If at
First
A Story by Leus
Episode Two:
Power
“This
morning, I grabbed my shades and walked to school. I met up with Jimmy and
talked about the party at Scheuch’s. I met Fauna in class and flirted with
her. I called Jimmy and told him to bring his own car, and then I hitched a
ride with Jimmy to Scheuch’s place.
“At the party, I got less intoxicated. I kept the dream to myself,
and I went to the beach—which was my idea this time. There I met up with Fauna
and got a great blowjob. I returned the favor, of course, as I am a giver as
well.
“Directly afterwards, I met up with the young guy with the slicked
back hair. I went to their place, told them that I had the Mark of Whatever
already, and was teleported to Roderick’s place. There, I took Roderick out,
waited close by the doorway and picked two more off, and caught the last one in
the back of the neck before he made it around the corner to safety. I grabbed
the briefcase of money, walked straight home and slept for five-and-a-half
hours.
“At 6:00 AM I woke up to an alarm I’d set. I did not get hit by a
car full of inebriated partiers. Instead, I drove to your house to pick you up
and take you bowling. And, as you can see, that’s where we are right now,” Kaje
finished his story. John looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
John. He was Kaje’s longest friend. John and Kaje had met each
other in fourth grade. Two years after that John had stopped going to public
school. But their friendship still held strong.
John was a nerd. Kaje admitted it. But Kaje used to be a nerd,
too. In fact, they became friends through a computer game they both played.
And the connection between them was undeniable. They understood each other very
well. John didn’t resent Kaje for being a partier and Kaje didn’t look down on
John for being a nerd. They were just two guys with an unbreakable friendship.
Kaje pulled up to the bowling alley. John grabbed the handle and
glanced over at Kaje. “You really believe all that stuff, man?” John asked.
Kaje nodded. “I don’t know what’s going on, but I know that I can
somehow see the future,” he said.
“Yeah, either that or you’re invincible,” John added.
Kaje shrugged. “It’s probably not as simple as any of that,
though. It never is,” he said.
John laughed. “Yeah, mystical forces toying with life and death are
never simple,” he paraphrased comically. Kaje grinned. John stepped out onto
the street. “See ya, man,” he said before shutting the door and turning to walk
to the bowling alley.
Kaje stepped on the gas and burned out, leaving skid marks where the
car had been. He took off towards the exit of the parking lot, and John turned
towards Kaje and walked backwards, laughing.
After a few minutes of driving he pulled into his school’s parking
lot. It was a bit early so only the staff cars and band nerds were there. He
began walking up to the front door. Right before he reached for the handle, a
strong pair of hands grabbed the back of his shirt, spun him and shoved him
backwards against the brick wall.
Standing before Kaje and a little below his eye level was the
grey-eyed man from the day before. He looked angry.
“Where’s the money, boy?” he asked, grasping the collar of Kaje’s
shirt in his knuckles and pushing him harder into the brick wall. Kaje raised
an eyebrow and swatted the older man’s arms away. He took a step forward
towards the grey-eyed man.
Kaje replied with a question of his own. “Who are you?”
The man looked Kaje up and down and dusted himself off. “My name is
Timothy, boy. That is more than you need to know,” he replied. “And what I
need to know is where my money is.” Timothy leaned forward and glared
menacingly into Kaje’s eyes.
Kaje glared right back and leaned forward himself until his eyes
were an inch from Timothy’s. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he
replied, unwavering. Timothy squinted, then stepped back, turned, and sighed.
He clenched his hands into fists at his sides and looked back at Kaje. Kaje
folded his arms and shifted his weight to the other leg. Timothy rolled his
eyes and walked off, grumbling.
Kaje slowly grinned. He cracked his knuckles, stretched, then
walked inside for another day of school.
* * *
“That useless fucking kid
stole all the money,” Timothy said, pacing back and forth. “I know he did it.”
“Why did we even choose him?” Theodore asked once again.
Timothy turned and faced his son. “I didn’t think it much mattered
who we picked. Healthy, fit, good reflexes, dumb... Anyone would fight their
way out of a situation. It didn’t matter, right?” Timothy retorted. “And
anyone could have taken that money just as easily as that boy. Our subject
choice is not the issue here.”
Theodore nodded. “I suppose you’re right. It’s done, now. We’ve
got to use what we’ve got,” Theodore rationalized.
“That’s right,” Timothy confirmed. “And tonight, we will use him.
We will use him quite well.”
