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Sunday, March 31, 2013

TFW CH3 SACRILEGE



Nearly Lost You   by Screaming Trees 



I turned around to tell Big Bryan to help me get Joey out of the little truck, but he wasn’t there.  He was probably attending to Tellesco, who was still up in the cab of the broken semi trailer tractor.  It was a good thing that the fuel was located away from the engine, in double-walled tanks.  The red light from under the tractor faded, but I could still feel the heat of it on the backs of my jeans.


I leaned in the little truck and said, “Joseph!  Are you hurt?”


His eyes came back to the front and he said, “Yeah, I’m hurt that you almost ran me down…”

Bastard.  Still cracking jokes.

I pulled him out and dragged him away from the little truck.  I set him down on his side near the sage brush.

I crawled back into the little truck and put her in gear, and tried to back her out.  The weight of the truck was on the wrong rear wheel.  The wheel with power only spun and made a small dust cloud.

Shit.

We would have to push her out of the ditch by hand.  She was hung up against the tree that had stopped her.


I got back up and out from the passenger side door and went to go see how Bryan was doing with Tellesco.


Tellesco peered down from his high perch in the semi and said, “You guys didn't get me fries?”


I thought, Hah?  Where's Bryan?


I rounded the front of the semi and saw a flashlight shining about in the cement-block structure.  Bryan was inside the power station?


I went to check it out.

Bryan!” I said, and he whipped the torch's light over at my face. 

He said, “Will!  Watch where you’re going!  There's live wires on the ground!”


All I could see now was a big blue dot in front of my eyes.  Fucker had blinded me, so I stopped in my tracks. I said, “What the hell you doing in here?”


Bryan said, “This big truck is kinda smashed up, I mean, the windshield is gone and there’s bricks and stuff in the cab.  But the engine is still running.  No steam or anything!”


Huh.

I considered the little truck I had just pulled Joey out of, and how it had been running all night with it’s tiny fuel tank.

I thought of those two large men and Joey and me, all trying to fit into the little cab.

Yeah, right.

Four men in a tiny boat.

Someone would have to sit in the bed.  Probably two of us.

My vision began to clear a bit.  I said, “Bryan.  What are you thinking?”


He said, “I’m thinking that this truck is our new ride.”

I would have to agree.  I didn't say anything about the Glinty, but he was sure to be following us.  I had no idea what he intended to do, but that didn't matter.  We just needed to get away from here, and fast.  And, for gawd’s sake, far away from the desert dunes.  That was where I had once visited his cabin in the desert.  Fuck that shit.

He had fallen from the sky, from the moon.


Shit was about to erupt.  Time to bail, baby.




That was when I heard the moan of someone behind me.

Hah?


I said, “…Bryan…  Someone’s behind me…  Gimme your flashlight…”


He held the light down to the ground and stepped over wires and cables and busted switch boards and huge relays strewn about.  He came up to me and cupped the light in his hand. 

He said, “…where?”


I turned around and he let the light loose.  On the ground at the end of the tar lied a man in uniform.

No, not a police officer.  It was the guy who had been driving this truck.  He moaned again, lying on his back, and he put a hand up to his head.  He winced.  Then his eyes opened and he looked over, into the light.

He said, “Please don’t hit me anymore.”


Hah?


I went over to him and knelt down on one knee.  I said, “What happened to you?”

He shielded his eyes from Bryan’s flashlight and said, “I think I got attacked.  Can you help me?”


I said, “Of course.  Anything broken?”


He moved about a bit, and said, “I don’t think so, I just feel all banged up.”


I said, “Let’s get you up.”


He sat up with my help and said, “Do you have any water?”

Ya know, in the desert, it’s important to always keep yourself properly hydrated.  I just shook my head.

He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and said, “I have some in my rig. Please, I have dust in my mouth.”

I said, “Ok, hold on.”

Bryan took the flashlight from directly out of the man’s face and sat down on his haunches.  He said, “What’s your name?”

The man looked fearful and said, “Your voice changed.  Wha…”

Bryan said, “Now don’t panic.  Me and my friend will help you.  You can call me Bryan.”

In the off-glow of the flashlight shining on the ground, the man’s face eased up a bit. He said, “I’m Patrick Til-bury.  You can call me Pat.”

I left them two and went back to Tellesco. He was like a big kid.  A really big kid, strong kid.  He was a bit stunned.  I think it wasn't from the straight shot of Bryan’s fist.  It might have had more to do with the whole situation.

It was a bit much for a young, pampered rich kid to take in. 

Tellesco just might have had enough.

Time to take a mental break.


I climbed up into the black, broken truck and slid across the bench seat to him.  He looked up from his hands and said, “Got my fries?”


I said, “Tellesco, you need to get out of this cab here.”

He looked out the busted windshield.

Ahead, from where we sat up high in the semi without a rig, the barren desertscape beyond was lit by bright red light shining down from the moon overhead. 

Desolate, without compassion.  Hatred, almost.  The moon had no worries.  War had begun, and she knew it.


She had given birth to a tiny blue spark, and that was the return of the Glinty.

Dark times lay ahead for us all.




Sacrilege   by YeahYeah Yeahs 







I turned back from where he stared and said, “You know, Sean is still waiting for us.”


Tellesco looked at me and said, “Sean.  Sean…”


I looked to where Big Bryan was, with that utility worker.  Bryan wasn't there anymore.


Then I saw the big, white utility truck that was smashed halfway into the cement structure. The brake lights flashed on, and they went out.

The big truck began to pull itself away from the hole it had created.  Bricks and other things fell down upon its snub nose of a hood, and the truck sped up a bit.  As it came away, the roof of the building slunk down.

As the truck cleared free of the structure, the roof caved in.

I looked back to Tellesco and said, “Sean.  He’s waiting for you.  He wants to give you a big hug.”


Tellesco’s eyes widened.  He said, “Shut the fuck up Mr. Will.”


He pushed me away and un-clicked his seat belt.

I hopped down from the semi just as Bryan climbed up onto the roof of the big truck and began to push bricks off.


Tellesco followed me to the utility truck.  He said, “Where is Mr. Joseph?”


I  said, “Over here.  Follow me.”


Joey lied on the ground where I had dragged him minutes before.  Tellesco bent down and grabbed him up, and he cradled him in his arms like a baby.  Joey looked up and said, “Mama?”


Tellesco began to laugh.

It was good to hear that.


I think that Tellesco, at that moment, took a step back from the cliff.


That mattered.


You recall, he was a king.


It mattered quite a hell of a lot.


We just didn't know why, at that point.


God Help You.

God Help Us All.


---willies out.





Touch Me I’m Going To Scream   by My Morning Jacket 



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