The Four Before Me

by E H Night

  “Betty! Betty!” She shook Betty’s heavy body, trying to wake her. A few gurgles and exhausted moans slipped out from her mouth, but nothing more than that. “Betty! Can you hear me?” she yelled, with a cracking voice. “Wake up! Betty!”

  Alice lightly smacked at her face and pinched her cheeks, but there was still no response. She ran back inside and into the kitchen. In what seemed like one sweeping motion, she grabbed the phone, un-twirled the tangled coffee-stained cord, and called the cops.

  “9 1 1, what’s your emergency”

  “There — there’s a woman on my porch. She fell, I think. I — I can’t wake her, but she’s still breathing.”

  “What’s your location, miss?”

  “472 Fifth street, in Wintersburg. Please hurry.”

  “Okay, Miss, if you could stay on the line —”

  Click.

  In a matter of minutes, sirens filled the air, and the ambulance’s lights illuminated the front porch. Alice sat on the concrete with Betty’s head propped up on her lap. The lights allowed her to see a little better, and she noticed a mess of paint and other stains all over Betty’s face and clothing. A few feet away, there was a spilled container of some sort.

  “What in the world is that?” she wondered while examining the barely-breathing woman.

  A patrol car arrived just as the medics were wheeling a gurney to the porch. The medics carefully lifted Betty, strapped her down securely, and pushed her back to their vehicle. Detective Darrow cut his engine, shut his car door, and gave the medics a little nod of gratitude.

  “What happened here tonight, Miss Foster?” he asked while approaching, seeming a lot more formal than he had during their first encounter.

  “I don’t know, honestly. I was in my kitchen, and I heard someone out back. Then there was a big crash on the front porch… and there she was, just lying here.”

  “Did you talk to her at all? Do you know this woman or why she might have come out here?”

  “Her name is Betty. She gets her hair done at Edna’s salon, but I don’t know her last n —”

  “Noe. Betty Noe,” he said, in a matter-of-fact tone. “You might have seen one of her flyers hanging up outside of Medley’s. She’s also your landlord Roger’s sister.”

  “She is? I knew she was Sarah’s mom — is Sarah’s mom, I mean, but I didn’t know that she was related to Roger too.”

  “Small world, huh?” he asked. “It seems like everyone is related in some way around here.”

  “It really does. What are the flyers for anyway? Does she run a business or something?”

  “She sells pulled pork — the good stuff. Now that it’s getting warmer out, she should be back to smoking ribs and brisket again too.” Detective Darrow shifted his weight and stepped up onto the porch. He held a little notepad and a pen that seemed tiny in his large hands. He pointed to a visibly wet spot on the porch with the pen’s tip. “So, that’s where she was?”

  “Yeah, she tripped, I think. Oh, and she brought that container with her.”

  He nodded.

  “Blake — I mean, uh, Detective. She doesn’t have a key, does she? To the house, I mean?”

  “I saw Roger changing these locks about a week before you moved in. She has no reason to have one anymore.”

  Alice sighed with relief and unfolded her arms from across her chest. “That’s good, at least.”

  “Don’t worry about it too much, Miss Foster. Betty’s been a little weird since Sarah went missing, but she’s pretty harmless. She just has a lot on her plate right now, between the stress of Sarah, and having to take care of Will.”

  “Will? Is that her son?”

  Detective Darrow shook his head. “It’s her younger brother. You’ve got Roger, Betty, and Will. Their mom, Judy, used to take care of him, but cancer took her few years ago, and the responsibility fell on Betty.”

  “Oh, so he’s sick, or...”

  “Not sick, he’s just not alright to live alone. I’m sure you’ll see him around. He spends most of his days walking through the town or hanging around Medley’s.” He turned and looked back at his patrol car. “Anyway, I’ve got to get out of here. There’s a lot going on at the station tonight, and I have to follow up with this at the hospital or the chief will have my throat.”

  “Yeah, I understand.”

  “Stay safe.” He lowered his chin, and then hurried to his car.

  “Oh, Detective!” she called toward him from the doorway. “What about the noises I heard around back? I could have sworn someone was trying to get in.”

  “Keep your doors locked for now. We didn’t see anyone around the house, but I’ll stop by in the morning to check it out again.”

  Alice nodded and shut the door behind her.

  Chapter 6

  “Scarface”

  The town and its people were feeling a lot friendlier as Alice grew more familiar with her place in the salon. The chairs were filled with large personalities — some cheerful, some miserable, but she noticed that they all joined perfectly together like pieces of a really strange puzzle. Perhaps she actually fit in with these small town folk more than she’d ever fit in with the city slickers of Parkington. Her clothes might have been a little flashy at times, but she loved the quiet simplicity of Wintersburg, with its single family-owned grocery store that fed the entire town, the lack of traffic lights or smog while driving, and the tiny salon where all of the women congregated like loud geese waiting to have their feathers groomed. This was it. This was where she was meant to be all along.

