Author Stony Graves: Excerpt from my novel, At the End of All Things

At the End of All Things

by Stony Graves

2

            The girl wouldn’t stop squirming. Pinky avoided her feet, but just barely. Lee leaned over on the girl’s back, pressing her to the trunk. Lee was laughing.

            “Just do it, Pinky.”

            “Nah, I’s best not, “Pinky said. His pants were around his knees and he had to really work his pecker to keep it hard. It felt like hot dough in his hand. Pinky wanted to stick his thing in Della, but something didn’t feel right about Lee holding her like that.

            “You’re going to fuck her, Pinky, because I don’t want to listen to your cry babying about it the next time you get drunk. Now, do it!”

            Pinky stepped forward. His thing bumped Della’s rear, and he felt a scream rise in his throat.

            “Lee Keaton, you let me up, right now. I ain’t fucking that retard.”  Della bucked against Lee, but he didn’t let go.

            “Nah, how’s bouts I’s just watch’n you’s do it, Lee.”

            “Come on, Pink, she don’t care none.”

            “Fuck you, Lee! Let me up!”

            Pinky felt his thing stiffen as he watched Della’s backside wiggle. Lee smacked one side of her ass, sending a small ripple across the cheek and motioned for Pinky to come forward. Oh, he wanted to stick it in her bad, but…

            Harold Fenton

            Pinky tried to force Harold Fenton’s grinning, bearded face out of his mind, but couldn’t. Once he started to think about Harold, he couldn’t stop. He remembered how he had cried when Harold leaned over his shoulder and whispered, ‘see, that don’t hurt none.’  But it did hurt, it had hurt plenty.

            “Nah,” Pinky said, “You’s go on, Lee. I’s just watch’n you do it to her.”

            “You heard the retard, Lee. He don’t want any.”  Della had stopped her squirming. “Just fuck me again, let the retard watch.”

            Lee let go of Della and started toward Pinky. Pinky noticed she didn’t get up from the trunk lid, only craned her head around to see.

            “You listen to me, Pinky. I went through a lot of trouble to try’n get you laid. You’re just gonna shit on that, like we ain’t friends or something?”

            “Nah, Lee, but she’s not want’n me in there,” Pinky said as he dropped his eyes away from Lee’s accusing face. “Lookie here, I’s can’t even keep this sucker stiff.”

            Shame washed over Pinky. He wasn’t concerned with his flaccid penis, but Lee’s apparent hurt feelings. Lee was right, they were friends, and Pinky didn’t have many. Of the friends Pinky did have, Lee was by far the best. Lee had shown him how to get pop from the machine in the school cafeteria without paying. Lee had rolled Pinky’s first joint (a skill Pinky still hadn’t mastered). Lee had shown him his first girly magazine, and showed Pinky how to make the ache in his pants disappear afterward. Lee had taught Pinky to fight, albeit not soon enough to prevent Harold Fenton and Tuf Dobbs from doing what they did to Pinky in the back of Tuf’s van.

            But Harold and Tuf won’t be doing that no more, Pinky thought as he remembered the heavy branch he clubbed the two men with until their brains leaked out of their ears. He vaguely wondered why the Law hadn’t come for him yet. On the TV programs Pinky watched, the Law always cuffed and hauled off old boys who kilt’ other old boys. Pinky tried to remember exactly when he had clubbed Harold and Tuf, but couldn’t. It’d been sometime before he and Lee started drinking and picked up Della, but after he had lunch at Bob’s store with Steve Branch.

            “Quit playing with it, dummy and use it!”  Lee slapped Pinky’s face.

            For a second, only a second, Pinky felt the red veil fall over his eyes. In that second, he wanted to throttle Lee Keaton until his eyes popped out like fat pimples.

            “Come on, Lee, don’t make me do it.”  Pinky felt tears welling in his eyes.

            “Maybe the big dummy don’t like girls none, Lee. Maybe he’d rather rub up on you?”  Della had rolled over on her back, both feet propped up beside her, knees spread apart.

            “Shut your mouth, bitch,” Lee snapped, his eyes never leaving Pinky.

            “The way I hear tell is your big dumb friend there would rather have a big cock up his ass.”

            That red veil fell over Pinky again. He considered finding a stick to bash Della with, but decided against it. Lee wouldn’t like that. Instead, Pinky pushed past Lee and slammed his thing against Della’s thing. In seconds, it was hard again. He shoved into her hard enough to make her cry out. Pinky bared his teeth as he forced into her.

            “That’s it, old son! Lay the lumber to that whore!”  Lee had moved in beside Pinky, pumping his fist like a cheerleader.

            Della fought against him at first, but after a moment of thrusting, Pinky noticed she pushed rhythmically against him. The ugly grimace on her face was gone, in its place her mouth hung agape and her eyes rolled back.

            “Don’t…you…come…in…me…you…fucking…retard,” Della grunted between moans. She’d wrapped her legs around Pinky’s back and squeezed. She tilted her head back and moaned.

            Pinky saw the soft skin under her chin and for reasons he couldn’t know, he grabbed her throat and squeezed. Her eyes widened and her movements stopped. She tried to say something, but Pinky’s big fingers muffled whatever words she wanted to say.

