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William A Pusey, click here
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The following is a novel in progress about a young man who is forced into a deal with the devil and the aftermath
December 17, 1983
Charlie woke up early that Monday morning.
He was glad that the weekend was over. He
didn't think he got more than a few hours
sleep the entire weekend. His dreams were
haunted by visions of men with machine
guns chasing him and the sound of Kyle's
laughter. The day after the incident at the
Taco Hut he called work to inform them he
wasn't coming back in. It was Stuart Dane
who picked up. After Charlie said he quit he
asked Stuart, "How did your date with Easy
Ev go last night?"
Charlie could hear the sneer in Stuart's
voice when he said, "I got more from her
than you would have, bag boy."
"I'm not your bag boy anymore, asshat. And
don't worry about that burning sensation in
your groin. Just go to the doctor to take care
of it. You'll probably end up with a herpes
sore that's bigger than your tweezer dick."
"Ohh, someone's got a mouth on them
today. I'm shocked. You were always such a
timid little fag. When did you grow some
balls?"
"When I fucked your mom the other night."
Charlie hung up. He said, "I always wanted
to tell that fucker off."
He picked the phone up and called over to
the Conrad house. Mrs. Conrad picked up.
"Hello?"
"Hello, Mrs. Conrad. It's Charlie."
"Hello, Charlie. How are you doing?"
"I'm fine. Is Andrea home."
"No, she's gone away for the weekend with
Taylor."
Charlie heard the voice in his head, "Ooh, a
romantic weekend getaway. I hope Taylor
remembered to pack the Astroglide. It makes
ass pounding that much easier."
Charlie muttered, "Shut up."
Mrs. Conrad asked, "What was that,
Charlie?"
"Umm, nothing."
"Well, I'll let Andrea know you called."
"Okay. Can I asked you a question?"
"Sure."
"Is Andrea happy?"
"What do you mean?"
"Is she happy with her life and all? With
Taylor?"
"She seems to be. Why do you ask?"
"It's just we haven't talked in a while. I just
wanted to see how she was doing?"
"I understand. I like Taylor a lot I must
admit but I wouldn't have had a problem if
Andrea chose you. You two were very close
and I saw it in your eyes on the night of the
prom. You care about her very much."
The voice said, "She could have been yours
if you had more balls, Charlie boy. It
wouldn't have mattered anyway since you
would have been dead meat by now but at
least you would have gotten a chance to pop
the seal on that little bitch before you got
iced."
"I got to go, Mrs. Conrad."
"Okay.Say hello to your mother for me."
"I will. Goodbye."
As he hung up, the voice said in a mocking
tone, "'Is Andrea okay?'" I almost puked
when you asked her that. I thought you were
a man after what you said to Dane but you
turned back into a little pussy."
Charlie said out loud, "Fuck you. If you
don't like it then get out of my head."
"I'm going. I don't want to be around when
you tell your mom your plans. She's going to
turn on the waterworks, you know. Just don't
turn into a wimp with her like you did with
Mrs. Conrad."
"Up your ass with broken glass."
"That's the spirit. Bye now."
When Charlie felt the presence leave him,
he said, "You left me to deal with my mom
alone. Who's the little pussy now?"
As Charlie packed his things into his duffel
bag he thought back to Saturday night. As he
had feared, his mom didn't take the news of
him leaving well. "First your no-good father
leaves us and now you want to do the same.
Fine. Leave and don't come back. See if I
care." She spent all of Sunday in her room.
Charlie tried to talk her into coming out but
she wouldn't, no matter how much Charlie
promised to come back to visit.
Charlie walked upstairs from his basement
room. Hr went into the bathroom to grab his
toothbrush. He passed to door to his
mother's room. He thought about knocking
and telling her he was leaving but he didn't
need to hear her scream at him some more so
he left. First he drove over to Burger Boy to
get breakfast. As he sat in the booth eating
his Burger Boy bacon and cheese muffin and
the greasy but good hash brown patty Charlie
kept looking out the window towards the
darkened Taco Hut on the other side of the
shopping center. Looking at the place where
he was supposed to die made him feel more
alive. He saw his reflection in the window
and saw he was smiling.
After he ate he went over to the bank to
withdraw all his money. It wasn't a lot but it
should have been enough to get him out to
California. After that he would have to trust
that the deal he had made was legit. There
was a feeling nagging at him as he left the
bank. He wasn't sure what it was but he
decided to drive back to his neighborhood
one last time. As he turned the corner onto
his street he saw Taylor's car pulling away
from in front of the Conrad house and
driving towards him. Charlie ignored the
voice in his head urging him to give Taylor
the finger as he passed. Charlie stopped in
front of the Conrad house. He saw Andrea
opening the front door of the house. She
looked over her shoulder and saw Charlie's
car. She smiled and waved at him. She picked
up the suitcase at her feet and went into the
house.
