>>5402420“As I’m sure even you can remember, Stannie, it all began back in <span class="mu-g">HIGH SCHOOL–</span> you know, that burning husk down there.”
Following his finger as it points into the distance, you can just barely make out a faint orange flicker below the shifting clouds.
“Fourth quarter. Both teams tied. We had the ball.” Recites the jock as if it happened yesterday. “It was cold that night–damn cold, but we were sweating too much to feel it.”
Yea, yea, you sputter, and his stupid ass hurt his leg, you <span class="mu-i">know</span>. You were <span class="mu-i">THERE!</span>
“Right,” Boris chuckles, “Who could forget the lovable ‘<span class="mu-g">CLEARWATER COD?</span>’” He asks with a smile. “Then sure, you probably <span class="mu-i">do</span> remember… assuming you weren’t drunk as a skunk like you were in every other game.” Kicking a bone out of his path, Boris continues his story. “You know how it ended–busted my ACL, ended up getting taken outta’ the game-”
And some other fuckup stepped in and lost, you snicker. Nice!
“Hospital stay wasn’t all that bad–not at <span class="mu-i">first</span>, anyways.” He adds with a shrug. “Surgery was done before I even knew it, and I musta’ spent a day or so in recovery before I got the news:”
Let me guess–he had a terminal case of being a <span class="mu-s">DICK!</span>
“Well yea, I thought that was obvious!” He laughs, brushing your jab off. AGAIN. “But no… the doc came in with this look on his face… like I was gonna die in a matter of months or something.”
You <span class="mu-i">wish</span>.
“Told me that the rupture was big–<span class="mu-i">too</span> big to just shrug off.” Boris sighs. “For all intents and purposes, my athletic future ended there–no coming back.”
For a brief moment his perpetual smile disappears.
“But that wasn’t what killed me, bumblebee. Not by a long shot.”
Turning to face you with a grim expression on his face, Boris gets out of blasting range as he continues. “I’ll never forget how my mom left the room back then–crying like I’d died or something. And dad?”
You watch as your coworker tightens his grip on his <span class="mu-r">REVOLVER.</span> “He leaned in close like this:”
Recoiling as Boris stoops down next to your ear, you feel his minty breath brush against your cheek. “And do you know what he told me, Stan? His only son?”
Before you can make a witty remark, he grabs you firmly by the hair and answers for you!
“‘What good are you NOW?’”
Slamming your head against the ground, Boris turns and walks with purpose towards the edge and blindly fires his gun into the sky!
>CONTD. 