HE TIME RIPPERSspent the last six months writing things down Not everything thougkept an eyone he would hear faint clicks and popse occasionao bufwould come asking to look around the area believed to be part of theRoweash sight, they became frequent after the late seventieshe story refaced after the marcel interview
MaioAirfieldowdy had never met maior marcel, but he didtwas drft tdeatche originay hit the wie looked to be about fifty withth strands of white and combed to theke icebergs, that said he wouldnt put up with bullshitstand you own this land he said through thin lips thatdeep in thoughYesBut heanswer besidestoodon his sleeve holding a large machine gun at chest leve1aredan looked aroundwith ahck sharwithgoosebumps despite the weaAre you chMr Batemen? said the man with the pipe who wasnteven looking at himYour armyere is making me a little nervous withere 's no need for led thethe sargefle and headed for the black sedan they droveDid you serve, mr batemen? he asked after five minutes of chill
at was pushinghe knew it she always made a deal about how fasshe could count money, Dig woushe was faster than a hookepaying her pimp, Dig laughed but Cami did not see the humor Hcouldn't fix a car, fheir elecwhich seemeddouble and triple every couple of months inexplicably The wood workeeded fand thabove the stove wasater even if itt ratime Dtd tothays seemed to cass -ed and worse than befed thome entertaikindyou buy at walmart and has extremely detailed instructions
The firsted it he was ddrunk, jached a large hole iI when heracked the fiber boathe secondandhe fared no bettle stared at the instructions trying figure out what went where Athe little drawn screws and hinges and black bold arrows pointing able holes, staat them madeds eveswith frustration every timeDig, she said making him forget about the entertainment stand forShe lost the haughtiness in her voice andleaned forwardletting her blouse hang a low He could see the dark green brassiereder her blouse and the cler cleavaged his nose again, she teased hconstantly Dig was very horny, she knew it tooexy voice she leaned close to his ear and whisperedcan think about me while you gelfhe said with aShe was trying to antagonize, she knew what buttons to push Thereghts were he would be showering and hhear her moaningp⊥eaenter their bedroom while say there nudan writhing in ecstasy while she fiddled with a little vibrating eggen she would open her eyes in shock tellingtooutAno theght wle showered she was masturbating, it had to have
12been intense, he was sitting next to her on the bed He barely atehe realized he was there andsmackedacross the face she hadn 't always beebeginning of there relationship, the sex was downright pornographichiredhstarted to behave a bit snobbish after hebehought back to theht he rewas headed for troubHeds fromk had a parthe better section of porter that had a lardeck andedthDig hadn 't dthoughght It winight and Dig found himselfdeck in the spacious back yardm and coke, lookat the stars, mesmerizeou need to grow uptandhlm nanas on hehips you look retarded staring upe looked and saw a few people with awkward smiles, pretending not tsee or hear them
Needless to say he didn't talk to many people thatighthorn honked outside, bringing Dig babout the past, Cami stood up and turned her head looking too the bayixing her blouse, she continued too look at Dig waiting for hishead felt like it was being pounded with a sledge hammer She seemeda bit aargument Seeing he wouldn't be provoked she grabbed her purse on thecoffee table and flicking her red - brown locks with her hand off heshouldew her purse strap to sit, she gave him a final glareAfter tor closed behind her Dig grabbed the ashtray and flungside arm at the door where it shattered With a savage growl he heavedhimself of his chair and picked up the glass pieces and the buttsscattered on the floor, cutting his fingers a few times but nocaokeass anda greeRubber maid tthe sunkist thermometethe porch over hangclaimed it wasty eight degreesng tooto sit around drinkand watching the
13Ryers on cable decided to try to start the caroping it would workwill work because it sat for awhileand that thesh air would helpt, he said approacthe caheft the ddedown it hadn 't rained thank Godeast Nt thieves the cade withstandard tape deck, and camook heh hedd fohe knto thtion beforey were upside down After dropps bloodty got tng and waiting for that dreaded soundk
,, Clicking back into the seat, Dig pulledand litthe first drag wasever mantcuts moreHefthood andked dodesto totadarkd witfor fb a flae for one he settleds Bic instead The lighter cast a sick orange glow on the greasyas he hoped the problem would annoa breeze pickedg the flame to grazeg s thhe lighter clicked and clanged its way into the recess of the carsnards Great, he thought, putting his hands into the greasydar kness, he finds it immediatelyasp of hionly manages to knockdown through to thes haaround for the lighter, but finds a wet, mushy hairy glob insteadf rotten meatmke a punhe stands back
