Silent Innocence-Ch 3

Chapter 3


The ride to work, on my trusty 12 speed Huffy, would have been enjoyable had the specter of the night’s dream hadn’t kept running through my mind. I had to hope that the dream wouldn’t become reality, but knew in my heart that this girl was marked. Having something like that on your mind could drive a person straight to the asylum. If she was destined for that fate there would be nothing I could do to help. I didn’t know who the girl was or if the mountains that were the backdrop were even around here. I couldn’t tell the police that a young girl was going to be killed soon because if she did turn up missing, I would be the prime suspect.

Cruising into the parking lot it was plain to see that my prediction of Paul being late was true. I went around the gas pumps on the North side of the station and chained my bike to the railing near the door. The store was on the main street that bisected the small town and I stood as visual comedy for the early workers as they drove by to their own jobs. Checking the time on my watch I found that I was five minutes late myself.

“Dammit Paul” I sighed.

The longer the wait was, the better the odds that my thoughts would turn back to the dream. The dream itself was bad enough. I didn’t want to spend the rest of the day reliving it. Just as the image was creeping back into my mind’s eye Paul arrived in the silver Buick he had inherited from his grandmother.

“Sorry Lee” he said after noting my expression, “My mom made me toss the trash on my way out.”

“You need to move out already.”

“Kiss. My. Ass.”

Paul had a way of saying things that showed him to be more of a dork than his looks alone. He was short and scrawny and wore thick rimmed glasses which didn’t suit his face at all. His nose could be considered mousy. He was my friend so it was my job to let him know of his style whenever I could. We had met in high school after his family moved here from Texas. He was an easy target for the bullies with his accent and appearance. I thought he was funny. It was Paul who got me the job here at the station, so I owe him at least my honesty.

“You wanna hurry with the key?”

“Shut up.”

“Jimenez is eyeballing you” I said noticing the older gentleman watching from his truck, “He needs his fix.”
When Paul had finally got the deadbolt open we entered our beige and red establishment and began the process of making it fit to run. Paul set the coffee to brew and I set out to be sure the night crew had stocked the cooler. Upon returning I found Paul behind the counter and Mr. Jimenez fixing up his morning java.

“You boys get later every morning.”

“I was here. You can blame Paul.”

“Don’t bullshit me boy. I was out there at a quarter to six. You didn’t show up ‘til ten til”

“Well, when you’ve known Paul as long as I have…..”

“Where’s the lady with the paper?” Jimenez asked, sounding more impatient by the second, “She better not be late too.”

As if lured by Mr. Jimenez’s need for the news Mrs. Hernandez showed up on cue. She was never late. She showed up at six am, without fail, with the Albuquerque Journal and the Denver Post. She was followed in by Bob Helton, Howard Jennings, and Pablo Martinez. The morning coffee rush was about to be in full swing. The usual suspects would hang out on the side of the counter near the coffee discussing the happenings in the paper and various rumors spread around town. After they left the clientele would turn mostly to housewives stopping in for a pack of smokes or some gas for the day of errands that needed to be done. Raton is a quiet and predictable town and I hoped it was going to remain that way.

Around eleven Paul decided to take his lunch break before the kids were let loose from the high school to peruse our aisles for junk food. I didn’t get a customer for ten minutes after he left and used the time while he was gone to again dwell on the dream. I couldn’t help but begin to feel that the girl was somehow familiar to me. In a stupor over the enigma I barely noticed the bell that jingles when someone walks in.

“Hi Mrs. Huggins. How are we today?”

“Oh I’m doing just fine. You on the other hand look like you have the weight of the world on your head Lee Parker.”

“Oh just lack of sleep I suppose” I responded with a forced smile, “What can I help you with today?”

She handed me a lotto ticket and asked that it be scanned to see if she had won. Most people will watch the drawing on television but Mrs. Huggins found it easier to just bring her ticket in to find out the verdict. She was dressed more than casually today so I decided to make conversation and find out her plans for the day.

“All dolled up today aren’t we? What you have going on?”
“Oh it’s my granddaughters eleventh birthday today. I’m going to help Janet with the decorations and food for the party”

Janet had been a senior when I was a freshman. She had her daughter when she was 16 but still managed to finish school. She was now a teller at the same bank my mom worked at. The ticket scanner told me that Mrs. Huggins had won three dollars.

“How is Janet? I haven’t seen her for awhile.”

“Oh she’s doing good. Wyatt got a job with the pipeline construction and is making good money.”

“That’s nice” I said turning my attention to my job, “You want the cash or are we reinvesting?”

“Let’s see…..well just get me another three sets of numbers for Saturday night.”

“Yes ma’am”

“Well, better just make it five sets. I had two dollars ready in case I didn’t win anything” she said with a smile.

“Will do.” I said while punching in the commands to the ticket machine, “That’ll make it two dollars.”

She opened her wallet and my heart jumped into my throat. Staring back at me from behind a plastic picture frame was my dead girl.