Nate Mancuso

Happyboy

“KID DON’T LOOK NO FUCKIN’ EIGHTEEN,” the old man mutters, glaring at Happyboy from just inside the front door of the apartment. 

A foul odor spills out from the apartment into the cold night air. It smells to Happyboy like puke and shit and piss mixed in with momma’s old breakfast casserole. But it doesn’t make him sick, it just makes him hungrier. A familiar pang rises from his gut while the man continues to stare at him.

“He’s my own brother – y’think I don’t know how old he is?” Jade replies irritably, standing on the dull gray concrete walkway outside the apartment. Jade wears a black vinyl miniskirt over fishnet stockings and stiletto heels. Her cleavage spills out of her tight halter-top, her nose and eyebrows pierced and bare arms heavily tattooed. 

The old man looks her over again, absorbing every detail with hungry bloodshot eyes. He looks back at Happyboy. “How old’re you, kid?”

As if on cue, Jade turns to Happyboy with wide expectant eyes, her parted lips silently mouthing words to him. Happyboy looks over at the doorjamb, gazes over the splintered old wooden doorframe, then replies, “Eighteen.”

The man raises his eyebrows with a smirk. “What year ya’ born?” he asks gruffly.

Happyboy goes silent and looks at Jade in confusion.

“My brother’s kinda slow. He don’t remember shit like birthdays an’ all too good, but trust me he’s eighteen,” Jade explains.

“Y’all ain’t with the cops?” the man asks suspiciously.

“Fuck no, man!” Jade replies, then dips her head down toward the parking lot in front of the building. “That look like a fuckin’ cop car to you?” She adds, “An’ if we was cops, we’d gotta tell you right? So now y’know we ain’t cops.” 

“Who’s in the car?” the man asks, looking down at the beat-up Honda Civic in the parking lot, its windshield cracked and front bumper hanging off with a large dent on the hood. A dark silhouette shifts behind the driver seat with the bright orange ember of a cigarette tip slithering beneath his hoodie.

“Just a friend – he’s good, just drivin’ us, nothin’ to worry about,” Jade answers while she steps forward into the doorway and softly presses her body against the man. “Don’t you wanna party with me tonight?” she asks, slowly blinking her eyes and pouting her lips. “I promise you’ll have a good time with me.” She brushes her hand down the man’s protruding gut, grazing it against his crotch and keeping it there a long moment before pulling it back. 

Happyboy shivers in the bitter cold, teeth chattering. He hugs himself tightly for every bit of warmth he can muster, welcoming the temporary distraction from his overwhelming hunger.

Gazing down at Jade while his hand pets her lower back down to the curve of her ass, the man says. “Okay, just sit tight while I go talk to my ole lady. Be right back.” He closes the door, leaving Jade and Happyboy alone in the cold dark night.

“Freezin’ my fuckin’ ass off out here!” Jade says as her quivering hand reaches into her purse to pull out a pack of American Spirits. She has to huddle against the gray stucco wall to light her cigarette as the bitter wind howls through the walkway. After a long drag from her smoke, she walks over to Happyboy. “You okay, baby boy?” she asks, brushing his tousled hair back from his forehead.

“I’m hungry,” Happyboy mumbles with large sad eyes. He puts his arms around Jade’s slim waist, hugs her tightly and presses his face into her side. “I thought we goin’ to Golden Corral? Please Jade, I’m hungry!”

“We will, baby, I promise. Just gotta finish up here then Liam’ll take us. Don’t you worry.”

“Why’s Liam gotta come? Can’t we just go?” Happyboy whimpers as a strong gust of cold wind whips through the walkway and blows his hair back.

“C’mon now, Happy, y’know we got no other ride now. I’m workin’ on gettin’ us a car but for now we need Liam.” Jade’s voice hitches and she presses her lips to Happyboy’s forehead. “I’m doin’ my best for us, baby, I promise.”

A tear rolls down Jade’s cheek and drops to the crown of Happyboy’s head. While it trickles down his scalp, he looks up at her and says quietly, “I know you are.”

Jade walks over to the rusty iron gate at edge of the walkway and looks down at the car, where the bright tip of Liam’s cigarette sits motionless behind the dark windshield. She nods down and hugs herself for warmth, then turns back to the apartment door when she hears it creak open.

“Okay, we’re good, now come on in an’ get the hell outta that cold,” the old man says when he reappears in the doorway. He moves aside to let Jade walk into the apartment leading Happyboy by his hand.

