Getting Higher by Robert T. Jeschonek Read Free Book Online

with blocks of muscle from head to toe. Benny was completely bald, and when he attacked someone, he looked, and felt, like a nuclear missile. He had an irrational, furious temper which exploded at any time, setting off a crazed frenzy which crippled or mauled anything in his way. Benny was an animal, and Joe, like everyone else, feared him; for some reason, Crank did not.
    "Just me, pal, your old friend Crank." Crank turned to Joe and winked.
    "What did you say?" ground the garage voice, in low, gravel tones.
    "I said it's me, Crank. I just dropped by for a beer."
    "That's what I thought you said," rumbled Benny. "Wait a sec'." Inside, there were more scuffling footsteps, away from the door, then toward it again. There was a click as the door's lock snapped open. Joe and Crank stepped back and watched as the big garage door slowly swung upward.
    "All right!" laughed Crank triumphantly. "I told you he was home, Joey."
    Joe nodded and got ready to run.
    The door rolled back the whole way and Benny was standing before them. He was dressed only in a pair of grimy, torn briefs, and did not look very happy to see the guys.
    "So, hi, Benny," said Crank, still smiling. "How you doing?"
    Benny scowled, flaring his nostrils and curling both lips like a gorilla. "What's the idea, fuckhead?" he grunted, gritting his teeth. "Didn't you get my message the last time?"
    "Well, I though, you know, the whole thing had blown over by now. We just lost our tempers a little that night, that's all."
    For a long moment, Benny just glared menacingly down at Crank, his Frankenstein bulk dwarfing the chubby redhead. Joe noticed that the giant was holding one hand behind his back the whole time.
    "Crank," said Benny finally, "what's your problem? Can't you tell I want to kill you?"
    Crank chuckled nervously. "Ah, Benny, be cool. We been friends since what, '69? We go way back, you and me. You don't just throw away friendship like that. Let's forget that night ever happened."
    "No, man," growled Benny violently. "Let's forget you ever happened." Benny's hand shot out from behind his back, clutching a large, long object. Suddenly, wildly, he swung it at Crank, smashing him mightily on the ribs. Crank leaped away, screaming, as the object came back around, barely missing his skull. Clutching his chest in pain, Crank started to stumble away, as Benny swung insanely behind him.
    Joe was already halfway down the street by then. He had been expecting trouble since Crank first suggested visiting Benny, and when it came, he was ready. Besides, he had seen what the object was the instant Benny pulled it out.
    It was a baseball bat.
    Joe and Crank ran for their lives, off into the stolid, dreamless streets of Brownstown.

    *****

    Chapter Eight
    Â 
    "Holy shit," panted Joe, wiping the sweat from his forehead. "I thought that guy'd never give up!"
    Beside him, sacked on the asphalt of the alley, was Crank. Crank was dripping with sweat from the chase, and was wheezing and hacking uncontrollably. His rolls of flesh rippled and pulsed as he frantically gasped for breath.
    "Y-yeah...," he puffed, "...that d-dude runs like...a b-bat ...outta' hell..."
    For a few minutes, neither of them said anything, and the only sound in the alley was their diesel rasping. Outside the mouth of the alley, a car swept by, then another; Joe jumped when something scraped a trash bin. He goggled crazily around, wondering if maybe it was Benny, still chasing them. As he searched the alley, though, and saw no sign of the madman, he relaxed. It seemed like a safe place: there was a brick building on either side, scaling into the night sky and studded with wiry fire escapes; the alley was closed by another brick wall at the rear, a cavey dead end stacked with trash and garbage cans; there was only one opening, right on the street, so Joe and Crank could hide and watch for their crazy hunter.
    This was where Joe and Crank had finally eluded Benny, after a long and exhausting chase through