The Burning Man (8 page)

He was scared. He didn't want to think about dirty things, but he did want to go to sleep. How could he sleep if he saw that girl every time he closed his eyes?

The magazines. No, he did not want to do that tonight. What would happen if Mom came into his room and found him with those magazines? But he did want to sleep. What should he do?

Gary tossed and turned. He felt sick. Finally, he got out of bed and opened the closet. The magazines were way in the back on a top shelf stuck under some sports magazines where Mom would never find them. He took out his favorite and opened it to the centerfold. That girl was blond, too. just like the girl at the dorm. Gary made believe that she was really in his room. He closed his eyes and took the magazine into bed with him. He imagined he was married to the girl in the magazine. When he touched her, she was as soft as a bunny and, best of all, she liked him to touch her and, when he did, she didn't laugh at him.

PART THREE THE SUPERNATURAL MIND

Chapter SEVEN.

Gary Harmon always felt important when he went to the Stallion because Steve Mancini was one of the owners. When he walked in the door, Steve's trophy case was the first thing he saw. The bartenders, the waiters and the waitresses knew Steve was his friend and they treated him well. If Steve came in when Gary was there, he would buy Gary a beer, even though his parents said he wasn't supposed to drink alcohol. Steve would wink and say it was their secret.

The table where Gary was sitting was on a raised area that overlooked the bar. Below Gary, couples danced frantically to the music of a raucous band. Tonight, Gary felt even more special than usual about being in the Stallion because Steve and Donna were getting married tomorrow and he was the best man. Arnie Block, one of the bartenders, had given him a free drink and so had several other people. In fact, Gary was drunk when he spotted Kevin Booth frantically scanning the faces at the crowded tables for Christopher Mammon, who had ordered Kevin to meet him at the Stallion at ten-thirty.

Gary and Kevin Booth were both graduates of Eisenhower High. Gary remembered Booth as one of the few students not in the special education classes who would - ... al Doom paid attention to .Akw occause Gary was one of the few students at Eisenhower that Booth could bully.

"Hey, Kevin," Gary yelled over the music as Booth walked by. Booth stopped at the sound of his name. "It's me, Gary Harmon."

Booth had no time to waste on a retard, but all the tables were taken and he had no idea how long it would be before Mammon showed up.

"How's it going?" Booth said, sitting down without asking.

"It's going great! Do you know Steve Mancini?"

"Sure. He's my lawyer."

"He is?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Steve is my friend. He's gonna marry my sister tomorrow."

"Congratulations, man," Booth said as he scanned the crowd again, then looked back toward the door just as Mammon walked in. Kevin stood up and waved.

Mammon saw him and headed up t stairs.

"Hey, my man," Mammon said, clapping Booth on the shoulder as he sat down at the table. Gary looked at Mammon with awe.

"Who's your friend?" Mammon asked Booth.

"Oh, this is Gary Harmon, a guy I knew in high school. Gary, this is Chris Mammon."

"It's nice meeting your friends, Kevin," Mammon said sarcastically, "but we have business to discuss."

"Do you know Steve Mancini?" Gary asked with a big smile.

"What?" Mammon asked, as if he could not believe that Gary had the temerity to a ress im.

"Steve is my friend," Gary said proudly. "He's marrying my sister tomorrow. I'm gonna be the best man."

"Why the fuck should I care?" Mammon snapped.

"It's okay, Chris," Booth said nervously, afraid Mammon would erupt into violence. Then, he whispered, "Gary's a retard. He don't mean anything."

Mammon thought about that for a moment. He had to get rid of Harmon and he had an idea. The body builder spotted what he was looking for at the bar.

"Your friend's getting married tomorrow?" Mammon asked, feigning interest.

"Yeah. At the church. I'm gonna wear a tuxedo."

"Hey, that's great. But what are you doing here? Why aren't you at Steve's bachelor party?"

"What's that?" Gary asked, his brow furrowing.

"You ain't never heard of a bachelor party?" Mammon asked, nudging Booth with his elbow.

"No," Gary answered, embarrassed that, once again, other people knew things that he did not.

"Where you been, Gary? That's the party your buddies throw for you the night before you get married.

There's plenty of drinking and you tell stories and there's always a special gift for the groom-to-be," Mammon concluded with a lewd wink.

"What kind of gift?"

Mammon leaned toward Gary and, in a confidential whisper, he said, "Pussy."

Gary flushed. "Steve wouldn't go for a party like that."

"Why not?" Mammon asked with exaggerated concern. "He ain't queer, is he?"

