It was a dark and stormy night. No, seriously, it was. The rain was beating the sidewalk like it was collecting a debt. I needed to go home, but I really, really did not want to get wet. Granted, my car was parked only forty feet from the front door of my store, but by the time I got the doors locked, ran down the steps to my car, got it opened, and found myself safely inside, I'd be soaked to the bone!
I own a small used book store called The Nook, I didn't name it, I inherited it when the previous owner, Gus, was murdered. I had intended to change the name of the store immediately, but somehow that seemed callous so I waited, then it just seemed silly to change anything. There is a lot of work involved in changing the name of a business, not to mention it's not free and if things didn't pick up soon, I wouldn't have to worry about what the store was named because it wouldn't be mine to worry about.
My name is Mac Cartwright - Mac is sort of short for Michelle Allison Cartwright, it's my initials, get it? My dad thought it was clever when I was four, and it stuck, clever or not. I don't mind being Mac instead of Michelle. Michelle makes me think of black strappy dresses and big froo froo hair. While I do have a nice little black dress, I much prefer my Miami Heat jersey and jeans. As for the hair, well, I have a lot, but you couldn't call it big.
I stared out into the pouring rain, weighing my options. I could sleep in the store. I didn't love the idea, not because I thought the ghost of Gus roamed the isles, but because there was nowhere comfortable to sleep. Trust me, I'd tried it before and it was not something I was looking forward to trying again.
I could just suck it up and run for it, or I could try to wait it out. The downside to running was getting wet of course. The downside to waiting was that there was no pizza in the bookstore. I was starving and I was starving for pizza from Antolli's. They have the best thick crust Sicilian this side of Italy. It has giant chunks of roasted garlic in the crust, homemade sauce that sticks to anything it touches. Joe Antolli makes the sausage by hand and…oh to hell with it, I decided to make a run for the car.
I dug my keys out of my purse, secured said purse around my neck and used the key fob to unlock my car. I took a deep breath and prepared myself to get soaked, no amount of rain could keep me from my pizza tonight!
I opened the door, jumped out, and slammed it shut all in one fluid motion. I jammed the key into the lock, twisted it, and extracted it in one move, then turned to bolt down the steps, lost my footing and landed on my butt right in the middle of the newly formed Lake Ohio. So much for not getting wet. And to top it off, I was pretty sure my tailbone was broken.
I was in no hurry to get up. I couldn't get any wetter and my pride had been just as bruised as my tailbone.
I sat for a minute and thought about crying, then decided that there was no point in crying, no one was here to comfort me, so, I mustered all of the dignity I could find and stood up. The water in the street was at least ankle high and my shoes would never be the same again. Mental note: go to the mall tomorrow and buy new shoes.
I heard sirens approaching as I slammed the driver's side door shut. My shoes were squishy and a huge puddle was forming under me. I wondered if I could convince my insurance company that I drove into a lake? It was sort of true, only the lake had formed around my car.
I sat for moment, waiting for whatever emergency vehicle was coming to round the corner and go on it's merry way. A fire truck and several police cars screeched around the block at hypersonic speed. I was pretty sure on of the cops was my sometimes boyfriend Bolton Davis, but it was still raining so hard that it was impossible to make out any of the drivers. The emergency vehicles sped off into the night, I could just barely make out the sirens as they drifted farther away, headed toward the other side of town. I started my car and pointed it the direction of Antolli's.
Luckily, the restaurant was on my way home, and they weren't busy. I ordered my pizza and a side of bread sticks with extra marinara and garlic butter for breakfast the next day, then went to stand by the door to wait. I was sure Joe didn't want me getting his entire restaurant wet, so I tried to limit my wandering.
The television above the counter was showing breaking news of a fire near the mall.
"Hey, Joe can you turn that up? Where's that fire?"
Joe reached under the counter for the remote and pointed at the television. The volume went up, but just barely. "You'll have to come drip closer to the set. Speakers are full of olive oil." Joe laughed at his own joke and went back to washing glasses.
I watched with mild interest until I realized where the fire was. It was Edie's apartment building. I'd met my best friend Edie a while back during a purse snatching, her purse was snatched and I let the guy run past me. I could have avoided so much trouble had I just tripped the guy, but hindsight is 20/20 and maybe things worked out for the best anyway.
A blond reporter was standing in front of the building. Edie's apartment was in the front of the one story building. The last apartment on the right as you face the building. I stared in disbelief. Flames shot out of the last two windows in the building - Edie's apartment! The fire department was spewing water directly into both windows, but it didn't seem to be helping. The fire was growing and as I watched, the first window blew out with such a force that the reporter ducked to avoid getting glass in her hair.
I was numb, my feet took over and propelled me towards the door.
"Hey Mac! What about your pie? You wanna pick it up later? I'll keep it warm for you!" Joe yelled after me, he knew I'd be back. If I were anymore of a regular, I'd be getting a paycheck with pizza stains on it every week.
It was still raining as I ran to my car, opened the door, jumped in and started it. I drove as fast as the weather would allow, maybe faster, I was on auto pilot. Trying desperately not to think, but the thoughts were creeping into my mind anyway. I just knew Edie was OK. Or dead, or probably fine but most likely dead. I shook my head as if I could fling out the images.
ALL IMAGES AND CONTENT COPYRIGHT 2011 SUSIE REED
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