by Sharon Kleve
A leukemia survivor, Lin insisted she was suddenly cured. But the house money would say otherwise. I think she was still fighting the damn disease, and it was winning. But given my own state of fragility at the time, I really didn’t give a damn.
Lin was a real bummer as well. When the group of us had plans, she always seemed to get all nauseated and needed to stay curled up at home. And, of course, being the insanely nice, loving person she was, Cali always canceled her plans to be at home with her best friend since kindergarten. It’s enough to gag even the kindest of shepherds.
If it’s not obvious, Lin and I had a mutual dislike for each other. But, because of our shared fondness for Cali, we treated each other with respect when we were around her. At times like this, however, without Cali’s presence, we were usually at each other’s throats. Though she couldn’t pick up a pebble, Lin’s words could hit like a boulder. But after witnessing Cali, willingly leave with the devil, we were both in shock, and, I suppose, in need of a friend. So, I guess we reconciled our differences for the moment.
“I have a gun you know,” Lin said, before coughing up the usual wad of phlegm. She spat the phlegm into a newly formed stream of rain water, and continued. “And I know,” she said with a slight cough. “Just how to use it.”
In spite of the chill in the air, and in my bones, I chuckled. “You can’t even carry a knapsack, how the hell can you lift and shoot a gun?”
“My father taught me. And yes, I can lift it. And I can shoot—with deadly aim.”
“So now what?” I sneered. “Are you going to chase down the Trans Am and give him a redheaded ultimatum, since he’s taken away your emotional bodyguard?”
“Admit it, Jones!” Lin shouted. “You’re as freaked out as I am.”
“Whatever. There’s nothing we can do right now.” I looked back into the green beyond, and folded my arms, showing my disregard for her comment. But she was right. I, Sham Jones, was freaked out, and, more likely, even worse than she was. I didn’t want her know that though, so I turned and, straight-faced, nodded to the open locker room door. “Come on; let’s get your feeble-ass body out of the rain.” I grabbed Lin by the shoulder and guided her toward the brick building. “So, Annie Oakley, what kind of gun do you have?”
She grabbed hold of the jacket and wrapped herself tightly. Seemingly trying to act tough, Lin barked, “It’s a Smith & Wesson .38. And it will blow you away.”
“I’m sure it will.”
CHAPTER FOUR
When we made it to the building, the last few football players were on their way out. They were discussing the party they were about to have, and bragged that they didn’t have to worry about their upcoming game, since it wasn’t until Saturday afternoon.
“Hi boys.” Lin shot the boys a flirty smile, which caught me by surprise.
“Hey Linda,” said one of the boys, returning an equally flirty glance.
It got me thinking, Is she messing with that guy? The surprising moment caused me to grin, and distract my worried mind. “Why little Lin, who knew you played football?”
“He thinks I’m pretty good, too.” Lin entered the building. She went directly to a closet located in the middle of the building, opposite the entrance. With a secret set of keys, Lin unlocked the door.
“No shit,” I blurted. “No wonder the jocks like you.”
“My father is the school’s maintenance supervisor.” Lin glanced left and right. “I have unlimited access to areas that most students only fantasize about.” She removed her hand from the knob and shuffled to the left, peeking into the boy’s shower room. “Darn it. They’re all gone.” Lin threw a naughty glance my way, and then checked the double doors, to the right of the main entrance. “The gymnasium’s empty; good.” Lin shuffled back to the closet door. She opened it and removed two padded chairs. “The basketball players use these on game days.” With a nod of her head, Lin waved me over and handed me a chair. “Here, take a seat.”
Trying to hide our concern for Cali, Lin and I sat in silence, at the entrance of the building, facing the cul-de-sac that seemed to accommodate hundreds of happily costumed children. They were beginning to trick-or-treat through the neighborhood, where Lin’s family home, conveniently rested.
Getting tired of the silence, I decided to make some small talk. “You never did tell me why you call her Cali, isn’t her real name, Janiece?”
