That High Speed Chicken Feed

[Acelister†]

"Shitty shit shit shitty..." Rizzo complained to himself, waiting for the ambulance. He didn't even realise Sean was waking, his hands clenching and unclenching as he waited impatiently. He tries to be nice, then forfits his entire day and night!

He jumped when he heard the noise from Sean, spining around.

"You're awake?!" He exclaims. "But... Just,,, Just wait. Lay down. An ambulance is coming."

Now he thought about it, he could have checked the guy's wallet... Called his parents, then ran like fuck! That would have been the smart thing to do.

"You... You want me to call you're... You're, umm, parents?" He asks. "Or... Or something?"

[ElTejon†]

The little fucker had called an ambulance. Shit, he had to get out of here quick, he couldn't be seen with all this junk in his system.

"Help me up," he groaned, lifting his body's weight up on trembling arms and trying to ignore the warmth that was spreading down his pants leg right now. The blood on his lip had dried to a hard crust that cracked as he talked, and the front of his shirt was sticky and heavy with what he was certain was his own vomit.

I'll tell them that I got drunk, he thought, imagining himself stumbling into his parents' house in this state. No, that wouldn't work, he decided. Driving home drunk would land him in as much shit as it would if he told them the truth.

"I said fucking help me up!"

[Acelister†]

Rizzo hesitated for a few moments, not wanting to help Sean escape - but he also didn't want to get asked questions by paramedics. Who knows what they might say. He might have to go with them in the ambulance, or they might call the police...

He went to Sean and took his hand, helping him up with effort. He could move, but he was still short and low on muscle.

"Now what?" he asked. "Should I... Call and cancel the ambulance?"
He'd never had to do that before - he wasn't sure it was even possible. Just say that Sean had a diabetic attack, or something...

[ElTejon†]

"Now what?" Rizzio asked. "Should I... Call and cancel the ambulance?"

Sean staggered a bit, and groaned fas a fresh spike of pain hit him. He clutched his head and stooped over, squeezing his eyes closed as he tried to ride out the feeling. He felt moisture trickling from his nose again, and wiped his nose with his finger, pulling back a finger coated with blood-tinged mucus.

"Shit," he whined. The gunk was wiped off on the leg of his pants, but his nose still kept running. Turning to look at Rizzio, he fought the urge to heave his guts out.

"H-how long ago did you call them?"

What the hell am I going to do, he thought. The ache in his head only seemed to be getting worse the longer he stood up; he tried rubbing his temple a bit with his fingers, which seemed to alleviate the pain enough for him to think clearly. A little caged bird was fluttering about madly in his head, and it took everything he had not to just lay down and let the pressure ease off as he drifted away to sleep.

But he couldn't afford to sleep now. Depending on how long he'd been out, and how long it had been since Rizzio sent out that call, he had maybe a couple minutes at best to high tail it out of here before the medics showed up. Would they take his blood, he wondered, even if he came up with a good excuse?

I could tell them I just had too much to drink, he thought.

But how's that explain the nosebleed?

It doesn't, he thought, that panicky little bird in his head beating its wings even harder now. He probably told them what I was doing back here too. They probably already know about the drugs.

Even if they didn't, why the hell else would he be back here?

[Acelister†]

Rizzo muttered swears as he watched Sean bend over and threaten to fall.

"About... Maybe five minutes?" Rizzo guessed. "I-I told them... I said you'd... You were unconcious. I said you... You might'a taken some drugs..."

He could guess that wasn't what he wanted to hear, but it would help if he had some facts.

"Look... I... I think you need a fucking doctor..." he tells him. "You look like shit."

[ElTejon†]

I was out for only five minutes? I must be a goddamn medical miracle.

It couldn't have been an overdose, he decided. He would still be lying on the ground halfway into a coma if that were the case.

"I-I told them... I said you'd... You were unconcious." Rizzo stammered, still looking at him with concern in his widened eyes. "I said you... You might'a taken some drugs..."