  She never really had much in common with any of the girls in the city. Sure, she wore the latest fashions and had a few friends while growing up, but she never really had a best friend or a clique to belong to. When she graduated and went on to beauty school, she would occasionally meet up with a few of the girls after classes for food or drinks, but the invitations stopped once the certificates were handed out. Alice was used to being alone, but she didn’t exactly like it. She hid her insecurities behind teased hair and long lashes, and she faked enough confidence to get through the days unscathed.

  In Wintersburg, though, she didn’t feel the need to fake anything. The pace was slower, and each time she inhaled the clean air, she felt like she was finally home. Her boss, Edna, had become something like a motherly presence in her life, too. She was constantly checking in with Alice, making sure that she was adjusting well to everything. She would even stop by her house with baked goods, random kitchen utensils that she had found on sale, and decorations that she claimed to have had lying around already. Conveniently, they all seemed to match the ones that Alice had brought along with her from Parkington. She knew that Edna had been going out of her way to buy these things for her, but she played along with her stories anyway. Each time she heard the doorbell ring, she’d smile and accept the newest thing that Edna would swear to have just stumbled upon the night before while cleaning. Even though she was typically opposed to anything that resembled a hand-out, Alice knew the importance of accepting those little odds and ends. Edna’s daughter had started a life of her own several states away, and was no longer in her mother’s life. Alice held her hands and arms open, knowing that she was filling a void in her life. She didn’t have to play the role, but she knew how cold and lonely voids like that could be.

  ◆

  The bell that Edna had tied to the front door rang out across the salon and all eyes turned toward the entrance. Alice wondered what everyone was looking at, considering the fact that people had been coming and going all day long, and no one had paid any attention to the chiming sounds before. She turned her head to see what could have been so interesting this time, and allowed her hands to pin a roller into her client’s hair, using only her muscle memory.

  “Hey, Benji! How is everything today?” Edna’s voice called out as she walked toward the entrance.

  A few elderly women giggled to each other and stared at the man, admiring his good looks. They whispered back and forth
between ears that were partially blocked by perm rods, and bounced their arthritic knees with excitement. It was as if they were staring at someone with the well-groomed looks of Clark Gable, and the alluring danger and adventure of John Wayne.

  “Hey there, Edna,” the young man said with a deep, but calming tone. “Just here to do the usual.” He sat a black canvas bag on front desk and plopped himself into the receptionist’s seat with an air of confidence. He wore blue jeans and a white t-shirt. His light brown hair was neatly cropped, but still somehow messy, as if he’d been driving with the windows rolled down all day. He was definitely easy on the eyes, and his calm, relaxed presence just made the women fawn over him even more. Compared to their low opinions of their husbands, he was like a perfectly frosted cake — one that could be devoured endlessly without causing a single ounce of weight gain.

  Alice had seen plenty of handsome men before, so she wasn’t entirely impressed. She definitely found him to be more attractive than a lot of the guys around town, though. Her eyes met his, and she turned around to roll the rest of her client’s hair. She wasn’t going to be distracted by him. There were better things to focus on, like earning money.

  Benji started to talk quietly with Edna, and Alice glanced back every so often through the reflection in the mirror. After a short while, she saw Benji raise his hand and point in her direction.

  “Susie’s girl! Come here! I have someone for you to meet,” Edna said, waving her over.

  Alice placed her utensils down and excused herself. The sleepy client in her chair nodded and pulled a book from her bag. She didn’t seem upset with the interruption.

  “Hi there,” she said, extending a hand out to Benji. “I’m Alice.”

  He grabbed her hand and shook it firmly. “Oh, it’s so sticky,” he said, grinning.

  She pulled her hand back and wiped it onto her blouse. “Yikes, yeah, sorry about that. I have mousse all over me right now.”

  “I’m just kidding with you. I’m Benji. Edna says that you just moved here…?” He looked around the room, pretending that he was only partially interested.

  “Oh — yeah, she was nice enough to give me a job here.”

  “That’s great,” he replied. “I stop by this place every week. If you ever need your shears sharpened, I’m your guy.” He spoke to her with confidence, as if she was an old friend of his and they had simply been getting reacquainted with each other.

  “Benji works at Pete’s barber shop over by Medley’s,” Edna added in quickly. “He runs errands for us, and he’s really good at sharpening, too. His prices are modest.”

  “The first time is free, too,” he said with a smirk on his face.

  “My shears are pretty good right now, but I’ll let you know when they could use some help.”

  Alice noticed an interesting texture on Benji’s skin. It looked as if he had tried to cover long thin scars on his cheek and jawline with a thick layer of makeup. She wondered what could have caused such injuries. The markings, from what she could see, were close together and looked almost like someone had dragged their sharp fingernails across his face. He could have been involved in some sort of blade-related accident, though, considering he sharpened things for side cash. Either way, she decided that it was best to avoid staring for too long. There was a big difference between being curious and being rude.