The first thing Happyboy sees when he enters the filthy, cluttered apartment is the woman on the lime-green sofa holding a can of PBR in one hand and a cigarette in the other. An oversized Star Wars t-shirt is pulled down over bony knees with pale skinny legs bent and tucked beneath her. She takes a drag from her cigarette, exhales, then studies Happyboy through a cloud of smoke. “Well now, Jesus H. Christ, will ya lookit the size ’a that lil’ fucker,” she says lazily then shifts her gaze to the old man. “Sure he’s ol’ ’nuff, Jebby?”

The man scowls back at her. “This ain’t a fuckin’ job interview, Gin. Said they ain’t cops and big sister here swears he’s eighteen.” He looks over at Jade, who nods her head to reassure him.

The woman looks Jade up and down, appraising her like a piece of used furniture, then shakes her head and smirks at the man. “Okay Jeb, go have some fun with your lil’ ragdoll over there while l get on wit’ tubby.” She purses her lips at Happyboy and, in her raspy smoker’s voice, says, “C’mon over here big boy, let ole’ Ginny take a look at ya’.”

Happyboy looks up at Jade, who nods back at him while Jeb’s grubby paw clenches her ass. “G’head, Happy, it’ll be okay,” she assures him.

“Happy’s his name?” the woman laughs. “Fat lil’ bastard don’t look too fuckin’ happy to me. Looks sick after eatin’ a truckfulla flapjacks!” 

Jeb cackles out while his lips nestle into the crook of Jade’s neck, his nostrils absorbing the pungent scent of cheap perfume.

“It’s just his nickname,” Jade explains quietly while Jeb snakes his tongue up her neck to her earlobe.

“Never heard ’a that nickname before,” Jeb remarks while he takes a brief pause from nibbling Jade’s ear.

“Our momma used ’a take us to McDonald’s and he’d say ‘I wanna happy’ when he meant to say happy meal. So we started calling him ‘Happyboy’ and it just stuck.” Jade looks down at Happyboy with a smile.

“Well he sure ain’t look like he missed too many happy meals,” Jeb chuckles, then looks over at Ginny who’s taking a pull from her PBR. “Clock’s a tickin’, ole girl, so you let Happyboy here make you right while me’n big sis’ get to know each other.” He grabs Jade by the wrist and leads her toward the bedroom.

“Hold on now,” Jade says, planting her feet in the stained shag carpet before Jeb can pull her further. “We gotta get paid first.” Looking up to meet Jeb’s gaze, she taps his stiffening bulge and says, “You gotta take care of us, honey.”

While Jeb moves his hand from Jade’s wrist to his pocket, she says, “An’ my brother’s starvin’ hungry now, you got anything here he can eat?”

“Whatever he can find over there’n the kitchen,” Jeb mutters as he pulls some folded twenties from his pocket.  

Jade turns away and hurries to the kitchen before Jeb can hand her the cash. After looking around, she returns with a half-loaf of Wonder bread and open bag of Doritos. She hands them to Happyboy who immediately digs in. 

“Peel that mold off the bread before you eat it, Happy,” Jade instructs as she looks in disgust at the bluish-green bread crusts visible through the clear plastic bag. Happyboy ignores her and stuffs a handful of the moldy bread into his mouth. Closing his eyes, he wolfs it down with a steady hum.

“Lookit ’im go!” Ginny exclaims, shaking her head in amazement as Happyboy polishes off the bread then plunges his hand into the open bag of Doritos. “Don’t get too full on me, boy, y’got s’more eatin’ to do tonight,” Ginny laughs. She glances over at Jeb, who’s looking down impatiently at Jade as she counts the bills he just handed to her.

“Only a hundred bucks here,” Jade says, glaring suspiciously up at Jeb. “The deal was two hundred for both of us – what gives, man?”

“You’ll get the other hundo after,” Jeb replies while pulling Jade into the bedroom. “It’s on the dresser.”

Ginny leans back on the ratty sofa and pulls her t-shirt up above her waist. She spreads her legs open and angles her pelvis toward Happyboy. “Pull my panties down, chubbyboy,” she commands as she leans back into the armrest of the sofa. When he hesitates, she looks up at him angrily, her small beady eyes boring into him. “C’mon now, don’t you know what the fuck to do? Your sister told Jebby ya’ did.”

Too scared to speak, Happyboy hears the man’s groans start up then get louder through the thin bedroom wall, followed the rhythmic sound of a creaking bedframe. He looks back at Ginny, now perched on her elbows glaring at him and saying something that he can’t make out while the buzzing in his head kicks in and grows louder, drowning out every other noise in the room. His head begins to spin and the dizziness sets in. His stomach churns and he can feel a sharp acidic taste at the back of his throat. He grows lightheaded, then stumbles forward to the armrest of the sofa opposite Ginny. He leans into it to steady himself.