Fuck, he wailed inside his head. Shit! They're gonna fucking come here any minute now and the cops are gonna fucking arrest me! Oh shit, shit, shit, shit!

"Look... I... I think you need a fucking doctor..." he tells him. "You look like shit."

"I don't need a fucking doctor," Sean hissed as he began rummaging through his pockets, looking for where he might had left his car keys. "I need to get the hell out of here before the cops get heuggggghhhh-"

He turned and dry heaved over the side of a dumpster. The pungent smell of wet and softly decaying court food greeted his nostril, and he retched again, this time sending a wad of phlegm sailing out of his mouth and landing atop the refuse.

Fuck, maybe he's right, Sean thought as he wiped his mouth clean with the back of one hand. Maybe I should see a doctor. After I get out of here.

"Just help me get back to my car, OK?" he said as he craned his head to look at Rizzio from over his shoulder. The kid wasn't going to do it, he could see it in his eyes, so Sean tried to think of a way to get him to play along. He was twice this boy's size, and even though he was pretty scrawny this kid Rizzio didn't look like he would be capable of putting up much of a fight.

He shook his head. Whatever else he was, he didn't have the stomach for picking on people smaller than he was. He'd gone through enough of that in school, and the thought of laying that sort of intimidation on someone else didn't sit well with him. But unless he could think of another way, he realized, there wouldn't be much choice left for him.

Then he remembered.

"Listen, you know what I've been doing back here," Sean said, turning away from the dumpster and taking a few unsteady steps toward Rizzio, using his height to his advantage as he leaned over the other boy with what he hoped was a steely gaze in his eyes. "And I know what you've been doing. If I get busted for possession, I'll tell everyone I can that you snitched me out, and that you've been taking clothes from the department stores."

He fished the keys out of his pocket and dangled them in front of Rizzio's face.

"Look man, just help me get out of here, and I'll be out of your hair. I can drive, no problem."

[Acelister†]

Rizzo grimaced as Sean threw up again - or tried to at least.

"Just help me get back to my car, OK?" Sean said, glancing at him. Rizzo didn't like the look in his eye - getting desperate... But he wouldn't do anything, right...?

"Listen, you know what I've been doing back here," Sean said, seeming to get bigger as he walked closer to him. "And I know what you've been doing. If I get busted for possession, I'll tell everyone I can that you snitched me out, and that you've been taking clothes from the department stores."

Rizzo's face showed his fear, his eye twitching slightly. Whilst not technically illegal - the clothes were in the trash - the police attention would worry his parents. At their age, he knew that worry was bad for their health. Maybe he could convince him to...

"Look man, just help me get out of here, and I'll be out of your hair. I can drive, no problem." Sean states, dangling his keys in front of Rizzo's face.

"O-Okay..." Rizzo nodded, his face hanging a little. "I'll accompany you to the car park. I'll... I'll fucking do it, alright?"

[ElTejon†]

Sean nodded, his posture becoming a little more relaxed. In all honesty, he hadn't expected his bluff to work. Rooting through somebody else's garbage didn't even begin to measure up on a drug possession charge.

You've could've told me to fuck off, buddy, Sean thought as he looked at Rizzio, who was still hanging his head down ever so slightly. He looked like a dog that had been whipped one time too many, a sight sorry enough to make Sean feel a pang of guilt over having threatened him the way he'd just done. You could've walked away and I wouldn't have had anything on you.

"All right..." Sean turned and began walking off towards the back lot. "Let's just get over to my car, and..."

His vision began to grow fuzzy. With a muttered curse, he slammed his fist against the side of the dumpster, wincing as the impact shook its way through his arm and all up into his shoulder. It hurt like a son of a bitch, but it did the trick -- he could already feel his vision growing a little clearer.

"...Puh..." He paused to spit something that carried a nasty flavor out of his mouth. Standing upright was already making his insides feel topsy turvy again.

"P-Parked my car outside the Sears back entrance," he continued, slowing his pace down to small, cautious steps while he concentrated on keeping his body language sober. The walk would take them a couple of minutes, but so long as Rizzio cooperated it wouldn't be any trouble to get there. He just needed Rizzio to watch out for any cops or familiar faces, and to help him up if he stumbled again.