  “That sounds like a plan then,” he said, cheerfully. “And speaking of plans, since you’re new to this area, I could show you around sometime. It might seem like a dull little place, but this town has a lot of interesting things if you know where to look.”

  “I don’t know about all that,” she replied. “I think I’ve already seen just about everything already.”

  “I promise you haven’t. Here, let me give you my number in case you change your mind.” He walked over to one of the stylist’s stations and grabbed a piece of perming paper from a small beige box. Seven digits scribbled out onto the paper from a partially-dried pen. “There you go. Feel free to leave me something on the machine if I don’t pick up. I’m always out doing different things, so I end up missing most of my phone calls.”

  Alice grabbed the perm paper and placed it into her pocket without even glancing at it. “It was nice to meet you. I really have to get back to Mary though. She’ll fall asleep if I leave her alone for much longer.”

  “I understand. It was nice to meet you, Alice.” He smirked, and chills ran down her spine.

  Alice wasn’t sure what was so off-putting about the guy, but she usually trusted her instincts with people. He seemed nice, likable by everyone, handsome, and hard-working, so what was this awful feeling in her gut? She actively decided not to dwell on it, and blamed it on having not been around a flirty male in quite a while.

  ◆

  Alice fumbled with her keys as she stood in front of her door. The wind pushed through her hair, causing a few strands to float into her face, making the task even more difficult. She sat a gallon of milk down beside her feet, along with two grocery bags, and finally managed to get the key into the lock. She turned it, picked everything back up, and let herself inside, exhausted from the day.

  Grunting lightly with fatigue, she heaved the bags onto the kitchen counter, and quickly shoved the milk into the fridge. She leaned against the cold door and her back slid down slowly, while she ran both of her hands through the hair by her temples. Her knees folded up to her chest as she reached the floor. She sat there for a while, until the rattling of another pair of keys broke through the silence. Alice raised her head and saw the back door’s knob turning. Immediately, she was flooded with dread. The previous night’s events flashed around in her memory.

  The door opened.

  “Roger?” she said, almost breathlessly.

  “You look like you’ve seen a ghost. What’s the matter?”

  “What are you doing here?” she asked, with confusion and fear on her face and in her voice. She stood to her feet once more, and dusted off her pleated skirt.

  “I called to tell you that I was going to come by today. Didn’t you get my message?”

  Alice looked over to the phone and saw the flashing light on the answering machine. Suddenly, the fear dissipated and she was left with only embarrassment. “Geez, I’m so sorry. I haven’t checked it for a while. There’s just been a lot going on.”

  “Don’t worry about it. I probably should have tried to call again before coming over, to be honest. Consider it my fault. Anyway, I fixed a couple of lights and patched a few holes,” he said, with kindness in his voice. “Oh yeah, did you know about this?” He raised his thumb like a hitchhiker, and pointed behind his shoulder to the door that he’d just walked through.

  “Know about what?” she asked, confused.

  “The lock’s completely broken. It turns, but it doesn’t actually engage.”

  Alice stared at him blankly and wondered how long it had been that way. She tried to remember if she had checked the knob after locking it the night before, or if she’d just turned the lock and blindly trusted it. She usually jiggled to be sure, but she had been in such a hurry. “I had no idea, actually,” she replied, still surprised.

  “I’ll fix and then head on out. Let me know if I missed anything.”

  “Thanks.” She rubbed a muscle in her forehead. “I appreciate the help.”

  “Oh, and Alice, thanks for helping my sister last night. She hasn’t really been herself lately. I picked her up from the hospital this morning. She’s doing okay, but, well, things have been hard for her for a little while.”

  “No problem. I understand completely. What was she doing here anyway?”

  “Well, I’m sure you’ve heard that my niece, Sarah, used to live here.”

  Alice nodded.

  “Betty had a little too much to drink, and I think she probably thought that Sarah was home or something. She has a really difficult time telling her dreams from reality when she’s been drinking. I keep telling her to slow down on the bottles, but
it’s a new hobby of hers, I guess. If she shows up again, I mean, hopefully she doesn’t, but if she does, just give me a call and I’ll come get her.” He pulled his jeans up a little higher onto his large belly and sat down on the floor. He lifted a screwdriver from one of his deep pockets, and started disassembling the doorknob.

  “Okay, I’ll definitely let you know if she comes by again.” Alice turned and walked a few steps toward the living room, but suddenly stopped. “Hey, Roger...”

  “Whatcha need, miss?”

  She walked back into the kitchen and crouched down next to him. “Well, actually, could you tell me a little more about Sarah? I mean, if it’s not uncomfortable for you to talk about. It’s just that, well, I feel like I’m always hearing her name, but I don’t know much about her at all.”