Stuck in Love City

Oh my God! Could life get any more boring than this? Mary Lou yawned and stretched, and tried to look attentive as several people browsed through the used paperback book store owned by her Uncle Tom and Aunt Marjorie. She was staying with them and earning her keep by working in the store evenings and weekends. She was stuck in boring Love City, Arkansas.

She guessed she couldn't blame her mother for sending her away for a while. Mom was a single parent since Dad's death in a car accident five years ago. She had the twins, just turning six, and Mary Lou and her brother, Adam. Adam was a real problem right now, sixteen, and getting in and out of trouble with his no-good friends. Right now he was on probation for his latest antics and Mom had to keep him on a tight rein. Mary Lou was in the ninth grade, and way too young, according to her mother, to be getting so hot and heavy with her boy friend, Alan.

Mom had dragged her down here and enrolled her in Love City Junior High School and she would probably be stuck here until the school year ended next spring. She had to leave behind her computer, her cell phone, and her MP3 Player as part of her punishment. She just knew she would die of boredom living with her aunt and uncle. Uncle Tom was her mother's brother and always ready to help out in any kind of family crisis. She didn't see it as a crisis but Mom certainly had. Her boyfriend, Alan, was older, seventeen, almost eighteen. He went to high school and had his own car. Mom had never liked the idea of Mary Lou going out with Alan but she allowed it as long as they followed all her rules.

That was the problem. Alan had told Mom he agreed with her when she said Mary Lou was too young to let her run around without some strict rules to follow. Then he had whispered to Mary Lou, "What your mom doesn't know won't hurt her. I know how to handle her." They were only allowed to double date and she had to be home by 11:00. 11:00! She wasn't a baby! Alan had managed to ditch the other couples when they went out and he was good at bringing her home on time. He would come in and talk with her mother and be polite and respectful before taking off shortly afterward. She suspected he was seeing someone else after he dropped her off at home. That's how the trouble started. She sneaked out of the house a few times to check up on Alan and her brother had told on her. Adam was so jealous because he currently had no freedom at all and wanted to be sure she didn't either.

Alan was starting to get really possessive of her, too. He wanted to tell her what to wear and who she could hang out with. He was starting to be really insistent when they parked at the old mill. So far he had managed to get her bra off and they had engaged in some heavy breathing before she had been able to stop him and insist on going home. She had been excited, but kind of scared at the same time. Maybe Mom was right and Alan is too old for me she pondered.

The Love City police chief's son, Jake, was seventeen, but he wasn't anything like Alan. Maybe growing up in a small town made the difference. Thinking about Jake reminded her of the excitement that stirred up Love City right before the Homecoming. Jim Greene had gone off his rocker and killed his former high school sweetheart with an arrow because she had come back to town and was marrying someone else. Uncle Tom had helped the police chief bring Jim in. He worked for her now and then when she needed an extra hand. Maybe something else exciting would happen while she was here. She doubted it. The most exciting thing that happened in Love City was around Valentine's Day when they were flooded with cards from people who wanted their valentines post-marked from Love City.

"Mary Lou, do you know if you have any other books on Satanism?" Slim Hanrahan asked. He was standing at the counter with two paperbacks in his hands. "Slim, you'll have to just look around. I don't know the whole inventory but they should be around the same place you found those." Why in the world was Slim Hanrahan looking at books about Satanism? That was certainly food for thought. She had never really thought about him before. He was an older man, maybe as old as Uncle Tom, and he lived alone on the next street over. He looked around a little longer and then paid her for the two books and left, leaving her alone in the store.
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Mary Lou tidied up the sales table where Slim had been browsing and then walked over to the screen door.

Some people were sitting on the bench outside the door. Mary Lou really didn't mean to overhear their conversation; she went to the door to get a little air. It was getting warm for an October day and she thought the air outside would be a little fresher.

