Watching In Silence

by Staci Brown

"Rick? Hey man, what are you thinking?"

"Nothing Mikey. It's all good." Rick shook his head slowly and let out a long sigh.

"Well you gonna drink that beer or just stand there? Speaking of standing there..., how about you come sit down? You're making me nervous. It's like I'm watching you decide if you're gonna take a leap off that edge." Mikey motioned for Rick to come sit down next to him. "C'mon dude, lets get drunk!" Mikey erupted in a fit of hearty laughter as he reached for another icy cold Molson.

"Yeah, get drunk. Why not. Nothing I can do anyways." Rick said as he sat down next to his cousin, Mikey. The fallen tree had been used as a bench for years, maybe even decades. Lifting his beer to his lips, Rick took a long pull off the bottle till it was empty. Tossing the drained bottle into the firepit, Rick looked at his cousin. "Mikey... What am I gonna do? I can't just sit here watching..."

"Watching? Watching what??" Mikey, somewhat bewildered, asked as he began to look at their surroundings. Now noticing how quiet and still the woods around them had grown. The sun had almost set, the sky above was twilight. "Dude, what are we watching?"

Ignoring his cousin, Rick sat there gaping at the horizon. "Watching in silence...," he whispered to no one but himself.

"What??" Mikey asked. "Rick, ya know you're starting to creep me out here man. Maybe you need to slow down on the beers and smoke a lil of this bud and just chill." Mikey took out a joint and lit up, taking a few short tokes to get it burning properly; he had a tendency to roll them too damn tight. Finally, Mikey took a long, slow toke from the joint then passed it to Rick; through a tightly sealed mouth he mumbled.

"Heeeerrrr." Exhaling through a series of grunts and croup-like coughs; "good shit man, good shit..."

"Yeah, maybe you're right," Rick said as he took the offered joint, placing it between his adolescent lips, he inhaled. The smoke filling his lungs, Rick held his breath for a moment before exhaling a monstrous cloud of smoke. Not a sputter or haggard cough, Rick was a veteran pothead.

"Now tell me, what is it we're supposed to be watching? Cuz I'm not seeing anything, and I'm not too sure I WANT to see anything right now! Like some big ass grizzly coming out of the woods to munch our asses!" Mikey laughed alone at his own witty comment.

"I don't know." Rick said. "That's the thing Mikey..., I don't even know myself. It's like I can hear this voice in my head, over and over saying the same thing... Something about watching in silence; and how I should die cuz I did nothing to stop it..." Rick shook his head, trying to clear the cobwebs from his mind.

"Dude, what the fuck are you talking about? Is this about that girl, what was her name? Sara, Samantha; whatever her name was... Dude, just forget the bitch already. Ya gotta get back in the saddle Rick! That's what my old man always told me. When the bitch dries up, dump her ass and hop back in the saddle!" Mikey said, a smirk across his face. "Now toke up bitch, or pass the joint back, you're wasting good shit man.

Rick looked at Mikey for a brief moment before punching his cousin square in the mouth. The punch held such force that Mikey's teeth were ripped out of his gums and driven backwards. Blood gushed from Mikey's mouth as he choked on the broken teeth caught in his throat. Rick's bloody hand grabbed hold of his cousin's neck, squeezing as he pulled Mikey and himself to their feet. Fear exploded in his eyes when he found it difficult to breathe. His arms flailing, trying desperately to break the hold locked on to his windpipe.

"SARA! Her name was SARA!" Rick's words exploded in Mikey's bloodied face. "I LOVED HER, YOU ASSHOLE!" Rick spat in his cousin's face which was now turning blue from lack of oxygen. Precious life he was denying another. Releasing the grip on his cousin's throat, he pushed Mikey backwards; watching him tumble, tripping over the fallen tree onto his backside.

Loud, raspy breathing mingled with coughing as Mikey pulled that precious life back into his burning lungs. Rolling over and trying to stand up, he gave retreat and was satisfied to rest on his hands and knees. "I'm the asshole? Fuck you Rick! You're the fuck-wad who accused her of cheating on you when she told you she'd been RAPED!" Mikey started another round of gut wrenching coughs; spitting blood and teeth out of his mouth. Blood was dripping slowly from his lips. Mikey looked up through the long bangs of his hair at his cousin Rick. Evil in his eyes,,,, "but she loved every minute of it!"