Lonesome road to hell

“When are you leaving?”

Noddy was nursing his beer in a dark corner of Valhalla. The nightclub, not the mythological Viking hall. He lifted his boots off what had once been a red leather couch, making space for Morag to sit opposite him. She inspected the exploding foam rubber, cratered with cigarette burns, kicking it first to make sure it was dead before risking physical contact.

Noddy shrugged. “Soon as we can, I suppose. We’re both sick of this place.”

Morag pulled two fresh beers from the inside pockets of her leather jacket, handing one over. “That makes three of us. Wednesday 13’s not going to wait forever.”

Noddy laughed. “Are you still drooling over him? Thought you would have got over your crush by now.”

Morag’s eyes, already large through the masterful application of artistic brush strokes, grew larger. “You mock destiny?”

Noddy’s only response was to shake his head and finish his old beer.

“It’s meant to be, you know. I just need to scrape together enough cash to get to the States. Then he’s mine.” She kicked him affectionately. “We could do it. You and me. One big score, enough to get us both out of here.”

“I’m keeping my nose clean these days. No more pulling moves. No more running from the cops.”

Morag snorted. “What else can you do, Noddy? Do you have some secret qualifications you’ve been hiding from us? We were a great team, once. Back when your balls still belonged to you.”

He took a deep breath and looked away.

“Come on. You and me, like the old days. Then we can reinvent ourselves somewhere else, start new lives.”

No response.

“You know it’s the only way we’ll ever get out.”

Noddy sighed. “It’s not going to happen. I shouldn’t even be talking to you, after that stunt you pulled earlier.”

Tattooed eyebrows lowered. Crimson lips pouted.

“If you two are finished making duck faces at one another.” Janine was struggling to get one arm into the sleeve of her technicoloured woolen coat, a souvenir from Camden market. Morag glared at Noddy, eyes and head conspiring to force him from the couch until he had successfully maneuvered the coat into position.

“Are you okay, love? You look a bit run down.” Morag’s concern was obvious and genuine.

Janine smiled. “Just tired, I guess. It’s been a long week.”

“Don’t let them get to you. Especially this one.” Morag flicked her eyes at Noddy as he gulped his beer, readying himself for the short walk home. “He’s a handful, but you know how to keep him in his place.”

Janine laughed out loud, eyes moving easily between the two of them. “If he could only find his own place. In the world. In life.” She reached up and stroked the momentary disappointment from Noddy’s face. “But he will. As soon as we’re away from all of this.”

Morag raised her drink in salute. “Amen to that.”

Read Dancing in Valhalla in weekly installments on FaceBook or WordPress. Receive notifications via Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, GoodReads, or Amazon.

Download free sampler previews of all my books, and some complete short stories, from PCloud.

No charge. No obligation. No sign-in. Read for free. Share with your friends.

Physical paperback copies are available from BookDealers of Rivonia – 40 Wessel Road, Rivonia, Sandton.

From Curiosity in Pretoria.

From Book Circle Capital in 27 Boxes, Melville.

And – Shorty’s Poems and Hard Money will soon be available from ZaBazaar, supported by the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture.

What happens when reality TV ventures out into space and awakens ancient gods who would really rather be left alone?

Watch the human race tear itself apart in the face of cosmic forces unleashed after millennia.

Let Sleeping Gods Lie – my new science-fiction horror novelette – is now available on Amazon and various other online retailers. I have some paperback copies if anybody wants one, or you can find them at Curiosity, in the Railways Cafe.

Ebooks are half-price from 1 August to 11 August, in celebration of National Women’s Day. Because, yes, the main character is a woman. And after what she goes through, she deserves a day.

Finally, my mate Bill James just received his first batch of locally-printed Big Day Out paperbacks. Set in Johannesburg in the near future, Big Day Out is a mad mercenary romp through the dystopian nightmare that Covid-19 might have become. Might still become, if we don’t keep our self-appointed leaders on a very short leash.

Available on Amazon or from Book Circle Capital.

Cheers.