The walk up Germ's long, long driveway felt less weird than the other times they'd done it.
Germ was waiting for them at the front door like he usually was.
"Got the cash?" he asked.
"I do indeed," Trent replied.
"Cool. Come in."
He pulled the door open and let Trent and Ann inside. The more time he'd spent around Germ, the more he had discovered that what some people might find off-putting was just a simple straightforwardness on his part.
Germ just like to say things directly, and either didn't have much sense for subtlety or didn't care. Either way, Trent found himself appreciating it.
"How's Mae?" Germ asked as they headed into the house.
"Good for now. We went to a party last night and she had fun...mostly," Trent replied.
"Mostly?"
"She recovered a rather unhappy memory on the way home and wasn't emotionally equipped to deal with it. But she's feeling a lot better today."
"That's good to hear."
As they came into the second story rec room, (that sported a really nice pool table), Trent was surprised to find the place an absolute mess. The pool table, as well as the other table in the room, a desk, and two other foldout tables that had been set up were all covered in boxes, packing material, and a lot of items, most of them electronics. Germ's dad was consulting a laptop that had been set up on the pool table as well.
"Wow...what's happening?" Ann asked.
Jacob finished typing something, then turned to face them. "We're clearly in the boom portion of the boom/bust cycle," he replied.
"I feel like I'm missing some context for that," Ann said.
"The whole deal with the Black Goat was that they feed it people, it makes good things happen for Possum Springs. Eventually, that'll run out. But I think it's a somewhat delayed effect. And right now we're headed into good times. I got a raise last week, a much overdue one, because we suddenly got a bunch of government funding. My wife just got a job over in Briddle as a secretary for an office building. She's making bank now."
"I found something really cool in our backyard," Germ said as he began putting something into a box and packing it up.
"What'd you find?" Trent asked.
Germ looked at his dad, who nodded. "Yeah, you can tell them. Don't rightly think we can hide much of anything from Mae's crew now."
"Found an old lockbox buried on the property," Germ said. "It had our great-aunt's name on it, so it's old. Like from the forties. I just got a feeling to dig in this one spot, I did, and there it was. There was cash, like a grand, and some baseball cards, some really nice jewelry. Altogether there was like twenty grand worth of stuff there."
"Holy shit," Ann said.
"Yeah. Been sitting there, all this time."
"My brothers are having similar luck. And so you can call me a believer in this goat thing. Which means that hard times are coming. Real hard times. So I've decided to be proactive. Instead of waiting for the bust to come, I'm taking the opportunity to build up a big, fat store and batten down the hatches now instead of later. And I've held onto a bunch of stuff over the years, a lot of it I really don't need anymore. Extras and stuff none of us have any real interest in anymore, but I'm a bit compulsive, so I keep it in good condition, and some of this stuff is quite rare nowadays. I started doing research on some of these old games I've got extra copies of and some of them are going for hundreds of dollars. But there's other stuff, too. Antiques. We've got loads of stuff in storage that honestly, I've just been holding onto for no other reason than I don't really know what to do with it. Some of it really is junk, but some of it is antiques that people are willing to pay real bank for."
"That's true, and really smart," Trent said.
"Yep. A lot of people around these parts think small, or more significantly, they think near. But I've known for awhile that there's opportunities in the rest of the world. Opportunities that I don't necessarily have to leave to go get, thanks to the internet. Which we're finally getting. Thanks to all the media coverage from the cult, we've seen a lot of attention and companies know that when people are paying attention, they're also willing to pay for other things. It won't last, but we're jumping on it while we can," Jacob replied.
"I've been taking advantage of the pawn shops," Germ said.
"How so?" Trent asked.
"I always hated them, because they're so predatory. People get desperate, sell stuff. We've been doing research on antiques, and there's people looking for that stuff. You just gotta know where to find them and how to talk to them. I can go spend a hundred bucks at Fat Pocket and then turn around and make eight hundred over the internet for the right buyers. Sometimes I'll buy people's stuff back for them, though."
"That's real nice," Ann said.
Germ shrugged. "I like to be nice if I can manage it." He finished what he was doing, securing a box with packing tape, and stood up. "Anyway, lemme get your TV."
"Thanks," Trent said.