* * *
It was lunch time. Kaje
had met up with Dwayne and Holden. “Hey guys. What’s up?” Kaje asked casually.
Holden slammed his palm into the side of his new Jeep Grand
Cherokee. “I just got this baby. I was thinking about taking it fourbying
right the fuck now,” Holden stated, looking expectantly to Kaje.
Kaje grinned. He knew he had to be back to class in thirty-five
minutes, but he was alright with it. If they didn’t make it, it didn’t matter.
“I’m in,” he replied. “Hey, where’s Jimmy?”
“Oh, fuck, man,” Dwayne replied, shaking his head. “I can’t believe
that fucking guy. Last I saw him he was in the back of some random kid’s pickup
truck headed off into the night screaming with a forty in his hand and a joint
hanging out of his mouth.” The three had a hearty laugh at the description of
their mutual friend.
“It’s great to have him back, eh?” Kaje said, ignoring the trivial
fact that Jimmy’s truckload of kids had more than likely run him over the night
before.
“Hell yeah, man,” Holden said. “He’s probably sleeping off a
massive hangover right now. Hey, let’s fucking go pick him up and take him with
us.”
Dwayne grinned and looked to Kaje. Kaje shrugged. “Sounds good,”
he said. “You sure he’ll want to go? When I have a hangover I just want to sit
around and try to avoid puking.”
Dwayne rolled his eyes. “It’s fuckin’ Jimmy, man. He’s down for
anything. All the time,” Dwayne reassured Kaje. “Let’s go!” The three hopped
into the jeep and took off down the road.
A few minutes later they pulled up to Jimmy’s house. Dwayne busted
out his cell phone and gave Jimmy a call.
“Hello?” Dwayne said. There was a pause. “We’re outside your
fucking house, man. Get out here.” There was another pause, then Dwayne
lowered the phone, looked back at Kaje and chuckled. “Apparently that’s all he
needed. I honestly thought it would actually take a bit more, even for Jimmy,”
Dwayne said. Kaje laughed.
Within sixty seconds Jimmy was stumbling down his front steps,
holding his head. He was in a wife beater and athletic shorts. His hair stuck
out every which way, and his eyes were squinted and dazed. He clumsily opened
the car door and climbed into the back seat, smacking his lips a few times as he
sat down and proceeded to stare blankly ahead.
Kaje looked sideways at Jimmy for a second, then laughed. Holden
stepped on the gas and they took off. Dwayne glanced back into the back seat.
“Jimmy, you’re naked,” Dwayne said. Jimmy cracked a half-smile as if something
had vaguely amused him. Kaje snapped his fingers in front of Jimmy’s face, and
after a brief hesitation, Jimmy slowly rolled his head clockwise until he was
looking at Kaje. Dwayne and Kaje laughed, and Dwayne turned back to face the
front of the car.
In a bit they were in the woods, driving over rocks, logs and
general uneven terrain while whooping, hollering, and having a good time. Even
Jimmy was grinning, though he wasn’t making much noise.
“Hey, Holden, where were you last night man,” Dwayne asked, looking
to his left.
“Oh, fuck, man,” Holden replied. “I heard about that party at your
place. How was it?”
“It was fucking crazy,” Dwayne said, a bit excitedly. “Mike jumped
off the balcony and Kenneth pissed in Jared’s beer. It was crazy. Also I think
Kaje got some on the beach.”
“Hey, how was it?” Holden called back to Kaje.
“Heh, it was great. Whoever that bitch is, she gives great head,”
Kaje responded.
Holden and Dwayne laughed and held their hands out between the front
seats, palms-back. Kaje gave them each a high five in turn, then sat back in
his seat.
“Jimmy, how you doing back there?” Holden shouted over the sound of
the engine and the bumping and bouncing. Jimmy didn’t acknowledge him.
“Let’s crank some tunes!” Dwayne yelled to Holden. Holden leaned
down and hit a few buttons on his deck.
Suddenly an “OH, SHIT!” came from the back seat. Holden looked up
and immediately swerved, narrowly missing a small cliff.
“Holy shit,” Holden said.
“Jesus,” said Dwayne. “Good call, Kaje,” Dwayne said, looking back.
Kaje shrugged. Soon the rap artist known as Gangstarr was blaring
throughout the vehicle.
Dwayne cringed. “Man, this bass sucks balls,” he declared.
Holden turned to him. “I know, it’s a new system. As soon as I can
I’m getting a new one. Two twelves, new alpines, all that,” he said.
