Chapter 9 #2
Adam shrugged and pointed to Darryl’s bookshelf. “What’s that book say about it?”
“Oh that?” I shook my head. “It was a bunch of nonsense about magic and curses and witches and demons. Oh, and aliens. That part was actually more plausible, if you can believe it.”
“It’s always aliens, isn’t it?” We both sat in silent contemplation for a few moments. “I always had this dream that a portal would open up to a different world once a year some place up north, and that’s where the werewolf curse came from. It’s kind of fun to think about.”
I turned to Adam, impressed there was actual depth to this conversation. “What do you mean?”
“Well, if we understood everything, it takes the mystery out of life. Demons, witches, aliens and gods are a lot more interesting than boring theories from nerds like you.”
Well, I’d thought the conversation had depth. “The universe is pretty strange as it is, without all that stuff, and our understanding of science keeps changing.”
Adam shook his head. “Again, let me reiterate. Nerd.”
An old, unmarked truck slowly rolled onto the beach in front of Darryl’s house, its brakes squealing when it stopped. Roscoe was driving, and Austin sat in the passenger seat. I ran up to the vehicle as the two hopped out.
“I thought you didn’t have a license.”
The werewolf’s only response was his signature grin that would spark worry the moment it slithered up his face.
“Roscoe!”
“You wanna get to Norwich with all yer stuff, right?”
“Yeah, but it’s not gonna matter if we get pulled over and arrested.”
“Well, I’ll just have to drive reeeal careful, won’t I?”
“How’d you even rent this?”
“I got a friend that owed me a favor.”
“After all the stories I’ve heard, I’m starting to have doubts about these so-called friends that owe you favors.” I closed my eyes and rubbed my temples. “I might actually have a stroke in my twenties.”
Roscoe laughed and slapped my back. “That’d be a first.” He glanced over at Darryl in the distance, who was perched high in his chair, surveying the water. “Wonder if he’s gonna see us off?”
“He’s working. We should go say goodbye to him.”
“You guys go do that. I’m gonna go wake Adam up,” Austin muttered as he stomped toward the house.
“We don’t have time for another four-hour fuck session in Darryl’s bed, just so you know,” I called after him.
He held up a middle finger without turning around.
“This is such an awful idea,” I said under my breath. “Why did I agree to this?”
“Because yer helpin’ out a friend, and there’s nowhere else to go. Besides, Austin ain’t bad. He’s still a kid himself, and he’s seen some shit.”
“Yeah. So I’ve been told.”
“Give him a chance. We’ll have a good time if you know how to look at life a little better than you do.” He wrapped his arm around me as we walked along the beach toward Darryl. “Stop worrying so much and enjoy being young for a change.”
“How do you do it? How do you not give a shit about anything, even when you really should?”
“I’m old,” he replied with a wily grin. “Drugs helped a lot back then, but now I just don’t let things get to me.
I ain’t some fount of knowledge, but I’ve got a lot of experience.
All those years, things always worked out somehow.
” He looked down at me. “Hell, even this worked out. I found a half-turn who’s smart and hot…
and didn’t know about my history to refuse my kuu. What’re the odds?”
We approached the high chair in front of the tower where the other lifeguards usually stayed.
“You guys heading out?” Darryl asked, still scanning the choppy water, his attention narrowing on a few children wading in waist-high surf.
“Yup. Gotta hit the road now if we want to get to Norwich before midnight,” Roscoe said, pausing for a moment. “Thanks fer lettin’ us stay here.”
The huge werewolf didn’t look down; instead, he nodded. “I’m actually going to miss having you guys around.”
“Wish you could come with us,” I said.
Darryl jumped down from the chair and pulled me into a hug. “You’re a good kid, Cody. Just keep the old fart out of trouble.” He let go and took a step back. “If you guys ever get the chance to come back to the beach, I’m not going anywhere.”
Roscoe ran over and held his arms out. His tail wagged fast at first but slowed as Darryl stared him down.
“Eh, what the hell.” Darryl wrapped his arms around Roscoe, and both of their tails swayed in time with one another. “I’m gonna miss pounding that ass into hamburger meat.”
“Uh, yeah.” Roscoe’s tail lowered between his legs. “You gave the old hole an early retirement.”
“Heh.” Darryl pulled away and looked back out to the ocean, making sure the children were still safe. “These careless little turds have been turning my fur gray all morning.” He turned back to us again. “Drive safe, okay?”
“You got it, bud.” Roscoe slapped Darryl’s arm and headed back toward the truck.