"I've also started messing around with stocks. I hate the stock market, a lot, but I've been dabbling off and on through the years, and now I'm getting serious," Jacob said. "I think there's a window of opportunity open to get a bunch of stuff going now that'll last to some degree when the hard times hit. I'm thinking that maybe I can be a lifeline to the town, bringing in income from the internet and elsewhere in the world and pumping it into town," Jacob said.
"Man, that's...intense," Trent said. "I feel kinda bad that we're eventually going to be ducking out for Bright Harbor."
"Don't," Jacob replied. "If you can get out, you should, to be honest. This is our home, and we fought for it, and we'll keep fighting for it, but that doesn't mean we look down on people who get out if they can. If it truly, really comes down to it, I'll take my family and move somewhere else. There's other places to build a home, a life. Like Mae said, home is where you are."
"Mister Warton…" Ann said, a little hesitantly.
"Yeah?"
"Will you...I'm going with Trent and Mae and Bea, if they'll take me-"
"Of course we will, Ann," Trent said.
She smiled and kept going. "Will you watch out for my mom? Now that my dad's gone...I just want her to be okay, and I know she won't leave Possum Springs."
"We'll keep an eye on her, Selma," Jacob replied.
"Thank you. It means a lot to me."
"Family's important."
Trent held his peace on that. He didn't agree, but he also didn't necessarily disagree. Clearly, things were working Germ's family, but his own experiences…
He never wanted to see his family again.
"Here we go," Germ said, coming back into the room carrying a thirty inch flat screen.
"Oh wow dude, that's newer and nicer than I thought it'd be."
"Bout three years old now," Germ replied. "Good condition."
"Are you sure you want to sell this to me for just a hundred bucks?" Trent asked as he crouched down and studied it.
"Yeah. I mean, it's going to help Mae, from what I understand, which I'm all for after everything that girl did for this town, and all she's put up with," Jacob replied. "And honestly we don't really use it anymore. It was in the basement but nowadays everyone's on their phone or their laptop, now that we've finally got better cell service and internet. And of course my girls have all hounded me for better phones. And being the pushover that I am, I got 'em for them. So I don't mind," Jacob replied.
"We really appreciate it," Trent said. He fished out a pair of hundreds from his wallet. "I also figured, since we're here, might as well get some more weed. Medium strength. Whatever a hundred bucks'll get me."
"Not a problem," Jacob replied. "Be right back."
They made lighter conversation with Germ while they waited, and then with Jacob when he got back, sharing updates about each other's lives. Eventually, it became obvious that Germ and Jacob wanted to get back to work, so Trent and Ann thanked them and left.
Trent's leg was bugging him worse as they drove back into town. He'd taken the last of the Tylenol a few days ago and knew he needed to buy more, though in reality he'd been smoking to help ease the pain. Despite that, he was feeling better as he pulled into the small parking lot of the Snack Falcon. He and Ann headed inside and found Gregg behind the counter, looking bored. Though his face lit up as they came in.
"Hey! You're here to rescue me!" he declared.
"From what?" Ann asked.
"Boredom! It's the slow killer."
"Only temporarily, I'm afraid," Trent replied.
"Better than nothing, I guess." He groaned and flopped over onto the counter on his back, knocking a few things over. "I'm dying of boredom!"
"I really sympathize," Ann said.
"You guys are lucky you don't have to work jobs."
"We'll see how long the luck lasts," Trent replied, walking to the nearby cooler.
"Does Mae have a phone yet? This job would go better if I could text her."
"Not yet," Trent replied. "I told her I'd buy her one but she never actually decides."
"I think her brain is stuck on the either the notion that cellphones are meaningless in Possum Springs, since they were for so long, or that she can't afford one. She still marvels over the new laptop you got her," Ann replied.
"Oh I get that, my brain is stuck on a lot of stuff. I feel like we're never gonna fucking get out of here...will you tell Mae that I'm going to be in Lori's movie?" he asked, sitting up and twisting around to face them.
"Yeah...really?" Trent replied as he fished a few bottles of Blue Mule out of the cooler. Passing by, he set them on the counter, then went deeper in to grab a twelve pack.
