By animeninjaNIPPON
Yet another Saturday afternoon set in over Todd Casil's house, and said teenager was all alone. His parents were doing whatever the fuck they did with their pathetic lives, and Squee sat on the floor in the middle of the living room flipping through channels on TV. He landed on one channel that was airing some show by Saban, which he disliked, and he turned off the TV in disgust. In the television's reflection, he saw the outlines of two oddly designed boots...
"Hello again," Johnny said as his younger counterpart turned around. "Come on, let's go get tacos."
"Tacos?" Squee repeated in confusion.
"Yeah - you haven't been to Taco Smell in a while. That's bad."
Squee was dumbfounded. So, all of a sudden, Johnny wanted to take him out for tacos - that was certainly a first. It wasn't as if Squee was in any position to argue, so he stood up to face Johnny (although he was nearly a foot shorter than the older man). "Yeah," he agreed.
"So...are you ready?"
"Um...I need my shoes." He ran to his bedroom to get them.
Doesn't this seem suspicious to you?
"But Shmee, he's being nice to me." Squee pulled his boots out of the closet.
Why would he be? He's twice your age. Remember that man in the mall?
"Nny's not...he killed that man!"
He kills a lot of people...and you could be next.
Squee finished dressing and ran back to the living room. "OK, I'm ready."
"Let's go." Johnny went to the front door and opened it, but didn't hold it open long enough for Squee to get through. Squee caught the door before it closed completely, but by the time he got outside Johnny was already at his car.
"You can ride in the trunk," the taller man replied. "You'd fit perfectly..." He went to the driver's seat, then opened the opposite door from the inside. Squee just stood there in confusion, biting his nails.
"Come on, I was kidding," Johnny replied with a morbid little laugh that made Squee even more uncomfortable. "Get in."
Squee sat down anxiously, fastened his seat belt, and slammed the door. As they drove away, he wished he had brought Shmee...
-----
The Taco Smell was always crowded on Saturday afternoons, and that particular Saturday noon was no exception. Two bratty little kids were running around the restaurant, stopping only to rip out handfuls of their beleaguered mother's hair. A grotesquely obese man in a T-shirt that said "SHIT" across the front was eating a taco over a bald guy's head. Those were only some of the scenes that made Squee want to get the Hell out of there.
He stood in line behind Johnny, staring at the roaches that crawled across the sticky floor. Johnny ordered for him, a taco, it sounded like, but he wasn't really listening to anything. The two of them went to a nearby table and sat down opposite each other as they waited for their food to be prepared.
Unfortunately, trouble seemed to flock to Nny like flies to a pile of dog shit.
Johnny got up to get his order when it was called, leaving Squee to guard the table. When he returned, the negligent mother from earlier was standing next to Squee. "How could you leave your son alone like that?" she demanded, paying no heed to her own attention-deficit Hellspawn still terrorizing people in the background.
Johnny's eye twitched. "...Excuse me?"
"Where is this child's mother?" She directed a finger at Squee, who was shrinking below the table in embarrassment.
"Look lady," Johnny replied angrily, setting his tray down on the table, "first of all, he's not my kid. I would never put myself in a position where I could HAVE a kid. I HATE being touched! Second, you really ought to pay attention to your OWN damn children before pointing fingers at other people!"
"You have some nerve," she scoffed.
"I have nerve..." He grabbed his drink and squeezed it, causing the contents to explode everywhere. "I HAVE NERVE? All I wanted to do was eat a fucking taco with a friend, and I can't even do that because people are ALWAYS sticking their asses into shit that has nothing to do with them! Just ONCE, I'd like to DO something for myself without having to be bothered by you intestinal parasites!"
The entire Taco Smell clammed up and watched the thin man hurl his empty drink container at the cashier and storm out of the restaurant.
He opened up his car trunk, which contained various weapons and a spare tire. As he settled on a hammer, a crowbar, and a package of crazy straws, he turned around to find Squee behind him (by a safe six feet), holding the tray of tacos and the remaining soda. He wore an expression of fear mixed with apology.
Johnny glanced at Squee, then looked back at the restaurant, then reluctantly threw his tools back into the trunk and slammed it shut, leaning on it as he tried to regain the remains of his sanity. Sensing his companion's presence behind him, he mumbled in frustration, "I don't know why I even brought you here."
"I'm sorry," Squee said.
"Don't apologize!" Johnny snapped, then continued calmly, "...It's my fault. I...every time I try to do something normally, somehow, something always fucks it up." He sank slowly to the curb. "Now I'm complaining to you, as if you could POSSIBLY know what it's like..."
Squee sat down on the curb near Johnny.
"I probably ruined your day," Nny continued. "Shit."
"No," Squee disagreed.
Johnny turned sharply. "Don't LIE to me! I - fuck, see? It's happening again." He rested his head in his hand.
Squee took his soda and extended it to where Johnny could see it.
"Huh?" He looked at the drink, then to the boy who held it. "For me?" Squee nodded. Johnny took the drink, careful to avoid touching the teen's pallid hand. "Thanks..." He took a sip. "Wait - what about yours?"
"I don't need one," Squee answered.
"No," Johnny said, setting his soda on the curb. "I'll go back and get you a new one." Before Squee could protest, Nny was gone.
Five minutes later, Johnny came back with a small soda in one hand and a bloodied straw in the other. He handed the drink to Squee. "The place was pretty empty when I went in there...and it's even emptier now." He grinned a twisted smile. "I feel better already."
Squee ignored the splotches of blood on the older man's clothes and face, preferring to accept it for the moment if it made his friend happy. And Johnny had used the term "friend..." But maybe it was an accident.
The two of them ate in the sunset, in complete silence. By the time they finished, the moon was out - bright, full, and cold. Squee shivered slightly, but Johnny seemed unphased by the sudden chill. In fact, he was rather engrossed in the moon; too preoccupied to be affected by anything... After a while, he gave a melancholy sigh as he realized where he was and whom he was with. When he looked back at Squee, he noticed the kid was drawing. "What's that?" he asked.
"Oh, it's nothing - I just draw sometimes." Squee held up the notebook, which contained a recently sketched picture of Nny gazing at the moon.
Nny smiled. "That's pretty good. I used to draw like that, too." He stood up and unlocked his car. "I guess I'd better take you home..."
"Thank you," Squee said as he stood up.
"Eh? For what?"
"For taking me to Taco Smell."
"Oh, sure...you're...welcome." Johnny had no idea why the kid would be grateful for that fucked-up day, but whatever... "All right, Squeegee, let's get you out of here."
End of part seven