Page 4 of Fatally Yours
“Hey, Auggie. How’s it hanging?” He rubbed the back of his neck.
“Don’t call me that, dude.”
“He’s got a bug up his butt because Officer Grabby pulled him over.” Mandy yawned and flopped down on the couch between Scott and Wes. Her dark makeup was smeared across her eyes from sleeping in the backseat. I glanced at August apologetically as he pushed past Devin and sat beside me, wrapping his arm around his guitar and beginning to strum.
“And broke our light,” I added with a curl of my lip.
“Aw, that dude is such a dick,” Scott said, popping up from his sluggish position. “Wes and I were hanging out at the Gas ‘N’ Dash, and those fuckers told us Satanists to scram or they’d take us in. We weren’t even doing anything except chatting with friends.”
A collective silence fell over us before Wes pulled out a joint and placed it between his lips, fumbling around for a lighter for a moment before Mandy tossed one into his lap without tearing her eyes away from the buzzing chainsaw and splatter of blood flashing on the screen. Wes sparked it up and inhaled. There was nothing said because it was just another everyday event. Something we were accustomed to.
“What’cha watching?” Mandy questioned, holding her open hand out in front of him.
“Some chainsaw lunatic chopping up some teenagers.”
“Sexy.” She grinned as Wes gave her what she wordlessly demanded.August was playing softly in the background. It was strange how eerily peaceful his music was compared to his fiery temper and the sound of screams and murder crying out from the TV.
I set my head on the armrest, watching hypnotically as gruesome scenes of a woman racing through a forest flashed on screen with shrieks so frequent it was almost grating. Devin posted up at the end of the other couch, going expectedly quiet after August waltzed in. His arms were folded over his chest, and an expression of annoyance was pressed into his face. All I wanted was peace, but it was hard between August’s abrasive nature and Devin constantly trying to hint that he wanted to spend time with just me. During a commercial break, Scott looked in my direction.
“You still working at Chappy’s?”
“Yeah,” I said. “With Nick Nelly. He’s a pretty good chef, you know.” His face twisted like he bit down on a lemon.
“Nick Nelly is an ass. I bet he’s still driving that fucking car, isn’t he?” he asked. “Everyone I know thinks he’s a douche because of his obsession with that thing.” I smiled, thinking about his fixation on his precious car. When he got it back in high school, he flaunted how nice it was and rarely talked about anything else. Their disdain for Nick was well-known years prior. It wasn’t like it wasn’t earned since he used to be a royal pain, at least way back then.
“Yeah, he sure is,” I said. “Maybe he was terrible in high school, but he’s a decent guy now. He’s got a baby and everything.”
“Weird how popping one out changes you.” Scott’s words went in one ear and out the other as I noticed Devin still moping. I sighed and set my head back on the couch, not wanting to deal with it. Mandy set the joint down in the ashtray and noticed something amongst the scattering of snacks, books, and other trinkets atop the coffee table. Her eyes glinted with curiosity as she plucked a disturbingly realistic skull from between the items.
“Damn, where’d you get that?”
“The flea market.” Wes’ eyes were on the TV again. Those haunting chainsaw sounds started again, sending a chill down my spine. “It’s a cool place,” he said. “We should go sometime if we can all get a damn day off.”
“Is it real?” Her eyes were shining as she traced her finger along the cheekbones. Wes shook his head as his blond locks shifted from beneath his backward cap. Scott scoffed, moody as ever.
“When have you ever heard of someone buying a real skull at a flea market?” he chimed in, giving her a look.
“I bought a voodoo doll while visiting family once. You can find some weird stuff at those places.” She rubbed the skull on the top of its head and set it back on the table. That caught August’s attention, and he stopped strumming and singing under his breath and glanced at Mandy.
“Did it work?” he questioned.
“Let’s just say I don’t get bothered by my bitch aunt about not going to college anymore,” she beamed. August and I shared another look. “Coincidence? Maybe. Guess we’ll never know.” Despite Wes’ morbid find, going out with everyone sounded nice. It was better than being home watching lunatics butcher people all day.
“I’m off Saturday,” I said. “Anyone want to go with?”
“I’ll go,” Devin piped up. And right on cue, August shot him a dirty look.
“What do you say? Want to go find some weird stuff?” I asked with a nudge, hoping that would prevent a brawl. Devin’s face dropped as August draped his arm around me.
“I guess I can skip work to go find some weird stuff with my girl,” he grinned, planting a kiss on my cheek. My face got hot, partially because of his gesture and partially because I knew he was being a show-off.
“Why not?” Scott shrugged. “Maybe I’ll get lucky and meet a girl or something.”
“I’ll go only if we carpool again,” Mandy said. “So one of you better pick me up.”
“We can meet at me and Scotty’s house, if you want,” Wes added.
“Maybe August can find some new guitar strings and make better music,” Scott said with a smirk. “Just because that romantic sadism shtick seduced Natasha doesn’t mean it’s a hit.” With that, he reached out with his foot and went to nudge August’s guitar, and he gave him a glare, pulling it away.
