Read Online Young God: A Novel by Katherine Faw Morris - Free Book Online
Authors: Katherine Faw Morris
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Wesley says.
He reaches in his pocket and then he looks at Coy Hawkins.
“How much, man?” he says.
Wesley’s beer is still where Nikki put it. She picks it up and hurls it at the wall.
SHE STALKS DOWN THE HALL. In the bedroom she bangs the door behind them. Coy Hawkins goes over to the bed and sits on it. He looks up at her.
“That’s my money,” she says.
He counts out half the twenties and pushes them across the mattress.
“You need to be careful,” he says.
“Of what?” Nikki says.
Coy Hawkins shakes his head. He snaps toward the kitchen.
“Go clean up that mess.”
NIKKI TUCKS THE STRAW behind her ear. She smiles at herself. Her pupils are the tiny heads of pins. Her eyes are the bluest blue. She reaches up and rests her arms on top of her head and she can count all her ribs in the bathroom mirror.
She thinks she looks great. But her hair is brownish again. Under the sink is a bleach kit.
When she comes out the trailer’s dark. She wants to show someone. She finds him in the living room. He’s stretched out in his chair. She turns on the floor lamp and grins.
“You like it?” Nikki says.
Coy Hawkins squints at her. He feels for his cigarettes.
“Not really,” he says.
THERE IS A MAN WITH A NEEDLE. Nikki watches him.
He pushes the black tar out of a balloon and into a bottle cap. He adds a splash of water and burns his lighter underneath. The bottle cap is metal. The heroin starts to bubble.
He pulls the head off a Q-tip. He drops the cotton in the cap and pushes it around with the needle tip. He pulls the plunger up with his teeth.
He has a rubber tie like a nurse. He yanks it around the woman’s arm. Big green veins stand up when he slaps her. He rubs his thumb over one.
He jabs the needle in and then he wiggles it some. Blood blooms into the syringe. Slowly he pushes the plunger until all the black-red liquid runs in.
Nikki watches the woman’s head fall to her chest and stay there like it’s broken. Nikki sits down in the other chair. She puts her arm on the card table.
“Do me,” she says.
The man stares at her.
“Ain’t this your daddy’s place?” he says.
Nikki shrugs.
“So?”
The man takes off his baseball hat and turns it around the other way. He pulls it low over his eyes.
“Shit,” he says.
He holds her arm by the wrist and tears opens another balloon. She can see into the living room from her chair and down the hall to the bedroom door. She waits for Coy Hawkins to open it.
The needle pricks going in. After he slides it out Nikki’s arm flares with a white-hot itch from shoulder to fingertip.
SHE CAREENS THROUGH THE DARK. She can only see the dashboard before her. She is not driving and she cannot wake up but she knows she is being chased. The road breaks.
HEROIN IS THE MOST SECRET OF THEM ALL and needles are the most secret part and she has always loved secrets ever since she was a little girl.
SHE DREAMS that Coy Hawkins is strangling her. She goes into the bathroom to look at her neck and there is a purple ring around her throat. She is overcome with the feeling that her skin is quivering three inches from the rest of her and if she touched it, it would give like a sponge. It’s a fat girl’s neck that doesn’t belong to her. She has to squat down to keep from puking. A loud noise jerks her up. She is awake. She is sitting in the kitchen chair.
“Damn, she looks like she just got her wings,” somebody says.
COY HAWKINS is sitting in the other chair. Where the man used to be. He’s looking at her arm. Nikki looks at it, too. There’s dried blood in the crook of her elbow.
She blinks at him. She thinks she sees something flicker across his face before he goes back to looking at her like always.
“You’re fucking up.”
He says this and gets up.
NIKKI FEELS FLUISH. She’s wrapped in a blanket. She lies like a dead thing on the couch. The front door squeals. Wesley walks in. He looks at her.
He reaches in his pocket and then he looks at Coy Hawkins.
“How much, man?” he says.
Wesley’s beer is still where Nikki put it. She picks it up and hurls it at the wall.
SHE STALKS DOWN THE HALL. In the bedroom she bangs the door behind them. Coy Hawkins goes over to the bed and sits on it. He looks up at her.
“That’s my money,” she says.
He counts out half the twenties and pushes them across the mattress.
“You need to be careful,” he says.
“Of what?” Nikki says.
Coy Hawkins shakes his head. He snaps toward the kitchen.
“Go clean up that mess.”
NIKKI TUCKS THE STRAW behind her ear. She smiles at herself. Her pupils are the tiny heads of pins. Her eyes are the bluest blue. She reaches up and rests her arms on top of her head and she can count all her ribs in the bathroom mirror.
She thinks she looks great. But her hair is brownish again. Under the sink is a bleach kit.
When she comes out the trailer’s dark. She wants to show someone. She finds him in the living room. He’s stretched out in his chair. She turns on the floor lamp and grins.
“You like it?” Nikki says.
Coy Hawkins squints at her. He feels for his cigarettes.
“Not really,” he says.
THERE IS A MAN WITH A NEEDLE. Nikki watches him.
He pushes the black tar out of a balloon and into a bottle cap. He adds a splash of water and burns his lighter underneath. The bottle cap is metal. The heroin starts to bubble.
He pulls the head off a Q-tip. He drops the cotton in the cap and pushes it around with the needle tip. He pulls the plunger up with his teeth.
He has a rubber tie like a nurse. He yanks it around the woman’s arm. Big green veins stand up when he slaps her. He rubs his thumb over one.
He jabs the needle in and then he wiggles it some. Blood blooms into the syringe. Slowly he pushes the plunger until all the black-red liquid runs in.
Nikki watches the woman’s head fall to her chest and stay there like it’s broken. Nikki sits down in the other chair. She puts her arm on the card table.
“Do me,” she says.
The man stares at her.
“Ain’t this your daddy’s place?” he says.
Nikki shrugs.
“So?”
The man takes off his baseball hat and turns it around the other way. He pulls it low over his eyes.
“Shit,” he says.
He holds her arm by the wrist and tears opens another balloon. She can see into the living room from her chair and down the hall to the bedroom door. She waits for Coy Hawkins to open it.
The needle pricks going in. After he slides it out Nikki’s arm flares with a white-hot itch from shoulder to fingertip.
SHE CAREENS THROUGH THE DARK. She can only see the dashboard before her. She is not driving and she cannot wake up but she knows she is being chased. The road breaks.
HEROIN IS THE MOST SECRET OF THEM ALL and needles are the most secret part and she has always loved secrets ever since she was a little girl.
SHE DREAMS that Coy Hawkins is strangling her. She goes into the bathroom to look at her neck and there is a purple ring around her throat. She is overcome with the feeling that her skin is quivering three inches from the rest of her and if she touched it, it would give like a sponge. It’s a fat girl’s neck that doesn’t belong to her. She has to squat down to keep from puking. A loud noise jerks her up. She is awake. She is sitting in the kitchen chair.
“Damn, she looks like she just got her wings,” somebody says.
COY HAWKINS is sitting in the other chair. Where the man used to be. He’s looking at her arm. Nikki looks at it, too. There’s dried blood in the crook of her elbow.
She blinks at him. She thinks she sees something flicker across his face before he goes back to looking at her like always.
“You’re fucking up.”
He says this and gets up.
NIKKI FEELS FLUISH. She’s wrapped in a blanket. She lies like a dead thing on the couch. The front door squeals. Wesley walks in. He looks at her.
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