by C. K. Walker
“Is Meera here?” Prescott asked as I wrapped up his sandwich.
“She’s in the back.”
“Ah, I thought she’d still be in St. Louis. Well, when you’re finished would you mind getting her for me?”
Shit.
“Yes, sir.”
I handed him his sandwich and went to the back to find my boss. She was in the office, furiously punching keys on her accounting calculator.
“Uh, Meera? Jimmy Prescott is out front. He wants to talk to you.”
She turned and gave me a dubious look. “Did he say what about?” I shook my head.
“Okay,” she sighed. “You can go home for the day, Sam.”
”Oh…are you sure?” I still had three hours on the clock.
“He’s the only customer we’ve had since we opened. Don’t worry, I’ll pay you for a whole day, kiddo.”
“Thanks, Meera. Um, good luck I guess.”
I gave her a sympathetic shrug and she patted my arm. I don’t know how she did it. Meera was perhaps the most burdened and stressed out woman in all of Drisking but she never failed to be unbelievably kind. There was a hopelessness about her, a sadness that she hid very well.
I left the store out the backdoor so I wouldn’t have to see Jimmy Prescott again. His weird, yellowed amber eyes always set me on edge. Not to mention he was a total tool.
I hopped in my car and texted Kyle that I was off work. He answered immediately and told me where to meet him. I happily whipped my apron off over my head and threw the car into reverse. Crystal Lake was my favorite place in all of Drisking.
I had to park almost a mile away since the lake was so packed. I eventually found Kyle and Kimber sitting on a rock that jutted out over the beach.
Kimber was sunbathing in a blue, floral bikini and Kyle was wearing his ‘you can’t tell where my eyes are looking’ sunglasses.
“What’d I miss?” I asked, sitting down next to Kimber.
“Not much,” she answered, stretching and sitting up. “Just more beer.” She dug into the cooler behind her and tried to hand me a Blue Moon.
“Ugh, no.” I waved it away. “Got any Excedrin?”
“Oh no,” Kimber gave me her pitying pout.
“Okay, then I’ll just take those sunglasses.” I held my hand out to Kyle who looked back at it in horror.
“What? No, fuck off!”
“Oh, come on, Kyle, give him your sunglasses. Sam didn’t get to sleep off his hangover like we did!”
I smiled at Kyle and he tightened his lips. We both knew exactly what I was doing. Kimber stroked Kyle’s arm in encouragement. ”Please?” she asked.
“Fine,” he said and shoved his BluBlockers at me. I put them on and sat back, turning my head to watch the girls on the beach below. Phoebe Dranger – the Dark-Haired girl - was there lying on a towel next to Round Face and giggling. It still seemed unnatural to me to see the two of them without Rude-Nose. Those three had been inseparable for years, working as fluidly together as the gears in a watch until Kristy had fallen in love with some college kid and run away.
“So why’d you get out of work early anyway?” Kyle asked.
“Prescott came in.”
“Eww,” Kimber squirmed. “He totally freaks me out. He’s been staring at me since like 7th grade.”
“Next time he stares at you let me know and I’ll knock him the fuck out.” Kyle had always been protective over Kimber but ever since they’d started dating he’d gotten 10 times more unbearable.
Kimber winked at him. “So what did he want, Sam?”
“He wanted to talk to Meera. Probably about the shop.”
“You mean about how no one goes there and the business should have closed years ago but it won’t because the Prescott’s are stubborn and vain?” Kyle said.
“Yeah, probably, I mean she looked pretty worried. I can literally count on one hand how many sandwiches I’ve sold in the past month. “
“Ouch.” Kimber grimaced.
“Yeah. I’m pretty sure she’s going to get chewed out. I really don’t like that guy.” I thought about the squirmy, yellow-eyed freak yelling at the sweet, kind-hearted Meera and it made my blood boil.
“You should have met his dad,” Kyle snorted. “He was a piece of work.”
“His dad?”
“Yeah, Tom Prescott.,” Kimber said. “The family put him in a home a few towns over.”
