Theme Park at its Darkest

38

“Once my husband was dead, there wasn’t much reason for doing anything. But the one thing I couldn’t bring myself to do anymore was drink.” Continue reading →

36

“I don’t think there’s anything particularly wrong with you,” she said, with a squint and a definitive tilt of her head. She sipped her drink and said, “You’re just a little bit shy. That, and a little bit weird.”   Continue reading →

35

Working in places like this was a kind of cyclical affair for Pat. He had felt a great deal of anxiety over the course of his life, and the booze had always done a great job of counteracting it. Continue reading →

34

He threw a straight right at the head of another man, catching him high up in the temple. Continue reading →

33.

On a trip back from the bathroom, Pat had stuck his head outside the front door and the cold wind coming in off the bay licked across his face like the tail of a wet towel. Continue reading →

32

Pat stood by the end of the bar and watched the dance floor darken, feeling as much as hearing the music increase in volume. A greater number of bodies soaked up the sound, so the DJ had to turn up the decibels accordingly. Continue reading →

31.

“Hello, mate,” said Pat, “I’m from New Breed Security. They’ve sent me down to work tonight?” Cro-mag #1 returned the handshake but didn’t have much to say. Both doormen wore black slacks and tight Bonds t-shirts that hugged every bloated distention of their body-builder physiques. Their arms hung away from their torsos, as if they were holding cantaloupes in their armpits.   Continue reading →

30.

Pat bounced a ball on the line. It came up again, but not like a yo-yo, the way Wally’s had. This was unsettling, so he clutched it in his fist, threw it up and hit it gingerly. It lobbed over the net and landed just outside of the service box. Continue reading →

29

“You want to serve?” asked Wally, circling his end of the court.

“I’d much rather see you try it,” said Pat, smug. Continue reading →