“Where’s Iggy been?” Gabe asked as a few of us sat casually around the bar late one afternoon.
“He was here last week,” Carter replied, “I streamed him and Grubby playing a few Call Vert covers.” I looked over at Bekki who had been sitting on the couch messing around on her phone. She looked up at me and I remembered our conversation about Iggy’s addiction issues.
“He goes in cycles,” I chimed in, “Sometimes he withdraws for a few days.”
“I’ve got our next band lined up,” Carter said slapping his hands down on the bar to draw attention to himself, “and I have the tickets.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a guitar pick. It was a dull gold made of cheap plastic.
“That’s sick!” Gabe said picking it up and inspecting it.
“Well if it gets a stamp of approval that quick from Gabe that quick, it must be pretty awesome,” Bekki said jumping up and rushing over to the bar. “Oh wow…,” she said leaning against Gabe, “Carter…well done!” I took it from Gabe and looked it over myself. On one side were the words “Grubby’s Private Bar” in old western font and on the backside was the name of the PeerPub account. They were right. It was cool.
“How many?” I handed it back to Gabe.
“Well, I figured none of us in the cul de sac needed one so that eliminates nine. There’s three in the band, so we’ll need one for each of them. Unless you disagree, I thought we could start off trying about twenty people down here for a show,” Carter suggested, “After that, we can adjust one way or another. So we’ll need eleven picks in total for this particular show. We’ll give the band eight to hand out as they see fit.” Bekki nodded excitedly.
“Three in the band?” I asked, “Is it the guys that were here for the Grainleg show?”
“Moon Farm,” Carter nodded, “They are spectacular. I’ve listened to them online. They haven’t recorded anything professionally, but they have some rough demos up.”
“They were nice when Iggy introduced me to them,” I said letting him know I was open to the arrangement, “as long as the bar doesn’t look like it did after the last time they were here and left.”
“It won’t,” Carter laughed, “I got this. I’ll work the door and everything.”
“I didn’t know there was a manager position open,” Gabe slid the pick back across the bar to Carter, “Or a bouncer position. What if I was interested?”
“They don’t pay,” Carter informed him, “At least not yet.”
“Then screw that,” Gabe sneered, “I don’t work for free.”
“You mean you don’t work at all,” Bekki interjected, “I know people that have worked with you.”
“Oh really,” Gabe got defensive. Carter laughed nervously and leaned back in anticipation of a heated exchange.
“Just playin!” she said nudging him. He gave her a look and went back to messing around on his phone.
“Hey,” Carter said pointing at Bekki, “I had an idea I wanted to run by you.”
“I love your ideas,” she plopped down at the bar, “Shoot!”
“What if we created a reoccurring segment on the Grubby’s Private Bar PeerPub account for conspiracy theories?” he looked at her intently. She stared back at him blankly. “Hear me out,” he continued, “Before that segment expired of you talking about the bog, it had been viewed thousands of times and had over a thousand comments and reactions.”
“I know,” she nodded, “I got notifications constantly.”
“In views and interactions, it was more popular than anything we’ve done down here yet…on any account, save for the Grainleg performance. And your video had a lot to do with that,” he explained, “so honestly, it was probably the best thing that’s been recorded down here.”
“So you want me to talk about a bunch of people being killers in an area small enough that they’re for sure going to see it?” she scowled at him.
“No, not at all,” Carter shook his head, “I mean unless you want to. I was just thinking about conspiracies in general. I know you know a lot about them and people love that stuff. A bunch of the comments on your video weren’t even about the bog. They were about different conspiracies in general.” Bekki’s face relaxed a little as she waited for him to continue. “I was thinking we could do like a weekly or bi-weekly stream where you pick a topic, or you let the viewers pick a topic, and then you give an overview. When you’re done, people can ask questions or make comments.”
“That sounds terrifying,” she immediately replied, “I’m not a professor and most of that stuff is speculation anyway.”
“Approach it casually then,” I jumped in, “Don’t come at it like a lecture, just talk about it lightheartedly. Not like you’re trying to convince them of anything.” Bekki processed it before starting to shake her head.
“Just think about it,” Carter insisted, “I think you’d kill it and have fun doing it.”
“I agree,” I smiled. She remained silent.
“Just think about it,” Carter said again, “Ok?” Bekki nodded slowly but kept looking at him in a way that let him know she wasn’t fond of the idea.
“Earthquake just killed upwards of 45,000 people,” Gabe said abruptly while staring at his phone.
