In Which Craig Goes to Prison (RB Vs. The Shadow God, Chapter 7) · 4:09pm Jul 2nd, 2022
Previously, on The Shadow God:
Not a whole lot!
And now:
I am excited to announce that we are now one-fifth of the way through the book.
Yeah.
Craig wakes up in the morning and begins to get dressed. He's going to meet his father today. His mother enters the room and gives him a look.
“That poor Kristy,” said Susan shamefully.
Craig knew he had treated Kristy like shit and maybe a bit unfairly, but she kind of deserved it after accusing him of being out of his gourd. Though he knew what he told her must have sounded like he was out of his gourd, she was his girlfriend. She should’ve been a bit more compassionate, and not flat out tell him he was crazy and that he needed to take medication. Boyfriends and girlfriends aren’t supposed to do that to each other. It was a rule.
Weirdly specific rule, but okay. You'd know better than I would, I suppose.
Craig's mom reveals that Kristy told her everything that happened between them, but for some odd reason doesn't ask Craig about any of it.
Susan shook her head and looked at the floor for a second before returning her eyes back to Craig. “Matt told me something like this was bound to happen. He just didn’t know when.”
Sure, let's go with that.
She elects to ask him why he's getting dressed up. He tells her he's going to see his father.
“I would explain the events that took place on the day you were born, but I have a feeling your father wants to tell you himself. He knows a lot more about it than I do.”
Craig nodded numbly.
“Well,” said Susan. “I’ll let you go then. Just promise me one thing.”
Craig regarded her sincerely.
“All I ask of you is to be careful and take good care of Kristy. I know you two will end up getting married some day, and I want Kristy to be happy and have something I never had … a husband that’ll be there for her.” She squeezed his shoulder. “So don’t be doing anything stupid out there.”
I would make a joke about the odds of marrying your high school crush, but my best friend actually just got married to his high school crush a month ago, and I'm very happy for them, so I won't.
Craig drives to the tennis courts, where he meets up with Mark and Todd. Craig apologizes for being late because his mother was being too damn emotional (narrator's words, not mine).
“Yep,” said Todd. “Mine’s the same way.”
“Yeah,” said Mark. “I’ll bet she doesn’t even know where you’re going today. Does she?”
Todd turned to him. “Heck no! She’d have a royal fit if she knew! I lied and told her I had an early class.”
Mark waved his hand at him. “Man! You’re twenty years old! You tell that bitch you’ll come and go as you please!”
Shut up, Mark.
The three head for the prison where Craig's father is being held.
Craig could remember a story not long ago—just last year perhaps—about a David Smith who went berserk in one of the towers and shot several employees from its confines.
He thought it was the tower that hung directly over the front entrance.
“Do you guys remember that shit on the news last year about that tower?” Mark asked, pointing at the tower as Craig shifted into park.
Craig and Todd nodded.
“I wonder if whoever’s up there now will go ape shit, too?”
Is Mark okay? Like, seriously. Dude's got me worried.
Craig reminds them that they can't bring anything metal into the prison with them. Mark, as it turns out, had brought a pocketknife, so they leave it in the car. They walk across the concrete parking lot and each of them feels a little deja vu.
Craig found the receptionist’s desk to be set up exactly the way he remembered it the last time he was here. It was a large, rounded, cherry-finished, tabletop desk that stood four feet high and stretched from one corner of the room to the other in a giant half circle. It was the kind of desk that could probably be found in one of Donald Trump’s offices.
Ah, the innocence of 2005.
They make their way to the receptionist, a big burly guy by the name of Rodgers. He processes Craig's information.
“What about them?” Craig asked, pointing to Mark and Todd.
Rodgers’s expression turned sour. “Who are they?” came that same reproachful tone that apparently was glued to his voice.
“My friends,” said Craig.
“I didn’t know they were going in with you,” said Rodgers distastefully.
Yeah, why did you think they came in with me, dumb ass? Craig thought of saying, but didn’t for fear that Mr. Rodgers would rip his head off and shit down his neck.
He does have a point, there.
Rodgers tells them that Craig's friends can't go in because they aren't on Craig's dad's visiting list, which, for those who can't guess from the name, is a list of people who can visit an inmate in prison. Getting on that list is a lengthy affair; the inmate has to fill out a form, then send it to the persons they are seeking to add to the list, and then those persons have to fill out a form and send it back to the prison for processing, which may involve seeking further background information. It's a whole thing.
Which makes it really weird when Craig bribes the receptionist to get his friends put on the list.
Craig stared at the guard listlessly as he dug for his wallet.
“Craig!” said Todd. “What are you doing?”
“I’m getting my way,” said Craig, not taking his eyes from Rodgers’s fat face. He laid a fifty-dollar bill on the counter top.
He stuffed the money into his pocket and began processing Mark Williams and Todd Harris into Matt Johnson’s visiting list as “friends” of the incarcerated.
Obviously, I can't say for certain that a prison receptionist wouldn't have the authority to completely bypass an entire procedure at his whim, but...
