Broken Fairytales part 3
By Phantaz-Magoria
***
Present day...
Glitch was a sweating, panting mess by the time he had stumbled into the kitchen and dropped to the floor, completely exhausted amid his twenty overstuffed grocery bags. DG was standing in the doorway when he finally looked up, a tired smile breaking over his face.
"Hey, precious! Didn't see you standing there. I was trying to get back sooner, but the nearest grocery store is a mile and a half away and these bags must weigh, like, a hundred pounds or something. I didn't think I was going to make it the whole way. Shoulda stole one of those shopping carts."
DG smiled and shook her head.
"No? No stealing, huh? That's good, though. Stealing is bad. You should never ever sink that low. Here, help me up."
DG held out her hand and Glitch took it, struggling to his feet with a groan. He stretched and sighed when he felt his shoulders pop and settle back in place.
"Well! I've got all sorts of good stuff here."
He lifted one of the bags onto the counter and pulled out a gallon of milk and a carton of eggs.
"Here, put these in the fridge. I've got some orange juice, too, in there somewhere. Lots of vitamin C, but milk is important if you want to grow up big and strong. Hehehe, such a cliché, isn't it? But it's true. Milk gives you healthy bones, so you have to have at least one glass a day. Or you could have cereal with your milk. I bought some cocoa puffs. There's about a hundred different kinds of cereal and they're all ridiculously expensive. Unless you get the kind in the bag and not the box, but who wants to eat the bagged stuff, right? So anyways, I got you cocoa puffs because I didn't know what you liked and I know that I like cocoa puffs. Everyone likes cocoa puffs."
DG was smiling because Glitch was smiling. He handed her a block of cheddar cheese for the fridge.
"The cheese is so we can make grilled cheese sandwiches later. I also got some hot dogs and chicken nuggets. I got a ton of ramen. I used to get Top Ramen, but then I realized that Maruchen is five cents cheaper and it's almost exactly the same stuff. You can't even tell the difference, really. Ramen soup is probably the easiest food in the world to make. I think it was designed with drug users… well… brain… problem… people in mind…"
DG hugged him. Glitch was startled for a second, having been completely lost in thought for a moment, then hugged her back.
"Oh! And in case you're hungry now, I've got apples! They had Braeburn apples at the store and those ones are the best! They're crunchy and sweet and tart and tangy and not too juicy so they don't make a mess. I love Braeburn apples. I think they're in that bag over there! Could you get me one? Once we get all the cold stuff put away, I'll make us some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. They had too many kinds of jelly and I couldn't pick so I got grape and strawberry. We can have whichever one you want."
Thirty minutes later, after the chicken breasts, ground beef, and hot dogs had been put in the fridge and the Eggo waffles, ice cream, fish sticks, and frozen pizzas had been put in the freezer, along with all the other cold stuff that needed to be put away first, Glitch was carefully crafting two perfectly proportioned sandwiches. His measurements were as precise as a kid with an alchemy set could get. Approximately one tablespoon of peanut butter, which turned out to be one big knife scoop, and just about a tablespoon and a half of strawberry jelly, which of course was two medium knife scoops, since jelly didn't stick as well as peanut butter and would glop off onto the counter if you tried to get too much on.
DG watched him intently.
"And the real secret… the secret to making any sandwich perfect… is to cut it in triangles. You can try cutting it in half, or cutting it in squares, but I'm telling you, it won't be nearly as good as a sandwich cut into triangles. Triangles make everything perfect."
He grinned. "Except you. You're already perfect." He dabbed at DG's nose, leaving a smear of peanut butter. DG wrinkled her face and rubbed it off, then retaliated with a glob of jelly. "Hey! That's not fair, jelly's stickier!" Glitch rubbed the jelly off his face, then licked it off the palm of his hand. Then, since he already had it out, he stuck his tongue out at her. DG returned the gesture, making Glitch break down in giggles.
When he looked up, he saw that DG had his notebook out and had written him a note. 'Where did your books go?'
"My books?" Glitch was honestly puzzled. "What books?"
'The ones upstairs.'
Glitch looked up as if he could see through the floor. He bit his lip. He truly had no idea what she was talking about. Then slowly, painfully slowly, a memory of earlier that morning danced in front of his brain.
"Oh! The books! I, uh… well… I sold some of them." DG looked startled and Glitch rubbed the back of his neck, trying not to feel like he had done something bad. "I've still got another week's worth of work to do on the Camaro. That's the closest one to being done. Have to finish cars to get paid. Have to have money to buy food. We needed the food, needed the money. So I sold some books. Only thing of value I have left. If I, uh… If I had sold them to pay for drugs, that'd be one thing, right? But it wasn't drugs, alright? It wasn't drugs. It wasn't drugs…"
Glitch ran a shaking hand through his hair. Tremors already. When was the last time he had a fix? An insistent tugging at his sleeve made him look down.
