Dead, Sweet Boy (Book One - Dead, Sweet Series) Page 7

  A prey she was for the cruelty of love

  While its serpent inside crawled straight towards her heart

  The coldest kiss love ceased to exist

  While we grew apart like never before

  The words made me think about the brand mark on Linda’s chest. It came back to me. How could I forget about Mack’s necklace? The medallion on the gold chain had the same symbol on it; a snake cutting through the center of a heart. She got some sort of strange brand that was the same as his necklace. I really wanted Linda to pay for how she changed all of our lives. It was all her fault that my life was so screwed up. I couldn’t stop myself from taking over the lead vocals of the song.

  I did it all just for her

  I did it all just for her

  And love wants us dead

  Just me and my poison girl

  Rick stood and reached for my arm. It took a moment for the band and I to finish the music in my head. I knew he had a hold of me, but couldn’t do anything until the song ended. I pulled away. He should have been upset too. Didn’t the cops say that Rick called Linda a killer at the funeral?

  “Linda again?” he asked. “I don’t think she had that much control over Mack. Sunny there’s something you should know. Mack was… he wasn’t…”

  I stepped away from him. “Don’t! Don’t go there.”

  “I just wanted to tell you that…”

  “Seriously? You didn’t hear me?”

  “Are you mad at me?”

  “I’m mad at everyone. You know what I mean. Are they talking about Mack? Are they saying he’s a ghost? I mean are they saying he’s evil? Like that thing out there?”

  Rick set the remote on the coffee table and took a couple of steps in my direction. The look I shot him was a warning and he heeded the warning. His outreached hand fell to his side with a sigh. “Yes. Some people in town are talking about it. I think what he did, I mean how he died, really stunned people. It shook things up around here.”

  “So they think he’s come back as some evil ghost. Why don’t they just leave him alone? It’s not fair.”

  He took another step closer, speaking as gently as he could. “I don’t know. People love that kind of stuff. I guess we’re all sick in some ways.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me? I mean, it’s a big deal. You should have told me.”

  “Sunny how? You didn’t want to talk about Mack at all. Any time I tried to say anything about Mack you freaked out. So I didn’t talk about him. You still freak out when I try…”

  “He’s our friend! Doesn’t that count for something? We can’t let them talk about him like that. They’re turning him into a freak. He’s not a monster. Why would you let them talk about him?”

  His hand reached out and brushed my arm. I let it this time. “What can we do that won’t bring more attention to it? If we argue with them, it will just put fuel on that fire.”

  He had a point. “Especially if I say something. I can just imagine what people would say if I opened my mouth.”

  “They say he goes to the river to see Linda,” he said softly.

  “What? Oh, bull shi…rt. He wouldn’t go see her. Why would he go see her?”

  Rick cocked his head to the side and shrugged his shoulders in a not convincing way at all.

  “If he was going to see anyone, it would be us. His friends.” I wanted to say that he would come see me. Jealousy stabbed at my belly. It was insane to be jealous about something like that, except I was in pain and Linda didn’t really seem to care. “It’s not true. He wouldn’t go see her. Not after what she did to him.”

  “It’s just a figment of people’s over active imaginations. Sunny, don’t do this to yourself. Some things can’t be controlled. We can’t stop the rumors and we can’t change what happened. I know that you were the closest to Mack. It’s going to take some time. It isn’t fair. But Mack did this. He chose…”

  “Shut up! Don’t say things that I won’t be able to forgive you for. Be careful Rick. If you were ever my friend or Mack’s friend….”

  “I am your friend. You shut up. Just stop it. I’m Mack’s friend. I can say these things because I love him. Oh, I know, I was just a tag along most of the time, but I love both of you. It killed something in me too Sunny. But you and I, well we chose to live. Even after losing him.”

  My hands reached up and pushed him away from me.

  “Go ahead. Take it out on me. I’m not the one pretending that Mack was a saint or something. He was sick Sunny.”

