Free King's County by James Carrick Page A

rump.
    The mutilator expertly worked the
hose’s tapered nozzle into his friend's ass. He then popped the top
of the can and poured half of it in.
    The second man closed his eyes, totally
absorbed in the experience. The liquid fizzed, resonating in the
plastic tube.
    “How is it?” I said.
    The mutilator snarled, snatched up and
threw his jagged piece of cup at me. It hit me in the eyebrow which
immediately started streaming blood down the side of my
face.
    He lunged at me. I kicked him in the
shoulder with the bottom of my boot. The man weighed nothing; he
crashed backward into his friend causing the tube to come out and
spray foam all over the both of them.
    Heads popped out of doorways. The
cluster was roused, maybe they smelled my blood. I wasn't healing
the way they would.
    Wasted bodies emerged. Three, four, now
six of them. I didn't want to do this. I stomped and yelled then
banged hard on the wall with my fist until the last one had
sullenly retreated back into his room.
    &
    "El Jon, hey, how’s it going?" My
question caught him off guard. He was sitting alone at a table in
the corner and was surprised at being approached like this. Maybe
he was embarrassed.
    "You’re...Ellen’s friend?" He said.
"What do you want?"
    "Yes, Elena. I'm actually looking for
Opal. You know her right?"
    “No...” He waved at his pack of
cigarettes on the table and didn't answer me. I shook my
head.
    "Do you know where she is? I'm looking
for her - for Opal. There's something I have to show
her."
    He wasn’t understanding me. We sat
together in silence for a moment while he collected himself. I
tried again, but my further questions, however gently phrased, only
disturbed him. After a few more attempts, I started feeling
sadistic. I left him sitting there, unreachable, quietly stressed
out in his own world, and decided to try the waterfront.
    &
    There was a bar at the end of the
boardwalk. It was a smallish standalone building, dark and quiet on
the outside.
    Inside was a lively mixed crowd. I sat
alone at the bar, crammed into tight quarters nursing a drink. The
game was on.
    Seahawks were killing the Bears 37-13.
I studied the game. The level of play was incredible. QB’s were
consistently throwing perfect 40 and 50 yard passes. Guards were
getting upfield to block safeties. Linebackers stunted, backpedaled
and jumped to make clean interceptions. DE’s dive-bombed on edge
rushes like maniacs, got cut off at the knees by RB’s, flipped
through the air and got right back up afterward like it was
nothing.
    They were all chipped and on formula.
Who knows what else. When the player bios came up on the screen, I
saw most of them were in at least their twentieth season. Seasoned
pros with better than brand new bodies, a few were even older than
me.
    "Hey, man. Are you really watching
that?" He was short with shaggy, unwashed hair. His clothes were
old brown things under a rust colored pea coat.
    "OK, OK, stupid question, I guess. But
hey, man, don't watch that stuff. Serious: It’s not good for you,
you know," he said.
    "Why is that?" I said.
    A moment of frustration passed through
him.
    "I’m going to show you something." He
looked around the bar and reached into his coat.
    "Hot Stuff! I know you!" A woman turned
me around on the bar stool. It was Alice, the placement agent from
the airport. She dove in and put her lips over mine, wrapping her
arms around my neck.
    I stood up and kissed her back. She
didn't stop me when I felt her up outside her suit. Pea coat
started tugging on my sleeve trying to get my attention.
    I broke off the kiss and pulled Alice
away from the bar and toward the door. Opal was just walking
in.
    "Hi – hey, Opal. I've been looking for
you." I said. Alice dug her chin into my shoulder and squeezed my
butt with both hands. I did my best to ignore her.
    "Oh, OK. Can I get a drink first?" She
said.
    The three of us lurched over back to
the bar. I brought up the storage room and her sculpture but she
wasn't