The Alarm Clock at the End of the World

Part 40

Much Too Early the Next Morning.

“Is he sleeping on a dog bed?” That’s Mephis Tyr.

BAM!

Plush assault on my unprotected skull.

“Get up!” Nepotism ripping off the defensive bedspread. “I’ve been calling you all morning! Did Eva Lorraine stay here again?”

“How did you get in?”

“Eva left the door open!” Mephis Tyr yells, swinging the pillow like a baseball bat, smashing my forearms into my face.

“Leemeeafuckalone!” I yell, curling up on my stomach.

“Filthy! We have to get to Metro City,” Nepotism shouts. “We need to get into town before they clamp down on security.”

“Go without me,” I yell, finding my last remaining pillow and pulling it over my head. One of them answers with a heavy blow to my back.

“I told you he left with that chick,” Tyr snarls. “We aren’t leaving without you, Filthy.” Each of them takes hold of my biceps and drags me forcibly off the bed, dumping me on the hardwood floor. Mephis drops a wad of clothing at me and snarls, “Get dressed!”

I fumble with my shirt and pull it over my head, which takes a couple tries before I can remedy the fact that it’s both inside out and backwards. My jeans are another adventure altogether. With that endeavor completed, Nep and Mephis standing over me with crossed arms the entire time, I put on a pair of socks, cowboy boots and let them lead me out the front door to Mephis’s waiting car, fine-tuned Italian engine still purring gently. I’m pushed roughly into the cramped back seat where I curl into a fetal position and cover my eyes with my hands. Where does this guy get his money? “Nep, what do bees have to do with anything?” I manage to pick up my head to witness his response.

Nepotism turns his head sharply. “What?” His beady little eyes work over my expression. “What do bees have to do with what? In reference to what?”

“I don’t know,” I stumble. “Anything. In general, what is the significance of bees?”

“Well...,” he says, starting to slow. “Bees have a lot of significance.” He faces forward and I can’t help but notice an exchanged glance between Nepotism and Mephis Tyr. “They’ve symbolized kings for... shit, for millennia.”

Go to Part 41