  “Stop it! You don’t know anything. You don’t know what the world was like for him.”

  “Yes I do. He was in pain every day of his life. You soothed him and made his life easier. I know he came to you for that, and that you spent your childhood taking care of him, trying to make the world easier for him.”

  My body slumped to my knees, no longer able to stand on its own. “Mack, my sweet Mack,” I cried.

  Rick came to my side and put his arms around me. My body responded and used his to contain the sobs and the pain. The break in my silence was more solid than mourning; it was dangerously close to insanity. I felt his arms pull me up into his lap where he rocked me from his knees and stroked my hair, wiping my face with his t-shirt.

  “It’s okay Sunny. You did everything that you could.”

  He lifted us from the floor and gently placed me on the couch. When he left the room, I thought he couldn’t handle my break down. But he returned with a cool washcloth, and carefully put my head on his lap, where he soothed me with the coolness of the wet cloth. Rick’s fingers ran through my hair, massaging my scalp and when he started to hum a sweet song, I couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer. He soothed me to sleep, the way I always took care of Mack. It was the first time anyone had given me what I so desperately tried to give to Mack. Only by doing so, he lulled me right into a nightmare.

  My little boat sat still in the middle of the river. My river. I was so happy. It was the most beautiful night, with all its stars and the light of the moon so strong, that it bounced off the water, illuminating our faces. Mine and Rick’s. We were looking into each other’s eyes, both afraid to make the first move, but the passion and lust I felt for him couldn’t be repressed.

  “I want you,” I whispered. There should have been a sweet rock ballad playing in my heart, but there wasn’t. All I heard was dark organ music, playing a song I didn’t know. The darkness was writing its own tune.

  Rick smiled and pulled me into his arms. It was my moment. That moment when love would take over and I would give everything. Love. In the dream I couldn’t remember feeling any other way about Rick.

  The noise from the beast started on the shore of the river, but we ignored it. Rick pulled my top off and I removed his belt. The loud splash didn’t stop us. The sound of the thing swimming to the boat couldn’t drown out our passion. I felt it grab the side of the boat and tilt it with its weight.

  “Don’t stop,” I urged my lover.

  His hands explored, while I lost myself in his electric touch. I heard myself moaning, and then I heard the growl. The weight of Rick’s body fell limp on top of mine. I tried to move him, to wake him, but he quickly turned cold and stiff. The smell of death and rotting flesh replaced the love and passion that filled me. When I turned to look at the beast I saw a face that was so evil I couldn’t breathe.

  “You belong to me.”

  “Mack!” I screamed.

  My scream finally woke me enough to realize that the Rick who was trying to comfort me wasn’t the Rick in my nightmare. He wasn’t a pile of rotting flesh and Mack wasn’t there. “I’m okay. I told you I have nightmares. It’s fine. It’s just the way things are.”

  Rick was insisting on holding me the way he had done before, but I couldn’t let him. The dream was so real. My Mack was a monster. He killed Rick.

  “Come back to the couch. I’ll help you sleep,” he insisted. But I curled myself up in the chair. “This happens every night?” he asked.
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  “Almost.”

  “That’s horrible. Tell me about the nightmare. It might help.” Rick offered.

  “No, it was awful. I can’t. I’m fine.”

  My mother came running down the stairs. Something new. She heard me scream. “Another nightmare?” she asked.

  “I can’t help it,” I said.

  “Oh, honey I know.” Her voice was so sympathetic. She sat on the fluffy arm of the chair and took my hand in hers. The motherly response brought tears to my eyes.

  “I told her she should talk about it. That it might help,” Rick said, squatting on his knees in front of me.

  “And why is my daughter in the same room as you?”

  “Uh, I was… I mean she didn’t want to sleep in her room.”

  “Well then you should have slept in her room. If she is “in bed,” no matter where she is, I want you in another room. Do you understand? I don’t care if she decides she wants to sleep in the same room, you better run.”

