Fade in

A young Charlie Brown is singing with his friends. Playing baseball, Charlie brown is dancing with the gang. 

Cut to a close up of a sleeping Charlie Brown. Bald, except for a tuft of hair in the front. He has one black eye. Sunlight comes through yellow plastic shutters, hitting his face, and he wakes up.

He’s a man in his late thirties, slightly overweight, visible beer belly. He’s wearing a white sweatshirt, torn in a few places, with brown stains and light blue Bermudas with palm trees.

Charlie shakes his head and grunts, as he slowly gets up. He moves his hand and finds someone next to him. A woman, naked, heavy makeup, is sleeping on the same mattress. He shakes his head and crawls over her to get off of the bed.

Charlie is in a large living room with two couches, one busted. Completely torn in half, the filling spilt around it. There is a hole in one of the walls. Bottles of booze everywhere, empty pizza cartons, a few condoms, dirty underwear, stained jeans, a car tire. A small table in the middle, over a red carpet, has some syringes and white powder. A baseball bat hanging on one wall. There are more hanging spots next to it, empty, with the imprints of other baseball bats still visible against the wall. Trophies, removed over the years, sold out of necessity.   

A rifle is left on top of a small drawer and seems about to fall at any moment.  

On one of the couches, wearing underwear and covered in a blanket much too small for him, is a sleeping man. Heavy bags under his eyes, his few hairs are messy and dirty.

Charlie walks up to him, pushing through the empty beer bottles and cans that cover the floor. He makes noise, but nobody wakes up. Charlie steps on a piece of pizza, swears under his breath and wipes his foot on the couch to clean it, with little success.

Charlie reaches The bald man and grabs him by the shirt, pulling him up.

“I told you to not bring women to my house, Linus. If you want a prostitute, get her at your own house, fucking jackass.”

Charlie slaps Linus, but he doesn’t wake up. Charlie walks off, into the bathroom. There is a gun on the bathtub and black mould inside the tub. The walls are covered in humidity stains.

Charlie stands over the sink for a couple of minutes, looking at his reflection, then he yawns. He brushes his teeth, then opens the cabinet. It’s full of pills plus a large bottle of Jack Daniel’s.

Charlie eats a handful of pills, then chugs from the bottle, then eats a couple more pills.

As he’s drinking, someone starts banging on the door. Charlie ignores it, but the banging continues, louder and faster.

Charlie goes to open the door. An Italian man, short black hair and a wide chin, taller than Charlie, with a gun in his hand, is standing in the entrance.  A well-dressed man, in a black suit, a tie and a fedora,

“Where is Linus?” Barks the man, trying to get inside. Charlie moves to stop him.  

“What do you need him for?” Asks Charlie, showing no fear.

“What do you care, baldie?” Replies the man.

“I care because this is my house, asshole. Linus ain’t here, wrong address.”

The man attempts to get inside again. Charlie stops him. The man starts to get visibly angry, shaking. Charlie can smell cheap whiskey on his breath.  

“Move out of the way.” Yells the man.

“What do you need Linus for, anyway?” Asks Charlie.

“Bastards owes us three thousand bucks.” Replies the man.

“Drug money, uh?” Asks Charlie, already knowing the answer.

“Ah, so you do know him.” Replies the man with a smile.

“Look” Says Charlie with a softer tone “I don’t want shit in my house. Linus is not here, but I can find him, and I can get him to pay. You know him, if you point a gun at his face he’s just gonna shit himself. Let me talk with him and I can work things out, ok?”

The man hesitates. “Ok. You have two hours, then I want my money. All of it. ”

Charlie closes the door and sighs. He goes back to the bathroom and drinks the rest of the Jack Daniel’s. He pulls out a metallic box from under the sink, it’s full of money. He starts counting it.

A woman screams. Charlie is started and the box falls to the ground, spilling the money all over the wet floor. Charlie swears.

Someone is shouting from the living room. Charlie rushes in the corridor and arrives to see the Italian man is inside, towering over a terrified Linus. The poor bastard is wide awake now, clutching his blanket, pale as a ghost, with a gun pointed at his face, forced to look up at the Italian man. The prostitute is awake as well, standing near the door, confused. Likely she woke up and went to open.  

