Sometimes a man just needs to polish his car, take a drive, and clear his head. That sounds perfectly reasonable until you find out what has been living in his head. In Part VI of Halloween Scary Stories, Jeph takes a break from his basement, but getting away from himself proves considerably harder.
This installment digs into the memories beneath his obsession with Julie. Before the imagined romance and the unanswered messages, there was a boy watching his mother try to build a better life. What he understood then and what he believes now are two very different things, and neither version gives him much peace.
First, though, we get Dad and Stone sharing a pitcher of beer and a conversation that could probably use adult supervision. These two have known each other long enough to recognize every pause, every weak joke, and every opportunity to make the other guy look stupid. Unfortunately for Dad, Stone has excellent timing and plenty of material.
Dad’s recent marriage gives them something to celebrate. It also gives Stone a chance to ask questions that Dad somehow keeps failing to understand. You get the feeling Stone could announce the topic, provide supporting documents, and draw a diagram, and Dad would still need a moment.
Their banter is funny because it feels familiar. Most of us have heard two old friends carry on a conversation that makes perfect sense to them and questionable sense to everyone else. But as the beer flows, the laughter starts making room for something less comfortable, and a few remarks reveal more than their speakers might intend.
Meanwhile, young Jeph gets an evening with Mom. She has her pink robe, her slippers, her lotion, and her television show about wealthy people whose problems come with considerably better scenery. For a little while, the biggest concern in the room seems to be whether somebody on a horse is going to survive the episode.
Those ordinary details matter. They show us what Jeph remembers enjoying before later knowledge complicated the picture. A phone call interrupts that comfortable evening, and suddenly Mom’s expression tells a story her son is too young to understand.
Watching someone try to leave the past behind can be painful when the past still has their telephone number. Mom wants a different life, and Jeph wants the version of her who stays home with him. The scene leaves us watching both of them, aware of how much can happen in a room without a child understanding any of it.
Years later, Jeph stands beside the polished black Dodge Polara with those memories crowding in. The car gives him something solid to focus on, something he can clean, maintain, and make shine. His family history offers no such convenient instructions, and the night he lost his parents still holds questions he cannot settle.
Eventually, he turns the key and heads through Bridgeport. The drive takes us beyond the familiar basement into a town that has changed around him. An abandoned playground and a lively marketplace reveal different sides of the same place, with Jeph observing everything through his own increasingly peculiar filter.
Naturally, the college crowd gives him plenty to judge. Nobody is working harder than young people determined to look like they are making no effort whatsoever. Jeph finds the whole performance amusing, although his own imagination is about to put on a production with a considerably larger emotional budget.
Then Julie enters the picture, and the difference between wishing and doing becomes urgently important. There is humor here, but it sits beside grief, resentment, and a longing that keeps demanding more space.
Watch Halloween Scary Stories Part VI – “The Bar Scene” below and take that drive through Bridgeport with Jeph, because a change of scenery can reveal an awful lot about the person behind the wheel.
If you’d rather read it than watch it, here is the link where you can start from the beginning: Joker Joker Deuce Halloween Series Part I – A Monster Awakens
These scary stories for Halloween are based on the novel, Joker Joker Deuce! These are not the same stories you’ll find in the book. This is the prequel to who Jeph actually becomes when he hits full stride and starts learning more about himself than anyone wants to know…
Happy Halloween!
