Planet Purgatory (17 page)

Strangely, I wasn’t as worried about my showdown with Bill as I was with the Eggman. I was still frightened, but having a plan — a divine one, no less — left me feeling surprisingly … confident.

Even Flea noticed, the usually chatty imp quietly watching me from atop Rosie’s back as we traveled the road back to Harkness.

“So are you going to tell me what you’re going to do to get rid of Bill?” she asked as I stopped to light a cigarette.

“Nope. I told you. It’s a secret.”

“But you’re sure it will work?”

“It has to. The angel told me so.”

Flea narrowed her eyes. “The angel, huh. What did you say he looked like again?”

I wasn’t sure how to answer. My initial reaction was to continue with the whole “man made of light” spiel, but that didn’t seem fair. Not after everything Flea had done for me.

“He’s a whale,” I said, finally.

“A whale …”

“That’s right. He’s an enormous whale swimming in an ocean beneath my farm. Actually there’s lots of whales, but this one, the archangel, he’s the one that gave me the plan. He’s the one that showed me how to free the settlement from Bill.”

I expected laughter. Instead I got a wry little smile.

“You think I’m crazy, don’t you?”

Flea shook her head. “Why would I? I bet angels come in all sorts of strange packages.” Her smile widened before erupting into an avalanche of giggles.

“I know I’ve been cross with you, and lord knows you make things difficult, but I want to thank you for all your help. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you.”

Flea’s giggling stopped, and she gazed at me with glistening eyes before leaping off Rosie’s back to give me a hug.

This time I hugged her back. She felt so tiny, so delicate. “You know what I’d like to do?” I asked. “I’d like to take you to an amusement park. You’d love that, I bet.”

Flea stepped back, alien eyes beaming. “That’s roller coasters, right?”

“Yep. And Ferris wheels, and all sorts of crazy contraptions designed to make you lose your lunch. It’s a shame we’ll never get the chance.”

“And what makes you say that?”

“Do I really need to answer that?” I asked, referring to the woods surrounding us.

“Never say never, David.”

Her bubbly attitude was infectious, and I found myself smiling as I dropped my cigarette to the ground. “Guess it’s time to move,” I said.

But Flea shook her head. “This is as far as I go, I’m afraid.”

“What? Why?”

“It’s for your own protection.”

“What do you mean? Don’t you want to see Bill?”

“That’s just it,” said Flea. “I do. Badly.”

“So why don’t you come?”

“Because I’m afraid of what I might do. He’s such a delicious target, and if he reacts anything like he did the last time we met, you can kiss your settlement goodbye.”

“Wait. You’ve met him before?”

“A few times.” The imp dropped her gaze to the ground, grinning at the memories that were no doubt flashing through her head. “Yep, I think it’s pretty fair to say old Bill and his friend hate me.”

I was shocked. “What did you do to him?”

“It’s a secret,” answered the imp, smiling.

We stood there, looking at each other. “Come here,” I said, extending my arms.

This time Flea jumped up to my shoulders and planted a kiss on my cheek. “Be careful,” she said, hugging my neck.

“I will.”

She remained there for several seconds, before returning to the ground where she gave Rosie a hug and a kiss as well.

“I wish there was a way I could repay you for all that you’ve done for me.”

Flea smiled. “Oh, that time will come. Don’t you worry about that.”

“Not if the angel takes me home.”

“Maybe. But something tells me I’ll be seeing you again.”

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but I hope not.”

Giving Rosie a final kiss on the top of her head, Flea scurried toward the trees, stopping briefly at the wood’s edge.

“You get that Bill good for me!”

And just like that, the imp — Flea, my angel — was gone.

Rosie and I walked into Harkness a few hours later. I’d only been gone a few days, but the place seemed transformed. It wasn’t so much the buildings or the trailers that had changed, but the atmosphere. It was like a blanket of darkness had been draped over everything. I could feel it from the road, and as I saw Bill’s armored wagon silhouetted against what could only be described as a raging pillar of flame, my confidence wilted. I’d never seen fire like that before. It was bright orange, and it burned with an intensity that could only be described as supernatural. It was loud, like a storm, and as I approached it I was dismayed to see it was surrounded by piles of food and everyday objects. Offerings. And then I saw it — three human skulls stacked in a pyramid, sitting next to an old rotary telephone.

“Look who’s back. It’s the Brew-Master. So where’s the wagonload of guns you promised?”

“What the hell is this?” I demanded, turning to face the old man.

Bill sneered, removing the cigarillo from his mouth. “Tribute.”

“You bastard!”

“Save yer outrage, boy. Everything here is a gift. We didn’t ask fer nothin’.”

“What about those skulls?”

“Them are courtesy of yer friends,” said Bill, nodding to a trio of men.

They stepped forward, glaring at me with such hostility I drew my gun. I knew all three of them. Not very well, mind you, but well enough that I knew their names.

“Nathan! Why would you do that?”

