The Ballad of BonadukeThe Ballad of Bonaduke—
Episode 9: The Hand that Feeds

by R.T. Slaywood

DETAILS:
Series: The Ballad of Bonaduke, #9
Format: Kindle Vella Story
Read Date: November 10, 2022

Letting out a breath I repressed a laugh then pinched the bridge of my nose, where it had been broken several times. I know that I’ve never done well with people, but even this was beyond my normal social dysfunction.

I can do better

The Story So Far…

A drunken Michael Bonaduke decides to use a grift (with maybe some sort of magic/magic-like “help”) to win on a scratch-off lottery ticket so he has money to buy more to drink. He pulls off whatever he did, gets his money and some booze and stumbles off into the darkness to drink himself into oblivion so he can start again the next day. He’s hit by dark memories (probably what’s driving him to the drinking) of fire, pleading, and screaming. There’s going to be a price to pay for his grift, and he’s trying to be ready.

Before then, he gets himself drunk and we get some of his tragic backstory. As he ponders this, he decides to use some of his ill-gotten-gains to buy more booze and walks into a liquor store robbery. He foils it in some sort of magical fashion, gets some more to drink, and heads off to the park to drink until he’s arrested (probably for the failed robbery). At least that’s his plan, but it gets interrupted by being hit by a car. He wakes up on some sort of short, metal bed and is unsure what’s going on. It turns out that some group is subjecting him to a test—if he passes, everything will be explained to him (and hopefully the reader, too).

What’s The Hand that Feeds About?

Michael’s two captors? Examiners? Guides? Take him to an apartment in another part of the city—after everything he’s been through in the last day or so, he collapses into an exhausted sleep. When he wakes one of the pair is still with him—Om. Om either subjects him to more tests or starts the day off with strange tasks for him. Neither the reader nor Bonaduke knows for sure.

So, what did I think about The Hand that Feeds?

I think I like the path that we’re on…I really do, but it’s too soon to know for sure. I had fun with this, though.

3.5 Stars