Wasted Youth

Hi all - this story was for an English class prompt. -Russ

Falling snow drifted across the deserted intersection as the youth smoked a cigarette in silence. Ashes fell on her white party dress, carpeting her overly round belly. In the evening twilight a blue sedan approached, creeping down the balsam-lined lane. As the car pulled up and the window lowered, inside she could see a middle aged man in a flannel shirt, with two kids in car seats in the back. She extracted her cigarette from her mouth so she could speak.

“On your way home from work, Clyde?”

“Yeah. Can I get a hit off that? You need a ride baby?” She passed him the cigarette.

She looked at the two kids in the back.

“No.”

“Well what the hell are you doing in the middle of the night in the snow, and pregnant too!”

One of the kids in the back burped up something delicious looking just then.

“Having a bad night. Just shove off alright?”

“Just tryin’ to be a good Samaritan,” Clyde said as he reached back and wiped up his baby’s vomit with a rag.

“I’m fine. See you later.”

“Ok but we’re supposed to get six more inches tonight,” Clyde took one last long look at her, rolled up the window and drove off into the descending gloom.

No sooner than she had taken another drag on her cigarette than she threw it on the ground and swore. Her mother’s bronze suv was pulling up to the intersection, no doubt returning from an evening church committee meeting. The vehicle rumbled to a stop and down came the window.

“Cheryll what on earth are you doing out here! You’ll freeze to death. How come you’re not at Tooley’s?”

Cheryll begrudgingly approached the vehicle and stuck her head in the window.

“Mom I-“

“What’s that smell?”

“I had a beer-“

“You’ve been drinking too? All I can smell is marijuana. Didn’t I tell you that’s the devil?” Oh, shit.

“Mom why don’t you just move to the damn church and leave me the fuck alone.”

“Just get in the car and come home. We’ll talk about this later. I’ll call the priest

and-“

“Just leave me alone! Go home! Go read the bible! Do anything just leave me the hell alone!”

Her mother stammered for a moment and was silent. She twisted her face as though she had bit into a lemon not expecting the sourness, and her finger ground itself against the “up-window” button impatiently. The car gunned and sped off, leaving Cheryll alone in dark silence. She salvaged her marijuana cigarette from the snowy ground and lit it up again. She took a deep, soothing drag. The snowfall was picking up now, and a chill wind had risen to bite at her uncovered legs. A white dodge spirit approached the intersection now, its headlights blinding Cheryll. It too pulled up to the intersection and stopped. The door opened and the interior lights came on, revealing pure filth. Old mcdonald’s food and cigarette butts littered the car. A burnt spoon sat innocently in the passenger seat, regretful perhaps, but accepting of its fate.

“You need a ride, Cheryll?”

Silence.

“You know I’m the last one who comes through this area at night. What are you gonna do if nobody else drives by, freeze, you and your baby? Forget Tooley, come back to my place, I’ve got some product.”
“I’d rather freeze, Billy.”

“Have it your way… Bitch!” He slammed the door and revved the car, fishtailing and covering her with slushy snow in the process. Before he had gotten up to full speed another car appeared. The lights blinded Cheryll as the Subaru forester pulled up. The window rolled down and the cabin lights came on.

In the front seat sat a greasy sextagenarian in black leather jacket and pants. Smoke curled around his unshaven face from the cigarette he casually smoked. In the backseat was a black trash bag, a rust red knife, and an ochre-bladed chainsaw. The car smelled of gasoline, timber, barbecue, alcohol, and marijuana – needless to say, it was tantalizing.

“Hey cutie. Had a rough night? Want to come back to my place?”

“Hey Grandpa. What took you so long?”