The sun beat down on the blacktop of the truck stop. Not a cloud in the sky to block its harsh rays heating up the asphalt. Jeeves felt the warmth on his arm hanging out of the Cuda's driver window, a lit cigarette in his fingers dropping ash onto the ground.
With a sigh, he dropped it and put his head back. He needed to focus on the game. They had a new hit and Darwin had been acting recklessly. It's gonna be a cold day in hell before I lose another brother.
Darwin was all he had left. The family had dwindled since the Nomad. Jeeves and Darwin sought safety in Idaho. Ma died a few years ago and the rest of the family either died on jobs or sat in prison. The infamous Tremor mercenary family was now down to two active members.
The only other person in his life was Terra. She was a beautiful blonde bombshell, who had sent him a picture of her sucking another man's cock the morning before he and Darwin left Coeur D'alene. It wasn't her fault; she didn't know who she had texted.
It was four hours after they left when the sympathy messages began rolling in. How awful for her car to lose power as she was speeding through the pass and went over the edge. She'd been going to visit her mother in Great Falls.
The messages went unanswered.
He turned his attention back to work. Darwin paced, his hips swung as he walked in a non-chalant gait. The chains on his blue jeans rattled. His Doc Martens with grimy red laces, loosely barred, dragged along the ground. He wore a beaten wife beater with grease stains clinging to his torso, exposing the mass of vulgar tattoos on his arms.
His burner phone was glued to his ear, his other hand waving wildly at the oblivious caller on the other end. Jeeves followed his movement with his eyes, back and forth like a ping-pong ball.
Eventually, Darwin stopped and pulled the SIM from the phone. He snapped it and tossed it in the nearby trash. The phone went into another on the way into the store.
He came out some time later with bags filled with snacks, drinks, and beer. It all went on the floor and Darwin propped his feet on the dash, tossing an unopened pack of smokes at Jeeves.
Jeeves sucked his teeth and fired up the Cuda.
His older brother ran a hand through his greasy blond hair, shoved a handful of Cheetos in his mouth and handed Jeeves a can of Monster. He took out the small business card from their "client" and flipped it over a few times.
"Alejandro Munoz," he said, musing over the scrawled name of their hit. "What'ya think he did?"
Jeeves shrugged and pulled onto the road toward the on ramp. "Or didn't do." Darwin continued. "Man, the money they're offerin'" He whistled and tapped the card against the palm of his cheese dusted hand. "1.5 mil. We ain't seen that much since Buddy Isreal-" He trailed off as Jeeves white knuckled the steering wheel.
After a few minutes of silence, he tried to hit the buttons on the stereo and shook his head. "Service is out again," Jeeves told him. Darwin leaned forward and pulled the dusty CD case out and flipped through it. When he found what he was looking for, he slipped it in the slot and listened to it spin as the distorted guitars and off beat drums started. Rough yelling accompanied it and Darwin yelled along. Jeeves tapped his fingers to the beat and picked up speed, speeding recklessly onto the interstate, heading south.
Jeeves focused on the road. The memory of Lester being torn to shreds by bullets and his body crumpling on the waterlogged floor still kept him up at night.
The sun had set by the time they arrived in the Valley. They found a hotel off the road and pulled into the parking lot. Jeeves tossed the keys to Darwin and went up to check in. He used a Visa gift card, and the clerk sneered at it, claiming they didn't take them, but buckled under Jeeves' stare and stature. He missed when cash was king.
The room was chilly and had a faint musty smell. The two queen beds were even colder. He lay down and stretched out, taking off his shirt. It was quiet, too quiet. He sat up and turned the TV on. A news program after news program. They all seemed to be warning people about a new drug or something that was making people go crazy. Hostile and attacking people.
He kept flipping until he found a channel with some game show with a fake laugh track and people that seemed too stupid to be real. He tried to watch it for a few hours, letting himself doze.
A few hours later, Darwin opened the door with another key card from the front desk.
He had several six packs in hand and a couple of women followed him in. He looked down at Jeeves and grinned. "Still upset over your old lady?: Darwin laughed and threw a small bag of white powder at his dozing little brother.. "Well, I brought a cure."
Jeeves caught it without even looking at it. "Aw, shucks, bro," he said. "You sure know how to cheer me up." He grinned and winked at the women behind Darwin. They were both blonde with long hair and wore long skirts with high slits up the waist.
A woman reached into her bag and pulled out a small mirror and glided across the short carpet. The bed creaked as she sat down and held it out to him. "Do you want help with that?" She asked.
She scooted toward the end table and began cutting the powder into thin lines. Jeeves pulled out a small metal straw from in his pocket and handed it to her. "Ladies first." She giggled and took it from him, bending over the table and in a quick breath she inhaled the line. Pinching her nose, she sat up and opened her mouth and swallowed the nasal drip.
Jeeves took the mirror and straw and snorted his own line. It burned and the bitter taste fell down the back of his throat. He looked over at Darwin, but he was already on the bed with the other woman. Jeeves looked away, but in the corner of his eyes saw Darwin propping himself above her, his face buried in her neck.
"Give you ideas?" The other woman cooed in his ear. Jeeves grinned at her and grabbed the back of her head, gently pressing his lips to hers. Her tongue ran over his lips and she parted her mouth as he ran his own along hers. The woman's hands fell on his shoulders and then ran along his chest. They were warm and soft.