“Get me my money you fucking shitstain. Where is the money?” Repeats the Italian man, shouting, getting louder and louder. Linus first shakes his head, slack-jawed, then starts crying. The man keeps shouting. The woman, half-naked, is in shock and looks at them, mouth open, not knowing what to do.

Charlie walks in and asks “what the fuck is going on? I have your fucking money, don’t-” He’s interrupted when the Italian man turns around and shoots at him. Charlie Brown kneels, wincing and swearing. He’s been hit. It’s just a graze on his stomach, but it’s bleeding, turning his shirt red and dripping down his leg and onto the floor.

The money falls off of his hands as he clutches the wound.

“He’s not here, uh?” Says the Italian man. He walks up to Charlie and gathers the money, with one hand. The other is still holding the gun, pointing it at Charlie. He shoves the gun right under his eye. “Not here uh? You don’t lie to me, jackass. You don’t lie to me, capito? Uh? Asshole?”

The man hits Charlie on the cheek with the butt of his gun, then turns around and goes back to threatening Linus.

Charlie, fuming, gets up and grabs the rifle barrel. Charlie walks up to the Italian man, the prostitute screams, the man turns around but Charlie is faster and hits him in the head with the butt of the rifle. The Italian man does a half spin and falls over Linus, bleeding.

The prostitute screams again, Linus screams too and pushes the man off of himself, crawling towards the other end of the couch. His clothes stained with blood.  

Charlie turns towards the prostitute “Did you let him inside?”

“I didn’t know… I’m sorry I just, someone knocked, I don’t.. I’m sorry” tries to explain the prostitute, crying.

“Just get the fuck out of here.” Says Charlie, pointing the broken rifle at her. The woman runs out of the door, still naked.

“Holy shit, Charlie Brown.” Says Linus, sobbing, eyes red, hyperventilating.

Charlie gets down and puts two fingers on the man neck. “Shit.”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“Wh-what?” Asks Linus, Stuttering.

“Dead.” Replies Charlie, more annoyed than anything else.  Linus pulls himself further away from the body.

“Oh god, Oh god, oh no no no, what? No.” Linus repeats, terrified.

Charlie slaps him on the back of the head. “Stop whining and help me.” He pushes the table off of the carpet.

“I’m fucked, Charlie. I’m fucked. They’ll kill me.” Says Linus.

“I’ll kill you, idiot” Barks Charlie “Next time an angry drug dealer wakes me up, I swear to god I’ll give him your ass with a bow on top.”

“Oh God Charlie, what do we do now?” Asks Linus

“I told you we’re fine. What we do is we hide the evidence and nobody gets in trouble.”

“But these people, they’re dangerous people, they-”

“Yeah and you’re already neck-deep in shit, so start digging yourself out. Roll over the body onto the carpet.”

“What?”

“Do what I say or I swear to God Linus-”

“Yes, yes, sorry Charlie, Sorry.”

The two roll the body, hiding it in the carpet, then bring it to the back of the house, into a garage, and load it into a white van.

Linus almost makes the carpet fall, Charlie berates him.

The two get onto the van and drive out. The van is yellow, patches of rust, a missing taillight.   Charlie is driving.

“Where are we going, Charlie?” Asks Linus.

“Shut the fuck up.” Is all Charlie reply.

They drive for a while, eventually, they leave town. As they drive, they go past locations that will appear later in the show, The bar where Lucy works, a building with a psychiatric office, a baseball club.

The two arrive in a wooded area outside of town, hills spread as far as the eye can see, with just a few isolated villas here and there.

The van pulls into a small side road. They arrive in a clearing with a nice wooden house. Large, surrounded by a tall wall and gate. It appears expensive but abandoned. Grass hasn’t been cut in a while, stuff is rusty, vines grow over parts of the roof.

Charlie opens the gate and the two drive inside, park and get out carrying the carpet.

“What- what’s this place, Charlie?”

