The Silver Lake Murder

by Gregg Matthews

  “Cindy was my friend,” Kelly says.

  “I am listening,” Blake says with chills running up and down his spine.

  Watching as Kelly maneuvers herself to get comfortable, he thinks he is in for a long story of what happened to Cindy. He looks over and sees Billy and Lester are getting closer and more comfortable too. The fire Billy and Lester built is burning. Kelly, Blake, Billy, and Lester are all standing around the fire. Blake, Billy, and Lester are ready to hear Kelly tell them the story of what happened to Cindy Flynn.

  CHAPTER 9

  Kelly’s face is glowing from the reflection of the orange and red flames in the fire. Her long dark hair and light skin makes her face stand out in the dark night.

  The stars shine bright. The glowing round moon hangs over the lake, keeping an eye on everyone. A couple of falling stars race quickly across the sky. The water of the lake is dark, calm, and quiet. There are a few other bonfires showing in other parts of the island showing.

  She steps in closer to the fire. Blake, Billy, and Lester do the same. She pulls her hair back and braces herself to tell her story. She changes the expressions on her face and waves her arms and hands to help tell the story.

  She begins to explain, she and Cindy talked before work started every day. Cindy told her she woke up on July 1st, in her bed at #7 North Shore Drive. Her body was sore and dehydrated. There was blood on her pillow. There was a trail of dry blood along the side of her face. Her nose was sore and burning. One nostril was caked shut with dried blood. She needed to rise up out of bed. She needed to be at work to start her night shift as a waitress at the Lakeview Lounge.

  She needed to be there by 4:00 p.m. She rolled over, not wanting to face another day. Her life was going down the toilet, and she knew it. The way she was behaving at the parties after work was no way to live. She knew she had to cut ties from the Lakeview Lounge but didn’t know how. Any money she made at the Lakeview Lounge has already been spent on drugs and alcohol from the previous week.

  Lying in bed, her long blond hair was matted to the back of her head and pillow. She was sweating from the summertime heat and humidity consuming the air in the small cottage she lived in. Her body was on top of the covers, and she was still covered with sweat. The heat and humidity of July in Silver Lake was at an all-time high.

  With the water’s edge right in her backyard, she wanted to run and jump in the lake to cool her body off. But she knew she didn’t have time for the lake that day. She had to be at work because she owed a lot of money to Luke. The pile of unpaid bills on her mother’s kitchen table was getting bigger.

  The small two-bedroom cottage she was living in with her mother was in disrepair and needed a lot of money to fix it up. She needed to pay the bills if she and her mother expected to live there any longer. Neither one of them had anyplace else to go.

  Raising her young, sweaty body out of bed, she walked slowly into the shower. The small bathroom had a white ceiling with stains from no ventilation and the years of neglecting to maintain it. The walls were covered from the floor, halfway to the ceiling with pink tiles and a border of seashell tiles around the top. The toilet and sink were original to the cottage. Both were barely functioning.

  The plumber’s young apprentice had a crush on her. The plumbers used to come towork on the cottage to flirt with her. The plumbers came over and repair the plumbing charging her for parts, no labor. The cost of labor was buried in the paperwork. Some locals try to help each other if they can.

  Stepping into the shower, turning the barely functioning rusted water valve to the on position sent cold water out from the shower head like a garden hose. She drank down as much water as she could. She reached for the sliver of soap and the empty shampoo bottle and tried to make the best of both of them. The water flowed over her young, toned, and tired body bringing her back to life. She looked down into the drain at her feet and saw the color red was mixing with the slightly soapy water. She pinched her nose and leaned her head all the way back to try to stop the bleeding, but her nose still bled and burned.

  Drying her body off with a thin white towel, she dressed for work. Her body was in sync with the other waitresses she worked with. They were all in good shape. She looked at her reflection in the mirror while combing her wet hair. She flipped the blow-dryer from the off to the on position. The noise from the blow dryer quickly caused her headache to increase the throbbing pain. The noise from the blow dryer was cut off after she switched the blow-dryer to the off position. The dampness was quickly removed from her hair.