The voice said, "Aww, is wittle Chawlie
sad that he didn't get to say goodbye to his
wittle Andrea? Poor wittle Chawlie. Get
over that whore already, you limp-wristed
sissy. Be a fucking man. You have the rest of
your life ahead of you, a life that I gave you,
don't ever forget. I promise you women who
will make you forget her. Now let's go. The
future I have for you awaits. Do you have
the notebooks and pens I told you to bring?"
"Yeah. Now will you shut up and leave me
alone for a while?"
"Okay. I'll leave you to morn for your
failed love. Just drop it soon. I don't want to
have to listen to this shit for the rest of the
time before I claim your soul. I promise you
won't hear from me until we get out west.
Talk to you then."
Charlie was glad when the voice went
silent. Listening to that voice all the way
across the country would have driven him
insane. He thought, if you're not insane
already.
Charlie began the long drive south. He
drove all day, stopping only for gas. When
the sun went down he pulled into the first
motel he found. After he checked in he went
out to get some dinner. Once he ate he went
back to the motel and went to sleep. He
slept for two hours and then woke up. Once
he was awake he would spend the rest of the
night writing down what he dreamed about
down to the last detail. In the morning he
would check out, get some breakfast, and
then get back on the road. It was a ritual he
repeated as he drove south towards Florida.
When he got to Florida he went west along
the Gulf of Mexico until he hit Texas. He
went through Texas and was halfway
through Arizona when the voice returned.
"Let's hit Vegas."
"I don't have the money for Vegas. I just
have enough to make it to California. Plus
this two hours of sleep a night is killing me."
"You forget who you're talking to. Las
Vegas is Sin City and guess who happens to
be the king of sin. I'll have your back so you
got nothing to worry about. Besides, you
need to start enjoying the life I gave you. I
promise you that you'll leave with more
money than you have now. And once you're
out in California there will be plenty of time
to rest up."
"Why do I have a feeling that you're not
going to let this Vegas thing drop? Okay,
I'll go."
"Go over to the MGM. There will be a room
set up for you."
When Charlie got to Vegas he did as the
voice instructed him to. When he walked up
to the front desk of the MGM he asked the
man behind the desk if there was a room for
Charlie Jobson. The man looked through the
registry. "Yes. Mr. Blackwell called the
reservation in about an hour before you
arrive. The Presidental Suite, is it?"
Charlie was about to ask who Mr.
Blackwell was when he heard the last part.
"Umm, yes. That will do. Tell me, is Mr.
Blackwell around?"
"One never know about Mr. Blackwell. He
comes and goes as he pleases. Sometimes it's
years between visits but he is one of our
most valued guests."
"He sure is a man of wealth and taste, isn't
he?"
"Indeed." The man handed Charlie the keys
to the suite and asked, "Do you need help
with your bags?"
Charlie picked up his duffle bag from off
the floor and said, "This is all I have. Thanks
anyway."
"Enjoy your stay, sir. If there's anything
you need, call down to the front desk."
Charlie walked over to the elevators. He
got into the first one and went all the way to
the top floor. When he entered the suite he
was in awe. The suite was bigger than what
he was used to living in. As he walked
through the rooms of the suite he heard a
phone ringing. He picked up the nearest
phone. He wasn't surprised by the voice on
the other end. "Enjoying the good life yet,
Charlie boy?"
"This place is amazing. I guess I should
call you Mr. Blackwell?"
"That's the name I use when I make my
occasional visits to Earth. Nathan Ian
Blackwell. A rather regal name, don't you
think? I usually come up when I want to get
away from the business of ruling Hell or if I
need to check with my associate who handles
my business dealing on Earth. We might run
into each other once in a while."
"How will I know it's you when I do run
into you?"
"Open the door to your suite. I'm right
outside." The phone went dead.
Charlie put the phone down. He walked
over to the door of the suite and opened it.
Standing outside the suite was a tall man in a
black suit with black curly hair and green
eyes that sparkled like emeralds. When he
smiled at Charlie it reminded him of a shark.
When he spoke Charlie recognized the voice
that came out of Kyle and had been in his
head ever since. "How's my boy?"
"I'm okay."
