The Long Dark by Billy Farmer

Author:Billy Farmer [Farmer, Billy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-03-18T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 7

I had just finished filling a kerosene heater when I heard a commotion near the rear entrance of the Commons. I quickly screwed the lid back on the kerosene jug and ran to the back to see what was going on. The lady doing the yelling, our cook, Olivia Danmar, was visibly shaking. In between long breaths, she said, “I’m telling you what I saw, Jim. Somebody’s outside.”

“Of course, somebody outside. Probably more than one. It smells like smoke and ass in here,” Jim said.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“I saw someone. Didn’t you hear me say that?”

“Well, yeah, but like Jim said, people need to get some fresh air every now and again.”

By the sour look on her face, I could tell she thought I wasn’t taking her serious. “How about you catch your breath and start from the beginning.”

She shook her head angrily as she worked on her breaths. “Well, some of it’s personal.”

Confused, I said, “Uh… okay. What’s personal?”

She whispered, “With the power being out and it being dark and all, I left in a hurry this morning, forgetting things a decent woman shouldn’t ever forget.” She peered down at her, uh, ample, but also gravity-effected, bosom before also tracing the outline of her nether region, with her index finger, that she also forgot to wear another certain garment. The mental image was cringe worthy. I needed to make it all stop.

“How about just the part that’s got you so upset?”

She nervously ran her fingers over her bluish gray coif of hair. “I saw a man without a coat over by the Nest.”

“Who was it?”

Her eyes darted between me and Jim before finally settling on me. “I don’t know.”

“What do you mean you don’t know? Everybody knows everybody.”

“Because he doesn’t work on the Patch. If you all would let me finish, I would tell you these things,” she said, her hands firmly planted on her hips.

I put my hands up in submission. “Sorry.”

She took a couple calming breaths before continuing, “I never saw him in my life.” She paused.

“I believe you. Just continue,” I said.

“I was about to ask him if he was okay, you know, because he wasn’t wearing a coat in all, but before I could, he turned towards me and the damn fool started spinning like a top. Like a top.” She got a little closer to Jim and me, like she knew a secret and didn’t want anyone else to know. “He was all hopped-up on drugs, I bet.”

If you wanted the down low of what was happening at the Patch, gossip wise, Olivia was your woman. Right down to the seedy detail. Because of that, I was reluctant to act. But, she of all people should’ve at least known who the dude was. I couldn’t take any chances. There were too many weird things happening for me to be too dismissive. “Jim, close and lock all the doors in the commons, and a couple of us are going to have to check this dude out.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.