Making it out out of the alley was a struggle. He almost lost his balance just before they reached the opening, and as he stepped out into the open, he was relieved to see that this area of the outside parking area was, from the looks of it, deserted. To his left was the entrance to the Sears hardware department. They would have to travel by foot around the corner there, at least a couple hundred feet in distance, before they reached the back parking lot.

[Acelister†]

Rizzo followed in silence, glad of the fact that the ambulance hadn't turned up yet. He had no idea of what to say, even if he thought he should speak. He was ready to grab Sean if he fell - which looked likely for every step he took.

He had his hand balled into a fist, trying to focus himself. He was on a caffiene high, so hated the slow pace that was being set.

'It's for mom and dad...' he told himself silently. 'It's for their good that I'm being pushed around...'

He would really prefer to be doing anything. Even getting a hooker for a classmate would be easier than this slow walk with a drug-addict.

[ElTejon†]

Impatient little fuck, Sean thought in anger. Not like you had to trail along.

His memory was already working to forget the threat he'd laid out at Rizzio's feet a few minutes ago, which was why he chose to bite his tongue as he heard Rizzio fidgeting behind him. Snapping at Rizzio would just dredge up whatever animosities that the other boy was beginning to hold against him. As far as he was concerned, once he made it home alright, this other boy -- Rizzio -- would be just another face in the crowd to him.

We never met, he imagined himself saying in a threatening tone that his true voice could never measure up to. We never met, and you don't know my name, and if you value your worthless little Munchkin flesh, it'll fucking stay that way.

He blinked, then snorted as he scrubbed his fantasy away. He had even given his imaginary self a thick South Boston accent; how goofy was that?

As they walked on, Sean could feel something beginning to change. His vision stopped spinning and came into focus, and his limbs began to feel energized, like he'd taken a few of those sugar pills he'd seen Rizzio popping earlier. His insides still felt like they were on fire, but as they soldiered on to his truck, Sean's pace began to quicken along with his heart rate. By the time they'd made it to his car, he was certain he'd kept Rizzio hurrying along behind him.

"Okay," Sean said as he climbed inside his dad's truck and started the engine up. Foghat's "Slow Ride" began to blare from the car's radio while Sean opened the glove box and pulled out a box of sanitary wipes.

"Listen, uh... Rizzio," he said while cleaning the filth off his mouth with a moist towelette. "Sorry to drag you along like this, but I..."

He paused to let out a small cough, then continued:

"You just... I didn't have a whole lot of choice, you understand? I mean, you called the ambulance and everything --"

He turned to look at Rizzio, his hands in his lap.

"I know you were just trying to help, and you did. I appreciate you helping me out but..."

This guy is going to hate my guts, I mean just look at him. He'll stew this over until he gets a chance to pay me back.

"I just can't afford to get in trouble," he concluded, turning to settle his hands on the steering wheel. Without affording the other boy another glance, he slammed the door shut and shifted the ignition before he began to pull out of his spot. He'd never given the other boy his name, and as far as Sean was concerned, knowing Rizzio was a heck of a lot more advantageous than Rizzio knowing him. The last thing he needed was any grudges to worry about before he made it out of Bayview, even if they came from a dumpster diver like Rizzio What's-His-Face.

He drove away, his eyes fixed straight ahead and his form hunched over the steering wheel. For some reason, he felt hesitant to look behind him.

((Sean Carver continued in 9 Out of 10 Students Say Statistics Sucks))

[Acelister†]

"It's... It's Rizzo... You fucktard..." Rizzo corrected, much too late as the truck was already moving. He felt certain the other guy would have been violent if the ambulance had turned up. And that would have been no fun at all. Explaining bruises or black eyes without using the word 'fight'...

He turns away from the escaping vehicle and heads back towards the food court. If it wasn't time to get some frozen yogurt...

((Rizzo Vitoria continued in High Gloss Highs))