  “Um, okay?” he managed.

  “Mom, please,” I laughed. She was just what I needed to change the mood and atmosphere.

  “And as for you, if you wake up like that again, you come get me. Come on, you and I are sleeping in your room.”

  “My room? My bed?”

  She didn’t wait for me to argue. Mom took me by the hand. “We’ll see you in the morning,” she told Rick.

  For the life of me I couldn’t understand why he didn’t take off running right then. No guy in their right mind would want anything to do with me. Oh, I’m not talking about what my mother just did, no I didn’t mind that. As a matter of fact I felt safer than I had in years because of what she did. I mean, isn’t that what moms are supposed to do for their kids? I slept in my mother’s arms that night, and it was better than sleeping in anyone’s arms. I loved her again.

  In the other room Rick stayed the whole night, and I felt something for him because of it.

  Chapter Eight

  Friends

  I hope the day will be a lighter highway

  For friends are found on every road

  Can you ever think of any better way

  For the lost and weary travelers to go

  (Elton John’s, Friends Soundtrack)

  When he woke, I had a breakfast set up for us out by the pool. Well, Patty did the work, but it was my idea.

  “What’s this?” he asked, when he came looking for me.

  “Here put this suit on. It’s one my dad used to fit into. Vintage.”

  He did what I said and when he came back out, Rick dove right into the pool to wash the sleep from his body. The muscles in his back rippled with every stroke. I watched him take a lap before he got out of the pool and joined me. “This is the life,” he laughed. “Did you sleep?”

  “Yeah,” I sighed.

  While he dug into the spread, I wondered how I didn’t really notice him before. Maybe it was because of Mack’s shadow. After that dream, it was difficult not to notice every little inch of him. I felt guilty. Rick was replacing some of my dark thoughts with thoughts about him. His feet were beautiful and his back. I loved how strong, but soft his chest was. Something about his strong hands, made me stare. It was also difficult not to think about his dead body. I tried to block that from the memory of my nightmare.

  “What?” he asked.

  He couldn’t see me staring through the sunglasses, so he must have felt me staring. “Nothing.”

  “Hey are those my sunglasses?”

  I nodded to let him know that they were. “My eyes are all puffy from last night.”

  “Oh, yeah. Are you feeling better this morning?”

  “Better?” The question was too broad. I could have answered if he asked if I felt different. Something had changed. So much had changed. There was the mystery of the beast and the dream with all its emotions. And then there was the damn that broke in my heart for him and my mother.

  He changed the subject. “I have to work later, but only for a couple of hours. I can pick you up if you want and we can go do something.”

  “Work?”

  “Yes, work. My lifestyle is completely supported by the sweat of my brow. No brains.”

  I was a selfish bitch. In all of the visits and the time we had spent together since he picked me up, I didn’t know anything about him. I couldn’t even remember what he did outside of the band before everything fell apart. “Where do you work?”

  “I work for myself. I do some mowing and gardening on the side, but I’m trying to start my own business. I fix small engines.”

  “Small engines?”

  “Lawn mowers, ATVs and dirt bikes. I want to open my own shop.”

  We were interrupted by Patty. Someone was at the door for me. Patty never got names when she answered the door, something my mother hated. I wasn’t expecting anyone. The first thought was Mack, and the second was the police. My last thought was Linda for some reason. I was relieved but surprised when I saw Claudia standing in the foyer of my house.

  “Hey girl,” she called out. “I told you I’d see you later.” She didn’t seem to have any qualms with the surprise, as her body language almost announced that she belonged.

  “Claudia? When did you get out?”

  “I swear you never listen to a thing I say Sunny. Yesterday. I’m free and crazy and ready to be lazy.”

  “Oh my God,” it came out like a complaint. “I mean, oh my God,” I squealed in a fake tone. “You’re out.”

  “Yeah can you believe it roomy?”

  “No I can’t.”

  “Who’s this hunk?” Her eyes didn’t even try to hide that they were roaming up and down over Rick’s body.

