by Vicky Jones
Everett’s son flashed his father a bright white smile. He was twenty-one years old and in his senior year of college. When standing side-by-side with his father, they were near identical, both with the same athletic, six-foot physique, kind blue eyes and fine sandy colored hair, receding slightly. “Hey Pop, it’s just a few questions about some legal procedures. Shouldn’t take too long, if you have the time?”
“No problem, son. I got time now if you like?” Everett held out his arm to lead Eric into his office.
Spotting the flowers, Shirley broke into a beaming smile. “Well now, are those for anyone special?” She put her hands on her hips in mock interest.
“Only for the most special woman in this whole town,” Everett replied. He handed his wife the flowers.
“They are beautiful. You, sir, are very thoughtful.” She kissed him again and gazed deep into his eyes. At that moment Everett’s assistant cleared her throat.
“Um…sir? I have someone on the line for you,” she said.
“Take a message, Julie, I’m busy right now,” Everett replied, then gazed back at his wife’s deep brown eyes.
“It’s important. I’m sorry, sir, but I’m afraid it’s bad news.”
Everett looked over at his assistant. Julie had been with him since he became sheriff five years ago and in all that time he’d never seen her face make the expression it was making at that moment. Following her pointed finger, he walked into his office, with Shirley and Eric closely behind, and picked up the receiver that was lying off the hook on his desk.
“Hello, this is Bill Everett,” he began. Seconds later his face turned gray. Slowly lowering himself down in his seat, he thanked the person on the end of the call and replaced the receiver, his hand lingering on it for a moment.
“Honey? What is it?” Shirley asked.
“Pop?” Eric’s eyes filled with concern.
“There’s… There’s been a car accident. Dad was driving and…they hit a tree.” His voice choked, the words catching in his throat. “Mom’s gone,” he murmured. He placed his hand over his face and rubbed his eyes.
Shirley strode around the back of his desk and threw her arms around him.
“I gotta get back up to Portland. Dad’s in a bad way. Someone’s gotta take care of the business while he’s…” Sheriff Everett looked lost for a moment, before Shirley looked over at Julie.
“I’ll call Headquarters, get some relief down here. Sir, you go home and sort out what you need to. Don’t worry about things here, we’ll be OK,” Julie assured.
Everett allowed himself to be shepherded out to his car by Shirley and Eric, the latter climbing into the driver’s seat. In a second they were gone, just as Deputy Lawrence sauntered through the station doorway. Looking around the room, he tried to make eye contact with each cop standing in a daze around him, each man with his hat now held against his chest. Finally, Lawrence’s eyes rested on Julie, who wiped away a tear.
“So, what did I miss?” he asked.
Deputy Lawrence picked his ‘acting sheriff’ badge up off his new desk and pinned it to his shirt pocket. Straightening his belt, he checked himself in the mirror on the back of Everett’s door and smiled. “This is my town now,” he whispered to himself. He took his baton from the hook by the door, then walked into the already crowded police station breakroom.
“Now y’all listen up. I know some o’ you ain’t exactly on cloud nine that Headquarters refused to send relief and decided to put me in charge around here instead,” Lawrence began, pausing at a small pocket of mumbling and groans from the corner of the room, “but facts are facts. Bill spent the last few years trainin’ me in his ways, and now he’s got some stuff he needs to take care of back home. I know Headquarters has agreed to keep his job open for him, but we have to start acceptin’ that he might not ever come back. So I need to know I have your loyalty and support.”
Lawrence hung his hands on his hips, his watery speech less than convincing, especially to the small crowd of officers standing pouring a second cup of coffee and sniggering. He rose himself up to his full height and set his lips. “You over there. Barnes.”
Officer Barnes looked up from his cup and looked from side to side. “Who, me?” he replied. The three officers next to him stifled their laughs.
“Well, you’re the only one called ‘Barnes’ around here, ain’t ya, boy?” Lawrence replied, his temper fraying.
Barnes clenched his teeth. He raked a lock of greying hair away from his temple and shot Lawrence a look of pure contempt. The giggling crowd fell silent, the air in the room thick.
