Ducky Park
"No thanks," You tell him. "I'm cool."
He shrugs in reply. "Suit yourself," He says. He smacks Joe on the back, "Joe, you're coming with me."
Joe throws his cards down. "Man, I don't want to clean that shit up!"
"Sorry to hear it," Vince replies, "But it's your turn."
"Damn it all!!" He says. He stands up and the two of them walk off down the seemingly infinite alley of dumpsters. You watch after them briefly until they disappear between some of the towering trash containers.
Dante looks over at you. "I bet this one's bones would crunch real nice under one of the smaller dumpsters."
Mark nods emphaticly, "I think so too. Hopefully he won't scream too much like the last guy."
"Yeah," Dante shoots back, "That was irritating. Bruno, grab him real quick before he runs."
Bruno stands up and walks over to you and you stare up at him with terror filled eyes. You can't seem to run despite the repeated thought running through your mind. You just can’t seem to will yourself to move. He clenches a fist and prepares to punch. You close your eyes tight and are surprised to feel a slight tap on your arm. "We was just kiddin' with you," he says. The other guys burst into a fit of laughter.
"Dude about shit his pants!" One of them says, doubled over and holding his gut. You actually might have shit your pants a little.
Everyone laughs for a while and you do your best not to get upset about it, but your face is beat red and you hate it when you feel embarrassed. After a while they stop laughing.
"So what do you do all day when you're not collecting the trash?" You ask.
Dante smiles and spreads his arms out to his sides, "You're lookin' at it, man. This is it. We stand around. Sometimes we roll dice. Sometimes we play cards. Sometimes Nickie will hook us up with beers from the gardens. But basically this is all we do. We just wait for our turn to collect the trash."
"Sometimes we smoke weed too," Mark says with a smile, putting what appears to be a poorly manufactured cigarette into his mouth.
"Aw yeah," Dante says, "Mark came through with the chronic!"
"I told you I would, didn't I?" Mark replies, the cigarette bouncing up and down in his mouth as he talks.
You point to the cigarette in Marks' mouth. "That is one ugly looking cigarette," You tell him.
"Shit," He says, "This ain't no cigarette. It's a joint."
"Oh," You respond meekly. "I've never seen one of them before."
Mark hits Bruno on the shoulder. "He said he ain't never seen one of these before."
"Yeah, I heard him," Bruno says. "He’s fucking right there, Mark. Jesus. Hey Ricky, don't go ratting on us for this, okay? Sometimes we just get a little high so that the day goes faster. We still get all of our work done."
"I'm not going to say anything," You say.
"Good man," Mark says. He pulls a lighter out and sparks it to life. He sucks in the smoke and hands it to Bruno, who does the same. After Bruno inhales he passes it to Dante. Dante takes a hit and holds it out to you. You stare at it, unsure of whether you really want to do it. If you did it and your dad found out about it he'd kill you. But your dad isn't here, is he?
"Come on," Dante says. "Everybody's doing it."
"Yeah," Bruno says, "You'll be cool if you do it."
You've always wanted to be cool. You take the joint from Dante’s hand and place the end of it to your lips. You breath in the smoke, it is hot and it hurts your throat. You collapse into a fit of coughing and hand it off. It goes around again and comes back to you. As you start to take another hit you notice that Mark and Bruno are staring wide eyed at something behind you.
You turn around while hitting the joint to see an enormous body waddling towards you. You realize soon that it is none other than George, the guy your uncle introduced you to when you decided to work in this division.
"Dude," You can hear Mark saying behind you, "Seriously, it is not cool to smoke pot here."
"Yeah," Bruno says, following Marks lead, "That stuff ain't no good."
You look to Dante who just shakes his head at you.
"You!" George says, his voice bellowing towards you and echoing off of the metal dumpsters around you. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!"
"Well, me and the guys..." You begin.
"Don't go bringing us into this," Dante warns.
