Chapter 11: Sunday

When Jack woke up, his mother had left, probably back to her own bed, to join the others. He debated drifting off again but couldn’t fall asleep, and eventually rolled out of bed. He headed into his bathroom, showered, and shaved. He dressed in slacks and a sport shirt and wandered barefoot out of his room and down to breakfast. As he passed his parents’ room, he heard enough coming from their room to realize all four of the ‘senior citizens’ were enjoying some morning glory. He smiled and went down the stairs.

He found Rebecca in the kitchen drinking a cup of coffee. She looked up at him, and then looked away quickly. “Good morning,” he said.

She gave him a quick look and then looked away. “Good morning,” she said quietly.

“Feeling better?”

Rebecca blushed deeply and looked away again. “I should be going!”

“Don’t leave on my account. I’m just going to have some breakfast. Our parents are busy, and from the sounds I heard, are going to be busy for quite a while.”

“Still...”

He smiled at her, and when she turned away, gently reached out and turned her face back to his. “Embarrassed? Don’t be. Trust me, you’re not the first person in this house to have one too many.”

Rebecca blushed at that. “I guess I was pretty bad.”

Jack grinned and nodded. “You went way beyond pretty bad.” Rebecca gave him a dirty look at that, and he continued, “Oh, yeah, you were beyond bad and into the disgusting and grotesque stage.”

“Thanks for reminding me. I’ve already heard it from my mom and dad.”

He nodded. “Care for some breakfast? A real breakfast?”

She gave him a curious look. “Like?”

“Like bacon and eggs? Pancakes? Belgian waffles? You name it.”

“Uh, maybe.”

“How about waffles, bacon, maybe some sausage?” Rebecca’s eyes widened and she licked her lips involuntarily. “Waffles and bacon, it is.” He went to the pantry and then the refrigerator, and pulled out the ingredients, and followed that with a few pots and pans. He began to quickly and efficiently prepare breakfast. “So, how bad is it? Feeling any better?”

Rebecca nodded. “I suppose. I’m pretty hungry. I didn’t eat anything yesterday.”

“And anything inside you isn’t there any longer, anyway.”

She gave him a dirty look. “That’s gross, but yes, that’s right. My stomach’s pretty queasy. I’ll try one.”

“You’re not the first person to have a hangover. Trust me, I’ve had worse.”

“Sorry.”

“And the parental units?”

Rebecca rolled her eyes. “I’m grounded for life. And beyond! After I die, they’re going to dig me up and ground me all over again! I’m dead!”

Jack laughed at the teen. “Again, don’t think you’re so special. Trust me, I’ve been grounded, too. Don’t worry. No matter how bad you screw up, sooner or later they are going to want you out of the house, even if it’s just so they can rent out your room. Just remind them that you’ll be one of the people voting on which old folks’ home they end up in.”

Rebecca laughed at that. “You’re so helpful and kind!”

“That’s me, Jack Culverin, helpful and kind. Listen, if you want to get out of jail, the first thing you should do is apologize to your aunt and uncle. That will at least get you out of solitary and into general population. After that you can work your way up to parole and then freedom.”

Rebecca nodded, and added, “And apologize to you. Mom said I needed to say sorry to you, too. I shouldn’t have been so rude.”

Jack smiled and got out plates and silverware. “Thank you. Apology accepted, and I apologize right back. I shouldn’t have teased you. It just got you more worked up.”

Rebecca nodded. “Thank you.”

“What in the world made you try to match a guy twice your size in a drinking contest, anyway?”

The teen blushed again. “I thought...”

Jack shook his head and served her the first waffle. He got the butter from the refrigerator and the maple syrup from the pantry. “The one thing you didn’t do was think.”

“I’m not a little kid. I’ve drunk before.”

“You’ve had a few beers you snuck with your buddies before. You’ve never drunk liquor before, that I can guarantee.”

“What’s the difference?”