  Looking at the reflection of her body in the mirror. She knew her body was her most valuable asset. She put her underwear on, first the bottoms, then the top. She checked her reflection in the mirror again, she has blond hair, soft blue eyes, and a round face. She smiled to uncover pearl-white teeth, never had a cavity in them. Her breasts were large, round, and perfectly formed. Her body core was lean and toned. She took care of her skin with moisturizer and tried to stay out of the direct sunlight in the summertime. Her legs were toned from walking to the Lakeview Lounge then back home every day and night. Sometimes she took a walk around the lake to clear her mind before and after work. She often wondered if she was ever going to move away from Silver Lake, or would she be a local for the rest of her life?

  She was always more of a rebel and did not go along with the crowd. She didn’t understand how she was in debt with Luke. The drugs, alcohol, and Luke had crept their way into her life. She wondered how she let that happen. She was upset with herself but could not, on her own, stop doing the drugs and drinking the alcohol. She made herself upset and cried often.

  When she looked down at the tattoo between her thumb and index finger, she saw the tattoo of a crude outline drawing of a Jackal. Some of the other waitresses at the Lakeview Lounge had the same tattoo; she thought it was cute, so she got the same one. She realized not all the waitresses have the tattoo of the Jackal. The waitresses who do drugs and were in debt to Luke had the Jackal tattoo. She realized the Jackal tattoo was a big mistake.

  The customers at the Lakeview Lounge used any excuse to try to talk to her while she was working. She knew they were trying to make conversation after a long hard day of work. The male customers wanted a pretty female to talk to and tell their problems to. Cindy always listened with a sympathetic ear and encouraging words. Her pretty face and young body brought a lot of money into the bar from the male customers; she treated them with respect. Although most of the men did not treat her respectfully.

  She slid on a pair of old weathered jeans with a wide black leather belt. The jeans fit her body firmly and accentuate her figure. She threw on a green Lakeview Lounge T-shirt. She slipped on a pair of white socks and tanned low-cut work boots; she tied them up tight. She grabbed her black leather pocketbook with a large brass zipper, two straps, and flung it over her shoulder.

  She tried to remove herself from the house before her mother caught her and lectured her on how she was living her life. Most mornings, she would leave one hundred dollars in cash from her tips the night before, on the kitchen table for her mother. The past few months, she had not left any money at all. Most of the money she made went straight to drugs and alcohol at the Lakeview Lounge during the after-hours parties. She would leave the Lakeview Lounge after working all night and partying until 4:00 a.m. with a negative cash flow. She was running up a large tab with Luke. She was in debt and worried about how she was going to pay the money back to Luke. She could not help it; she wanted to party, and she didn’t worry about the money she owed. Before she left the cottage, she pushed the newspaper to the side of the kitchen table and wrote her mother a note.

  Dear Mom

  I know I have not been a good daughter lately. I am trying to pull my life together. I will start giving you money again as soon as I pay off a couple of other debts. I am trying really hard.

  Love, Cindy ☺

  Some blood drips from her nose onto the paper. She threw the note into the trash can. She
grabbed a new piece of paper and wrote the note again. This time a tear from her eye landed on the paper. Good enough.

  “That is what Cindy told me on July 1st,” Kelly says through tears.

  “I understand,” Blake says to Kelly while looking over at Billy and Lester.

  “Cindy was trying really hard to get her life together,” Kelly says.

  “Do you think you can continue telling us what happened?”

  “Yes, let’s talk about the next day, July 2nd,” Kelly says.

  CHAPTER 10

  Kelly takes a drink from a bottle of water and repositions herself standing in front of Blake, Billy, and Lester. The small fire is still burning. Kelly continues to tell the story. Starting with July 2nd.

  Cindy was taking her time, she walked halfway around the lake. She thought about where her life is going and started to panic. She wondered how her life had taken such a turn for the worse. She wondered if anything was ever going to change for her, here in Silver Lake.

  She always took the time to look around the lake. She tried to take in the natural beauty of the water and its surroundings. Her mind was not in a good place to stop and enjoy anything. She walked hurriedly in the direction of the Lakeview Lounge.

