the a few hours later to Rob waking him up.

“Yo, so I was looking through my stuff and I can’t find my bowl.” Rob says.

“Is it still in your pocket?”; Sydd asks. Rob checks his pocket.

“Haha, whoops, thanks. C’mon, Zakk has a blunt waiting.” So, they go to the living room where Zakk is waiting for them.

“Alright guys, got some stuff for you today.” Zakk says.

“What’s on the menu?” Sydd asks.

“Horse, coke, weed, lucy, and E.”

“Weed’s a given, right?” Rob asks.

“No duh.” He holds up the blunt.

“I’ll just take some horse and coke to go with it.”

“Sydd?”

“One of everything.” Sydd says.

“It was a choice list.”

“F**k it, I’mma do it all!”

“Your death sentence.” So Zakk takes out three bags of heroin and enough cocaine for the three of them along with a hit of LSD and an ecstasy pill. They do the lines of heroin and cocaine together, then smoke the blunt. After the blunt is put out, Sydd takes the pill and the hit of LSD at the same time.

“Wow! I’m tripping major balls right now!”

“Damn, you’re goin good!” Rob says.

“F**k yeah! I feel like a million bucks!”

“Holy s**t, I can’t believe you’re still standing!” Zakk says.

“He ain’t gonna last.” Brian says.

“Sure I will! Just you wat-“ Sydd instantly collapses and hits the floor hard.

“Sydd! Sydd!” Rob says.

“Eh, he’ll wake up eventually.” Zakk says.

“Damn, he overdosed! He needs a hospital!”

“Hospitals mean investigation. Investigation mean cops, and I ain’t going to jail, I told you that already.”

“So, we just leave him here?”

“Yeah, he’ll wake up eventually.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah, I did the same thing myself a few years ago.”

“Oh, ok.” So they leave Sydd and carry on with the rest of the day until he wakes up puking everywhere.

 “How are ya doin, there princess?”

“Oh, I feel like s**t.”

“Come on in on the bowl.”

“Alright. You want me to clean that up, or-?”

“Eh, you can get it later when you’re feeling better.”

“What happened?”

“You overdosed.”

“And you just left me there?”

“Yeah, I knew you’d come out of it.”

“And what if I didn’t? what if I died?”

“You’ll fit in the freezer.”

“That’s fucked.”

“That’s business.”

“So if I died, it wouldn’t matter?”

“No. Look, you have to understand something. I’m in a very dangerous business, and everyone is expendable. For every junkie that dies, two more will take their place. It doesn’t matter where the money’s coming from as long as it’s flowing.”

“Wow, what the f**k?”

“Just shut up and get high.” He passes him a line. Sydd does it.

“I guess I see your point, I just wish you weren’t so cold about it.”

“Too bad. Deal with it.”

“I’m going to bed, I feel like s**t.” Sydd heads downstairs. There’s a knock on the door. Zakk answers it and Carmella comes in.

Rob/Carmella

“Hey guys!” Carmella says.

“Hey babe.” Rob says.

“What are you guys up to?”

“Smoking a bowl.”

“You guys have anything fun yet?”

“Yeah, sorry.”

“Aw, damn.”

“Pretty sure this bowl has a garnish though.”

“Oh, ok.” She takes a couple of hits. “Oh, that’s nice. So how was your day, Robbie?”

“Oh, man you missed it. So, Zakk said me and Sydd could move in, right?”

“Oh, really, that’s awesome!”

“Babe, I’m not finished.”

“So, he said we could move in, right? So we pack the truck, and we get here. Sydd parties his a*s off, and then he overdosed! It was so freaking hilarious!” He starts laughing. “And then he- and then he just blew chunks everywhere, see it?” And he’s laughing even harder. Carmella, the higher she’s getting, finds the laughter contagious and starts laughing hard too. “Aaah, you shoulda seen it.” He laughed so hard he cried. “So, babe. How was school?”

“Ugh, it sucks. I hate it so much. I wish everyone at school was dead so I wouldn’t have to go anymore.”

“That can be arranged.” Zakk says.

“Huh?”

“Nothing.”

“Oh. Yeah, I wish I could stay with you forever, Robbie.” She says as she snuggles up next to him.

“I’d love to wipe out everyone at school.” Rob says. It’d show them, it’s all bullshit.” Rob says.

“Neat, I didn’t even have to look very far.” Zakk says.

“Huh?” Rob says.

“Are we doing this? Cause I’ve got all sorts of guns that you can use to wipe out large areas of your classmates, you might even get them all before the police finally kill you. Best part is, they won’t be able to trace them back to me because my fingerprints aren’t on them and they’re stolen, so whoever I stole them from will get in trouble. Just don’t mention you got them from me and you can have yourself a killing spree if you want. Personally, if it was me, I’d make sure I go down in a fury, all hopped up on drugs, shooting everything in sight and then taken down by a barrage of bullets from every direction to make sure I’m dead. I don’t want to be sniped in the head, its such a b***h way to go down. Come up to the attic, I’ll get you set up with a minigun or something. What’s your preference?”

“I- I was kidding, I’m not really going to shoot up the school no matter how much I really want to, I’m just not ready to die yet, but I like your thinking, I’d like to be taken down like that too.”

“Get your own thing.”

“Uh, ok- did you say minigun?”

“Yeah.”

“Can I see it?”

“Sure.” Zakk leads them up to a surprisingly spacious attic filled with nothing but boxes of guns, ammo, and bombs.

“Have you ever used any of this stuff?”

“Some of it. Of course, they’re not here.”

“Where are they?”

“Bottom of the ocean, you idiot. No evidence means no evidence.” He goes to the back of the room and finds it. “Over here. He takes out four pairs of rubber gloves from his pocket and puts on two and hands two to Rob. “You’re not holding it, Sydd. You don’t understand. But you can look at it, but don’t touch it.” He helps Rob with it and Rob gets tears in his eyes.

“I wanna kill something right now. Like a whale or something. Or a concert or sports game. Is it loaded?”

“No. You can squeeze the trigger if you want.” Rob presses the trigger and the miniguns barrel just spins.

“Oh, man. Take it off, take it off!”

“What’s the matter?” He helps Rob take it off.

“It’s a tease. I really want to kill something now.”
            “For real?”

“Yeah, I need to calm down.”

“Shoot?”

“Yo, yeah.” They all head downstairs. Zakk shoots Rob up with heroin. “Oh, yeah, there we go.” He slowly calms down as he sinks deep into the couch.

“You want anything?”

“Just a line of blow.”

“Alright.” He sets up and gives him a line. “Remember, don’t tell anyone anything. I know the minigun is cool, but it’s also illegal, just like everything else in this house. You know the penalty, don’t you?”

“We go through this every single time, yes.”

“Just making sure, I don’t want there to be any surprises. I hate surprises.”

“I got it, Zakk.”

“You have to understand, I have to get it. I trust Rob, but you not so much. I feel like you could be a snitch.”

“Dude, I swear, I’m not. I’ve been around as long as Rob, what makes me different?”
            “You’ve been to rehab.”

“Oh, that. Haha, I fed them a bullshit sob story, you’re good bro. Ratting you out would be ratting myself out and I ain’t doing that, no way.”

“Good, cause for a second there I thought I’d have to kill you. And I don’t really don’t want to do that especially since you and Rob are a great power duo like me and Brian. Did Rob tell you the little proposition?”

“Yeah.”

“You up for it?”’

“Sure.”

“We’re going to teach you guys everything we know.”