“Really? Why is he in a home?” I asked.
“I heard that he got dementia and he was embarrassing the family in public.” Kyle said.
“I heard that, too,” Kimber brushed her long curls off of her shoulders. “I always liked Tom Prescott. It was a pretty shitty thing to do.”
“Hey kids!” We turned in unison so see Phil Saunders come stomping out of the bushes behind us with Patrick Sutton following behind. “So this is where the cool people hang out. High above the kingdom on Pride Rock.”
“Sup Patrick,” Kyle said ignoring Phil, whom he’d disliked ever since Phil had briefly dated Kimber. Phil was either unaware of or uninterested in Kyle’s feelings. Of course, it may also have been because Phil was stoned out of his mind most of the time, and today was no exception.
They sat down next to us and Patrick offered me his pipe.
“Wanna hit this?”
I did want to hit it, and pretty badly too. I reached up to grab it but Phil swatted my hand away.
“Careful, guy, you don’t want to get the Sheriff’s son high. For fucks sake, Patrick.” Patrick nodded knowingly and shoved the pipe back into his pocket.
I scowled. “Really?”
“Sorry, Sammy. Hell, the only reason I’m even smoking around you is because today is my cousin’s Deathiversary and I don’t give a shit about anything else.”
“Your cousin Hannah?” Kimber asked with a sympathetic look.
“Yep. 5 years she’s been gone.”
“Too many people disappear in these woods, man,” Patrick said as he exhaled a cloud of smoke.
“Yeah, man,” Phil nodded. “You know sometimes, when I’m high, I can see them all. And I feel like I know the answer to the mystery, man. Like I’m so close to solving it. It’s just something I can see. Like they’re all puzzle pieces and in my mind I see the puzzle put together but I can’t tell what the picture is of, you know?”
“You’re fuckin’ high, Saunders.” Kyle said.
“We all are, man. We all are. Everyone in this town is drinking the fuckin’ Kool aid.”
Kimber raised an eyebrow at him but said nothing.
“Everyone except the dead ones. I can see what they looked like before they went into the ground. Or is it the grounder?”
“Shit’s fucked up, Phil.” Patrick said to the space in front of him.
“Yeah. I see all those people. Hannah. Paige. Jason Metley. Hell, I ever see your sister, Walker.”
Kyle, who I knew had been monitoring the conversation for any mention of Whitney, sprang to his feet and opened his mouth to yell at Phil.
“Nah, the Walker girl ran away to St. Louis, remember?” Patrick said before he could.
I saw Kyle and Kimber exchange a quick look as I tried to remain impassive from behind the BluBlockers.
“That true, man?” Phil asked. And there it was.
I knew Kyle and Kimber had always wondered what I thought about Whitney and if I’d ever accepted the official statement that she and Jay had run away together. They were kind enough not bring it up but I knew they wanted to know what I believed, what I thought had really happened.
I loved them both and I wanted to talk to them about it but I just couldn’t. Everyone thought that I had spent the last five years quietly grieving and that I’d put the pain behind me. At least, that’s what I’d tried to show them had happened.
The truth was that I’d never given up on Whitney. I’d waited years for Jay to show up on social media and when I finally found him last year, I’d been devastated. I’d always hoped the official report wa
s true and that Whitney was somewhere far away from here, alive and happy with Jay Bower. But his Facebook page showed a thriving college kid, still on good terms with his parents, his ex-girlfriend Whitney the furthest thing from his mind.
When I’d brought the evidence to my dad he’d read the pages I’d printed off and then shut the door to his office with me on the other side. I heard him crying in there for hours as I waited for word that he’d reopened the case and was bringing the smack down to the Butler County sheriff’s department. But he’d emerged hours later, his face dry and all business. Justice had never come and we never mentioned Jay Bower again.
For whatever reason, I never told Kyle and Kimber about the incident. Maybe it was because I was worried they’d blow it off like my dad had or maybe, far more likely, I didn’t want them to know how obsessed I’d become with Borrasca and the Skinned Men. I knew, as assuredly as the sun would rise tomorrow, that Whitney’s death had happened there; just like all the others who’d gone to the Triple Tree.
