by S J Sargent
Alex and Molly stayed locked onto the screen as the news anchors reacted to the fresh story. You could feel their raw emotion as they tried their best to tackle such an unfamiliar and tragic story. The news had broken on Sunday night that Amy had gone missing. On Monday at school, the administration was starting to go crazy. They had special announcements in every class about her. And the police were there, questioning all of her closest friends, including Molly. Of course, that just made things worse.
Parents started to get worked up when they found out their teenagers were being grilled in the middle of class as possible suspects to the crime.
Maybe in other areas, this story would not have had such a ripple effect. But in a zip code where everyone at least knows of everyone else, the story cut deep. Even in the police department that tried their best to keep people calm. But it was an uphill battle, especially on social media feeds. Posts were everywhere.
Prayers for Amy.
Amy, if you’re out there, come home.
Special search party in downtown Pecos at 8 p.m. tonight.
And then it started to get out of hand. And inappropriate. Like most things do on social media with teenagers. Molly had to stop looking at her phone the past few days.
I heard she was cheating on her boyfriend anyway.
Missing? More like ‘no one misses her.’
Amy was a SL&% anyway.
And now she was gone. Just like that.
As the five staff members were glued to the TV, there was an eerie quiet feeling in the store. No one knew what to say. Each one quietly reminisced about the last time they interacted with Amy and what they remembered about her. Even Christine had stopped what she was doing to watch the news story.
The broadcast showed a picture of the Powers family. Everyone knew them, since her dad was the town’s electrical inspector and the owner of the most prominent electrical repair company in town. He’d been in Movie Madness multiple times to help restore their electricity, and never asked for a dime. All he asked for in return were free rentals for his family that weekend.
Why would somebody do this? Especially to a teenage girl who had her whole life ahead of her, just months from graduation. Molly was too distraught to even move. Alex kept his arm around her as she continued to shake.
“Do they know…who did it?” Alex asked. “I mean, it’s been five days since she went missing. They have to have something. Some type of lead. Do they know anything?”
By this time, the news had moved on to the next story, leaving Alex’s question lingering in the air. It left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth, like morning breath.
Who would do something like this?
And are they done, or just getting started?
3
Day After
Friday, December 17 - 12:50 P.M.
“How are you feeling?” Alex asked via text. It was the first time he’d ever texted Molly about something that didn’t have to do with work schedule.
Now Friday afternoon, the school day was almost over and Alex hadn’t seen Molly all day. The two usual times that they intersect during class change, she wasn’t there. Alex started to worry after she wasn’t in the lunchroom in her typical seat with the other brainiacs.
Alex looked down at his phone as he devoured the rest of his fries. No answer. He wanted to help her, but didn’t want to come off as obnoxious by being the guy that kept texting her while she grieved the loss of a friend. Alex shoved the phone in his pocket and tried to think about anything else.
The whole school day had a weird funk to it. If it weren’t finals week, they would’ve probably canceled it altogether. But canceling now meant throwing off the whole finals schedule. Which, in turn, meant throwing off the whole schedule for January.
Plus, what was the point? The school counselor reminded the students in an assembly that morning that a big part of the grieving process was learning to move forward in the new reality of Amy not being there. Moving forward was key.
At this point, Alex’s concern wasn’t about Amy. It was about Molly. He already couldn’t sleep the night before, wondering how she was taking the news.
When he finally left the parking lot the night before, she was still a wreck. Everyone else had cleared out, but they stayed around talking until well after 11. The only business still open was Pizza Zone. Its obnoxious neon sign glowed in the near distance as Molly became more vulnerable than usual.
“I just keep thinking…what if I’m next?” she whispered, peering out the window as if someone was lurking.
“Molly,” Alex said. “No. Don’t even think like that.”
Then Molly’s phone rang for the fourth time. This time she picked it up, knowing that if she ignored her mom any longer, it would result in a less eventful Christmas break for her. She slipped out of Alex’s car and into her own. He watched as her car disappeared down the lonely road.
And now, almost 1 p.m. on Friday, he still hadn’t heard from her. The rumor in the hallways was that over a hundred students weren’t there that day. Some thought it was because they were too saddened by the news. But Alex knew better.
They were scared. Afraid to be the next victim. Some parents even forced their kids to stay home, anxious for the same reasons.
It’s amazing how one incident can shake up an entire town. One person. One action. And the emotions of seven thousand people are wrecked. That is the power of tragedy.
Molly finally responded to his text.
“I’m okay. I stayed home today.”
Alex was relieved. Eager to reply, he decided to wait a minute. He didn’t want to give off the impression that he was just waiting by his phone. Even though he was literally holding it in his hand. He counted to sixty and then he typed in a reply.
“Are you working tonight?”
She replied much sooner this time.
“I’m supposed to work the early shift. Off around 8. I’m not sure I’m up for it though.”
Alex quickly texted back. “I’ll cover your shift if you need me to. I’m here for you.”
