Bad Musk

Matthew Fraley
Bad Musk

“You have got to be joking,” said Rachel.
“What else are we gonna do, Rachel?  There aren’t any repair shops around here. We’ll have to hoof it,” said James.  They had been together a little over six weeks, and he hadn’t quite gotten the hang of saying her real name, but he figured it didn’t matter because only her family called her that anyway.  His eyes followed the road and the parallel power lines supported by leaning poles up to the point where the uneven terrain hid both from view.  This is going to suck, he thought.
“Can’t we hitch a ride or something?” Rachel suggested.
“Look, it’s not that far to your place.  It’s not worth the risk just to keep from walking three miles or so.  Anyway we need to get moving,” James replied.
“Well at least let’s take some of the water with us,” Rachel said.
“Yeah, probably a good idea,” James said, and went to take a few bottles from the car.  He was grateful that they had at least made it to the store.  He gave one last irritated look at the smoking hood of the ancient Ford Probe that had betrayed him before they headed out.
James didn’t hate walking so much, and the weather was nice enough.  When he thought about what it was going to cost to get the car fixed, though, his gut ached.  He also hated that this had to happen on his day off, even though he couldn’t really afford to miss work.  He wondered if there was something about living in an apartment that made life suck even when you weren’t actually in the apartment.  Then again, stuff like this never seemed to happen to Rachel.  Well, at least not until today.
Rachel interrupted his thoughts, “You would think that in the year two thousand and thirty-two, we wouldn’t have to deal with this kinda thing.”
“Yeah, where’s my personal jetpack?” said James.
“Shut up, you know what I mean.  It seems like the only new stuff that comes out these days is medicine, guns, guns that shoot medicine, and stuff like that.  There should at least be a phone that goes in your wallet or something,” said Rachel.
“That would be cool.  But you would still forget it,” said James.
“At least I have a phone,” countered Rachel.
“Hey, that’s a low blow,” said James, scuffing his sandals on the asphalt, “It’s not my fault that I’m living from paycheck to paycheck.  Especially since something seems to break every week.”
“Sorry,” said Rachel.
The traffic was starting to pick up.  There were no sidewalks or shoulders on the country road they were traveling on, so the couple was forced to walk along the edge of the ditch on the side of the road.  As they trudged through the foot-tall grass that lined the slope, James found himself wishing he had worn long pants.  Huntington had never sprung for crossing signals, so they had to carefully time the dash across each intersection.
A light breeze kicked up shortly before they reached Madison Street, and suddenly the air was thick with dead musk.  Rachel noticed it first, but James was the first to speak up.  “Euach. Skunk.”
“Really? Is that what that is?” said Rachel.  “Thanks for pointing that out, I don’t think I would’ve been able to guess.”  James didn’t reply.  It was getting stronger.  “You know I can’t think of anywhere I wouldn’t rather be right now,” said Rachel.  She held a hand over her stomach, skirting the edge of nausea.  More than eager to put distance between herself and the rotting animal, she broke into an awkward jog, with James trailing close behind. Fortunately, the skunk had apparently died in one of the fields on either side of the road rather than on the road itself.  It was a bit of an ordeal, but gradually the smell died off as they pressed forward.
“Well the worst of it’s over, anyway,” said James, but Rachel was already deep in her own thoughts.  She was thinking about whether her parents had been right about what life with him would be like.  She had to admit that she hadn’t bargained for this when she decided to date the absolute last guy they would have chosen for her.  At the same time, she was thinking about how shocking it was that she was considering that her parents might be right about something, especially something like this.   I’m overreacting, she decided.  I’ve had a great time with James until now.  I can’t expect it to be wonderful all the time.  We’ve just had some bad luck today, that’s all.
Rachel’s silence annoyed James, whose chest was complaining as a result of his pumping his legs while trying not to breath.  “Look, I know it’s been a shitty day,” he said, “but you don’t have to take it out on me.  It’s not my fault I have to drive that piece of crap.  It’s not my fault we broke down so far from the apartment and it’s sure as hell not my fault that we couldn’t get ahold of anyone to give us a lift.”
“Yeah but I’m sure you could afford to at least get your car inspected once in a while.”
“That doesn’t solve the problem of how I’m going to pay to fix it.”
“Well I’m sure my parents would help if you would just let me ask them.” said Rachel.  She actually wasn’t very sure at all, but that was beside the point.
“Rachel, your parents hate me.  I wouldn’t let them give me anything even if they wanted to.”
“They don’t hate you, they’re just worried about whether you’ll be able to, y’know, ‘support’ me or whatever.”
“Yeah well maybe you should let them know that it’s not the eighties anymore.”
“Maybe you should stop being an asshole and quit making fun of my parents.”
“Well I’m sorry, but haven’t they spent the last twenty years pushing you to get the best possible grades so you could get the best possible job and not have to worry about that?  It doesn’t make any sense.”
“Yeah, they’re weird, I know. You don’t need to remind me; they’re my parents, after all.  Anyway if it’s that big of deal to you, I won’t ask them.”  The conversation died off for a while.
It must be nice to have parents rich enough to just bail you out of any trouble you get into, James thought as they passed Talisen Road.  It was only by the grace of financial aid that he had been able to go to college at all.  Even then, his crummy retail job barely covered gas, books, food, and other expenses.  He figured he’d have to borrow the money to fix the Probe, and eat ramen for a while until it was paid off.  Life will definitely suck less the day that I’m able to get a real job, he thought.
“I can still kind of smell that skunk,” said Rachel after a few minutes.
“Yeah, I guess some of it got on us,” said James, “that stuff’s pretty much impossible to get off.”
Just wonderful, thought Rachel, kicking a rock as she waited for a truck to pass by.  There goes my social life for the next few days.  She looked up and was relieved to spot the gas station that meant they were about a block away from her apartment.  “We’re almost there,” she announced.  
“Thank god,” said James.  “I guess that takes care of my exercise for the week.”
It occurred to Rachel that she would soon be able to get a shower-a thought that immediately made her feel a little better.  It probably wouldn’t do much for the stench that was clinging to her, but at least she would be able to wash her hair and clean off the sweat from the hike.  She realized that she should probably do some of the schoolwork she had been putting off while the funk was wearing off.  First, though, she would call that guy she met at the gym.  For some reason, not just because he wouldn’t have a car for a while, the thought of hanging out with James every other day was suddenly not very appealing.  She couldn’t put her finger on why; she just knew she needed a break.