Rain Down by Steve Anderson

Author:Steve Anderson [Anderson, Steve]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: SFA Books
Published: 2019-06-11T22:00:00+00:00

*

I had made it way up high. I was standing atop the very crest of the arch of Oregon City Bridge. The dawn had given way to morning. I had a fine view of the river and surrounding country, of the misting falls and the old paper mill.

Faint blue-and-red flashes caught my eye. I looked over toward Main Street. Two police cars were parked near the side street where my abandoned truck sat. The cops inspected the scene, poking about and looking around ...

I’ve always thought that I had waited too long to make my move back then. Now, as I huddle in my blanket gazing at the Steel Bridge just before dawn, waiting for full daylight within this cocoon of my own making, I wonder if the truth is that “back then” is only supposed to prepare me for now—for this bridge that I can’t stop staring at. I really have nowhere else to go but climb that steelwork, all those crisscrossing beams. There are so many ways up. I had imagined them all so many times ...

A flash. A flashlight beam catches my eye. It travels along ragged earth and rocks, nearing my hideaway. I got nowhere to go. If it’s a railroad bull I’m screwed.

The light shines on me. Two silhouettes stand over me, but their arms aren’t cocked like they’re going to screw me. I squint at the white light.

“It’s just us,” says a voice.

It’s Matt, the cop.

“Christ,” I growl.

Matt and Jack somehow convince me to climb into their unmarked car parked over on Second Avenue. Maybe it has something to do with that I don’t have a choice.

I have the whole back seat to myself. It’s plastic but they got the heat on. They have a coffee for me too. It’s a mocha. Only one person still alive knows I like a mocha.

“You found our tent,” I say.

Matt nods. “Amy’s smarter than you think, when she’s not frying her brains out.”

“It’s not like her. Giving my spot away.”

“Well, she’s worried about you. Thought you might be getting bad thoughts.”

Matt and Jack smile at each other like happy parents, then direct their eyes back to me. In the dim streetlight-dawn, the shadows show off the womanly curves of Jack’s face. Her seeming attempts to resemble a baseball umpire don’t always hold up.

“Mocha all right? Hot enough?” Matt adds.

I only shake my head. “If this was TV? You guys would be threatening to turn me over to the badass railroad bulls.”

Jack and Matt stare, drawing blanks.

“You know, for trespassing? I’m living in a rail zone. Jesus.”

“I thought the cops rough guys like you up for sport, make you stand in lineups?” Matt says.

“That wasn’t no TV show. That was real.”

“That was years ago,” Jack says.

“So. And I was going to file complaints too—”

“We get it,” Matt says. “No one listened. Well, we’re listening now.”

“Or? We just go and arrest you for murder,” Jack adds.

Matt and Jack smile at that.

“Then why haven’t you?” I say. “Instead you let me fucking dangle.

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.