“You’ve served here the longest, ain’t ya?” Lawrence asked.
“Yeah,” Barnes replied. “Not that that mattered to the chief,” he added under his breath.
“Right, well, I want you to personally keep eyes on that no good bar, Bertie’s. Everett was too chickenshit to investigate that place properly, even though everyone around here knows what goes on in there. We just need to prove it. Take three of these guys and go pay them a visit. You have my full permission to use any means necessary to question or even arrest anyone in there if you see anythin’ improper.”
Barnes smiled. “Yes sir,” he replied, nodding at three of the officers standing by who followed closely behind him as he left the breakroom.
“The rest of you, I want you to come straight to me if you see anythin’ out of place around this town, or anyone actin’ suspiciously, especially around Bertie’s bar. There’s been talk of riots around here and I don’t want any folk thinkin’ that while the cat’s away they can make trouble in my town. We gotta keep these streets clean for our families, if you get my meanin’. We don’t want our kids seeing bad influences and things that will pollute their minds.” Lawrence waited for the nods and grunts of understanding from the crowd. “Understood?”
“Yes boss,” came the replies, more focused and forceful than five minutes earlier. Lawrence looked around the dispersing crowd of officers and grinned.
“What the hell…? You can’t do this,” Bertie said as the police officers barged past her and into the bar later that afternoon. Within seconds, tables had been turned over, bottles were smashed and pictures from the wall torn down. Officer Barnes walked up to her and pressed his face into hers.
“We can do whatever the fuck we like, pal,” he replied, looking Bertie up and down with disdain. “What are you gonna do to stop us, huh? Who you gonna complain to?” He grinned, then walked past her and over to the bar, then ran his baton across it, sweeping away the glasses resting on it. As they smashed to the wooden floorboards one by one, he smiled.
“You should consider yourself lucky we don’t torch this place. With you all still inside, you dumbass dyke bitches,” he snarled, then nodded his head towards the other officers. “Let’s go, boys, I think we’ve made Lawrence’s point.” The officers left, banging their batons against anything that was still unbroken.
“I’m sick of this,” Lula said, as she swept up glass off the floorboards. “There’s gotta be somethin’ we can do. Everett wasn’t perfect, but while he’s out of town Lawrence and his cronies are makin’ our lives a misery. It ain’t legal what they just did, Bert.” She wiped her brow with her checked shirt sleeve, her eyes blazing. “We’re just sittin’ ducks right now.”
“I know,” Bertie replied, her face impassive. “But I got an idea.”
Chapter 13
“How’s it been around town, since the sheriff got called away?” Chloe asked over breakfast.
“Bad. I heard two guys got beaten up the other night by Lawrence’s guys. Just for being seen coming out of Bertie’s bar. As far as I know they’re only friends but…” Shona tailed off as she chewed her toast.
“Maybe we should keep our heads down for a bit. We don’t want any more questions,” Chloe replied.
“Agreed. I thought we’d be safe here, but I guess folks like us aren’t safe anywhere.” Shona swallowed her mouthful and pushed her plate away. “I’d better
go.”
“Please, Shona,” Chloe’s face was clouded with concern. “Please be careful.”
“Don’t worry. I done so many favors for those cops that I’m sure it’ll be fine. And I ain’t gonna be looking for any trouble, believe me. Had my fair share of that,” she added with a rueful smile. “I’ll see you later.” Shona kissed Chloe on the cheek, grabbed her satchel and headed out of the door.
“I hope so,” Chloe whispered to herself. She held her flattened palm to her stomach, which was now starting to show the merest hint of a bump.
“Good morning, Shona,” a light voice piped up from the door of the garage.
Emerging from the underside of a Chevrolet, Shona looked up at her visitor. The woman straightened her stripy cardigan and stepped forward, her low heeled pumps clipping on the concrete.
“Have we met?” Shona asked.
“No, not yet, but I’ve been hearing all about you from Bertie over at the bar. I’m Edie.”
