Shallow Creek (6 page)

Chapter
14

Everything was dark.  A steady beep emanated nearby.  Brendan initially felt no desire to investigate.  All he wanted to do was relax, and the warm sensation flowing from the base of his spine up to the top of his skull encouraged him to do just that.

His eyelids fluttered slightly, revealing that they’d been closed this whole time.  Was there a reason to open them?  The sergeant wouldn’t let him sleep if he wasn’t supposed to.  He’d just wait for one of his barracks mates to wake him.

Something touched his hand.

Someone said his name.

He jerked his head towards the sound and immediately regretted it.  Pain lanced up his back and through his neck, forcing him to cry out.  He grit his teeth and opened his eyes to find his mother sitting at his bedside, drawing her hand back tentatively from his own.

“Where am I?” he asked.  “What happened?”

He tried to sit up, but agony grappled his core in spasmodic waves.  Michelle appeared to his left, gently ushering him back down onto the bed.

“Easy, Tenny,” she whispered soothingly.  “Easy there.”

Her voice provided the required calming effect.  Brendan stopped resisting and just lay back as she stroked his arm gently.

“You’re in the hospital,
hun.”

That was from his mom.

“Yeah, I can see that now,” he murmured, feeling the sleepy pull of the painkillers.

When he opened his eyes again, tears streamed down his mother’s face.  He tried to smile for her, but the left side of his face hurt too much, so he just winced instead.

“It’s so good to see you awake, honey.” She gripped his hand in hers.  “I was so worried.”

She released him and stood up, excusing herself to use the restroom.

“You two been waiting long?” Brendan asked Michelle as his mom left.

“Yeah, and she hasn’t left your side for a minute,” Michelle said with a smile.  “That lady’s got the bladder of a camel.”

Brendan laughed slightly, but tried to stop when a spear of pain pierced his back.

“Sorry, sorry,” Michelle said, still smiling.  “I shouldn’t make you laugh.”

“It’s okay, I’m fine.”

“You’re anything but fine.  You’re a real mess.”

“I’ve got your cousin to thank for that.”

Michelle’s face darkened.
  “My cousin?” she snapped.  “Scott did this to you?”

“Not just him.  I could take him easy.  It was the other four guys who worked me over.”

“So wait, how did this happen?  Where was this?” She rested her hand on his bare arm.

Brendan was a bit confused.

“Uh, it was at a warehouse on the edge of town,” he said.  “Isn’t that where you guys found me?”

“Why would we look for you out there?” she asked
, puzzled.  “No, Marcus dropped you off at the emergency room and then took off to go to work when I got here.  He’s the one who called me to come stay with you, so I called your mom, too.”

“Is he okay?”

“Who, Marcus?  He’s fine, except he has a nasty welt on his head.  Wouldn’t talk about it, though,” Michelle said.  “Wouldn’t look so bad if he didn’t shave his hair down to nothing.”

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 h
ad 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 the
y 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.

Brendan laughed and the two walked across the street from Schmidt’s to where Trish’s neon lights beckoned all-comers. 
Inside, the same bartender from a couple of days ago welcomed them warmly and asked what they wanted before they even reached the bar.  Apparently Brendan’s mauled face didn’t faze the young woman, because her smile didn’t skip a beat as he ordered a bottle of Shiner, while Michelle opted for a frozen margarita.  While they waited, Brendan and Michelle alternated between looking at each other and glancing around the bar aimlessly.  Blind dates probably went smoother than this.  The bartender returned and Brendan paid cash.  Armed with alcohol, the pair found a booth in the corner.

“So you read any good books recently?” Michelle asked.  Both of them cracked up a bit, and the laughter vented some of the odd anxiety between them.

“Yeah, John Scalzi’s got some great sci-fi stuff I’ve been into recently.  What about you?”

Michelle grinned.  “Between
Twilight
and
Fifty Shades of Grey
, I’m set for life.”

“I have no idea what those are, so I’ll have to take your word on it.”

Michelle set her drink down, a look of disbelief on her face.

“Are you serious?  Where have you been the last six years?”

“The Marines.” He took another drink from his beer.

“Not much time to read girlie stories in the Marines?” she asked, emphasizing
girlie
.

Brendan chuckled.  “Not really, no.  I’d never hear the end of that from the guys.”

The televisions around the bar switched channels suddenly, and a silent broadcast of recent high school football highlights played.  Brendan’s mood dipped down at the sight.  The bartender appeared, asking if they wanted another round.  She glided away when Brendan nodded darkly.

“You follow the Coyotes at all while you were gone?” Michelle asked him, so engrossed in the highlight reel that she hadn’t noticed his change in demeanor.