Dwayne grinned and nodded. “Nice,” he said in approval. He then
glanced ahead of them and pointed. “Climb that hill,” he suggested.
Holden drove a bit further then turned right and drove up the lumpy
slope. At the top of the hill Holden proceeded to turn the wheel all the way to
the right and do donuts in the dirt. Everyone cheered and grabbed the sides of
the jeep. After a minute of that Holden took off once more.
“Let’s smoke weed!” Jimmy suddenly said from the back. Kaje looked
over, Dwayne looked back, then they both looked to each other. There was a
pause, then laughter from all three boys.
“The first thing he says all day,” Kaje said.
Holden leaned over and popped open the glove box. A glass pipe and
some weed in a plastic bag fell out onto the passenger-side floor. “Shit,” said
Holden, leaning further over to pick up the weed.
“Watch out, dude,” Dwayne said, “I got it.” Kaje stood slightly in
his seat and watched the proceedings in the front seat. Holden looked forwards
once more. He only had enough time to see the stump, not to shout.
The front tire of the jeep caught the stump. The bag flew out of
Dwayne’s hands and onto the ground somewhere. Kaje fell forward, halfway
between the front and the back of the jeep. The jeep tilted on its left wheels,
teetered slightly, then tipped the rest of the way and began to roll down the
hill.
The four boys screamed, and then Kaje hit his head on the side of
the vehicle.
* * *
Kaje woke up and looked
around. The sun was bright. He was lying on his back in the dirt. He looked
down between his feet and saw a sparse forest. To his right was the cliff
they’d nearly driven off earlier. Suddenly Kaje remembered everything and stood
up quickly. He looked around. Behind him he saw Holden sitting on a rock, his
elbow on his knee and his chin on his palm. He glanced up and saw Kaje.
“Kaje,” he said, standing up and walking over. “You were out for
like ten minutes, man. Fuck, this sucks.”
“What happened?” Kaje asked, looking around cautiously. Holden
pointed to his left, and Kaje looked in the direction that Holden indicated.
Sitting on its wheels was a badly bent and dented Jeep Grand Cherokee. “Shit,”
Kaje said, taking a step back.
“Yeah,” Holden said. “It’s amazing, though. It still runs. The
front wheel there is bent, but I think we can get it out of here.”
Kaje nodded. “That’s pretty incredible,” Kaje said, then paused.
“Also, clearly shitty,” he added.
“Yeah,” Holden said.
Kaje looked around, realizing that he and Holden were the only two
there. “Where are Jimmy and Dwayne?” Kaje inquired. He glanced to the cliff.
“Are they okay?”
Holden nodded. “Yeah, once we found out that the car could still
run, Jimmy and Dwayne decided to go find the weed. I had like eighty dollars
worth in their, plus my pipe, which I’ve had for like two years,” Holden
explained. “But our main concern was with you, man. We didn’t know how badly
you’d been hurt, and we’ve got no cell reception out here so we couldn’t call
9-1-1 or any shit like that.”
Kaje shrugged. “I’m fine,” he said. Suddenly there was laughter
coming from up the hill. Kaje looked in the direction of the sounds and saw
Dwayne and Jimmy jogging slowly down the hill. Dwayne held the bag in his hand.
Holden smiled. “Where’d you find it?” he shouted up to them.
“It was actually on top of that fucking stump we hit,” Dwayne yelled
back. “We didn’t even think to look there, it was hilarious.”
Holden chuckled, and Kaje grinned and rubbed the back of his head.
He still had a slight headache from being knocked unconscious. Dwayne saw Kaje
and pointed at him. “Hey, man, you’re alright!” Dwayne shouted excitedly.
“Yeah,” Kaje replied loudly. “I appear to be.”
Dwayne began slowing down as he neared the bottom, but Jimmy seemed
to have forgotten what he was doing. He was lost in a world of running. He
reached level ground and continued towards the cliff.
“Jimmy, man, watch out!” Kaje yelled.
“Oh shit!” Jimmy exclaimed. He began flailing around and kicking at
the ground, but failed to stop and kept stumbling forward. “I can’t stop!”
Kaje dashed up behind him and grabbed his shoulder, but Jimmy had
already taken the first step over the edge. Kaje planted his feet firmly in the
dirt and pulled on Jimmy’s shoulder, but the momentum from his motion only
succeeded in pulling Kaje off the cliff with him.
