Busted - The Game Show:  Chapter 30
GAY, TESTICLES, NULLIFICATION, MINOR
Busted û The Game Show

® Justin Cumberland 2007

Chapter Thirty

The sun hovered. It had to be disappearing but it seemed to hang suspended as
though the day would never end. The world held its breath and waited. Night
would come. Somehow, surely, there would be an end to all of this.

The car sped forwards, whipping flickering shadows onto the sides of the road,
an elongated monster with an extended lifespan. It would have to die.

Jason stretched his neck to one side and the other. It would be dark soon. He
folded his arms across his chest, conscious of Garth on the other side of the
car. They hadnÆt spoken, of course û not since the gas station û not since the
birthday card, really.

æSo how old are you, Jase?Æ were the last words.

What could you say? The guy knew the answer.

æWhat are you going to do, Garth?Æ

Garth jerked up in the seat and stared ahead, surprised that Jason had spoken.

æWhat?Æ

æWhat are you going to do?Æ

æWhat do you mean?Æ

æWell, you canÆt hang around, can you? Not with my parents coming back.Æ

Garth shrugged his shoulders. æAre you going to tell them?Æ

Jason rolled his eyes back and lifted his head slowly to the ceiling. æDonÆt
you want me to?Æ he said, speaking at the roof in a monotone, sarcastically,
tired of playing the same stupid game.

æYouÆre a real smart-arse, arenÆt you?Æ

Jason laughed, staring at the roof. It was funny.

æYes,Æ he said, turning to Garth. æI am.Æ

æYouÆre a fuck.Æ

The phone rang and Garth hit the dash-screen with his fingertips.

It was the producer. Jason had seen him during the day, over at his high desk
in the shadows, off to one side of the stage. He had never caught sight of his
face clearly, and, even now, on the screen, it was difficult to make out what
he looked like through the network of shadows which hid him. He face was old
and craggy and he was at his desk apparently. At least it looked like it.

æDad!Æ Garth said.

Jason jolted in his seat.

æIÆve done it, Garth. You should have seen it. It was fucking brilliant. The
little shit was brilliant.Æ

Garth smiled and turned to Jason. He mouthed the words æheÆs done it.Æ

Jason frowned.

æWe put him in the butcher shop,Æ the producer continued.

æTell me all about it, Dad,Æ Garth said, adjusting the volume on the phone
till the producerÆs voice distorted. æI want to hear everything.Æ

æWell, we had him on a rope, suspended sideways. ôCan I have some salami?ö the
lady said. ôIÆd like it sliced if you donÆt mind.ö ôWhy sure!ö Mark swung him
back and forth across the slicer. ôHow much do you want?ö ôWhy IÆd like the
whole thing.ö Slice, slice, slice.Æ The producer made a motion with his hands.
æYou should have heard the little shit scream! He wouldnÆt take the fucking
pain blockers. That was funny! It was the funniest noise IÆve ever heard. And
there was blood going everywhere û all over the both of them û all over the
poor dear. But she did a good job û a consummate actress, Leslie. ôCan I have
some meatballs too?ö she said. ôHow many would you like?ö ôWhy only a couple.
IÆm a lady living alone, donÆt you see?ö She battered her eyelids. You would
have sworn she didnÆt even see the fuck there. He was swinging everywhere and
spraying blood onto her fucking face.

æMark reached in and just grabbed em. Reefed the fucking things out of the
kidÆs sack. He stretched the cords out till they broke and frowned as they
snapped back in. The noise! Oh, youÆll have to hear it! I sent the tapes
through. Sent them to your young protÚgÚ there.Æ

æIÆm not his fucking protÚgÚ,Æ Jason said.

The producer ignored him. æAnyway. ôDid you hear something?ö Mark said. ôA
cat?ö the lady replied. A cat! A fucking cat!Æ The producer laughed. æFuck
sheÆs quick. He would have hated that û having some woman there. He would have
fucking hated that!

æôIÆll go on,ö he said. æThe kid could hardly speak. I threw my head back. I
couldnÆt believe it û two in one fucking day. IÆd had an idea. I was never
gonna use it but I thought, why the fuck not? Make Garth happy. We blew his
fucking arse out Garth û shoved a stick of fucking dynamite up there û blew
his whole fucking butt away.

æôIÆllàgoàon.öÆ The producer laughed again. æIÆll go on! Did he think he was
going to win?Æ

æWho knows?Æ Garth said. æHeÆs a strange one.Æ

æHe didnÆt win. He got what was fucking well coming to him. Who did he think
he was?Æ

Garth shrugged. æYou son?Æ

æI cut his feet off. I cut his fucking hands off. We had a Jesus there. Do you
see the fucking irony in that? ôDid this hand offend thee?ö The little shit
nodded. ôWhat about this hand? How about this foot? What about his one?ö And
he played the fucking game!Æ

Garth shook his head.

æôIÆll go on,ö he said afterwards. It was like he gained strength. ôIÆd like
to go on.ö Larry almost cried.

æDid you let him?Æ

æOf course I fucking let him! Do you think IÆm unmerciful? I slid him down a
fucking blade. Made it as quick as I could û but still, we had to seal him up
again. He just wouldnÆt fucking die. He had a split up his fucking middle û
right up to his fucking navel.Æ The producer made a motion with his hand.

æWhat did you do?Æ

æWe tore him apart. Put a bale hook on either side and attached the fucking
catapults. We drew and halved him. He split in fucking three! His fucking head
popped off and hit the stage while his sides went flying. He fucking well
looked at me. A real Marie Antoinette! Let him eat cake! ThatÆs what I say!Æ

æLet him eat it and have it,Æ Jason said.

æWhat?Æ

æLet him eat it and have it, you fucking prick.Æ

æDonÆt speak to me like that, penis-head.Æ

Jason turned away. The guy thought he was funny.

Todd was dead; and the guy was making jokes.

Jason looked out at the landscape, desolate and wasted. He could hear Garth
talking. He was wrapping up the call but Jason paid no attention. The sun was
going down, dipping below the horizon and extinguishing itself at the end of
another day. Darkness fell over the land.

æI think IÆll wander to and fro,Æ Garth said.

æWhat?Æ

æYou asked me what IÆm going to do. I think IÆll wander to and fro upon the
earth.Æ

æThat sounds like you.Æ

æItÆs my job,Æ Garth said.

æYou donÆt have a job, Garth.Æ

æOf course I have a fucking job. Where do you think youÆd be without me? IÆm a
necessary evil. You really should read your bible, Jase.Æ

Jason turned to look at him. He wanted to see GarthÆs face. He wanted to look
at the stupid fuck and see his face; but the lights on the dash were broken
and Garth had become a hollow shadow in the darkness, hunched forward on the
wheel, driving them homeward and into the night.

  

* * *