            “Stop that, Pink! You’re goin’ go and kill her!”  Lee said. He tried to pry Pinky’s hand loose, but when that didn’t work, Lee tried to punch Della free.

            Pinky only thrust harder. He stared upwards at the heavens and wondered about the bright lights that he saw streaking across the Appalachian night sky. He saw the smiling man’s face in the stars. He was grinning and nodding his approval.

            This is something you must do, Pinky. Soon, you’ll be ready to come to me.

            Pinky gasped. Had the smiling man really said soon? He’d only started seeing the smiling man’s face a day or so ago, but he already knew his destiny lay with that grinning face who whispered in his mind. It had been the smiling man who suggested he club Harold and Tuf. He said their sins were unforgivable, and in his realm, acts such as that wouldn’t be tolerated. Pinky had only understood every other word, but enough to know the smiling man had his best interests in mind.

            “God damn, Pinky, let her loose!”  Lee yelled and slapped Pinky’s face, but he barely noticed. Della grew still her eyes rolling further back inside her head than Pinky thought possible.

            Good, good, the smiling man cooed, now you must do the same to Lee.

            Pinky froze. Della’s body collapsed on the car trunk motionless. Lee paused midway through a slap.

            “Nah, I’s can’t do that,” Pinky whispered.

            Something happened next Pinky hadn’t seen before. The smiling man ceased to smile. His jovial face faded to a sneer that made Pinky’s blood run cold.

            You would deny me?

            “Ah fuck me! You fucking kill’d her, Pink! You fuckin’ moron! You kill’d her dead!”

            Pinky flinched as Lee resumed punching him. Moments before, Lee’s slaps and punches were meaningless as a gnat landing on him, but the spell had broke and reality came crashing back. The attack stung.

            Lee wasn’t anywhere near Pinky’s size, but (as Lee often pointed out) he was meaner than a pissed off rattlesnake. Pinky pulled away, arms covering his face and head. Lee followed shouting and punching until Pinky cowered at the Pontiac’s bumper.

            “You stupid, no good piece of shit!”  Lee screamed. He added kicking Pinky to his repertoire. “They’ll lock both our asses up for this! I ain’t going down because of a fucking retard, you hear me idiot?”

            “I’s sorry, Lee. I’s didn’t mean it,” Pinky blubbered.

            You will deny me? The smiling man screamed inside Pinky’s head.

            “I’s reckon not,” Pinky muttered. With one big hand, he caught Lee’s boot in mid kick. For a moment, they locked eyes and stared at each other. Something changed in Lee and Pinky saw him for what he really was, a scared, abusive, user. Worst of all, it was Pinky he had used. The times Pinky had thought Lee his friend were a lie. Lee never cared about Pinky as Pinky had cared about him. Pinky was just an object to Lee, a toy to be played with and abused then discarded. Pinky broke the stare and dragged Lee down by his foot. He wrapped his calloused hands around Lee’s throat and squeezed. In Lee’s bulging eyes, Pinky saw Harold Fenton’s face as Harold sodomized him. He saw Tuf Dobb’s grin as Tuf shoved his thing in Pinky’s mouth. He saw himself, blubbering as the two men laughed as they fastened their jeans and rolled Pinky from the van door like a used beer bottle. Pinky saw his father in those wide eyes of Lee’s. Pal with the old transistor radio in his hand that Pinky had knocked off the shelf and broke. Pal with hate and disgust in his eyes as he beat Pinky with the radio until it lay in a thousand pieces on the floor and chunks of plastic and glass embedded in Pinky’s skin. He saw Della’s spread legs as she called him a retard. A million other faces flashed in Lee’s eyes and then, nothing. Lee lay limp in Pinky’s hands, his tongue poked out like a road kill ‘possum.

            Despite being as mean as a rattlesnake, Lee died quicker and easier than Della had. Everything bad had vanished from Lee’s eyes, leaving only Pinky’s buddy, his best friend. Pinky cradled Lee’s limp body, crying and smothering him with ‘I’s sorrys’ over and over. Pinky stayed like that, rocking Lee like a child, until Lee’s corpse began to stir.

            Pinky dropped the body and leapt to his feet. Della’s naked body had begun moving as well.

            “To hell yous say,” Pinky whispered. He backed up to the edge of the road and was ready to break loose and run when the smiling man’s voice returned.

            These are my agents. They will look after you until you are with me.

            Pinky relaxed some, but not much. Seeing dead folk stir wasn’t Christian, only Jesus could do that.

Maybe I am Jesus, the voice whispered in his head.

He watched the walking corpses warily as he knelt and pulled up his trousers. After fastening them, Pinky craned his head back to the sky and searched for the smiling man.

            “When will I’s be with you?”

            The reply confused Pinky. It must have been a riddle, he supposed. A shame, since he had never been much for solving puzzles and whatnot. The smiling man was gone; Pinky could feel that to be true and knew any further explanation wasn’t coming anytime soon.

            Lee stared through him with dull, dead eyes and then started walking north. Dead Della followed him.

            Pinky shrugged. He’d trusted Lee wholly his entire life (he had only known Lee for three years, two more than Pinky could remember), no reason to stop now.

            “Besides,” Pinky muttered as he fell in behind the corpses, “maybe they knows where’n a Blue Church is.”