Ok gang...buckle up and please remember to keep your arms and hands inside the vehicle at all time. Remain in your seats until the ride has come to a full and complete stop...
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Chapter 9
I hatched a plan over the next several days that I was sure would either exorcize Joey from my life forever or let me know conclusively whether there was any hope for us. My plan would go into effect that Friday night. Aidan had said that Joey had become a party animal and there was never any shortage of parties on a Friday night around the college. All I had to do was find the one he was at and get him alone. Easy, huh? I would have to wing it from there since I had no clue how he would react but I felt confident that I knew Joey well enough to handle it.
The only hitch was that I had to get out of the apartment without arousing Aidan's suspicion. He was back in school now and not keeping the eagle eye on me that he had been before everything happened so I decided to slip out before he got home. I'd leave a note or something so he wouldn't worry.
Friday afternoon finally rolled around. I had spent all morning fretting over what to wear. I wanted to look my best. Finally I had settled on a flashy club shirt that Joey had given me for my last birthday and a nice pair of jeans. I had only worn the shirt a few times, flashy wasn't my usual style, but I thought it was a nice touch. I took one last look in the mirror and decided it would have to do. The cast didn't exactly scream suave and sophisticated but there wasn't much I could do about that.
I had called Laura earlier in the day and managed to find out where the major parties were that night without her getting too suspicious. There were three that I really wanted to hit but as near as I could figure I had at least three hours to kill before I could start my rounds. I decided to take some pictures while the light was still good. My camera was in the car and all I had to do was stop at Wal-Mart and pick up some film. Then it was just a matter of driving around waiting for inspiration.
It wasn't too hard to find. While I often made fun of the Eastern Shore where I had grown up and the insulated life we lived, it was without a doubt an incredibly beautiful place to live. Bordered by the Atlantic Ocean on one side and the Chesapeake Bay on the other, the isthmus was made up of all of Delaware, 10 counties of Maryland and two counties of Virginia. The names were combined to get the name Delmarva Peninsula, by which it was often called. The region is rich in history and natural treasures. Much of the area is still rural and even the more urban areas, like the small city I lived in, were surrounded by the flat farmland that is so typical of the Shore. Drive a few minutes outside the city limits in any direction and you're just as likely to see a white-tailed deer as a human being.
One of my favorite places to go in the area was the Assateague National Seashore just south of where I lived. The beautiful barrier island is home to small, shaggy wild ponies and loads of other wildlife. It even boasts its own scenic lighthouse on the Virginia side of the island. I didn't have time to drive there tonight, though, so I contented myself with the wooded countryside that wove itself around the picturesque Wicomico River. I stopped often to snap some photos of an abandoned house here, a forgotten graveyard there. I caught the sun in a spectacular display of color that would make for a great backdrop for the paintings. By the time the sun dropped below the tree line I had taken up three rolls of film. I was confident that at least some of the photos I had taken would produce a great composition for a painting.
I glanced at my car clock as I drove down the darkening roads. It was show time. The first party I hit was just getting started and no one even knew Joey so I quickly moved on. At the next party several people knew Joey, although no one looked impressed, but none of them had any reason to think he was coming there. One guy thought he would probably be at the last party on my list since that was where all the booze would be. I left my cell phone number with the guy just in case and moved on to crash my next party.
Turned out that the third time was a charm. I wasn't there very long at all before some girl said she'd heard Joey say that he was coming to this particular party tonight. I crossed my fingers and settled in to wait for Joey to make his appearance. While I waited I looked around. This was apparently the party to be at this weekend. The house was filling up quickly and had begun to spill out into the back yard. Loud music pumped from somewhere and beer was in abundance. I had never been a party animal by any stretch but even to my untrained eye it appeared that at least half the partiers present were stoned already. I noticed several girls eying me hungrily; I felt like fresh meat in the lion cage at the zoo. A flirtatious redhead pressed a cold bottle into my hand and I passed it on to the first empty-handed person I encountered. I figured I'd need all my wits about me for my mission that night.
