Backtracker (8 page)

The site
wasn
'
t
far from Ernie Dumbrowski
'
s home; in fact, Billy lived less than a mile up the road from Ernie. Originally, Billy had lived with his family in a house on the other side of Barton; in his junior year of high school, though, his father, an insurance salesman, had been transferred to Pittsburgh, and the whole family had gone with him...except Billy. Unwilling to leave all his friends and girlfriends behind, Billy had chosen to stay in Barton and had convinced his parents to go without him. A friend of his mother had agreed to rent him the trailer for a very small fee, and Billy had lived there ever since. With his wages from the Wild West Steakhouse, and occasional contributions from his parents,
he'd
gotten along just fine on his own. Though the trailer was old and rather shabby, he seemed to like it, if for no other reason than that it was his very own personal bachelor pad.

Glad to have escaped his feuding family, Dave Heinrich guided his brown Ford Torino up the short gravel drive to Billy
'
s trailer. Lights glowed in the trailer
'
s windows, and the silver Honda at the end of the drive also signaled that Billy was home. Since there were no other vehicles around, Billy was probably alone.

Parking behind the Honda, Dave plucked his knapsack from the floor and rose from the Torino. It was a cold night, cold enough for him to see the fog of his breath as he strolled to the trailer
'
s front door, cold enough to let him know that Spring
wouldn
'
t
arrive any time soon. At least it was clear and the moon was bright enough to cast up warning gleams from the patches of ice on the sidewalk.

Dave boosted himself up the set of cinder blocks which served as steps to the front stoop, a square slab of concrete atop more blocks. Knocking twice on the door, he immediately heard footsteps approaching from inside the trailer.

In a flash, the door sprang open and Billy appeared, dressed in his Wild West uniform. As always, he sported the patented Bristol grin, that easy
-
going, friendly smile with a stream of mirth and mischief glittering just beneath the surface.

"
Hey
!
"
chirped Billy, his grin widening at the sight of his pal.
"
Davey
-
boy! What
'
s up, man?
"

"
Not much,
"
said Dave.
"
What
'
re you up to?
"

"
Just hangin
'
out, havin
'
a couple beers. What brings you out this way?
"

"
Aw, my family
'
s going at it again,
"
sighed Dave.
"
I needed to do some studying, and I needed some peace and quiet, so I thought I
'
d drop in.
"

"
Peace and quiet
?
"
laughed Billy.
"
Here?
"

"
Well,
"
grinned Dave,
"
I figured maybe we could hash out some of this stuff together, you know? I mean, we both have tests coming up, so it wouldn
'
t hurt to do some studying tonight.
"

"
Hey, good plan,
"
nodded Billy.
"
I was gonna
'
do some studying tonight, anyway. We
'
ll have to hit the books later, though,
'
cause I
'
ve got company.
"

"
Oh, really
?
"
said Dave, disappointment shading his voice.
"
I
'
m sorry. I should
'
ve called first. I was just in too much of a hurry to get out of the house.
"

"
No problem,
"
Billy said blithely, dismissing Dave
'
s apology with a wave of his wiry hand.
"
It
'
s no big deal.
"

Turning, Dave started for his car.
"
I
'
m sorry about this. I
'
ll just call you later and maybe stop back then.
"

"
No no,
"
said Billy, slipping to one side of the doorway and gesturing for Dave to enter.
"
Come on in, man. It
'
s okay.
"

"
I can come back later,
"
Dave assured him.
"
It
'
s really no problem. I
'
ll just head over to the library for a while.
"

"
Get in here,
"
smirked Billy, pulling Dave by the shoulder.
"
I told you, it
'
s okay. It
'
s just somebody from work, man.
"

"
Well, if you
'
re sure it
'
s okay,
"
Dave said hesitantly.

"
Just come on,
"
laughed Billy, yanking Dave through the doorway.