"Yep! She contacted me early this morning, said Mae said I would be cool with it and I mean, I am. I'm gonna be, like, a gang member or something and Mae's gonna totally kill me! It's gonna be wicked. We're gonna do a little knife fight. Lori seems cool, also smart. Like really smart."
"She does give that vibe," Trent agreed as he walked back with the twelve pack.
Ann came up with a few items and Gregg got off the counter and started ringing them up. "In a way, it does kind of suck, you know. Like, we were all gung-ho about moving to Bright Harbor, and we still are, it's just...I didn't realize Mae was gonna come back and everything was going to be so cool," he said, his features falling.
"Don't worry," Trent replied, "we'll be out there at some point."
"So you're for real gonna do it? All four of you?"
"All four of us. I know Mae really wants to be close to you and Angus, Bea wants to go to college out there, and I want to make them both happy, and I think it'd be a cool place to live, and Ann seems happy to tag along."
"More than happy," Ann replied.
"That's so awesome!" He looked at Trent suddenly. "Did you, like, for real beat up that guy Bea works with? The wolf guy? Mae was telling me about that last night."
Trent laughed. "No way. I did not beat him up. I just put him in a wristlock a few times. Mae's the one who actually decked him. He came at us with a boxcutter…"
Gregg bared his teeth. "If that son of a fuck had hurt Mae I would've torn his head off."
"I know how you feel. We got lucky...he really hates me now. I mean, for showing him up, even though he brought it on himself, but he's got to have pieced together now that Bea's at least very friendly with me, and very unfriendly with him. He got his stupid ass fired. I'm worried he's gonna come at me somewhere in town."
"You got, like, mace or something, right?" Gregg asked.
"Yeah, and that switchblade you gave me when we were dealing with the cult...you want that back?" he asked.
"Naw, keep it. I got more and you should have it. And if I ever see anyone trying to attack you, I will so totally jump in and go absolutely nuts helping you fight them off."
"Wow...thanks. That, uh, means a lot, actually," Trent said.
"Mae's like my weird cousin or sister I never had, and you're her kickass boyfriend, which makes you like my in-law. But like a good one. And you really proved how awesome you are with all the cult shit and literally letting Mae move in with you and taking care of her. Like, man, I couldn't do that. I have a hard enough time just keeping my own life from going off the rails."
"You're doing well, Gregg," Ann said. "You're holding down a job. You don't have any debt, as far as I know."
"Nope! No debt," he replied with a grin.
"You have an awesome relationship with a great guy. You're working towards a goal. You step up and help your friends when they need it. You're in a band, with your boyfriend, and best friend. Mucho street cred there. You're gonna live in Bright Harbor. You're actually doing well, even if it doesn't feel like it all the time. Believe me, I know."
"...I guess you're right," he said. "Just feels weird, after so much fucking up. And it's hard, keeping it all in line."
"You're doing good," Trent said, "and you know that you and Angus are always welcome at our place. If you ever need to just fucking crash somewhere with zero responsibility and maybe toke up a little or I don't know if you drink?"
"A little, sometimes," he replied. "And...yeah, thanks. I might take you up on that, actually. Angus is going to see his, ugh, mom. I wish he wouldn't, but he feels obligated and doesn't want me to go...yeah, it'd be nice to have friends to be with instead of alone in our apartment, knowing he's suffering."
"Why is he seeing his mom? She sounds shitty from your reaction," Trent replied.
Gregg looked genuinely irritated as he crossed his arms. "I...shouldn't get into it. It'd be rude. It's his story to tell or not tell. But his mom and his dad were very, very bad to him growing up. They should be in prison. His dad fucked off but his mom is still around. She got a place from his grandma when she died, it's on the outskirts of Briddle. I see red if I think about it for too long, the shit they did to him, I just-ugh! I hate her. But...it's whatever. It's his choice. And he just thinks, like...family is important, so he goes to see her. I don't know. It's bullshit."
"Jesus...I'm sorry," Trent muttered.
"Ugh, don't worry about it, just-I'll text you. But yeah, I'd really super appreciate some time with you guys to just chill." He paused. "Would it be, like, a problem if I brought a six-pack of beer? I don't wanna get wasted or anything, just buzzed. I know Mae hates alcohol and Bea usually avoids it, I know...some of your stuff, uh, Selma…"
"It's okay, Gregg, I won't mind," Ann said.