"So how'd you get that cast? You don't look like the rough and tumble type." I turned to find a petite, attractive girl with shoulder length honey blonde hair and light blue eyes.
"I, uh...fell three stories off a fire escape," I stuttered as I blushed furiously.
She cocked an eyebrow, "Must have been some party!" She took a drag off a cigarette and blew smoke in my direction.
"Something like that," I muttered, already trying to figure out how to gracefully disentangle myself.
"My name is Caitlin," she said.
"I'm Will."
"Nice to meet you, Will," she flashed me quick smile that revealed even, white teeth. She was really quite pretty. Too bad I wasn't straight. "Do you go to school here? I don't think I recognize you."
"No, I'm meeting a friend here, actually."
"Oh really? Too bad. What's her name? Maybe I know her."
"Him, my friend's a guy. His name is Joey Taylor."
Her expression changed in the blink of an eye, "You're friends with Joey Taylor? You should really choose your friends more carefully."
"We've been friends our entire lives. He's my best friend, but I...lost touch with him a few months ago and I was hoping to run into him here."
"Well I hope you don't. You seem like too nice a guy for slime like him."
"Why do you say that? What's he done?"
"For starters he's screwed two of my friends then dumped them the next day. He promises he's in love with you and is ready to change his ways because you're 'the one,' gets you in bed and then it's wham-bam without a so much as a thank-you-ma'am."
"Joey?" I asked incredulously. Even after Aidan had told me almost the same thing it was hard to picture my best friend doing these things.
"Yes, Joey. Plus he's almost never sober anymore. He's even shown up in class a few times blasted. The professor threw him out." She lowered her voice and leaned towards me, "I've heard he got some poor girl pregnant then told her he'd pay for the abortion; that he didn't want anything to do with a kid."
I shook my head in disbelief. How could this person she was describing be the same person I had grown up with?
Caitlin lay her hand gently on my good arm, "I'm sorry to be the one to tell you your old friend is such a loser, but really, you're better off without him."
"If you're trying to get in his pants, Caty-baby, I gotta tell ya it's a lost cause...ya don't havva dick," a familiar voice slurred from behind me. I spun around but not before seeing a look of disgust mar Caitlin's pretty face.
"Joey!" I said.
"Hey fag, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at some gay bar in Rehomo?" The smell of alcohol almost knocked me over.
I blinked rapidly as I felt my face heat up, "Joey, I came to see you. Can we talk?"
"What's to talk about? You're a fucking fag and I'm not. End of discussion."
"Joey, please, just a few minutes?" I was embarrassed to be begging in front of Caitlin but it was like I couldn't help myself.
A foreign smile spread slowly across Joey's face, cruel and ugly. "Ok," he said, "I'll do you a favor if you do one for me. Follow me." He turned and started weaving through the crowd and up the stairs to the second floor as if he knew where he was going. I followed wordlessly. Apparently he did know where he was going; he walked confidently to a closed door, opened it and went in. He shut the door as soon as I followed him in. He immediately started unbuttoning his pants, letting them drop to the floor.
"What are you doing?" I asked although I had an awful feeling that I knew.
He pushed his boxers down and his erection sprung up. "It's what you wanted isn't it, Willie? A quick suck off your old pal, Joey? Well, here it is; come on, I don't have all night."
"Joey, pull your pants up. I just want to talk to you."
"Suck first, talk later. Come on, get on your knees."
"No! Joey..." He grabbed his dick and started jerking off, hard and fast. "Will you stop that!" I yelled.
"You know you want it, Will," he taunted. "Better hurry, I'm almost there already."
"No I don't want it. What's happened to you? I thought I knew you, but I don't know who this person is. What happened to the old Joey?"
"He's gone, Wee Willie Winkle," he sneered, using my despised childhood nickname, "This is the new improved Joe Cool. I'm a chick-magnet; they can't get enough of my dick. I can have any girl I want whenever I want. Do you really wanna pass up your one chance as a piece of this?"
"You're a sleaze who everybody either hates or pities."