"Okay? You'll be more than okay once this
night is over. I want you to shower up and
get something to eat from room service.
Don't worry about the price. Everything's on
me. Check out the closests. There are clothes
and suitcases for them. Take the notebooks
out of your bag and leave the bag with your
old clothes in it and leave the bag outisde
your suite. I'll have someone come up to
take them off to Goodwill or something.
Those clothes and that ratty old bag might be
good for a supermarket stockboy but that's
not you anymore. You're going to be a
success. You need a suit. After you shower
and eat and try on your new clothes, come
down to the casino. I'll be waiting for you."
He turned and walked back to the elevators.
It was over an hour later when Charlie
stepped out of the elevator in his new suit.
As he walked over towards the casino he saw
Blackwell walking towards him. Blackwell
smiled and said, "You look great." He leaned
forward and said in a low voice, "Check your
suit jacket pocket. There will be enough
money to start you off with here. And don't
worry if you start losing at the tables. You
will win back whatever you lose threefold
eventually. If you won all the hands you
played it would draw too much attention.
Me, I lose more than I win when I come here
but that is only because I chose to. What
does money matter to me? But you'll do
fine. Come, tonight the town is ours."
He patted Charlie on the arm and turned
towards the casino. Charlie followed him.
As they walked through the casino,
Blackwell asked, "So, while you were up in
your suite, did you make any phone calls?"
"I did think about calling Mom but I knew
she'd probably start with the guilt trip so I
decided not to."
"Anyone else you thought of calling?"
"No. What's with all the questions?"
Charlie stopped walking. Blackwell smiled
when he saw the look of realization on
Charlie's face. "So you haven't thought of
her at all since you left Delaware?"
Charlie shook his head. It was true . He
hadn't thought of Andrea since he saw her
going into her house before he left.
Blackwell said, "I told you that you'd soon
forget her. That part of your life is over now
and it won't come back, no matter how much
you may want it to or at least thought you
wanted it to." He pointed over at one of the
blackjack tables. "I have a feeling about this
table. Do you know how to play?"
"A little."
"Just follow my lead. You'll do fine."
They sat down at the table. A waitress
came over. Blackwell ordered two single-
malt Scotches. The waitress left to put in the
order. Blackwell reached into his jacket
pocket and took out a roll of one hundred
dollar bills. He took three bills off of the roll
and placed them on the table. The dealer
took the money and slid three hundred
dollars of chips in front of where Blackwell
sat. The dealer looked at Charlie and asked,
"Are you in, sir?"
Charlie reached into his jacket pocket and
felt the roll of money that Blackwell said
would be there. He tried to keep the shocked
look from off of his face as he took the roll
of one hundred dollar bills out of his
pocket. It was the most money he had ever
seen at one time but he didn't want to come
off like it was. He took four bills off the
roll and put it on the table. As the dealer
gave Charlie his chips he looked over at
Blackwell. Blackwell smiled like a proud
father and said, "Your first night here and
you're already trying to show me up. You
really have grown some balls since when
we first met."
They began to play. Charlie followed
Blackwell's lead. It wasn't long before
Charlie caught on to the feel of the game.
The chip pile rose and fell as the evening
went on but Charlie wasn't afraid when the
chips were low. He knew Blackwell was on
his side. It was a few hours and a couple
Scotches later when a white-haired man in a
tux came over to the table with two younger
and larger men in dark brown suits behind \
him. He walked over to where Blackwell
was sitting. The man said, "Nate, you old
crumb bum. Long time, no see."
Blackwell smiled as they shook hands.
"It's great to see you, Frank. You're looking
as good as ever."
"Look who's talking. I've known you for
how many years now? And you haven't aged
a bit. You're a regular Ponce de Leon."
"Frank, there's someone I'd like you to
meet." He looked over at Charlie and said,
"This is Charlie Jobson. He's a young man
that I've taken under my wing."
The man turned towards Charlie. Charlie
stood up and they shook hands. Charlie said,
"It's an pleasure to meet you, sir."
"Cut out that 'sir' junk. Call me Frank.
And sit down. Don't let me interrupt your
game here.
Blackwell said, "Charlie's going to be a
famous screenwriter."
"Is that so?" He looked at Charlie and
said, "Maybe you can write something for
me someday."
Charlie said, "Sure thing."
"I like your face, kid. Here." He took out
a hundred dollar bill and put it on the table.
He said to the dealer, "Deal out some luck
to my new friend Charlie here."
