The Creeping Dead: A Zombie Novel (5 page)

Mike inspired her, giving her hope that perhaps she could pick up the pieces and find happiness. Perhaps Smuggler’s Bay would be Tara’s new beginning as well.

***

Vinnie Cantone looked at his watch as he walked down the boardwalk with Ted and Frankie, toward the Shore Club. Ten after eleven. The club would just start to get hopping.

“It should be good tonight,” said Ted in his black button down shirt and matching black pants. “Lots of Benny snatch down here.”

“I don’t like it when you bash them,” said Vinnie pointedly.

Frankie put his arm around him. “C’mon, bro, you’re always defending the Bennies.”

“They’re a bunch of obnoxious hipster pricks from Northern Jersey and New York,” said Ted.

“They’re not sophisticated folk like us,” quipped Frankie. His rather generously-applied cologne made Vinnie dizzy.

Vinnie shoved Frankie away. “Yeah, well these hipster pricks from Northern New Jersey and New York support Smuggler’s Bay with their dollars. If this town only had Townies like you two assholes, it’d be in big trouble. Besides, they’re not all that bad.”

He, too, had originally hated the Bennies, until his father shared with him the small business owner’s perspective on them. Vinnie still hated Guidos, though.

“He’s right,” laughed Ted. “Remember that Benny bitch I met last summer, from Long Island?”

“The one with the big tits?” asked Frankie.

“Yeah. I fucked her in her hotel room and then on the beach. She wasn’t that bad.”

“You guys talk big considering you dress like them. You look like a couple of metrosexuals,” chided Vinnie.

“Oh, and you’re representing in your jeans and heavy metal tee-shirts.”

“I’m wearing a plain black tee tonight,” said Vinnie.

“That’s why you never hook up,” said Frankie. “Because you don’t have any style.”

“Why do you think he hangs out with us?” said Ted, implying that he and Frankie apparently provided enough style for all three of them.

“Because I don’t have any style,” teased Vinnie.

There was a gentle breeze on the boardwalk, a real relief from the scorching daytime. They reached Garfield Avenue and turned off the boardwalk, cutting through a thick line of parents, children, and strollers.

“So what about Dharma?” asked Frankie.

“What about her?” replied Vinnie, knowing damn well what his friend was getting at.

“I hear she’s going to be at the club tonight.”

“And?”

“When are you gonna make your move, bro?”

Vinnie tipped his head back in exasperation as they passed alongside the Cyclone Water Park. “Jesus Christ, you too?”

“What do you mean
me too
?”

“Mike asked me the same thing at lunch today.”

Ted stabbed the ocean air with a declarative finger. “The old man’s right, you know. He should know. I bet he’s snagged lots of tail in his time.”

“Jesus, Ted.”

“Ted’s right,” said Frankie. “Did he give you any advice?”

“I wouldn’t let him.”

“Well take some from me…”

Vinnie rolled his eyes. “Yeah, because the tail you’ve snagged is legendary in Smuggler’s Bay.”

Frankie frowned at Vinnie’s sarcasm. “I’ve gotten laid more than you, you little chicken shit.”

“Maybe I don’t want to get laid.”

Ted laughed at the remark.

“C’mon, guys. You know that’s not what I meant.”

“Listen,” said Frankie, “you haven’t gone out with anyone since that one chick…”

“Pamela,” said Vinnie, finishing Frankie’s sentence.

“And that was what…a year ago?”

“So, what’s your point?”

“My point, young Vinnie, is that all you’ve done since is work on that car of yours.”

“It’s my masterpiece,” smiled Vinnie.

“You need to get a piece,” said Ted.

“You’re a true poet,” replied Vinnie. “Why don’t you guys get off my back about this?”

Frankie jumped in front of Vinnie and started walking backward. “I’ll tell you what…if you make a move on Dharma tonight, we’ll get off your back. I won’t even care if she rejects you or not. All I want to see is a move.”

“Just a move?” asked Vinnie. “That’s all I have to do to get you two pricks off my back?”

“Hey, we do it because we love you, bro,” reminded Ted.

“I’m so lucky,” said Vinnie.

They reached The Shore Club in short order and lined up to go in. They were not of legal age, but it was Teen Night, and Ted’s older brother Russ was a bouncer working the front door tonight. After a metal detector, a few pat downs, and some brotherly insults from Russ, they were in the club.

It was starting to fill up, so Vinnie and company found a spot at the bar and ordered some drinks.

“Three shots of tequila!” ordered Frankie. “The bartender shot him the stink eye. “Oh, all right. Three energy drinks.”

Vinnie looked around the club. He liked arriving early. This way he could scope out who was who as they entered, get the lay of the land.

Frankie slid a drink over to Ted and Vinnie. “May this give Vinnie, here, wings so baby bird can finally fly out of the nest.”

“Really? Gee, Thanks. I haven’t even spotted—”

“There’s Dharma,” said Ted, pointing his finger toward the momentarily vacant volleyball courts next to the pool tables and the neon palm trees.

Vinnie rolled his eyes. “Can I finish my drink first?”

“Oh, here comes the excuses already,” said Ted to Frankie, as if Vinnie wasn’t standing right there. “Really, Vin, this must be a record.”

“You said I had to make a move tonight. You didn’t say I have to do it immediately. Besides, she’s by herself.”

Ted put his arm around Vinnie, and Frankie leaned in. “Vin, you know what’s going to happen if we don’t push you. You’re going to wait and wait for the ‘perfect moment,’ and you know what?”

“What?”

“The night’ll be over, and that ‘perfect moment’ will never have come. And then you’ll be kicking yourself all the way back for not having the balls to make your move.”

“How do I know if she really likes me?”

