Come Get Me (22 page)

When the crowd parted sufficiently for him to
pass, he quickly made his way towards Tommy’s parents. He glanced
over his shoulder to make sure Maria wasn’t following and was happy
to see that Johnny Langill had come up and was occupying her
attention. He was talked to her somewhat excitedly but it wasn’t
his business so he turned back and continued to Tommy’s family.
Better him than me he thought as he waited for someone in front of
him to finish saying his piece to the family. When he was finally
able to he told Tommy’s mother how sorry he was for what had
happened and said he wished he had been there. She gave him a quick
hug and said it probably wouldn’t have mattered. Tommy’s parents
were big into religion. They probably thought since Tommy was gone
it was just his time. God had called him home and all that other
stuff. Jim didn’t believe it for a minute. He stood and talked for
only a minute before saying his goodbyes and moving on to make room
for the person behind him.

Walking slowly back to his car with thoughts
of Tommy and Rob running through his head he barely heard Maria’s
voice yelling at someone. Once he noticed it though he was curious
as to who might deserve her wrath so he continued walking in the
direction it was coming from and soon found that the unfortunate
person was still Johnny Langill. Whatever they’d been talking about
when Jim went to see Tommy’s family must’ve been pretty important.
If Maria’s reaction was any judge it must not have been good news.
She continued giving him a good lashing until she seemed to
suddenly realize she was making a scene. Quickly smiling she
grabbed Johnny’s shoulder, pulled him a little further away and
started yelling at him again. Better him than me, Jim thought as he
began started back in the direction of his car. He was almost there
when he heard his name called behind him. He grudgingly turned to
see who it was only to see Maria waving at him. Not wanting to be
held up, especially by her, but being too polite to leave without
seeing what she wanted he stayed where he was until she reached
him. “Hello Maria. How are you doing?” he said calmly.

“I’m fine but it’s you that I should be
asking that question to isn’t it?” she asked.

He waited for her to say something else but
all she did was stand there. Jim didn’t know what she expected him
to say. She hadn’t asked him anything so he just stood waiting for
whatever was next.

“I know this has all been really rough for
you,” she said when she realized he wasn’t going to say anything,
“but I just wanted to see how you were.” After he told her he was
fine she quickly said, “Well, that’s good. I was hoping you were.”
She again stopped as if waiting for him to say something. This was
getting on his nerves.

He knew she was only trying to be nice but he
didn’t have time for her to play any of her little games. He just
wanted to get out of here and back to his mothers’ house where he
could relax but it seemed she was determined to keep that from
happening. Wanting to end their conversation as quickly as possible
he decided to cut to the chase.

“Is there something you need? I’m kind of in
a hurry.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” she said grumpily.

Jim didn’t really care anymore if he hurt her
feelings or not. She was acting like some jealous little girl that
couldn’t take no for an answer. He’d hoped she gotten the hint
about him not being interested but apparently she hadn’t. Maybe if
he was a little meaner to her it would work. Couldn’t hurt to try,
he thought grimly. He knew she was going to ask him out before she
said it but hoped he’d be wrong. He didn’t fell like telling no
again. She should’ve gotten the hint last time. Unfortunately she
hadn’t.

“I was just wondering if you’d thought
anymore about our getting together,” she began. “We could do
something right now if you wanted to. I thought you’d probably be
leaving soon and didn’t want you to forget. We’ll have so much fun!
I’ve got everything planned already, you just have to tell me
when.”

He couldn’t believe what she was saying. His
friend hadn’t even had the dirt thrown on his coffin yet and she
was asking him out on a date. This girl really did live in her own
little dream world. She was worse than Pete. Any doubts he might’ve
had before were gone now. He’d never heard of anyone asking someone
out at a funeral. It just wasn’t something he thought was done.
Until now that is. He was about to tell her what he thought of her
when Jill walked up beside him and took his arm.

“Ready to go?” she asked smiling as she
looked at Maria. To her credit Maria’s mouth only hung open for
about five seconds before it snapped shut with an audible click of
her teeth. She quickly recovered and gave Jill a withering glare
before storming away through the crowd.

“Jill to the rescue again, huh?” he said as
he looked at her. “None of that me Tarzan you Jane type thing for
you is there?” he finished while trying to hold back laugher. He
was surprised at how good it felt to see her. Just being near her
made him feel a lot better than he had.

“Nope,” she said smiling sweetly, “But just
in case you were wondering you I’d let you come to my rescue
anytime as long as you don’t beat on your chest afterwards.”

“You seem to do just fine by yourself,” he
said after a few seconds of pretending to think about it. “Plus
this is the twenty first century you know. Women do all kinds of
things for themselves in these modern times. You don’t need men
anymore. Remember.”

He tried looking serious but once he saw the
indignant look that came over her face he couldn’t help but laugh.
She tried looking mad for a few seconds then joined in but not
until she’d swatted him on his arm. Hard. They were getting a few
strange looks by then but Jim didn’t really care about that
anymore. He was sick of all these people and their petty little
looks they gave people they thought didn’t fit in.

They climbed in to his car still laughing.
Once they finally were able to bring themselves back under control
he asked, “So now I’m your driver?”

“Yup, you get to take me home,” she said
smiling.

Pulling away from the graveyard they began
talking about little things like the weather but by the time they’d
arrived he knew almost her whole life story. Before getting out of
the car they agreed that since their previous attempt at a date
hadn’t really worked out too well they’d try again that night.

Jill was just getting out of the car but she
suddenly leaned over and gave him a kiss on the lips and said in a
mischievous voice, “See, women do need men for some things after
all.” then she jumped out with a giggle leaving him to stare after
her.