The dealer put down two cards in front of
Charlie. The card facing up was the King of
Hearts. Charlie knew what the other card
was. As he turned it over it was the Ace of
Spades, jst as he saw it in his head. He said,
"Blackjack."
The man slapped Charlie on the back. "I
knew you were luck, kid. You should have
no problems in Hollywood." He looked over
at Blackwell and said, "I got to go. I'm
meeting Dino for dinner later."
"Give Dean my warmest regards."
"You got it, pal." He looked over at
Charlie and said, "It was nice meeting you,
Charlie. Enjoy yourself here and good luck
to you."
"Thanks. It was great meeting you."
"Same here." He looked back at the two
large men behind him and said, "Bruno,
Tony, let's get moving here. chop-chop."
After they left, Blackwell looked over at
Charlie and said, "Enjoying the highlife so
far?"
"It's something."
"And it only gets better. We'll play a couple
more hands and then we'll cash out and head
someplace else. There's one more thing I
want to get done for you." They played a
couple more winning hands and then
Blackwell said, "It's time. Go out front.
There will be a limo waiting. I'll take care of
the money.
Charlie got up from the table and walked
through the casino. He felt a little buzzed but
it wasn't anything he couldn't handle. When
he stepped outside he saw a row of limos in
front of the hotel. He wondered which one
was theirs when he heard a voice calling him.
He looked around and saw a young man in a
chauffer's uniform waving him over. He
walked over to the man and the limo he was
standing by. There was something familar to
Charlie about the young man but it wasn't
until he got a good look at the acne-marred
face that he knew who it was. He didn't
recognized the voice since it was Blackwell
that was taking through him but there
was no way that Charlie could forget those
crazy eyes.
"Kyle?"
"Hi, Charlie. Remember me from the Taco
Hut?"
"Yeah. I'm a little surprsied to see you." He
thought, yeah especially since the last time I
saw you, you were shot full of holes and
spitting up blood.
"I work for Mr. Blackwell now. It's a much
better job than working at the Taco Hut.
Here, let me get the door." He opened the
door and Charlie got into the limo. Kyle
closed the door. A couple minutes later he
opened the door again and Blackwell got
into the limo. He sat across from Charlie.
He asked, "What's the matter? You look like
you just saw a ghost."
"I think I did. What's Kyle doing here?"
"Where did you think he would end up
after he died. His soul was too evil for
Heaven. I figure I'd put him to use until he
was ready for his transformation."
"Is that your plan for me when I die, that
I'll be your butler or something."
"No, I have bigger plans for you and the
others." Blackwell lowered the partition
window and said to Kyle, "You may drive."
He pushed the button to raise the partition
as the limo pulled into traffic.
Charlie asked, "Others?"
"What, don't feel as special now? You'll
always be special to me since you were the
first but you won't be the last in my little
project. What I'm planning I need a lot of
souls. I just made my second deal last night.
There were these two young men, Steve and
Rob. They grew up together in a small town
in Wisconsin. They had recently come home
from college for Christmas. They had been
drinking and driving around the back roads
when they drove off of a bridge and into a
river. Rob was supposed to escape from the
car and Steve was supposed to be trapped in
the car and drown. That was how my
Opposite planned it. I did my time freeze
trick just as the car was about to hit the
guard rail and go into the river and then I
appeared to Steve in the back seat as you see
me now. I told him who I was and what his
fate would be if he didn't take my deal. I also
told him that for him to live another most
die in his place. To his credit, Steve didn't
hesitate like you did. He didn't have the time.
He grabbed Rob by the back of the head and
rammed his face into the steering wheel
until his face was a bloody pulp and his nose
was driven into his brain. Steve jumped out
of the car just as time unfroze. He got away
with only minor injuries. Now he has to live
killing his best friend since childhood but
that's not my problem. You got off lucky. At
least I didn't make you kill anyone. Maybe I
should have. After you left Taco Hut maybe
I should have had you go over to Taylor's
place and with a Holloween mask and a
butcher knife and give Taylor and Andrea
the slasher movie treatment. Speaking of
slasher movies," Blackwell reached under
his seat and pulled out Charlie's notebooks.
"I hope you don't mind but I'm going to take
these with me when I leave for Hollywood.
There's a producer friend of mine out there
who will loves these. Your work is done for
now so you can rest up for a while. When
you make it out to L.A., go to the Cheteau
Marmont. Stay out there for a few days until
you get a call for a meeting with the
producer. Does this sound good to you?"
"Yeah."
"Is something wrong? You seem a bit
off."
"It's just happening so fast."