“Yeah, it is. When I met Cali, we were in kindergarten. She introduced herself as Janiece, from California. For some reason, I had a lisp and I couldn’t say her name. I couldn’t say California either.” Lin paused and shook her head. She smiled warmly. “So, from that moment on, she was simply known to me as Cali.” Lin nodded slowly as she recalled the seemingly fond memory. “Soon, the other kids started calling her Cali, so it stuck.”
Having found the conversation to be somewhat comforting, I decided to continue. “So, you’ve been friends ever since then?”
“Well, I’ve moved around a bit, not too far away though. We’ve stayed in touch through phone calls, and would spend long weekends at each other’s homes. As we got older, we even camped a little; in the woods, by ourselves.”
“Wasn’t that a bit dangerous, particularly given the murders in the woods?”
“I had the gun—remember?”
“For sure, the gun.” I got a chuckle out of it, until Lin suddenly jumped to her feet.
“I think I see the Trans Am!” Lin gazed into the parking lot, and then shook her head. “Nope, false alarm.”
Appearing quite disappointed, Lin sat. After a few moments, staring at the cold concrete floor, she continued. “Last December, my family moved back to the area.” She nodded upward toward her house. “So I could graduate with Cali, and the rest of my class.”
“A world traveler, hmm. I never took you for anything more than a homebody.”
Lin reached into her backpack and pulled out a bag of candy. “I didn’t know if we’d have time to trick-or-treat,” she said. “You know, before we go to the party.” She opened the bag to allow me my pick of mini candy bars.
“Good thinking.”
I must have been hungry, because I grabbed a handful and devoured them in a hurry. Having finished, I stared at the few wrappers in my hand. Then I looked at Lin. “Did I remove the wrappers? I’m not sure if I removed all the wrappers.”
“What a ditz.” Lin folded the bag and pulled it close to her body. “What do you think Red meant earlier?”
“What do you mean?”
Gazing blankly, Lin squinted. For several seconds, she stiffly stared into the parking lot. Finally, she shook, slightly. It was like she’d gotten a chill. It was almost like Lin saw a ghost or something awful like that. Or, maybe, she was psychic and could communicate with the other side—who knows; she’s a very peculiar girl. Whatever caused it, didn’t matter. But it sure wasn’t a choice look, that’s for damn sure. Suddenly, with a new, blank stare, she looked back at me.
Still a bit fragile, I flinched when Lin tilted her head. It seemed like she was looking right through me. “What?” I barked.
“I mean,” she continued in a faraway tone. “When he said, ‘You can’t believe what you read in the newspapers.’” She shivered again. “‘Because it can’t really come true.’”
“It was pretty chilling, I must say. Especially with that distant, look on his face. Kind of like yours—now. And it’s the same look old man Johnson gets when he talks about Woodstock, during his history class.”
“I know,” Lin loudly replied. “Johnson’s pretty creepy, huh?” Lin bent in laughter, and for the first time, in what seemed like weeks, we shared a giggle. It may have been the only time Lin and I had shared a moment like that. The event seemed to bring us closer. A ‘bonding moment,’ as the psych teacher says. And, for the time being, the original redhead didn’t seem quite so lame after all.
Without warning, Lin sat up. Straight-faced, as she talked, she said, “And what about what Red said about not trusti
ng what we see on the tele, ‘cause ‘it will never-ever, happen to you?’”
“You’re right, what’s that evil dude hiding?”
Nervously, we glanced out at the vast countryside. I’m not sure what else was said after that, but as dusk turned to darkness, we watched with increasing anxiety, hoping every set of approaching headlights would turn into the driveway and bring back our beloved, Cali. Soon the feeling turned to hopelessness.
Vodka became my temporary means of comfort.
