Reputation Call
I hadn't slept much the night before. No matter what I did, the images of my afternoon in Castle View replayed vividly in my mind. I stared up at the ceiling for hours, wishing I had a time machine so I could have restarted the day and done everything completely differently. The second that crazy bitch made a beeline for the gas pump I would have called the cops and kept myself out of that shitshow. The day would have gone on like any other and after work I would have gone to Portland with Eye. I'd have picked up some good tail and had a few laughs and life would feel like it always did.
But a time machine didn't materialize in front of me and I was stuck with the images from the prior day flashing through my mind every few minutes. I must have looked like absolute dogshit cause Tommy was overbearing as hell all day. It was a side of him I wasn't used to. I tried to remember that his heart was in the right place as he repeatedly asked if I was okay and if I needed to talk, but all i wanted to do was tell him to shut the fuck up and leave me alone.
"So you think you'll go to the funeral?" Tommy asked me as he shoved mashed potatoes in his mouth. The Blue Point Diner does Turkey Dinners all day on holidays, so Tommy had run over there to grab us takeout to chow on while we watched the day's football games.
I shook my head. "I don't need to trot my ass out for that bullshit."
"Why? You saved those kids' lives, Johnny. What's your deal, scared it'll hurt your reputation?"
"Last thing I need is the whole world finding out I was in the house when it happened. People will say I was there to rob the place or that I tried to fuck the daughter or some bullshit. I'm just trying to stay out of trouble, don't need my name associated with a high profile suicide."
"Yeah, but I bet it would mean a lot to the daughter to see you there, she seemed pretty grateful when we were talking to her."
"I highly doubt Rory Scanlon is thinking about me right now. I'm sure that house is a pretty miserable place right now.." I felt my mind wander up the hill to Castle View and wonder briefly what was going on up there today. Images of the blood soaked carpet and Rory's horror stricken face soon filled my mind. I turned my attention back to the football game on TV and hoped that Tommy hadn't noticed me drift off.
"Whatever Johnny, it's your call whether you go to the funeral or not. I just thought it would be the right thing to do, you know, go and pay your respects." Tommy took a long gulp of beer. "What's your plan for tonight?"
"Probably meet up with Eyeball in a bit. You?"
"I'm planting my ass right here. We gotta get a new barrel at the pump tomorrow and clean up the rest of the accident. Long day ahead of us, so don't get too fucked up tonight."
I nodded. I knew that I'd probably get sick of Irby's pretty quickly tonight. I was beat from not sleeping and I knew Eyeball had probably run his mouth about the day before, which meant the guys were probably going to pepper me with questions the whole night. At least I could tell them to shut the fuck up about it and they'd listen. If I sat at home Tommy would continue to ask me questions about my feelings and if I told him to shut up he'd probably deck me.
By the time the football game wrapped up, Tommy was snoring on the couch. Without the distraction of football and Tommy, my mind started to drift again. "I bet it would mean a lot to the daughter to see you…" Tommy's words about Rory rang in my ear. I thought about our interactions the day before, her shaky voice on the phone when we first spoke...the way she stumbled into my arms when we discussed the car accident...the strength and defiance she faced her drunk mother with in Tommy's office...her terrified brown eyes when we heard the glass vase smash...and maybe most of all the way she looked when she demanded a cigarette and proceeded to practically get naked in front of me…
I tried to snap out of it. It seemed kind of fucked up to think about how hot Rory looked as she pulled off that blood soaked shirt in her bedroom. As I tried to get her image out of my head, our conversation echoed in my brain.
"It really happened didn't it."
"It was utterly fucked up. She was utterly fucked up. I'm sorry you had to go through that."
"Thank you for saying that, for just calling a spade a spade. I feel like that's the one honest thing I'm going to hear for the next few hours."
I sighed and rubbed my eyes. As much as I wished I could have avoided this whole situation, I knew it might have been for the best that I was there. It was probably a good thing that girl didn't have to handle that situation alone. I just hoped to god that she had the good sense to keep my involvement to herself.
I rubbed my temples as if to push the thoughts of the day before out of my mind. The clock above the TV read 7:21 pm. I knew if I spent the rest of the night on the couch I wouldn't stop thinking about it all. I decided to head to Irby's and see if any of the guys were around. I stepped out into the cold air and jumped in my car and started the drive into town.
Irby's was packed with a strange variety of people. A lot of family men trying to escape their in-laws that were inevitably in town for the holidays, a pack of sad drunks who clearly had nowhere else to be and a few college kids, home on break and hoping to let loose. No sign of Eyeball or the other guys yet.
"Whiskey straight up and a budweiser." I dropped some cash on the table as Irby poured the whiskey and passed me a beer. I slammed the whiskey down quickly then picked up the beer and took a swig.