Jack broke from his cooking and went to the refrigerator, where he pulled out a bottle of Budweiser. “Beer runs about five percent alcohol on average. Some is a bit more, some a bit less, but five percent is a good bet.” He showed her on the label how to read the alcohol level. “Whiskey is usually forty to fifty percent alcohol. When you decided to drink Culverin Mist like it was beer, you were drinking eighty-six proof whiskey. That’s forty-three percent alcohol, almost ten times the concentration of alcohol as the beer you and your friends try sneaking.” He continued explaining alcohol levels while he served up the bacon and sausage and pulled his own waffle from the waffle iron.

“It’s worse than that,” he added. “Your drunkenness depends on your blood alcohol level. That is the percentage of your blood that is alcohol. I am probably twice your size. One ounce of booze is going to have a lot less effect on me than it will on you. If you try to keep up with me in a drinking contest, you are going to be in big trouble.”

“Shit!” she muttered. “How bad was I the other night?”

Jack smiled and shrugged. “Bad enough to be grounded. Not bad enough to be disowned and thrown out of the house. You’ll survive.”

“Doubtful.”

Becca called breakfast quits after her waffle, not feeling up to seconds. Jack, on the other hand, made a second for himself. The pair continued discussing booze and its aftereffects until they were finished, then Jack asked, “Listen, let’s get out of here. It’s too nice a day to stay inside.”

“I’m grounded, remember. I leave, I’m dead.”

“You worry way too much. We’re not going anywhere. We’re just going to walk outside. You haven’t even seen the place yet, you said that the other night. Come on, you’re in the ancestral home of the Culverins! Don’t you want to see what the big fuss is all about?”

“Uh...”

“Just run upstairs quick and put on some shoes. If anybody complains, I’ll tell them I forced you.” He stood and took their plates, putting them in the sink. “We can clean up later.”

Rebecca hopped out of her chair and ran up the stairs, returning a minute later in a pair of Nikes. Jack found an old pair of running shoes in the utility room. He opened the kitchen door and led the teen outside. “Quick, let’s run for it before the warden finds out we’ve escaped!”

“You’re nuts!” giggled Rebecca.

“Becky!”

Rebecca grimaced. “I hate that name!”

“You hate your name?”

“No, I hate being called Becky!” Jack gave her a curious look and she continued, “It’s a kid’s name!”

“So, what do you want to be called? I think Queen of the Living Dead is already taken.”

“Becca, that’s what my friends in school call me. Only old people call me Becky.”

Jack scratched his head. “Okay, Becca. I can feel the years peeling off as I say that.”

“You know what I mean. So, where are we going?”

“We are just going to walk in the summer sunlight and see the beauty of Culverin Hill. Like I said, this is the ancestral homeland. This is where the Culverins got started in America. Don’t you want to see what that’s like?” Jack led the way through the dew-wet grass. After a few minutes, he stopped at the side of a large pond. It was overgrown with weeds, and a rotten wood dock went from the shore to the center.

“What’s this?” she asked.

“This is the old fishing hole. Generations of Culverins learned to swim here. This is where Jacob Culverin taught his children to swim, or so the story goes, anyway. It changed when Dad married Mom. She was a city girl, and no way was she swimming out here in the wilderness. She made Dad put in the swimming pool.”

“Is it safe?” Becca asked.

“Not hardly. Between the alligators and the man-eating catfish, you’d take your life in your hands even putting a toe in the water.”

“Really?”

Jack rolled his eyes. “No, not really. There is no such thing as a man-eating catfish, and there are no alligators here. This is North Carolina, not the Amazon, for God’s sake!”

She stuck her tongue out at him. “You said you weren’t going to tease me.”

“I lied. Seriously, it’s perfectly safe. The only thing likely to bite you here might be a largemouth bass. They aren’t all that vicious. Mom just didn’t like getting mud on her feet.” He continued past the pond, crossing a small field until they came to some woods surrounding the hilltop. “Did you see that sign at the bottom of the driveway?”

“The one about the coyotes?”

Jack nodded. He pointed towards the woods. “That’s where they dragged the bodies.”

Becca’s eyes opened wide. “The bodies?”

“The bodies of the trespassers and robbers who came up here uninvited.”

“I call bullshit on that!”

“You are going to lose, Becca.”

The girl snorted. “Bullshit!”

He shrugged amiably. “Don’t believe me? Fine. I’ll show you inside. Just be prepared to lose graciously.”