4 THME RIPPERSwith a cry of dg upke a bad cologne as he opened the backor wlts free hand He grabs a day old newspaperS1g on the seat and wipes furiously at his hand then balled thepaper up and threw it to the curbtat of thokedugh windshield at the stars, leave his mind said, and doat heas a little more different than ithwho wanted to help himllege wad applortant test hed to leavethe bathroom(a big no no duringhis whole life In 6th grade, his mother, during oneoneattempts ao a doctor to test for a learningbut the tests were negativeHe's a healthy young boyhink it's just anxiety, the docexplained to his mother, who was sure her son was aYour gonna be in school until your thirty
she told him when theyot back from the doctorput your head through the fuckin walou don tBe easy on the boy "his father said sitting on their couch with ag⊥assod Grand DadDont you start yazyhunk of shitshe saidteeth that were rotted from years of crystal meth abuseit 's not badenouotta survive oworthless ass, now I gotta kid whosehalf retardedShe stormed into the bathroom and slammee door behindfather, who would die a few months later, wasm about itDiggye sala wkey on heatthat always made
im think of his dad when he was olderhen you find out what yourgood atsee you got a braDig did have one talent, his quick hands and reflexes He spent manyyears beld his trailer after his fathers death bouncagainstnder block wall that ran theut off the ter par k from the roadtand wited ttch the be coated thed and the wind howled during the wintehe would be at the walland slidghhadhimhe level of the jocks
Heacket but only woreor the pep rallies The baseballhe four years he had beene grades of players usuaad there owt stop when the positwas theh runner, though he started smoking hisfastester on the teae reasoe drived hit to win state senior year way the second hit he ever hae didnt get taunted too much about it, but was prone to fisticuffst and bad at thethade him a local celebrity with the communihen the poage, not the sports section but the actual front page with ahor tstop sps ath on a double and Dig was put ilhis placeone with two outs lefd second cwno was asaware of Dig's hitting problems as he waswith a heavy sighep your eye on the ball, just wait for the right one and swingle coach didnt hold much hope for them, as Dig made his way to tbatters box the buzz of the crowd thep the pike it was the middle of the day though it was nighttime but he wasnever bothered by any of that He saw the wind up and felt his hearfreeze as the pitchis arms like stowere
STRIKE ONhe pitch had come by so fast that he had hardly taken a practiceswing, even the opposing teams pitcher knew he wouldnt swing Thetd to buildfhSTRIKE TWOd thethd began to hfSteadyhouts his mind He instinctively clenches histeeth and immediately the sway from his as theball comingtomach clenched as the ball began to curve adassed theke a missile witprecision the baht along thest base line straight into the outfieldfence, abrokeough the wooden billboard with the teamascot painted oallowing the two runners to scooutfielder couldow the baaid if it had gone over the fence it probably wouldde it to new jDone thmother was the bad, she had spentf the winter with herboyfriendShe startedf ths fatdied
He was 13 when his fathertree near the trailerfather was big man of six feet and had the same cohey were much closer than he was with his motheey wouldarthritis most of his adult life aftear ted tcollect disability but that didn't help the pain The doctors gave himpain killerscocets, Percodan, even morphine but they made himfeel too groggy so he stopped taking them, he preferred whiskey as hisoo bad the blue cross don 't cover old grand dad his father toldDig, which always made them laug
ME RIPPERSs mom on the other hand was more than happy too take care of theps fatook any
Dig was about 10 at the ts dad stacting as if it was nothing more than an annoying papehought the pain cunes across his face like wathrougDig was in the bathroom in the middle of thinating he lefte light offt of childAll ofdden the bathroom door burst oghtbefore the door had hit the wiWhat are ya doin?other said standthe doorwatpredatoooze but her eyes were bloodshot and glassy, she worea nightshirt and was half covered by an ugly maroon bathrobepeeing he said heart pshe said visibly relievedShe pat ted heddd actfoundwallet in the freezer and not almohdart attackeed to keep an eyis parent both had there own cabinets hanging on either side of thedifferent pill bottles still filled to the toSsh , she said putting her finger to her lips and stuffing the piinto the robes pocketW
