Jim drove through town until he came to the second of the new restaurants that Maria had said she worked at. Driving through town was slightly spooky this time of night. It seemed like it something dead. Nothing was moving. There were no people about on last minute errands or even eating at the restaurants. It was as if the town was afraid to be out after dark. Jim could certainly understand that feeling. If it weren’t for Jill he probably wouldn’t be out either.
When he turned into the dimly lit parking lot outside the place his lights quickly picked out Maria’s form leaning against the rear of the building. At first look it seemed as if she’d been expecting someone. But that couldn’t be right. She must’ve just been taking a break. His mind was making him see things that just weren’t there.
He thought he saw her smile as the lights pinned her in place but wasn’t sure. He slowly got out of the car but left it running as she held her hand up to block the beams shining in her eyes. When he’d first seen her everything had appeared normal, at least as normal as someone dressed in a restaurant outfit could look, but as he approached he noticed something wasn’t quite right. Her hair which was had been perfect every other time he’d seen her now looked as if a small tornado had passed through it. Usually she was one of those types that had to have everything just right and in place before she’d venture out into the world for all to see but now her hair was hanging down in her face like an old mop and what he could see of her face was flushed and pink like cotton candy. Maybe she had found Jill and things hadn’t turned out the way she wanted. Jill was nowhere to be seen so he reached into the car and turned off the lights.
As he walked up she tried fluffing her hair into some semblance of its normal look but quickly gave up when she realized it was doing no good. Jim saw a flash of red on her knuckles as she did and immediately suspected something bad had happened to her. Looking around the parking lot he saw nobody in any obvious places lurking about but he wasn’t sure about the shadows. They were dark and uninviting and seemed to be watching him. Any manner of creature could be hiding there. Even a creature like the Goatman. Pete’s words were getting to him. Not wanting to pursue that thought he turned his attention back to Maria.
“The manager was getting a little too touchy feely,” she said before he could even ask anything. “He didn’t seem to understand that when a girl says no she means no.”
Jim was instantly relieved. Not because she had been attacked but because it was by something human. When he’d seen nobody upon arriving he’d thought for a moment that maybe she had found Jill and they’d had some type of altercation and that maybe Jill, had come out on the wrong side of things. Quickly looking around again he saw no sign of Jill but that still didn’t mean they hadn’t met. He was still suspicious but since there was no sign of anything else he had no choice but to accept her explanation.
“Oh, I thought maybe something else might’ve happened,” he said.
“Now what else would you think could happen?” she teased. For someone who’d just been attacked she was in a good mood. Maybe she was into that type of thing. He’d seen and heard of some weird things since he’d left town. Maybe they were catching up to the normal world in ways other than just getting a few new places to eat. Then again maybe not. Her comment just reinforced Jim’s earlier thoughts about her being to strange for him to have anything to do with. If she was into stuff like that he wanted none of it.
“So did you change your mind about our date?” she asked hopefully. “Managers don’t really appreciate it when you knee them in the nuts, so I don’t think I have to worry about having a job anymore, which means I’m free to do whatever you want whenever you want.” The last part of her little request was said in such a way that Jim knew exactly what she wanted. It didn’t get his interest like she probably hoped it would. Quite the opposite in fact. Having a mental picture of what she insinuated made his skin crawl.
“No actually, I didn’t come looking for you for that reason.” He could almost see her deflate a little but that wasn’t his concern, Jill was. “I heard that you had come by looking for Jill earlier and was wondering if you’d found her or not.”
“Yeah I found her,” she answered. What had once been a voice filled with innuendo was now one filled with razors. If her words had been capable of cutting, Jim was sure he’d be dead. “Johnny told me he’d heard she was looking for me so I decided to go to her. You know, being nice and whatnot.” She smiled wickedly for a moment then continued. “Anyways, after I left the bitch’s, I mean Jill’s house I saw her walking up the road all alone. Why do you think she was alone Jimmy? Oh, I know, maybe she was coming from someone’s house or something.” Jim knew she was just trying to make him mad but he refused to take the bait. Instead he just stood there in the cold waiting for her to continue.
“Guess you don’t know either,” she continued. “Well, being the nice person I am I pulled over and asked her what she wanted. She asked me if I knew where Tommy had died. Well, needless to say I was surprised. I mean how would little old me know where something so horrible had happened. I told her this and asked her why and she said she wanted to go out and have a look at it. When I asked her why she just said she did and wouldn’t give me any kind of reason. For the life of me I can’t think why she would ask me of all people something like that. I mean I’m not the most innocent person in town but I wouldn’t have anything to do with something like that. Tommy was almost like family to me.”