Nathan smirked, the light from the fire doing little to hide the dark circles staining his eyes. “Like Bill said, it was a gift.”

I was speechless.

Meanwhile his two friends moved toward me, only to retreat thanks to Rosie’s snarling.

“I should shoot you right here,” I said, pointing my rifle at Nathan’s face. He didn’t seem to care, staring at me with that godawful smirk.

“Come on, Rosie. Let’s get out of here.”

“I told you
SYS
wouldn’t do nothing,” chuckled Bill. “And next time I see you, I expect a bottle of yer best chikka. Got that, boy?”

I went straight to my parents’ trailer. Fortunately, their lights were on, and taking a deep breath, I opened the door to discover both my parents and Jackie playing cards around a little plastic table. I must have scared them something bad, because all three jumped out of their chairs before my parents rushed over to smother me with hugs.

“Davey! You’re alive! I was so worried!”

“I told you I’d be fine, Mummy,” I said, kissing her on the cheek. I even kissed my dad, something I hadn’t done in years, and we stayed like that, huddled together, until I spied Jackie standing by her lonesome.

“I’m so glad to see you,” I said, giving her a hug.

“I did like you told me. I found your dad, and he’s taken care of me ever since. And your mom, too. It’s only been a few days, but they’ve done so much.”

“See? What did I tell you?” She even smelled like my ex-wife, and without thinking I kissed her on the cheek before turning round to peer worriedly through the blinds. “What’s going on out there?”

“It’s bad, son. This thing with Bill is ripping the settlement apart.”

“So he took his … payment?”

My dad took out his handkerchief and wiped his forehead. “Five of them.”

“Five?”

“We were gathered in the town hall, trying to figure out what to do, when Nathan strolled in and announced that the number was now five. We didn’t even have time to answer before him and his friends rounded up folks at gunpoint and took them to Bill’s wagon. You know Nathan, don’t you? Thin? Black hair?”

“Yeah, I know Nathan. He’s hanging around Bill’s wagon. Him and his friends. They looked possessed.”

“They’re evil, David. There’s no other word for it. And it’s not just him, there are others. And they’ve taken to worshiping Bill in the hope he’ll spare them. You were right, David. It was a mistake letting him stay here. Now please, please tell me you found the
SYS
building.”

I removed a bottle of chikka from a cupboard and poured myself a mug.

“I found them, all right. And they’re not going to help us.”

A shroud of disappointment descended upon the trailer.

“I tried. Believe me, I tried. But the way they explained it, getting rid of Bill would mean wiping Harkness off the map as well.”

“Maybe that wouldn’t be such a bad thing,” said my dad, dropping his face into his hands.

“Hold on, now. Just because
SYS
said no, doesn’t mean I came back empty-handed.”

My dad looked at me, the unmistakable sparkle of hope shining in his eyes. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, I know a way out of this place, but it will require work on your part,” I said, looking my parents in the eye.

“What is it, Davey? Tell us!”

I gulped down my mug of chikka, dreading what I was about to say.

“First of all, Mummy, you have to admit you threw Sam down the stairs. That’s all you have to do. Admit you threw Sam down the stairs and then ask God for forgiveness.”

There was a tiny part of me that thought maybe, just maybe, my mother would see the wisdom in what I had to say. And for a moment I thought she did. Then her eyes changed.

“How dare you?” she said, rising to her feet. “Sammy tripped!”

“No, he didn’t. I saw you push him. I was there.”

“He tripped!”

“You pushed him.”

“What are you doing?” demanded my dad, jumping from his seat.

“Getting us out of here! You know I’m telling the truth! You know Mummy pushed him down the stairs!”

My mother grabbed one of her cast iron frying pans, and would have whacked me with it had my dad not stepped in and grabbed her arm.

“And you, Dad, you have to admit you’re manipulative and a liar, and that you care more about status than actually helping people.”

I felt terrible saying these things, especially in light of what Harkness had become, but I had no choice.

Meanwhile, my father was doing his best to keep my mother from murdering me with the frying pan.

“It should have been you!” she screamed. “It should have been you who tripped down those stairs!”

“Jackie! Get David out of here while I calm Dorothy down!”

Poor Jackie. Grabbing my bottle of chikka, I went outside and plopped myself down at the picnic table. Jackie emerged soon after, looking thoroughly shaken.

“What just happened?”

“It’s hard to explain.”

“Who’s Sam?”

“He was my brother.”

That’s when the trailer door flew open, and my dad marched toward me, eyes blazing.

“What were you doing in there?”

“I told you! Getting us out of this hellhole!”

“By opening up a twenty-year-old wound?” My dad clenched his fists. I was sure he was going to hit me. Instead, he grabbed my bottle of chikka and threw it, smashing it against a nearby tree. “You know, David, I can handle you calling me manipulative, calling me a liar. But accusing your mother of killing her own child? You might as well have stabbed her in the heart!”

“It’s for her own good!”

“For her own good? She’s beside herself!”

