The Break - Chapter 10

Chapter 10 Ronnie was seriously considering quitting the restaurant job. Between dealing for Schneider and the money from the gigs they had been playing, Ronnie didn’t need a job. Really the only reason he stayed was Annie. He had it bad for her and he just wanted to spend time with her. Then again, there wasn’t much of a future in selling dope. The risk was way too high. Eventually, he would get caught. Some dumbass punk would get busted for having a roach and he would roll over on Ronnie. “Damn, I am getting a paranoid as Schneider.” He thought. But really knew it was more than that. He was jeopardizing the whole band’s future, not just his. It was great having all the dope he could smoke, but was it really worth it? The thing was, the DJ from KBPI had put Ratdick in touch with a record company. It was very possible that they were on the verge of hitting the big time. “No dude,” Ronnie thought. “This has gotta be the last pick up. But how the fuck am I going to break it to Schneider.” Just then a thought entered his mind. If the record company thing panned out, they would be hitting the road. “That’s it. I’ll get Schneider to be a roadie.” He said out loud. They were making excellent money at the gigs they were playing and they might even get an advance. They could afford a roadie. Plus, Schneider could be their security as well. Ronnie pulled up in front of the trailer. Normally, he would load up first and then have a little chat with Schneider. But today he wanted to talk first. Deliberately, Ronnie walked to the front door and knocked. “Who is it?” Schneider hissed in a menacing whisper. “It’s Ronnie.” “You a Fed?” He hissed through the still closed door. “Schneider dude, c’mon it’s me.” Ronnie said. “How many times we gotta go through this. C’mon open the door I wanna talk to you.” Slowly the door opened slightly, just enough for Ronnie to see Schneider’s right eye. He could see the absolute terror in his eyes. “Dude, what is up?” Ronnie asked in a concerned tone. Schneider didn’t answer, instead he flung the door open. “Get in here.” He said in a panic stricken voice as he grabbed Ronnie’s shirt and pulled him in to the trailer and quickly closed the door. “Dude, that’s my shirt.” Ronnie protested. “What’s with you?” “I told you they were out to get me.” Schneider said desperately. “And you didn’t believe me.” Ronnie was shocked. Schneider had never been like this before, not even the first time he showed Ronnie the garden. “What are you talking about, dude?” Ronnie asked totally confused. “I saw him.” Schneider continued wildly as he grabbed Ronnie by the shoulders. “Who?” Ronnie asked nervously. “Him, man.” He said as he stared deeply into Ronnie’s eyes. “You know, HIM!” Ronnie was very confused and even more upset. The wild look in Schneider’s eyes was getting creepy. He couldn’t take the stare any more. Ronnie looked away as he tried to free himself from Schneider’s grasp. “Schneider … uh … look … I …” Ronnie tried to form a sentence, but had no luck. Suddenly, Schneider’s eyes softened and his hands released Ronnie’s shoulders and fell to his sides. “Oh…oh…wow, man.” Schneider said totally defeated. “That’s right, you don’t know him.” “Who?” Ronnie asked. “Who don’t I know?” “The evil, man. The evil…” Schneider’s barely audible voice tailed off. Stunned, Ronnie stood in silence for a moment. Not knowing what to say or do, Ronnie simply put his hand on Schneider’s shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “Hey dude, wanna smoke a joint?” Ronnie finally asked. “Sure, man.” Schneider said totally defeated. Ronnie busied himself rolling a joint. It wasn’t as good as Schneider rolled joint, but it was pretty close. Placing the joint in his mouth, he lit it and inhaled deeply. Then he examined the joint as if he could get a read on the quality by looking at it. He hit it again and handed it to Schneider. Schneider seemed vaguely aware of what was going on around him. Smoking the joint was more of a reflex action than a conscience thought. “Hey, Ronnie, man,” Schneider said as he exhaled. “I ever tell you what happened to me in Nam?” “Uh … not really.” Ronnie said hesitantly. “Just some stuff here and there.” Schneider leaned back in the recliner and stared up at the ceiling and placed the joint to his lips and inhaled deeply. He held the smoke in his lungs for thirty or forty seconds. Suddenly he forcefully blew out the smoke, pressed the joint to his lips and inhaled insanely. Repeating this process over and over, he almost finished the joint himself. Shocked, Ronnie stared at him in disbelief. He had never seen anyone smoke like that before. Just the sight of it made his lungs hurt. “Jesus dude, you get enough?” Ronnie asked. Schneider held his hand above him, between his eyes and the ceiling, and stared at the remnants of the joint between his thumb and forefinger. He held that position for a moment and finally he broke the silence. “First, they kicked my ass.” Schneider began without acknowledging Ronnie’s question. “Then the bastards stripped me naked, doused me in water and threw my ass in a freezing cold cell.” “What…who…?” Ronnie said totally flabbergasted, but it was useless. Schneider was obviously in his own little world. “Every fifteen minutes or so, they would come in and beat me till I passed out.” He said without taking his eyes from the ceiling. “Then they would throw cold water on me to wake me up. I’m telling you man, it was fucked up.” This was all new to Ronnie. Up until this moment, every story Schneider told involved killing gooks. “Jesus Christ, this is messed up.” Ronnie thought. “What am I supposed to say?” Not knowing what to say, Ronnie decided the best thing to do would be to roll another joint. “I have no idea how long they did it, but it seemed like forever.” Schneider continued. “You have any idea what it’s like to be naked and wet?” “Not really.” Ronnie said softly as he tried to image what Schneider had gone through. “Not at all. “You get so cold that you can’t even shiver.” Schneider