Happyboy is ripped out of his stupor by Ginny’s hand yanking him forward so hard by a fistful of shirt that his head snaps back. The buzzing in his head stops abruptly, replaced by Ginny’s loud voice. “—ckin’ retard? Get on up here and take off my panties!” she screams at him with a violent scowl.

Happyboy reaches his hands up to Ginny’s bony hips and pulls at the sides of her light blue cotton panties. He only has them down to her upper thighs – revealing a thick reddish-brown bush that crawls down out of sight beneath her crotch – before a powerful gut-wrenching stench attacks his nostrils. He grimaces and squeezes his eyes shut as he’s assaulted by the ungodly stink of raw sweat, filth and putrid unwashed pussy and ass. Like a living breathing organism, the stench slithers through his nostrils and permeates his head, marinating in his skull and crawling down through his throat and lungs, activating the acidic bile at the pit of his stomach. Happyboy’s stomach churns again. He tries but can’t subdue the gassy belch that rises up from his gut. He knows what’s coming next. But this time he can’t stop it. 

Ginny’s eyes bulge out in disgust as the contents of Happyboy’s stomach pour out – covering her hairy crotch and lower stomach up to her abdomen with fresh glistening vomit. Unable to control himself, Happyboy turns and plods toward the bedroom door, stopping halfway to lean over and puke into the already-nasty shag carpet. Wiping off his chin, Happyboy pushes open the bedroom door. “Sorry, Jade, but that lady—”

Happyboy stops abruptly. Both stark naked on the bed, Jade is on all fours with Jeb kneeling behind her, thrusting into her with loud porcine grunts and flesh slaps. His pale flaccid pock-marked ass jiggles like jello while her head knocks against the metal headboard with each thrust. Both of them turn their heads at once when they hear Happyboy enter the room. 

“Get the fuck outta here, kid! You’re s’posed to be with Ginny!” Jeb screams at him, then looks furiously back at Jade. “What the fuck’s goin’ on here, sis’? I ain’t even come yet – now get ’im the fuck outta here!”

Jade opens her mouth to speak but when she sees Happyboy’s face she jumps up off the bed and wraps the crumpled bedsheet around her. She hurries over to Happyboy, who’s sobbing hysterically and saying, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry … I didn’t mean to.”

Jade puts her arm around his shoulders and presses her cheek against his damp tear-stained face. “Oh baby, just calm down now. Tell me what happened.”

Before Happyboy can answer, Ginny rushes into the room with a pistol in her shaking hand pointed right at Happyboy. Looking at Jeb, she bellows, “Fat lil’ fucker just puked all over me!” She turns to Jade. “I don’t care if Jeb ain’t done with your skank ass, hand over what he paid you then take your little piggy and GET THE FUCK OUTTA HERE!”

Jade steps in front of Happyboy, shielding him from the gun pointed at his head.  “Ma’am, please. I’m sorry about what he did, it was an accident. Now please calm down and then I’ll get dressed and get the money. We’ll give it back to you then leave. But please lower the gun, you’re scarin’ the shit outta my brother.”

“Just put your fuckin’ clothes back on and gimme the money,” Ginny repeats without lowering the gun, now pointed at Jade. 

Jade nods obediently, then picks her clothes up off the floor next to the bed. Seeing an opportunity, she looks over at Happyboy, who’s standing frozen at the foot of the bed, staring at her in a trance. “Oh no, Happy, you don’t look too good,” Jade says. “You gonna be sick again?”

When Ginny and Jeb look over at Happyboy, Jade quickly pulls her cell phone from a pocket in her skirt and thumbs the keypad without either of them seeing her.

Happyboy looks down quietly, sniffling and shaking his head. 

“Fat lil’ bastard better not puke again. Now hurry the fuck up and hand over the money you nasty-ass whore!” Ginny commands while Jeb, now with a towel wrapped around his waist, walks over next to her. 

Jade hands the folded twenties to Ginny, then starts to put her clothes back on next to the bed.

“Hold on now, big sister, I ain’t had a chance to finish off yet,” Jeb says as he approaches Jade with a sly grin.