CHAPTER FIVE
Friday, November 1st – Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos)
Feeling a cold chill, I reached for my fluffy, warm comforter. It wasn’t there. Neither was my soft, bouncy mattress. All I could feel was a cold, hard surface beneath me. Pain and discomfort was the feeling that my body experienced, but only in the places that weren’t too numb to feel anything. Eyes closed, I reached for something of comfort, something familiar, anything. Blindly fumbling around, I discovered my jacket lying next to me. I pulled it close. I covered my torso and face beginning at the top of my nostrils. I breathed into the top of the jacket, so to release warm air about my face, giving the illusion I was in a warm place. The warm breath was known to cause me to go back to sleep—not this time. Sleep was suspended, and I was stranded in the twilight—somewhere between slumber and arousal.
Suddenly, I felt a kick to the bottom of my feet. I moved and tried to wake myself; but I couldn’t come out of the fog. I soon felt another kick. This one more intense, causing me to reach for the back of my thigh. “Shit.”
Then I heard a voice. “Get up,” was weakly conjured from behind.
Between grunts, I managed to get my own mumbled words out. “Leave me alone,” I moaned. I grabbed the jacket with both hands and pulled it tighter than before.
“Wake up!” The voice became loud and aggressive.
I opened my eyes. Directly in front of me was a familiarly-unfamiliar wall. My eyes opened wide. “Where the hell…”
I jumped, turned, and pulled my legs in, forming a defensive, tuck position against the corner of the room, where the two, poorly-tiled walls met. When I looked up, Lin was in front of me holding what looked like a blanket, covered by an inviting box of doughnuts. On top of the doughnuts, sat a cardboard cup holder with what appeared to be two cups of aromatic of coffee.
“Where am I?” I whispered.
Lin snickered. “Did you take a ‘lude or something?” She knelt and handed me one of the cups of coffee. “I didn’t know how you took your coffee, or, for that matter, if you even drank coffee. So, I added creamer.” She placed the doughnuts next to me and unraveled the blanket. “Here.” She handed over the pink, furry covering. “I figured you might need this as well.”
“That’s good, thanks, Red.”
“Did you just call me Red?”
“Sorry.” I glanced at Lin, who was wearing a gnarly frown. “Sorry,” I repeated, in a loud, genuine tone. I put on my jacket and wrapped the blanket around the rest of my shaky body. “Am I still in the gym?”
“That would be correct there, genius.” Lin stood and glanced out the open door.
“Why? And why do you have a new backpack?”
“Different.” Lin lowered the backpack. “Not new.” She sighed and continued. “We fell asleep waiting for Cali.” She shuffled back to the door. Looking out toward the parking lot, Lin gave one of her patented, faraway squints. She then looked back with an ache on her face and a tear in her eye. “Last night,” Lin started, then paused when she began to cry. She sniffled and took a breath, appearing to collect herself. “Last night,” she continued. She sniffled again and then pointed to the ground next to where I was. “I woke up, here on the ground, shivering like a wastoid. I tried to wake you, but you wouldn’t move—not at all. So, I left. I planned on coming back with blankets last night, but when I sat on my bed, well… The next thing I knew, I was waking up to the sound of the phone ringing.” Lin paused to cough up some phlegm. She spat into a napkin, folded it, and placed it into the pocket of her 1980 letterman’s jacket.
Curious I asked, “Where did you get the letterman’s jacket?”
“Odd question.” Lin shook her head. She then coughed and cleared her throat. “I have unlimited access, remember. There’s a huge lost-and-found, in one of the old classrooms, it has some pretty cool stuff.” Using her boot, Lin shoved the box of doughnuts close. “Anyway, I figured you might need some food when you woke up.” She looked back out the door. “There’s a reporter out there. He wants to talk to us.”
“Why?” As soon as the word left my lips, I heard a siren rushing to a stop. “What’s going on?” I tried to stand, but felt woozy. I fell back against the wall, hitting my head. “Shit!” I grabbed the back of my head. “That hurts.” I then grabbed my stomach. “And I don’t feel so well. I think I’m going to ralph.”
“You don’t look so good either.”
Ignoring Lin’s comment, and the dizzy feeling, I grabbed my head again, and rushed to the door. “What’s going on?”
