RECKLESS

Ray should not have provoked Jake though he realized it was fun pissing off the guy as a pastime these days at school, at the Shacks, or even around town.

Tsk, tsk.

All the crazy commotion in the middle of the party for a small bag of weed to smoke. Weed for a few bucks for fuck's sake.

Now, standing in the shadows of the night outside Douglas' house, he patiently waited for Jake and his friends to leave. He was sure that they were leaving for the Shacks--it wasn't that far, just at the far end of town.

That part of town where delinquents like them could hide.

Ray needed to follow them and find out what they were up to these past few weeks. He heard a lot of rumors about Jake Wright and his gang doing "business" at the Shacks.

The Shacks was a local bar by Connor Road, and Ray had been there himself. All he did there was play pool and play cards, and, occasionally if he was in the mood for it, flirt with the women.

Of course, beer was always part of being a Carter so, yes, he drank lots and lots of booze in the Shacks.

Speaking of booze, he smirked at the thought of his grandfather worshipping it. Ray wasn't an alcoholic himself, too premature to claim the diagnosis, but there was something about drinking alcohol that made him feel, if not think better.

Jake and his gang drove away unaware of Ray, headed to that shady side of the town. When they were out of immediate sight, Ray got inside his red '72 Chevy Nova SS 360, planning to tail after his target.

Yeah! He loved his car--one of his few prized possessions in life.

Because he was all revved up after his big dick encounter with Jake, he didn't bother telling Alas or Dan or even quick to anger Frankie where he was headed tonight or what he was up to. What he wanted to get out of his current situation. His friends were having a great time with pretty girls at the party so he would leave them alone. No need to disrupt happy times.

Driving and suddenly, he got irritated with the thought of him with a pretty girl. Not exactly–the thought of him with a "not really pretty" girl. He forgot about her, not entirely though, after what happened with Jake.

Lily McQueen still haunted Ray's thoughts, and it pissed him off that he was being a jerk with her. Almost always and every time he was with her. Or near her. He was beginning to dread that damned strange, undefined impulse of his to talk to her. To be with her.

Sure. The Stiff was cute, but he didn't know what else to describe her in a positive sense for a guy like him who was, almost always again, raging with teenage hormones, unlimited energy which needed any means to steam off. Alcohol was one option to forget albeit temporarily.

Like every sexual guy like him, he liked girls with big breasts and perfect asses. Fuck! He really liked girls. He liked sex. No doubt about it.

However, he found himself liking her, the "not really pretty" girl, more and more each day since the day he first laid eyes on her. The night he drove her home wasn't the first time. The truth was that he already had his eyes on her years ago.

It was the year that Lily McQueen first came to Fram Hill. Ray still remembered how she looked like that fall day--first day in high school as a freshman and fresh from the neighboring big city.

She was fifteen and a little short for her age. A wee little thing. Damn. Ray wondered if she had even grown an inch since. She was small yet almost willowy. In his opinion, she had the richest brown eyes he had ever seen. Those shy eyes at times hid behind glasses.

And that mouth of hers was all damn-I-have-to-take-a-bite-of-those-lips-for-a-tease Ray was dreaming about. Dammit! He was already sinning by the second.

Despite that little secret of his and his growing desire, he always had to remind himself that she wasn't pretty, her breasts were small, her ass was flat. She was short and plain. But then again, he always found himself amused with her. She felt right for him. Just right and, sometimes, that was more than enough for him to forget she was the school Stiff.

In his messed-up head, he was laughing at the memory of him recording some dirty, smutty sex sounds using her own voice recorder which she infamously used to plant inside one of the lockers in the varsity locker room. The look on her face when she listened to it after was priceless.

Her face went freaking-tastic red!

Shaking his messy brown-haired head, he started the engine and drove off, trailing after Jake's truck.

For now, he pushed his thoughts of "not really pretty" Lily away. For years, he had these thoughts in secret that he mastered the art of not showing them until the night he gave her a drive home.

It was a chance encounter he must admit.

He was not doing anything about it. He didn't before and wouldn't ever anytime soon. Anyway, Lily had no idea at all about him except maybe of him being a nuisance, disgraced former baseball varsity player, the mayor's grandson, and an asshole.

He was repeating his mantra to himself–never, never, never–when Jake's truck stopped. He had to stop driving his Nova one block away from the truck. He saw Jake go out of the truck and begin walking towards him.

A few seconds after that, Ray saw both Michael Holmes and a second guy who belonged to the basketball varsity team soon followed.

They only stood near the truck while Jake came to stop by Ray's left car window and said, "You know what? I think we should be clear with each other. You are really getting on my nerves, Carter, man."

Ray only listened and tried to stay cool without looking at Jake. He tried so hard to because right now he felt like his Nova went too small for him that he couldn't breathe. That he suddenly felt the need to hit something. Someone's face.

Jake continued, "You and I have been going on about this same old shit for years now. And you and I both know why. A little advice from someone who knows trouble more than you know any crap, asshole. Stay away, Carter, or I'll take you with me. Down. You'll go down with me. This time for real. No grandpa or daddy will save your ass. Do you get that? Huh? I don't forget the past. Haunts my sleep. So you better remember."

Every word was a threat. Clear. Quiet but deafening.

Jake finally turned to leave but without kicking the car's front tire and spitting on the windshield. He wasn't finished and yelled, "You think we're done?! I haven't started yet, asshole!"

Jake gave Ray the finger of the night. Classic Jake Wright.

Ray understood the message but, like the asshole he was as Jake loved to put it countless times, he did not care.

Jake's truck drove away and disappeared around 2nd Manor Street to Connor Road. Nothing else left to do, Ray started the car engine again and went the other way. Back to Douglas' Halloween party.

On his way back, he thought about everything Jake said and what had gotten wrong between them for years.

Jake was right--Ray knew exactly why they hated each other and why they had nothing but grudge between them whenever they had one foot set on the other one's territory. It had been years, and it seemed like Jake wasn't getting tired anytime soon.

Unlike the asshole Jake, Ray was tired, so damn, fucking tired. It had been a long time but the shit which happened two years ago was still gnawing at him. Jake was not the only one whose nights were haunted by the memory.

It had been two years, and Ray still couldn't recover, couldn't survive a night without drinking alcohol or using whatever means to forget because the same shit haunted him. He couldn't move on too.

Nothing could keep one wide awake at night worse than regrets.

Reckless.

Ray was reckless. He knew that. Could he ever make it any clearer for everybody to see?

He was sorry.

***