Shona sat up on her creepers and nodded her hello. “You work there?”
Edie laughed. “No, but I was in there the other night when you came in. I think Lula pointed us all out to you. I work over at the grocery store.” She nodded across the street.
“OK. You got a car you want me to look at?” Shona asked, glancing behind Edie.
“Oh, no. I just came over to, um…well, I guess to introduce myself properly.” Edie fiddled with the cuff of her cardigan. “You looked a bit upset in the bar that night. I thought I’d come over and make friends.” She stepped into the garage and smiled down to Shona who stood up and dusted herself off, then crossed over to the tool chest. “You don’t like company much, do ya?” Edie observed, staring at Shona’s back. “I get that. I’m not all that great around new people either.” She adjusted her cat-eye glasses and smoothed down the front of her buttoned up blouse.
“Just like to keep to myself,” Shona replied. She retrieved the wrench she’d been looking for and sat back down on her creepers.
“Yeah, me too. I sometimes feel like an outsider too, being clever and all. The others over there see me as a bit of a wet rag, but it don’t bother me.” She pushed her glasses back on her pointy nose again and squinted. “I’m used to it.”
Shona, softening her voice, exhaled and looked up again at Edie. “Ain’t nothing wrong with being smart. Maybe the others are jealous?”
Edie grinned and twirled a lock of hair around her finger. “Really? You think so?”
“Maybe,” Shona replied before sliding back underneath the Chevrolet.
“Well, now, you’re the first person to ever suggest that, Shona,” Edie said. “Say, why don’t you come over to the bar later? You could meet everyone properly then. You could bring your girlfriend too. Chloe, is it?”
Shona dropped her wrench. It clanged on the concrete.
“Bertie told me. But don’t worry, the town won’t hear a peep out of me. Maybe you could both do with making a few friends around here?” Edie said, oblivious to Shona’s stillness underneath the car. After a minute or so of no response, she sighed. “Well, Shona, it was good to finally make your acquaintance. I’ll leave you to it.” She waited a second or two before leaving.
Shona slid out. “Shit,” she whispered to herself. She looked up at the now boarded up window at the side of the garage and cursed again.
Chloe lowered the newspaper she was reading and looked over to Shona who was sitting on the window seat staring out to sea.
“They got a quiz on over at Bertie’s tonight. Wanna go?” Chloe asked.
Shona snapped out of her daydream at the mention of the bar’s name. After a moment of contemplation, remembering what Edie had said earlier at work, she shook her head. “Nah, I don’t fancy going out tonight. I’d rather stay in with you. It’s the only place I feel truly safe.”
Chloe got up and crouched in front of her. “Because of what Edie and Bertie know about us?” The lone tear that tracked its way down Shona’s cheek was enough of a reply for Chloe. “I’m sure they won’t say anything, honey. They know how it feels to be on the outside too. Would it be so bad to try and make friends with them?”
“I guess not.”
“Alright then. We try to make them our friends. Maybe that’ll make us all feel a little safer, now that Lawrence is in charge.”
Shona remained quiet as she snuggled into Chloe’s arms.
Chapter 14
“Hey, how’s it going?”
“Boy, are you a sight for sore eyes,” Shona whispered back to Chloe, who stood in front of her as she was locking up the garage for the weekend. Chloe was wearing the larger of her dresses, her growing bump much more visible lately. It was mid-January, but the weather was mild enough for her only to need a light cardigan covering her shoulders. Her face, more rounded now, was still stunningly beautiful to Shona, but her brown eyes lacked their usual sparkle. Shona still felt her heart skip a beat when she saw her though. “How did your appointment go with Nurse Busybody over there?”
Chloe suppressed a smile at Shona’s facial gesture. “Fine. Though she won’t let up about who the father is.” She wiped a stray strand of hair from her brow and looked at Shona. “There’s only so many times I can tell her the same story. I don’t know why she keeps poking her nose in.”
Shona stepped forward, aching to reach out to embrace Chloe. “Look, why don’t we just say he’s dead. I for one would sure love to speak those words out loud.”