Lin eased close. Tears streaming down her cheeks, she leaned against me. “Cali and that evil-ass, redheaded dickweed never came back last night. She didn’t go home either. Her mother called me, and then the police. She was ready to call the freakin’ Whitehouse. Cali’s mom was really trippin’, saying something about talking to President Reagan. Now I know why.”
“Why?”
“When I got here, the cops and that reporter guy were already here.”
“And, what does that mean?”
“And they think Cali may be in big trouble.”
“Oh shit.” Chilled, I wrapped the blanket around both of us. Lin’s closeness was a little unnerving at first, but my concern for Cali was more important, and the closeness helped settle my increasing anxiety. Plus, I needed to find out what Lin knew, and I figured the human touch would soften her up a bit. At least that’s what the psych teacher says.
Lin snuggled against my chest, seeming to absorb the warmth. I could feel her eyes upon me, analyzing every movement of my face. “I told the reporter,” she whispered, “that you were here. And he wants to talk to you, too.”
I suddenly felt light-headed, again. I had to sit. I shook my head and allowed the sick feeling to fade. When I opened my mouth, all I could say was, “No.”
“No?”
I cleared my suddenly scratchy throat. “Yeah; no thanks. I’ll just watch. But you go. See what they know.” I paused. Stalling for time, I looked back inside the gym’s hall. “Schweet,” I whispered. I turned to Lin. “Can you get me the doughnuts? They are doughnuts, aren’t they?”
“Yeah. I’ll get them.” As she moved toward the box, there was a hesitation in her walk. Picking up the box and my coffee, Lin slowly turned. “Did you?”
“Did I what?”
“Take a ‘lude?” Lin scoffed.
I breathed. It was a relieved breath, I’m not sure why though. “Not that I know of,” I replied. I smiled, even though it was a weird time to smile.
In response, I suppose, Lin’s head tilted again. She stared at me for several uncomfortable seconds. Then she blinked. “Hmm.”
“What?” I shouted. She always had a way of putting me on the defensive.
“Nothing.” In a slow deliberate manner, Lin shook her head. “What about the vodka? Maybe you have a hangover.”
“This doesn’t seem like a hangover. The vodka did taste kind of weird, though.” I, again, felt my stomach getting sick. “Oh God.” I burped to relieve the building gas and vomit, or whatever the hell it was. “You think he put something in the vodka?”
“Coming from that spaz—yeah, I’d believe anything.”
Lin handed me the box of doughnuts, which no longer seemed appealing, and my coffee. Then she leaned out the door and looked up, examining the never-ending, hovering storm clouds.
“What’s up?”
Lin lifted her backpack. She wrapped it around her, locking into position. She then pulled her
sweatshirt’s hood over her head. Gathering up her coffee, Lin took a breath, and took a long sip. “It’s going to be one hell of a harsh day.”
“Yep.”
Lin stared at the newly falling rain. With deliberate seriousness, she nodded and said, “I’ll check back with you in a few.”
CHAPTER SIX
Doughnuts and coffee seemed to help counter the poison in my body; but not before I ralphed a couple of times. The first incident was just outside the gymnasium door. It was quick and ugly, with projectiles of what looked like chunks of yesterday’s school-lunch of pizza and whatever that cottage cheese-like stuff was. Luckily the rain washed it away, or there could have been a lot more. The Exorcism-like moment left a nasty taste in my mouth. The second vomit event was much more predictable; I had enough time to make to the bushes, on the side of the building, thus avoiding having to identify what it looked and smelt like.
Following the barf-fest, I kept myself warmly wrapped in the blanket while I sipped coffee and nibbled on the chocolate pastries. I also watched Lin, the redheaded busybody, flirt between the town’s police officers and the reporter. Even though it was in the distance, I could see her batting her eyelids. She also folded her arms, seeming to create the appearance that her barely noticeable breasts were worth seeing naked. When she wasn’t vying for the title of Queenstown slut, Lin would throw her arms in my direction, pointing, almost commanding the investigators to come question me. Yet none came my way. I wonder why?