Chapter three of The Wallows (my WIP) TW: drug use

Chapter 2: https://blog.spacehey.com/entry?id=1341100

I lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. I hear a tapping on the window. I sit up and see Shawn outside.

“Stop, before you break it!” I whisper-yell.

I open the window and Shawn crawls in. “We need to score some Oxy.”

I blink. Did he just say what I think he did? “We what?”

“It’s for Stan. He’s going through some shit right now. He needs it.”

I rub my temples. He’s taking it that hard? Keith and Stan were always close. No wonder…

“Let me get dressed, first.” I say, turning around to dig in my pile of clothes. I pull out some jeans and a black Britney Spears shirt with the album cover from “Oops!... I did it again” on it. I put them on and put on some flip flops.

We go to his car. Shawn starts driving, and he’s actually going slow this time. He must not want to get caught.

“Why can’t Stan get the Oxy himself?” I ask.

“He’s watching his siblings tonight,” Shawn whispers, “We’re going to the old mall.”

“That’s where all the crackheads and hobos hang out!” I say tensely.

“Exactly!” He hisses.

I look out the window. We have an abandoned mall in town. It was really popular in the eighties, according to my mom. This whole town was bustling back then, apparently. Then a whole bunch of kids went missing and the factory closed. Now, there’s not a lot of people in town other than the people in Sunny Meadows, the old folks home and a few other families that own the few, dying, businesses. Tyler’s parents own the local tattoo parlor, which actually explains a lot, now that I think about it.

We pull into the parking lot of the town laundromat; if we were in the mall’s parking lot, it would be suspicious. “WALLOWS LAUNDROMAT: OPEN 24 HOURS” It says in red, large letters that proudly sit on the top of the building.

We hop out and start walking to the mall. I look into the window of the laundromat and see a man. He’s staring straight at me. He’s an old man, about seventy, I would guess. He has a white beard and a pair of glasses with stocky, murky colored frames. And a stare… He’s staring at me like he knows what I’m doing, like he knows my sins. He has bright blue, unblinking eyes. It feels like it’s colder all of the sudden, and I can’t look away.

“Lacy? You alright?” Shawn shakes my shoulder.

I look at Shawn. “Huh?”

Shawn squints at me. “You were just… nevermind.”

I look back at the window and the man is gone. I shake my head, and keep walking with Shawn.

We make it to the abandoned mall. It’s in disrepair, has been since ninety-two, around when I was born. Shawn looks at the small symbol carved into the door, a circle with an arrow through it, pointing left. It’s hobo for “no use going in this direction” so we head the other way. 

We get to the east end of the mall and turn the corner. There’s a spray painted arrow pointing towards a door. 

“Jackpot,” Shawn whispers, “Let's go, princess.”

He gives the door a shove and it opens. We walk in, and I stay close to Shawn. Like I said, this place is crawling with crackheads. I can defend myself just fine, but I don’t think I could fight a crackhead. I mean, I wouldn’t know, I’ve never fought one. The mall is absolutely trashed, broken glass, fallen ceiling tiles, dust, dirt, graffiti, shit like that. It’s everything you’d expect from an abandoned mall. 

There are two diamonds spray painted next to each other on the wall. It means “keep quiet” in hobo code. We get to an abandoned Wet Seal with a rectangle that has a line pointing up spray painted on the metal shutter. It means “this is the spot.” I take a deep breath as Shawn knocks.

“I’m not going in there.” I shake my head.

“Suit yourself, princess.” Shawn shrugs.

The metal shutter is lifted, revealing an addict. Holy shit, I think I know him!

“The fuck do you want?” He asks. He’s scratching some track marks on his arms. There's a gold chain with a cross around his neck.

“I’m picking up some kicker for a friend, Stan Tims.” Shawn pulls out some money.

The guy pulls him into the store, and I’m left waiting outside. I cross my arms over my chest and notice something on the floor. I pick it up and realize it’s a missing poster from the eighties. MISSING is scrawled across the top in faded red letters. There’s a little girl on it. The girl is smiling. There are bows in her hair and a list of features under the innocent photo. It says her name is Katherine Cody, she has light brown hair, brown eyes and has a chipped front tooth. Her birthday was January 26, 1981. The reward is listed at the bottom. “CLOSURE IS OUR REWARD.”

I stare at the poster for a moment, until Shawn comes out. He rubs his nose and has his hand in his pocket.

“Let’s head out, Lacy.”

***

As we drive back to the trailer park, I think about the addict we saw. I know I recognize him. I think he graduated with Stan.

“Hey, Shawn?”

