Getting Higher by Robert T. Jeschonek Read Free Book Online Page A

Brownstown. Just as their lungs were cracking and their legs were ready to snap, the two slipped away from their pursuer and into this refuge. As they dove into the darkness and dug in, silent and desperate, they heard Benny's footsteps passing swiftly by outside.
    They had waited for about five minutes, and then, when they felt that Benny was truly gone, came out from behind the piles of dripping garbage.
    After a while, Joe felt his breathing returning to normal, and his body finally started to relax. He leaned back against the alley wall, the cold, wet brick hard against his spine. Suddenly, he realized how cold it was, and started to shiver; until now, he had been too busy running for his life to worry about the weather.
    Joe turned to his friend, whose body was still soaked with sweat and heaving wildly from exertion. Crank's eyes were shoehorned shut, and his face was twisted with pain; he kept gasping and coughing, even as Joe's breathing calmed, and held his side where Benny had walloped him.
    "Crank," said Joe, shaking his head, "you are one dumb sonnuva' bitch." He laughed, a few quick, cynical snorts, then propped his head against the wall and gazed at the sky.
    Between the buildings that enclosed the alley, only a small slit of night was visible; even that bit was clouded over, so there were no stars. "Why the hell did you do that shit, huh? You knew that ass-wipe was gonna' beat on ya', so why the fuck did ya' go up and knock on his damn door?"
    Crank was still wheezing, but not as bad now. "Joey...I ain't...stupid. Really, man...I knew th-that...Benny'd prob'ly...do somethin'..."
    Again, Joe snorted. "Then why in hell did you go and do that shit? That don't make sense, y'know? If you know some mother's gonna' kill you, you don't go outta' your way to run into him!"
    As he spoke, Crank slowly calmed down. His clots of fat were not heaving as much, and his voice was not as raspy. "I know man, I know. You think I want that...shithead punchin' my brains out? Why th' hell...do ya' think I...ran away?"
    "Yeah, well, if you were so worried about savin' your ass, then why'd you go in the first place?"
    "Fuck, I don't know," said Crank. "Somethin' to do...I guess." He coughed and spat phlegm on the asphalt. "I just...I just did it, y'know? Didn't you ever just do somethin'? You don't always need a...reason to fuckin' do somethin'."
    "To do somethin' stupid, I do!"
    "Aw, fuck you. I did it and it's over and we're still alive. Forget it, man."
    "Forget what, man?" Joe smiled, and they both laughed.
    For a minute or two, they were silent, and it seemed that the world was silent with them. There was no sound from the street at all, no cars swishing past, no shouts in the distance, no dogs barking. It was weird, an unnatural silence in the center of the city, a sudden absence of noise and movement. It was as if the entire place had been frozen, snatched in mid-swing like a pendulum and held still in its path. There was no sound, just Crank and Joe, and cold air, and the smell of garbage, and the coaly shadows.
    "Damn, it's quiet," said Joe, staring out at the street and scratching his beard.
    "Yeah, freezing, too."
    "You shit-face, I thought you said you weren't cold."
    "That was before."
    "You know," said Joe, "that guy could'a really killed us. I'm fuckin' serious, man. You see his eyes? If we would'a hung around one more minute, we'd'a been dead meat."
    Crank looked thoughtful. "Yeah, prob'ly. That dude's fucked up. He's an animal, y'know?"
    "Hah!" shouted Joe. "I thought you said you were friends from way back!"
    "We are. Just 'cause I hate him don't mean we can't be friends, right? We did some wild shit together, let me tell you."
    "So you guys had so much fun that now he wants to rip your ass off, right? C'mon, man, don't give me that shit."
    "I'm not, I'm not. We been friends, y'know, but like, we were better friends way back. After a while, he just got fucked up, right? You know that guy shits on his floor?"
    "So do