“Holy shit, bro, are you really that blind?” said Frankie.

“Dude, she’s been coming to see you at the pizza shop every damn day,” explained Ted. “I seriously doubt she likes pizza
that
much.”

“Cobb salad,” corrected Vinnie.

“Oh, Jesus Christ almighty.”

“All right, goddammit, I’ll make a fucking move already. Can you give me some room?” asked Vinnie testily.

Both Ted and Frankie stepped away from him, careful not to crowd him.

“When I finish this drink,” Vinnie reassured his wingmen.

He sipped the drink slowly, watching the club fill up with girls and guys, the usual 2:1 ratio that was never in his favor.

“It’s a goddamned sausage-fest,” complained Ted.

Vinnie had been watching Dharma from across the club. A bunch of her girlfriends found her, and they were watching some guys playing volleyball.

Dharma glanced across the bar and saw Vinnie. She whispered something to her friends, and they all filed onto the dance floor. Dharma stayed behind and was still watching the volleyball courts.

Shit. She was waiting for him.

Vinnie knew this, and yet he wasn’t emboldened. His knees felt like jelly, and his body was frozen. It’s like he was the Tin Man and his joints were rusted over. He had no heart.

I got fucking heart
. He downed the last of his energy drink, wiped his mouth on his forearm, and pushed himself away from the bar, his legs creaking with reluctance.

Ted elbowed Frankie and chuckled.

“Is this it?” asked Frankie. “Is our boy about to make his move?”

The two guys giggled like a pair of Japanese schoolgirls, elbowing each other and pointing.

Vinnie was halfway to the volleyball courts, and he was reminded of his Mustang and how stiff the transmission was if he didn’t give it a proper warm up. But he’d had enough time to warm up. It was time to get in the game already.

A hot little thing in a yellow belly shirt that read ‘WTFN’ passed in front of him.
Damned right. Why the fuck not?
He got a whiff of her perfume, stirring his loins, which emboldened him.

He made his way through the meat market, the male sharks circling the hot little guppies. He hated this scene, but Dharma had invited him, and she was twenty feet away, alone, waiting for him to come over.

He decided he was a chicken shit, but he wasn’t rude.

He finally reached the volleyball courts and was only several feet behind Dharma when he suddenly felt the wind taken out of his sails. He shouldn’t have had the energy drink. His heart was beating out of his chest. He had to use his momentum and do something quick; she was turning around.

He quickly jumped to the girl standing several feet off to Dharma’s left and introduced himself.

“Hi!” He shouted partially out of nerves and partially to be heard over the thumping house music.

The girl looked surprised, but not exactly disappointed. “Um, hi.”

He leaned in to be heard and a curl of her long, brown hair brushed the side of his face. He felt his pants get a little shorter. “My name is Vinnie.”

He saw Dharma looking at him out of the corner of his eye.
Shit.
He pretended not to notice.

“What the fuck is he doing?” asked Ted back at the bar.

Frankie shrugged. “He’s making
a
move. Not the one I would’ve made, but he’s doing it.

What the hell am I doing?
“I work at Marco’s Pizza on the boardwalk.”

“Oh. I’m Stacey.”

He felt her hot breath on his ear. “Hi, Stacey.” He wasn’t sure from her body language if Stacey was really into it or not. She hadn’t chased him away yet, but he knew he had a small window to make it work.

“Nice to meet you, Stacey. You play volleyball?”

“At the high school.”

“Oh, you’re on the team?”

“Yeah. Junior varsity. Are you a senior?”

“I just graduated, actually.” This small talk was beginning to feel like a job interview rather than a hookup. “Going to school in the fall.”

“Oh? Cool.”

He supposed he could’ve offered to buy her a drink, but that really didn’t work with non-alcoholic beverages.
Go for broke.
“Do you want to dance?”

“Yeah, okay.”

Surprised, and unfortunately appearing so, Vinnie led her to the nearest dance floor. He looked over and saw that Dharma was gone.
Fuck my life.

He felt bad. He knew she was waiting there for him, but he made his bed and had to lie in it.

He and Stacey began to dance.

“Is he going to dance with that girl?” asked Ted, incredulous.

“It appears so,” said Frankie.

“Metal heads don’t dance.”

“This one does.” Frankie sounded like a proud father talking about his son. “Vinnie’s doing all right. Let’s go Ted. The Bennies await.”

“Why do we always go for Bennies, Frankie?”

“Because the Townies know us too well.”

Ted downed the last of his beverage, and both guys meandered through the crowd. They brazenly wandered onto the dance floor and each immediately found a girl to dance with. Just like that.

Vinnie was struggling internally about how to proceed next. He and Stacey had already danced to a few songs.

He leaned in. “Can I buy you a drink?”

Stacey nodded.

They left the dance floor, passing Ted and Frankie who were all too conspicuously winking and giving him thumbs up.

“What would you like?” asked Vinnie as they reached the bar.

“Diet cola.” Her hair tickled the side of his face again, a sensation he liked more and more.

Vinnie ordered the drinks and turned to Stacey. He wasn’t quite sure what to say to her. She wasn’t his normal type. She was the furthest thing from a rocker. She was more of a Guidette.

When the drinks came, Stacey made it easy for him. “I’m going over to my friends over there. Nice meeting you.” She took her diet cola and walked back across the dance floor.

Vinnie breathed a sigh of relief. That was it. He made his move for the night. Maybe now the guys would get off his case about it.

Exhausted from his futile effort and a bit embarrassed, he drained his ice cold soda quickly and made his way toward the men’s room. He figured he’d take a leak and work on his excuse for leaving early. Ted and Frankie would give him a hard time. That’s what buddies did. He knew it was for his own good.