Suzie’s House 490 : Van Family Neophyte

“He’s a misogynist!” The dork with fake glasses pointed at Big Jim Zempel and laughed. Laughed! As if he had any right to say anything, the wannabe.

“What are you talking about?” Jim tried to laugh it off, though he really wanted to punch the guy. Lately it seemed like lately Rick had been picking up more and more of those people. Always the ones who didn’t really need to be there. College kids killing the last few minutes before they went back to school.

“You, man. I’m talking about you.” The idiot college boy grinned dopily.

“He’s right, you know.” Bony Bonny had the nerve to say it. “I’ve been thinking it for a while now.”

“Yeah.” Two of the new girls nodded agreement.

With one thing or another they were down to just the six of them, all huddled together under one blanket in the hollowed out back of the van.

“Do you all hate me?! You can’t. Right? I am the heart and soul of this family. I’m the daddy. You know it, Bony. And you, too, Rick. I AM the van family.”

“Yeah, right.” The new guy made it sound like a joke. “You’re just oblivious. Rick is the head of your so called ‘Van Family’. He’s the one with the keys.”

“I have keys, too!” Jim would have held it up but his hands got caught under their shared quilt.

“But Rick is the owner of the van. At the end of the day, he’s the one who chooses.” The new guy paused dramatically, then looked over at Rick. “So? Rick, who do you choose? Him or me?”

“Well, frankly, Big Jim,” Rick turned Jim’s name into an insult with the way he said it. “I’ve had about enough of you. Everyone complains to me about you. You aren’t nice to any of the girls. That’s the real reason Cheyenne took off.”

“Didn’t your family teach you any better?” One of the new girls, the one with a red Mohawk, sneered at him.

“Hey, I have a sister,” Jim pointed out.

“She must hate you.” Bony gave him a look of pity.

“As I was saying,” Rick gave them a shut-up-while-I’m-talking look. “You talk the talk but you don’t walk the walk. We’re all in it together? Not for you. You think I don’t know you’ve been holding something back? How stupid do you think I am?”

Jim muttered to himself about just how much an idiot Rick had to be to listen to this.

“Just get out, man. Just go.” Rick sounded tired, but everyone else looked like they’d pull out the rope for a lynching if Jim argued.

“Alright. Fine. I’ll go. And curse all of you. Without me, you’re nothing. You hear? Nothing!” He slammed the back open and hopped out, then grabbed a backpack he’s staked out a while back. “Mark my words…”

Before he could say more, the doors slammed shut in his face. While Jim glowered through the windows at all of them, Rick’s twiggy shape moved up to the steering wheel. The van spit a cloud of black smoke in Jim’s face when it started up.

As they drove away with cat calls and waving, Jim stuffed his hands in his hoodie pockets. It was going to be sunset soon, and he was already cold. His fingers just naturally wrapped around his copy of the key to the van.

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