Page 95 - Demo

%u00a9Jack Fritscher, Ph.D., All Rights ReservedHOW TO LEGALLY QUOTE FROM THIS BOOKWhat They Did to the Kid 83%u201cCan you get like parts for this car?%u201d Kenny asked. Then he turned to the back seat. %u201cLet%u2019s get drunk.%u201d%u201cWe are drunk,%u201d Rip said. %u201cWe are like so drunk we don%u2019t even know Bug man%u2019s name.%u201d%u201cO%u2019Hara.%u201d%u201cSo, %u2018O%u2019! We%u2019re drunk and it%u2019s your goddam fault.%u201d%u201cMy fault?%u201d I said.%u201cNo. I mean, his fault. Out there floating on the lake since six this morning. With the goddam car keys.%u201d%u201cWho?%u201d I asked.%u201cDeacon,%u201d Kenny said.%u201cDeak%u2019s got the car keys like in his trunks,%u201d Rip said. %u201cHe never heard us yell at him once. We killed a whole case and he never heard us yell once.%u201d%u201cA third of the beer was Deacon%u2019s.%u201d Kenny looked crossed-eyed into the back seat.The rhythms of the car seemed to be lulling them.%u201cA third was his,%u201d Rip said, %u201cand we drank it. Therefore we are drunk. Therefore it%u2019s Deak%u2019s fault. Him out there with the car keys. Not coming when he%u2019s called. Making us walk all the way to good old Fred and Alice%u2019s.%u201d%u201cThat%u2019s the turnoff road for the Point,%u201d Kenny said.We swung off the blacktop to a one-lane dust path. Weeds scraped the bottom of the car. Finally, the trees ahead broke into a sunny clearing that fell down a gentle slope to the water and a long finger of sand bar. Strange for the Fourth of July, the place was deserted, like a resort lake closed for the season. %u201cOur car%u2019s off to the right in the shade,%u201d Kenny said.I pulled up next to it. %u201cWhere is everybody?%u201d I asked.%u201cNobody here but us and Deak like out on the water.%u201d Kenny pointed to a rowboat drifting easy and silent, floating more on the lake glare than on the lake. %u201cNobody much comes out here anymore...%u201d%u201cMy dad owns the property,%u201d Rip said.%u201c...except at nights, they come.%u201d%u201cBut only,%u201d Rip sniggered, %u201cby like...my invitation.%u201d %u201cI%u2019m supposed to find Mike Hager out here. His folks told me in town.%u201d%u201cYou mean Deak? The Deacon%u2019s your friend?%u201d Rip asked.%u201cYou%u2019re from that weirdo place in Ohio?%u201d Kenny asked. %u201cCrap, man, sorry.%u201d%u201cThat explains why you%u2019re so weird,%u201d Rip said.