“Are you serious?” Carter asked, “Where?”
“45,000?” Bekki repeated in horror, “I can’t even wrap my brain around that.” Before anyone could say anything else, a screeching noise began emanating from outside. They all looked at each other curiously as I jumped up and flung the door open. Looking around and listening, it became apparent that it was coming from the neighbor’s house across the back yard.
“What the hell is that?” Gabe pushed his way past me and stood on the edge of the patio. Carter slipped through the gap between me and the doorway and joined Gabe in trying to figure it out.
“Sounds like a guitar,” Bekki said still sitting at the bar. After giving it a closer listen, I realized she was right.
“Glad it’s your neighbor and not mine,” Gabe exclaimed, “cause if that happened often or late, I’d be paying them a visit.” With that, he left up the side of the house to go home.
“I’m out too buddy,” Carter said patting me on the shoulder and following him, “I’ll catch ya later.” After he disappeared around the corner, I stood there inspecting the neighbor’s house and listening to the guitar. There were no accompanying instruments or even a cohesive musical structure. It sounded like someone had just decided to pick up an unfamiliar instrument and go as hard as they could.
“Maybe they’re trying to get even,” Bekki laughed as she stepped out to join me, “or now we know where Iggy’s been spending his extra time.” I chuckled without facing her.
“I get such a weird vibe from them,” I said in a contemplative manner.
“The neighbors?” Bekki motioned in their direction. I nodded. “Why?” she asked, “In all the times I’ve been here I’ve never seen or heard anything over there.”
“I don’t know,” I shook my head, “It’s more like a feeling. Sometimes it’s so strong it’s almost tangible. Like there’s someone watching.””
“But you can’t see them?” she clarified.
“No,” I replied, “I can just sense them.” Bekki remained silent, waiting for me to elaborate.
“For what?” she asked, “Why would they be watching you? I’m not questioning you. You’re probably right. I’m just trying to understand.”
“I have no idea,” I answered, “but it feels sinister. Like they’re lurking.”
“Huh,” she said thoughtfully. The two of us stood there looking in that direction as the sun was making its final descent. The resulting colors were dramatic, and the longer we stood there, the more it felt like we were in a movie scene. Eventually the guitar stopped and the all-encompassing orange hue of the sunset was magnified by the now eerie absence of any semblance of noise. “Maybe they’re hiding something,” Bekki broke the silence. I turned to face her. “I mean you have a direct line of site into their backyard,” she nodded towards it, “Maybe they’re worried you’re going to see something.”
“Well at one point I thought I did,” I interjected, “Someone was out there digging one night but Gabe pointed out they’re just building a yard barn.”
“That thing?” she asked pointing at the top of the still unfinished structure. I nodded. “They already have a huge one over there,” she said moving her finger to single out another much larger building on the opposite side of their yard. As I inspected it, I realized she was right. They already had a large storage unit. “They must be hoarders or something,” she mused, “Have you ever seen them go in or out of it?”
“No,” I shook my head, “I’ve never even seen them period. Just silhouettes or glimpses.”
“Really?” she leaned up on her tip toes to get a better look over the fence, “That’s odd.”
“I guess we just aren’t out at the same time,” I followed suit, “They’re mostly active at night it seems. There’s been a couple times someone started to come out while I was looking over there, but I moved before they caught me staring.”
“Huh,” she lowered herself again, “we’ll have to keep an eye on it. How long have they been working on that other structure?”
“Several weeks at least,” I replied. Bekki didn’t say anything else. She just thought quietly to herself for a minute before saying she needed to go tend to stuff around her house.
A few nights later most of us were hanging out in the basement when Carter decided to get Bekki going on conspiracy theories. It was a Sunday, so we were all lounging around watching TV or scrolling on our phones. Carter brought up a topic that wasn’t politically charged or contentious, and Bekki bit hook, line and sinker with a lengthy yet entertaining explanation. This particular topic took many turns and went down numerous rabbit holes, but in her mind, they all led to the same place. Sacred knowledge. At one point, Bekki got up and began using the chalkboard wall to draw a map, creating a chronology of events and writing down main points that she wanted to connect. All of us sitting across from her at the bar were mesmerized by the content and how well she articulated it. We asked difficult questions and she answered each one of them effectively. It was the most in her element I had seen her up to that point. When we had no further questions, we began applauding as she took a bow. Grabbing a drink from the fridge under the bar, she sat back down in front of the chalk diagrams on the wall behind her. We were having various conversations about it when Cassie slid the door open and walked in.
