worms off string ! yale and ai

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but a butt ?

worms off string ! yale and ai Dec 31, 2023 2:00:37 GMT -5

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Post by fox on Dec 31, 2023 2:00:37 GMT -5

A I

In the end it's so simple. He tells his dad he'll be at his mom's. He tells his mom he'll be at his dad's. They never speak to each other so they never know. Works like a charm every damn time, and Ai's at uncle Sal's house now. There's a ragged end to his exhale though, like his lungs are black powder. It's funny, it's a real laugh, except it isn't, and he might scream.

He doesn't think about it too hard.

Front step, and no one's answering. It's usually just Yale. Nowles is, you know, and Kade's doing whatever, and Sal barely remembers his name, man gave him a roll of quarters once as a treat.

Somehow Ai still likes him more than Mourn – don't know, he feels uncomfortable with someone who looks at him like that and waits for him to speak. Gives him too much space, and he might really say something stupid.

Still, no one comes out. So Ai knocks this time with a full fist. He's one second from giving Yale a full shiner because the door suddenly opens, and he has to pull his hand back mid-thump, stuttering an inch away from his eye, jolted back so quick his grip leaves marks in his palm.

“Yale,” he says, scowling. Noise down the hall, something inside the house. “Shit. Is Sal home?”

✌ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ
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“And now that you don't have to be perfect, you can be good.” - steinbeck

worms off string ! yale and ai Dec 31, 2023 2:49:00 GMT -5

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Post by ✌ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ on Dec 31, 2023 2:49:00 GMT -5

Y A L E !

Learned in school that subliminal messaging really truly works so I've been trying it out on Sal. I've never met a man more oblivious so I keep it light, I keep it simple. I write Beer with a black marker on a piece of ruled paper and I stick it on his bedroom door. Within a day or two there's a 12-pack of hard seltzers in the fridge and I'm thinking, okay cool, close enough.

He tries, that guy.

And he's gone when I get home from school, probably won't be home for awhile. Dunno where Kade is but probably petting a plant somewhere and that means the house is mine until Ai shows up like he said he was gonna. I try not to get too clingy with that dude because his family's almost as fucked up as mine and I know he needs his space. His mom's still alive though, so that's a little different and he's a whole year older so he's better at some things than I am. Otherwise we're probably tight as hell.

Anyway, I let Joanne out for walkies while no one else is home. Her little turtle body makes it all the way down the hall and then halfway down the stairs by the time Ai finally knocks on the door. At least I hope it's him, you can never be sure 'cause of Sal. He's got a lot of acquaintances which is why I've got a lot of booby traps. The last thing we need is another one of us dead, haha.

"Coming!" I screech as I don't do that. I've gotta put Joanne back first because if Sal finds her he might think she's for eating and then I'd have to punch my old man. Ai's knocking again and I know he's gonna get bored in a second and leave. Dude's almost as depressed looking as unky Mourn sometimes and that takes dedication.

I unhook the magnet with the string that would make a bag of chalk dust explode in front of Ai's face as soon as he opened the door, flip two locks and then yank that sucker open to Ai's fist stopping a millimetre away from my fucking face.

A smile blooms across my face as I go so so still.

"Woah dude, killer control," I say.

I get a scowl in return but that's fair enough. If there's one thing I've learned growing up it's that none of us want to be the one left holding the bag. You've got to love last.

"Nah," I answer and then scoop my bag up, "Don't usually see him until late." The cans clank around in my backpack, giving it bulges in weird places.

"Bring your gun?"

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fox
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but a butt ?

worms off string ! yale and ai Apr 7, 2024 0:39:47 GMT -5

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Post by fox on Apr 7, 2024 0:39:47 GMT -5

A I

The thing is, Ai's freshly fifteen and suddenly everything else feels stale. He's grown like six inches and a new temper over a season. He's beat up half the kids who've looked at him wrong, and the other half he's scared off by being, frankly, a bit of a menace at school.

He can be. Perks of the family name. Can't get expelled.

Anyway, he's not loud about it, he's not really mouthy in a fight. He just kicks the leg out from underneath a desk, or picks up a chair and starts swinging without another word.

But he's not like insane, okay? Ai's not attacking unprovoked, except now that most people don't bother him at school, he has to blow off steam somehow.

So Ai has Yale, and Yale has a twelve pack of hard seltzers in his bag. And they have their guns. The rifle he's got is kind of an overkill to be shooting cans with, even though that's what he prefers. So Ai's pulling out his .357 Revolver with the nice 7-inch barrel, the one he got on his tenth birthday, and then shoves it back in the holster.

"Let's get going."

Not that Sal would be waiting up.

They make it to the lot of an old Adroxis warehouse, just recently emptied, the tire tracks of shipping trucks are still grinded into the pavement, the air still smelling like propellant, a little bitter, a little familiar.

The cans need to be emptied first, and since Ai's a whole year older, he takes seven and gives Yale five. And since he's only fifteen, he pops off the tab and says "I think I could still finish faster than you."

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worms off string ! yale and ai Apr 7, 2024 19:31:33 GMT -5

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Post by ✌ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ on Apr 7, 2024 19:31:33 GMT -5

Y A L E !

Thing about Ai is he's a man of few words, sometimes I think he counts them out in his head before sharing them, like he's got to stick to a max of a hundred and fifty a day. It's kind of funny to think about but at least I get to feel honoured that he's spending so many on me.

You can't spell delusional without Yale.

"Oh you brought the little guy!"

"Let's get going."

"Yup."

I shoulder my bag and the cans are ice cold against my back. Ai has to wait a sec while I get the door locked. There's this worry in me that I'll forget to lock up one day and then I'll get home to empty rooms, everything gone, even the photos on my bedroom ceiling. School counsellor says I have abandonment issues, she wrote Sal a letter about it last year. It's still sitting there sealed in the basket on the counter.

"Learned about poisonous plants today in school, did ya know that just like, licking one could kill you?" I fill the silence as we walk. I learned young that the less room you leave for serious conversation, the lower your chances of having one. We both have things we don't want to talk about and I just want to do dumb shit today and think about nothing.

I slip my bag off as soon as we make it through the warehouse doors. Turns out that twelve full cans are actually pretty heavy. I'm stretching when Ai goes digging for them, rolling my shoulders back and grinning. He passes me five cans and takes seven, I don't really mind, don't really like the taste much anyway. I just don't want Ai to think that I'm lame, so I'll drink it anyway.

And I love a challenge.

I slide the rifle off my shoulder. I found it in the attic last year, black and compact with a wobbly 's' carved into the barrel. It's not technically mine, but it's not not mine.

"Ten bucks says you can't," I say and then I'm keying a hole in the side of the can, tab half popped before Ai can even blink.

The fizz makes me wince but it doesn't slow me down.

Not much ever does.