The school bell rang for the last period, which was a study hall for Alex. He made his way to his car, checking his phone every few moments. Still nothing. Was his last text too much?
Getting to his car, he moved his two current employee DVD rentals – Primal Fear and Shutter Island – to the backseat. He had been on a ‘90s movie kick since he and Ken started ranking the best decades for film the week prior. It wasn’t until he got home that Molly finally replied back.
“No. I think it’s better if I go in. I need to keep my mind off things. I’ll just drive myself crazy if I sit at home. Plus, I actually feel safer at work. Is that weird? I don’t know.”
Alex replied from his bedroom. “I completely understand. I work tomorrow morning so I have tonight off. Sucks we aren’t working together.” He paused and debated saying more, but ultimately decided to set his phone by his side. He popped in Shutter Island and started watching it on the blu ray player in his room. If he could finish at least one of the movies by tonight, he could have an excuse to go in to the store.
He pulled out his phone again to type another text. “Want to get together after you get off? It might be good for you to not be alone.” Part of Alex felt slimy for manipulating the situation. But at the same time, he didn’t.
His heart raced. It’s funny how much is on the line for certain text messages that you send. He waited for, what felt like, an hour. In reality, it was eleven minutes.
“Sure. I would like that.”
“Great. Bruno’s?”
Bruno’s was one of the two other places on the strip with Movie Madness. When you pulled into the little plaza, it was Movie Madness, Bruno’s Italian Kitchen, and an insurance agency on the end. Bruno’s owner, Sofia, was a regular at Movie Madness. The employees and she worked out a deal. Free movies for free pasta. So, Bruno’s was perfect. Because it was free.
Alex looked at his phone as the most beautiful text he’d eve
r received binged onto the home screen.
“I’m in.”
His heart was still racing, but now for a different reason.
4
Friday Night Shift
Friday, December 17 - 6:15 P.M.
“Which would be worse? To live as a monster or die as a good man?” Then Leonardo DiCaprio’s character got up and walked off with the guys in white. Roll credits.
Shutter Island was one of Alex’s all-time favorites. As he hopped up to turn off the DVD player, he asked himself why he didn’t own the movie yet. It was the third time he’d rented it since he started working at Movie Madness. Maybe that was why. With unlimited free rentals, why buy any movie anymore? It was perhaps the greatest job perk Alex could imagine. Definitely made up for the minimum wage pay.
Alex walked over to his desk, cluttered with unfinished homework assignments and film school applications. He stacked them up nicely and set them to the side. Pulling out his journal, he jotted down a few notes.
Amy Powers. Found at Wilson Park.
Last seen alive on Sunday afternoon in Williamson Plaza.
Still no suspects.
Alex paused for a moment, tapping his pen against the page as he stared out his window.
Keep Molly safe.
He circled the last line and closed the journal.
Across town, Molly was trying her best to manage the rush. Peter had opened up a second register to help.
The video store was packed, as usual for a Friday night. All types of customers had made their way into the store over the last several hours.
It began with the crowd of teenagers that stocked up for the weekend on their way home from school. Then came the commuters, stopping by on their way home from work with their list of movies that had clearly been texted in from their kids. They were all business and were in and out as soon as possible.
Peter’s favorite customers were the families that came in all together. The excitement of parents rushing in with their little ones was contagious. Kids would burst through the front doors with the Friday night excitement, ready to race to the Kid’s New Release section and claim some titles before they ran out of copies. Many times, Peter would hear them murmuring about getting pizza from Bruno’s too. Family pizza and movie night. Just the thought brought him back to sweet memories of his own childhood.
That was the magic of the Friday night crowd. There was always an unrivaled energy that came during this shift from families that celebrated that they had survived another week of work and school. Friday night was when the candy flew off the shelves and people were most likely to be upsold. Friday night just brought good moods and happy customers.
And this particular Friday night was no different. Perhaps the snow was bringing people in to load up. Maybe it was the breaking news about Amy’s death that was causing people to stock up for a weekend at home. Either way, movies were flying off the shelves.
Ken had called out sick earlier in the day, leaving it to Peter and Molly to handle the lofty crowd of customers. Molly had almost called Alex to see if he could close, but she didn’t want to interrupt their plans. She really needed someone to talk through everything with, and Alex was the only one who offered.
She felt like she could trust Alex, though she wasn’t sure quite yet. Molly wasn’t quick to spend time with boys. She’d avoided dating like a mathlete avoids gym class. Her number one focus was on her school work. But now, with all of this with Amy and her scattered emotions, she needed someone she could talk through things with. And her parents had proved to not be that for her.
After the line died down for a minute, Peter turned to her.
“Well…” he said, resting on the computer monitor. “You can definitely tell the breaking news has had an effect on the town. This is crazy. I would’ve guessed business would be slow tonight.”
“You know what Christine always chants…” Molly said back. “Bad weather and bad news makes business boom.” Then she shrugged. “I mean, it affected me too.
I didn’t even go to school today. I heard a lot of other students skipped. Like hundreds.”