“I meant what I said, Cody. If you run into any problems out there, you’ve got my number.” He stared at Roscoe who was now out of earshot. “I think you guys are going to be okay. All things considered, Roscoe’s a nice guy, if he’s not using. Just do me a favor and look after Adam.”
“What’s your take on Austin?”
Darryl paused, gritting his teeth. “He’s fucked up in the head, but I feel sorry for him.
When he was a half-turn, he was puny and had a big-dog complex.
He hated himself, hated people, and hated life.
I tried to help him, but sometimes you gotta let people make their own shitty choices.
I’m still surprised he even managed to get Adam to like him. ”
That reminded me of something.
“Sorry to change the subject, but do you really have a boyfriend?”
Darryl’s expression turned into what I could only describe as dreamy. “Sure do. He’s the perfect guy.”
“We’ve been here for about a month, and I’ve not seen any evidence of this. He’s real, right?”
“He’s shy. We meet in private a lot, but one day, hopefully he’ll get up the nerve to live here.” He scanned the ocean again. “There’s a lot of weird and wonderful people in this world: human, werewolf…” He paused and took a deep breath through his nose. “Other.”
“Other?”
“If you come back to my beach, I’ll make sure you get to meet Bobby. He’s the sweetest guy, and I love him as much as the ocean. Hell, he practically is the ocean.”
“Is he really half shark?”
“How’d you hear about that?” Darryl let out a laugh. “He’s the only one I’ve ever met, and the poor guy can’t swim. He just sorta sinks. I don’t know why he gets so hysterical. It’s not like he’d drown.”
“Okay, I’m still having a really hard time telling if you’re fucking with me or not.”
“Well, only one way to find out. Come back and see me, and you can meet him.”
I thought for a moment about him and Roscoe, and even Austin’s proposition earlier. “If you have a boyfriend, why do you sleep around?”
“It’s a werewolf thing. But once relationships get really serious, we form strong bonds with one other person, and we stop sleeping around. Once I make that bond, it’ll be the best day ever.”
The hours passed at a snail’s pace as Adam and I were crammed next to each other.
Roscoe drove, and Austin sat on the other side by the window.
Evening had arrived, and the sun was a sliver of fire over the hills.
It was beautiful, but really out in the boonies.
Every small town we passed had one gas station, and there were at least fifty miles or more between them.
Forests of tall evergreens dominated the landscape, and the weather was cooler and dryer out here, away from the coast. Roscoe was singing to the radio while Austin stared out the window, not having spoken much since we left White Dunes.
“I’ve never been this far before,” Adam said, staring at the sky.
“Really?” I asked. “I used to live in Montana before I moved down here.”
Roscoe stopped singing. “You never told me that. I heard it’s real pretty up there.”
“The west side is pretty. The rest of the state sucks.”
“Why’d you move?” Austin asked.
“My parents were… not good people, but my aunt let me stay at her place until I graduated high school and had enough money to get out on my own. She was cool. Kind of the black sheep of the family, which is why we got along so well.”
“That sucks,” Austin grunted, turning back toward the window.
“It was a while ago.”
“It’s crazy that parents can just choose to abandon their kids,” Adam said.
“You’d be surprised what bad parents can do,” Austin muttered in almost a whisper before raising his voice again. “Stop talking about this stupid shit and grow up.”
“How about we talk about whatever the hell we want to?” That redness returned to my vision. “And how about you stop being a miserable piece of shit?”
“You don’t know anything about me.”
“Well, take the stick out of your ass and actually talk about stuff instead of just bitching all the time.”
Austin clicked his tongue but didn’t raise his voice. “You’ve sure got a mouth on you for a little twerpy half-turn.”
“C’mon guys,” Roscoe said casually, turning the radio down. “We’re all a little cranky and hungry, but we’ll be there in a few hours.”
“If we’re all going to live together, I don’t want to walk on eggshells in my house.” I pulled a bottle of water out of my backpack and put it to my lips, hoping Austin caught the emphasis. “You should be kissing my ass instead of—”
“Austin, where’re you from?” Roscoe interrupted.
The werewolf didn’t say anything at first, but Adam shoved him with an elbow.
“Sweetwater, Arkansas,” he growled.
Roscoe’s face lit up. “Shit, no way. I’m from Black Springs.”
“Where the hell’s that?”
Roscoe scratched his head. “Don’t really remember. I think it’s a little town on the west side of the state.”
“That would explain your dumb hillbilly accent.” The larger werewolf cracked a toothy smile for the first time while fidgeting with the broken lock switch on the door. “I didn’t live in that state for long, so I don’t really know much about it.”