No, I was both the flattest feetennsvlvanlafting up a bare foot with a sheepish gknow,"he said which brought more goose bumps to his armsdon 'tke td taring the man speak thehe did made Howdy scared for hth searchianother drawn outlence followes there anythiwould like to share wisaid tapping his pipe softly on his blazet sure if he was being trickedgs moste knew about him ts that coulda secretset of lips that saw something, or maybe he knew what he was hiding ulay have been doing this all weekople, hoping for a nervoudst messing with his head Soopingt wasn 't the lat tto sound good naturedhe did was say good afternoon and headed back to the cawere the sargent stood and opened the door for him without salutingSure they gotBob said they were useless piecesunk that were of materialsifferent than things found on Ear th
The cubes though they were theeasure He hid them for the first few years wrapped in an oldanket behhe preserves he kept in the cool dark basementley sat in a jewelry box he had given to his mother for athdayesenta dresseaweWhen she died after a bout with double pneumonia in the 1934 he andhis younger brother Sam received a few thousand dollars se
4THET工 ME RIPPERShouse and farm they lived itager for a change of scenepd took tg two thirds of thacross America from Erie, PA, until they got to the state of NewWhy here? soked at the siging them to the state of new mexico andke somethiSatrustedand fheted in the town of rosiand they had a good life theia woman he was head over heels about and eventuallyhe army dur iond world waad be asfchickens and selling their eggs as he had done in Erie for years sok college courses with the gi bill and became an accountantButanyone asked Sam who was the smarter of thy
He was gooth cars aeighbors would ghim with their car or truck or appliance when they were acting upHecould fiast array of thdn 'tffarm brought Howdy oute walked over to tnightstand and paged through the manuscript, there was still a lot heob thoupromised Howdy he would be in contact no matter where he ended upHespokenBob in a few years but hadn't seen him since theowdy had was the cubeblinked from the plastic liktbow wrapped around a presentvea aessage whichstated: Internet, get Pc will contact you through electronic maWhat the frig is electronic mail?" he said after wg out theessageSams daughter Patty Ann Who resided in New Mexico, had brought along
e was an odd boy who would talk sometimes usings and phrases, the doctors told his mother he waautistic, biwasartean moste asked her during her customary visits that had becomeore frequent when sam her father died it was about a month aftBefore she could answer, Quake was staring at the wall as ift s short for e-maile said happilye raised his eyebrows, he was onlyookyounger wlta thin pair of glasses covering his cherub like faceReaowdy askedoW⊥eddeYuppers!he said with a smile that was crooked but swees mothet an arm around thdoctors also said hehher sisteSued her son ae gotcomputerkness inAgwait was a computer virus in a hard drive
"he said rollinhis eyescomputeyou think you couset itAkwaQuake, say the right word " his mother said tende
6THET工 ME RIPPERSdo it Uncle howdAnd he did too, Howdy paid a few hundred dollars at a Radio shack withney from Social Security and within two hours Quake was surfing theternet and giving Howdy a quick overview of how to use America One and tht had beted ifcubes, which he haddo He would find him iom titledould chat1998fromat was foe chat roo yeare had atSIXe held oy downstairs with his oxygen tank encased in ahited plastic tubhim made it look like the worlds largestcigarettee was pay as he sat down ins PC, as Quakecalled it, to check his e-mail, but there was nothing from Bob On thedesktop was ae of Quake and his cousin abe arms about eachdersadatgowns, Quake with the same crooked sdAbe witrin that radiated confidenceuch brains would have lots of friends
but he had the hardest tiid to sendhe only friend he had was his cousin abe they were about the sameage but rarely saw each other since Sue Ellen Patty 's sistePorter a small town outside ofadelphia before abe was born Whenhool was not faring any better for Quake, Patty and herhus band moved tobe besatty told Uncle Howdy one night i1996,Quake always adored Abe, From whatnderstand abes had a fewob⊥ ems as wehink you should Patty He needs friends Howdy said knowing heght not see them as much anymore but hopeful it would help Quake