Awkwardly, Dave stumbled into the warm trailer. As Billy shut the door, Dave quickly scanned the place, only to be surprised by the familiar face in Billy
'
s kitchen.

Seated at the kitchen table, a beer can in his hand, Larry Smith smiled back at him.

"
Hey
!
"
called Larry.
"
Dave! How
'
re you doing?
"

"
Not bad,
"
Dave answered with a smile, feeling a bit off
-
balance. Though he was happy to see the new co
-
worker, Larry was the
last
person he would have expected to meet in Billy
'
s trailer. Larry had only been working at the steakhouse since the day before, so it was strange to see him already in the lair of the Wild West gang
'
s inner circle.

"
So, Davey
-
boy,
"
said Billy, ambling into the kitchen space.
"
Larry was telling me how you guys beat that big rush yesterday.
"

"
Right,
"
said Dave.
"
It sure was a killer.
"

"
Aw, it wasn
'
t bad,
"
chuckled Larry.
"
We could
'
ve handled it with both hands tied behind our backs. We
'
re professionals.
"

"
Dave? A professional
?
"
winced Billy.
"
Are you sure you
'
re talking about
this
Dave?
"

"
None other,
"
nodded Larry, raising his beer as if in a toast.
"
He
'
s a trooper, all right. He did most of the work.
"

"
No no,
"
Dave corrected modestly.
"
You
did most of the work.
"

"
Now
that
I can believe,
"
ribbed Billy, smirking as he opened the refrigerator.

"
Up yours, pal,
"
cracked Dave, accepting the beer that Billy offered over the refrigerator door.
"
You
'
ve never done a hard day
'
s work in your life.
"

"
Oh yes, I have,
"
grinned Billy.
"
Every time I work with
you
, I
'
ve gotta
'
work ten times harder to make up for your slackin
'
!
"

"
Ten times harder
?
"
flagged Dave, dropping his knapsack onto a kitchen chair.
"
Big deal. Ten times zero is still zero.
"

"
If you think
I
work zero,
"
zapped Billy,
"
then
you
must be in the negative numbers!
"

"
Well,
"
interrupted Larry.
"
From what I
'
ve seen so far, I
'
d say
both
you guys do a hell of a job. Seems like you two work harder than anyone in the place.
"

"
I
'
ll go along with that,
"
laughed Billy, throwing himself onto one of the chairs.
"
You know, you
'
re pretty smart there, Larry.
"

"
I just call
'
em like I see
'
em,
"
said Larry, scratching his sandy goatee.
"
I tell it like it is.
"

"
Man, that
'
s a switch,
"
chuckled Billy.
"
Most people tell it like it isn
'
t.
"

"
Not me,
"
stated Larry, wagging his head.
"
I always lay it on the line. I don
'
t play head games.
"

"
So, did you guys come right over after work
?
"
asked Dave, cracking open his beer.

"
No,
"
Billy clucked sardonically.
"
We
always
hang around in our steakhouse uniforms.
"

"
Aw,
you
know what I meant,
"
said Dave.

"
Yeah,
"
nodded Larry.
"
Billy invited me over after we punched out. The steakhouse was dead, so Tom let us both go at seven
-
thirty.
"

"
We just got here a couple minutes before you,
"
added Billy.

"
That
'
s something, huh
?
"
said Dave.
"
One night, the place is a madhouse, and the next night it
'
s dead. Naturally, I got the busiest night.
"

"
It must
'
ve been you,
"
quipped Billy.
"
All those people showed up just because they knew you were working last night.
"

"
I wouldn
'
t be surprised,
"
said Dave.
"
They probably all got together and decided to make my life miserable. Then when I
'
m not there, everybody stays away.
"

"
Well, they probably knew I was
cooking
tonight,
"
grinned Billy.
"
They knew their steaks would be like shoe leather.
"

"
I wouldn
'
t say shoe leather,
"
Dave said thoughtfully.
"
More like, uh...tar paper.
Either tar paper or emery board.
"