DG had written a note for him, 'You mean medicine.'
Glitch let out a sharp laugh. "Medicine! Right. Listen, doll, I am not the right guy for this… I mean, I like you, you're a cute kid, but I am… I'm a bad guy. You don't want to get involved with me. I could find you a nice person to take care of you, a responsible person with a bank account and credit cards who won't have to worry about scraping change out of old cars to feed you at night. You know? Somebody who can buy you toys and dresses and who knows what kind of shampoo girls are supposed to use and don't just grab the bottle that says 'shiny' on it cause they think it's cool…"
DG watched him with sad blue eyes and Glitch felt the guilt gnaw at him deeper.
"You deserve somebody who can take care of you. Not an eighteen year old… h-h-high school dropout with a drug addiction…" Glitch broke off with a sob, looking away from those soulful eyes because it had become too hard to see himself reflected in them.
DG decided it was time for a hug. She wound her little arms around his waist and squeezed him as tight as she could. Startled he looked down at her. He took a breath and hugged her tightly in return, tearful eyes catching the note she placed on the table.
'But you make perfect sandwiches. That's all I need.'
* * *
Three years ago…
"Hey! Ambrose!"
Startled, Ambrose looked up from picking up his papers and school books where he had dropped them in the middle of the hallway. Officer Cain was coming down the hall towards him. Great. Just what he needed.
"Let me give you a hand with that."
Moment of truth. He could drive the well meaning officer away right now with a few careful barbs, some cool witticism. He could drive anyone away if he set his mind to it. Years in the orphanage, then a few more on top of that being passed around from foster home to foster home had taught him to protect himself with isolation. He could be cruel, say just the perfect thing to make the friendly light in those bright blue eyes disappear forever. It was easier if he didn't care about anyone.
But when it came down to it, Ambrose couldn't bring himself to hurt Officer Cain. He didn't know why, couldn't explain if he tried what made this person different, just that somehow he was. He swallowed whatever comment had been waiting just behind his teeth to spit out and ended up with a weak, "Thank you," instead.
Cain's smile was easy, lighthearted, completely unaware of Ambrose's internal struggle. "We're gonna have to work on your grip, boy."
"Right. Well. There's a reason I didn't make the football team."
"Oh, yeah? Thought it might be cause you're a hundred and ten underweight."
Ambrose chuckled. Banter was easy now that the first crisis of decision was past. "Fortunately for me, the chess club is a non body type prejudicial organization. We encourage kids to find their inner anorexic. Kind of a wonder we don't have more cheerleaders on the team."
"No kidding? You play chess?"
"Do I look like the type of person who 'plays' anything? I can't even play the piano; it sounds too much like frolicking."
"So what's your verb then?"
"Compete. I compete at chess."
"Smart ass." Cain was grinning as he said it.
"Are cops allowed to say 'smart ass' in school? Isn't that a little like swearing at your customers?"
"That may be true in most cases."
"Most cases, but not mine?"
"With you it's an endearment."
Ambrose ducked his head, blushing a bit. "Well, in that case, I will mention that I may not PLAY the piano, but I know how to operate one and can utilize it to perform concert pieces quite well."
Cain grinned. "Smart ass." Ambrose smiled back, a genuine smile that made his eyes glitter. Cain handed him a book. "So, those kids you were talking to…"
"You mean Zero and his pack of wolves?"
"Is he the one that… accidentally… bumped your arm just now?"
"Yeah, that's Zero."
"They bothering you?"
"No. Yes. Not specifically. They bother everyone." Ambrose frowned and stuffed some papers into a binder.
"What are they bothering you about?" Cain was trying to be gentle while he probed, but he was determined to get the information he needed.
"Nothing, okay?" Ambrose was getting frustrated.
"You can tell me tonight over meatloaf if you'd prefer…" He dangled the carrot.
Ambrose looked up. Meatloaf… Tempting.
"Zero offered to give me drugs in return for writing his senior paper for him. I told him to go fuck himself, he pushed me and walked away."
"Good for you, Ambrose... That's really good, kid, I'm proud of you. Just watch the swearing."
Ambrose rolled his eyes. "Alright. You want to play that way, fine. I told him to stuff his woefully small male member past his sphincter into his anus and to slide it in and out until the pressure against his prostate gland forces him to climax and he fills his large intestine with semen. Though I'm told you can do more or less the same thing with a dildo."
Cain rubbed his jaw, impressed in spite of himself. "Somehow, kiddo… you have this talent for making things far more obscene than they really should be. I think I'm a little more disturbed by the description than the swearing."
