Big Wheels: A Tale of the Laundry Game (Milkman No. 2)

Last updated
"Big Wheels: A Tale of the Laundry Game"
Short story by Stephen King
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Genre(s) Horror, short story
Publication
Published inNew Terrors(1st released),
Skeleton Crew
Media typeAnthology
Publication date 1980
Chronology
Seriesyes
Arrleft.svg  
Morning Deliveries (Milkman No. 1)
  Arrright.svg

"Big Wheels: A Tale of the Laundry Game (Milkman #2)" is a horror short story by Stephen King, first published in the 1980 anthology New Terrors, edited by Ramsey Campbell, and collected in King's 1985 collection Skeleton Crew . It was adapted from an unfinished novel called "The Milkman". The events in this story follow the events of the previously unpublished short story "Morning Deliveries (Milkman #1)", which appears in the same collection.

Contents

Plot summary

The plot centers on two laundry workers named Rocky and Leo in a small Pennsylvania town. After finishing up a shift at work, the men drive around, getting drunk and searching for an auto-inspection station. The inspection certification on Rocky's car runs out at midnight and he needs to find somewhere that will renew it. They are drunk and getting drunker, drinking Iron City beers, which have the likeness of Pittsburgh Steelers players on them. They finally come across an inspection station owned by an old friend of Rocky's, Bob Driscoll. Rocky crashes the car into Bob's garage and in the ensuing verbal confrontation Bob recognizes him. They then reminisce about old times while Bob inspects Rocky's vehicle for certification. Rocky and Leo continue to drink; at one point, Leo falls into a drunken stupor.

After Bob approves the vehicle, Rocky and Leo depart, both very drunk. Later that night, Bob, who is in an unhappy marriage, kills his wife and burns down their home.

On the way home on a long, dark stretch of road, Leo tells Rocky that he sees a vehicle following them, implying that it is a milk truck. Rocky's wife had left him for a local milkman, Spike (the primary character in "Morning Deliveries (Milkman No. 1)"). Rocky's reaction is extreme; he begins speeding dangerously and reveals to Leo that Spike "kills people." Rocky's Chrysler crashes fatally into an oncoming vehicle that suddenly appears riding the median line.

It's revealed that Spike, the local milkman, is driving this vehicle and that he's indeed a serial killer, who plans to visit Bob's home and leave full cans of gasoline, suggesting that he will successfully influence Bob into killing his wife.

Although not directly part of the main storyline (which takes on a darkly humorous tone), it's implied that there are links between one of the men and an unsolved murder of a teenage couple, although it is probable that this is another murder committed by Spike.

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Dolores Claiborne</i> 1992 novel by Stephen King

Dolores Claiborne is a 1992 psychological thriller novel by Stephen King. The novel is narrated by the title character. Atypically for a King novel, it has no chapters, double-spacing between paragraphs, or other section breaks; thus, the text is a single continuous narrative, which reads like the transcription of a spoken monologue. It was the best-selling novel of 1992 in the United States. The story introduced the fictional community of Little Tall Island, which Stephen King later used as the setting for the original TV mini-series Storm of the Century.

<i>Four Past Midnight</i> Collection of novellas by Stephen King

Four Past Midnight is a collection of novellas written by Stephen King in 1988 and 1989 and published in August 1990. It is his second book of this type, the first one being Different Seasons. The collection won the Bram Stoker Award in 1990 for Best Collection and was nominated for a Locus Award in 1991. In the introduction, King says that, while a collection of four novellas like Different Seasons, this book is more strictly horror with elements of the supernatural.

<i>Terror Tract</i> 2000 American film

Terror Tract is a 2000 American dark comedy/horror anthology film directed by Lance W. Dreesen and Clint Hutchison.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Driving under the influence</span> Driving a motor vehicle while under the influence of an impairing substance

Driving under the influence (DUI) is the offense of driving, operating, or being in control of a vehicle while impaired by alcohol or drugs, to a level that renders the driver incapable of operating a motor vehicle safely. Multiple other terms are used for the offense in various jurisdictions.

<i>The Mist</i> (novella) Book by Stephen King

The Mist is a psychological horror novella by American author Stephen King. First published by Viking Press in 1980 as part of the Dark Forces anthology, an edited version was subsequently included in King's 1985 collection Skeleton Crew. In the story, the small town of Bridgton, Maine is shrouded in a dense mist that conceals otherworldly creatures. The protagonist and narrator David Drayton, who has taken refuge with his young son in a supermarket, tries to survive against not only the creatures of the mist, but also fanatical aggression from other survivors. In The Mist, King addresses the themes of man-made fears and religious fundamentalism.

