Rewrite -- Chapter 2
(Billy Sets Out)
Note: First of all, thanks for supporting my work. It truly means the world.
Okay, on to Chapter 2. If you have not read the first chapter, here’s the link for the first part of Chapter 1:
https://hatcherfictionwriter.substack.com/p/michael-hatchers-unpublished-novel2.
and the second part of Chapter 1:
https://hatcherfictionwriter.substack.com/p/rewrite-chapter-1b
And now, Chapter 2.
2.
The day after school ended and four days after Terry’s disappearance, Billy set out to find her.
The night before he’d stuffed an old gunny sack with some clothes and Terry’s old cell phone and charger she’d left behind. Billy thought that leaving these items behind was strange, you know, teenage girl and all.
He also took several wallet-sized photos of her, as well as the eighty-five dollars he had earned for repairing Old Man Henderson’s fence.
Billy’s father didn’t know about this windfall, because if it had come to his attention that his son was holding out on him, the senior Stewart would’ve beaten the shit out of him, taken his money, and spent it on cheap booze and cheaper whores.
He begged Henderson not to tell his father about the money; the old man agreed, because, in his own words, he never liked the son of a bitch anyway. Far from being offended, Billy concurred with Henderson’s assessment. But he did so quietly in case the old man let it slip.
Billy’s dog, Lucky, lay on the porch, resting his head on the half-rotted planks, eyes partially closed, flappy ears spread out like a canine version of Dumbo. The dog perked up a bit when he saw Billy, then put his head down again right after.
The boy knew that Lucky had worn holes through his fur, to rid himself of the fleas that clung to him like squatters in a dilapidated shack. The scratching became more frenzied whenever Billy’s father came near. Billy studied his own jagged fingernails and looked at his dog — a real kinship.
He rubbed Lucky’s head and knelt down close to him. “Well, we all have our thing, I guess.”
