A quick note for all of my readers, followers, subscribers, and fans; I write for fun. I write to become better. I write to improve my skills. I try to be adaptive, write from the mindset of a teenage introvert who is dying to come out, an old man whose days of glory seem far behind him, from a woman's perspective, or a man's. I seek greatness, but I know with that comes a terrible price. So be it. I am currently writing a number of novels which I plan to have published. I thank you all for reading. Please share, comment, and check back for more. If you don't like what I write, please leave me some constructive criticism. I am always looking to do better. To become, better.
Thank You.
Also, this is mostly Taboo, but if you counting your steps, then incest. Have a good read.
AJ Abraxsis. Chapter 1.
"Yeah? Hello?"
"Hey A.J. I've been calling for you for an hour now. Come upstairs. I have to talk to you about something."
"Okay, Dad. I'm almost done with this level."
"No. Shut that shit off, and come up here now."
"Dad, please. I'm almost-"
"I swear to god, you're going to learn what's really important in life."
AJ paused his game, heard his father's footsteps across the house, and immediately jumped out of his seat, running for the stairwell. He flew up the stairs, three at a time, and turned to his right, stepping into the kitchen.
"I'm here," AJ said, trying to act like he wasn't completely out of breath. His father gave him a hard look and then turned around. AJ followed.
"I'm going to be going out of town for a few weeks. Not business, but something else. I need you to step up while I'm gone." AJ took a seat on the couch while his dad sat down on the sofa. "I want you to get a job."
AJ sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly. He'd already tried that, multiple times, and every time he got a job, his father did something to ruin it. Whether it was his dad calling his boss at work to bitch about AJ having to work late, or threatening his supervisor for making AJ come in on days he wasn't scheduled to work, the result was always the same. AJ never had a job for very long, and if he did, it wasn't a very good one. Job opportunities were few and far in between, in an economy that valued low prices, low-wage workers, and corporate interests, over the everyday worker.
"I'm being serious," Jaxson said, narrowing his eyes at AJ. "Are you even listening to me?"
"Yes, I'm listening to you," AJ said flatly.
"Then say something."
AJ clenched his jaw, not wanting to say what he was really feeling. He didn't want to get into an argument, and he didn't want his father to completely flip out on him either. He was already looking into ways of making money. Some of them were a bit riskier than others, but AJ wasn't one to avoid risky situations. If anything, the risk made the reward that much sweeter.
"What do you want me to say?" AJ asked, turning to face his father. "I can get a job. I'll have one tomorrow if you want. But you gotta let me work. You can't be calling them, bitching them out when they insist on me working on my day off."
"That was one time," Jaxson said. "And you asked for that time off. We had that trip planned for months!"
"Yeah," AJ said, nodding. "And I lost my job over it. I 'chose' to go on a fishing trip with my dad, instead of working, helping the company, and being part of the team."
"That was a shit-ass job anyway," Jaxson said, pulling his sleeves up past his elbows. "A real job doesn't ask you to come in. They know you'll be gone. You leave your phone at the office, you get on a plane and you fly to Milan, or Paris, or Tokyo. As long as you're back on time, as scheduled, ready to go, they understand, and they value that. Work is work. And not work is... isn't."
"Well, I can't get a job making hundreds of thousands of dollars if every 'shit-ass' job I get, I get fired from. I'm going to have to do the grunt work, somewhere. Move up the ladder. Advance."
"Yeah. I'll call Marty at the office and have him get you a job."
"Dad. I don't want a job at your job," AJ said. "I...I'll get a job. I promise. But you gotta promise me, that you won't call them, under any circumstances."
"What if I need you to pick something up on the way home from work?" Jaxson said.
"Then you call my cell...or send me a text."
"What if your phone is dead?"
"What if I'm dead," AJ said, trying to be smart, but as soon as the words were out of his mouth, he knew he'd fucked up.
"Don't say that!" Jaxson said in an extremely exaggerated way as if AJ was going to run out of the house, into traffic. "Don't ever say that! It's not funny!"
"Sorry!" AJ said quickly. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that."
"You know I miss your mother every single day," Jaxson said, his voice trembling. "I don't know what I would do if..."
"Dad," AJ said softly, but in as solid a voice as possible. "I'm fine. I'm not going to do anything stupid. I was just...making a joke."
"Well don't," Jaxson said roughly.
"Okay, fine. I won't."
The two of them sat for a while longer before Jaxson reached for the television remote and turned it on. AJ lifted his chin to see what his dad was going to watch, to see if it was anything even mildly entertaining. The news was on, covering a shooting that had happened in a city not too far from where they lived. The reporter switched to another who was interviewing a witness, and Jaxson turned the channel. "Low-life degenerates," his father said.
AJ sighed. Everyone was a low-life degenerate if they were on the news. According to his father, life should be all kittens and roses. There should be no poverty, no crime, no inequality, none of that. But his father never followed the principles he embraced. He was always putting down everyone other than himself, always trying to get a leg up on the competition, always trying to outdo or outsmart his rivals. He didn't usually do anything that might have been considered criminal, but he didn't always tell AJ everything he did either, and AJ was afraid of the dark secrets his father was hiding.