There were four of them, two women and two men. She didn't remember ever seeing them before but if they were new in town why were they hanging around outside a used paperback bookstore? Maybe they needed directions. She might be able to help them if she knew what they needed. She put her ear closer to the screen to hear better.

Woman No. 1 said "Are we all set for this evening, then?" Both men started nodding. The older man said, "Sophie, you and Morrie are going to take care of the business at the bank, right? That will leave Syl and me time to get ready for our jobs." Both women nodded. It must have been Sophie that said, "What time would be best to hit the bank, Syl? You used to work there. I don't want to get stopped by somebody wanting to talk." Syl thought a moment and said, "Right about closing time would be the best. There aren't many people in there at that time of day and the few who are there are usually tired and anxious to get out of there quickly, so they won't lollygag around. They won't pay you a bit of attention."

Oh, no, thought Mary Lou. Are they bank robbers? She stood perfectly still, not wanting to call attention to the fact that she was standing right by the door where she could overhear them.

Morrie said, "Ben, you and Syl need to find us someplace to stay so we can lay low until time for the party. We'll have masks and make-up and a change of clothes with us. It won't take any time at all to change. No one will recognize us. Boy, is this town in for a surprise!"

Sophie spoke up, "What about that old barn on Vaughn Road? We should be able to stay hidden in there for as long as we need to and it's right next door to the Grange where the party will be held."

"Well, it sounds like we have a plan. Now everybody go make your preparations. We want the timing for this to go off without a hitch. I still have to find the knife I have in mind to use on the police chief."

What am I going to do? Should I tell someone? Uncle Tom, maybe, or the police chief? No, why would they listen to me? She had no proof. She knew down in her bones that they were going to rob the bank and then hide in the barn until some party started at the Grange. Then, it sounded like they were planning to kill the police chief! What should she do?

All four got up off the bench and walked down the sidewalk laughing and talking, without even looking back at the doorway where she stood. The phone rang and she ran to answer it, still wondering what in the world she could do. It was Brenda, a girl down the street who went to school with her and hung out with her sometimes when she wasn't working. "Brenda, come over to the store right now. You won't believe what I have to tell you."

Brenda arrived breathlessly, anticipating what Mary Lou could be going to tell her. While she explained to Brenda, Mary Lou walked up and down the floor, wringing her hands. She looked at the clock. "It's ten after five. The bank has already closed and they will be holed up in that barn until they're ready to go to the Grange. Come on."

"Where are we going?" Brenda yelled as she followed Mary Lou out the door. "What can we do?"

"I don't know," gasped Mary Lou, "but I can't just wait here while someone kills the police chief."

As they ran down Vaughn Road toward the barn and the Grange, they met up with Jake and a few of his friends. Mary Lou tried to explain what was happening and get the boys to come with them to confront the criminals. "Wait a minute," said Jake. "This can't be happening. No one would want to hurt my mom. There has to be a reasonable explanation."

"We can't let your mother get killed while we hunt for some explanation," shouted Mary Lou. "Come on."

They all rushed in the barn and confronted four surprised people who were adjusting costumes and applying make up.

Jake started laughing and slapping his knees. He looked up at Mary Lou and said, I told you there was an explanation. These are four actors Mom hired to put on a Murder Mystery at the Halloween Party for the Nursing Home residents. They're throwing it at the Grange tonight. Mom is taking part in it to surprise everyone."

Mary Lou stood speechless, trying to absorb everything Jake had said. "But what about the bank?" she said.

"Oh, Mom left their check for them to pick up at the bank so they wouldn't have to come to her office. She's trying to keep the whole thing a secret until the party starts."

Mary Lou looked at Brenda and then at Jake and his friends. "I thought this was just a little too much excitement for Love City."

Jake laughed and said, "Come on. Mom said I could bring some friends to the party to watch the Murder Mystery if I wanted. It should be fun."

Mary Lou agreed and thought, This is fun, I already know who's guilty!



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