Leaders of the Mislead

Chapter Four: Happy Endings Are Stories That Haven't Ended

Instinctively I tried grabbing my hunting knife that was always on my belt, but whoever was holding me stopped covering my eyes and shoved me against a wall, and locked my arms against my body. As I tried freeing myself from my captor, I suddenly caught a whiff of their breath which smelled distinctly like Jack Daniels. I only know one person who would be drinking at this time of day.

"For fuck's sake Merle, get off me!"

Merle whirled away, laughing so hard he could barely stand up straight. Leaning against the wall for support, he laughed "Little bother, you should have heard yourself! 'Merle? Merle! This ain't funny!' I sure as hell think it's funny!"

"Yer an asshole," I mutter, straightening out my clothes before going back to the kitchen to get the squirrels and rabbits so I could skin them. As if he hadn't annoyed me enough, Merle followed me down the hall.

"What, did ye think I was gonna eat'cha? Sorry baby brother, I'm not dead yet, and besides ye don't look too appetizing. Yer stringy, need more meat on them bones of yers. Like me, I got both muscle and meat, cuz the ladies like a little a both, if ya know what I mean." Merle said slyly, winking suggestively.

"Unfortunately I do know what you mean. How much have ye had to drink? It's not even 7 yet."

"Real men don't count how many drinks they've had. What's for dinner Darlina? I'm starving."

Grabbing a squirrel off the chair, I tossed one at his face, "Here's yer dinner. Enjoy."

"Boy you best stop sassing me," Merle suddenly went from playful to deathly serious, pointing at me with the dead animal swinging from side to side. "Yer lucky I didn't run out on ye like everybody else did. Nobody cares about ye little brother, no one will ever take care of ye like I do. And don't ye forget it."

Sighing I say "If ye say so Merle." Whenever he gets drunk with nowhere to go he always says the same thing, as if he actually helped raise me. His idea of 'helping' was disappearing for days on end leaving nothing but a note that said 'Gone out, be back whenever' and if I was lucky, there'd be some money underneath.

Collecting the squirrels I went out back to start skinning them with Merle in tow. It seemed as though he'd be my shadow for the night, which might be a good thing, cause he'd get into a lot less trouble that way. We sat back there with fresh beers, me skinning my game and Merle rambling on about some story or another. We didn't eat what I caught, instead we ordered a pizza since I didn't feel like cooking and Merle probably shouldn't be near any fire.

"It's been almost an hour, where's the damn pizza?"

"How the fuck should I know, I've been here with you haven't I?"

"Oh, so yer a comedian now, eh? Think yer such a wise guy. Well wise guy have you met my fists? I think they'd like to met ye."

"Merle, just shut up and wait a bit longer. If it's not here in ten minutes I'll call them, okay?"

"Fine, but it better be here soon, or else I'm gonna eat these here squirrels."

"You do realise that is why I brought them, so we could eat them, right?"

"There ye go again, thinking yer so damn high-larious. Well ye ain't so stop!"

"Whatever," I sigh, looking away, across our yard. For years we lived in a crappy trailer park. But then when I was 18, I got a job at a construction company and after a few years of saving every I bought this little out of the way place for Merle and me. It wasn't much, it looked more like a cottage than a house, but it was home. And as I sat there looking across our sorry excuse for a backyard, I realised there wasn't anything I'd do for my pain in the ass brother.

"I'm gonna go call them again," I say suddenly as I get up.

"'Bout time."

Ignoring Merle I throw open the screen door and find the phone on the counter. I quickly dial the number for the pizza place, and after a few beats of silence, I realise the phone line's dead. "Merle! Did ye remember to pay the phone bill?"

"Course I did! I'm not an idiot!"

"Of course ye aint" I mumble to myself, staring at the dead phone in my hands. "I guess I'll just drive down and see what's going on."

"Better grab some more beer while yer in town. We're running out."

Happy Endings Are Stories That Haven't Ended Yet - Mayday Parade

No, the story isn't over, but chapter titles can only be so long.
Hopefully the story is living up to expectations so far, it can only get better from here! ( I hope)