“Hey!” Bekki welcomed her, “No Noah?”
“He’s playing with his toys,” she said with an annoyed face.
“Cool,” Bekki replied, “What’s going on?” Noah and Cassie didn’t come over near as much as everyone else in the cul de sac, but it was even rarer that Cassie came alone or instead of Noah.
“I was watching the stream,” Cassie explained, “that was freaking awesome. I want to hear more!” It was quiet for a moment as we all looked around at each other.
“Guilty,” Carter finally said holding his phone up, “I have an admission to make. I streamed that whole thing you just did on the chalkboard. I wanted you to see how popular you would be on the PeerPub account…and I was right. There’s a ton of interactions.” We all turned to watch Bekki’s reaction, expecting it to be severe. She glared at him.
“I know,” she finally smiled and took a drink.
“You’re terrible at being sneaky,” she said, “Your posture was a dead giveaway. Plus the fact that I get a notification when the Grubby’s Private Bar account goes live.”
“And you went through with it anyway?” Carter rested back.
“It’s a lighthearted topic,” she replied whimsically, “and an extremely fascinating one.”
“That it is,” Cassie interjected, “And like I said, I want to hear more!”
“Have a seat!” Bekki pointed at an open chair.
“Can I?” Carter held his phone up.
“Are we taking questions from viewers this time?” Bekki asked.
“Only if you want,” Carter replied.
“Let’s go!” she positioned herself comfortably.
As Carter went live, Bekki started explaining to the viewers that the conversation had extended beyond what was streamed, and that she wanted to give everyone a chance to ask more questions or express themselves on the topic. It was an immediate hit. Once in a while someone would comment about the bog or a different conspiracy, but Bekki did good to stay on the original topic. Occasionally she would open the door to the possibility of more conspiracy related conversations in the future, and at one point even began making a list of things people wanted to hear about as they threw them out.
After a while, everyone in the bar was ready to go home so Bekki wrapped it up. Carter shut it off and he and Bekki began discussing the potential of doing it again in the near future
Bekki was the last person to leave, and as I walked her out, she paused just outside the back door and closed her eyes. Taking a deep breath, she exhaled through her nose and smiled.
“I love this time of year,” she whispered before opening her eyes and looking off into the darkness.
“Me too,” I smiled. The smell of dry leaves and burning wood were heavy in the air. It was hard to tell which direction the smoke was coming from, but it could easily have been all of them. I was watching Bekki take it in when at once the peaceful evening was interrupted by a wailing siren.
“What’s that?” she jerked around.
“I think it’s a tornado siren,” I answered. I looked around trying to decide which direction it was coming from as the wind started to pick up. It was already dark out and there was no way to tell what the sky might be threatening. In addition, if there was lightning or any other indicator, it was hidden by trees or houses. My house alone blocked the entire southern sky from our view. “Let’s go inside,” I said, “I’ll see if there are any warnings out.” She nodded and followed me back in.
As we took a seat at the bar, I pulled my phone out and began looking at weather conditions and forecasts. There was indeed a tornado watch for our area. Bekki took me up on my offer to ride it out in the bar, primarily because it was a walkout basement and protected on most sides by the ground. Neither one of us had been aware that there was going to be inclement weather that night, and it caught us both off guard. Nonetheless, we passed the time with talking and laughter until all the warnings had been lifted by the weather service. It had rained while we were inside, but mostly just a light drizzle. When it seemed to have let up, I escorted her out of the basement again.
“Is there water streaming down there right now?” she motioned towards the ravine.
“Not like there was last time,” I took a couple steps towards it, “but I’m sure there’s some.” Immediately she hopped down to the bridge and walked out onto the middle of it.
“I can’t really see anything,” she said pulling her phone out and turning her flashlight on, “it’s too dark.” I stood on the edge of the patio watching as she fumbled around with it. Leaning down, she held it out through the wooden bars of the railing to get a better look. Tilting it down towards the area directly in front of her, it slipped out of her hands and into the mud and jagged rocks beneath. “Oh my gosh!” she exclaimed.
“Hang tight,” I said hustling to the edge of the property, “I’ll get it.” Beside my yard barn was the most conducive spot to descend into the ravine. It was about twenty feet down from the bridge, but any closer would prove more difficult. One wrong step could cause someone to lose their footing and slide straight down. It wouldn’t be fatal, but there were definitely some painful obstacles to land on that could result in a sprained muscle or broken bone.