"Oh no. He's a regular guy. He got me season tickets to the Stallion games."

"Then, what's he got against pussy?"

"Steve's a lawyer," Gary answered proudly.

Mammon and Booth cracked up. Gary laughed, too, because the others were laughing, but he did not know what was so funny. Steve was a good lawyer.

"You're not telling me that lawyers don't get laid?"

Mammon went on when he stopped laughing. "I bet he'll get laid on his honeymoon."

Gary blushed. He did not like to think about anyone having sex with his sister.

"It's sure too bad there ain't no bachelor party," Mammon said, shaking his huge head.

_- ... UIL sata, as if he'd just had a sudden thought. "Just because Steve is a stick-in-the-mud doesn't mean you can't have your own bachelor party.

Gary looked confused. Mammon slid his chair next to Gary's and put his arm around Gary's shoulder.

"Don't be too obvious," Mammon whispered in Gary's car, "but look over my shoulder at the blonde at the end of the bar near the door."

Gary turned slowly. A slender woman with straight, shoulder-length hair, wearing tight jeans and a Whitaker State T-shirt with a rearing stallion on it, was talking to a short brunette. Her emerald eyes sparkled when she laughed.

"Now, Gary, I'm a little jealous. That woman has been giving you the eye since I sat down."

Gary looked at her again. "Nab," Gary said nervously, "it wouldn't be me."

"Who else, buddy? You're one good-lookin' stud."

"She wasn't looking at me," Gary repeated stubbornly, hoping Mammon was wrong and terrified that he was right.

"Kevin, did you notice that blonde giving Gary the "Yeah, Gary," Booth said enthusiastically, "she's hot for you."

"You a fan of the Stallions football team, Gary?"

"Yeah!"

"Well, my man, if I was a stud like you, and a woman like that was giving me the eye, I'd strike hard and fast like a Stallion linebacker."

"What ... what do you mean?"

"Get on down there. Check it out. Odds are you'll be inside that tight squeeze before I can finish my beer."

Gary felt sick with excitement. He knew he could never have a girl like that, but Mammon seemed so certain.

"You got someplace to take her?" Mammon asked.

"I got my own house."

"I bet that place rocks from morning to night, right?"

Gary did not answer. Mammon's arm tightened around his shoulder and Mammon's breath felt hot against his ear.

"You do know how to pick up girls, don't you?"

"Sure," Gary answered, because he was too embarrassed to tell the truth.

"Then you know you have to go down there and ask her if she wants a beer. Now she'll say no at first. These bitches always play hard to get. You insist, though.

Women like guys who won't take no for an answer. Be forceful."

"I don't know. She really don't look that interested in me.

"Are you kidding? Shit, man, she's creamin' over you.

"That's true," Booth chimed in, anxious to get rid of Gary so he could find out what Mammon wanted with him. "She definitely wants It."

"And she wants it from you," Mammon said, lifting Gary to his feet. "Now, you aren't a fag, are you?"

"Oh no. It's just.. .

"It's just nothing, my man. And you know what? I'm jealous as shit, because you're gonna be sleeping with your ears between those silky thighs tonight. Go on."

Mammon gave Gary a push toward the stairs. Gary walked down them slowly, twice looking over his shoulder at Booth and Mammon, who waved him on. He was sick with worry, but he could not disgrace himself by turning back. What would the guys think if he could not score with a girl who was giving him the eye? And if he did score with a girl that pretty, it would really be something. Maybe he would even ask her to come with him to the wedding.

There was an empty space next to the blonde at the bar. Up close, she was even better-looking. Gary stood there for a moment, but the girl did not seem to notice him Finally, Gary worked up the courage to talk to her, but'the words caught in his throat when he tried to speak. Gary swallowed.

Then, in a quivering whisper, he asked the girl if she wanted a beer, but the noise in the bar was so loud that she did not hear him.

Gary felt nauseous. It had taken all his courage to make this attempt and he was too frightened to try again. He looked back at Booth and Mammon. They were doubled up with laughter. Mammon waved at him to go on. He turned back to the girl and tapped her on the shoulder, pulling his hand back as soon as he touched her. The girl stopped in mid-sentence and turned toward him.

"Can ... can I get you a beer?" Gary managed.

The girl flashed a smile that barely disguised her annoyance. "No thanks," she answered quickly in a tone that made it clear that she was used to being hit on and didn't like it. When she turned back to her friend, Gary looked at the table for help. His friends were laughing again. Why would they laugh like that? He wanted to run away, but he remembered what Chris said about being persistent. He tapped the girl's shoulder again, a little harder. The girl turned around. She looked angry'what do you want?" she asked.

