Tell Me When

Craig

I drag Beau to my truck, throw him in the backseat like he's fucking nothing. Ronnie smirks, but remains silent, getting in the passenger seat and tapping his fingers against the dashboard. I pull out of our oh-so-conspicuous parking spot and drive off, turning the music down low.

"This is insane," Ronnie mutters, his dark eyes locked on the roof.
"You think so?"

He laughs a bit and shakes his head, continuing to tap.

"Fuck yeah. Now shut up and turn the music." Of course, as soon as I turn it down. Dammit, Ronnie. He's so difficult.
"With pleasure."

I do as he says and continue driving, knowing this path like the back of my hand. The road is sprinkled with gravel, and it's far from smooth, and I'll be damned if there are any people out here. Perfect for, I dunno, a bit of fun.



We end up at this crappy shack of a house, falling apart second by second. Perfect. It's a cliché little piece of shit in the middle of nowhere, and it's just right for what we need it for, that purpose being getting Beau to learn to shut the hell up.

He never does. He goes around talking shit and sucking dick.

That's all he's good for.

I hop out of the truck, Ronnie getting out a lot slower and more graceful, if you will, but we're not trying to be fucking ballerinas, are we? I voice that to him and on the other side of the truck, I hear him laugh.

"Remember that when you fall and get a face full of gravel," he says, opening the back door from the right side and taking Beau so I don't have to. What a considerate kidnapper he is. We meet up at the front of the truck, Beau limply hanging over Ronnie's shoulder. It's nice to see him out of control for once, Beau. The little shit. "Hey, look who's here to greet us."

I look at the house and find our wonderful friends, Jacky and Max, waiting by the front door. Max is smoking, finger combing his long black hair. Jacky is absently staring at the sky, probably waiting for us...or he's just in one of those fucking weird moods. Ronnie knows him better than I do, so he can handle it if Jacky starts acting strange. Hell, Ronnie knows both of these guys better than I do.

I'm still the head, though, so do I care? No.

"You got 'im," Jacky says, suddenly looking towards us. "Where's Ricky?"
"I dunno," I mutter, taking Beau off of Ronnie's hands so I can drop him to the ground and drag him like a rag doll. He ain't nothing better. "He said he's gonna be a little late."
"Oh, yeah, didn't he?" chirps Max, eternally peppy, no matter what we're doing. He's a weirdo, too. "Let's start, then, he's just gonna have to jump in."

That sounds really good to me right now. So let's start.

Ronnie

Why. In the fuck. Do I have. To watch. This shithead.

Beau is slowly waking up now. Of course. We're both in the basement, and since I'm the "most responsible," I need to watch after the prisoner for a little while. It's just an excuse to put me near him and gauge how long it'll be before I explode.

"Wha' th' fuck," he mumbles lowly, sitting up and putting a hand to his head. It must be throbbing. Whoops. Where's the aspirin? Oh, shit, in the pharmacy on I Don't Give a Fuck Avenue.

"Where 'm I?"

He doesn't see me yet. His bright eyes get wide once he realizes that he's in a basement, and it's hilarious to watch. He gets to his feet, hanging onto his head, and sees a key a few inches away. He glances up at the door, then the key, then the door, and reaches for the little gold thing, muttering, "Shit, shit, shit, I gotta get out."

Does he really think we're that stupid?

He thuds up the few stairs to the door and jams the key in. Even though his back is to me, I know he's smiling when it opens. The house is dark, and he can't see anyone, so he must think it's his time. He takes one step out of the basement and all I have to do is count to three and Beau is tumbling right back down here, landing on his side and coughing harshly. No doubt he was caught by surprise and despair. Sad little fuck, huh?

I keep to my spot, laughing at his failure of an attempt to escape. Beau groans and gets back up, only sitting on his knees for a moment before collapsing back onto his side. Falling down the steps like that must've hurt. For a split second, it tugs on my weak little heartstrings, but then I remember Beau is a fucking asshole and he's getting all he deserves.

"Why-why was the key just-?" he cuts himself off to moan in pain, but I know he was asking about the key, why it was so easy to reach.
"Oh. That was Jacky's idea. He knew you were gonna go for it, wanted to dash your hopes. He can be a little twisted sometimes, don't ya think?"

He rolls over to face me, and I can't see him all too well in the dark but I know he's in shock, maybe annoyed, maybe hurt. He should've thought about that before being a colossal asshole. Not my fault the guys are all huge fans of revenge, it's something he should've been prepared for before doing everyone dirty and running his mouth.

What a dumbass.

"Why're you doing this?" he chokes out, sounding oh-so-sad. I shrug and reply,
"You kinda earned it."

He's probably staring at me in shock or something, but I can't bring myself to care all that much. He gets up and crawls over to me, but freezes before he makes it all the way. He's staring at me all warily, I can see him a little better now that he's closer, as if he's waiting for me to bring down my first.

"What, you're gonna, like, hit me? Trick me?" he asks shakily, and he's trying to sound like a badass but it's not working out much at all. He just sounds scared.
"I don't have a reason to yet, shithead. Everyone else shed a lot of their humanity. I collected it all and put it together and here I am. I'm more humane than most anyone around here."

He stares at me through the darkness, probably looking for a reason to distrust me. I helped kidnap him. He should distrust the shit outta me, really. But so far, I'm all he's got, even though I don't particularly like the little shit because, well, he's a little shit and I know that he is definitely not a great person. All he's gotta do is let my temper stay where it is and I won't have to strangle him.

"What did I even do?" he practically whispers.
"Eh. You acted like a bitch."

He doesn't say anything else and I sigh. Why the fuck am I this boy's keeper? I don't wanna be a keeper. This is the most absolute boring thing they could've made me do. I'm dying down here. And I'm hungry. And I'm fucking bored and I'm gonna scream, but at least Beau isn't talking anymore. Good. Shut the hell up sometimes.

Ten minutes later and I guess he's asleep now because he isn't saying anything at all. I don't catch him moving or anything, so he's gotta be asleep. Fine by me. Less work I gotta do.

Craig comes down the steps, a flashlight shining in his grip and a smirk on his face. He pushes some of his dark hair out of his face and flashes the light on Beau, who is definitely asleep, then me.

"What the hell, get that shit outta my face," I mutter, getting to my feet. He laughs some and asks,
"How's the prisoner doing, huh?" The light goes back to illuminating Beau's tired, limp form. I shrug. He seems to be doing alright.
"Fine, I guess. Hurt by that key trick, whined after being pushed down the stairs."
"Whoops," Craig says and he doesn't sound too apologetic at all, so. I doubt he is.

He walks over to Beau and gets onto his knees, his grin spreading wide and turning malicious. He shakes the guy pretty rough, hand tight on his shoulder, and chuckles when Beau starts coming to.

"Morning, sunshine. Happy to see me?"
"Craig?" he mumbles in sleepy surprise. Guess he thought he would only see me. You thought wrong, buddy. Hey, maybe now that Craig's down here, I can get the fuck out. "What're you...what?"
"Maybe you're wondering why you're here, maybe you're not, but this is your punishment."
"Punishment?"
"For being an absolute piece of shit, Beau, yes."

Then Craig grabs him by the collar and he looks like the predator who's got the prey right in his grasp. And that he does.

"We're gonna have a lot of fun with you, Davidson. Get ready."