“C’mon, man,” Jade pleads as she pulls on her halter-top. “I gave you the money back, now we’re out.” Jade looks anxiously toward the door and says, “C’mon, Happy, we gotta—” 

The butt of Ginny’s gun slams hard against Jade’s temple. Jade falls back onto the bed while a sharp pain drives straight through her skull, splitting her vision as she loses consciousness. Through blurry eyes, she watches helplessly as Jeb hobbles toward her with his towel falling to the floor and his hand moving down between his legs. She hears Ginny’s bellowing laughter as Jeb’s beefy hands rip her stockings and panties down her legs, and then completely off. Using his girth to press her down into the bare yellow-stained mattress, he tugs at her bra, which finally gives way after the straps dig hard into her flesh. Barely conscious and unable to defend herself with the pain rocking her skull, Jade closes her eyes while Jeb’s sweaty flab slides up her torso until she can feel his hard member poking between her thighs to find an entry point. The buzz in her head grows quieter as she fades in and out of consciousness. Even Ginny’s shrill laughter seems far away now. As her eyes flicker and the blackness envelops her, all she can hear is Jeb’s heavy breathing in her ear as he finally forces himself inside. 

But Jade is jolted back into the light by the sound of the front door being kicked open. 

Happyboy rocks back and forth on his feet with his eyes closed and fresh vomit dripping down his chin while Ginny holds the gun inches from his head. He’s shaken from his trance by the loud footfalls behind them. When Ginny turns around toward the bedroom door, Happyboy sprints toward the bed with his arms raised and hands out, crashing into Jeb’s side and pushing him off of Jade onto the floor. He turns around when he hears the gunshot. Ginny is splayed across the floor with blood flowing from a fresh bullet wound in her chest. He looks up at what – actually who – stands just outside the bedroom door.

Liam.

***

Ignoring Jade and Happyboy, Liam walks calmly across the room with his gun pointed at Jeb, who’s now scrambling desperately across the floor to grab his towel. “Cash!” Liam screams at him. “Every fuckin’ penny!”

“All’s we got is what she gave my wife,” Jeb says to Liam in a shaky voice. They both look over at Ginny, now lying dead on her back with vacant eyes staring out into nowhere.

Liam looks back at Jade and nods over toward Ginny. “Get the money off that bitch and search the rest of this shithole. Take whatever you find.” He turns back to Jeb and, with his black leather steel-toed boot, delivers a sharp kick straight into Jeb’s ribs. 

Fighting the pain from Liam’s kick, Jeb wheezes out, “I swear that’s all we got, man. I mean look around – we look like we got cash stowed away?”

Jade grabs Liam’s arm before he can answer. “C’mon Liam. Cops’ll be here soon. Neighbors musta heard the gunshot.”

Liam hesitates, then nods at her. He looks over at Happyboy impatiently. “Let’s go, boyo, gotta bounce.” Then he turns to Jeb, who’s cowering against the wall with his head in his hands. “Towel!” Liam shouts.

“What?” asks Jebs.

“I said gimme that fuckin’ towel!” 

Jeb takes off his towel and hands it over to Liam with a scared, confused look on his face.

Liam carefully folds the towel into a square, then places it atop Jeb’s sweat-dampened head. He holds it there firmly and looks back at Happyboy with a smile while using his other hand to press the muzzle of his gun against the towel. 

Happyboy turns around to take Jade’s outstretched hand, barely blinking at the sound of the muffled gunshot behind him.

***

AC/DC’s “Back in Black” blasts from Liam’s car stereo while he and Jade pass a joint between them. When it’s snuffed out, Liam cracks open a Keystone Light from a six-pack on the floor and raises it toward Jade. “Cheers, babe,” he laughs before raising it to his lips.

Jade smiles at him, grabs the beer from his hand and chugs it down in one gulp, followed by a loud belch.

“Wow!” Liam exclaims in awe. “This girl likes her drink!”

In the backseat, Happyboy lies on his side, staring blankly at the back of Liam’s dirty cloth seat. “Jade, please, I’m so hungry,” he whimpers. He bites down on his knuckle to distract himself. 

“Here ya’ go, big boy,” Liam says casually while tossing a plastic-wrapped half baloney & cheese sandwich over his shoulder onto the backseat. 

Happyboy tears off the wrapper and downs the sandwich in two large bites. “I’m still hungry,” Happyboy whines. “Can’t we just go to Golden Corral?” He turns over on his seat and faces the backrest.

Jade looks over at Liam with pleading eyes. “C’mon Li, it should be fine. I told him earlier we could go after this one.” She places a hand on Liam’s thigh.

Liam pats her hand. “Let’s just see how this one goes. Should be gettin’ two bills from these fuckers. Maybe you can work him for another fifty or so an’ then we can go after.” He tokes the joint, then adds, “If not, I got plenty ’a food the fat little bastard can eat back in the apartment.” Liam takes a long pull from his beer. “An’ he don’ need t’eat every goddam minute of the day, else he’s gonna fuckin’ explode.”