  Stepping inside the front door and standing at the waitress station near the bottom of the staircase. She watched me as I was bussing tables and the top of the bar area.

  “Hi Cindy,” I said, struggling to lift a plastic tote full of dirty glasses.

  “Hi Kelly,” Cindy said, looking upstairs.

  She could hear some of the wooden floor upstairs creaking and cracking under Luke’s feet. She knew Luke was in a bad mood. Looking up and over at me, she saw me looking over at her with a worried look in my eyes.

  “Cindy, get up here!”

  “Okay, Luke!”

  Cindy jumped and cringed at the sound of Luke shouting her name. She walked upstairs to The Devil’s Den. She walked up the steps until she reached the top step and the small hallway. She saw the door had writing with a black Sharpie spelling out, The Devil’s Den. She stepped in and saw Luke sitting at his desk. Luke is not tall; he is round. He has long, curly gray hair with a little black. His face is distorted from the extra weight. His arms and shoulders are thin and covered in tattoo ink. He has a heavy gold chain with a large round medallion. She could not see the medallion but knew it was a Jackal. He was wearing a green Lakeview Lounge T-shirt, jeans, and work boots. He was smoking a fat cigar and filling the room with smoke.

  Luke was reading a piece of yellow notebook paper. The yellow notebook paper was delivered to Luke at the end of every week. Luke turned the paper around and showed her the names:

  Lakeview Lounge Tab: Lester $ Lost cause

  Lakeview Lounge Tab: Cindy $3,100.00

  Lakeview Lounge Tab: Tracy $2,900.00

  Lakeview Lounge Tab: Shannon $2,800.00

  Lakeview Lounge Tab: Megan $2,800.00

  Etc……

  The list of names went on from there. Most people who work at the Lakeview Lounge are on the list. The people on the list are in the negative cash flow. People work for Luke full time and spend all their money on the Jackal alcohol and drugs. Luke wants to make sure the money never leaves the Lakeview Lounge. Luke also owns some of the cottages at the water’s edge. Luke has people who work at the Lakeview Lounge, drink alcohol at the Lakeview Lounge, do drugs at the Lakeview Lounge, and rent a room in one of the cottages he owns. There are not a lot of choices for people to work in the Silver Lake area. People take what they can get.

  “Cindy, sit down.”

  “Thanks, Luke.”

  “Cindy, your tab here at the Lakeview Lounge is getting out of control. You owe a lot of money.”

  “I know Luke. Maybe, I can pick up an extra shift?”

  “You already work the four biggest paying nights of the week, Thursday through Sunday night.”

  “I know, Luke.”

  “Look, Cindy, I have something you can do to help pay down your debt. I need you to come into work early tomorrow at 12:00 noon. I have some extra office work for you.”

  “What do I have to do, Luke?”

  “I need you to inventory the Jackal products. I will explain it to you tomorrow.”

  “Okay, thanks, Luke.”

  “I am also having a private meeting for some of my business associates. I want you to work the meeting to pay down some of this debt. Be up here in The Devil’s Den, July 4th 12:00 midnight, OK?”

  “What do I have to do, Luke?”

  “Clean yourself up like you would for a party. You have to stand around and talk to my business associates. You need to mix some drinks for them and be nice and polite when you talk to them.”

  “OK, Luke.”

  “Thanks, Cindy. Send Tracy up here.”

  Cindy walks down the stairs and back into the bar area. She sees Tracy and walks up to her.

  “Tracy, Luke wants you upstairs in The Devil’s Den.”

  Cindy watches as Tracy walks across the front of the bar and up the stairs to The Devil’s Den. She takes each step slowly like there is a force field slowing her progress.

  “Tracy, get up here,” Luke shouts.

  “Okay, Luke.”

  Several minutes later, Cindy watches Tracy walk-down the stairs after talking to Luke. Tracy walks over to Shannon.

  “Shannon, Luke wants you upstairs in The Devil’s Den,” Tracy whispers.

  “Okay, Tracy.”

  Cindy and Tracy watch Shannon walk across the front of the bar and up the stairs to The Devil’s Den. She takes each step slowly as well, like something is slowing her progress.