"Word Processor of the Gods" is a short story by American writer Stephen King, first published in the January 1983 issue of Playboy magazine under the title "The Word Processor", and collected in King's 1985 collection Skeleton Crew.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Delivery (commerce)</span> Process of transporting goods from a source location to a predefined destination

Delivery is the process of transporting goods from a source location to a predefined destination. Cargo is primarily delivered via roads and railroads on land, shipping lanes on the sea, and airline networks in the air. Certain types of goods may be delivered via specialized networks, such as pipelines for liquid goods, power grids for electrical power and computer networks such as the Internet or broadcast networks for electronic information. Car transport is a particular subgroup; a related variant is Autorack, which involves the transport of autos by railroads.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Castle Rock (Stephen King)</span> Part of Stephen King’s fictional Maine

Castle Rock is a fictional town appearing in Stephen King's fictional Maine topography, providing the setting for a number of his novels, novellas, and short stories. Castle Rock first appeared in King's 1979 novel The Dead Zone and has since been referred to or used as the primary setting in many other works by King.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Derry (Stephen King)</span> Fictional setting of the "It" universe

Derry is a fictional town in the U.S. state of Maine that has served as the setting for a number of Stephen King's novels, novellas, and short stories, notably It. Derry first appeared in King's 1981 short story "The Bird and the Album" and has reappeared as recently as his 2011 novel 11/22/63.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Milk delivery</span> Delivery service dedicated to supplying milk

Milk delivery is a delivery service dedicated to supplying milk, typically in bottles or cartons, to customers' homes. This service is performed by a milkman, milkwoman, or milk deliverer.

<i>Needful Things</i> Novel by Stephen King

Needful Things is a 1991 horror novel by American author Stephen King. It is the first novel King wrote after his rehabilitation from drug and alcohol addiction. It was made into a film of the same name in 1993 which was directed by Fraser C. Heston. The story focuses on a shop that sells collectibles and antiques, managed by Leland Gaunt, a new arrival to the town of Castle Rock, Maine, the setting of many King stories. Gaunt often asks customers to perform a prank or mysterious deed in exchange for the item they are drawn to. As time goes by, the many deeds and pranks lead to increasing aggression among the townspeople, as well as chaos and death. A protagonist of the book is Alan Pangborn, previously seen in Stephen King's novel The Dark Half.

Benjamin Robert Clark was an American film director and screenwriter. In the 1970s and 1980s, he was responsible for some of the most successful films in Canadian film history such as Black Christmas (1974), Murder by Decree (1979), Tribute (1980), Porky's (1981), and A Christmas Story (1983). He won three Genie Awards with two additional nominations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julianna Cox</span> Fictional character in the TV show Homicide: Life on the Street

Julianna Cox is a fictional character in the TV show Homicide: Life on the Street for seasons 5-6, played by actress Michelle Forbes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Morning Deliveries (Milkman No. 1)</span> Short story by Stephen King

"Morning Deliveries " is a short story by Stephen King published in King's 1985 collection Skeleton Crew. The story follows the morning route of a milkman named Spike Milligan, who leaves various "surprises" in the milk bottles for his customers to find, including poisonous liquids, deadly gas, and venomous spiders.

<i>Maximum Overdrive</i> 1986 film by Stephen King

Maximum Overdrive is a 1986 American horror film written and directed by Stephen King. The film stars Emilio Estevez, Pat Hingle, Laura Harrington, and Yeardley Smith. The screenplay was inspired by and loosely based on King's short story "Trucks", which was included in the author's first collection of short stories, Night Shift, and follows the events after all machines become sentient when Earth crosses the tail of a comet, initiating a world-wide killing spree.

<i>What We Talk About When We Talk About Love</i> 1981 short story collection by Raymond Carver

What We Talk About When We Talk About Love is a 1981 collection of short stories by American writer Raymond Carver, as well as the title of one of the stories in the collection. Considered by many one of American literature's most ambitious short-story collections, it was this collection that turned Raymond Carver into a household name in the publishing industry.

The 2009 Taconic State Parkway crash was a traffic collision that occurred shortly after 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, July 26, 2009, on the Taconic State Parkway in the town of Mount Pleasant, near the village of Briarcliff Manor, New York, United States. Eight people were killed when a minivan, being driven by 36-year-old Diane Schuler, traveled 1.7 miles (2.7 km) in the wrong direction on the parkway and collided head-on with an oncoming SUV. Schuler, her daughter and three nieces, and the three passengers in the oncoming SUV were killed. The crash was the worst fatal motor vehicle crash to occur in Westchester County since July 22, 1934, when a bus crash in Ossining claimed twenty lives.

According to books by Tyson Blue, Stephen J. Spignesi, and Rocky Wood et al., there are numerous unpublished works by Stephen King that have come to light throughout King's career. These allegedly include novels and short stories, most of which remain unfinished. Most are stored among Stephen King's papers in the special collections of the Raymond H. Fogler Library at the University of Maine, some of which are freely accessible to the library's visitors. However, others require King's permission to read. Additionally, there are a number of uncollected short stories, published throughout King's long career in various anthologies and periodicals, that have never been published in a King collection.

<i>A Good Marriage</i> Novella by Stephen King

A Good Marriage is a novella by American writer Stephen King, published in the collection Full Dark, No Stars (2010).

<i>Jesus Son</i> (short story collection) 1992 short story collection by Denis Johnson

Jesus' Son is a collection of short fiction by Denis Johnson published in 1992 by Farrar, Straus & Giroux. A short story cycle comprising 11 pieces, Jesus' Son is Johnson's most critically acclaimed and popular literary effort, and the work with which Johnson is most identified. In 1999, it was adapted into a film of the same name by Elizabeth Cuthrell, David Urrutia, and Oren Moverman, directed by Alison Maclean.

References