Jade looks back at Happyboy, who’s turned around with his face buried in the backrest of the seat. She smiles then turns back around and grabs the smoldering joint from Liam’s hand. She takes the last hit as he pulls into the cracked old parking lot of the apartment complex. Staring at the dark, drab brick apartment building in front of her, lit only by a small sliver of moonlight, Jade sighs and asks, “How much longer, Li?”

Looking over at her with empty eyes, Liam replies, “When I say so.”

“But what about Happy? He’s just—”

“Not now, Jade. I – we – need the fuckin’ money.”

Liam takes the joint from Jade and presses it out in his ashtray. Looking at her for a long moment, he asks, “Good to go?”

Jade exhales softly, then quietly nods back to him.

Liam nods. “Room 214, second floor. Dude’s name is Jeb.”

****

Eyes closed, Happyboy looks deep into the black void. Like he always does to ignore the hunger screaming out from his stomach and consuming his body. He pinches his eyes tight and smiles, relieved when the colored rays break through the void. This part always relaxes him. But he’s never seen this one before. Maybe it’s a new one just waiting to escape into the light.

Happyboy can hear the sizzling bacon from the kitchen. And that smell. That delicious smell of frying bacon that fills his nostrils and expels every competing odor, every other sense. And possesses him.

Happyboy knows what that smell means: that momma is close by. She’s in the kitchen with her apron and spatula, just cookin’ quietly and hummin’ along. Maybe even signin’? Momma loved to sing. Happyboy walks into the kitchen and momma turns around with a smile. She plants a soft warm kiss on his forehead and tussles his hair. “Look what I made for you, baby boy,” she says while pointing over at a full plate on the kitchen table. A heap of scrambled eggs, hash browns, bacon and sausage links sit invitingly next to a smaller plate of thick buttered toast. 

Between mouthfuls, Happyboy looks up at momma excitedly. “Can we get ice cream later? Jade said—”

“Well now … daddy may need the truck today, but if not then maybe—” 

Before momma can finish, Happyboy jumps out of his chair and races towards the stairwell. “I’m gonna ask Jade so maybe she can ask daddy to take us!”

“Happyboy, no!” momma yells after him. “Don’t go up there! C’mon back down here!”

But it’s too late. Happyboy bounds up the stairs as fast as he can, using his hands to propel him up the stairs in front of him. Breathless when he reaches Jade’s bedroom door, Happyboy is too excited to hear the steady grunts on the other side. He turns the doorknob and throws the door open but then stops. His face goes slack when he looks over toward the bed.

“Happy!” Jade screams at him. But a meaty hand slides over her mouth as her head is forced violently into the pillow beneath her. Her eyes fill with tears as she struggles to breathe. Happy looks behind her and his legs give out. There he is. Mounted behind Jade. Thick tattooed forearms pinning her down while his hips thrust violently atop her.

Daddy.

***

“The fuck is wrong with you?” asks Liam as he pushes Happyboy into the back seat of the Civic. On the passenger side, Jade leans shaking against the door, quiet sobs escaping her mouth from somewhere much deeper. “Get the fuck in the car, Jade!” Liam shouts while looking wildly around the parking lot. “We gotta get the fuck outta here! Like now! Pronto!”

Jade doesn’t move. She’s staring through the rear window at Happyboy, whose face is pressed against the glass looking anxiously back at Jade. “I’m so sorry, baby,” she repeats over and over, only stopping when Liam grabs a fistful of her hair and yanks the car door wide open. 

“Goddammit I fuckin’ told you we gotta get the fuck out—” Liam stops short when he feels the gun being pulled from the rear waistband of his jeans. He lets go of Jade and spins around. But before he completes his pivot, the butt of the gun crashes into his face and he falls backward, tripping over Jade’s foot onto the cold black pavement of the parking lot. Staring up in shock with one hand pressed against his shattered eye socket, Liam murmurs painfully, “Why you fat little fuckin’ bas—”

Liam stops when the first bullet pierces his jugular. Happyboy’s kick strikes him beneath the jaw and drives his head back into the pavement. Blood spurts through Liam’s fingers that are grasping at his throat.

Wasting no time, Jade grabs Liam’s keys from his pocket and hurries around to the driver-side door while Happyboy hops into the passenger seat. His door slams shut as the Civic peels out of the parking lot. 

“What we gonna do now?” Happyboy asks Jade when they’re out on the road. 

Keeping her eyes fixed in front of her, Jade shrugs her shoulders. “I don’t know. We’ll figure it out, baby.” She pauses, then adds, “We always do.”

After a long silence, Jade looks over at Happyboy with a comforting smile. “Still hungry, baby? Golden Corral might still be open.”

“That’s okay,” Happyboy replies, placing his hand protectively over Jade’s. “I’m good ‘til breakfast.”