Kaje heard rapidly diminishing sounds of screaming as he fell about
fifty feet to the ground below.
* * *
Kaje woke up gasping. The
sun was bright. He was lying on his back in the dirt, panting. After a moment,
he groaned and pushed himself up.
“Whoa, Kaje,” Holden said, hearing the commotion. He stood up and
began walking towards Kaje.
Kaje
glanced over to the wrecked jeep, then to the cliff edge. “Fuck,” said Kaje.
“Yeah,” Holden
said. “It’s amazing, though. It still runs. The front wheel there--” Holden
was interrupted by Kaje.
“Shit, Jimmy,” Kaje said, looking up the hill.
“Oh, yeah, he and Dwayne are looking for the weed. I’ve got about
eighty bucks worth,” said Holden as Kaje began walking up the hill, “plus that
pipe…” Holden trailed off as he realized that Kaje wasn’t listening to him.
Kaje reached the top of the hill. Dwayne and Jimmy were snooping
around. Kaje walked over to the stump that had a considerable chunk taken out
of it from the collision with the jeep. He looked on top of it and, sure
enough, there the bag sat. He grabbed it.
“I’ve got it,” Kaje said.
Dwayne looked up. “Holy shit, Kaje,” he exclaimed, surprised.
“You’re alright!”
Kaje grinned. “I appear to be,” he repeated.
“And you’ve got the weed!” Dwayne said, pointing to the bag in
Kaje’s hand.
Kaje grinned bigger. “I appear to, don’t I?” he replied. Dwayne
smiled and laughed. Jimmy smiled at the situation as well. The three boys
began their descent of the hill.
“Can you believe what happened to Holden’s jeep?” Dwayne asked about
half-way down the hill.
“No, I saw that,” Kaje replied. “Fuck.”
“Yeah,” said Dwayne.
As they neared the bottom Kaje put his hand on Jimmy’s shoulder and
slowed him down. “Watch out, man,” he said, using his bag-holding hand to point
ahead at the cliff.
“Whoa,” said Jimmy weakly, and slowed down. The three made it
safely to the bottom and stopped. Kaje looked over to the safe-and-sound Jimmy
and smiled. He could really get used to this power.
Holden saw the bag in Kaje’s hand and smiled. “Where was it?” he
asked.
Kaje chuckled a bit at the repetition, then pointed up the hill.
“It was actually on top of that stump we hit,” he said. “I just immediately saw
it as soon as I got up there. I guess I was surveying the stump damage,” he
joked. This was met with a few chuckles all around.
“Tree-hugger,” Holden accused jokingly. Kaje grinned and held the
bag out to Holden, who gratefully accepted it.
The four hung out for a few seconds, surveying the scene.
“Well,” Holden said with a sigh. “I guess we can only learn one
thing from this,” he said, holding up the bag and putting on a fake stern face.
“Don’t do drugs.” Everyone laughed a bit more, then they all got into the jeep.
Holden stuck the keys in the ignition and turned them. The engine
started up like normal and Gangstarr once again resonated through the woods,
over the cliff and off the hillside to their right. Holden put it in reverse,
backed it up, and turned it around. Every time the wheels rotated there was a
bump from the bent wheel in the front, but it was drivable. Holden pulled back
into the woods, more slowly this time, and headed for the road they’d come from.
As they drove along the plainest and most level route they could
find, Dwayne remembered something. “Hey, where WERE you yesterday, man?” Dwayne
inquired, turning to Holden. “You never told us.”
“Yeah I did, man, I already told you I was buying this jeep,” Holden
replied. “The one I already fucked up. Oh, hell. I am just now realizing that
I am going to have to pay for this and explain it. The hell’s going to happen?”
Dwayne shrugged. “I dunno,” he said, turning his head back towards
the front.
“Damn,” said Holden. There was a pause in the conversation.
“My head hurts,” Jimmy said, interrupting the silence. “I think I
need to smoke.”
Everyone laughed and Holden passed the bag back to Jimmy. Jimmy
packed a nugget and lit it. A few seconds after he began inhaling, he tapped
Kaje’s shoulder and motioned to the pipe.
“Ah, hell,” said Kaje, grabbing the pipe. He sucked gently on the
end, but it didn’t help. The rest of the nugget burnt up and Kaje got all the
smoke. He set the pipe in his lap and breathed out.
Dwayne looked back and saw Kaje exhaling smoke. “What happened?”