  “Shannon, get up here.”

  “Okay, Luke.”

  Several minutes later, Cindy watches Shannon walk-down the stairs after talking toLuke. Shannon walks over to Megan.

  “Megan, Luke wants you upstairs in The Devil’s Den,” Shannon whispers.

  “Okay, Shannon.”

  Cindy, Tracy, and Shannon watch Megan walk across the front of the bar and up the stairs to The Devil’s Den. She takes each step slowly.

  “Megan, get up here.”

  “Okay, Luke.”

  A few minutes later, Cindy watches Megan walk down the stairs from The Devil’s Den. The four girls group together and talk about what Luke had to say to them. They all know they are in for a long night on the up-and-coming July 4th holiday.

  “That is what Cindy told me on July 2nd,” Kelly says through tears again.

  “I understand,” Blake says.

  “Cindy was trying really hard to make some extra money,” Kelly says.

  “Do you think you can continue?”

  “Yes, let’s talk about the next day, July 3rd,” Kelly says.

  “OK, I pulled into town on July 5th. I need to close the gap on the days leading up to July 5th.”

  “Right, I can get you closer to that date.”

  CHAPTER 11

  Kelly takes a minute for herself. She is staring out at the water. She takes her time looking at the stars in the sky. She is crying uncontrollably. She regains her composure. She takes a drag off a cigarette, flix it into the water. She walks closer to the fire and repositions herself, standing in front of Blake, Billy, and Lester. Billy and Lester have thrown a couple of logs onto the fire, increasing its intensity and glow. Kelly continues to tell the story. Starting with July 3rd.

  Cindy stepped inside the Lakeview Lounge at noon. The extra office work Luke was going to assign her to help pay down the debt she accrued from after-work parties with drugs and alcohol. She walked over to the waitress station over by the stairs. She saw me behind the bar moving some bottles and glasses around.

  “Hi Kelly, working already?”

  “Hi Cindy, yes, always working. I need the money.”

  “Is Luke upstairs?”

  “Yes.”

  “Thanks!”

  Cindy quickly walked up the stairs into The Devil’s Den. Opening the door, she saw Luke sitting at his
desk. Both of his hands had paperwork in them, there was a large pile of paperwork on his desk too.

  “Hi, Luke.”

  “Hey Cindy, the guys working downstairs in the Punchbowl have the orders all messed up. I need you to do a full inventory at each workstation. The disorganization down stairs is affecting today’s deliveries. If the deliveries get messed up, I’ll be in big trouble with my customers.”

  “Okay, Luke,” Cindy said, taking a hand full of paperwork and a note book.

  Walking down the steps and out the front door of the Lakeview Lounge, she saw the large barn, with the Punchbowl in the basement. She always wondered why they called it the Punchbowl. Today, she was going to find out why. As she walked up to the barn, she saw a couple of groups of Chinese men standing together on the side of the barn smoking cigarettes. As she walked by, she could tell they were talking about her, a couple of the men pointed at her and shouted something in Chinese. All the men laughed in sequence.

  She was uncomfortable being around the strange men in this location. She didn’t know if she was safe. Her nervousness showed as she slightly tripped on the crushed stone parking lot. The Chinese men saw her trip, and they all pointed at her, laughing again. She quickly walked past them and into the barn.

  There were several old, green with white trim, pickup trucks pulling in and out of the barn. The driver’s side door of each truck read, Lakeview Lounge Deliveries in white letters. A few of the men driving the pickup trucks gave her a dirty look, like she was not supposed to be there. She realized when the men are working, they are not friendly to her. There was a pickup truck inside the barn off to the side, with a rope tied to the bumper driving slowly forward and backward. The voice of a man could be heard shouting commands up from the basement. An older man walked up to her and said.

  “What are you doing in here?”

  “I work for Luke; I’m looking for the door to the Punchbowl.”

  The man pointed to the back of the barn. She stepped deeper inside the barn and walked across the floor to the door with, Punchbowl written across the front of it with a black Sharpie. She opened the door and slowly walked down the long creaking flight of stairs.