“No.” He tried to keep a lid on the can of worms rattling around.

The bartender appeared with their drinks.  Michelle didn’t seem to notice as her empty glass was traded out for a full one.

“Me and Grant go to almost every game still,” she continued, totally sucked into the TV.

“Good for you.”

Michelle quietly drained most of her second margarita while the broadcast continued.  The conversation was apparently on hold for now, so Brendan’s eyes naturally roamed where they pleased.  Damn, she was attractive.  Her flannel blouse hung open just enough to show she was only wearing a bra and no tank-top underneath.  Even her slender forearms and graceful neck drew Brendan’s attention.  Had he noticed all of this a decade ago?  Shit, if not, he’d been freaking blind.

The show went to commercials, and Michelle turned back to Brendan.  He wondered if she’d remember why he wouldn’t give a
crap about the local high school football team.  A few beats later he saw the light go on behind her eyes.  She stared down at her now empty glass, blushing a bit.  Brendan took the opportunity to wave to the bartender for two more drinks.

“Grant likes watching the games?” Brendan asked.

Michelle looked up and nodded.  “Yeah, he does, but sometimes he finds it a little hard to watch,” she said.  “Especially if he thinks he was better than the QB out there.”

“He still get really pissed off about that?” Brendan asked as the bartender showed up with their order.

“You know how it is,” she said noncommittally.  Her eyes drifted back to the television on the wall.

He watched her staring at the TV screen, which still silently
cycled through commercials for new trucks and barbeque pits.  The marketers definitely knew the audience in Shallow Creek, but what worried him was the faraway look on his friend’s pretty face.

“Grant ever hit you, Michelle?” he asked casually, before taking another sip of his beer.

Her drink froze at her mouth.  She slowly turned to him and put the slushy margarita down.  Maybe it was just the result of the two drinks she’d thrown back in no time, but her cheek’s reddened again.

“No, he wouldn’t ever hit me,” she whispered, eying the bar’s other occupants.  “And you shouldn’t say things like that so loud.”

“He had a mean streak in school.”

“He changed after you lef
t.” She leaned against the backrest of the booth’s bench seat.  The alcohol flowed in her tone now.  Brendan had only put away two and a half beers, so his decision making wasn’t affected, but he knew he was about to embark on an unwise conversation.

“I was surprised when you
married him.”

“Why’s that?” she asked, not looking happy.

“Bit creepy, that’s all.”  He took another swig while she glared at him.  “He was already out of school when you were a freshman.”

“So what?  It’s not like we dated in high school.  Four years difference isn’t
weird for consenting adults.”

“I leave town and my brother hooks up with my best friend,” Brendan said.  “You think that’s normal?”

“You didn’t have any claim to me.”  Her anger grew with each swallow of sugary tequila; Brendan could see it in her eyes.  “We knew each other for years, and you never asked me out.”

“And I’m only back in town for three days before
you
ask
me
out?”

“Are you fucking serious, Brendan?” she snapped, adopting the
overly loud voice of someone who’s had three margaritas in thirty minutes.  Brendan gave no response, instead opting to take the last swig of his beer.

“You’re
unbelievable,” she said.  “You’re just jealous.”

“Of what?”
He knew he should just end this and go home.  Unfortunately, that wasn’t going to happen.  “Things must be going real well in Casa del Rhodes if you’re going on dates with your husband’s brother while he’s out of town.”

“
I don’t need this.” She got up, grabbing her purse in the process.  Brendan remained at the table for a moment, irritated with both himself and Michelle, but most of all furious at his brother for sins past and present.  One look over his shoulder revealed a dozen pairs of eyes following Michelle from the bar.

Screw it.
He couldn’t leave things like this.  He drove the bottom of his clenched fist into the thick wooden tabletop and found both pain and relief.  Instantly feeling more centered, he got out of the booth and followed Michelle towards the back of the bar, wondering where she was headed; her truck was parked out front at the diner.  The patrons of the bar watched, some concerned, some smiling.  Brendan dismissed them and pursued Michelle out through a backdoor positioned between the doors to the restrooms.

Now in the alley behind Trish’s, this little blowup had gone far enough.  Brendan
gently grabbed Michelle’s arm, trying to maintain his cool and not hurt her unintentionally.  She was drunk, and still his friend, no matter what.  Her face still prominently displayed all the fury such a small package could handle, but Brendan didn’t care.  All of a sudden he just felt the need to hold her in his arms.  When Michelle didn’t immediately recoil from him, he slowly wrapped his arms around her.

“Oy, you,” came a familiar voice from behind him. 
Brendan spun quickly, knowing immediately that despite his best intentions, someone was about to get hurt.