“Yeah, Lace?” He takes a quick glance at me before returning his eyes to the road.

“I recognized that guy. The addict, I mean.” I put my feet up on the dash.

“Yeah, I think it was Jason Sinclair.”

“He played football with Stan, right? He was the star quarterback, how the hell did he end up like that?” I kick the seat back and put my hands behind my head.

“Remember that accident on the bridge that happened right after Stan’s graduation? Killed his girlfriend. Heard he spiraled after that.”

I look at the truck ceiling for a moment. I remember the memorial that was held after the wreck. That was one of the few times me and my mom went to church.

“I remember now. He was the guy that tried beating up Pastor Doug.” Me and Shawn chuckle at the memory of a football player getting his ass whooped by an old guy.

We both go silent. I continue to stare at the ceiling and the missing poster creeps back into my mind. Did they ever find that little girl? I doubt it. Only one of the missing kids was ever found, but found dead. I don’t know for sure how he died. I can’t shake an answer out of my mom, but there are rumors he was found hanging in an abandoned house. That little girl is probably dead too.

We pull into Sunny Meadows and get out of the truck. Me and Shawn head to the Tims’ trailer. He knocks and Stan answers the door.

“Tell me you have the stuff,” He says gruffly. He has a five o’ clock shadow and is tapping his foot impatiently.

“Calm your tits. Are the rugrats awake?” Shawn asks. I know he won’t give up the oxy until he knows they’re asleep. He doesn’t want them to see this.

“They see our parents do this shit all the time.”

“Are. They. Asleep?” Shawn narrows his eyes at him.

“Yes! Just hand it over!” Stan shouts at him.

Shawn shoves the baggie of pills into Stan’s chest and walks in. I follow behind him, and we plop down on the couch. Stan kneels in front of the coffee table and starts crushing up the pills. 

“Guess who we saw at the mall,” I say, trying to make conversation.

“Who?” Stan pulls out a razor and lines up the powder.

“The Rocket himself.” Shawn pulls out a cigarette and lights it up. 

“Really? Huh, didn’t know Jason was still in town.” He looks away for a second. “I thought I was the only one from my class to still live here.”

I think about it for a moment. I don’t think any graduates stay in Wallows for very long. They leave as soon as possible. I don’t think I blame them.

Stan rolls up a piece of paper and uses it to snort the sugar-white lines. He sighs contentedly, slouching over the table. Just then, one of Stan’s little sisters walks in the room. It’s Georgina, the littlest girl. She’s wearing one of her older brother’s flannel shirts as a nightgown. Her curly brown hair is in pigtails and she’s clutching a teddy bear made of mismatched fabric and two different button eyes. 

“Go back to bed, Georgina!” Stan stammers, trying to hide the drugs on the table.

“Whatcha doing?” She asks innocently, her green eyes wide like a puppy-dog’s.

Shawn narrows his eyes at Stan, “You said the kids were asleep.”
Stan ignores him, “We’re just playing a game, Georgie. Go back to bed.”

Shawn stands up and looks over at me. He puts out his cigarette. “Put her to bed, Lacy.”

“No, stay, please stay,” Stan pleas.

“Go!”

“Lacy, don’t move!”

They go back and forth as I get up and usher Georgina back to her room. The room has two bunk beds and a sleeping bag on the floor. The room is pretty bare, just a rug and broken toys scattered around. The other three kids continue to sleep, Annabelle who’s nine, Ethan who’s seven and his twin Eric. I get her into bed.

“What’s my brother doing?” She asks, innocently.

“Something he shouldn’t be…” I respond as I tuck her in.

“Is he being naughty? Is that why Shawn is mad?”

“Kinda, he’s not so mad that he’s doing it, he’s mad that you saw him.” I stroke her hair.

She yawns and holds the hodgepodge bear tight. She mumbles a goodnight and closes her eyes. I sit there for a moment while she falls asleep. Shawn is probably beating the ever-living shit out of Stan. He has a thing with kids seeing stuff they shouldn’t. I asked him about it once and he just muttered something about his dad. I never really pressed him about it.

I look down at the sleeping bag. It’s Keith’s, patterned with aliens, UFOs and stars. There are only two rooms per trailer, and they aren’t exactly meant for a lot of people. The two bunk beds barely fit in here. So Keith sleeps on the floor, and Stan sleeps out on the couch. I look at the sleeping bag for a while.

Eventually, I leave the bedroom and try not to look at Shawn repeatedly punching Stan in the face, drawing his fist back and slamming it into his face.

Thanks 4 reading!! Criticism is greatly appreciated!!