“Schroeder’s house. Mister big shot musician used to come here when he wanted to have some fun alone. Orgies hidden in the woods, where nobody would bother him. No press, almost nobody even knows it exists.”

“And you have the keys?”

“Left them to me just in case like a decade ago. When he was just starting to get famous. I think he’d forgotten I have them. Came here once in a while, useful place if you need privacy. He’s not been in town in years. Get inside, we need to wash and change clothes.”

 The two get inside. The house is dark and musky, it probably was very impressive, once. Now the light has been cut and most things are covered in dust and cobwebs.

“Water still works, and there is a generator in the back. I’ve left here some changes of clothes.”

“You… seem very calm, Charlie. How so?” Asks Linus, as he gets changed.

“Oh, I think you know, Linus. Why don’t you tell me?”

“Because…” Linus hesitates. “You already did it?”

“Because, Linus, I’m a loser. And when a loser plays by the rules, he loses. So I have to play dirty, and I have to do some dirty shit to survive. Now stop asking stupid questions or you’re following him.” Says Charlie, pointing at the body.

After taking a shower, Charlie throws all of their dirty clothes in a bag. Charlie puts on a pair of jeans and his classic black and yellow shirt. He’s also carrying a shovel. Linus takes some old Schroeder clothes, more expensive than anything he has ever owned.

“Look at this, Charlie. One of these jackets is like, a year worth of work He used to hang around with us. Now  that he’s rich, he’s too good for us.” He says, then he spits on the floor.

“It’s not that. Well, yeah, but not only that.”

“Oh, it’s Lucy?”

Charlie is visibly displeased at hearing her name. Linus regrets saying it. 

“He got tired of not getting even a sniff of her dry ass pussy, he was so frustrated after they broke up. He was done with this place and everything that reminded him of her, I don’t think he’s ever coming back.” Charlie laughs. 

“Jesus, dude.” Says Linus, visibly angry for the first time.

“What?”

“She’s my sister!”

“So?”

“So just… dude, fuck you, why are you always like that when we talk about Lucy? What’s she ever done to you?”

“You mean besides all the bullying, back in school?”

“Oh come on, that was not, that was nothing, it was nothing serious.”

“She never told you, I take it.” Replies Charlie, elusive.

“Told me what?”

“Why don’t you ask her.”

“Come on, dude, just-”

“You don’t wanna know.”

“Well, I do. I’m not gonna let you insult my sister just because-” Replies Linus.

“You want to know? Ok, fuckhead, I’ll let you fucking know. She ruined my fucking life!” Replies Charlie, shouting.

“What? What are you talking about dude?”

“Third grade. I’m on a field, playing football. She’s holding the ball. I run to kick it. She always pulls it away, but this time she promised she won’t. I believe her because I’m an idiot. She pulls it away. I fall. But this time I fall bad. Maybe I hit a rock in the grass, I dunno. I hear something break, pain, for a moment, then nothing. I can’t feel my legs anymore. I can’t feel most of my body.”

“Jesus Charlie what…”

“I cry out, I look at her, she looks at me, straight in the eyes, and she runs away. She’s just gone. I’m alone. I drag myself to the nearest telephone, I can move only my arms, takes me three hours, an eight-year-old, alone, in a field, with a broken spine. I’m scared, and she left me. Somehow, I make it. My parents get me to a hospital, and then to a private clinic. They say it’s bad, maybe they can fix it. Maybe not. They don’t know. You remember when I left town?”

“Yeah, you disappeared for years, nobody knew why, is that why?”

“Only person that came to visit was Lucy with her parents. They were the only ones that knew. Guess they never told you either.

My parents never told nobody, they just hid the whole story, didn’t want a scandal. That was the only time I would meet Lucy for the next decade. She just looked at me, didn’t say a thing. But she started sending me money, every week some would arrive. She knew she was guilty. “

The two pick up the carpet and start carrying it up the hill behind the house. Charlie keeps talking, Linus says nothing.

“The next two years I spent looking at a wall, alone, in a hospital room. Couldn’t move, couldn’t feel a thing. Then my parents disappeared. They just left me. Couldn’t take it anymore, I guess. Couldn’t afford it. I already was a loser, and now I had become a burden.“

Charlie remains silent for a moment. The only sound around the two is the chirping birds and the branches creaking in the wind. The city is barely visible, a sliver of metal and glass gleaming on the horizon.