"What's wrong, Will? Can't have me so now you're jealous?" His hand hadn't slowed down the whole time and now his body suddenly tensed and he began to shoot onto the floor. "Look at all that going to waste. It could have been yours, Will."
I'd had enough. I spun around in disgust and yanked the door open. But Joey was always quicker than me. He was on me before I even got the door halfway open, slamming me against it and pressing his body against mine. Pain shot up my arm and I gasped in agony. I felt Joey's still hard erection press into my buttocks and smelled his foul breath in my face.
"Where ya goin', Willie?" he rasped, "We were just getting' started."
"Get off me, Joey," I gasped.
Ignoring my plea, he reached down, grabbed my broken arm and spun me around, slamming my back against the door. While I was still off balance he pressed his mouth against mine so hard I felt my teeth cut into my lips and his hand grabbed my crotch painfully. I reacted without thought, bringing my knee up sharply into his groin and punching him in the face at the same time. He bent double and stumbled back. I was through the door before he even knew what had hit him.
I took the stairs two at a time and plunged into the crowd at the bottom. I grabbed a bottle out of someone's hand and gulped it down frantically trying to get rid of the sour taste of Joey's mouth. My arm was throbbing. I wanted to curl up in a ball and just cry but there was hardly room to move. I found myself being moved around the throng like a leaf caught in the river's current. A sudden wave of nausea swept over me and I ran for the bathroom. It was mercifully empty and slammed the door just in time to get violently sick. I splashed some cold water on my face, then slid to the floor where I began to sob. I stayed in there awhile, crying, mourning the loss of my best friend. I was grateful for the lock on the door but eventually the banging on the door got to me and I reluctantly gave up my sanctuary.
I was ready to leave this party. I started weaving my way for the front door. By the time I got there I was fighting another bout of nausea. I barely cleared the front steps before upchucking the last of my stomach's contents into the shrubbery.
"Being with Joey always affects me that way, too," a feminine voice said from the shadows. I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand as I peered into the darkness. The glow of a cigarette butt drew my eyes to the dark form of someone sitting under the low hanging branches of an enormous magnolia tree that took up most of the front yard.
"Caitlin?" I hazarded a guess.
"Yup. Come on in. It's quiet and Joey isn't likely to find us unless he passes out and rolls under here."
I crawled into the cave-like space and leaned back against the tree trunk next to Caitlin.
"Smoke?" she asked as she offered her cigarette.
"No thanks."
"Good. Don't start. It's a nasty habit," she stubbed out the butt and looked over at me, "So, are you really gay?"
I drew in a sharp breath. "Yeah."
"Hey, it's cool with me. It just figures that the first nice guy I meet in months would be gay. You don't have a thing for Joey do you?"
"I used to."
"But not now?"
"No, not now."
"Not after tonight?"
"Right."
"I tried to warn you."
"Some things you just have to see for yourself."
She continued to stare at my face as if she were memorizing my features. "I'm sorry," she said softly.
"For what?"
"For your loss."
"What do you mean?"
"You lost a friend tonight, right?"
"Yeah, I guess I did," I said and suddenly there were tears rolling down my cheeks again. I swiped at them angrily.
"Don't," Caitlin said, "Don't be ashamed to cry. He made me cry too."
"You? What did he do to you?"
She looked away. "I was one of those dumb girls who fell for all his lies and promises."
"I'm sorry. But hey, at least you can move on now and forget about him. That's what I have to try and do now I guess."
"It's not that easy. You have all those memories of him and I have my own little reminder."
"What do you mean?"
She lit up another cigarette and took a long drag. "I'm the girl he got pregnant," she said, still not looking at me.
For a minute I was too stunned to think of anything to say, then I said the first thing that came to my mind, "You shouldn't be smoking."
She laughed, but there was no humor in the laugh, "Why not? I'm going to have an abortion."
Neither of us spoke for a while.
"You don't think I should do you?" she said at last.
"I didn't say that," I said quickly.