“Are you sure?” she asked, “You don’t have to. I’m so sorry!”
“It’s all good,” I reassured her, “I can already see the light from here.”
As I stepped down into the bottom of the ravine, I could feel puddles of water overtaking my feet. Immediately they soaked through my shoe. I wasn’t overly fond of being down there in the dark, so I attempted to hustle towards her phone without slipping on a rock and rolling my ankle. When I got to her phone, I reached down and picked it up out of a small puddle of water.
“Here,” she said reaching through the wooden rails on the bridge. I handed it to her and then quickly turned to make my way back out. Stopping myself, I remembered that the area where I descended was easier to get down than up. On the other side of the bridge, however, was an area full of large roots and a retaining wall that I could pull myself up and out on. “Do you need light?” Bekki asked as I turned back and ducked under the bridge.
“Sure,” I said without stopping to wait. I had just reached up and grabbed the first thing my hand landed on when Bekki’s light reached me.
“There’s someone down there!” she yelled. At the same time, whatever I was holding onto began moving. I realized at that point it was an ankle. Holding on for dear life, I began pulling on it. The harder I tugged the harder they kicked. I clawed at the ground while the individual fought with all of their might to free themselves and get out of the ravine. Kicking like a mule, they struck me in the face several times. As the struggle continued, we found ourselves up a few feet. Realizing that if I fell I wasn’t going to land on my feet, I let go of the ground and grabbed on to the leg with both of my hands. I had decided that if I was going down, they were coming with me. This caused the individual to buck even harder. The pain to my face was becoming too great and I could feel my grip beginning to slip. I had swung into a mid-sized tree to my left several times, and in a leap of faith, decided to reach out to grab it. The bottom of the tree branched out into two trunks near the bottom, and as I pulled myself over and onto it, I wedge myself between them for a moment seeking relief. Once I did, the individual began scrambling frantically to get out of the ravine. Realizing the bridge was relatively close, I grabbed the top of the railing and used it as additional support. Eventually I let go of the tree and clung to the bridge until I could begin pulling myself out. By the time I did, the individual was out of the ravine. I leapt up the stairs past Bekki and sprinted to the far corner of the house. Making my way up the side, there was no sign of anyone. No car speeding away or anything. It was silent and still. Resting my hands on my knees, I leaned over to catch my breath.
“Are you ok?” Bekki came flying up and knelt down beside me. I nodded my head, unable to speak. “Who the hell was that?” She asked standing up and looking off down the road that led into our cul de sac. She walked slowly up to the front of the house and scanned the area while I finished catching my breathe. “What do you think they were doing?” she asked when I was finally able to join her.
“No idea,” I placed my hands on my hips, “someone stalking us?”
“From the ravine?” she gave me a puzzled look.
“I don’t know,” I shook my head, “maybe because they were outside and it’s a safer place to be during tornado weather?” Bekki was looking in my direction, but not directly at me. She was in her head processing the situation. “Pretty messed up,” I said. Bekki nodded slowly before snapping back out of it. “Did you get a look at their face?” I asked.
“No,” she said, “My light wasn’t strong enough from that distance. Plus they had a hood on.”
“They can kick like hell,” I put my hand up to my mouth.
“You’re bleeding,” she wiped my bottom lip with her thumb, “maybe you should go to the hospital.”
“No, I’m fine,” I said, “just sore and a little out of breath.”
“What if they come back?” she expressed concerned.
“I don’t think they will,” I looked off in the direction they ran, “I don’t believe they intended to be seen or have a physical altercation. If so, they probably wouldn’t have been down in the ravine. It could’ve just been a kid messing around that thought they’d get in trouble if they got caught. That ravine runs down and through a lot of other people’s properties.”
“You sure?” she said, “I have a spare room you can sleep in.”
“Nah, I’m ok,” I smiled, “Are you scared? Do you want someone around?”
“No, not at all. Just worried about you,” she replied, “You have mud all over you.”
“I’m fine. I really am,” I wiped my face, “but I’ll walk you home.”
“Ok,” she placed her arm under mine as we made our way across the front yard.
I didn’t have any trouble sleeping that night, but a couple beers helped. I fell asleep in the basement with the lights on, and my last thought before drifting off was of buying a motion light for the back of the house.
kianamaiart
2087
jbbartram-illu
yousharknotpass
romaincrisis
areudirty
janainaart