"I like you and I want to buy you a beer."

"Thank you, but I'm talking to someone, okay?"

"I can buy her a beer, too."

"Look, I don't want you to buy me a beer. Neither does my friend. Take no for an answer, okay?"

"I like you," Gary repeated lamely.

The girl looked at the ceiling and rolled her eyes. Gary cringed with embarrassment.

"Ch ... Chris said you want me to buy you a beer," he stuttered.

"Who?"

"Chris. My friend," Gary said, pointing toward the table where Mammon and Booth were still laughingthe girl saw them and figured out what was going on.

"Go tell your friends they were wrong and leave me alone."

"You ... you don't like me?" Gary asked, hurt and confused.

"Are you an idiot?" the woman asked incredulously.

"Didn't I just tell you ..."

Gary's hand shot out and grabbed the girl's tee shirt.

"I ain't no idiot," he yelled.

The girl staggered backward, startled by Gary's sudden rage.

"Don't call me no names," he shouted in her face.

"Let me go," she screamed as she tried to pull out of Gary's grip. Gary yanked her toward him.

Arnie Block, the bartender closest to the commotion, turned when he heard the girl scream. At the end of the bar farthest from the front door, another attractive blonde in a Whitaker State tee shirt and jeans was sitting across from Dave Thorne, the other bartender. The girl was wearing a silver medallion around her neck. It had a cross embossed on it. The girl fingered the medallion while she sipped a beer. Thorne was working on a drink order when -A,mie shouted to him.

"Dave, call Steve. Tell him Gary's causing trouble and to get over here."

Dave looked down the bar, then grabbed the phone on the shelf behind him. He made the call. When he hung up, he noticed that the blonde with the medallion J was watching two men who were walking toward the back door that led into the rear parking area. One of the men was big and flabby. The other looked like a rofessional wrestler. The girl looked very frightened, p but Thorne had no more time to think about her because Gary was shaking the other girl by both shoulders.

"Say you're sorry," Gary screamed. "Say I ain't no idiot or I'll.. . I'll kill you."

Arnie Block reached across the bar and grabbed Gary around the neck. Gary shrugged him off.

"Let her go, Gary," Arnie yelled. This time, Gary realized who was talking to him and his grip relaxed.

"She said I was an idiot," Gary pleaded with the bartender. Block found a clear space and leaped the bar.

J "She shouldn't have said that, but you can't shake her. Can't you see she's scared?"

Gary looked at the girl. She was breathing hard, and she was near tears and very frightened. Gary released the girl and she staggered into the bar, upsetting her drink.

"I called for Steve. He's really pissed," Block said, as Dave Thorne pushed through the crowd. "You'll be lucky if you don't get arrested."

Gary's eyes widened as he remembered what would happen to him if he was arrested again. He would go to jail and it would be on the front page of the paper.

Mama would read it and it would kill her.

"Dave," Block said, turning away from Gary, "take care of this lady. Make sure she's all right."

When Block turned back, Gary was streaking for the door. Arnie shook his head as Gary raced into the night.

He made no attempt to stop him.

Dave Thorne took the blonde and her friend to an empty booth. Arnie brought over a glass of brandy just as Steve Mancini walked in. He was wearing a suit, but his shirt was open at the collar and his tie was pulled down.

"What happened?" Mancini asked the bartender.

"Gary got a little out of hand with that girl."

"The blonde?" Mancini asked, looking in the direction Arnie was pointing.

"Yeah."

"W at did Gary do?"

Arnie told him.

"Jesus. Where is he?"

"I don't know. He took off as soon as I said you were coming over."

"That dumb fuck," Mancini said, absentmindedly running his fingers through his hair. "All right, all right.

Damage control," he muttered to himself.

"I'm gonna talk to her," he told Block.

Mancini walked over to the booth. The blonde looked up. Her makeup was smeared and she looked frightened.

"I'm Steve Mancini, one of the owners. Can I sit down?"

The girl nodded and Mancini slid into the booth across from the women.

"Are you all right, Miss ... ?"

"Nix. Karen Nix. I'm just shaken up." She shook her head. "He just went crazy. I thought he was going to hit me."

"But he didn't."

"That's only because the bartender stopped him," Nix said, anger flaring in her eyes. "Do you know what he said? He threatened to kill me. I'm calling the cops as soon as I find out who that creep is."