  “Oh, uh Rick? This is Claudia. My roommate in the big house.”

  Rick laughed and offered my strange acquaintance his hand. I got the feeling she would have preferred an embrace.

  “Yummy. Looks like life is good again. Hey you didn’t tell me you live in a frick’n mansion. That’s my new word Rick. Frick. Sunny won’t let me swear.”

  There she was. Claudia in all her glory. Hair restored to the black and plum that swept across her face and eyes. She looked more comfortable than I had ever seen her look now that she was back in her black clothing. All of her metal was returned to their rightful holes and her makeup and nail polish couldn’t be restrained anymore. She was free. And she was in my house.

  “How did you find me?”

  “Well I didn’t have your phone number, so I asked around. It didn’t take long. Everyone knows you. I asked someone at the gas station and about six people jumped in with directions. You didn’t tell me you were so popular. I guess setting a house on fire gets a girl noticed.”

  Rick covered his mouth as a laugh escaped his nose.

  “Real funny. Just a gas.” I gave him a scolding look.

  “So, is this your boyfriend?”

  “Holy crap Claudia. Nothing like coming in like a storm. Could you be any more rude?”

  “Here we go. I forgot. Sunny’s full of rules and boundaries. I guess they carry over to the outside world too, huh?”

  Rick nodded his head while trying to hide the smirk on his face. I reached over and slapped his arm. “What?”

  “So what are you guys doing? Did I come at a bad time?”

  “No,” Rick answered. “We were just eating breakfast.”

  There wasn’t any stopping her. I liked it better when her jabber was confined to our old room. “Great, I’m starving. Man, look at this place. Is your dad like a rock star or something? Dude, this place is outrageous.”

  “Would you like some breakfast Claud?” My voice was clearly annoyed.

  “I thought you would never ask dude.”

  Patty witnessed the invasion and went to the kitchen without being asked, to get more food for the table. Claudia ate like an orphan who didn’t know when her next meal would come. The whole time she rattled on about friends of hers that were renting a dilapidated house a couple of towns away an
d that she was staying with them. The chatter only stopped when she shoveled more food in her mouth, or when she picked up her drumsticks to accentuate something she had said, by drumming on my mother’s expensive patio table.

  “Your mom let you move out?” I asked, trying to ignore my annoyance to sound interested.

  “I’m eighteen today. It’s my birthday and you didn’t even get me a card. Don’t you feel like shit, sorry, I mean crap?”

  “No.”

  She didn’t seem to care that I wasn’t excited to see her. Either she was stupid and couldn’t pick up on my annoyance, or she really didn’t care. “So why are you eating breakfast with my girl Rick? Did you guys have a little sleepover or something?”

  “Or something,” I answered for Rick.

  “Wow Sunny. I didn’t think you had it in you.”

  “I don’t.”

  She didn’t even hear me. “So I was thinking we could spend the day together, for my birthday. No offense Rick, but this is a girl’s day.”

  “Oh, darn. Too bad I have to work.” The two of them seemed comfortable with my annoyance.

  “A man with a job. You are a lucky girl. None of the guys I know can hold down a job.”

  My day was being planned for me against my will and according to Rick’s face; he was more than happy about it. I knew nothing about Claudia. What could he possibly see in her that would make him comfortable about her spending the day with me? Then it occurred to me. I didn’t even know what she did to get in trouble. If I was capable of what I had done, this nutcase was capable of worse. “I wasn’t planning on going out Claud.”

  “I know. Isn’t it great? Surprise! Now you have plans.”

  “I don’t want to go out Claud. It’s nice of you…”

  “Don’t tell me you’re still in doomsville, waiting to fall off the earth or something. Earth to Sunny, wake up. We’re going out because it’s my birthday and you are going to make sure I have fun. You owe it to me.”

  “I owe what to you?” I was past hiding my annoyance.

  “Do you really want me to go over the last six months in front of your man?”