AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Gratitude settled over him like a warm blanket, and he let out a long, slow breath. Sylvie was gone but the memories they’d shared would always be a part of him, and in some small way, that was enough to keep him going.
His maw had told him when she’d read him stories of the scary monsters, voodoo, spirits, witches, and vampires that lived in the darkest places of the swamplands that “People are most often scared by the stuff that isn’t real.” Then she would go on to tell him that there were predators outside every night that were just waiting for little boys if they were ever to climb outside of their windows when they should be sleeping.
When Sylvie had come to babysit, he’d told her what his maw had said, and she told him, “Your maw just wants to keep you safe. It’s not the monsters she’s worried about, it’s the people who are the monsters…and yes, they could be outside, so you need to do as she says and keep your windows locked at night.”
But Gaston needed to breathe and with the window closed he felt like he was suffocating, especially in the sweltering heat of summer, when his boxers would stick to his skin. He had a net over his window to stop the mosquitos, but it didn’t stop the dust that floated in from the dirt road that ran beside their property from sticking to every other part of his body. He’d have a cold shower first thing every morning just to wash away the grime of the night.
Gaston didn’t have too much trouble with mosquitos, but Sylvie did. She was always slapping themgoddamned skeeters.When he asked her why she got bitten so much she said,“I’m a type-O girl.”
He didn’t know how that would matter but he had to admit that Sylvie did have a big problem with them. Once he saw her with her dress pulled up her back as she was bent over the couch, and Marvin was slapping her butt like she must have been covered in skeeters. She’d squeal when he slapped her cheeks and then laugh when he rubbed his hand over it, soothing her. Gaston was mesmerized watching them but decided to go back to his room because he knew Marvin would be pissed if he caught him sneaking on them. With his door closed he could still hear the slaps before the sound turned into grunts and moaning. He was sure Sylvie would be alright because he’d heard those sounds before and she was still Marvin’s girlfriend.
“It’s the little things that will kill you,” Sylvie had told Gaston when she’d been talking to him about all the spooky stuff that seemed to ooze through his veins and into his over-active mind when he was supposed to be going to sleep at night. He liked it when she had time to talk to him, but mostly Marvin would be there too, and he was always wanting to make out with her. As time went on, Gaston started to dislike Marvin…just because he was taking away Gaston’s time with Sylvie.
He found himself wishing that Marvin would just disappear. He even had thoughts of a big alligator coming up out of the water and swallowing Marvin whole…never to be seen again.
He knew Sylvie wouldn’t like that happening, so he’d pushed the thought out of his head until it would revisit the next time.
* * *
As Gator continuedto drift in the pleasant reveries of his youth, Baptiste suddenly broke the silence with a deafening bellow that echoed across the murky waters like thunder. “Gator!” he roared.
“Fuck, man, you scared the shit out of me,” Gator said. Baptiste laughed. “What?”
“You tell me what…what’s on your mind…because I’m not going to sit here all day while you’re distracted with other shit,” Baptiste said.
“It's nothing, really,” Gator muttered. “Just reminiscing about the past.”
Baptiste shook his head, rose to his feet and pushed the boat away from the bank. “Jump on or you’ll be walking home.” Gator jumped on the deck of their boat and Baptiste added, “You can tell me about it over a cold beer.”
3
2021
Gator roaredhis Harley to a stop on the side of the road and kicked up some gravel as he parked it. He’d gone back to the club intending to have a beer with Baptiste and maybe share a little more about his past when he was accosted by Caz as soon as he walked in the front doors. And now he was sitting on the road wondering which bar would give him the most peace.
Caz was one of Gator’s club girls. They had been fooling around for a while, but he had made it clear that it was nothing more than satisfying an itch. Caz seemed to be on board with that, but since he had seen Sylvie again, he couldn't bring himself to give Caz what she wanted. Caz had dark hair and big eyes, and though she was a bit chubby, Gator liked that, especially her big tits and ass. And she was shaking them in front of him now, while he was trying to get a beer. “Not tonight, babe,” he said. “I’ve had a hard day and need to chill.”
“I can make you chill,” she said, and he didn’t doubt it, but that wasn’t what he wanted. He wanted to think about Sylvie and not while he was with another woman. He saw a flash of jealousy on her face, so he nipped that in the bud. “Just need to be alone for a while. Peopled out today.”
“People?” she said, and he knew she was getting clingy.
“Yeah, too many people with gators in their yards. They all want to talk my ear off while I’m trying to work.” She looked a little disappointed but seemed to understand. “I’ll catch you later,” he said.
“I thought you were going to get a beer,” she said.
“Yeah, but even the noise is getting to me tonight,” he said. Heavy metal was blasting out of the speakers, and they were already shouting to be heard. He leaned in and gave her a kiss on the head before heading out the door. Gator knew he needed to sort things out with Caz before she started thinking this was more than what it was.
He passed Baptiste in the yard. “Hey, you were going to buy me a beer, man.”
“I will if I can find a bar I can relax in,” Gator said.
“Trouble at home?”
“Nah, just need to chill tonight. I’m off,” he said as he threw his leg over his bike.
Baptiste gave him a look, and Gator said, “You coming?”
While Baptiste was heading to his bike Gator was already driving out the gates.
