Chapter Three - Ethan

Chapter Three

The rain tore at the frigid asphalt; the only sound for miles was the sound of miles yet to pass.

It was cold, it had always been cold; life, had always been cold.

There he waited, like a statued silhouette, drenched in shadows; ensconced in life.

"Everything used to be so clear; everything used to make sense.

At one point, I could take a single at my soul and know it was pure; clean. Now, I'm not so sure anymore.

My white shall, weathered and worn grey by life's unending tides of s**t; I have no idea who I am anymore.

Am I still that doe-eyed kid who once looked to the world with a clean slate; clueless to misery?

Or have I merely become a shallow derelict of myself, witnessed through a murky puddle of aggravation?

I feel like a bad joke without a punch-line; so full of daunting potential yet so utterly wasted and unappreciated.

How could I have let myself get to this place? How could I have fucked up this bad?

Life's gates have only just opened but I'm already gimping through with a broken ankle; I never had a chance.

But maybe others can."

"Life," he concluded, "isn't about what you make of it."

He stared off into the skylined distance.

"It's about what life makes of you..."

Almost Six Years Ago

"... And how you manage to cope."

Shiloe waded through his last, fleeting moments of sleep; torn awake at the rapture of a cat pouncing on his chest.

The thick aroma of banished ambitions wafted through the stale basement air.

"Fuckoff Runt," he launched his cat towards the opposing wall; 

she stopped short and skittered her way back over, amorous as ever.

Shiloe lurched forward in a subtle daze, claiming the day's consciousness.

For days, years, months - this had been his life. 

Wake up - frustrated. 

Pace over to the kitchen - frustrated.

Make a half-assed coffee - frustrated.

Take an hour long s**t - still frustrated.

All he'd known were fruitlessly frustrated tasks done to ritualistic perfection.

Menial perfection - his life in a nutshell.

He'd already considered offing himself, several times in fact; only to realize the he loved hating life.

Maybe the only, sad, luxury that life would afford him to love.

He felt like a waste of skin; a tragic loss of Mother Nature's primordial forces drifting through an ocean of misery.

Shiloe guided his feet in waking uncertainty; an attempt to navigate the basement floor through the avid clusters of dog s**t that lined his path.

 "Great," he sighed, but pressed onwards as if it were a mirage and went on to finish step two on his list.

He'd always -

************************************************PANG PANG PANG PANG*************************************************************

Ian turned from his laptop screen, forsaking the half-blank page before him to investigate the source of the noise.

**PANG PANG PANG PANG PANG**

"Bro, you there?" The urgent panging gained a voice from outside the front door.

**PANG PANG PANG**

"C'mon man," the voice urged, "open up!"

Ian sprinted upstairs, jumping two steps at a time to intercept the door before the family dogs began to bark.

"Hold on two seconds man," Ian called back as he made his way over to the door and clicked the lock open.

"Kay, all good bro," he stepped back as the door swung ajar a few moments later.

"Que passo bra," a tall, bald figure stepped through the entranceway with a grin. It was Ethan, one of his few remaining friends whom was often prone to

showing up without calling first.

"Was in the area and figured that I'd come see what's good with you guys."

"Not too much bro, just getting some writing done," they shook hands as he led Ethan inside to the kitchen and offered him a fresh cup of coffee, "how 'bout you ?"

"Bah, not much man," he darted back in a tired glee, "fucked another stripper last night; still haven't even got to sleep yet."

"Ha nice," Ian laughed, "how'd you convince this one?"

"With ma dick," he joked back as he mimed jerking off. "I swear bro, this girl was a f****n' freak."

"Aren't they all..." Ian sighed. "I still don't understand what you tell these girls, but either way, kudos to you man."

"I think that strippers just really, really like me bro, I don't get it either." Ethan pulled out a pack of Macdonaldand cigarettes and handed one over to Ian.

He nodded back in gratitude.

"And how 'bout you man, any new girls on the horizon?" He lit his cigarette and passed his miniature blue 'Bic' lighter over to Ian. 

"Pfft, what do you think bro," Ian smirked sarcastically and lit his cigarette as well. "I can't even remember the last time I got laid."

"Jesus man, how long do you think it's been?" Ethan exhaled a thick puff of smoke as he tried to make a ring.

"S**t," Ian pondered, "honestly, and this doesn't leave the room," he exhaled a murky cloud of smoke, "gotta be at least two years, maybe almost three; kinda stopped keeping track

passed a year and a bit."

Ethan's face went deadly serious and his eyes opened so wide that a new and pulsating vein appeared around his right temple.

"You have got to be f*****g kidding me man."

"I'm wearing f*****g Crocs bro," Ian resigned. Ethan looked down to his feet and he was, in fact, clad in a pair of worn out, blue Crocs that were one size too small for him.

"Does it look like I'm f*****g with you?"

"The f**k man," Ethan said with genuine concern. "How have you not lost your mind yet?!"