AJ watched a number of commercials and then whatever show had been playing prior, resumed, and after about two minutes, his father switched channels again. "Why isn't there anything good on T.V. anymore?" his father grumbled.
"Because they have cable now. And DVDs, and streaming services," AJ said.
"Gimmicks," his father said stubbornly. "Everything is changing. They're trying to make you pay for things you used to get for free. Bottled water? Huh? Huh? They get rid of regular TV, and make you pay for cable. It's not enough that you pay for cable though. Now you gotta pay for the streaming services too. Everything has a price tag on it now."
"Soon, they'll be selling air," AJ said, repeating something his father had said on numerous occasions.
"Oh don't get me started on..." Jaxson turned to see AJ smiling at him, and he knew he was rambling. "Go...go play your video games."
"Thanks, Dad," AJ said, getting up and walking away quickly.
"Yeah," Jaxson said, waving a hand dismissively. "Just make sure you get a job." He lowered his voice so AJ couldn't hear it. "I told Melody you already had one. Come on lady luck, don't fail me now!'
The next morning, Jaxson was gone, and AJ had the entire house to himself. He stayed in bed until eleven a.m. before getting up to make breakfast. By 3 p.m. he'd already achieved a new high score on one of his video games and by 7 p.m. he was thoroughly bored with everything. Deciding to do something productive, he walked across his basement bedroom and put in a load of laundry.
His father had bought the house with the intention of having a large family, and them living there their entire lives. It was a pretty big house, six bedrooms upstairs, a master living room, and a master bathroom. Because it was an older home, it only had one bathroom, and the kitchen was a combination dining room/kitchen which made things a tight fit when the table was full and someone had to get into the fridge.
The basement had a concrete floor with cinder-block walls and an unfinished ceiling which AJ liked just fine. He'd used whatever he had at his disposal, creating makeshift walls and situating things wherever he wanted, as the entire basement was his bedroom, all except for the laundry room, which was basically the basement past the stairwell. While it might have been an issue for other people, living right next to the laundry room where the washing machine and dryer might keep you up at night, the sounds of these things soothed AJ and put him right to sleep. The large wash basin which the washing machine dumped water into, also provided AJ with a convenient, albeit uncouth, way to relive himself during long gaming sessions where timing was of the essence.
The next morning AJ awoke determined to find himself a good job. He took a shower, shaved his face, put on cologne and deodorant, and made himself look presentable. He stood in front of the mirror for a moment, inspecting himself for flaws. His hair was a bit overly long, dark, and shiny. His father said his hair was oily and had bought him shampoos to cut the oil and make his hair "nice" but what AJ ended up with was a hair supplement for men who were prone to losing their hair...which didn't help cut the greasy look.
AJ smirked and then turned, raising an eyebrow at himself, thinking he had the looks, he had the clothes... He had a good education but he'd never had the drive to go to college. His father said that was a good thing. College was nothing more than a trap. An added expense where young men and women went to fornicate incessantly and ninety-nine percent of people who went to college, regretted it. His father called them "whore factories" as well as "debt factories" and told AJ he was much better off not going.
A few moments later, AJ was in his car, driving along, looking for the first place that said: "help wanted". After driving almost ten miles in one direction, he turned around and headed back. This was stupid, he thought. He should have been looking in the paper, calling people on the phone, looking on the internet! But his father had strictly prohibited him from having a computer, and AJ knew why. A long time ago, his father had gotten into a bit of trouble with the law. Now, he was prohibited from using a computer, or even having one. It concerned ranting online and making threats against someone. AJ knew that much. But the fallout sucked.
The library, AJ thought, turning around once again. The library had computers. He could go there, and use one to find a job. A few minutes later he pulled into the parking lot, got out, and locked his car out of habit. There were a lot of other people here today, and as he walked into the Library, he sighed. All the computers were already being used, and a line of high schoolers sat, waiting in line to use them.
"Suffer little children, huh?" A voice said from nearby.
AJ chuckled and turned around, smiling, and then froze. A woman stood, her back against the wall, jet black hair draped down over half her face. She stared at him with one eye. He smirked back at her. She was a goth, dressed all in black, from her ripped black jeans to her black shirt, to her black jean jacket. All black.
"You know where that's from?" the woman asked, her blackened lips revealing bright white teeth and a delicate-looking pink tongue in bright contrast.
"I, uh...the bible, I think," AJ said, hooking one thumb into his right trouser pocket.
"So you're a religious zealot?" The woman asked.
"No," AJ chuckled. "I can't remember the last time I was in church."
"That's what people say when they're remembering the last time they were in church."
AJ smiled wryly. "So what are you doing here?" He asked.
"Oh, I always like to spend my Saturdays at the library, watching the chaos unfold. People drop off their kids and then leave. Just let them run wild. It's a complete shit show."
"Do you work here?" AJ asked.
"No. I used to. I still get the employee discount on rentals and the vending machines. It's just a number you punch in. Not like they can take it away."
"Hmmm," AJ said, turning back to the line for the computers.
"Where do you work?" the woman asked.
"Nowhere," AJ answered.
"Unemployed or you just don't wanna tell me?"