explained as he continued to look at the ceiling. “But then you start getting use to it.” “Really?” Ronnie asked amazed. “You get use to it?” “Yeah, the human body is amazing.” Schneider said. “But the gooks know that, too. So they start switching things up. They took me to a different room, a hot room, a really hot room. They keep taking me back and forth for days with absolutely no food and just a little water. They gave we water so I wouldn’t die on ‘em and ruin their fun. Then they finally gave me some food and I ate it as fast as I could. Well, turns out it was bad, so I spent hours puking. Even after there was nothing left. Then it was back to the hot-cold treatment. Just for kicks, occasionally they would hold my head under water and then kick me in the stomach just when I was getting my breath back.” Ronnie was totally enthralled. He had never heard of anything like this before. “Is he shitting me?” He thought as he stared at Schneider trying to figure this out. “Seems wacked.” “It went on forever, man.” Schneider sobbed. “They just kept fucking with me, man. Over and over …” Schneider’s body was wracked with sobs. He curled into a ball in the recliner and continued sobbing uncontrollably. Spasms wracked his body and suddenly he lurched out of the chair and he fell to the floor. “WHY?” He cried out. “WHY ARE YOU HERE? WHY, why, why …” “Cause I’m your friend.” Ronnie answered trying to decide if he should go to Schneider. Suddenly Schneider sat up. Although he had stopped sobbing, the tears continued to flow down his cheeks. “Not you, man.” He said as he wiped the tears from his face. “The evil, man. The evil is here, man. I seen him.” “What are you talking about Schneider?” “I don’t know.” “What?” Ronnie asked. “I just don’t know.” He stated flatly. “Whenever I think about it, my mind gets all fucked up. I just don’t know what is what.” Still seated on the floor, Schneider nervously began wringing his hands. “All I know is that the evil was there.” Schneider continued. “And now that the evil is here, man. The evil is here.” “Schneider, dude, what are you talking about?” Ronnie asked timidly. “I really don’t know, man.” Schneider said truthfully. “My shrink never could figure it either.” “Uh…your shrink?” Ronnie asked nervously. “Yeah, didn’t I ever tell you that I spent most of the eighties in the loony bin?” Schneider stood up and looked around as if to reacquaint himself with his surroundings. Satisfied that everything was as it should be, he took his seat in the recliner. “Uh … no.” “Hey, roll another joint, would ya?” Schneider said to Ronnie. With out a word or a moment of hesitation, Ronnie began the process of rolling another joint. “Yeah, when I got out of where ever the hell I was I winded up in VA some where. Finally, they shipped me back to Fitzsimmons so my parents could come visit me.” “Your parents?” “Yeah, that lasted all of three visits.” “Then what?” Ronnie asked as he twisted the smoking end of the just rolled joint. Ronnie lit the joint, inhaled deeply and passed it to Schneider. Schneider accepted the joint and raised it to Ronnie. “Cheers.” He said and then he said morosely. “They couldn’t handle it.” “Handle what?” “Look, man. Sorry I lost it.” Schneider said. “But I really don’t wanna go there now, dig.” “Sure dude.” Ronnie said. “No probs.” Although Ronnie was very curious, he knew that when Schneider was done talking he was done talking. He didn’t want to press the matter. “So what’s up?” Schneider asked. It never ceased to amaze Ronnie that Schneider could snap out of it so quickly. It was as if nothing had happened. Ronnie looked into Schneider’s eyes and that confirmed that everything was back to normal. “Okay … uh … well …” Ronnie started. “Well, spit it out boy.” Schneider said cheerfully. “Wasamatter, you gotta dick in your mouth?” “Damn Schneider, that’s fucked up.” Ronnie protested. “It’s just … well … you know I told you about the band?” “Yeah.” “Well dude, it looks like we are bout ready to hit the big time.” “Really? Cool.” “Well, yeah. Thanks.” Ronnie said. “Here’s the deal, though. Uh … like … you know … it’s not real cool to be dealing and shit. I mean if I get caught, I could fuck this whole thing up. Schneider was just staring at him. Ronnie licked his lips. He gone over the edge, he had to finish now. “I mean, it’s not just me I gotta think about, ya know?” Ronnie said nervously. “There are three other guys in the band.” There it was out in the open, hanging there. Ronnie shifted his weight uncomfortably and kicked at something on the floor. Finally, he looked directly into Schneider’s eyes. They stared at each other and after a excruciatingly long pause Schneider said, “That’s cool, man. We’ve unloaded most of it anyway.” Knowing Schneider, Ronnie knew that he meant what he said, but he wasn’t happy about it. “You know dude, it doesn’t mean I don’t wanna hang with you.” Ronnie said. “As a matter of fact, that’s what I really wanted to talk to you about.” “What?” Schneider said. “Look dude, if we’re going to be rock stars, we’re gonna need some security.” Ronnie said enthusiastically. “So, I was wondering if you would be interested in being our security slash roadie.” “Are you shitting me, man?” Schneider said as the color ran from his face. “No, I’m not.” Ronnie said. Then he saw Schneider’s reaction. “What?” “I can’t go out there, man.” Schneider said in a shaky voice. “They’ll get me if I do. I told you that.” Not sure if he should press, Ronnie decided to go for it. “C’mon Schneider, you can’t believe that.” Ronnie said. “How long you been here and has anyone ever come for you.” “You don’t know what you talking about, man.” Schneider said. “I’m telling you they’re out there – I mean – he’s…it’s out there. I told you, the evil is here, man. He’s here for me.” “You really believe that?” Ronnie asked. “Yeah, man. I do.” Schneider said and he turned and walked out of the trailer. “I seen it.” Tags: Fiction, Online Book, Rebeleyeball, Paul Gavin Copyright (c) 2006 Paul Gavin. All rights reserved.