10: When Kenn, Stratford, Bill and Mina arrived at Marble Cliffs Today headquarters, she led them down to the copy editor's office and found Jeffrey sitting at his desk. The office was underground with only one window which abutted the ceiling. Six desks formed an island in the middle of the room with three and three back to back with each other so that the people who sat in them were facing each other. Jeffrey's desk was in the far corner underneath a broken light which the maintenance man kept "forgetting" to replace.
"Dad, what the hell are you doing here?"
"Son, please don't start. I can't take it right now. I don't know how to tell you."
"What, that I'm wasting my life away at this unworthy job because I should have been a doctor or lawyer? Or could it possibly be that you're struggling with trying to tell me that mom's gone?" Bill looked at his son in confusion.
"Oh yes, I already know. The police called me because they couldn't get a hold of you at the A Mart and of course you don't have a fucking cell phone because you don't want brain cancer or whatever bullshit." Bill didn't know what to say. He just broke down with loud, body-wracking sobs. Jeffrey sat for a long time breathing hard and staring with an intense disgust at his father.
"Wait a minute, Jeffrey," Mina spoke up. "You know about your mother's murder and you're still here working?"
"What the fuck, Mina? The cops said they found absolutely nothing at the house. Not a single fucking sign of any struggle. No sign of a forced entry. No blood. No body. Just an empty little domicile in the desert. Someone had made an anonymous call from a goddamn pay phone. They said it was probably just a crank call, but now they're looking for old Billy Bob here. They probably think it's quite suspicious that you haven't made any attempt to contact them and they can't find you anywhere."
"That's impossible. I saw her myself. There was no way for someone to clean up that crime scene in the short amount of time before the police arrived. I was the one who reported the murder," said Kenn.
"Mr. Trenchcoat with Barnaby the Magic Parrot on his shoulder? Maybe YOU know what happened to my mother."
"What an asshole," squawked Stratford.
"My name is Kenn Varson. I'm a detective and this is Stratford. I got a tip that something was going to happen at your house so I rushed over there to try to help, but I was too late. Your father and I both saw her body in the bathtub full of blood. I just told the police what I saw."
"How do we know you didn't do something to my mother?"
"Even if I did, I've been with your father since we saw the body and so somebody else would have had to get rid of all the evidence in an incredibly short amount of time."
"Maybe she ran out on yo ass, daddy. Did you ever think of that? Maybe she skipped town with the milkman." Before anyone knew what was coming, Bill raised a hand threateningly at Jeffrey. His face had turned a deep shade of purple. At this time of day, when the sun was about to set, was the only time that any sunlight came directly through the office's sole window. The lonely ray of light illuminated the dust particles floating in the air. It was into this beam of solar light that Bill's hand penetrated.
When Bill saw how his hand caused a shadow to pass through the sun light, he shut his eyes and lowered his hand. "You are my son and I have never raised a hand to you before, but I swear on my father's grave that I am this close to losing it with you. We need each other right now. Don't push me away. If your mother is still somehow alive out there, she needs us to be strong for her. You and me have had our differences, but I love you and so does she, wherever she is."
Even though the hand never struck, Jeffrey reacted as though it had. He withered under his father's impassioned gaze. He let out a deep sigh and his shoulders sank as he squeezed tears from his eyes. "I know she loves me. I know I know I know. I don't know what the hell is going on, but I'm scared. Fuck! You always make me feel like I'm twelve years old." He paused for a long while and then said, "Where the hell is my mom?"
"Dad, what the hell are you doing here?"
"Son, please don't start. I can't take it right now. I don't know how to tell you."
"What, that I'm wasting my life away at this unworthy job because I should have been a doctor or lawyer? Or could it possibly be that you're struggling with trying to tell me that mom's gone?" Bill looked at his son in confusion.
"Oh yes, I already know. The police called me because they couldn't get a hold of you at the A Mart and of course you don't have a fucking cell phone because you don't want brain cancer or whatever bullshit." Bill didn't know what to say. He just broke down with loud, body-wracking sobs. Jeffrey sat for a long time breathing hard and staring with an intense disgust at his father.
"Wait a minute, Jeffrey," Mina spoke up. "You know about your mother's murder and you're still here working?"
"What the fuck, Mina? The cops said they found absolutely nothing at the house. Not a single fucking sign of any struggle. No sign of a forced entry. No blood. No body. Just an empty little domicile in the desert. Someone had made an anonymous call from a goddamn pay phone. They said it was probably just a crank call, but now they're looking for old Billy Bob here. They probably think it's quite suspicious that you haven't made any attempt to contact them and they can't find you anywhere."
"That's impossible. I saw her myself. There was no way for someone to clean up that crime scene in the short amount of time before the police arrived. I was the one who reported the murder," said Kenn.
"Mr. Trenchcoat with Barnaby the Magic Parrot on his shoulder? Maybe YOU know what happened to my mother."
"What an asshole," squawked Stratford.
"My name is Kenn Varson. I'm a detective and this is Stratford. I got a tip that something was going to happen at your house so I rushed over there to try to help, but I was too late. Your father and I both saw her body in the bathtub full of blood. I just told the police what I saw."
"How do we know you didn't do something to my mother?"
"Even if I did, I've been with your father since we saw the body and so somebody else would have had to get rid of all the evidence in an incredibly short amount of time."
"Maybe she ran out on yo ass, daddy. Did you ever think of that? Maybe she skipped town with the milkman." Before anyone knew what was coming, Bill raised a hand threateningly at Jeffrey. His face had turned a deep shade of purple. At this time of day, when the sun was about to set, was the only time that any sunlight came directly through the office's sole window. The lonely ray of light illuminated the dust particles floating in the air. It was into this beam of solar light that Bill's hand penetrated.
When Bill saw how his hand caused a shadow to pass through the sun light, he shut his eyes and lowered his hand. "You are my son and I have never raised a hand to you before, but I swear on my father's grave that I am this close to losing it with you. We need each other right now. Don't push me away. If your mother is still somehow alive out there, she needs us to be strong for her. You and me have had our differences, but I love you and so does she, wherever she is."
Even though the hand never struck, Jeffrey reacted as though it had. He withered under his father's impassioned gaze. He let out a deep sigh and his shoulders sank as he squeezed tears from his eyes. "I know she loves me. I know I know I know. I don't know what the hell is going on, but I'm scared. Fuck! You always make me feel like I'm twelve years old." He paused for a long while and then said, "Where the hell is my mom?"
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