"It's a rollercoaster, isn't it? I didn't feel
like I had enough time to break you in slowly
so I've kind of pushed the highlife on you
quicker than you might have thought you
could handle but you're doing fine so far. I'm
proud of you. Now, a couple more things
before I take my leave of you." He reached
into his jacket pocket and took out a key.
He handed the key to Charlie and said, "This
is for a safe deposit box at the hotel. When
you check out you present this to the man at
the front desk and ask for your belongings.
It's the money we won tonight. I threw my
winnings in with your since I don't need the
money. And you'll get more money after the
meeting with my producer friend. A bit of
free investement advice; keep an eye out for
Kilgore Enterprises and Microcom. Once
you see those on the market, invest heavily
in those stocks. You'll be set for life. Any
questions?"
"I can't think of any now."
"Good. Now we got the business out of the
way, it's time for the pleasure."
Charlie felt the limo come to a stop. The
partition came down and Kyle said, "We're
here. I'll get the door for you, sirs." He got
out of the limo and walked to the back. He
opened the limo door and Blackwell and
Charlie got out of the limo. Charlie loooked
around. He saw that they were out in the
desert. He could see the lights of Las Vegas
in the distance. The limo was parked in front
of a two-storey ranch house. He saw two
rows of bungalows behind the house.
Charlie asked, "What is this place?"
Blackwell pointed to a pink neon sign that
read, MISS AIMME'S RANCH L'AMOUR.
Charlie said in a low voice, "You brought
me to a brothel?"
"Oh, lighten up. It's no big deal. I just
thought it was time you got some action.
You don't want to hit L.A. as a virgin, do
you? Don't tell me you're holding on to
some silly notion about meeting that
someone special first. Forget it. There is no
such thing as love. If there was don't you
think that it would have been you and
Andrea? No, she chose Burger Boy because
he was older and drove a cool car and he was
better looking than you. And he fucked her
because she was young and willing. I'd bet
my throne in Hell that she wasn't the first
piece of barely legal ass that Taylor got his
fry grease covered hands on. He was dipping
into the employee pool long before Andrea
showed up and once he gets bored with her
he'll go for the next bit of fresh meet that
shows up at Burger Boy with a job
application. Take comfort that Andrea will
soon get her heart broken like she broke
yours. She may even wish she chose you but
it will be too late for the poor little tramp.
She'll have to find someone else to whore
herself out to."
Charlie grabbed Blackwell by the front of
the shirt. "Just shut up about Andrea. I won't
hear you talk like that about her."
Blackwell pushed Charlie away from him.
"You're lucky I need you. I wouldn't put up
with anyone else putting their hands on me
like that. What's the matter, angry that I'm
implying that at best Andrea is a naive fool
or, at worst, a conniving whore? Is that
what you don't want to hear? Fools or
whores, that's the female gender in a
nutshell but don't hate the messanger who
tells you this. Hate the one who set up the
rules." He glanced up to the sky.
"Are you saying that if I do this I'd be
getting revenge against God?"
"If that's how you want to look at it.
Revenge against God or Andrea or whatever.
It will also prepare you for what awaits in
L.A. It is crawling with whores and the naive
who are looking for that big break. I figure
to save you from being eaten alive by the
whores and as for the naive, you give them
the Burger Boy treatment, Use and dump.
You'll never be hurt again. Trust me on this
one. I know that not being hurt again is the
one thing you want more than anything right
now. Well, the path to pleasure and no pain
starts here and now. We'll go in there and I'll
pay for your evening so do whatever you
like and fuck as many whores as you want.
Fuck the whole damn brothel if you think
you can. After I pay for everything then Kyle
and myself will tak our leave of you. There
will be another limo waiting out here for
you when you finish. Are you ready?"
Charlie looked at the brothel. He wondered
if Blackwell had a point. In the past it
seemed the game had been rigged against
him but now things were rigged to go his
way so why not take advantage? He knew
that ever since that night he met his fate at
the Taco Hut that he had been trying to hold
on to the old Charlie. Maybe it was time to
put old Charlie to rest and become a new
Charlie.
He said out loud, "A death to the past."
"Yes. In a way I was wrong on the night
when we first met and I told you that you
wouldn't die that night. A part of you did
die with the others. But that Charlie deserved
to die. He was weak. The new Charlie I see
before me is strong and takes what he wants
and is no longer afraid."
"Okay. I'm ready. Let's do this."
Blackwell smiled. "Good. I knew you
would come around to see things my way.
I could see the darkness inside you growing.
Follow me." They walked towards the
brothel.
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