Anyway, they head further into the prison and into the visiting area.
“So what do you think?” asked Craig.
“I think this place blows,” said Todd.
Mark was shaking his head, looking around. “It’s not too bad. I think it’s kinda cool.”
Well that's good, Mark, because the way you've been acting, you might end up here too.
After a while, Craig's father, Matt, shows up. Craig introduces his friends. Then, he explains what's been going on. Matt seems to take this in stride; it's exactly like the dreams he's been having. Then, he tells Craig what happened twenty years ago, in the events of the prologue. There's some speculation about what's been happening, and why Todd and Mark are being wrapped up in it as well as Craig. Matt asks them if there was anything that linked the three of them together.
Todd has an answer, and that answer is the name Billy Wagner. We get a flashback:
Todd and Billy were sophomores in high school and Todd was supposed to meet up with Mark and Craig down at the riverbank, but instead he ran into Billy Wagner, the boys’ worst enemy. Billy grabbed Todd by the shirt collar and made like he was going to drag him into the river.
Billy Wagner terrorized everyone, including his own mother. He’d beat her up at least once a week, rob convenience stores, get tossed in and out of juvenile detention centers, and push dope to anyone looking. Basically, he was the scum of the earth, and he had to work hard in keeping that reputation by badgering anyone he felt superior to.
Quite the character, this Billy Wagner. Literally built to be hated. How unfortunate.
Billy's heard through the grapevine that Todd was badmouthing him. Billy, accordingly, makes very clear his intentions to kick Todd's ass. Which he does, until Craig and Mark show up.
Billy looked up and saw Craig and Mark standing on the crest of the hill, with their arms crossed firmly across their chests.
Probably not as badass of a scene as they think it is. Quit trying to look cool while your friend is bleeding into the Ohio.
Anyway, Billy picks up a broken beer bottle and takes a few swipes at them, but they manage to tackle him to the ground and beat on him a bit. Weirdly, despite getting scratched by the bottle, Craig is uninjured.
Eventually Billy gets free and runs off.
“We’ll get that son of a bitch. That’ll be our promise.”
Mark looked at Craig and Todd. “We need more than just a promise. That cocksucker has been a thorn in our side ever since we knocked him down in gym class. And that was an accident.”
“And why did we knock him down?” Todd asked. “Because he was being an idiot then, too.”
“What are you talking about?” Craig asked Mark.
“I’m bleeding,” said Mark. “Todd’s bleeding. How about we make a vow and become blood brothers?”
Todd hit Mark on his good arm. “Hey! That’s a good idea!”
It's a great idea if your goal is getting HIV.
“Ain’t that kind of dangerous?” Craig asked.
“No,” said Mark at once. “None of us have had sex yet. None of us has got anything. So there’s nothing to worry about. We mix blood and we become friends till the end.”
How about passing around infections from the wounds, which were inflicted by broken glass sitting by the riverside?
Todd went to retrieve a small bit of clean glass from the ground, and then walked it over to Craig. “Here,” he said. “Use this one. It’s clean.”
No sense of self-preservation, these three.
The boys rubbed their arms together for almost a full minute, making sure each other’s blood got mixed together really well.
Try and picture this without feeling really lame, I dare you.
Flashback ends, and we're back at the prison.
Matt looked serenely at Todd. “Because,” he said, “since you and Mark have a little bit of Craig’s blood in your system, the Shadow God is not only after Craig, but he’s probably after both of you as well. There’s something about Craig that this Shadow God thing wants. I’m convinced it’s something about the blood.”
Pretty sure that's not how blood works. The foreign cells would probably be attacked by the body's immune system, assuming that they aren't all the same blood type. Red blood cells only last about 120 days in the body anyway, so...
“What if we just ignore the blue light for the rest of our lives?” Todd suggested.
Matt shook his head again. “I’m afraid that would be impossible. I believe the longer you wait, the stronger it’ll become.”
Y'know, Matt sure seems to just know a lot, without any real evidence or logical thinking. Kinda weird. I guess Mr. Rayburn had to have someone give the exposition.
Matt gives them a plan.
“You wait for it to come to you,” said Matt. “I believe that eventually, it will.” He paused, then added, “Hopefully, by then, you’ll know what to use against it.”
“And if we don’t?” said Mark.
“Then I hope God is on your side,” answered Matt.
“Maybe,” Matt continued, “instead of it luring you into the Dark World, you guys could lure it into this world. I believe that it has no power in this world. It’s gaining power from the Dark World.”
How to do this, he has no idea. But that's what Mr. Rayburn told him to say.
They do have one lead, though. Craig suddenly remembers something Matt mentioned in his letter. Apparently, he's been seeing a thicket of trees in his dreams as well, which he says is probably in the nearby woods. Craig and his friends decide that this is worth investigating, but that'll happen...
...in the next chapter.
See you then.
Nothing like a book written by someone who just doesn't understand anything.