I was suddenly very aware of 4 pairs of eyes staring at me.
“Yeah, it’s true. She ran off with this guy Jay from our hometown.” I answered. That was enough for Kyle.
“Alright, guys, seriously, he’s the sheriff’s kid. What do you think’s gonna happen if he gets caught with weed?”
“The little man is right, Phil, let’s bounce. I don’t need any more trouble with the cops around here.” Patrick said.
“Later, Walker. Kimber. Little man.” Phil stood up, brushed off his pants, and jumped from the boulder onto the sandy beach below. He sprayed sand all over a couple of freshmen girls who squealed and called him an asshole. Phil tipped an invisible hat to them. “Ladies.” He said before walking off.
Patrick followed him off the rock and as I watched them make their way down the beach I became aware of the conversation going on behind me.
“I didn’t say I wanted to go, I said I had to go.” Kimber said.
“But it’s only 2 o’clock and it’s Sunday.”
“I know but my parents have been fighting a lot lately and I don’t want to leave my mom alone too long.”
“I thought she was doing better?”
“A little, but she’s still depressed, Kyle.”
“Do you wanna stay over at my place tonight?”
Kimber’s voice dropped into a whisper. “I just don’t…I don’t think I’m ready for that yet, Kyle.”
“No, wait, that’s not what I meant. I’d sleep on the pullout in the basement and you would have my room.” Very awkward silence. “My parents love you, you know,” he added.
Kimber laughed. “I know. I just want to be there for my mom right now. But thank you, sweetie.” And then the absolutely disgusting sound of my best friends kissing. I would never get used to it.
“Ugh, on that note, I’m outta here, too.” I stood up and gave them both a shaming look.
“Oh, come on Sam, don’t be jealous, we’ll find you a girlfriend someday,” Kyle joked.
“I really don’t need your help with that,” I muttered, glancing down the beach to where Emmaline Addler was sunbathing. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”
“Last week of school!” Kimber yelled at my retreating back. Thank god.
Tomorrow was the last Monday of the school year and while I should have been thankful my sophomore year was ending, I wasn’t. The summer meant no distractions, more time to think and even more hours of boredom at Prescott Artisan Sandwiches.
But I wasn’t looking forward to tomorrow for another reason: besides it being Monday it was also Sophomore Ditch Day. My dad had caught on to that several weeks ago and warned me to “set a good example” and go to school that day. Sometimes I really hated being the son of the county sheriff.
Kimber and Kyle were sympathetic and had offered to share in my misery. I had, of course, said yes, much to Kyle’s sadness.
As I’d expected my dad was waiting for me when I got home. We shared a brief, strained conversation about our respective days and then he finally got to it.
“Remember, Sammy, we’re cracking down on truancy this year. I want to see you at school tomorrow.”
“Yeah, I got it Dad.”
“And I hope I won’t see Kyle’s name cross my desk, either.”
I sighed. “It’s just a tradition, even the teachers sort of encourage it. On Friday they said-“
“I don’t care what they said, Sam; besides the fact that I’m the sheriff, I’m also your father and I want my son in school.”
I laughed and shook my head. What a joke. “I can’t control what Kyle does.”
“Fair enough but you can control what you do.”
I said nothing and Dad sighed.
“It’s almost over, Sam. Just get through these last five days and you can be done with school for a few years if that’s what you want.”
“Fine.” I walked out of the kitchen effectively ending the conversation. I climbed the stairs and passed by Whitney’s door on the way to my room. The light was on and silence was behind it. I knew my mother was in there. She was always in there, doing god knows what.
I walked to my own room, shut the door behind me and locked it.
The next day at school ended up being more embarrassing than anything else. There were a few other people that hadn’t skipped, maybe a total of eight of us, and the looks they shot at me made it clear that my dad was the reason they were there.
