Station, стр. 4
The needle rose, and the record stopped. The chasmof Shirley's face began to shrink back to its original state, theimpossibly stretched muscles and ligaments falling back into placeuntil it finally started to resemble the mask of a man once more.The twin snowstorms that had encased Shirley's eyes began to clear,the bright blues of his retinas appearing like the morning sun.Seconds that felt like hours passed and Hadder feared that he hadjust born witness to the death of a man. Finally, however, Shirleytook a massive breath before succumbing to a fit of coughing,desperately holding the bar to remain upright. It took severalmoments for the older man to compose himself enough to speak.
Hadder had let entire ordeal pass without saying aword. What does one say to incredible absurdity?
Shirley, seeming thankful for the silence, refilledboth their glasses with a quaking hand. "Fuck, that never gets anyeasier. Apologies for the graphic show; there's no way around it.Kudos, though, you handled it quite well. Some have run for thehills."
"I might have, but I still can't feel my fuckinglegs. And I may have pissed myself a little."
"An honest man. Probably hasn't served you well inlife, but I appreciate it nonetheless."
"This doesn't seem like the sort of place thatrewards or even suffers fake bravado."
Another Shirley chuckle followed. Another cigarettewas lit. "Quite right, you are, son! Now let me respond to yourhonesty with some of my own in kind. I'll try to cut through themysticism and smoke and mirrors that my boss, this fineestablishment's glorious benefactor, favors and shoot you straight.You have a choice to make, one that will fundamentally alter yourexistence."
"For the good or bad."
"That's not for me to know. I can only offeroptions. Tell me you wanna move forward, and I take you on. Tell meyou want no part of this madness, and you relinquish that key, andI tell you to get fucking lost. But given the circumstances thatmust have driven you and your fellow key holders here, could anyreformation be anything but positive or at least par for thecourse?"
Hadder's recurring nightmare of taking an unforeseenexam for a class he had skipped all semester came to life inreal-time. "Any details to assist me with this decision, Shirley?Anything at all you can tell me?"
Shirley rubbed his beard uncomfortably. "I'm just atool, son. A pawn in some cosmic game that's too big for an oldcountry boy to comprehend. I play my role and keep my head down. Isold my soul a long time ago, and this is my purgatory. Yours iselsewhere, far above my pay grade."
"Is that what I'm doing, selling my soul?"
The deep, sad sigh that fell from Shirley almostbrought tears to Hadder's eyes. "No, that's what I did. You'rebeing offered something else entirely. A new path. A differentlife. An escape from all this."
"Anything else, Shirley?" Hadder felt sickened bythe desperate plea he could hear in his own question.
"Yeah, just one thing. It's like a river, son. Movesonly in one direction, if you catch my drift."
"I don't."
"If you go forward, there ain't no going back. Thereain't no peeking in and seeing if you like it or not. This ain't noholiday, it's a permanent vacation."
Hadder had not been good at making big decisions inrecent years. He either overthought, procrastinating until choiceswere made for him or all options ceased being possible. Or he madechoices in the span of a breath, weighing no alternatives andgiving no fucks.
"I think I'm in, Shirley."
Shirley delivered his patented, serious look. "Youthink? Why don't you take a minute and think this over, kid? Iain't trying to rush you."
"I don't think. I know. There's nothing for me here,hasn't been in some time. I'm already on that river, and it's onlyflowing in one direction. I need to see where these waters areleading. Let's go. Now, please, before I lose my nerve or shit mypants."
Shirley slammed both fists onto the bar, whichthreatened to become sawdust beneath them. "Fucking right! Followme, you cavalier bastard."
Shirley marched towards the back of the tavern,slipping out from behind the bar and past a small bathroom hiddenfrom view. Hadder scooped up his terrible key and trailed, givingthe toilets a wide berth and offering a silent thanks that hedidn't have to use the facilities. Shirley pushed open the reardoor and held it open. "Dead men first," he teased, motioningHadder through the exit. As he walked out, Hadder was immediatelyblinded by the wash of sunlight that engulfed him and cursed itsseverity.
Had he known that it would be last sunlight he wouldsee, he might have treated its warm rays a bit more gently.
But Hadder did not treat them as such, throwing hisarms in front of his eyes and cursing the sun and its damnableinsistence on showing things as they really are, warts and all. Hispupils shrank before its enormity, and he slowly lowered hisshields, blinking a few times in surrender.
Hoping to discover some secret garden or mysticalpool hiding behind the bar called Station, Hadder couldn't help butfrown when faced with a wasteland of discarded engines,cinderblock-supported frames, and rusty remnants of once-greatvoices of American ingenuity. There was only an automobilejunkyard, just as one would expect to find in this armpit of thecountry.
Shirley limped ahead. The wind began to kick up,lifting dust to sting the side of Hadder's face as he followed. Heturned to block the onslaught, and when it ceased, he looked aheadto see that Shirley had stopped at an old Lincoln Town Car. Itappeared to be an early 90's model, similar