Cherry Licks

By T.W. Malpass

YOU LISTEN, YOU BLEED.

After receiving the news that her younger sister has been rushed into hospital, teenager Jamie Miller is mortified to discover that her wounds may have been self-inflicted. With the help of her sister’s boyfriend, she unearths a dreadful plot involving Venom Records and the popular music mogul, Irwin Forrester.

Jamie and Todd face a race against time to foil Venom Records before the new episode of their singing talent show airs to millions of unsuspecting viewers.

Cherry Licks is a deliciously dark novella that takes a cynical sideswipe at pop music culture.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sericia
• Release date: Jan 13, 2016
• ISBN: 9781386848820

Book preview

Foreword

I have long had an interest in psychology and how the marketing industry affects the way that we think as a society, particularly in the case of young people. I also make no secret of how concerned I am about the exploitation and comodification of teenage sexuality in the corporate sector, and the subsequent side effects this has on gender relations. Although this damage may not be intentioned, the machine that causes it is simply apathetic to the situation. There are far more important issues to consider. In other words, there is money to be made. This destructive and financially lucrative process is never more prevalent than when observed in the music industry.

In this novella, I have chosen to combine some of my social anxieties with a much maligned horror movie from 1982. Halloween III: Season of the Witch opened to howls of derision at the box office. Originally, John Carpenter and the Dino De Laurentiis Company had intended for Halloween to be an anthology series, but after the success of the first movie, the popularity of the iconic masked stalker Michael Myers grew, and the powers that be decided that Halloween II would continue where the first film left off. When they attempted to return to the idea of an anthology in the third movie, audiences just did not accept a new addition to the Halloween franchise without Myers. Regardless of its less than favourable reputation amongst fans, Season of the Witch stands as one of the most imaginative and weirdest studio horror films of its era.

Cherry Licks was born from a heady mixture of these ideas. It is as satirical as it is strange, and I don’t think it will leave readers in any doubt as to where I stand on the subject of the modern pop music industry. As always, I hope you enjoy.

T.W. Malpass

1

Kaylee Miller threw herself back and bounced on the soft mattress of her bed. She giggled uncontrollably. She couldn’t remember the last time she had been this happy. Extending one of her long legs towards the ceiling, she proceeded to peel her white woollen stocking so it gathered at her ankle. She did the same with her other leg and reached for the pink tub of moisturising lotion.

As she began to knead the silky-textured substance into her tanned calves, she sang along to the chorus of the track playing on her stereo. She knew every sexy, provocative word. How could she not? Every sixteen year old girl in America knew Taste Me by Cherry Licks; well, maybe not every girl, but the cool ones did. Just one glance at the posters adorning her walls and anyone could see they were her favourite group. She had other posters, of course, but those featuring the sassy girl band always took pride of place.

The cold snap this fall had got to Kaylee’s skin, and the lotion instantly soothed the irritation. The ringing sound coming from her laptop interrupted her utopia. She rolled over onto her stomach to look at the still image that flashed up on the screen‌—‌a cute-looking boy, just about able to grow stubble. He wore his baseball cap back to front and had a tightly rolled joint hanging from the side of his mouth.

Kaylee smiled. Although she was enjoying her alone time, she was expecting a video call from Todd. She liked her boyfriend to be prompt, but then again, he always called on time on the nights he thought he would get lucky. She hovered over the Answer Call button with her cursor and clicked. Todd’s grinning face appeared on screen. His eyes lit up when he noticed that Kaylee was only wearing an oversized t-shirt and some skimpy shorts.

‘Are they for me?’ he said.

‘I’m ready for bed, douchebag.’

‘So am I, baby.’

Kaylee was less interested in his blurry-eyed wit, and more concerned with how her hair looked in the webcam window at the bottom right corner of her laptop screen. ‘What are you doin?’ she asked.

‘Oh, you know me.’

‘Smokin’ then.’

‘I may have had a little smoke, yeah.’

‘Yeah, right,’ she said smugly.

‘I saved some for you.’

‘I don’t need any right now. I’m high on life.’

Todd released an uncommitted moan of anguish. ‘Not this shit again. How many times are you gonna remind me about that damn competition.’

‘Jealous?’

‘Nah.’ Todd momentarily ducked his head out of view of his webcam, then rose to blow out a thick haze of smoke. ‘I mean, Cherry Licks are sexy and all‌—‌especially the blonde one.’

‘That right?’

‘But you know how much I hate sappy pop music, baby.’ Todd frowned and pouted into the camera.

‘It’s better than that punk head metal trash you and my sister listen to.’

‘I beg to differ.’

‘I don’t care how much you and Jamie tease me. To be one of only fifty winners out of the millions who entered, it’s like winning the lottery.’

‘If that was the prize for winning, I’d never play the lotto again,’ Todd said.

Kaylee grimaced, screwing up her nose so her skin wrinkled, extending the middle finger of her right hand so that Todd could see it.

‘Besides, it’s about time you played the Todd Alberson lotto. You see, the beauty is, you’re the only entrant, so you can’t lose.’

‘And what’s my prize exactly?’ Kaylee said.

‘It’s far too hot to describe exactly, but it involves Todd Alberson making a personal appearance at your house in about ten minutes from now.’

Kaylee’s giggled response made Todd think he was going to get some for sure. ‘It does sound tempting, but Todd Alberson knows my dad and Jamie are gonna be back in the next couple of hours, and they won’t call before they do.’

Todd frowned, losing interest in his still burning joint. ‘Oh, come on. It’s Friday night. We haven’t‌—‌y’know‌—‌done anything in over a week.’

‘I miss you too, but I can’t