What a Wicked Game

It was early December of 2000, and Lindsey Baker was sitting at a bus stop in Des Moines, Iowa. A chill wind blew across her face, causing a shiver to ripple through her body. If she missed anything about California, it was their warm winters. Even so, she had to admit that she liked seeing snow for the first time, just not the cold that came with it.

She reached down to the stroller in front of her and tucked the blankets tighter around Jeremy. Her baby boy was going to be a year old soon. It was almost hard for her to believe. Looking down at him, she couldn’t help but feel proud and sad at the same time. She missed California, but she had to do what was best for her and Jeremy.

People passed by the bus stop without a second glance at Lindsey. Whether they were on their way to work or heading to see friends and family, they did not notice her. It was true that she was alone here and it was the one thing that she should have thought through more. Sure she had gotten a job, but she was still getting to know people.

Two older women were heading under the shelter of the bus stop that Lindsey and Jeremy were seated at. They exchanged knowing looks with each other as they sat down, whispering back and forth while looking back at Lindsey and her baby. Lindsey could only slightly hear what they were saying so she tried to ignore them. Jeremy was starting to fall asleep in the warmth of his two thick blankets. She hated to take him out in the cold but she didn’t have anyone to watch him. The two ladies’ whispering grew louder.

“Poor thing, having to live like that.” One said.

“She’s probably a high school dropout.” The other assumed.

“No father either?”

“Left her, most likely. Knocked her up and then ran away.”

She couldn’t take it anymore. Standing up from the bench, Lindsey glared at the two women, “For your information, I left him. Now is there anything else you want to assume about my life?” her voice was rising in volume and didn’t stop. “Maybe I’m a drug addict too! Hell, maybe I even give alcohol to my baby! Am I missing anything?”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, time to calm down.” Lindsey felt someone touch her shoulder and pull her back from the two older women. A man with shoulder-length, wavy brown hair and blue eyes was trying to put himself in front of her.

“I am not calming down when these two old ladies are taking about me like I’m some kind of reject who had a baby for the fun of it!”

“Yeah, and they’re real bitches,” the “bitches” scoffed in protest, “but I don’t think you want to yell in front of your baby.”

He was right of course. Lindsey looked down at Jeremy, who was starting to stir in his stroller. Anger had gotten the best of her. She turned to the two women, “Next time, think before you speak.” Grabbing the stroller’s handle, she walked away and headed down the street towards her apartment.

“You’re welcome, by the way.” A voice behind her said. She knew it was the man from before but she didn’t bother turning around.

“For what?”

“For keeping you from going total apeshit on those old ladies.”

Lindsey came to a stop and turned around to face him suddenly. Now that she had a better look at him, she saw a thin layer of stubble around his jaw and his eyes were in fact a very light blue. “Thank you, whoever the hell you are you.”

He smirked and stuck his hand out, “Corey Taylor, at your service.”

She obligingly shook his head, “Lindsey Baker,” she gestured down to the stroller, “and Jeremy.”

Corey bent down so he was eye level with Jeremy, “Hey buddy.” Jeremy, who was awake now, smiled happily. Corey straightened back up, “Anyway, I’ll see you around.” As he began to walk away, Lindsey had a strange suspicion that she would regret letting him go. She had no earthly idea why but she knew to trust the instincts that were screaming at her.

“Corey, wait!”

Corey stopped in his tracks and turned to her as she closed the gap between them. He raised his eyebrows questioningly, “Yeah?”

“Could you walk me back to my apartment? There may be more old ladies along the way, so you could stop me from jumping them.”

He smiled, “Sure, I’ll be your ‘handler’. Where’s your apartment?”

“It’s just down here a few blocks.” Together, Corey and Lindsey walked down the street in the cold Iowa air. She told Corey about moving here from California, how she wasn’t in college just yet, and she was trying to support her and Jeremy with money she had saved from jobs in high school. Corey didn’t react in a judgmental or even surprised way. He simple nodded and listened.

“Life can be hard sometimes.” She wondered if there was more to that statement than he was showing. “At least you’re doing what you have to do, right? Most nineteen year-olds don’t know their ass from their mouth.”

Lindsey laughed, “I have to know the difference between those if I want to take care of a kid.” She stopped in front of a three-story brick building; it was nothing special by any standards. A window on the second floor was broken and loud metal music could be heard drifting out. “This is it. Thanks for walking me down.”

Corey shook his head, “No problem.” He pulled a pen out of his pocket, “If you ever need anything, just give me a call.” He took her hand and wrote down a series of numbers. “I won’t be home for a while though, ‘cause I’m going on tour really soon.”

Lindsey smiled-Zacky was supposedly on tour with the guys right now, “What band are you in?”

“As of right now? Slipknot.”

“My brother’s in Avenged Sevenfold. They’re still really small, but maybe if you ever run into tem on the road you can tell him I said you’re a good guy.”

Corey looked amused, “Good guy, huh? Well thanks for the vote of confidence…I’ll see you around.” He raised a hand in goodbye and left, disappearing around the corner of the apartment building. He was still smiling at the fact that someone had actually called him a ‘good guy’. It was a nice change of pace.