"It's crazy from what I hear man...my brother in law was one of the paramedics who responded. He's not supposed to talk about it but I guess the mother slit her wrists right in front of the older daughter. It was horrible. That kid is going to be fucked up for life." Two guys in their mid 30s sitting at the bar next to me were deep in conversation about Ashley Scanlon.
"That's messed up. What did that old broad have to be so miserable about? She was rich, huge house on the view, never had to work a day in her life and she goes and kills herself like that? That's a real slap in the face to us working stiffs, if she thought she had it bad enough to kill herself then we should all go jump off a bridge right now." The two guys chuckled and sipped on their drinks and turned their attention to a discussion about today's football game.
I took another gulp of my beer, slightly relieved that the paramedic hadn't mentioned to his brother that some random hood was standing in the doorway watching the whole thing go down.
A familiar voice caught my ear. "Man I'm glad you made it, didn't know if you'd come down after all the bullshit yesterday." Eyeball walked over and held out my hand to skin it.
I slapped my hand against his and signaled to Irby to bring another round of shots and beers. "Had to get out, Tommy was acting like an overprotective mother all day, wanted me to talk about my feelings and shit." I said as I chugged down the rest of my first beer. Irby slid the drinks across the counter and I threw some cash back at him in return. We grabbed our drinks and headed to a table in the back of the bar.
"Everyone's talking about how that lady ended up dead, Ace..." His eyes were wide as he sat down.
"Keep your fucking voice down. How many people did you tell about what happened yesterday?" I stared coldly at Eyeball, hoping to god that he knew enough to keep his mouth shut.
"Besides Tommy? Didn't mention this to a soul, not even the guys I swear. When Tom came back yesterday and saw the skid marks and the busted up barrel, he had me in a chokehold against the wall until I told him what went down before he went running up the View after you. Wasn't til I closed up the station and met up with Charlie and Billy that we heard the lady had died. We ended up at Mudgett's house, he had a bunch of people there and Sylvia Palumbo showed up and told everyone Rory Scanlon's mother was dead. She lives around the corner from there and said half the neighborhood was hovering outside the house."
"Did my name come up?" I glared at him, hoping if I looked pissed off about the whole thing that it would cover how nervous I was that my name was about to be associated with this bullshit.
"A couple people asked if you were stopping by Mudgetts, but no one seemed to know anything that happened at the garage. All anyone knew for sure was that Homecoming Queen's mom killed herself. Someone said that she shot herself in the head right in front of Rory, someone else said Rory and the sisters came home and she was hanging from a pipe in the cellar. Doesn't seem like anyone really knows specifics." Eyeball's eyes wandered then fixed on me as if to remind me that I knew the specifics.
"It's only a matter of time before the details are all over town. I hope you have the good sense to keep your mouth shut about what we saw at the gas station and about how I ended up at the house. The last thing I need is that kind of attention and the last thing you need is anyone finding out you fucked the old lady shortly before she died." I squinted across the table at Eyeball who had turned a deep shade of red.
"Man I told you, we didn't fuck. She was slurring and had her hands all over me and stuff but I swear to god it didn't go that far. She just rambled on and on about how her best days were behind her. Thank god you banged on the door when you did, it was getting awkward in there. Strange to think that a rich lady like that spent some of her last minutes on earth with guys like us." He shook his head and laughed.
"I don't know why you're laughing. That goddamn pig Mitchell would love nothing more to say that you were fucking her or that I was selling her the drugs that made her go nuts. The second Mitchell walked in that house last night he was way more concerned with why I was there rather than what was going on in that bedroom. Already threatened to call the judge to get me a one way ticket back to Chamberlain." I bit my tongue when I saw Eyeball perk up when I mentioned the bedroom. I wasn't about to share all the details but I had pretty much debunked the hanging in the cellar theory.
"Mitchell has nothing to give you shit about, you did everyone a huge favor. And Rory practically begged you to help her, she'll vouch for you with the cops. You're being paranoid man."
"I didn't waste ten months in Chamberlain to get dragged into this shit and get sent back on some reputation call from a cop who hates my guts."
Chambers rolled his eyes. "Man, you are no fun tonight." He stretched his arms over his head and looked over my shoulder. His eyes scanned the room. "No talent here tonight either. Only two dames in the whole bar, just a room full of sad depressed drunks. We should get out of here and find something good. You need to blow off some steam and have some fun."
He might have a point. I was letting all this stress me out way too much. "What did you have in mind?"
Eyeball shrugged. "Well I hoofed it over here, let's jump in your car and head down Mudgett's, maybe he's got a crew over again tonight." I nodded in agreement and we headed for the door.