10

When Jim returned to his mother’s house there
was an unexpected message for him from Pete. He wanted him to come
to the police station so that he could talk to him. Jim debated on
whether he should go see him or whether he should just ignore his
request. He didn’t really want to see Pete when he was behind bars
but he knew that if Pete was reaching out to him he should probably
at least go and find out what he wanted. If nothing else at least
he could be there for him since he hadn’t been there for Tommy or
Rob.

After being home for only a few minutes he
once again found himself in his car on his way back to town.
Arriving at the police station within a few minutes, he went inside
only to be told he had to wait a while before he could see Pete.
After what seemed hours but was only probably ten minutes he found
himself seated in a room with a guard.

While he was waiting he looked around and
idly wondered if it was always this easy to see someone in jail.
When he arrived he asked why Pete was still being held, and was
told they were afraid that if they released him he would either
disappear or hurt himself in some way. So it was safer if he just
stayed with them a little while longer. According to what little
the guard would tell him he hadn’t been any help in figuring out
what had happened to Rob so far, so he didn’t see the point in
keeping him. Then again, he quickly added, it was his job to follow
orders not make them, so that’s what he did. They exchanged little
else before they finally brought Pete in. They just about threw him
into a chair on the other side of the table before retreating to
the corner of the room closest to where he sat. The guard that
brought him informed Jim he’d become violent last night and it had
taken three other guards to restrain him. One of those guards was
in the hospital now, so they were going to stay in the room whether
he liked it or not just in case it happened again.

Ignoring their hostility, Jim instead sat
quietly across from his friend and waited to see what it was Pete
wanted. Not much was changed since he’d last seen him. He thought
they’d at least make some attempt at cleaning him up but apparently
not. He was still dressed in the same clothing he’d been wearing
the previous night. The only thing different was his head. His hair
and complexion looked much greasier than they had last night. Jim
figured it must’ve been the lighting. The night before he’d only
seen Pete in firelight, now he was seeing him in the light of day
or what passed for it in the police station. Jim wished he still
only had firelight. It would have made it much less painful for him
to see his friend. Say Pete didn’t look well was an understatement.
As these thoughts passed through his head the smell of extreme body
odor assaulted his nose. He turned his head looking askance to the
guards who only shook their heads and looked at Pete. Leaning
forward slightly made the smell stronger. He quickly figured out
Pete was its source. He tried ignoring it but that only seemed to
make it become stronger. Pete must not have showered in days, maybe
even weeks judging by the reek that emanated from him.

Oblivious to everything, Pete sat across from
him rocking back and forth, mumbling to himself just as he’d done
the previous night when confronted with a situation he didn’t like.
He hadn’t said anything since they’d brought him in. Jim wasn’t
even sure if he knew he was there. If he did he gave no evidence of
it. He tried a few times to engage him conversation but Pete just
sat there ignoring everything that came his way. Jim tried a
different approach.

He talked about Tommy’s funeral for a few
minutes but when he notice that wasn’t going to get an answer
either he let his sentences trail off into silence again. Jim
looked at the guards hoping they might have a suggestion but they
only shrugged their shoulders and stared back at him blankly. He
tried once more and thought he might have gotten through to Pete
when he paused in his mumblings and looked up at him as if he might
say something but then he farted and began talking to himself
again. Jim felt helpless and disgusted at the same time. He
couldn’t do anything to help his friend. He stood up sadly and
started making his way to the door feeling that spending anymore
time here would be useless. As his hand reached for the doorknob he
heard something behind him.

“Did you say something?” he said looking at
the guards. They both shook their heads and pointed at Pete. Jim
looked back at the table only to find Pete staring at him. “Did you
say something Pete?”

“It’s not over,” he said as he stared at Jim
through his greasy hair.

“What’s not over Pete?” Jim asked.

“He’s not done,” Pete said in a quiet
singsong voice. “He didn’t finish,” he continued, “There’s two more
left.”

“Two more what?” Jim asked quickly. “Who are
you talking about? Who’s not done?”

“What are you a fucking owl?” Pete yelled
almost standing up before the guard shoved him back down. “What do
you mean who? You know who you damn idiot!” Pete yelled springing
from his chair. The guards swiftly stepped forward and grabbed
Pete’s arms. They wrestled him back to his seat and stood waiting
to pounce should he try again. Pete looked over his shoulder
glaring at them before turning his attention back to Jim.

“You know who Jimmy,” he said
meaningfully.

Pete was right. Jim did know who he was
talking about but he couldn’t say anything in front of the guards.
He might end up in here with Pete if he did. Instead he said,
“There’s no possible way that it could be what you think it is
Pete. The thing isn’t real. I’ve been trying to tell you that.” He
paused to look at the guard to see what they were making of all
this. They seemed to not care at all about what was being said but
Jim knew they were paying very close attention to everything. If
Pete really hadn’t said anything since being brought in this was a
golden opportunity to find out what he knew. Jim understood now why
it seemed so easy for him to get in. They wanted him to get Pete to
talk. Unfortunately for Pete all he had to say would make him look
even crazier than he already did. Before he could say anything else
Pete started talking again.

“We called him Jimmy,” he said in a rough
voice, “whether you want to admit it or not we called him and he
came. He came for the ones who called him but we ran. We thought we
got away. We thought we were safe. But, no, oh no, we didn’t get
away. He just waited. He waited until the time was right. Now he’s
back. No, we didn’t get away at all. He’s back now and he’s going
to get us just like he got Rob and Tommy!” Pete was bouncing up and
down in his chair by now. The guards were holding his shoulders but
they didn’t seem to be doing anything other than keeping him from
falling out of his chair. They threatened to get rough but Pete
didn’t seem to hear them. He was focused on Jim.