"George," Bruno says, "We tried telling this kid that smoking this shit was no good and that he couldn't do it here, but he's an animal! He said there wasn't anything wrong with it and he lit it up." George is almost to you at this point.
"Yeah," Dante chimes in, "It's a good thing you showed up when you did."
"Yeah," says Mark.
George looks menacingly at you and points a fat finger in your face. You take note of the fact that you can actually smell his body odor over the garbage. "You're out of here, bucko!" He says to you, his jowls shaking with each word. "I don't care who your uncle is, I won't have any of my employees behaving like this."
"But this isn't even mine," You protest.
"I suppose it just appeared in your hand then?" You stare back at him blankly. "Get the hell out of here before I call the police."
"But-"
"NOW!!" He hollers in a voice that breaks in his fury.
"And take your pot with you!" Bruno says.
You give them all a dejected look and throw the joint on the ground before turning around and walking away.
"Fucking stoner," Dante mutters as you walk off.
You leave the maze of dumpsters behind you and walk through the gate back to the picnic area. You throw your stupid duck hat on the ground and make your way to the park gate with you head hung low.
You pass through the exit of Ducky Park and spot the Happy Duck mascot who harassed you before standing there and watching you exit. His big cartoon eyes appear to be mocking you.
"Thanks for visiting Ducky Park," He says to you.
You charge at him and tackle him to the ground throwing fist after relentless fist into his stupid duck face, screaming random obscenities that make the children in line cry. Or maybe they're crying because you're beating up Happy Duck, you're not really sure.
"Stupid Duck Fuck!!" You are heard to say. "I'll fuck you up your stupid duck asshole and smear my shit stained cock across your fake yellow bill!!"
Security ends up prying you from atop Happy Duck. They restrain you while the sirens of the police come ever nearer. Your uncle Jim is there soon, he is shaking his head at you and looking on you with disappointment clear on his face.
The police haul you down to the station where you stay for a night before your father comes to get you out. He beats you relentlessly the whole way home and for the next two days.
You hate it when he hits you.
He shrugs in reply. "Suit yourself," He says. He smacks Joe on the back, "Joe, you're coming with me."
Joe throws his cards down. "Man, I don't want to clean that shit up!"
"Sorry to hear it," Vince replies, "But it's your turn."
"Damn it all!!" He says. He stands up and the two of them walk off down the seemingly infinite alley of dumpsters. You watch after them briefly until they disappear between some of the towering trash containers.
Dante looks over at you. "I bet this one's bones would crunch real nice under one of the smaller dumpsters."
Mark nods emphaticly, "I think so too. Hopefully he won't scream too much like the last guy."
"Yeah," Dante shoots back, "That was irritating. Bruno, grab him real quick before he runs."
Bruno stands up and walks over to you and you stare up at him with terror filled eyes. You can't seem to run despite the repeated thought running through your mind. You just can’t seem to will yourself to move. He clenches a fist and prepares to punch. You close your eyes tight and are surprised to feel a slight tap on your arm. "We was just kiddin' with you," he says. The other guys burst into a fit of laughter.
"Dude about shit his pants!" One of them says, doubled over and holding his gut. You actually might have shit your pants a little.
Everyone laughs for a while and you do your best not to get upset about it, but your face is beat red and you hate it when you feel embarrassed. After a while they stop laughing.
"So what do you do all day when you're not collecting the trash?" You ask.
Dante smiles and spreads his arms out to his sides, "You're lookin' at it, man. This is it. We stand around. Sometimes we roll dice. Sometimes we play cards. Sometimes Nickie will hook us up with beers from the gardens. But basically this is all we do. We just wait for our turn to collect the trash."
"Sometimes we smoke weed too," Mark says with a smile, putting what appears to be a poorly manufactured cigarette into his mouth.
"Aw yeah," Dante says, "Mark came through with the chronic!"
"I told you I would, didn't I?" Mark replies, the cigarette bouncing up and down in his mouth as he talks.