Dwayne inquired.
“Jimmy fireballed it, man. I had to finish it off,” Kaje explained.
Dwayne laughed. “You gonna be high?” he asked, half-sarcastically.
Kaje shook his head. “Definitely baked though,” he replied. “Hmm.
School should be fun.” Everyone laughed, and Kaje packed the weed and pipe back
up and handed it to Dwayne, who deposited it in the glove box where it belonged.
Soon the squad arrived back in the school parking lot. Kaje glanced
at his watch. It was 12:30 PM. “Hell,” said Kaje. “I gotta go. I’m skipping
fourth.”
“Alright, man,” Dwayne said without a thought. “Peace.” Dwayne and
Holden walked back towards the school’s front doors. Jimmy followed dazedly,
wife beater, athletic shorts and all.
Kaje laughed and headed to his car. He sat down in the driver’s
seat and pulled out his cell phone, but became discouraged when the
multi-tasking feat of simultaneously starting the car and dialing a number
proved to be more difficult than expected. He tossed the cell phone into the
passenger seat behind him and took off.
Soon he arrived at the bowling alley. John was waiting out front
for him, sitting on the curb of the sidewalk alone. When he saw Kaje pulled up,
his eyes lightened and he stood and walked towards the car. Kaje gave him a
friendly wave. John made his way to the car, opened the door and sat down in
the passenger seat.
John raised and eyebrow and reached underneath him. He pulled out
Kaje’s cell phone. “Hey,” he said. “Look what I found in my ass.” Kaje looked
over at John and the cell phone and smiled, then turned back towards the road
and drove out of the parking lot.
John sighed. “So what took you so long?” he asked. “I thought you
were coming during your lunch.”
“I was,” Kaje responded matter-of-factly with nothing to follow the
claim.
John paused, then said, “Well what happened?”
Kaje hesitated. “Oh,” he said, registering John’s question after a
few seconds. “I dunno… Fourbying, Holden wrecked his jeep. Jimmy fell off a
cliff.” John looked shocked. “But it’s okay. I saved him.”
John squinted at Kaje. “Are you high?”
Kaje shrugged. “Possibly. Possibly somewhere between there and
baked, actually,” he replied.
“Whaaat?” John said in surprise. “It’s the middle of the day on a
school day, what’s going on?”
“Oh, I dunno, Jimmy’s got a hangover and he was smoking and he
fireballed the bowl so I had to finish it off for him,” Kaje explained.
“You had to,” John said, emphasizing the word “had” sarcastically.
Kaje nodded, grinning. “That’s right. Absolute necessity,” he
insisted jokingly.
John chuckled. “Well, what’s all this about Jimmy falling off a
cliff?” he inquired.
Kaje’s eyes lit up and he raised a finger. “Oh, yeah!” he said
excitedly. “Holden rolled his jeep and I got knocked out. I woke up pretty
soon afterwards and me and Jimmy fell off a cliff and died. Then I woke up
again the same way I had after being knocked out from the jeep roll.”
John folded his arms. “Huh,” he said, contemplating. “So, what’s
the deal? I thought it restarted at the beginning of yesterday both times so
far.”
Kaje nodded. “I dunno what’s going on, I guess,” Kaje responded.
“Well, why the hell are you dying so much lately, anyway? You’ve
made it this far without dying once, and suddenly you die three times in two
days,” John observed.
Kaje cocked his head. “Good point. I suck,” he said. “I dunno,
maybe what’s going on is that I’ve gained the ability to see my possibilities of
death?” he suggested.
John nodded. “That sounds logical,” he said, then reflected upon
what he’d just said. “Well, as logical as any of this has sounded so far,
anyway.” He smiled and Kaje laughed slightly.
Shortly afterwards they pulled up alongside John’s house. “There
you go,” Kaje said.
John roughly patted Kaje on the shoulder a few times. “Thanks,
man,” he replied sincerely.
Just before he shut the car door behind him, Kaje called out, “hey,
John!”
John stopped, opened the door and looked inside. “Yeah?” he
responded.
“Sorry I was late,” Kaje said. John shrugged. “When are you ever
getting your driver’s license?” he hassled John like he did quite frequently.
Again John shrugged. “Whenever I want to go somewhere and don’t
know how to get there, I suppose,” he replied honestly. Kaje nodded and gave
him another wave. John waved back, shut the door and walked up to his house.
Kaje took in a breath and then headed back to school.
