The Ballad of Bonaduke—
Episode 11: Knock Knock
DETAILS: Series: The Ballad of Bonaduke, #11 Format: Kindle Vella Story Read Date: December 2, 2022
Frost sighed before turning around to face me.
Just like in the vet clinic, there was nothing behind his eyes. I felt a chill run down the back of my neck and to my hands, and found the immediate instinct to back down.
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). He passes—and is brought somewhere for answers, or maybe training, or maybe another test. Time will tell (or things are going to get really annoying).
What’s Knock Knock About?
Bonaduke has a some words with the two men who brought him to the new apartment and seem to be his guides through whatever is before him. But basically, this episode focuses on him getting a better idea just how serious things are. He also seems to find a little empathy for these men that he’s been nothing but antagonistic toward.
So, what did I think about Knock Knock?
I’m having a hard time sympathizing with Bonaduke’s attitude–he’s just pitching a fit without taking time to think or shut up and listen. Sure, this is a distressing situation–but this blind striking out that he’s doing isn’t doing anyone any good, and is a drag to read about in someone not a child. I trust he’ll get over it and start learning, but I hope it’s soon.
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