“That’s because she knows it’s true.”

My dad grabbed at his hair like he meant to pull it out. “Dammit, David! This is about that Purgatory nonsense, isn’t it?”

“It’s not nonsense!”

“What are you talking about?” asked Jackie. “What Purgatory nonsense.”

“Do you want me to tell her? Or shall I?”

I think my dad thought it would embarrass me. But I didn’t care. “Go ahead. Tell her.”

“My son is under the delusion this is Purgatory. And I don’t mean figuratively. He literally believes this is Purgatory.” My dad chuckled, walking a circle in the grass with his hands on his hips. “It was bad enough when we only had things like the aliens to worry about, but now the devil himself is parked just down the road. And just when I think it can’t get any worse, my son has to remind me of the single worst moment of my entire life. At least I got you back, David. Sam never got a second chance.”

“And that’s why Mummy has to admit what she did.”

My dad faced me, tears running down his cheeks. “I can’t handle this. I’ve got the whole settlement looking at me for answers, and I don’t know what to do.”

“Well, you’re in luck. Because I do.”

“Let me guess. The angel told you.”

“That’s right. This time tomorrow, Bill and his demonic friend will be a memory.”

Exhaling, my dad slowly shook his head and made his way back to the trailer. “Whatever, son. I’m going to see your mother.”

With the sound of the trailer door closing behind him, I slowly collapsed forward until my head rested on the picnic table.

“Do you really believe this is Purgatory?” Jackie asked, sitting beside me.

“I do.”

“That’s funny, because I’ve wondered the same thing.”

I lifted my head off the table to look at her in disbelief.

“I’ve thought about it since I first got here. I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want anyone to think I was crazy. But it makes total sense. It couldn’t be anything else. Well, other than Hell. But I’m not ready to go that far yet.”

All I could do was stare.

“And just so you know, your dad’s been amazing. And your mom, too. But your dad is what’s keeping this place together. He reminds me of a sheriff from an old western. While everyone else is hiding in the shadows, he’s out there front and center, taking control. He’s a good man, David. And he thinks highly of you, too. All he does is talk about you. Your mom, too. They love you. Dearly.”

I sat there, blowing air through my lips. “Man, you really know to make a guy feel bad.”

“Oh, come on,” she said, slapping me on the arm. “You know I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just that, if this is Purgatory, maybe what you need to be working on is forgiveness.”

It was like her words reached inside me, covering me in goosebumps.

“What’s the matter?” Jackie asked. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“You remind me so much of my first wife …”

“Sorry.”

“There’s no need to apologize. Jackie had a knack for cutting through the crap and speaking the truth, too.”

“That’s right. We share the same name, don’t we?”

“That, and only about a couple dozen other things.”

A silence followed, during which a demon swooped from the twilight to land on the picnic table. You would have thought it was a possum from Jackie’s reaction, diving screaming to the ground before scrambling on all fours toward my parents’ trailer.

“Oh my God, David! It’s one of those … things!”

“It’s all right, Jackie. He’s harmless.”

“You don’t know that! It might bite you!”

“He’s not going to bite me.” And to show how unafraid I was, I reached out and stroked the demon’s wing.

“What if it has rabies?”

“He doesn’t have rabies.”

The demon really seemed to enjoy the interaction, cooing softly with every touch of my hand.

Meanwhile, Jackie edged toward the table, face locked in a grimace. “How can you do that?”

“I’m telling you, he’s harmless. If anything, he’s a friend. Aren’t you, buddy?”

The demon responded with a series of clicks followed by a
pop
,
like a kid blowing bubblegum.

“They seem to show up right before anything important happens. It’s like they know.”

It was then that the creature’s eyes flipped from mother-of-pearl to shiniest black.

“Did you see that?” I asked. “Isn’t that cool?”

“That’s the most disgusting thing I’ve ever seen!”

“How can you say that? Look how perfect they are. They’re beautiful.”

Curiosity seemed to be getting the better of Jackie, because she sat beside me, and after some time, she slowly held out her hand.

“Go on. Touch him. He won’t hurt you.”

So she did; timidly at first, but it wasn’t long before she was stroking its shoulder like it was a big, leathery cat.

The demon was in heaven, leaning into Jackie’s hand until, without warning, it flew into the sky while Jackie and I looked on in wonder.

“I think that’s the sign for me to leave,” I said. “Rosie? Where are you, girl?”

Rosie came trotting out of the darkness to rest her giant head on my lap.

“You have to stay here, okay? You have to take care of Dad and Mummy and Jackie.”

This was harder than I thought, and I gave Rosie a big hug before sending her to stand with Jackie.

“Rosie will keep you safe,” I said. “Just make sure she gets her pumpkin pie.”

“What does that mean?”

“You’ll see.”

I stood up and allowed myself a final look at my Rosie-dog. She knew her role had changed; I could see it in the way she was standing beside Jackie. God certainly blessed me bringing that animal into my life. Now she had someone new to protect.