Chapter 7 #2
“Marty,” he said. “I heard about this cool overlook outside of town. I was told it’s where the locals go to hang out. I was going to head up there and have a beer and smoke this bag, if you want to join me?”
“You’re talking about Jagged Point,” I told him.
I pulled out onto the long stretch of road in front of the Herbaughs’ house and headed back toward town.
“Yeah, that’s it. Jagged Point,” Marty said. “I’ve heard some wild stories about that place. Murders and stuff.” He gave me a wicked grin.
“It definitely has a colorful past. Two hikers were found dead up there years ago. No one knows if it was natural causes or if they were killed.” I played it off as insignificant, but people still talked about the long-ago deaths as if they happened yesterday.
“Gruesome.” Marty didn’t sound bothered by it. “And that’s where you locals go to hang out? That’s some morbid shit, Rhett.”
“I guess so,” I replied, realizing how strange it must seem to an outsider.
“So, you game to hang out with the dead folks?”
“Oh no, I’m good, thanks. But I can drop you off there.
It’s not far. There’s probably people hanging out, and it’s not a long walk back to town.
I do it all the time.” I had an early start the next day.
I knew I should get home and have a good night’s sleep.
Mr. Herbaugh’s questions about my grades had me on edge.
And, of course, there was Jenn and her messages waiting for me.
“Okay, cool, I appreciate it. Mind if I open a window, then?”
I shrugged. “Go for it.” The smell of weed hit me as he lit his joint and I jerked my head in his direction.
“Shit, not in the car or my fiancée will kill me!” I yelled, waving the smoke from my face. I opened the center console and grabbed a can of air freshener, squirting it heavily into the air. The sickly scent of watermelon mixed with the musky smoke made me want to gag.
Marty seemed unconcerned. “Sorry, my bad, man.” He laughed. “Shit, you’re acting like your fiancée has your balls in a vice.” He threw the joint out the window.
“Thanks, it’s just that Lucy hates this stuff,” I explained anxiously. I was supposed to pick Lucy up in the morning and take her to breakfast. If she smelled weed, she’d freak out. I sprayed more air freshener for good measure.
“I think that’s enough, buddy.” Marty coughed. “All I can smell is chemicals. No one’s gonna know someone smoked weed in here. Chill out.” He shot me a sideways glance. “That woman of yours is a little uptight, huh?” I wanted to tell him no, but I also couldn’t deny it.
When it was just us, Lucy was a different person than when she was with her parents.
But she did always seem stressed out.
I used to like the way she wanted things to be perfect and how she worked hard to get what she wanted.
I appreciated that she wanted to please her parents, who expected a lot from her, because I felt the same way about my mom.
The difference was that my mom wouldn’t unleash a lifetime of guilt if I went against her.
They say opposites attract, and we balanced each other out well. Or at least, I used to think we did.
Though lately, I wasn’t so sure.
“She’s just … I don’t know … I mean,” I stumbled over what to say. I didn’t want to insult Lucy, or her family, but if Marty had worked for the Herbaughs for any length of time, he had to already know what they were like. “Yeah, a little, I guess,” I admitted.
“I get it. She must be worth it, though.”
“She is,” I agreed, saying it with more force than I meant to.
As we drove to Jagged Point, my thoughts drifted to Lucy and the wedding, and the never-ending list of things to do. We seemed to have done so much, and yet Mabel came up with new tasks every day.
Sometimes I wondered if Lucy felt as suffocated as I did.
Her parents were pretty hard on her, but she took it without complaint.
Yet there were times, when she thought no one was looking, that I saw the mask slip, and I knew it got to her.
The pressure and expectations from them could be overwhelming, and I had a feeling, sometimes, that maybe we were rushing the wedding so she could escape that house.
Then, because I couldn’t help it, my thoughts turned to Jenn Moore.
She seemed to hang on my every word as if I were the one with the answers. She found me interesting. She liked my stories. She never rolled her eyes or made me feel stupid about my opinions.
“What has you smilin’ like the cat that got the cream?” Marty asked. I glanced at him; the long scar made him seem more disfigured in the dim light of the car.
“Nothing, just thinking …”
“Thinkin’ never made me smile like that.
You thinkin’ about that woman of yours? She’s beautiful—if you don’t mind me sayin’.
