| General Fiction posted June 23, 2024 | Chapters: |
...5 6 -7- 8... 
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The party
A chapter in the book DUEL with the DEVIL
DUEL with the DEVIL - Chapter 7
by Jim Wile
| Background A brilliant young chemist creates a new opioid with unknown benefits and pitfalls. |
Recap of Chapter 6: Brian’s plan to spy on Sandi eventually works, and he finds out the identity of her boyfriend. A few weeks later, he participates in a school car wash to raise money for sports because he knows Sandi will be there. She is, and he gets to work next to her, washing cars. They joke around and have fun.
Eventually her boyfriend shows up, and Sandi begins ignoring Brian. Brian sees his chance to one-up the guy by using his intelligence to put the boyfriend down, but his efforts only succeed in angering Sandi, who calls him on it. He apologizes and leaves in embarrassment.
Chapter 7
What had gotten into me to have acted like such an ass. What I did to Josh was mean and cruel, and I’m not like that. Although I left Sandi alone after that embarrassing episode, I still ravished her in my mind before going to sleep each night—with predictable results. I had developed all sorts of fantasy scenarios, each with the same ecstatic ending.
Sandi’s rejection resulted in a hit to my self-confidence. Never particularly outgoing to begin with, I became more reclusive, preferring solitary pursuits. I continued to play a lot of online chess and read a great deal in my spare time.
My cat, Chloe, must have sensed my down moods and kept me company continuously. She would jump up and sit on my lap after my workouts and lick the sweat off my bare legs. She would similarly jump up and sit on my lap whenever I was at the computer playing chess.
Fran and I continued our early morning workouts, so even with my solitary, sedentary pursuits, I was still in great physical shape.
When I turned 15, I immediately applied for my learner’s permit. I loved to drive, and Fran was a good instructor. The goal was to get my own car and to be able to drive myself to school and other places when I turned 16, which was the legal age in North Carolina. I was a sophomore by then, and I passed the driving test on my first try.
I had a few hundred dollars saved up from my lawn mowing, which I continued to do, and Fran chipped in another $200, which was enough to purchase a 12-year-old dented Volkswagen Beetle with 180,000 miles on it. It got me where I needed to go, but that’s all that could be said about it.
It was a Friday night in July when I was 16 that Derek told me about a party being held at the home of a kid named Don Robbins. Fran was at a 4-day training session in Raleigh. She had never left me alone, unsupervised, for this amount of time. If I was going out in the evening when she was at home, she always asked where I was going, and I never lied to her. It’s not wise to lie to the police, especially when they are your big sister; they have an uncanny way of verifying the truth. But she wasn’t around to grill me about it that night, so I took advantage of my respite from her and decided to go to the party. I’d heard that Don’s parents wouldn’t be around. If Fran had known about this, she would never have let me go. There were no invitations, and anyone who knew about it could show up.
Don Robbins was a rich kid who lived in a huge house on thirty acres on the outskirts of town. A quarter-mile, winding driveway through the woods led from the main road to his estate, I guess you’d call it.
Loud music by the Foo Fighters was blaring from the house when I pulled up and parked. The front door was open, and I could see a ton of kids inside. The smell of what was probably weed was everywhere. I’d never smoked weed before, but when someone handed me a joint when I walked in the door, I took a big hit. I immediately coughed it out.
The kid who handed it to me laughed. “Go easy, man. This is some good shit.”
I tried a much smaller hit this time and managed to hold it in. Derek was already there, and he came over when he saw me. I passed him the joint, and he took a hit too.
“This is my first time smoking weed,” I said to him.
“Yeah, well, take it slow and enjoy it, dude. You won’t need much; this is some really powerful stuff. Only the best from Don Robbins, you know.”
Already, I started feeling the effects, and I mellowed right out. I looked around and marveled at what I saw. This place was huge, and there were at least 100 kids milling around. The ceiling of the white marble entry hall was 20 feet high, and a curved stairway led to the second floor. I could see kids up there too. Some appeared much older than me, and I was sure a few were college kids.
I saw Don in the family room. He was over by a wet bar in the middle of a group of kids, wearing a retro Nehru jacket. I could see a keg of beer on the bar and a number of bottles of booze on the wall behind the bar. I caught his eye and gave him a two-finger salute. He saluted me back and waved me over.
“Hey, Brian. Welcome to my humble abode,” he said as I joined the group around him. “Beer or something harder?” he asked me. I had never drunk alcohol either and decided to settle for a beer. I poured myself one from the tap on the keg. I filled it too full, and the foam ran all over the floor. He just laughed.
The weed was really kicking in now. I said, “Oops,” and started laughing almost uncontrollably. Man, I felt incredible. I could get used to this. A flickering image of Fran crossed my mind, but I quickly suppressed it.
I enjoyed a few refills from the tap following that first cup, and the combination of the weed and the beer was pure pleasure, unlike anything I had previously experienced. It was difficult to talk to anyone, though, because the music was so loud, so I decided to head out through a large set of French doors that opened onto a patio, and just beyond that, a large swimming pool.
