The Third Step by William Lobb

Author:William Lobb [William Lobb]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2016-09-25T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-seven:

Running With

The Demon

Frankie woke up early, reached for the vodka bottle, took a long drink, sat there and lit a cigarette, then immediately ran to the bathroom and vomited. His nose began to bleed. He shoved some toilet paper into the hemorrhaging nostril, went back to the bed, lit another cigarette, found a can of Coke in his cooler, cracked it open, drank about half, then filled the can with vodka. He sat there medicating for about 20 minutes as he watched the morning news on the TV.

He finally stood up, walked to the bathroom, pulled the plug from his nose, and looked in the mirror. He looked like hell. His body was skinny; his skin was pale; his hair was a long stringy, greasy mess; he hadn’t shaved since long before the massacre. He needed to find some clean clothes, shower, get some food, and get out of this hole. The demon sat silently by the door, waiting and smiling through his stinking teeth. Frankie found some clean clothes and cleaned himself up. He considered taking his dirty laundry with him, but decided to leave it and buy new clothes instead. The effort seemed too great. He went to the office, paid his bill, left some extra cash for the poor slob that had to clean up that room, and called a taxi for a ride back to his truck.

Frankie climbed into the cab, started the tractor, and let it warm up. He pulled away from the unhooked trailer. There was a bizarre and inexplicable feeling of sadness as he pulled away. Not so much sadness for the loss of life; it was more about Katrina. He looked over at the demon riding in the passenger seat; the demon smiled. He drove into town and found a clothing store. He ran in and grabbed some jeans and shirts and things. Everything denim: shirts, pants, like it was a code; he had no other choice. Next door was a barber shop. Frankie didn’t understand why, but he felt this need to be clean, to shake off the shackles of this town. He walked in and found there was no one ahead of him. He told the barber to shave it all off: hair, beard, everything. The entire process took about ten minutes and Frankie was out the door. The demon smiled and said, “You’ll never be clean. It’s going to take more than a haircut.”

He drove up to a diner. He realized he’d been living on alcohol for probably the past four days. He walked in and sat at the counter. He ordered a massive breakfast of eggs and bacon and grits and a second plate with a cheeseburger and fries. The waitress commented, “A skinny guy like you is going to eat all that?”

Frankie smiled and said, “Yes.” While he waited, he called a broker he knew in Atlanta. The conversation was quick. There was a load he could take: a partial load into Montgomery and drop the trailer in Mobile.

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