"Does that mean I can go back to telling people to-- "
"Nope. Not until you're eighteen. But next time the occasion comes up, I might steal your material."
Ambrose grinned. "Well, I got plenty more where that came from. Need some pointers, you can look me up."
"That's what the meatloaf's for. So I don't have to look you up. I'll admit, I'm kinda glad we didn't have this conversation at dinner… but the offer still stands."
"I think I'd still like to take you up on it, if that's okay."
"Sure, Ambrose. Wouldn't offer if it wasn't okay. We like having you over."
Ambrose ran a hand through his hair. He had all of his stuff together and he stood, clutching the pile of books and papers to his chest. "I think it's just you that likes having me over…"
"Naw, Jeb adores you. Adora likes you too. She was telling me the other day how she was bragging about you to her students at the college."
"Bragging about me? I'm not even her kid."
"Great thing about teachers is that every kid she meets is her kid too."
"You think so?"
"I know so. So, pick you up after school?"
"Yeah… That'd be great."
"See you then."
Ambrose walked to class smiling.
* * *
Present day…
What was he doing here? He didn't think he needed a fix… it didn't FEEL like he needed a fix… Usually he didn't need to remember needing a fix, he could just tell, but why was he here if he wasn't looking for drugs?
Glitch looked around the alley outside of the Stardust club.
He wished he could remember. He ran a hand through his hair. There was something in it. His hand, not his hair. Confused, he looked at what he held in his hand. It was a card. With a note on it.
He recognized his own writing, but couldn't for the life of him remember writing it.
'Glitch – We're out of money, out of food, and out of Erebus. The Camaro didn't get as much as it should have and the Jeep won't make as much as you need. You're doing this for DG, so stop glitching and go talk to Zero. We'll cry about it afterward, note cards are in your right pocket if you need help. With all due affection, Your sorry and pathetic self.'
Had it been a week already? He couldn't remember the last time he'd glitched this bad. Ironic, considering that he couldn't remember ANYTHING when he glitched this bad. A sinking feeling settled into his gut as he looked up at the side door of the Stardust.
What was he getting himself into?
The note in his hand burned almost like a flame and he swallowed his fear. This was for DG. This was for DG… This was for DG… He let himself glitch on that while he opened the door and slipped into the blackness inside.
The crowd was just as intense, just as noisy and as oppressive as every other time he'd been in here. He couldn't remember any time in particular, but he remembered the feeling of being here and being scared, and the smoke in the air and the smell of booze and the flashing lights that made his head hurt.
Panic welled in his chest. Panic he couldn't even pin down. Why was he so scared? He'd been here before… Something was about to change. Something deep down inside him could sense it and wanted to run away and hide.
This is for DG…
Through the smoke and darkness and colored lights, Glitch could see a familiar face, like a ghost from the past, ice blue eyes and white blond hair… couldn't be… The crowd moved and the memory was gone like a wisp of smoke on a breeze. But now he could see Zero at a booth in the corner. Run, run now! his mind screamed at him. But he couldn't.
This is for DG…
He took a breath and made his way through the crowd to the booth. One of Zero's lackey had seen him coming and nudged his boss. Zero looked up at him with sneering contempt.
"What do you want, headcase?"
"I need to talk to you, Zero."
"Yeah, I gathered that. What do you want?"
"I don't have any money."
"Then you aren't getting your drugs. Simple as that."
"I thought we could come to some sort of arrangement…"
"Arrangement?" Zero raised his eyebrows, interested amusement seeping into his voice. "What kind of arrangement?"
"I need a job. I don't care what kind… as long as it makes money."
Zero laughed and his pack of wolves snickered, one of them with a particularly disgusting leer. Zero stood and walked around Glitch, sizing him up. "Well, what do you know, the pillar of virtue finally collapses. You want to work for me? Yeah, I can find you something." He grabbed Glitch's face and stared at him close, like looking at a horse's teeth before purchasing him. "Yeah. I could always use a pretty face like yours."
Zero let him go and Glitch had to struggle not to run away.
This is for DG… This is for DG… He repeated it over and over in his head. God, why did he feel so sick?
"If you want some work, show up at 56th and Anne Street at about midnight."
Glitch nodded quickly and turned to run out of there as fast as his feet could take him. But Zero's voice stopped him.
"Hey, Glitch!"
He turned to look over his shoulder. Zero had a wicked smirk on his face. "Wear a dress. Something pretty."
The wolf pack laughed and guffawed as Glitch retreated as fast as he could through the crowd. Even outside, gulping in the thick city air that smelled of rotting garbage and car fumes, he could hear their laughter echoing inside his aching head.
Tears of shame and despair and misery rolled freely down his face.
What was he getting himself into?
* * *
TBC
As promised! Thanks for the reviews =) They make me happy