You point to the cigarette in Marks' mouth. "That is one ugly looking cigarette," You tell him.
"Shit," He says, "This ain't no cigarette. It's a joint."
"Oh," You respond meekly. "I've never seen one of them before."
Mark hits Bruno on the shoulder. "He said he ain't never seen one of these before."
"Yeah, I heard him," Bruno says. "He’s fucking right there, Mark. Jesus. Hey Ricky, don't go ratting on us for this, okay? Sometimes we just get a little high so that the day goes faster. We still get all of our work done."
"I'm not going to say anything," You say.
"Good man," Mark says. He pulls a lighter out and sparks it to life. He sucks in the smoke and hands it to Bruno, who does the same. After Bruno inhales he passes it to Dante. Dante takes a hit and holds it out to you. You stare at it, unsure of whether you really want to do it. If you did it and your dad found out about it he'd kill you. But your dad isn't here, is he?
"Come on," Dante says. "Everybody's doing it."
"Yeah," Bruno says, "You'll be cool if you do it."
You've always wanted to be cool. You take the joint from Dante’s hand and place the end of it to your lips. You breath in the smoke, it is hot and it hurts your throat. You collapse into a fit of coughing and hand it off. It goes around again and comes back to you. As you start to take another hit you notice that Mark and Bruno are staring wide eyed at something behind you.
You turn around while hitting the joint to see an enormous body waddling towards you. You realize soon that it is none other than George, the guy your uncle introduced you to when you decided to work in this division.
"Dude," You can hear Mark saying behind you, "Seriously, it is not cool to smoke pot here."
"Yeah," Bruno says, following Marks lead, "That stuff ain't no good."
You look to Dante who just shakes his head at you.
"You!" George says, his voice bellowing towards you and echoing off of the metal dumpsters around you. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!"
"Well, me and the guys..." You begin.
"Don't go bringing us into this," Dante warns.
"George," Bruno says, "We tried telling this kid that smoking this shit was no good and that he couldn't do it here, but he's an animal! He said there wasn't anything wrong with it and he lit it up." George is almost to you at this point.
"Yeah," Dante chimes in, "It's a good thing you showed up when you did."
"Yeah," says Mark.
George looks menacingly at you and points a fat finger in your face. You take note of the fact that you can actually smell his body odor over the garbage. "You're out of here, bucko!" He says to you, his jowls shaking with each word. "I don't care who your uncle is, I won't have any of my employees behaving like this."
"But this isn't even mine," You protest.
"I suppose it just appeared in your hand then?" You stare back at him blankly. "Get the hell out of here before I call the police."
"But-"
"NOW!!" He hollers in a voice that breaks in his fury.
"And take your pot with you!" Bruno says.
You give them all a dejected look and throw the joint on the ground before turning around and walking away.
"Fucking stoner," Dante mutters as you walk off.
You leave the maze of dumpsters behind you and walk through the gate back to the picnic area. You throw your stupid duck hat on the ground and make your way to the park gate with you head hung low.
You pass through the exit of Ducky Park and spot the Happy Duck mascot who harassed you before standing there and watching you exit. His big cartoon eyes appear to be mocking you.
"Thanks for visiting Ducky Park," He says to you.
You charge at him and tackle him to the ground throwing fist after relentless fist into his stupid duck face, screaming random obscenities that make the children in line cry. Or maybe they're crying because you're beating up Happy Duck, you're not really sure.
"Stupid Duck Fuck!!" You are heard to say. "I'll fuck you up your stupid duck asshole and smear my shit stained cock across your fake yellow bill!!"
Security ends up prying you from atop Happy Duck. They restrain you while the sirens of the police come ever nearer. Your uncle Jim is there soon, he is shaking his head at you and looking on you with disappointment clear on his face.
The police haul you down to the station where you stay for a night before your father comes to get you out. He beats you relentlessly the whole way home and for the next two days.
You hate it when he hits you.
