Read Online Almost Kings by Max Doty - Free Book Online Page B

brushed her fingers against his face, and he turned his mouth toward her breasts. She giggled, “Stop, stop—he’s sleeping right over—”
    A crash sounded from the kitchen, and my father screamed, “God damn it!”
    Truck was up and out of the room before I could even kick the blankets off. I ran out into the hall to see my dad out of his chair, a broken glass by his side, and a wet stain of rum against the carpet. He was shaking hard, his jaw clenched. His eyes were terrifyingly alert.
    “Which pills?” Truck shouted from the bathroom. I turned to see him holding four different bottles, trying to read each label.
    “Anti-seizure,” my dad grunted.
    “What color?” my brother shouted.
    Truck unscrewed the lids and peered into the bottles. He dropped one, spilling blue-green pills all over the bathroom floor, and cursed loudly. He seemed ready to punch a wall or break a mirror.
    “Yellow,” my dad said. A white froth had gathered at the side of his mouth. I couldn’t make myself step closer to him.
    Truck dug a yellow pill out of a bottle and leaned over my dad. He lifted his gum with a finger, and stuck the pill in, pushing it to the side of his mouth and around his back teeth.
    “Water,” Dad grunted at me, and I ran to the kitchen to get some. I filled a plastic cup halfway, ran back, and leaned over to put it to his lips. He gulped once, even as most of the water spilled to the ground around him.
    A long minute passed, and his shaking subsided. He shifted his jaw back and forth a little, the teeth grinding, and eventually parted them.
    “You’re a good boy, Teddy,” he said. “You’re a good boy. You take care of me.”
    I wiped the spit from his lips and chin as Truck and Lizzie soaked up the whiskey with paper towels and picked up the broken glass.
     
    That Monday, as I sat in history, I heard a tap at the window glass and looked out to see Hass smiling in at me. Behind him stood Reggie, Wood, and my brother. The period was almost over, and I’d already finished my in-class five-paragraph essay on the French Revolution. I raised my hand.
    “Mr. Marshall, can I go to the bathroom?”
    He raised a bushy eyebrow and looked down at me over the top of his glasses.
    “I don’t know, can you?”
    “I think so. You want me to try right here?”
    He laughed.
    “You may go.”
    Outside, Hass put an arm around me, and started leading me toward the student parking lot. It was the first sunny day we’d had in weeks, and the sun burned too bright in the sky, as if compensating for taking the last month off.
    “We’re taking a little day trip,” he said. “You want in?”
    I looked over at my brother, checking for permission.
    “Your last class is study hall, right?” he asked.
    “You’re going to let me skip it?”
    “Just this once. If you want to come.”
    “Yeah,” I said. “I want to come.” Then, remembering, I added, “But I’ve got a date right after school.”
    The guys looked at each other, smirking.
    “Bug’s got a date,” said Reggie.
    “I thought you Wheelers only took girls out on dates after you got them knocked up,” Wood joked. “You slip one in that little chick of yours?”
    “You fucked that girl on the Quiz Bowl trip?” asked Hass.
    “Almost,” I said. “We kissed.”
    “Slow-playing it. Nice,” said Hass. “Don’t worry. We’ll get you back in time for your little date.”
     
    We drove up through the hills, into one of the forests near town. Crammed into the back of the Ford with Wood and Reggie, I felt small, but not like I might have at the start of the year. I got the passenger side seat. Reggie sat bitch. He still hadn’t scored.
    We curled around the far side of the mountain to South Valley. It was always sunnier over here, and the guys rolled down to windows to let the warm air in until Truck turned onto a dirt road and the wheels started kicking up dust.
    “Where are we going?” I asked.
    Hass smiled.
    “You’ll see.”
    After another mile,