The X Is Silent

A young man opens his eyes to find himself in a trashed hotel room. His head throbs and aches with a massive hangover he had from the night before. Now he remembers, he threw the biggest pre band hiatus party in that hotel and now his head feels like ass. At least next to him asleep on the bed was the woman he scored. Probably the hottest chick he banged that night. Beavis puts a hand on his aching head as he gets up from the bed, picks up his clothes and heads over to the bathroom. Once he turned on the light the young man approaches the mirror to take a good look at himself. His hair was very messy and there were lipstick marks all over his body.

“Hmmmheh. Still sexy as ever. Agh!”

His head hurts again, how much did he drink last night? He didn’t really know. Beavis places his clothes on the toilet seat and heads for the shower to clean off the lipstick marks. And of course to pee in it. He didn’t have time to pee in the toilet. Toilets are for uncool wussies like that Stewart kid he knew from high school. Once he’s finished Beavis dries himself off with a towel, blow dries his hair, brushes through his thick curly locs with a pick comb and puts on his clothes. As Beavis leaves the bathroom he hears a knock on the door. Who is it? The police again? The housemaid? He didn’t quite know for sure. The blonde approached the front room door and opens it. As he does so Beavis sees a familiar face. It’s Matt, the frontman of Skull Rock and a close friend he tagged along with for so many years.

“Hey Beav what’s up?”

“Oh hey Matt. Umm, how it’s goin’? Hmmmheh.”

“Oh yeah it’s going well. I packed up a few more of my things for my bus ride back home. Have you packed yet?”

“Packed? Uhh no. I was partying hard last night. And I was also hard if you get what I’m saying. Hmmmheh. Boioioi-AGH!”

Beavis’s hangover induced head throbs once again. Matt places his hand on the dimwitted blonde’s shoulder.

“Come on man, let’s get you some breakfast to make your head feel better ok?”

“Breakfast? Oh yeah that sounds cool! Hmmheh. Hotel breakfasts rule!”

Beavis and Matt sit near a dining table at the hotel cafe where they’re eating breakfast. Beavis ordered 5 stacks of chocolate chip pancakes, with how much he can eat it’s an absolute miracle that he stayed thin. Which is good because to him his hot skinny body can be attractive to most girls and gay guys he meets during concerts. Although since he’s leaving for Highland today, he wonders if he could still be able to considering that nobody liked him back home. As Beavis continued to enjoy his pancakes Matt discusses with him about luggage and transport arrangements.

“So the bus leaves at 9:30 so you have around an hour to get everything.”

“Cool. Hmmheh. And how’s Susan? Is she ok?”

“For the final time yes Beavis. I already got her settled in her cage and I made sure to put her feed in your rucksack. You just gotta pack the rest of it.”

“Cool.”

Matt can always tell whenever his friends feel upset and concerned.

“Come on Beav, what’s wrong?”

“It’s just that, I never been home in years. I haven’t exactly left in like, the best place or something and I dunno. I just feel so weird. Then there’s my mom.”

Shirley. Beavis reunited with her when the band was performing one of their last shows in Vegas and both of them didn’t exactly meet again on better terms.

“I’m still sorry about what happened to you and your mom.”

“I know, I know. I was hoping she’d accept me more but ya know. Sucky things happen.”

“For real man.”

Matt finishes up the remainder of his eggs and pulls his phone out of his pocket.

“Hey Matt. Who are you texting? Hmmheh.”

“Uh just Reggie. He says that he’s currently in the airport to fly back to Oregon.”

“Oh, is he gonna be ok?”

“Yeah of course he is dude. You know him, you’ve been stuck with him when the lockdowns started and we have to record music from different houses and shit.”

“Ooooh yeah. Yeah forgot about that. Man that virus thing sucked. No concerts or parties or fffire or anything. At least there was that one time me and Reggie snuck into Burger World and stole all the fries, that was cool. Hmmmheh.”

“Speaking of, have you figured out what job you’re gonna get when you get home?”

“A what?”

“A job?”

Beavis hadn’t worked a job in years. Maybe he sort of had when he was going around getting the band equipment but it was a job he actually enjoyed. Now that the band is on hiatus he most likely has to go out and search for a job again. A job the blonde guarantees will suck.

“Ugh no. I’ve been working as a roadie for so long that I don’t think I ever wanna get another one. And I certainly don’t wanna be like my mom and bang dudes for money. Scoring for work and not for fun? Now that just sucks. And I don’t even know where to live either. I mean I guess there’s my old house but I dunno.”

“It’s ok dude. I’m sure there’s someone in your town who can accept roommates.”

“Yeah I hope so. Damnit this day is already starting to suck. Hmmheh.”

Matt stares over at his phone clock.

“Well there’s still plenty of time before your bus. You wanna finish your pancakes and head over to your room to pack your stuff?”

“Yeah sure. Hmmmheh.”

Beavis had been asleep on the bus for hours. When he woke up he didn’t know what time it was, the last he remembered there was actual sunlight outside the bus and he fed Susan her feed in her cage before he goes to sleep out of pure boredom. As he looked around he noticed that he’s the only passenger on the bus that’s left, everyone else has stepped off the bus to reach their own destination. Just then the bus stopped and the driver made an announcement.

“Now stopping at Highland bus station!”

“Highland? Hmmmheh. That’s where I live!”