“They left me some money, arranged for the hospital to take care of me. By age ten, I was addicted to the shit they were giving me. Most of Lucy’s pittance was getting spent on drugs.

Age eleven, I get on a wheelchair, I start to improve a bit. Doctors are still not sure how much they can do.

Age fifteen, I move my legs. At this point, Schroeder’s starting to make a name for himself, and Luxy’s fucking him, so more money comes in. Six years in rehabilitation before I can walk on my own. Six years spent doing things you can’t even imagine to get my fix. Eventually, I get good enough I can live on my own, had to, there was nobody else. For some reason, my parents never sold our old house, so I come back. And that’s all.”

“I didn’t know… I had no idea… Charlie I…”

“Spare me the scene, Linus. I’m fine. Back hurts sometimes, ain’t doing sport any time ever again, not that I was ever good at it anyway. It just means I have six chunks of metal holding my spine together. Plenty of people have it worse than me. Now get that body and get moving, we have work to do.”

“Listen, Charlie, for my sister I-” Tries to Say Linus, Charlie picks up a saw and shoves it in his face.

“Now YOU listen up. This story, not a soul knows about it, except me, your sister, and now you. And nobody’s gonna know about it. You’re not talking about this ever again, with anybody, including me. And especially your sister. Is this clear.”

“Yes, Charlie I-”

“IS. This. Clear.” Yells Charlie, as he drops the carpet, grabs Linus by the collar and slams him against a tree.

“Yes. Yes, I’m sorry, It’s clear.”   Linus screams.

“Good. Good.” Says Charlie, as he drops his friend, straightens his shirt and pats him on the shoulder, smiling.

“Look, Linus. We’re friends, aren’t we? I let you stay at my house, do what the fuck you want, I help you, I even get rid of bodies for you, because we’re friends. You like being my friend?”

“Yeah”

“You know what a friend is, Linus? What’s the difference with an enemy?”

“What?”

“A friend is a person I want to kill slightly less than most, and an enemy is one that ends up like this.” Says Charlie pointing at the bloody mess around him. “So, Linus, be smart for once in your life, ok? I have few friends and many enemies, and I don’t need more. Ok?”

“Ok. Ok. I get it, Charlie, I’m sorry.”

Suddenly, the trees stop. The two are on top of the hill, in a small graveyard. Dozens of tiny, mossy tombstones with visible tomb outlines pop out of the tall grass, weathered and unreadable.

“Where are we, Charlie?”

“To a very special place, Linus. Civil war graveyard, most folks have forgotten it even exists, ain’t on any map. Nobody never comes around here.” Replies Charlie, calm and relaxed.  “Now start digging.”

“Me? But I’m tired, why don’t you-” Asks Linus. He’s interrupted.

“You really have the balls to complain, you piece of shit? After everything I’ve done for you? My back hurts, so start fucking digging or I swear to god I’ll dig one for you.”

“I’m digging, Charlie, I’m digging.”

After half an hour of work, the hole is deep enough. A sweating, tired Linus, pale and dirty, climbs out of the hole.

“Shit, I ruined the clothes.” He mutters to himself. Charlie, without replying, pulls the body out of the carpet and pushes it into the hole, before covering it up.  

Linus scratches his head looking at the other tombs. “Didn’t think tombs would still visible after so long. Didn’t you say this is from Civil War times?”

“It is” Replies Charlie, monotone.

“Then why can I still see where they dug all the tombs?”

“You can’t. The civil war ones are all long gone.”

“But…” Linus stops, his mouth open. He falls to the ground and crawls back, in fear, looking at the field than at Charlie.

“Jesus… Jesus…” Is all he repeats.

Charlie looks at Linus, unimpressed. He doesn’t bother to look at the dozen of visible tombs behind him, he knows the place perfectly.

“I have had a lot of enemies.“

“Jesus Christ Charlie Brown.” Says Linus

Fade to black

Credits