We stepped out into the cold and to my car. I backed out of the lot and turned left to head out toward Mudge's place. Eyeball was telling a story about some wasted chick from the night before, but I only caught every other word. Not sleeping the night before had caught up with me and I kept zoning out. I slowed to a stop as we approached a red light in the center of town and noticed a police cruiser with no lights on parked in the bank's lot. I squinted to see if there was someone in it, but couldn't make out anyone. The light turned green and I slowly moved forward. Not five seconds had passed when I saw the blue lights flicker on and pull up behind me.
"God fucking dammit! This is what I was talking about Chambers, I knew these assholes would be on me like stink on shit." I muttered as I pulled over.
"They're just messing with you man, they got nothing on you." I noticed Eyeball shift in his seat and shove his hands deep into his jacket pockets and fumble around. I knew Eye well enough to know that meant he was holding something he probably shouldn't be.
"Fuck man, if you tell me you have something on you…"
Eyeball turned white. "It's cool man, nothing crazy. I can lock it down here. Just play it cool and I won't get searched."
"What the fuck is it?" I said through my teeth as I kept an eye in the rear view mirror to see if the cop had gotten out of his car yet.
"Two rolled joints, nothing crazy man I told you. Easy enough to hide, just relax."
I saw a flashlight reflect in my side view mirror and heard someone approach. I grimaced when I saw Officer Mitchell appear to my left.
"Lovely night for a drive, eh Merrill?" Mitchell and his partner Collins leaned down into my window.
"Good evening officers, I know I wasn't speeding. Can you tell me what's earned me the pleasure of this little visit?"
The cops chuckled. "Just checking in on you Johnny, you've had a busy couple of days. You get caught up in all the excitement yesterday and someone let me know that you've spent tonight knocking back a few down at Irby's."
"Just a couple of root beers for me and my friend Rich here." I smiled up at him, wondering if I looked past an off duty cop at the bar.
Mitchell leaned closer. "Don't think for a second I won't breathalyze you. You blow anything over a zero I can pinch you for underage drinking."
I cringed. I was fine to drive, but I knew there was no way I'd blow clean. If he wanted to fuck with me tonight he easily could.
"That would be up to you sir, I'm just trying to get my friend here home. I have to work early
tomorrow morning and want to get back myself." I saw him squint down at me and smirk.
"Well, for safety's sake I'd feel better if we tested you. Step out of the car please." Fuck. This was bullshit. I opened the door and climbed out of the car. "Walk 9 steps, heel to toe and turn." Mitchell barked at me.
This was fucking humiliating. I sighed and stepped as I was told. Mitchell frowned and then asked me to stand on one foot and count to 30. I did as I was told, holding my balance and looking Mitchell straight in the eye the whole time. He scowled as I completed his task and put my foot back down.
"Your turn Chambers. Out of the car."
Eyeball's expression fell. I cringed, knowing Mitchell would see it as a dead giveaway that we were hiding something.
"Got anything on you I need to know about?" Collins looked Eyeball up and down.
"No sir, just trying to get a ride home." Eyeball mumbled.
Collins and Mitchell exchanged glances. "That's quite a mumble, sounds like he could be inebriated. We should probably breath test the both of them to be safe."
"Is that really necessary? I passed your little balance test didn't I? It's freezing out here sir, I think it's illegal to keep minors outdoors for this long." I was quickly losing patience. If they were gonna cuff me then let them cuff me, I didn't need my balls busted too.
Mitchell smirked. "You're right, Merrill. Hop in the cruiser, you guys can come take a ride down to the station and we can discuss all this further. Unless you want me to breath test you right here…"
Eyeball looked at me like a deer in headlights. If they breathalyzed us there and then we could easily get cuffed for underage drinking. If we went down willingly maybe they'd just fuck with us for a little while and let us go home.
"Anything to get us out of the cold, Sir." I coldly replied as Mitchell grabbed my arm and Collins grabbed Eye's and pushed us back toward their cruiser. I took a deep breath as my head was roughly shoved into the backseat and jostled against Eyeball who was pushed in from the other side. Mitchell climbed in the driver's seat and made a u-turn back toward the center of town. I watched my car grow smaller as we drove further away, already dreading the frigid walk back to retrieve it once I let Mitchell bust my balls for a while.
"You boys have certainly had an eventful couple of days." Mitchell caught my eye in the rear view mirror.
"I guess I'm in high demand, what can I say?" I kept my eyes on his. Eyeball shuffled nervously in his seat. His movement broke Mitchell's stare. "Got a problem, Chambers? You're mighty shifty back there tonight."
"No sir, just have to use the bathroom that's all. That root beer I had ran right through me." Eyeball tried to sound confident but if I were Mitchell I wouldn't buy that Eyeball wasn't up to something.
