Shallow Creek

Other than the different color of eyes, Kim was a carbon copy of her older sister.  The resemblance resurfaced the surprise Brendan had felt waking up next to Michelle’s naked body that morning.

Damn, had it just been that morning?  It was unreal how slowly time moved when things went rough, yet good times shot by in an instant.

Trying to remain cognizant of appearances, Brendan asked if it would be okay to crack the blinds open.  If Kim’s mom showed up and found the three of them sitting around in the dark, with Kim wearing her pajamas, who knew what rumors could result?  As if things weren’t interesting enough already, or, maybe it was merely wishful thinking on his part.

When Kim agreed, Brendan drew back the curtains and fumbled with the rod that twisted to operate the blinds.  A gear or something was stripped inside the mechanism, so the rod freely spun in his hand.  He looked back to Kim for some helpful hints, but she grinned and gave up nothing.  At a loss, Brendan grabbed the drawstring and yanked down on it, pulling the blinds halfway up the window.

He turned back around and Kim gasped.

“What is it?” He stepped towards her quickly and sat down next to her.

She reached out and gingerly touched his face.

“I forgot you’d been in a fight,” she said absently, preoccupied with examining his healing wounds.

“You should see the other guys.”

Kim shot him a skeptical look and leaned back against the arm of the sofa.  Now she was facing him with her knees pulled up between them.  She sipped at her coffee, watching him.  Casey returned from the kitchen and sat in the plastic desk chair.

“Is something wrong?” Brendan asked when things got weird enough.

“You asked me at the gas station if Michelle ever did meth, right?”

“Right.”

“Why?”

Brendan glanced Casey’s way.  “I’m not sure we should have this conversation in front of her.”

“Believe it or not, I’m on your side,” Casey said before taking a gulp of water.

“I’ll vouch for her,” Kim added quickly.

“I’m confused,” Brendan said.

“You think you know what’s going on, but you don’t have the whole story,” Casey said.  “I was as shocked as you were in that bar the other day, but I had a part to play.  I couldn’t blow it.”

“Yeah, now I’m more confused.  Why were you there with Scott?”

The two women shared a knowing look.

“I didn’t just randomly come to Shallow Creek,” Casey explained slowly.  Her eyes dragged across the floor while she talked.  “My sister was murdered here six months ago, at the Exxon on the edge of town.”

“Okay, so you’re here for what?  Justice?  Revenge?”

Casey sneered when her eyes met his.  “Maybe both.”

Brendan motioned to his bruised face.  “Vigilante justice isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, and you don’t look like the type, anyway.”

“Is that what happened to you?” Kim exclaimed.

“Why do you think Scott had his buddies kick my ass?”

“Um, I figured you tried to steal drugs from him.”

“Not quite, but close,” Brendan said.  Kim and Casey both sat up a little more.  “Marcus told me the town’s had some problems with meth, and then I saw my sister high on something, so now I’m trying to lend my assistance to the law enforcement community.”

“Did they ask for your help?” Casey asked.

“Not exactly,” Brendan said.  “Did they ask for yours?”

Casey shifted her attention to the window, glaring at nothing.  Kim stayed quiet for a few moments.

“They hurt you pretty bad,” she said.

“I’ve had worse.”

Kim put her mug down on the wooden floor.  “They’ll probably do worse if you don’t stop.”

“And I’ll do worse if they don’t stop.”

She appraised him closely, peering into his soul.  He wanted to look away from those enchanting green eyes, but couldn’t draw himself out of their depths.  Kim broke contact and turned her attention to her knees, avoiding Brendan’s gaze.

“Recently I’ve been thinking Grant and Michelle are into something,” she said.  “Something illegal.”

“Why’s that?” Brendan asked.  Casey got up to get more water.  Apparently she’d heard this spiel already.

“They live in a pretty nice double wide, but on the outside it’s still just a trailer.  Inside, though, inside they’ve got tons of nice stuff, and in the last year they’ve been on vacation all the damn time.”

Brendan almost mentioned looking at some of their vacation photos when he was over last night, but at the last second remembered that could start a weird and dangerous conversation.

“My mom used to dote on Grant all the time, telling me how great a guy he is and look at all the nice places he’s taking Michelle,” Kim said, obviously not convinced.  “She always tried to force guys on me, so that I could have that life, too.  So that I would have someone taking care of me like that.”

“What’s this got to do with meth?” Brendan asked, not wanting to derail her venting, but determined to find out what she knew.

“Michelle doesn’t work, and I don’t really know what Grant does, but he’s around and gone again pretty randomly.”

“I thought you and Michelle don’t talk much?”

Kim snorted and looked away.