Zero Worship: Confessions of a Fake Psychic Detective #6

Chapter 6 - Cutpurse

.././.

"Uh, hey, cuz," Chad says, keeping his distance from the front door. Piles of garbage form a berm between Ray and the trio.

I doubt six weeks' worth of pizza boxes are going to do much, but I'll hang back, too.

"I'm tired of you thealing from me. Can't truhth none of you," Ray says through his raging spit.

We can be certain Ray isn't the discreet midnight visitor at that cul-de-sac.

Zandra checks over her shoulder for any gawkers or police cruisers. There aren't any, but that doesn't mean there won't be soon.

"Let's talk about this inside," Zandra says.

"No fucking way," Ray says and slaps the chain against the siding once more. Another chunk of the house falls to the ground. "You're going to try your thykick bullthit trickth on me in there."

"I thought you were a reiki master?" Zandra says. "Shouldn't you be immune?"

"I am a reiki mather, and I want my thuff back, you lyin' piethes of thit," Ray says.

Chad waves his hands in a "slow down" motion. "Wait a minute, cuz. We didn't steal nothing from you."

"Fuck you," Ray says. "You look high right now."

To be fair, Chad always looks like that.

Ray's rage grows ever more present in his posture.

Neck stretched forward. Head angled down. He's like a bull getting ready to charge.

Then he does, straight at Chad. Chad doesn't have time to react—not that he possesses cat-like reflexes in the first place—but Ray puts on a surprising display of agility.

Adrenaline will do that.

Choke You Ray lives up to his name and wraps his chain around Chad's neck from the second time today. Bexley screams. Zandra instinctively starts to reach for the lawnmower knife up her sleeve, but her fingers still grip the packet in her pocket, so she stops on the slim chance the drugs might fall out as she removes her hand.

"You're killing him!" Bexley says.

This time, you might be right. This isn't Ray trying to wake a junkie up. He's not fucking around with that chain.

"Pieth of thit," Ray says over and over as he works the chain tighter and tighter. Chad resists as much as he can, but in only a few seconds he stops making choking sounds.

His air is cut off. This is bad.

Zandra turns the packet over and over in her pocket.

Shit, shit, shit.

"I took it," Bexley says through a scream. Then, wiping away her fright, "Just please stop. I took it, OK? I did."

Thanks, Bexley.

Zandra releases the packet from her fingers, letting it drop to the bottom of her deep pocket. She removes her hand and stuffs it up her opposite sleeve to draw the lawnmower knife.

"I knew it," Ray says and releases the chain.

Chad collapses to the ground, hands still clawing at his throat. He chokes and coughs as the air returns to his breath.

Ray drops one end of the chain to the ground. It dangles from his hand and drags through the garbage as he takes a few steps toward Bexley.

Bexley takes just as many steps backward, crossing her chest with arms and open palms ready to push Ray away.