"I'll double check with Mae and Bea, but I don't care and I doubt they will either. I appreciate the ask, though."
He laughed. "Yeah, I've been learning about that stuff from Angus. Being polite, asking stuff, not just being an asshole all the time...it's hard."
"You must be making progress," Trent replied as he finished grabbing stuff and brought it up to the counter. "You've been real cool all the times we've hung out."
"Thanks." Gregg replied. He looked at Trent suddenly, a look of focus coming onto his face. "I'm glad you're not, like, an asshole. There's so many guys out there who are just like 'my girlfriend can't talk to other men', and I'd be so sad if I couldn't talk to Mae anymore."
"First, Mae wouldn't tolerate that. Second, you're, uh, you know…"
"Gay," Gregg replied. "But you'd be surprised. Some dudes are so paranoid, I swear. Like even though I'm gay as fuck and I live with my boyfriend, some dudes would still swear up and down that I'm not really gay and I'm just look for the right opportunity to fuck Mae, even though I have no interest in her like that...I'm just glad that your relationship with Mae hasn't complicated my relationship with Mae, and vice versa."
"I am also glad of this," Trent replied. As soon as Gregg rung up the painkillers, Trent torn into the box and popped three of them, downing them with some Mountain Dew.
"You doing okay?" Gregg asked.
"My leg," Trent replied.
"Oh right...man, I've never known anyone who got shot before. I mean, as far as I know." He paused, considered something for a long moment. "I guess I didn't really know the guy I shot…"
"Wait, you shot someone?" Ann asked.
"Yeah, that asshole with the cult. With my crossbow."
"Oh, right...God, all that still seems so insane, sometimes I forget details like that."
"He deserved it. Jerk."
"Sure sounds like it," Trent agreed. "So glad it's over."
"I hope it's over," Gregg replied, looking around. He began putting the stuff in a bag.
"It's over," Trent said. "Or...as over as it can be, I think. Anyway, uh, you want a ride over after work? Is it tonight or another night?"
"It's tonight. No, I'll walk it, it's not that far," Gregg replied.
"Cool. See you then."
"See ya!"
They grabbed their stuff and headed out.
When they got home, they found Bea on the couch, scrutinizing her laptop closely.
"I wish you'd let me carry it," Ann said.
"I got it," he replied.
"Your leg."
"It's fine."
"Is your leg hurting?" Bea asked as he walked in with the TV.
"It's fine," he repeated.
"Aw shit, we fucked in the shower and you were-ugh! I should've thought about that," she said, setting her laptop aside and getting up. "Here, give it to me."
"I can get it," he replied.
"Give me to now, Trent," Bea growled.
He sighed. There was no arguing with her when she was like this. He gave her the TV. "Thank you," she murmured, accepting it and heading downstairs.
"Is it here?!" Mae called from downstairs. "Oh cool! Wow, that's a nice TV!"
"Yep, Germ wants you to be happy," he replied. "Have you decided what game you're doing first?"
"The Suffering, definitely. I've also figured out the capture stuff," Mae replied.
Trent looked around as he came downstairs. They had set up a desk and a small table, as well as a single rolling computer chair that he had ordered online at some point during the past month, and a pair of lamps and one of the recliners. They had agreed to give it to her to game in. He was surprised she and Bea had managed to get it downstairs, but they were both strong. He saw that they had already established her setup.
She had chosen to set the recliner in a corner, facing outwards, with the TV in front of it on the table. It looked a bit strange but when he saw the point-of-view from the camera mounted on the TV, he thought it looked decent, at least interesting. It showed exactly what needed to be shown: Mae, in a chair, playing a game, the basement wall behind her. No windows. They were still iffy on just how much they wanted to reveal, although in his heart, Trent didn't really think she would get a big enough following for it to be a problem.
It wasn't that he didn't believe in her, it was more than he agreed with her own assessment: she planned on playing old horror games (mostly, she intended to branch out at some point), and those didn't have the biggest following.
The desk, computer chair, and a lamp were all set up across in the other corner, with Mae's new laptop on it. It was roughly eight times as powerful as her old one, but that wasn't really saying a lot given how underpowered it had been. Still though, it wasn't an insignificant purchase.
"This is a nice setup," he said.
