my most recently published short story

[princejonny]

It's called "Not My Dad," I hope ya'll like it.

pj


Two bad things happened today.

Billy found out I was a crack addict, then he died right next to me curled up in the fetal position at the bottom of a muddy ditch

I feel bad. Even though Billy had AIDS, he shouldn't have died. Nt today..and not like this.

Billy idolized his dad, who was an FBI agent, and that's why he never told him he was gay, or that he had AIDS, he was too afraid of losing his respect. Billy earned his respect by being kind of an apprentice to his Dad, and Mr. Morgan hoped Billy would follow in his footsteps.

So when Billy got a page from his dad asking for us to bring him some takeout while he was on stakeout, it was a no brainer that we'd go there.
Mr. Morgan was one of the Bureau's top agents, and has been on the trail of several of the ten most wanted men in the country.

Today seemed like a good day too. Billy sensed a bit of excitement in his dad's voice that today might be a special day. Sadly it turned out to be anything but.

The Bureau had rented an apartment at 5th and Magnum, and we saw the beat up orange pickup truck Mr. Morgan used in his undercover work.

BIlly and I had crossed down Third Avenue to Mu Shin's, a coombination chinese restaurant and kung fu school. Billy took lessons there to prove he was macho for his dad, but the food was great and cheap. Billy was also wearing a Mu Shin's t-shirt, which would help him pass as a delivery boy and not tip anyone off that the FBI was watching..

Somehow though we tipped off someone accidentally. I don't know if we looked goofy, or if anyone heard us whispering to each other about the bust.

All I Know is Bank One was getting robbed, and we knew the Bureau needed to know so we double-timed it to the house.

With the coded knock on the door, Mr. Morgan let us in. The bank was behind the alley across from the house, and we hoped the agents could drop over it like a net in the darkness entangling the evil.

But sometimes evil is too strong to overcome.
"This is specil-agent Morgan, requesting back-up. Code four robbery, code two suspects at Lincoln St. Bank One Branch."

As Billy's dad called for backup, Agents in bullet-proof vests and automatic weapons were already storming through the door.

That's when it happened.

I'd never heard a gun go off before in real life, but when I heard the explosion, it's like the world stopped spinning, and I knew exactly what the sound was. I spun around to see what happened, and as I turned, it was like a flashback from some acid I took on a dare in 8th grade. Everything kind of went orange nd it seemed to take 20 minutes for me to turn my head.

"Agents under fire, I repeat agents under fire. Get behind the house now, and do not move from there until you see me."

Billy was already running, but my brain couln't put together the fact that that we were being shot at and i needed to get the fuck out of there.

Like I said, I am a crack addict. Not an excuse for stupidity, but I just burned 30 minutes before Billy and I met up after school, and I was jonesing for more. I was not about to die before I could get high again though, and I finally got my legs to work and Billy and I ducked down into a ditch on the side of the house, where we couldn't be seen.

Although only five or 10 minutes went by, hiding in a ditch while shooting was going on and me wanting to get high, seemed to make it last for years. I'm not ashamed to say I was scared.

As I realized how scared I was, how much my ears were ringing and how much I wanted another rock, Billy was climbing out of the ditch, and there was no shooting going on.

"Don't leave me dude."
I grabbed Billy's leg as a child might grab his mother's waist after getting picked on by a bully. It was then that I noticed Billy was crying too.

My Dad" was all he could say as he tried to choke back the tears so he wouldn't look scared in front of the agents.

Although no shooting was going on, Billy belly-crawled like a marine we watched in a war movie, towards the house.

"Be careful man. Don't make any noise," I softly-yelled or loudly whispered, whatever you want to classify it as.

As BIlly got closer to check on his dad, I knew I'd have about a minute to torch, so I took the small glss pipe and lighter out of my sock. I didn't have much shit on me, but I figured the resin and what was left of the dime I bought earlier might calm my craving a bit, and I could blame the smell on all the gunpowder in the air.

Just as I lit up and started feeling calmer, bad turned into worse.

Billy can scream louder than anyone I know. I don't know if his lungs were more powerful from his kung fu training or because he sucked dick. I thought of it like i thought of his having AIDS....itdidn't matter how, it was just that way.

"NOOOOOOO"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO,"

Billy screamed as he ran back towards me with blood on his hands.

I wasn't sure if he had been shot, or if he saw me smoking crack in his hour of desparation.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO, not my dad. not my dad. He got closer to the ditch and although my world seemed to be spinning apart around me, I knew that guns were being fired at us.

Fuck it....I still got you buddy," I said, taking another hit as Billy dove into the ditch next to me still screaming.

"Not my dad...NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO."

It was then that I saw my life flash before me.

"Dude. We are about to get killed and you are smoking crack? What in the fuck are you thinking? You're not a stoner...what the fuck are you doing?

"Don't you understand we are gonna fucking die?

My dad...my dad is deader than shit in the back of the truck man....NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. You can't kill my fucking dad."

"Not my fucking dad"

He's right about that, you are going to die."

I thought my subconcious was talking to me until I saw Billy look up. Like I said before, I had never heard a gun go off in real life before, but I nnew exactly what it was when I heard it.


I think Billy's hell is to scream "No not my dad," for eternity .I'm not even sure if Billy is really here with me to tell the truth.
All I know is Billy screams and people die, but my crack pipe never empties.

I think it was Pat Benetar who sang "Hell Is For Children."
She's right.[/color]

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ September 25, 2002 09:03 PM: Message edited by: princejonny ]</font>

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ September 25, 2002 09:04 PM: Message edited by: princejonny ]</font>

[Katsuya]

That was an interesting story PJ, a little sad but interesting