We pulled into the small police station and were jostled out of the car. Each officer kept a hand on our elbows as we were led inside. If Eyeball wasn't holding those joints I'd have called them out for infringing on my constitutional rights or some shit and leading me around like a prisoner without a charge, but I knew mouthing off wouldn't help either of us.
We were led into an interrogation room, same one they held me in the day I got picked up for beating the shit out of Eye's brother and the LaChance kid. Mitchell paced back and forth as Collins directed us to sit down.
Mitchell lit a cigarette. "You talk to the Scanlon girl today?"
"I thought I'd be respectful and give the girl a day to mourn her dead mother."
"Never pegged you as the respectful type. Maybe I got you wrong, Merrill. Or maybe you can explain to me a few things that don't add up."
"Math was never my subject but I'll see what I can do." I smirked up at him.
Mitchell's face pulled into a strange smirk. "Smart little comments like that are going to make this harder on you in the end."
I held up my hands. "Listen, if this is about yesterday I told you what happened. My story ain't gonna change."
"Well I didn't get the chance to ask you yesterday about why Ashley Scanlon's bra was half undone and her undergarments were on inside out when she died?"
I felt Eyeball tense up next to me and I wondered if the little fucker had lied about getting with her. He knew I wouldn't throw him under the bus if he had or if his story was straight. I did remember Rory leaning over and trying to help her mother get dressed in Tommy's office, she didn't get very far before Ashley started slapping at her hands and yelling at her.
"All signs pointed to her being a fall down drunk, maybe she lacked the fine motor skills to properly dress herself?"
"Or maybe your whole little story about Ashley Scanlon's joyride was a cover for what you boys did to her down at the gas station? Pull her into that back office and drug her up so you can have a little fun with a defenseless woman!" Mitchell slammed his hand down on the table. Eyeball jumped. I was worried he was going to say something stupid, but he kept his eyes down and kept his mouth shut.
Mitchell continued. "They're doing an autopsy on her body, going to see if she was assaulted before she died. If she was it might have affected her mental state, could have been the straw that broke the camel's back, the thing that pushed her over the edge and made her do what she did…"
"That's your play? You think we drugged her and messed with her and it fucked her up so bad that she killed herself?" I stared up at him in disbelief. This was a stretch, but given my less than stellar reputation a stretch that some people might believe.
"No way man, it wasn't like that. The lady was shitfaced drunk and probably on some pills too when we found her. If you don't believe us, ask Rory, she'll tell you why her mother was half undressed. Don't put that shit on us cause it wasn't like that at all, man. I'll call her myself man, she'll vouch for us." I cringed as I heard Eyeball chime in. So much for him keeping his mouth shut.
"Are we under arrest?" I tried to remain calm. I knew they couldn't hold us without a charge without at least notifying Tommy and Eye's folks, but a pit in my stomach started to grow as I realized that this could solidify my one way ticket back to Chamberlain.
"Nah, you're our honored guests. We're all just hanging out here having a conversation, no big deal." Mitchell smirked. Eyeball shifted nervously next to me and I remembered he still had the joints on him. If we got tossed in a cell we'd probably get patted down and we'd be double fucked for that.
"Can I use the phone then?" I locked eyes with Mitchell again.
"Calling Tommy? We can notify him if you really want us to…"
"Nah I want to call the Scanlon house. Clear this up now."
Mitchell's jaw dropped. "You just said you wanted to give the poor girl a day to mourn and now you're all hot to disturb her? Guess you didn't turn into a gentleman after all."
"Gentleman or not, I know the girl will want this cleared up. The last thing she'd want is people saying things about her mother that ain't true." I tried to push down the smirk I felt forming on my lips, I didn't want to come off too cocky. I hoped to god that my hunch that Rory would come through for us was right.
The cops stared silently at me for a few moments. "Are you going to let me call her or not? Either you let me call over there or you call Tommy and get him down here and let him know that you're holding two minors without a charge." I dug my heels in, if these stupid pricks were going to send me back to Chamberlain then I wasn't going down without a fight.
Mitchell and Collins backed away from the table and walked into the corner of the room. They lowered their voice and spoke quietly, their eyes traveling over to me and Chambers as they talked. After what seemed like an eternity, Mitchell walked back over to the table and Collins walked out of the room.
"Officer Collins is going to call over to the Scanlon house."
"Terrific news. I'm assuming we'll be your guests until she arrives?"
Mitchell's eyes narrowed. "You're a cocky little son of a bitch aren't you? You think a nice girl like that is going to cover for you?"
"I think a nice girl like that is going to tell the truth. And the truth will set us free." I smiled.
Rory Scanlon did say she'd owe me, hope she's ready to pay up...