He wrapped an arm around her waist and spun her around so she was under him. The cocaine began to kick in. His breathing increased and his body felt hot.
"You got a name?" He asked.
"Krystal, with a 'K'," she said and traced her hands down his back and around his waistband.
Krystal with a 'K', He repeated in his head, and grabbed her hands in one of his. With his other arm, lifted her up and shifted her higher on the bed. Jeeves kissed her, wondering how much Darwin had paid her.
It was dark when Jeeves woke up. Krystal, with a "K", lay under the sheets with her arm draped across his chest. Light above the walkway outside shone through the white curtains, casting a dim glow into the room. Darwin lay sprawled out on his bed, the woman he was with curled up with her back to him. Jeeves never liked the dark.
He pulled his pants on and walked outside to light a cigarette, his boots untied and the laces hanging loose on the concrete. The parking lot was narrow. No view, except for a tall, red brick wall. A gray smear of paint in the center. The blue light of a Pepsi machine near the office made his stomach growl, and he wandered down the steps toward it.
Jeeves took his chilled can of Mountain Dew and walked out onto the sidewalk. He stood under the Motel sign and watched the empty street. Something felt off. Quiet. It was never quiet in LA, not in any of the times he had been here. There was always noise. Tonight, though, it was noiseless. It sent chills down his spine.
There was a closed hardware store across the street, and a sandwich shop. He made a note to stop in the store in the morning. Making weapons was his favorite pastime.
He crumpled the can in his hand and turned to go back to the room, when a figure in the parking lot stopped him. A man wearing faded jeans and a graphic tee swayed near the Cuda. A smile spread across Jeeves' face and he walked toward him, letting out a loud bark.
The man groaned and slowly looked over at Jeeves, unfazed. Jeeves slowed to a halt, his smile gone.
"Back off the car," He said.
"Fuck off." Jeeves said when the man didn't respond. He took another step and snarled. His face passed into the light from the walkways of the motel. He looked sick, pale, with sunken features. Blood was dripping from his nose, and viscera covered his chin. Jeeves thought of the news segments he had seen earlier in the night.
"Hey, man, I'd love to see whatcha on," Jeeves said, forcing a laugh. There was no response. It was making Jeeves uncomfortable, but he wasn't about to run away from this junkie.
With another snarl, the man lunged toward Jeeves; he stepped back, and the man fell to the ground. Jeeves brought his boot down on top of his head. He went to walk away. The man groaned behind him and the sounds of movement followed. Jeeves looked over his shoulder to see him struggling to his feet.
A quick glance around the parking lot revealed several CCTV cameras. "Lucky night, bud, I don wanta fight ya." The man started toward him again.
"Fuck off!" Jeeves said again. He walked over and grabbed the man's hair and slammed his head into the truck of the Cuda. The man continued to flail so he slammed him down again.
...and again
and again.
Jeeves felt the man's skull give way under his had. When the body fell down he frowned at the dent in the trunk. Darwin's gonna be pissed.
He didn't dwell on it and rushed up the stairs into the room. "We gotta go." He said and pulled the sheets off Darwin.
"Man, what the fuck?" Darwin asked after an enormous yawn. The women had woken up as well and blinked as Jeeves turned on the light.
"We gotta go," he said again. Darwin tried to protest, but Jeeves grabbed him by the neck and pulled him close, bending down into his ear. "We got to fuckin' go. You'll see when we get out there." He pulled a black shirt over his head.
"What's the hurry, handsome?" Krystal said from the bed. She leaned on her knees and smiled at him. Her blonde hair surrounded her like a lion's mane.
Darwin was moving slower, getting dressed and flirting with the women. He was moving like pond water. Jeeves waited for him to get packed, then pulled a small wad of hundreds and tossed it to Krystal.
"Keep the snow, we wasn't here."
Krystal's expression changed from confusion to astonishment as she grabbed the stack of money.
"Now wait a goddamn minute," Darwin said as Jeeves grabbed his arm and dragged him out of the room and down the steps. When Darwin finally managed to pull his arm free he asked "The fuck's the matter with you?" Jeeves stopped and started at the ground behind the Cuda. It was empty.
"Killed a guy," Jeeves said in a low voice. He pointed to the spot on the concrete, where there was a speck of blood.
"What d'ya do with him?" He asked.
Jeeves shook his head. He ain't gonna just walk away. He looked around the parking lot, but it was empty. Spinning around, he looked up and down the small lot. "He was here, he was."
Darwin walked around the Cuda and put a hand on the dent in the trunk, congealed blood, black as tar, came off onto his palm. He made a face and wiped it on his jeans. "I believe ya, bro." The women stood on the walkway wrapped in their jackets. Darwin winked at them and the brothers loaded into the car.
"They got cameras," Jeeves said as they pulled next to the small office. Darwin sighed and nodded to the door.
"Do what you do," he said as he reached for the door. Jeeves would run in, barking, making noise. Causing chaos and Darwin would throw a USB into the security system that would scramble all the footage in the last 24 hours.
They headed to the door of the office, but stopped as they neared the glass. Someone was in there, shuffling toward the clerk wearing a graphic tee.
"That's him," Jeeves said, pointing.
Darwin arched an eyebrow as the man lunged at the clerk. He took him down and popped back up after a gunshot went off. And a large spray of black blood covered the window.
The Tremors flinched. "What the fuck?" Darwin whispered.
They booked it for the car. Darwin threw the Cuda into gear and they speed off south down Lankershim.