Munmun(20)

“I guess I gotta ask the other kid,” said the guy. “Other kid. What are you doing here.”

My neck was a rope, the fibers were popping onebyone. I reached up and clawed and scraped at the leather of his stinking hands. He jiggled me a little to get me to stop, like saying, hey, keep it up and it’ll be super easy for me to snap your spine.

“If you want your buddy to not die, you should probably answer prettysoon,” he said to Usher.

I heard Usher burbling.

“J j jjj j jj jus sst, g g g ggu guarding,” he managed to say.

“Wow,” said the guy. “Calm the heck down and spit it out.”

I was blowing snot and spit all over the guy’s hands from trying so hard to breathe.

“Hi s s ss s si is,” said Usher.

“The shit are you even saying,” said the guy.

I felt everything go dim, sight, sound, touch. Then the guy dropped me on my face and knees and wrist, they popped against the floor like popcorn.

“Well, look,” said the guy. “You’re both clearly having trouble answering the question of what are you doing here, so, let me give you a hint. The hint is, I had a peek inside the room and what did I see but another littlepoor girl, and did I recognize her, no, I did not. So I assume that girl is what you’re doing around here.”

“She’s my sis,” I said as loud as I could into the ground, which was a mumble.

“Can’t hear you,” said the guy. “This is no good, boys. You’re pimping around here, and this is where I pimp. You’re pimping in Shoulderheads’s neckofthewoods, and guess who I am, spoileralert, I’m Shoulderheads. So I’m going to need to be pretty bad to you now.”

“We’re not pimping,” I mumbled.

“A little louder, shitbeetle,” said this guy Shoulderheads.

I yelled through my broken throat, “We’re not pimping. My sis got invited to that party. No one gave us any munmuns. We’re not sick pimps like you.”

Shoulderheads had a sour look on his face like, I don’t want to do this, but, looks like I’m about to start strangling and dangling you again.

But instead he started laughing.

“Oh wow,” he said. “You idiots. You are a hundredpercent pimping your sis right now. You’re just the dumbshit kind of pimp that doesn’t even get his tramp paid.”

And now I really started to feel sick.

“What’s going on in there,” I said.

“Don’t worry,” he said. “It’s about to get way better for your sis. Next party, I’ll make sure she gets a cut. She’s in good hands now. I saw her. She’s cute, and most important, prettymuch a kid still. So I can get her a lot of work. Like she can be a regular at this party every week, for starts.”

Usher fell, got up, fell, got up fell got up, stumbled down the hall, picked up speed, started really running and galloping.

“Don’t know what he thinks he’s doing,” said Shoulderheads. “Hey, look. You should be happy for your sis. She’s about to make way more with me than with you. I mean, with you she makes zero. Plus she’ll get a nice littleplace out by the reservewar.”

“What’s this party,” I said. ‘What happens in there.”

Usher attacked the door, hitting kicking ripping it.

“Probably better if you don’t know,” said Shoulderheads, and he picked me up again and this time heaved me over the rail.

I assumed I was dead, right up to the moment of my body slapping the poolwater.

Then I assumed Usher was dead even though he also hit the poolwater and not the concrete, because from a floor up, water is pretty painfull to hit, and Usher is not robust.

But he lived, and we linked arms and became a single crappy swimmer and paddled to the side. I climbed out on my notpopped wrist, fished Usher out, and rightaway drippingwet Usher hobbled back to the stairs to try for a second impossible rescue.

“Usher,” I said. “No way. Let’s find some police or security or something.”

He shook his head and tried hoisting himself, couldn’t though.

“It’s the best plan,” I said.

He was crying, but I wouldn’t hoist him, so he followed me.

The apartments had a guardbooth but no one inside, or maybe the guard was asleep and we couldn’t see from where we were.

But a few blocks away I spotted a police car, so I sprinted at it, shrieking. No one heard me. I raced around the car a few times, no answer. Finally I spotted the panel under the gascap, with the littlepoor circlehead picturesign. I slapped the button and it beeped and whispered a little light. No answer from in the car still. I hit it again a few times, beep beep beep, a few coughs of light from a dying bulb.

Finally the driverside door opened and out came a cop.

Like most cops he was about middlescale, a little littler. His eyes were tired and his mustache was a browntowhite rainbow.

“Cop, some lawstudents are squadbanging my sis,” I said, breathing hard.

“Wow,” he said. “Thanks for the info.” And he snuffled.

“I mean I think they’re raping her,” I said.

His eyes flinched and he said, “You think they’re raping her.”

“I took her to a party,” I said, “then some rando dropped off littlepoor tramps and threw us into a pool, now this rando says he wants to pimp her out too.”