Shallow Creek

Brendan took a moment to run through what he remembered from the night before.  At least, he thought it was from the night before.  He could’ve been out for days, and yet he still felt exhausted.

“So what were you doing at that warehouse?” She looked over her shoulder towards the door for a moment before turning back to him.

Brendan laughed pitifully before a painful coughing fit took hold.  Once his body released him from that torment, he recounted his story, starting with the break-in at his parents’ house, seeing his sister, all the way through to his meeting with Fisher.

“I’d hit you if you weren’t already beat up, Tenny,” Michelle said when he finished.  “What are you trying to do?  Get yourself killed?”

That wasn’t exactly the reaction Brendan had been looking for when he’d set out to purge the drug problem from his hometown.

“I want to fix this place,” he said quietly.  “If the police won’t do it, I will.”

Now Michelle scowled.

“You’re just going to get yourself killed,” she stated.

“Maybe, but I can’t sit still and let Taryn live like this,” he retorted.  “I can’t live with that.”

“I’m not sure that’s how addiction works,” she said.  “Just taking away some drugs isn’t going to solve anything.”

“It’s a start.”

Michelle sighed deeply.  “You’ve always been stubborn.” She stroked the side of his head.  “I don’t think I can talk you out of this right now, but when the doctor releases you tomorrow, how about I take you out for a five-star meal at Schmidt’s?”  Schmidt’s was a local diner, and a far cry from any kind of stars, but Brendan and Michelle had frequented the joint together all throughout high school.

“You don’t need to do that.”

“Come on, it’s the least I can do to make up for my asshole cousin,” she said, screwing up her face at the mention of Fisher.

“Sure, sounds good,” he said, feeling the inexorable urge to pass out again.

He vaguely caught sight of his mom reentering the room.  The two women embraced, and then Michelle left with a wave.  Brendan closed his eyes and just let them be.

Chapter 15

“Did the police come to talk to you before you were released?”

Brendan nodded to Michelle absently as he scanned the familiar menu.  Schmidt’s hadn’t changed a bit in his absence.  That wasn’t necessarily a good thing.  His memory was a bit fuzzy on the quality of the food in the old diner.  He wasn’t sure if that was from his hiatus, or just from getting his skull pummeled two nights ago.  At the thought of his run-in with Fisher’s goons, his hand moved to his head and probed around the various bumps and bruises.

“Are you going to press charges?” she asked, ignoring her own menu.  She probably had the thing memorized by now.

“I gave them my statement,” he responded, looking into her blue eyes for a moment.  “We’ll see what happens next.”  Hopefully what happened next would be Brendan’s fist cracking Fisher’s skull open.

“You talk to Marcus yet?”

“I called him to say thanks for the free ride to the hospital, but he’s too pissed to talk to me.”

“He tell you to stop snooping around?”

Brendan sighed. “Yeah, said he wouldn’t help me anymore, and that I should quit while I’m ahead.”

“In fairness, he did take a shot for you.”

“Ha.  He said they shot him in the back with a beanbag gun,” Brendan said with a rueful smile.  “A cop getting taken out by a police weapon.  Sucks for him.  He says his head hurts pretty bad from smacking it on the ground.”

Conversation continued in that vein.  Michelle would ask questions Brendan didn’t care to answer, and Brendan would provide unsatisfactory answers.  Brendan’s burger and Michelle’s salad appeared, and the two ate mostly in silence.  They gave each other the awkward smiles that friends often give one another when they realize they don’t know a damn thing about each other anymore.

Despite Brendan’s protests, Michelle settled the bill.  He walked her to the door, where they stepped out into the cool night.  Cool was a relative concept at this time of year.  Cool just meant bacon wouldn’t cook on the hood of a truck left in the sun.  When Brendan moved towards Michelle’s truck, she put a hand on his arm.

“Why don’t we get a drink at Trish’s?” she asked.  “You can make up for letting a girl buy you dinner.”

Brendan started to protest, but Michelle slapped his arm and burst out laughing.

“I’m just kidding, Tenny.  You don’t owe me anything, but you should still buy me a drink.”

“What about the kids?” he asked, wondering about Michelle’s children, who he guessed were actually his niece and nephew.  It was funny that he’d never thought of that until now.

“I got a sitter, and she’ll stay up all night texting her boyfriend, if she hasn’t already invited him over for a romp on my couch,” Michelle replied.  “Ugh, teenagers are gross,” she added with a wink.