Jim knew most of what she said was an act. Tommy hadn’t even known who she was when he’d left all those years ago. Then again maybe they did know each other. They could’ve hooked up after he left and he’d be none the wiser. He doubted it though. Tommy would never be caught with someone like her, she just wasn’t his type. She was right about one thing though. It was kinda strange for Jill to be asking about the place Tommy had died, and what was it she wanted to look for out there. What did she hope to find? Some clue that the police might have missed? He had to admit it was possible after seeing the local police force in action but still, why would she want to go there alone. Unless maybe she was trying to hide something. No, he thought, that couldn’t be it. Jill was a nice girl, he was just being paranoid. Instead of giving voice to his paranoia he came up with another question.
“Did you tell her where it was?” he began. “Her Grandmother told me she went for a walk, but now I can’t find her. She also said you came by so I figured you might know where she went. I’ve found you but not her. Now you tell me she was looking for the place Tommy died which doesn’t make any sense at all but if that’s where she went then that’s where I’m going. So, do you know where she is?” He knew he was babbling, but frankly he didn’t care. It was pitch black out now. He considered going back to Grandma’s to make sure she hadn’t come back but he’d only been gone for a few minutes. Looking at Maria he was sure she wasn’t going to be any help but she surprised him.
“I’ll do you one better,” she said. “I’ll take you there.”
“That’s ok,” he said a little too quickly. “If you just give me directions I’m sure I can find it by myself. Plus Jill and I were supposed to be going on a date so if I do find her then we probably won’t be coming back to town for a while.” He threw in the last part hoping she would take back her offer. “I don’t want to put you through any trouble.” He added when it didn’t appear she was going to.
As if sensing his discomfort she smiled and happily said, “No, it’s too dark for me to give you directions Jimmy. You’d never be able to find it without me. I think the best thing is for us to go together. At least then if we get lost you won’t be alone.” When he started to protest she quickly put on a mock innocent face and said sweetly, “Don’t worry about me wasting my time. I’d do anything for you. You know that.”
He was sure she would do anything for him and that actually kinda scared him. He was unnerved by how forward she was being. The innuendos were flying and they were all hitting home. But they weren’t having the effect she wanted. What would it take to make her understand he wasn’t interested? He repressed the urge to shudder as he tried to find a suitable answer. He’d been feeling uncomfortable since he first pulled into the lot and her offers were only making it worse. He couldn’t understand what had gotten into her. While he still couldn’t remember what she’d been like in high school he was sure it wasn’t this. He only wanted to find Jill. Now it seemed he would have to take Maria along with him on a ride to God knew where in order to do that.
Finally realizing she wasn’t going to take no for an answer he threw his hands up in disgust and turned to the car. Maria clapped her hands happily in triumph and trotted to the other side. He was about to open his door and get in when he huff from the other side got his attention. Maria was looking at him expectantly. It took him a second to figure out what she wanted. When it did finally dawn on him he almost called the whole thing off. Keeping in mind he had to find Jill he stalked to the other side and opened the door for her. She smiled happily as she slid in and said thank you. He told her she was welcome by slamming the door in her face. He was quickly getting sick of her.
Before walking back to his side of the car, he looked around again hoping God would smile down on him and show him where Jill was so he wouldn’t have to go anywhere with Maria but God must not have been watching. He saw nothing. Resigned to his fate he went back to his side and got in. As he slid the key into the ignition he was startled to feel Maria’s arm snake around his. Looking at her in almost undisguised horror he saw that she’d also taken it upon herself to slide as close to him as she could get.
“See,” she said when she saw that he’d noticed her moves, “we do get to have our date after all.” Jim was sure she would feel his skin crawling as it tried to get away from her touch. Evidently not since she tightened her grip and smiled even wider than before.
“Look this isn’t a date,” he said as he shook her off as politely as he could. “You’re just taking me to where ever you sent Jill. That’s it! Nothing more! There is no date! There is no you doing anything for me! There is nothing! Get it through that thick skull of yours! There is nothing between us! There never will be! Period! Understand?”
Everything came out in a rush and a little bit harsher than he’d planned but he felt much better afterwards. The instant he’d started yelling she’d recoiled as if he’d struck her and scooted back to the other side of the car. After that she’d just stared at him until he’d finished. He hadn’t wanted to be so nasty about the whole thing but she needed to get it out of her head that he would ever go out with her. If this was what it took then so be it. She would just have to finally act like an adult and deal with it.
“Are you ready to go now?” he demanded still a little mad. He almost expected her to tell him to go to Hell and get out but instead she just shook her head up and down and looked straight ahead ignoring him. When they finally pulled away from the restaurant Jim figured they’d wasted about twenty minutes. That was twenty minutes he could’ve been using to find Jill. With the sun gone and the temperature dropping every minute might count.
He glanced at Maria from the corner of his eye and found that she was apparently pouting. She huddled as close to the passenger door as she could, sitting still and ignoring everything around her. She almost looked like some warped type of doll.
Oh well, he thought as he focused back on the road, as long as she takes me to Jill I don’t care if she doesn’t talk to me for the rest of our lives. He’d had enough of her antics for a lifetime. The only things that matter now were finding Jill and getting the home. Screw Maria and screw the Goatman as far as he was concerned.