Read Online Bedbugs by Rick Hautala - Free Book Online Page A

dipped in shit,” Dennis said, smiling broadly for the first time since this afternoon. Turning toward the open window, he called out, “Hey, Sal! The friggin’ carnival’s in town! Come on out here ‘n catch a load of this!”
    “Don’t yell! You’ll wake the baby,” Sally said as she snapped on the porch light and came to the screen door. She was drying her hands on a greasy dishtowel. The feeble yellow light made her face look like dead meat.
    “Look over there!” Dennis said, pointing off into the darkness. “The damned carnival! Looks like they’re settin’ up ‘crost the river in Moulton’s. You hear anythin’ ‘bout it?”
    “I dunno—I might’ve seen a flyer at the grocery store,” Sally said. Her voice was edged with frustration as she eased the door open and poked her head out just long enough to catch a snatch of the music; then she ducked back inside. “Well, whoop-dee-doo, huh? Is that all you’ve got to say? You lose your damned job, and all you can do is get excited that the damned carnival’s in town!”
    The screen door snapped shut behind her, cutting off her words with a sharp bang as she went back into the kitchen.
    “Well, whoop-dee- fucking -doo to you, too—bitch!” Dennis muttered before taking another pull on his beer. Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, he groaned as he stood up and stretched his arms over his head. He heard something snap in his neck, but it felt good. The music was drifting across the river, rising and falling in volume. Without a word to Sally, Dennis went down the steps and started across the back lawn, lured by the eerie, wavering sound. For a few seconds, he felt like a little boy again—ten years old and free, without a care in the world . . . not the twenty-two-year old, “downsized” mill-working husband and father he really was.
    He didn’t notice the slight chill in the night air as he crossed the yard and headed into the fringe of woods that lined the river. He moved upstream until he found a good place to stop, then leaned against a thick-boled tree and drank the rest of his beer and watched as the carnival trailers and trucks circled around into position and parked. Dozens of people—dark silhouettes in the night—got out and began to unload. Dust rose from the ground, and over the warbling strains of the calliope music, a chorus of voices shouting commands and directions filled the night with excitement and noise. Even the heavy smell of diesel exhaust wafting across the river thrilled Dennis as he crouched in the darkness and watched.
    The trailer parked farthest back, closest to the river, had a huge sign spanning from one end to the other. On it was painted a sensuous-looking black woman, obviously naked except for the huge snake that wrapped around her, strategically covering her breasts and crotch.
    LaBELLE—THE VOODOO QUEEN , the sign read.
    As Dennis focused on this particular trailer, its windows curiously darkened and devoid of any activity inside, his mind began to race through several fantasies he would indulge in if only the woman inside that trailer was half as beautiful as the one pictured on the sign.
    After watching for a while longer, as the roustabouts quickly and skillfully began setting up the carnival tents and booths, Dennis—whose gaze was continually drawn back to the darkened window of LaBelle the Voodoo Queen’s trailer—shivered and pushed himself away from the tree. After urinating into the river, he started back home to his pregnant wife and three-year-old child.
    Tomorrow, he promised himself, if only for a while, he would forget all about being out of a job, and go to the carnival with or, preferably, without Sally and Dennis Jr.
     
    “O h, God! This is horrible! ” Sally said, wrinkling her nose and pulling Dennis Jr.’s Red Sox hat down so it shielded his eyes.
    She was pushing the umbrella stroller and walking alongside Dennis as they moved slowly past the lineup inside the FREAK SHOW