"I love it! I'm really happy. Although! Now that I have you both here," Mae replied, stepping closer to him and Bea, "I need something from you. Both of you. I want a list with exact prices on everything you got for me. The carpet, the padding, the paint, the brushes, the TV, the capture device, the laptop, the games-"
"I got the games for myself," Trent said.
"Fine, but I want it. And don't bullshit me on it, either! I want to know exactly how much you both spent. How much it all cost. And who spent what. Because that's my first goal: I'm going to pay you back. And don't argue with me about it, and don't lie to me about it either." She seemed adamant, bordering on desperate. "I really mean it, okay? I don't want you shaving off any amount of money because you feel sorry for me or anything. This is important to me, okay?"
"Okay," Trent said, "I'll get you that information."
"Promise," she replied, crossing her arms.
"I promise, Mae," he replied.
She glared at Bea. "I promise, Mae. Jeez."
"Sorry, I just-this is important. It'll take awhile, but I'll make it happen. I've got the YouTube channel set up and a and a Ko-Fi and also a now, although I need to actually get a bank account. Ugh. So much stupid BS…" She hugged him suddenly, hard enough that it almost knocked him over. "Thank you. For all of this. I love you. This is, like, the biggest thing anyone's everyone done for me outside of my parents...and all the help you guys gave with the cult."
"I love you too, Mae. And you're welcome. It probably sounds lame but...try to remember to have fun with this," Trent replied.
"I'll remember," she said, then she hugged Bea, who laughed and hugged her back.
"You're welcome, Mae," she said. "Gotta admit, I'm really curious to see how this turns out."
"Same," Mae agreed.
"Oh, one more thing: Gregg is gonna come hang out. Angus is out of town visiting his family, which is bad? And Gregg is lonely. We stopped by the Snalcon."
"Yes! Gregg should totally come over! And yes! Angus's family is the fucking worst! If I ever meet either of his parents I will get in legal trouble because I will physically assault them!" Mae growled, letting go of Bea and stepping back.
"What happened with his parents?" he asked.
Mae opened her mouth, then sighed and shook her head. "That's his story to tell. They were bad to him. Very bad. For no reason. That's all that matters."
"Fuck...that's so awful. He's so nice."
"He is," Bea said quietly. "And Mae's right...I might do the same thing if I met either of them. His dad's long gone, no idea where, maybe even dead. But he visits his mom for...reasons. I don't know. He's too nice sometimes. Fucking bullshit," she growled.
"Yeah. Okay. Um. I should do the thing," Mae said, turning away and moving over to the laptop. She picked it up and moved it over to the table the TV was on, then hooked up the capture device. "Before Gregg gets here. Also, uh, I made this." She walked back over to the desk and pulled out a sheet of paper with the words FUCK OFF I'M RECORDING on it, surrounded by a few doodles of herself playing games or with headphones on.
Bea laughed. "Wow, Mae."
"I mean, it gets the message across," Trent said, accepting it.
"Could you pin it up? On the door?" she asked.
"Yeah. Although how will we tell if you haven't fallen asleep down here or something?" Trent replied.
"IM me," she replied.
"All right, I guess that'll have to do. Oh, speaking of which, I'm buying you a cell phone and putting you on my plan," Trent said. "No arguments. I'm just going to get you the same model phone I have, okay?"
She sighed. "Fine!...thank you."
"You're welcome."
"I'll send you nudes," she said.
"Wow, Mae. Still with the nudes," Bea said as she headed upstairs.
"They're hot! I mean I don't really understand why anyone wants to see me naked but apparently Trent and Selma do so whatever."
"It's because you're hot as fuck," Trent replied.
She growled. "Shut up, loser! Get out!"
He laughed. "Okay, babe. Good luck. Love you."
"I love you too now fuck off!"
He laughed again and decided not to push his luck by asking for a kiss, instead heading upstairs after Bea. Once he got upstairs, he tracked down a thumbtack and tacked the paper up to the basement door.
"Now what?" Bea asked.
"Well, I'm doing some work," Ann replied.
"I probably should too," Trent said. "I need to finish my damn backlog."
"In that case...I'm gonna get toasted and watch House on my laptop then," Bea said.
"More power to you, love," Trent replied.
They all headed off to do their own things.