Later that day during sixth period Fauna showed up again. Kaje
looked up at her through his slightly reddened and dazed eyes.
“Sup?” he said.
“Hey,” she replied.
“What’s up?” he asked.
She paused and looked at him. “Are you high?”
Kaje’s eyes went wide. He grabbed the desk and looked around the
room to see if anyone had heard that. No one seemed to be paying attention to
him. He forgot about them again and turned back to Fauna.
“Uh,” he began, “I don’t know. Possibly.”
Fauna rolled her eyes. “So last night was pretty hot, huh?” she
asked. Kaje nodded and she grinned. “Let’s go somewhere right now.”
Kaje raised an eyebrow. “What?” he said, unable to think of a more
specific inquiry.
She grabbed his hand and pulled. “Let’s go, fuck this shit.”
Normally Kaje would’ve waved her off and looked away, but he kind of
wanted to go with her, so he went for it. He stood up and walked out of the
classroom, not paying attention to whether or not the teacher or any of the
other students saw him.
Holding him by the finger, Fauna led Kaje to the parking lot and
directly to his car. He reached into his pocket and took his keys out, pressing
the button on the keychain to unlock the doors. Soon he and Fauna were in the
car.
Kaje buckled his seatbelt, started the car and took off. He drove
for a few minutes, and then Fauna started grinning. Completely oblivious, Kaje
continued driving until he was at his house. Only after he’d secured the
parking break, put it in park and taken the keys out of the ignition did he
realize that he had no idea why he was at his house.
“Fuck,” he said, looking around. Fauna giggled. This caught Kaje’s
attention and he looked over at her. “What?” he asked.
“Nothing. You were just driving with such purpose. I wanted to see
where you’d end up,” she replied. Kaje sighed. “So this is your house?”
Kaje nodded. “Yeah, this is it. Not much, I know,” he said.
Fauna shrugged. “It’s alright. Definitely not a party house, but
it’s not ghetto or anything. Are your parents home?” she inquired.
Kaje shook his head. “No, not ‘til like…” he hesitated, completing
a math problem in his head, “four o’clock.” Fauna smiled, opened the door and
walked up to the house. Kaje groaned and followed her.
Fauna reached the front door, grabbed the handle and turned. To her
surprise, the door swung open. She looked back, amused. “You don’t keep it
locked?” she said.
“I dunno,” Kaje responded. “I suppose we probably do sometimes.”
Fauna giggled again and wandered inside. Kaje pursued her.
He found her in the kitchen in front of his open refrigerator. She
was sighing. “You don’t have anything to eat,” she said, turning to face Kaje.
“Oh well.” She stepped towards him and grabbed his shirt collar, pulling his
face towards hers and kissing him.
He made out with her for a few seconds, but then pushed her away.
“The hells are we doing at my house?” he asked her.
She shrugged. “What do you want to do?” she said, looking down then
back up at him.
Kaje rolled his eyes. “That’s mature,” he said sarcastically.
“Just say you want to fuck me.”
Fauna nodded. “Let’s go,” she said.
“Fine, my room’s over here,” he said, leading the way. “I’ve got a
comfy-ass bed.” Fauna giggled more and followed.
Kaje arrived at the foot of his bed. He glanced at the floor where
the briefcase from the night before lie open and empty. He’d stashed the money
in a special spot.
Fauna walked up behind him, grabbed his shirt and spun him around.
She pushed him backwards onto his bed and then crawled on top of him. She
started to kiss him. For the first time he looked into her eyes and noticed
that they were as bloodshot as his, if not more so. “Are you high, too?” he
asked her, interrupting the kissing.
She didn’t respond. She seemed a bit annoyed, but kept kissing
him. After a few seconds he pushed her back. She looked exasperated. “God,
Kaje. You’re really not a player, are you?” she asked.
“Nah,” he replied. “I’m more of a good-looking teenager with
nothing better to do. At least that’s how I would’ve described myself until
recently,” he said, trailing off.
Fauna raised her eyebrow. “The hell?” she said, confused, but then
shrugged. “Whatever, shut the hell up.” She returned to kissing him while
undoing his pants.
After she’d stripped them off, she stood up and removed her shirt.
Standing there topless, she grinned at Kaje and giggled. Kaje stretched. Fauna
frowned. “You’re really no fun,” she said, pouting.
Kaje shrugged. “Whatev, woman,” Kaje responded. “I’m high. I’m
not into playing games right now.”