“Oh, really?” Peter turned to her. “I didn’t know that. You should have told me. I would have covered you.”
“It’s fine.” Molly shook her head. “Seriously. It’s better that I stay busy. I spent the whole morning at home with my mom. It drove me crazy. Plus, there’s no way you could have handled this shift on your own.”
“Were you and Amy friends? Did you actually know her or was she just a girl from school?”
Molly let out a breath, contemplating her answer. “Um, not too close. We were friends. But I hadn’t hung out with her outside of school too much. Except for last Saturday night…”
Peter sat up.
“Wait. You were with her last Saturday?”
Molly stopped herself. Tears developed in her eyes. Peter waited for her to elaborate.
She didn’t.
5
Staying later
Friday, December 17 - 8:02 P.M.
“Excuse me?” a customer interrupted, unaware and uninterested in Molly’s obvious emotions. She was a short, elderly lady, grasping one of the few remaining VHS tapes left in the store – a dusty copy of The Way We Were.
“Yes, ma’am?” Peter responded for Molly. “How can I help?”
“I’m looking for The Way We Were.”
Peter looked down at her copy of the tape that she had in hand. At first, he thought she was messing with him. Then he remembered that little old ladies hardly do such things. After he didn’t say anything, she continued. “…but I can only find it on tape. Don’t you have it on anything newer? My VCR is somewhere in the garage. I would have to call my son Thomas to come and hook it up for me. He’s very good with technology, but his wife just had a baby. My grandson. His name is Oliver James. Do you understand?”
Peter nodded. “We do have it on DVD, ma’am.” He swung around the counter and started to lead her to the romance section. “Let me show you where it is…”
Molly wiped away her remaining tears and let out a grunt of frustration. “I’m a mess.” She turned her back to the counter and pretended to sort the movie returns while she collected her thoughts. The window had a beautiful backdrop of falling snow. It had already snowed more in the past two weeks in Pecos than that past year’s December in total. The quiet flurries served as perfect contrast to her collision of scattered thoughts…
What happened to Amy?
Why would anyone do this?
Maybe it was an accident.
How come Vanderbilt hasn’t gotten back to me?
Or Duke?
What if I have to work here forever?
Molly pulled out her phone. No new college acceptance emails since the last time she checked twenty minutes earlier. Though, why would there be on a Friday night?
“Is this register open?” a voice said from behind her.
Molly turned around to see Alex standing there with a movie sitting in front of him. His smile reassured her.
“Hey, Alex.” She tried to hide her tears, which just ended up highlighting them instead.
“You okay?” he asked.
“It’s been a hard day. A long day. ”
“Absolutely,” he said as he swung around the counter. “It’s been hard for the whole town.” Alex camped out on the counter, Ken’s usual spot. “School was weird today. Everyone was wondering why we didn’t just cancel it. A lot of parents were pretty mad.”
Before she could respond, Peter came back up with the customer and began to ring her up. “…and could I interest you in any of our previously viewed films to take home with you today? You get to keep it forever!” Peter said with a raised index finger. His weak attempt at an upsell.
“…huh?” The old lady looked up from her purse. “Hold on. What do I have to do?”
“Oh. I’m just asking if you wanted to purchase any of our wonderful previously viewed films.” Peter extended his hand out to t
he tables behind her. “Many of them are on sale right now. And it’s always better to buy than to rent!”
The old lady turned around and looked back at him. Clearly confused. Almost offended.
“I have to buy this movie? I just wanted to rent it. Young man, this is too much for me to handle…”
“Oh, no ma’am. You don’t have to buy this. I meant…nevermind.” Peter rang up the movie and handed it to her on the other side of the sensor. “Have a great evening!”
She moaned on her way out.
“Wow,” Alex said to him. “Solid sales effort there, bro.”
Peter shook his head. “I don’t know.” He shrugged. “I’m not good at that stuff. I feel like I need to do it as the Assistant Manager. But I feel bad. You know?”
Alex laughed. “I’m not sure that lady was your best target audience. You just confused her. She probably thinks she just bought that…”
“Wait. Really?” Peter looked out the window at her. Molly laughed out loud. The first time all day.
“I guess we’ll find out in five days…” Alex smirked. “If it’s not back by Wednesday, we might not ever see it again.”
“Alex.” He turned around to see Christine sitting there with her arms crossed, not happy.
“What did I tell you about getting behind the counter when you’re not on duty?” Christine was clearly not in the same mood as the customers around her. Though someone had to keep all these young staff members in line.
“Oh,” Alex said as he backed up and leaned against the soda cooler. “Sorry. Forgot.”
Christine glared at him. No, you didn’t.
“Molly.” Christine’s stare was as sharp as a blade. “Since Ken isn’t here, I need you to stay on a little later tonight. At least until the night rush is completely clear. Probably around nine or so.”
Molly looked over at Alex, who shrugged. The last person to tell Christine ‘no’ was Ted. He got fired the next day. On Thanksgiving, none the less. They’d been short-staffed since then and the whole team was feeling it.