Beavis stands up from his seat to open the luggage compartment above his row to retrieve his rucksack. He then puts it on his shoulder and then picks up his pet cage by the handle. He then walks down the aisle to approach the bus driver.

“Now are you sure that you don’t need any transportation to get back home?”

“Hmmheh. No way! I know this place so I’m gonna like, find my house on my own or something.”

“Ok whatever you say sir.”

Beavis reaches for his pocket in his free hand and tips the driver a nickel before exiting the bus. Now that he’s home he practically has no idea where he’s going. Normally Beavis would ask the band or fellow roadies directions but now that he’s alone he’s totally clueless. The only place he knows in Highland is his own house, maybe he can live there again. With his rucksack and pet cage in hand, Beavis leaves the bus station to head over to where his house was.

Small neighbourhood house with a grey exterior and a broken mailbox, yep that was his house alright. Beavis arrived at the place that was formerly the place he grew up in. It’s been so long since he was there, he didn’t exactly leave in the best terms. In a way, he sort of regrets calling his former best friend disgusting when he said he wanted to score with him. Is he still there? Does he forgive him? He doesn’t quite know for sure. All he knows is that he’s glad to be back. Beavis tries to open the front door but the doorknob is locked. Frustrated, Beavis then tries to pull on and kick on the door until suddenly it opens to reveal a man on the other side. He looks pissed.

“What the hell are you doing to my door?”

“Hmmheh. I’m like, kicking it. Heh, who are you?”

“Why do you want to know who I am?”

“I dunno, I just wanna know what you’re doing in my house. Hmmmheh. What a minute, WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY HOUSE?!”

“Your house? Sir I think you should know that this is my house.”

“NO IT’S NOT. I LIVE HERE SO LIKE, GET THE HELL OUT OF MY HOUSE OR I’LL KICK YOUR ASS!”

“Sir I have kids and a wife here. If you don’t leave I will have to call the cops on you.”

“NO IT’S MY HOUSE! LET ME IN ASSWIPE!”

Beavis in an absolute raging fit attempts to barge in through the front door only for the man to push him out with all of strength and slams the door shut. As Beavis knocks the door and yells in anger he hears Susan in her pet cage screaming in absolute stress.

“SUSAN!! Susan it’s ok, it’s ok girl. Shhhh.”

Beavis unlocks the pet cage door and picks up his lizard to cradle her in his arms.

“Come on girl, let’s go get you something to eat. That guy is a buttknocker anyway. Hmmmheh.”

As Beavis settles down in a nearby diner’s outdoor seating area to feed his lizard, a bunch of jumbled thoughts race through his head. Not only is he upset that he doesn’t own his own house anymore, he was absolutely hungry as well and he had no money to speak of. This is it, he’s gonna be homeless forever. He’s gonna wonder around in the streets stealing money and probably become like his mom as well. The thought of scoring for money instead of actual fun fills him with absolute dread. Just before he totally freaks out, Beavis can hear a voice.

“Hey! What are you doing here? The diner is closed.”

The dimwitted blonde turns around to see a man who works as the diner’s janitor during closing time.

“Oh yeah. Hmmheh. Sorry about that.”

The man sees Beavis feeding his lizard.

“Huh, I never see people with big lizards as pets like that.”

“Oh, you mean Susan? Yeah she’s like, so cool and stuff. Hmmmheh.”

“Well you still can’t sit here, it’s closing time and I need to clean that table.”

“I would but I dunno. I don’t have like, a place to live and I’m kind homeless so.”

Beavis then has an idea.

“Hey um, heh, can I like, crash at your place tonight?”

“What the hell man? No way!”

Beavis’s expression turns to disappointment.

“Oh, I see. This sucks.”

Despite the man thinking that this blonde curly haired guy was quite weird, he feels quite sorry for him.

“Hey man if you don’t have a place to stay maybe I can help you point out where you can.”

Beavis lights up with the possibility of there being somewhere he can stay.

“WOAH! Really? Hmmheh. That’s cool! So like, where can I stay?”

“Well back in one of my old jobs one of my coworkers is a guy named mr Head. He’s a weird guy too, he always tries to harass the female customers and one time he showed up to work in his underwear.”

“Mr Head huh? Hmmmheh. He sounds like a dumbass.”

“Well I think I heard he’s looking for a roommate at the local apartments a little ways over from here. Maybe you can ask him if he’s chill with you crashing at his place.”

“Heh, maybe I will.”

Beavis places Susan back into her cage, puts his rucksack on his shoulder and gets up from his seat.

“Hmmmheh. Thank you drive through!”

“Drive-what?”

After walking for a while Beavis arrives at the apartment building that he’s looking for. After asking people around where mr Head’s apartment is he finally narrows it down to this specific door. As the blonde heads up the stairs he feels excitement and a little bit of dread too. He has too many experiences of him as a teenager going to people’s houses only for adults to take advantage of him. What if it happens and he has to relive the trauma again? What if someone tries to kill him as soon as he opened the door? Only thing he could do now is to ring the doorbell and see what happens.

Beavis rings the doorbell. Nothing happens. After a few moments he rings the doorbell again but this time someone answers it and opens the door. The person is a slightly overweight guy with shaggy brown hair, a beard stubble, an eyebrow piercing on his left side and a grey Iron Maiden shirt with a grease stain on it. His most notable feature is mouth that has an upper lip that exposed his teeth and gums. He kind of looks like a horse. The man begins to speak.