A number of kids were in the pool, and many of the girls had taken their bikini tops off. That was a sight to behold! Everyone seemed to be high on one substance or another. Some were dancing on the pool deck; others had paired off and were making out. More joints were being passed around, and I took another couple of hits when they were passed my way.
Then I spotted Sandi, who had just stepped out of the pool. I watched her dry herself off and head to a nearby table, where she opened up a tote bag and pulled out a hairbrush. She ran it through her long, straight hair. I caught her eye and waved to her from the other side of the pool deck. She waved back and smiled.
My obsession with her had gradually begun to fade over the last year or so, but seeing her again like that drew me to her like a magnet, and I headed over to talk to her. As I made my way over, a couple other guys similarly flocked to her like moths to a flame.
Little did I know it at the time, but the course of my life for the next 16 years would be set in the next few minutes. I can trace it back to the moment I saw Sandi emerge from the pool. We never know at the time how significant a brief encounter like that will become and what chain of events will inexorably follow. I’ve had years to think about it, filled with regrets that I’d ever gone to that party in the first place. If only we had the ability to anticipate these key moments and to steer away from whatever it was that drew us to them.
And yet, who can foresee all the consequences that may, in time, result from them?
Just as I reached her, so did the other two guys. The shorter of the two gave her a quick kiss on the mouth. He started to say something to her, but I cut right in. “Hey, Sandi. Great party, huh?”
The three of them turned to look at me. “Hey, Brian. How’s it going?”
“Feeling just fine.” Without my normal inhibitions or good sense, I had a stupid grin on my face and found myself staring at her chest in that tiny bikini top. A quick glance at the guy who had kissed her revealed a frown and a steely look. I was bigger than this kid—maybe three inches taller—though he looked older than me. A college kid, perhaps. I’d had a growth spurt in the last year and was up to 6’ now, and I’d also put on inches in my chest size and overall physique. I wasn’t intimidated by him. I smiled at him, feeling very macho by comparison, as he continued to frown. “Hey there, dude,” I said to him, but he stayed silent and just glared.
Sandi sensed what was happening between us, and in order to forestall any potential trouble, she said, “Yeah, Brian. We’ve been here awhile, and we were just planning to leave.”
“Ah, don’t go yet, Sandi. We can still have a good time. Did you try any of that weed that’s going around?”
“Listen, pal,” said steely-eyes, “you may want to just back off now.”
“Oh yeah? What are you going to do about it… pal?” I said as I extended my arm and put my hand on his shoulder. We were standing fairly close to the pool. He swatted it away.
“I’m warning you.” He was really fuming now.
I smiled then and said, “Hey, I’m just funning with you. I didn’t mean anything by it.” I made like I was walking away, but as I crossed in front of him, I bumped him with my hip, and he lost his balance and toppled backward into the pool.
“Brian! What’s gotten into you? You’re being a real asshole. If you think acting like a tough guy is going to impress me, you’re sadly mistaken. Why don’t you just leave me alone? I don’t want to talk to you anymore.”
This all came out in a rush, and she looked furious with me. I was immediately humbled. “Sandi, you’re right. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean anything. That was dumb. Please give me another chance to make it up to you. I’m crazy about you.”
I was groveling now, just hoping she could eventually forgive me and see how much I adored her. But she wanted no part of me any longer.
“I meant what I said. I’m done with you. Don’t come near me again!”
I was suddenly stricken with panic, and I fled. I ran back into the house, through it, and out the front door. I made for my car, fumbled with the keys, and got in. I started it up and accelerated out of there, eventually going about 40 miles an hour down the long, curvy driveway. All of a sudden, as the lights from the house no longer lit the way, it was dark, and I couldn’t see because I’d neglected to turn on my headlights. As I looked down to find the switch, I felt a sudden impact and then oblivion.
Book of the Month contest entry
 Recognized |
CHARACTERS
Brian Kendrick: The narrator of the story. At the beginning of the story, he is 12 years old and in 6th grade in Kernersville, North Carolina.
Francine (Fran) Kendrick: Brian's older sister. She is 18 at the beginning of the story and goes to junior college, where she studies law enforcement.
Chloe: Brian and Fran's cat.
Sandi MacReady: She is a pretty blond and Brian's crush in high school.
Derek Shafer: Brian's best friend and lawn mowing partner.
Josh Bennett: Sandi's boyfriend. He's the center on the high school basketball team.
Don Robbins: A high school acquaintance of Brian's. He is a rich kid who throws a summer rave party when his parents are away.
Pays
one point
and 2 member cents. Brian Kendrick: The narrator of the story. At the beginning of the story, he is 12 years old and in 6th grade in Kernersville, North Carolina.
Francine (Fran) Kendrick: Brian's older sister. She is 18 at the beginning of the story and goes to junior college, where she studies law enforcement.
Chloe: Brian and Fran's cat.
Sandi MacReady: She is a pretty blond and Brian's crush in high school.
Derek Shafer: Brian's best friend and lawn mowing partner.
Josh Bennett: Sandi's boyfriend. He's the center on the high school basketball team.
Don Robbins: A high school acquaintance of Brian's. He is a rich kid who throws a summer rave party when his parents are away.
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