So You Used to Be Human - Book 3 (Original Version)

Chapter 27: Save Our Souls

-7-

It should have been raining. It was just one of those nights where you think you know everything has turned to shit just enough to actually be poignant and maybe actually mean something again, so of course it shoudl have been raining. It would have been more dramatic, and tragedy loves nothing more than drama so yeah, any minute now that sky was going to open up and dump deluge on us as we approached the garishly painted Winnebago that sat at the edge of the trailer park.

Problem was that there was not a cloud in the sky.

Sammy had noticed some clouds earlier and had actually remarked on them, saying something foreboding like "Looks like it's going to rain," and it was the kind of statement that would ordinarily be true just because it was so obviously true. Except even nature had been working against my sense of drama.

There wasn't much talk in the car for that last hour of the drive and Sammy had put on a nineties alternative mix that was kind of cool to listen to as we drove through the night towards our destination. For a while it felt like I was in the middle of a movie as we tore down the highway in the King's borrowed car, Cannonball from the Breeders blasting out of the speakers. When Jaime started to sing along and Sammy joined in, that moment was made even more palpable and surreal for me by the huge golfball sized raindrops that splatted against the window with a huge "CRACK!"

Here we go, I thought as I looked over at the water beading on the window, the two drops forming two clean circles in the road-dust that had accumulated on the car. The drops broke up even more as streaked back across the window leaving a solid path of clean. There were no more drops to follow, just those two gigantic drops. When I looked out the window at the night sky, there was not a cloud in sight.

"Even nature is fucking with me tonight," I muttered and I knew I was right.

It should have been raining dammit.

We drove all the way into the small trailer park and there were no armed guards, no weird guardian posts in the trees and no goddamn rain. It was pretty much typical of what a trailer park looks like at 3:20AM: rows of mobile homes with a lot of sleeping families inside. One of them had the flickering lights of someone watching television or maybe Netflix inside and I could smell the pungent stench of ditch weed from that same trailer, but that was nothing out of the ordinary.

This was a different trailer park of course, since Jesus tended to move around a hell of a lot, but all the same it had a similar feeling, a feeling that you recognize in the pit of your stomach even if you're feeling it for the first time.

"You sure about this?" Jaime asked me, and I nodded.

"He's been around for a while. Yeah he likes to fuck with your head and he'll steal your liver if you give him the chance, but this is the guy."

Jaime looked me deep in the eyes and there was a little bit of fear there, but also that determination that kept her going even when things got fucked up. That optimism that was so attractive at times and reminded me of how good things had been.

"Don't fuck this up Bob."

Hello reality! Glad to see you're back.

"I'm just going to stay here," Sammy said. "In the car. With my liver."

"And your shotgun," I offered and Sammy didn't even crack a smile.

"I don't feel like it Bob. It's been a rough night, okay? Just get this over with and we can all go home and sleep."

I exited the car and stood next to Jaime who was just staring at the garishly painted Winnebago in front of us. I stole a glance at the sky, but nope, still no goddamn rain.