Fauna nodded as if she understood. Without another word she climbed
back onto Kaje. At some point during which Kaje was not paying attention her
pants got removed, and before he knew it they were having sex on his bed.
After a minute Kaje realized that this was an enjoyable experience.
Where before he’d been bored and disinterested, he now took initiative. After a
few minutes of her riding him and moaning slightly, he flipped her over onto her
back and pumped her until the job was done.
He collapsed face-first onto her chest, breathing more heavily than
usual. Her breath was deeper and more rapid as well. She made a slight squeak
of dismay when Kaje stopped. She pushed up on his shoulders. “Keep going, I’m
not done,” she whined.
Kaje groaned. “Alright, get up,” he said. She got up and he laid
down on his back, waiting. She climbed on him once more and finished the job
for herself, which involved a considerable amount of noise.
As she collapsed beside him gasping for breath, he cracked a grin.
“Nice,” he said to her.
After a few more breaths she blew her hair out of her face and
smiled. “Yeah,” she replied. She took a few minutes to catch her breath, then
let out a satisfied sigh and stood up. She began picking her clothes up off the
floor and putting them back on.
Kaje sat up in bed and faked a frown. “What, that’s all I get? No
cuddling?” he joked. She rolled her eyes at him, then reached forward with her
leg and used her foot to push him back onto his back. “Oof,” he said upon
hitting the bed. He spread his arms and lie there looking up at the ceiling.
Everything seemed quiet and focused. He forgot about Fauna until he heard
commotion from another part of the house. Kaje rolled out of bed and stumbled
through the house to find her.
She was in the kitchen looking for food again. “Here,” she said,
opening the cabinet above the stove and pulling out a bag of chips. “These are
good.”
Fauna looked at him, glanced at the chips and shrugged. She took
them and began to eat them. Kaje leaned back and checked the clock on the
microwave. 3:35 PM. “Oh hell, my parents could be home soon,” he stated.
Fauna looked around as if expecting to see them here already. Kaje laughed.
“But they aren’t here yet. I’m just saying, maybe soon you should go.”
Fauna relaxed and continued eating the chips. “These are good,” she
commented.
“Have them,” Kaje offered. She nodded and walked towards the front
door, bag of chips in hand. She opened the door and stepped outside. Kaje
followed her.
The two stood on the cement in front of the door. They looked at
each other. “Maybe I’ll see you again,” Kaje said.
“Damn right you will,” Fauna replied commandingly.
Kaje scrunched his face. “Woman, don’t tell me what I’ll do,” he
retorted, half-sarcastic. Fauna giggled at him, and Kaje playfully pushed her
away. With the momentum she gained from the light shove, she turned and began
walking away, and the two parted ways without another word that day.
Kaje was watching her leave when the bushes behind him rustled.
Before he had time to glance back at them, a hand holding a damp cloth was
clasped over Kaje’s mouth and under his nose. Kaje gasped and tried to fight
back, but the man held him tight and Kaje immediately began to feel weak. He
slumped to the concrete.
* * *
Kaje awoke in the familiar
room facing the three familiar men. He felt cold steel in his hands already.
Before he had a chance to react, Timothy noticed that he was awake. He waved
his hand in a circular motion before Kaje, and once more Kaje was teleported to
an unknown location.
He had the same type of guns as the night before. In fact, upon
closer inspection, he realized that they may have been the exact guns. He
realized that the creepy business suit monks must have been snooping around his
house. He’d stored the SMGs beneath his bed for the night.
Kaje squinted his eyes and shook his head. He knew he had to be
more or less sober from the marijuana by now, so he figured he was just working
off the after-effects of the chloroform. He leaned against the wall of the
empty room, catching his composure. After a moment, he was ready. “What crazy
scenario do you fuckers have me in this time?” he said under his breath.
He carefully crept towards the only door he could see. Without
warning, there was a sound behind him. He turned to find a door that had
previously gone unseen to Kaje. In the doorway stood a man with an outstretched
gun. He snapped off a shot at Kaje.
* * *
Kaje awoke in the familiar
room facing the three familiar men. He groaned as he was teleported to the
empty room. After catching his composure once more, he side-stepped towards the
first door, facing the second.
This time the second door didn’t open. Whoever that was must’ve
heard him the first time and come to investigate. “Fuck,” he said under his
breath, then smacked his hand over his mouth and aimed the gun in the other hand
at the second door. There was no response. He made his way over to the door,
carefully reached for the handle, then flung the door open quickly aiming into
the center of the room.
