Respect the Dead. Shawn McLain
”“Um hey, Beth?”
‘Yeah?”
“Would you like to….um….Ya know, I just kissed you and stuff….Damn it!” Wes took a deep breath as Beth smiled at him. “Can we start dating? I mean… yeah…I want to be more than…you know freindzoned. ” Wes stumbled. Cringing at himself he looked hopefully at her.
“Wes, I don’t kiss guys I’m not dating, just so you know.” She stated trying to act angry but failing through the laughter. She leaned over and kissed him again laughing through the entire kiss.
“No…No I didn’t think you would.” Wes smiled. He leaned over and kissed her. She reached in the back and grabbed her wet clothes.
“Come over tomorrow to get your hoodie?” She asked turning back to face him.
“Yeah, sounds good. What time?” He smiled.
“Come by for lunch. Maybe we can catch the movie tomorrow.” She said and kissed him goodnight. She was barely out of the car when her phone rang. She looked at the number then over at Wes.
“It's my ex. I think I’ll let it go to voice mail. See you tomorrow.” She closed the door. Wes watched her go through the front door. Sure she was safe, he headed home, a huge smile on his face.
Wes’ head was spinning with the night’s events as he pulled up to his house. His room was above the garage, an addition that was put on in the sixties and still retained some of that character. Outlines of huge flowers could still be seen in the paint of what Beth had dubbed the Scooby Room. The rest of the house was a small post Second World War ranch. It wasn’t as big, or nice as the houses in Beth’s part of the neighbor hood that was built in the nineties. He had always been slightly embarrassed about the place, but tonight he could only sit and smile at it.
“Finally! Finally she sees me. I can’t believe she likes me!” He told his car, rubbing the faded and cracked dash affectionately.
It wasn’t until the front porch light flicked on that Wes turned the key. He smiled as he listened to the tired engine sputter and die. He leapt out of the car, bounding to the front door. He gave his mom a kiss on the cheek as she moved out of his way to let him in.
“How’s Beth?” Wes’ stepfather, Reggie, asked as he gave a small cough. Reggie rubbed his throat and grimaced.
“Great! Just great. I’m gonna call it a night.” Wes bid his mother and stepfather good night.
“What? I thought there was some kind of trouble….” His mother yelled after him as he took the stairs to his room two at a time. He thought about seeing Beth tomorrow making him smile all the more.
“There was, but everything is great now.”
More of a Bad Night
Corey’s little red sports car screeched to a halt causing several of the people standing around the parking lot to jump out of the way. Lance slapped Wayne on the back and nodded toward Corey’s car, the outline of a lone occupant silhouetted by the security light of the nearby building.
“Guess she could resist him.” Lance laughed while grabbing a couple of beers from inside his own car.
“So, how was she, studly?” Wayne laughed as Corey slammed his door harder than was necessary. Corey responded by giving Wayne the finger as Lance pressed a beer into his other hand.
“So, the date ended early? She didn’t even want to come to Linda’s party, huh?” Lance asked while downing his drink.
Corey opened the beer taking a long drink, “Don’t know. I left her ass out at Troll Bridge.”
“Dude! That is cold.” Wayne laughed.
Corey just gave him a disgusted look. Lance cocked his head to one side. “Dude that was uncool, you need to go get her.” He finished his beer then reached for another.
“She made it clear she did not want to be in the car with me.” Corey drained his own beer flicking away the empty can. Wayne continued to laugh as he passed him another.
“Come on, man. Let’s go get her. If she doesn’t want to ride with you, I’ll drive her home.” Lance said with a slight slur followed by a long loud belch.
“Or maybe she’ll come to Linda’s and we can change her mind.” Wayne ventured an evil grin spreading across his face.
“Dude, you think she will ride with you? You’re already half drunk.” Corey frowned. “You know how she is about that stuff.”
“Yeah, but only half. So we should do it before too much longer.”
“You guys have fun." Wayne waved. "I’m heading over to Linda’s.” The engine growled to life then sped away. Soon his thumping music faded. Corey frowned at the place where Wayne’s car had been.
Several other people left. The crowd thinned while Lance and Corey opened a bottle of bourbon. After several shots and a couple more beers, the two decided to have one more drink and go back to pick up Beth. Corey figured she would have calmed down. "She'll be grateful for the ride." Corey shouted. Lances burped his agreement. Getting shakily into his car, Corey took the lead. He watched Lance weaving slightly in his rear view mirror. He could tell that Lance hadn’t stopped drinking while they were on the way. Corey was having a little trouble keeping his own car between the lines, a task made harder by changing songs on his Ipod and drinking another beer.
The drive back to where he left Beth only caused Corey’s annoyance to resurface. He had tried to be patient, he thought, but they had been dating long enough. The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. He had been more than patient. He had taken her out, bought her things. He deserved it. The more he thought, the more he blamed her friend Wesley.
“That little geek was always hanging around her.” He yelled at a passing car. “Then there’s her stupid brother. The hell with her!”
He was considering turning around when the thought of Beth’s brother came back to him. The former captain and quarterback of the Football team would not be pleased if anything happened to his baby sister. Corey threw his empty beer can out the window and concentrated on the road.
About a mile from the bridge, Corey swore and swerved across the road. His tires screamed as he nearly lost control. Looking quickly in the mirror, he watched as Lance also barely kept on the road while narrowly missing the woman who had stumbled out from the woods. Corey was sure it wasn’t Beth but this only annoyed him more. He swore loudly again, punching his steering wheel. “What the hell? Is everything against me tonight?” By the time they reached the bridge, Corey was in a towering temper.
Beth was nowhere to be found. The boys called out for her. They had tramped around near the creek and across the bridge. Corey was inspecting some skid marks when Lance spoke up.
“That wasn’t her that I almost hit? Was it?” He slurred trying to focus on Corey’s face.
“No, that was some crazy old bitch.” Corey pulled out his phone. He called Beth, she did not answer. “I bet she got that little emo puke to come get her.” He snarled. “This was a total waste of time.” Corey advanced on his friend, “You thought she might go for you didn’t you?”
“Wha? Dude thas just shtupid, you better hope it wash Wesh and not her brother.” Lance defended while backing away. “I’m just lookin out for ya Bro.” He weaved over to his car and grabbed the half empty bottle of bourbon.
“You know it was Wesley. He is the only person who wouldn’t have anything else to do tonight." Corey grabbed the bottle away from Lane's lips. Taking a burning swig of the amber liquid he surmised. "How else would he get out here so fast?” Lance merely hiccupped and shrugged taking back the bourbon. He shook the bottle frowning at the little that was left.
“Like he has a chance with her.” Corey grabbed the bottle back from Lance and drained it. Throwing the empty into the woods. A