BOOM by Michael Whetzel Read Free Book Online

What the fuck? The man was saying something to her
now, nodding his head and pointing his finger in her face. He slapped her again
and then pushed her head against the door frame. Jeffrey looked around the intersection.
They were the only two cars in sight.
    Jeffrey put the car in park and got out. He walked quickly
up to the driver’s side of the jeep and opened the door. The driver was very
young, younger than Jeffrey. He had long bushy brown hair and was smoking a
cigarette. The woman was a young skinny brunette. She was crying softly and
turned around trying to calm the little boy in the car seat.
    “What the hell you think you doing….” Jeffrey cut the man
off by unlocking the seatbelt. He grabbed the driver by the hair and hauled him
from the jeep. The young guy was too stunned to say anything.
    Jeffrey threw him against the vehicle. The girl started
screaming from inside. The man was cursing Jeffrey to no end.
    “You like hitting defenseless women? You like beating people
up? Why don’t you hit on me, fuckface?” Jeffrey slapped the driver. The man
tried to push Jeffrey away but he held on tightly to the guy’s shirt. He
punched a knee into the guy’s midsection.
    The driver was bent over gasping for breath, snot and spit
dripping from his face. Jeffrey grabbed the man’s hand and leaned it against
the door jam. He slammed the jeep door on the hand. There was a sickening
crunch as all the fingers cracked under the pressure. The man screamed in agony
and fell to the earth.
    Jeffrey proceeded to kick the guy over and over again. In
the face, the stomach, the arms and legs. He rained blows down on the man’s
prone body.
    “How does that fucking feel? Huh? Not too good does it.” He
was livid. He couldn’t believe this person could treat someone he should love
so badly. This guy had no clue what he had.
    Jeffrey kicked him again. Hands grabbed at his arm and he
spun around to knock whoever it was down. It was the woman. She had run from
the passenger side to stop him. She knelt over her spouse, crying and looking
at Jeffrey accusingly through her bruised eyes.
    “Please, he’s had enough. Just leave us alone,” she screamed
at Jeffrey. The baby inside the jeep continued to wail. Jeffrey gaped at the
battered woman.
    He took a step towards her. She flinched backwards against
the jeep.
    “Take care of your baby.”
    He walked away from the couple and got back into the car. He
thumbed the radio up and peeled off.
    He never looked back.
     
     
    IX.
     
    Jeffrey pulled into a parking spot underneath a huge oak
tree. He was at a small park near the city line. He had stopped before (after
the jeep incident) and bought a pack of cigarettes. Since leaving the couple
his hands began to shake and he wanted something to steady them with.
    He pulled a smoke from the pack of Dunhills and lit it. He
had never smoked before but his father had partaken for close to thirty-five
years before they died in the car crash two years ago. The smoke felt rough
sliding down his lungs, but there was a comforting mellowness to it. His hands
started to calm down and he could feel the shadow gliding deep into his
stomach.
    God, what is wrong with me? I feel so crazy.
    He glanced around the park. Several children were playing on
the playground as their mothers watched them from the wooden benches scattered
everywhere. It was a beautiful day. He finished his cigarette and leaned
quietly against the hood of the car.
    He remembered the night they had woken him in his dorm room.
He had just completed his Design 101 midterm and was catching up on missed
sleep. The knock jolted him from a deep slumber and he stumbled to answer it.
    There was a police officer and the hall’s resident advisor
at the door. Jeffrey listened carefully as the officer told him about the
accident. His parents were driving back from a dinner when a drunk driver ran a
stoplight and T-boned their car in the intersection. His mother was killed
instantly. His father was