“We can’t. You know that. We have to stick to the story that I found out I was pregnant the week after his army leave ended. If we say he’s dead, then that frees me up to remarry. We’ll have guys all over this town wanting to save me from a life as a single parent.” Realizing her assumption, Chloe blushed. “Oh, I didn’t mean…”
Shona stifled a grin. “All over town, huh? Well ain’t you got tickets on yourself.”
“Don’t. I feel like a whale,” Chloe groaned, rubbing her swollen stomach.
“My whale,” Shona whispered while grinning in Chloe’s ear as she brushed past her on the way to load up her truck.
“Why don’t I cook tonight? You look tired,” Shona said, breaking the silence that had befallen them over the mile-ride home.
“I made a meatloaf earlier, but thank you, honey. Will you rub my feet for me later? They seem to be burning more and more these days.” She let out a groan as she fidgeted in her seat.
“Sure. Oh, I forgot, I got those pickles you asked for. And potato chips. You sure are getting some weird hankerings lately.” Shona laughed, leaving one hand on the steering wheel as she reached behind her to pull out a brown paper bag from the back seat and passed it to Chloe.
“Thank you. I know. I never used to eat junk. Now here I am inhaling anything I can find that’s bad for me.”
“What my baby wants, my baby gets, right?” Shona grinned.
“Now you got two of us to take care of,” replied Chloe, watching Shona’s reactions carefully. The smile of pride in that thought that draped itself across Shona’s face as she looked out on to the road ahead allayed Chloe’s momentary worry.
As they pulled up to the house, Shona’s expression changed. “What the…?”
“What? What is it?” Chloe asked, but Shona had already shot out of the truck and was standing at the steps by the veranda and staring at the porch swing. Open-mouthed, Chloe shuffled her body out of the truck and walked over to where Shona was standing. Then she saw what had made Shona bolt.
“You sure did pick a neat spot here. The view is everything I hoped it would be and more,” a croaky old voice sounded.
“Just like the picture, huh?” Shona replied, her face beaming.
Chloe looked at the porch swing where a very familiar figure wearing a light green cardigan, white blouse and green full skirt was sitting. “Dorothy!” she exclaimed, her jaw hanging open. Her smile was almost as wide as Shona’s was.
“So are you two gonna help me inside with my bags or just stand there catching flie
s?” Dorothy asked. Shona and Chloe looked at each other, unaware they had been staring open-mouthed at their guest for the last ten seconds.
“What are you doing here?” Shona asked, racing over to embrace Dorothy. Almost crushed in her arms, Dorothy let out a laugh and slapped Shona on the back.
“Well, seeing as though I ain’t heard from neither one of ya for the past few months since your last letter, Shona, I thought I’d better mosey on down here to see if I could do anything to help out.” Pushing Shona gently away from her, she looked closely at her. Her knowing pale-blue eyes narrowed. “You look tired.” After a moment of silent communication between the two of them, Dorothy turned her attention to Chloe, who stood watching the reunion of her two favorite people in the world. “And you?” Dorothy exclaimed, heaving her aged body off the swinging porch seat and hobbling over to Chloe. “My goodness, you’re the size of a house.” She laid her palm on Chloe’s swollen stomach.
“Why now, ever the straight-shooter,” Chloe joked, embracing Dorothy as fiercely as Shona had. “How are you?”
“Oh, I’m fine, nothing worth complaining about.” The old lady looked between Shona and Chloe. “Now, I think you two better start from the beginning. And don’t leave anything out, or else I’ll know.” She wagged her finger in Shona’s face then took Chloe by the hand and led her into the house.
Shona picked up Dorothy’s suitcase and followed behind. “No change there then,” she muttered, then grinned.
The sun had already set by the time Shona and Chloe had filled Dorothy in completely. They’d finished dinner, chatted about how nothing had really changed in Riverside with Frank still acting “like an idiot,” and were now sitting in the living room staring out onto the ocean, the moonlight glinting on the surface of it.