The police came and went. While they were there, they asked some questions, took photographs of the crime scene, did some more detecting around, and then told us to stay put and notify them immediately if there were any other criminal activities happening on the premises. Of course, they did not forget to question me thoroughly, because for some reason they seemed to be under the impression that I had something to do with the graffiti.“I’m the manager of this construction zone,” I tell them, “I’m not here on vacation or anything. It means that I oversee the construction of this place on behalf of the company that owns the place. Why on god’s green earth would I want to trash the place where I work?”Over their shoulders, I see Oliver glaring at anyone and everyone wearing a police uniform and Coraline glancing at us, worry and annoyance warring on her expression.“Who knows, maybe you have something against the boss.” One of the detectives suggests offhandedly as if all of this is a
This is the first time I take a drive to town, and I am quite surprised to find the town as busy as it is. And then I check the date. It’s a Sunday. Of course, it’s a Sunday. I should’ve known from the distinct lack of workers in the construction zone.Because it’s Sunday, everyone is out and about, enjoying their free day of the week. There is a farmer’s market and a flea market, side by side and buzzing with people. At a distance, I could also see an honest to God fair, with merry-go-rounds and Ferris wheels, and all sorts of entertainment opportunities. The small town was excited and high on energy, and I wished we could come over here and enjoy it.Curse whoever chose today of all days to draw shit on walls.After driving down the roads of Falenridge one too many times, I wait about fifteen minutes lurking around street corners until I finally find a spot to park.With a sigh, I get out of the truck and lock the thing up. According to google maps, the nearest hardware store where
At first, I don’t hear it. Because there are so many people around, and there are plenty of people calling one another. So, I keep on walking, not even wondering who was calling whom.And then the same voice hollers again, “You in the brown and red jacket, stop right there!”I’m wearing such a jacket, I realize belatedly. Confused, I turn back to see who was calling me in the middle of the town.The man is brawny, which is the first thing I notice about him. He looks angry for some reason. Surrounding him are three more guys, all wearing the same kind of expression. And it makes my blood run cold.Oh, God, what now? Who were they, and what were they trying to do to me? Were they inching for a fight? For the life of me I could not figure out why they would want to fight me, I’d literally never seen them before. But then again, most of the people I’ve gotten in trouble with had not seen me before in their lives. My mind runs a mile a minute upon seeing them. Were these people coming fro
This is the first time in my life that I’ve made a bunch of men about my age look so damned frightened of me. I don’t know what I look like exactly. But I’m aware that my teeth are borne, and my hands are clutched around the bag of cans in my arms as if I’m ready to hurl it at any unfortunate target any moment now. I’m right in the little group’s leader’s face, and he stares at me with wide eyes. I know that I’m lighter than them, but at the same time, my body had inadvertently fallen into the offensive position I learned at the Adrenaline Rush club which seems like ages ago.I’m breathing hard and I feel ready to pounce. At that moment, I’m not afraid to get my hands dirty and wipe the floor with everyone trying to get on my damn nerves.But of course, bullies are often cowards.“Fine, we believe you,” Manager Paul’s, whose last name always keeps escaping me, son backs away, gulping. So are his friends, “just stay away from our property.”Perhaps I should have listened to Oliver when
“Please tell me we haven’t run into another problem,” I whine as soon as I get in the hearing range with Oliver. Suddenly, all the excitement I had felt upon driving to and back from town washes away as if I has been splashed with a torrent of water. It’s still way too early in the day for this, “because I ran into some unsavory characters back in town, and please do not tell it’s the timberyard’s manager’s son here with his daddy to create more nuisances!”Oliver’s brows furrow in confusion, “You ran into Paul’s son?”“Yep, and it was not pleasant.”Oliver opens his mouth, probably to ask, but shakes his head. “You know what, I’m not going to ask until we get this one out of the way. And no, I won’t say it’s a problem, exactly. It’s not related to us directly, but well…” Oliver sighs, “you know when I acted this job I really didn’t expect to run into these kinds of things. Thought it was too much movie cliché, you know. But now…”“Oliver, man, I understand why you’re so shaken up, I
Because the day is already lost to cleaning up the mess in our own construction zone, we make our way further into the mountains so we could survey the damage in the Owl’s Peak project. At first, we only thought Gill Erwin the supervisor was just here to lament his own woes after hearing about our incident, but it turned out that he wanted us to come and see the damage ourselves and see if we could make a connection with our own.“Maybe it’s two different groups,” he remarked, “maybe it’s one. Maybe they really are eco-terrorists, rather than normal delinquents looking for a bit of fun.”“The man’s stressed like he’s trying to pass Medical school without studying,” Oliver mutters to me after Gill takes his leave after getting us to agree to take a look at his damage. “I bet a month’s salary that he’s not going to be sleeping soundly for a week at most.”“The damage done to his place does look more ominous than our little graffiti,” I reply, scratching my chin as thoughts flit through
“Oh, you’ve gotta be kidding me,” I groan, turning the key over and over again. The first few times, the car wheezes as if it’s taking in its last dying breath, but finally, that also stops. I bash my fist into the dashboard, “what the heck is wrong with this thing?!”“Judging by its age, I would say almost everything,” Coraline deadpans. Around us, the wind rustles pleasantly as birdcalls come from all around. Sunlight flits through the leaves of the canopy above us. It’s cool which is a plus. It would suck infinitesimally if we had crashed right under the glower of the sun. “We need to get the car off the road,” I tell her, my voice bitter. “We’re right in the middle. I have to take a look under the hood.”“Do you know anything about Mechanics?” questions Coraline dubiously, and I bite my lower lip.“I mean, not really?” I reply, “but we should see if there’s something exploded in there, judging by the sound.”Coraline tilts her head, “yeah, I think we should. Let’s get our daily
The people who arrive towards us are two men, both of them around our age. Both of them have brown hair and green eyes as well. They must be siblings, maybe even twin brothers as their features look so similar, high cheekbones, dusky skin, lithe frames even under all the clothing, and clear, unblemished skin. In fact, they look like they had just stepped straight out of a fashion magazine.Which should make them odd, in this kind of environment. But surrounded by trees, dressed in green and grey, they look right at home.They eye us with barely concealed suspicion, and the one who is taller than the other starts to talk, “Hello. Are you guys lost? We noticed that you were parked on the side of the road and looking quite concerned, so we thought we should come over and ask if there’s an issue.”“Hello, yourselves,” I greet them back, “and no, we’re not lost. We just had a problem with our vehicle. It broke down.”“Is that so?” the shorter one replies, looking over my side to glance at