I’ve seen her out at the pool in a tiny bikini.
A woman that beautiful wants to be looked at, so I’ve definitely had my fill.
” He laughed again and punched my arm, making me swerve.
It felt wrong to let him talk about Lucy like that. I should probably be pissed off that he admitted to ogling her without her knowledge. But at the same time, he was right. Lucy did like to be looked at and admired. It’s why she entered those stupid beauty pageants.
I felt a flash of anger at the thought of her lounging around, practically naked, with men there to see her. What did that make me look like when she showed off her body to strangers?
“Hopefully she’ll take that stick out of her ass and not end up like her stuck-up mother,” Marty went on.
He didn’t care that he was insulting my future mother-in-law, and I couldn’t help but choke on a laugh.
“You’ve met Mable, then?”
“I was there when she bitched Sal out for emptying the grass clippings in front of the kitchen window. You would have thought we had put a body in the wood chipper the way she went off on him.”
I pictured it clearly in my head. I knew exactly how Mabel could be. “Yeah, she can be tough on people.”
Marty sneered, resting his booted feet up onto the dashboard.
“If you ask me, a woman like her needs knocking down a peg or two. Talking like that to Sal, who operates his own business. What the hell has she done with her life other than marry some rich guy and pop out a couple of kids. She doesn’t know what the fuck she’s talkin’ about. Stuck-up bitch.”
I wasn’t sure I had ever heard someone speak badly about the Herbaughs, and certainly not about Mabel. But he wasn’t wrong—Mabel was stuck-up, and it was refreshing to hear someone say the truth for a change instead of kissing her ass.
Marty seemed like the kind of guy that said whatever came to mind, offensive or not.
I appreciated that. In Fern River, people spent entirely too much time worried about what others thought.
Monitoring their words in case someone might get upset.
It was nice being around someone with no ties to this place and no allegiances either.
We reached Jagged Point a few minutes later. I slowed down and pulled my car over. Marty climbed out, picked up his bag and slung it over his shoulder.
“You sure I can’t tempt you with a beer?
Just one? It might loosen some of that tension in your shoulders.
You look stressed enough that if someone put coal up your ass, it would turn into a diamond.
” His mouth twisted into a crooked grin.
He reached over and gripped one of my shoulders and gave it a small shove. “You need to loosen up.”
I laughed, realizing he was right. I was always like this whenever I went to Lucy’s house.
“You know what, a beer would be good. Just one, though, because I’m driving.
” I turned the ignition off and got out of the car, joining him on the gravel path.
Together, we began the mile-long trek up to the overlook.
As we walked I checked my phone while I still had a signal, elated to see two messages from Jenn. Giving Marty a sideways glance, I surreptitiously sent one back to her.
Jenn—I stopped at the ice cream stand today. I tried that new flavor you suggested. Delicious!:-)
Jenn—Maybe we could grab one together tomorrow??
Me—I should have some free time around lunch. I’ll grab a couple cones and meet you at Jagged Point?
She replied almost immediately, and I smiled, happy she had been waiting for my reply.
Jenn—How are you going to drive with two ice cream cones? Lol.
Me—For you, I will find a way!
Jenn—:-)
I should have felt guilty. I was making plans, again, with a woman that wasn’t my fiancée. I was essentially juggling two women and instead of feeling horrible, I felt an odd rush.
After all, I could see Lucy in the morning and Jenn in the afternoon. Their paths would never cross and I would stay in the clear. Then, I could study for my upcoming test tomorrow evening. I was keeping all my proverbial ducks in a neat and tidy row.
But, deep in the pit of my stomach, I knew it was wrong.
I was a good guy. Everybody thought so. But what harm was I really doing?
I shouldn’t have to explain myself to anyone.
For once, I was going to enjoy myself and not overthink it.
Besides, Jenn was only a friend and Lucy couldn’t tell me who I could hang out with.
The trees grew thick above us, and overgrowth swallowed the path in places. The inky night seeped through the foliage, making it hard to see. But I had run out to the overlook so many times I’d know the way with my eyes closed.
The gravel crunched beneath our tennis shoes. The air around us was thick with the constant drone of cicadas as they scratched and creaked like an old vinyl record.
“So tell me more about the people that died up here,” Marty said, snapping me back to the present.