Part 8 (1/2)

Billy fought with the mountain lion for what seemed to him like an eternity. He could see blood dripping down one of his arms. Billy had always been scared at the sight of blood, but he was now past the point of phobia. He was fighting for his life. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw one of the rocks that had tumbled down from the outcropping as the mountain lion approached. He stretched his b.l.o.o.d.y arm to its limit, and grabbed hold of the rock. With all his remaining strength, he bashed the mountain lion on the nose with it. The mountain lion was neither fazed nor amused, and furthermore Billy's balance had been affected by bas.h.i.+ng the mountain lion with the rock. He fell backwards, and landed headfirst with a considerable thud.

-Huh, said Billy, still holding the rock, still dripping with blood, just before crumpling to the ground and losing consciousness.

The two backpackers came scrambling down the hill.

-Hey, man, are you okay? said the nonfilming one.

-You're in the frame! said the one with the camcorder. -Move!

Billy stirred into consciousness. -What happened? he asked.

-I don't know. The mountain lion just sort of pawed and sniffed at you and then went away. Maybe he figured you were dead.

-I think I need to go to a hospital, said Billy, now in a state of shock, covered in scratches, bruises, and bleeding from several open wounds.

-Can you walk? asked the nonfilming backpacker.

-I don't know.

-We'll help you. It's not far to Larkin General.

-Sweet! said the backpacker with the camcorder. -Put your arm around him and help him up the hill. I'm gonna get the whole thing. Dude, you're gonna be a YouTube star!

-Okay, said Billy.

27. WHAT VIOLET SAID TO CHARLIE, FOUR DAYS BEFORE THE CHECK-CAs.h.i.+NG FIASCO, IN THE BACK ROOM OF THE KOREAN CHECK-CAs.h.i.+NG PLACE, AFTER HOURS.

You understand this is just a one-time thing, Charlie. -I understand.

-And that I'm not actually attracted to you or anything. Strictly speaking, this is a bargain. I f.u.c.k you, and you f.u.c.k Guy and Billy. The first f.u.c.k is meant literally, the second metaphorically.

-I understand.

-We're not going to see each other ever again after this. Or probably not anyway. Life is strange.

-I understand.

-Don't you even want to know why I want to screw up Guy's plan to rob your store?

-No.

-And you don't care about losing your share of the money?

-No.

Violet considered Charlie's answers for a moment.

-Not good enough, she finally replied.

-What's not good enough?

-Why don't you want to know anything about my motivations? It suggests to me that you don't have any intention of following through with Guy's plan, and that for me to f.u.c.k you would just be ... superfluous.

-I don't know what that means.

-It means you're a creep. But that's not important. I figured you for a creep. I didn't figure you for an untrustworthy creep.

-I'm trustworthy.

-So you intend to follow through with this ridiculous and almost-certain-to-fail plan to rob your check-cas.h.i.+ng place?

-I do. Or I did. Until now. Why do you think it's almost certain to fail? Guy's got everything worked out.

-Yeah, he's good at that. He's also good at the gang aft agley part about best-laid schemes. I mean in the original Burns poem, not the Steinbeck version.

Charlie gave a look expressing puzzlement.

-Don't even bother, she continued, before Charlie could protest. -I don't know why I'm talking to you like this. I think I might actually be nervous. Which is odd. I'm almost never nervous.

-Maybe you actually care about him?

-Yeah, replied Violet softly, surprising herself at her own half-admission. -I ... it's just with Guy, he's always got these grand projects, he's so busy trying to make something out of nothing that he can't see the something he already ... Anyway, I want him to be happy. I want to try to make him happy. I don't do this, as a rule. I don't get involved. That's how my husband got killed.

She reacted to Charlie's shocked expression with an impatient toss of her head.

-If he goes through with the plan-which I did my best to talk him out of, but to be honest my best is not very good, so I kind of figured he wouldn't listen-he will get caught, or worse, and from what I understand, your part in all this is central, so if you don't do your part, he will still fail, but on a much smaller scale. Call it damage control.

-Damage control, repeated Charlie.

A moment of heavy silence pa.s.sed between them. Violet sighed.

-Am I really that beautiful?

-Yes.

-Okay, then. Let's get started. She began undressing.

-No, said Charlie.

Violet stopped. -No? You're saying no?