Kimber, great friend that she was, happily went to her classes like it was a normal day. Kyle attended all of my classes with me. The teachers, who had been looking forward to an easy day, couldn’t have cared less.
Just before lunch an officer came around to all the class rooms and asked for copies of the attendance sheets. Dad really wasn’t kidding about cracking down this year. I was going to get shit from people all summer.
At lunch Kyle and I went out to my car to smoke. Usually we were hidden by dozens of large pick-up trucks but today we were out in the open and vulnerable. I moved the car back to a shady corner of the parking lot and Kyle pulled out his bowl.
“Did you text Kimber?” I asked him while he hit it.
“Yep,” he said through tight lips as he let the smoke sit in his lungs and then blew it out all over my dashboard. “She went home around 4th period. She said her mom called her and she was going home to take care of her. I don’t know, man.”
“Doesn’t her mom hate you?” I asked, taking my turn with the bowl.
“Yeah. I mean that’s a fairly new development, ever since Kimber and I started dating. But I’m pretty sure she’s always hated me and just hid it better before. Now that she’s all depressed and whatever she doesn’t give a shit.”
It was hard to picture anyone hating Kyle. “Why can’t Kimber’s dad take care of her?”
“I don’t know.”
I hit the pipe again.
“Hey man, let’s not even go back today.” Kyle said.
“You think?” I asked.
“Yeah, I mean you put in 4 periods, you’ve been a good son. And Officer Dick Ass already came around and collected the attendance sheets.”
“Dick Ass? Really? You’re better than that, man.”
“Officer….Ass…Dick?”
“You’re fuckin’ baked, Kyle.”
“Seriously, man, let’s go.”
I thought about it a second. Kyle was right, I’d done my duty as a son and if I left now I’d have enough time to go to GameStop before work.
“Fuck it.” I turned the key in the ignition.
Kyle sat up in his chair and rolled down the window to clear out the smoke. “Hey man, can you drop me by Kimber’s?”
“Sure but how’re you gonna get home?”
“Can you come get me after work?”
“What if her mom throws you out again?”
Kyle rolled his eyes. “That was one time.”
“Why can’t I just drop you at home and you can take your own car?”
“It
needs new tires.”
New tires, of course. What Kyle really meant was that his insurance had lapsed and he didn’t have any money for gas. He’d bought the car last summer after working double shifts at the convenience store for half a year. It was an okay car, newer, but I knew he’d only wanted it to impress Kimber, something he’d vehemently denied. Had it worked? I really didn’t think so.
They’d started dating in the fall and Kyle had quit his job to spend more time with her. Kimber didn’t seem like the kind of girl to be impressed by a Pontiac Bonneville but Kyle was convinced that was how he’d won her over. I was sure all the car had really done was give him the confidence to ask her out. And now that its part in their romance had ended, the car sat in the garage of the Landy home collecting dust instead of memories.
GameStop didn’t have what I wanted and neither did Prescott Games and Media. Since I had nothing else to do I decided to show up to work early and hope that Meera would cut me loose early, too.
I parked in front and walked in the door, unsurprised to see no one at the front counter. Only three people worked at the shop and sadly I never got to see the other girl, Emmaline, who worked on the days I didn’t. This was especially disappointing to me since she was half the reason I’d applied there in the first place.
I went into the back to tell Meera I was there and found her slumped over her desk on a pile of receipts and paperwork. This wasn’t an unusual way to find Meera but something seemed different today. I immediately felt a disturbance in the force but before I could quietly retreat she turned toward me and I saw what I had only sensed before - Meera was crying.
“Are you, um….um, are you-“
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” she said quickly, wiping her eyes. “Is it four already?”
“No, it’s 2:15. I just thought maybe if I came in early-“
“Oh right, it’s your ditch day.” Meera wiped her eyes only to have them fill with tears again. “I don’t understand, Sam, this store, this store has been operating in the red ever since I was hired to manage it. What am I doing wrong?”
“I don’t…know,” I offered lamely, the instinct to escape never stronger.