Page 23 of Wrecked

“Why would we possibly go anywhere we’d have to spend money when you literally have a bar at your disposal?” he asks.

“Just because I work here doesn’t mean you get to eat and drink everything in stock.”

Luke is freaking Pac-Man. The guy will put me in bankruptcy before I even get the new sign up.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” he says as he backs away and walks into the bar.

It’s Monday, so the place is relatively quiet for the lunch crowd. We get a lot of action during football season but not as much in the summer. Candace, our other bartender, is behind the bar, and Noreen is wiping down a four-top in the back. Tonight, the place will be packed for Monday Mayhem. It’s only during the summer when the college crowd is home.

Behind the bar, I pour two Cokes from the fountain. When I hand them to Luke, he makes a disappointed face.

“Seriously?” he says.

“You’re not twenty-one,” I say. Then, I walk back around to take a seat next to him.

He hangs his head. I give him a sympathetic pat and take a sip of my soda. I’m about to ask him how many wings he wants me to order when the telltale blue lights of a police car pour in through the front window of the bar.

We crane our necks to look outside. The copper hair and commanding posture are the first things that register in my brain. Adam exits his police cruiser and walks over to a white Altima that just pulled into the parking spot near the front door. Kimberly, the girl he questioned at the bar last weekend, gets out of the Altima. The two stand and talk for a while. I’m surprised to see him in uniform. I thought today was his day off.

On Saturday, she looked uncomfortable to be talking to him as he questioned her with that picture in his hand. Today, she seems appreciative, almost relieved to see him. She smiles at him.

Why is she smiling? He doesn’t make girls smile. He’s supposed to make them annoyed, mad, sad…anything but smiley.

“Looks like your parole officer found himself a new inmate,” Luke says.

I kick him in the ankle.

He grabs his leg. “What was that for?”

Suzanne comes over and takes a seat on the other side of me. “What are you guys looking at?”

Luke speaks over his shoulder, “Leah’s boyfriend is outside.”

Suzanne adjusts her eyeglasses as she stands up to see. “Looks like he’s moved on to a new lawbreaker.”

Luke spins around. “That’s what I said. Why aren’t you kicking Sue?”

I flick my paper wrapper from my straw over my shoulder at Suzanne. “Yes, you both made the same bad joke.”

Kimberly leans forward and hugs Adam, who just stands there with his hands out. She steps back and waves as Adam goes back to his car and climbs into the driver’s side. She’s now walking into the bar while Luke, Suzanne, and I watch as she takes a seat nearby. As she settles onto the stool, she looks up and sees the three of us staring at her.

“Hey, guys.” She gives a little wave.

Suzanne and Luke adjust their postures, acting like they weren’t spying.

“Everything okay with you and the good officer out there?” I ask, motioning with my chin to Adam’s car that is driving off.

“Yeah,” she says, her tone weary. “Something happened this weekend that was a little close to home.”

“I saw you talking to him on Saturday,” I say.

I know everything that goes down in this town. It’s really not a surprise to anyone that I ask so many questions.

Suzanne sighs and asks, “Does anything happen in here without you noticing?”

I grin. “Nope.”

Kimberly starts talking, “Adam came in here, looking for this kid I work with at the deli. His parents said he hasn’t come home. I remembered him telling me that he was going to a house out in Piedmont. He even mentioned a friend’s name, so I told Adam about it. Turns out, he knew the house, and when he got there, the kid was overdosing. If Adam hadn’t shown up, that kid would have died for sure.”