When he forhe went to sam's las brothers estate when he passed on, and asked to have ae gave everyts nephews, the house, theand and most importantly his mothers jewelry box and his tools thahelped bob make the adapter for the cubesfelt bhe dtakett didd itto do hedone what he could with the time he had but it sasnt enough Hfelt deehhe put himself ts secret Had I ever told them how important friends were? He askedhe saida raspy voicee told them trusard thing to come by that was something heagain It was hardly sound advice, hehought looking back ath no wife ochildren or closeends to speak of, Sam would sometimes scold hims distance that had come fowdy after hsit from the mae Icy starem and asked his daughters to dodied
They were always close growing up and was dumb founded byowdy's attempts to keeptance between himself and his familye felt his heart wretch at the memories of years gone by keepingfamily away from him When Sam died of a heart attack Patty Anneaid hhsaiddown and takout a thick bookead while waitinwhen he std contact with bob andscancer Now Bob was stuck somewhere, he was dying and no one else knewabout the cubesnotverse at least He looked at the picture of his nephewseadg9would He wanted a cigarette, he stonged for them when he waser youspset, he felt both nowedwent back to the stang up
ME RIPPERSom anxious to wof all the things that hebesidesJargd over the clear tubes thatoxygen and fell with a bone cracking thud the tube pulled out and afaint hiss emanated from the tank like a snake, he let out a cry ofpain that was more of a breathgs felt likthat wouldflatematthardblew, he could taste blood in his mouth it was a coppchoked for a few seconds as he tried to takhan to tbokedktop where AM and Quakuld heduring the trying times that were aheadanuaryUniversig" Robins sat in a recliner that was new twenty years ago Aeavy glass ashtray filgaretteopsided in the wearof the chairs arm He spent the last couple of days drinking, twowing two days working the liqto eat morehan a few sticks of beef jerky he had purchased at the same store hebought the case of beer and vodkaturs at thefakfs
Seven fifty an hafter 90 dmore hours dthe graveyard shihe lohree nightghts for fifty cbutd bepumping gas at the Time Kill gas station on Independenceavenued the jobswas oKas problems at home toselt hewas a private persoby nature Camille, his live in girlfriend, came out from the bedroomhey shared, her reddish brown hair flying behind her as she made heway past him She wore skin tight jeans and a sleeveless black blouseack lace, a springousethether twas springlike for Januaryer perfsomething sweet and flowfilled his nosernedhis head as she passed him too use the small bathroom o
he would often call it He made an attempt to apologize again, butg around He faced forwara vodka bottle sittingbetween his legs, turning it with his fingers
He looks to the wall onhis left were a large mirror framed in wood hangs slightly off centestared atflectttback atfers throuthat wasgreasyd his shade of haiblond hfI and once hadbuild he earnedhigh school splection tonight showedkledat had once been six pack abs thats wanted to toucalmost as much as his hair when he was youngeted a better body would appeasfrom he in thethe engine When he turned on cedar streepoured out fnder the hood forcing him to pull it over to theI pissed we got home and when cammie begaher teethar that made hersh faceor did camhan he did, she was a hairs breath from being manger ofbranch in downtoder to the city, but ity car even throuh rush hour traffic the ride wasquicket was hard touthe venomous statements ot had sex foe andmade himthe moreaggravade more money and wor ked less hours, he hadkeephree or four jobs jkeeps sidethe rente house they rented was not a shack but neededt wabetter thae trailer he had growlartshe tiny one storyhome, money would be knocked off the rent thishis second serious relationship was fairing no better than his lastere wasst more alcohoand angs time aroundBa
10 THE TIME R工 PPERSgirl from Philly, was the only other girl he had been serious withat relationship in anyone else's eyes was doomed to fail Dig wasclueless about certain things in life
He was not dumb jdirectioe door to the little bathroom opened again with lipk Cammi flicked offfelt her eyes on hihe fiddled the cap on the bottwisting the bottle that sat between his thighs making the labetoodfront of hdown athooked up at her, a migraine was startWhat are you going to do about the car? she said in a furious toneDig looked at her for a second before answeringdo? he askedyes rolled back in disgustthe fuckin thdumbe called him worse thhght was so far tame bysonto what usually oced though no one had ever called the comet Dig was afraid someone would evewere a mental defectivele rage was seemingly there atime noe never struck her andbut would reprise with cutting remarks He took a swig ofthe wac⊥ ear alconaess i cant cooney as fast as yo