"No, but you're thinking it, I can tell." I stayed quiet. "You don't know what you're talking about," she went on as if I was arguing with her. Maybe she was arguing with herself. "I can't afford to raise a kid on my own. I can't even afford a damn goldfish. I just started school. Oh my God, if my parents found out..."
"It's not the baby's fault," I said softly.
She stared at the cigarette for a minute then in a quick violent motion, ground it out angrily. Then just as suddenly her mood switched again and she began to cry.
"I don't know what to do," she whispered, "I can't believe I was so stupid. I'm so scared."
I sat in uncomfortable silence unsure of what to say. Then an idea popped into my head. I blurted it out before I even thought about it. "I...I'll help you raise the baby."
She stopped crying with a hiccup and stared at me as if I had lost my mind. Maybe I had.
"Are you crazy? You can't be serious?" she said when she'd found her voice.
"Yes...I mean no...I mean..."
"Do you have any idea what you are even saying?"
"Yes, I can help you. I'm an artist so I can watch the baby while you're at school. I don't have a lot of money but you can get help from social services and I'll help with what I can."
"You don't even know me."
"No, but I usually have good instincts about people and I trust you. Besides, I know Joey and this is his baby too. If he isn't going to take care of it then someone has to."
"Why you?"
"I've been cleaning up Joey's messes for 18 years, I'm used to it. And...I guess I just feel kind of responsible in a way."
"How could you possibly be responsible?"
"It's kinda my fault Joey has become like this. I drove him to it...I...I told him I loved him."
"And?"
"And what?"
"You told him you loved him and...?"
"And he freaked out."
"Look, Will, you're an incredibly sweet, incredibly naïve kid. I've never met anyone like you in my entire life. I hope you find happiness and the man of your dreams. But this isn't your fault and you don't owe me anything. It's not your fault that Joey reacted like he did. There was no way you could have known and nothing you could have done differently. Thank you for your offer, but this is my problem and I'll deal with it. I was the one who was stupid enough to fall for his load of shit. I was the one who didn't insist he use a condom. Me. So that makes me responsible for this..." she gestured helplessly at her still flat stomach. "Me and Joey. And I don't think I can count on him for anything."
"But you can count on me. That's what I'm trying to tell you. Joey was like a brother to me. So that makes me this baby's uncle, sort of, right?"
"I guess..."
"Then let Uncle Will help."
She laughed, this time real laugh. It was a nice laugh. "I'll give you this, Uncle Will, you're persistent."
I grinned, "Yup."
"Will you stop bugging me if I promise to at least think about it?"
"If you promise you'll really think about it."
"I promise. It's all I can think about anyway."
"Great! Let me give you my phone number and stuff."
"I'm not promising to do anything but think about it," she warned.
"I know."
"And I still think you're crazy,"
"I know."
I crawled out from under the tree and scribbled my name and phone number on a scrap of paper I found in my pocket.
"I still think you're out of your mind," she said as I handed it to her and I was preparing to leave, "but you've given me something to think about. I'm still not promising you anything, though. I don't owe you anything."
"No, but maybe you do owe that baby you're carrying."
She gave me an odd look that was a mix of exasperation and thoughtfulness. I started down the street as a bloodcurdling scream ripped through the night. Another quickly followed it. They sounded like they were coming from the back yard. I turned back.
"Sounds like Joey struck again," Caitlin said sadly.
"Maybe I should check it out," I said uncertainly.
"Are you going to follow behind him cleaning up his messes for the rest of your life? Go home, Clark Kent, you've done enough good for one night."
I turned to go again but a sense of dread had filled me and I couldn't leave. It was as if something was physically holding me back. I was trying to force myself to walk away when some came vaulting over the high fence that separated the back yard from the front. He almost barreled into Caitlin in his haste.
"Holy shit," he panted as he pushed his sweaty dark hair out of his eyes.
"What's going on?" I asked as the feeling of dread grew.
"It's that guy...uh...Joe something..."
"Taylor?" I offered even though I already knew what his answer would be.
"Yeah, that's him."
"What's he done now?" Caitlin sighed.
"What's he done?" the guy let out a slightly hysterical giggle, "He died, that's what he did."