There, hovering over a briefcase of white powder, crouched two men
who were now looking in Kaje’s direction. Kaje opened fire on the men, his
automatic weapon tearing through the two men and sending them to the floor. He
quickly darted to the center of the room, surveying the scene. This room didn’t
seem to have anything but a window and the door Kaje had entered through.
Perfect for a chokepoint.
Kaje waited in the corner. Soon another man peeked into the door.
Kaje squeezed the trigger in his direction and the man fell. Kaje grinned.
“Shit!” came an exclamation from outside the door.
There was a moderate pause. Dead silence filled the air.
Suddenly a man dropped in on the floor, weapon aimed at Kaje’s
corner. Kaje wasn’t prepared for the man’s prone position and had had his guns
pointed at the center of the doorway. Before he could react, the man placed a
bullet in Kaje.
* * *
Kaje awoke in the familiar room facing the three familiar men. He furrowed his brow. “The fuck?” he said, though by the time he’d got the words out he was already in the empty room. Before long the men from the second door entered to investigate the exclamation. Kaje was still disoriented from some sort of chemical, so he began flailing his arms as he was shot by the man in the doorway once more.
* * *
Kaje awoke in the familiar
room facing the three familiar men. He was teleported to the empty room without
a word. He gained his composure, then decided to just go for it. He burst
through the second door, took out the two men. A stray shot struck the window,
and the sound of glass shattering and falling onto hard wood resonated
throughout the building.
Kaje quickly made his way to the first door and opened it. Men were
already hustling down the hallway. They weren’t expecting to be in a fight
quite yet, so their weapons were at their sides. Kaje mowed two of them down,
but the third man caught Kaje in the side with a bullet. Kaje yelled and his
SMGs tore through the third man, dropping him to the floor.
Kaje collapsed to one knee. He had to press onward. He clenched
his teeth and stood once more, pushing onwards through the building. He passed
another window. The sky was darkening with the coming of evening. Kaje wasn’t
paying attention to the man who’d snuck up behind him, and he was shot in the
back.
* * *
Kaje awoke in the familiar room facing the three familiar men. He tried to raise his SMGs and shoot at the men. He squeezed the triggers, but it was too late. The guns rang out and sent shots into the bare wall of the empty room. “Shit,” Kaje said. The men from the second door dashed into the room, weapons at the ready. They put Kaje down the second they saw him.
* * *
Kaje awoke in the familiar
room facing the three familiar men. He was teleported to the empty room within
seconds. There he groaned silently, leaning against the wall. He sighed. He
had a new plan.
After a moment of waiting and breathing steadily, he snuck up to the
second door. He pressed his ear to it and listened. The two men were
conversing at a regular volume. “Alright, there it is. Twenty grams,” one
voice said.
“Finally,” the other replied. “It takes that long to count that
shit out?”
“What are you, new?” the first voice retorted. “Yes. Don’t fucking
question me. Let’s get this out to Bengotti and your guy.”
“Alright,” the second voice responded. Suddenly Kaje heard
footsteps approaching the door. He quickly and light-footedly made his way to
the far corner of the room. He stood there, pressed against the wall, perfectly
still and quiet.
The two men opened the door and stepped into Kaje’s room. The man
in the lead had a grey suit and tie with a blue undershirt. His hair was
slicked and parted down the middle. The other man was bigger and more built.
He had thick stubble and glistened slightly with sweat. They walked towards the
first door. The well-dressed man held something in his and. Kaje couldn’t make
out what it was. Before long, the two men had exited the room and all was quiet
once more.
Kaje sighed. He crept across the room and through the second door.
There he found an empty room with a door and a window. He slinked over to the
window and looked outside. Sure enough, there was a fire escape. Kaje opened
the window as quietly as he could and crawled out onto the contraption. He used
the series of metal-cast staircases and ladders to get safely to the street
below. From there he cautiously found his way home.
Sneaking in at three thirty was not unusual for Kaje. His parents
didn’t notice, or if they did, they didn’t care.
He made his way to his room, hiding the SMGs below his bed once
more. He collapsed backwards onto his bed, dragging his palms across his face
and whining softly. He’d died nearly half a dozen times that night, and he
hadn’t enjoyed a single one of them. He hoped this wasn’t the beginning of a
death-filled life for him.
He lie awake and wide-eyed, contemplating for quite a while before
he finally drifted off to sleep.