"Never had it to begin with," Ian joked at his own expense. "But seriously, I don't know man, I just don't think about it." He finished his cigarette and crushed it in the ash-tray.

"We gotta get you f****n' laid bro," he laughed. "What're you doin' this weekend?"

"Idunno, nothing really," Ian pretended as if he actually had to think about it, but knew that he had absolutely nothing going on. 

"Was probably going to try and get a few more chapters done, but what did you have in mind?"

"Oh yeah, that's right, you started writing again," Ethan lit another cigarette; he had been notorious for chain-smoking. 

"How's THAT going?"

"Meh, it's goin' man, I'm trying to get a bit more done each day, but you know how it is." 

Ian reached for another cigarette, but Ethan just offered him the one that was already lit.

"I write out something that I love as I'm writing it and then end up hating it the next day." He exhaled.

"Well, this weekend you're comin' out with me bro." Ethan butched the waning cigarette. 

"I'm seeing that girl, Michal, and I'm pretty sure that she has a decent looking friend for you."

"Wait," Ian cut him off, " 'Israeli military Michal'? I thought she hated your guts bro."

"She did..." Ethan went on. 

"So what happened?" He went to prepare another coffee. 

"Didn't she threaten to pull your a*s cheeks over your face and and watch you die from lack of oxygen the next time she saw you?"

"Yeah... but you know how it is man..." Ethan smirked.

"You banged her again... didn't you..." Ian surmised.

Ethan just stood there with a grin that stretched ear-to-ear.

"God, how do you do it man?" Ian said, dumbfounded.

"Like I said, bro, I'm just lucky I guess." He responded shamelessly.

"No," Ian put two and two together, "What's the catch? There's no way that she just let you off the hook that easily..."

"Well..." He confessed.

"There it is," Ian smirked.

"I did kind of, just kind of..." Ethan prolonged his explanation.

"Yeah..." Ian waited impatiently.

"...Tell her I'd kind of go as her date to this thing..." Ethan finished. "And find a date for her friend..."

"You want me to jump on the grenade," Ian figured. "Don't you..."

"Please man," he pleaded. "Just this once, I promise. I think that I might actually really like this chick."

"And that has nothing to do with you basically ruining her entire life." Ian countered. 

"Well... there is THAT too..." He puttered. "But c'mon, you can't say that I 'ruined her ENTIRE life'..."

"Dude," Ian laughed, "She WAS a three-star general and on her way to four-star before the age of 25 until you came along."

"Well its not ALL my fault," Ethan defended. "And remember, she DID give me a black eye."

"YOU RUINED HER LIFE!" Ian laughed.

"IT WAS DURING SEX BRO!" Ethan yelled, nearly at the top of his lungs, as if it emphasized his point.

"I have neighbors man," Ian hushed.

"It was during sex bro," he whispered. "She's into some real freaky s**t man."

"Well that explains why you like her so much..." Ian finished. "Don't tell me she stuck a pinky up your a*s too."

"..." 

"Dude," he blurted. "Thats f*****g disgusting!" 

"Meh," Ethan non-chalently countered, "still more action than you've seen in...what..."

He held his hands up and began to count his fingers sarcastically.

"...Like a f****n' quarter-decade bro."

"Still doesn't make it any less disturbing man," Ian laughed.

"Either way bro," Ethan picked up, "I need you to do me a solid this weekend-"

"-Phrasing..." Ian interrupted.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Ethan erupted in uncontrollable laughter.

"Ahh, you kill me bro; light me up another smoke please."

  

"So, I'm guessing that there's not a chance of me getting out of this weekend, is there..." Ian asked, already knowing the answer.

"Aw c'mon man," he pestered, "it'll be fun, and her friend is D.T.F."

"...The fat friend..." Ian skulked.

"Just get over it bro, you're going." Ethan confirmed. "Besides, you need to get laid and I need a date for the fat chick... it's a... winish-win."

"Fine." Ian reluctantly conceded, "It's not like I've got much of a choice anyways...do I?"

"They'll be building giant snowmen in hell before I let you off the hook."

"F**k..." He seethed. "What's this whole thing about anyways? I thought that you got her fired?"

"Not fired..." Ethan justified, "just... reallocated..."

"...Well... when you put it like that..."

"Kay, enough with the negativity n' s**t bro, you're even starting to get ME down now."

"Fine..."

"And who knows man," Ethan exhaled a heavy cloud of smoke, "you might even find some cool s**t to write about; it IS an Israeli weapons and tech. expo."

"WHAT!?" Ian replied in shock. "That's awesome! Why wouldn't you just lead off with that?"

"Idunno man, didn't think about it." He admitted.

 "But now that I think about it, I DID hear that they're supposed to be unveiling some kind of a field-combat exo-skeleton."

"THEY HAVE A SUPER-SUIT?!" 

"Well... not in those exact words..." Ethan paused. "But yeah, I guess that you could say they've got a super-suit..."

"What'd you say the fat girl's name was?

Author's Note

First draft, let me know what you think!