Chapter 7
It was five-thirty that Saturday night.
In his trailer, Darin sat on the couch, smoking a cigarette and drank a Rolling Rock beer. He watched the news on Channel 6.
The phone in the kitchen rang.
Darin got up and walked over into the kitchen and picked it up. “Hello.”
“It’s me,” said Tiffany from the phone.
“Yeah.”
“I’m going to go out for some dinner and a little partying with some of the girls from work,” she said.
“Okay. Be careful,” said Darin, then he hung up the call.
He walked back to the living room and sat back down on the couch. He resumed drinking his beer and watched the news.
Ten minutes had passed, and Darin got up off the couch.
He went down the hallway and relieved himself in the bathroom.
After that, he went into the bedroom.
A few minutes had passed, and Darin got inside his Impala. He started it up and drove off out of the mobile home park.
Darin drove straight to Lake Willow and parked in the dirt parking lot.
He got out of his Impala and walked over to the benches. These were not the same benches as he sat on in 1971, but he didn’t care.
He sat down on a bench and looked at the dropping sun.
He removed a cigarette from his pack of Marlboro’s. He flicked his lighter. A sudden gust of cool wind came out of nowhere and blew out the flame. He flicked his lighter again. Another sudden gust of cool wind came out of nowhere and blew out the flame. Darin gave up and flicked his cigarette into the dirt after three more failed attempts of trying to light his cigarette with this gust of winds.
He just sat there and watched while the sun dropped below the horizon. Another gust of window blew across his face, and this time it was a little colder. But it also gave him a warm, loving feeling.
He had this strange urge to look to his left. For a split second, he could have sworn he saw a faint image of Sheryl sitting next to him. Just like she did so many years ago. The faint image of Sheryl was gone in an instant.
Darin rubbed his eyes. He looked back to his left and didn’t see anything. “I need to quit drinking,” he said then rubbed his eyes again. There was nobody to his left. He shrugged it off and looked to the west where the sun was now gone.
He turned and looked at the woods in the area where Sheryl’s body was found back in 1971. Darin never stepped foot in those woods since that summer. He tried once in the summer of 1978 but got weak in the knees and vomited in the dirt.
Darin decided he still needed a smoke.
He removed another cigarette from his pack. He flicked his lighter. That same strange gust of cool wind blew out the flame again. He tried it again, and that gust of cool wind won again. “Fuck it,” he said, then flicked the cigarette into the lake. Then Darin had another strange feeling. This was the same feeling he got when his mother would nag at him when he started smoking. He shrugged it off and got up off the bench.
He walked over to his Impala, got inside, started up the engine, and drove out of the parking area to the dirt road.
Darin drove east on Montvale, and for some strange reason, he felt compelled to head south on Thorndale instead of north.
After he got to the end or Thorndale he turned left and headed down Primrose. It wasn’t long before he turned into the Pleasant Acres neighborhood.
He couldn’t explain this sudden urge to drive down this neighborhood.
It wasn’t long before Darin turned down Hill Avenue.
He drove down Hill and stopped at a lovely split-level at 5981 Hill Avenue. Darin stared at that house for some bizarre reason he really liked it.
He shrugged that feeling off and drove away down Hill.
After leaving the Pleasant Acres neighborhood, Darin headed back to his mobile home after stopping off at Burger King for dinner. Tonight it was a Whopper with cheese, large fries and vanilla shake. This was the typical unhealthy meal he’s been eating for years.
Back at this trailer and after he finished his Burger King dinner, he sat back on the couch drinking a Rolling Rock beer and watched Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman on the TV. Darin loved this show as he always had the hots for Jane Seymour.
The show had ten minutes left to the end when Darin’s eyes closed, and he fell asleep.
It was ten-fifteen that night.
Darin was in a deep sleep on the couch. The TV show Walker Texas Ranger was now playing.
The phone in the kitchen rang.
Darin stirred on the couch from that ringing phone.
The phone in the kitchen continued to ring and ring.
Darin stirred on the couch. He finally heard the telephone and opened his eyes. It took him a few seconds to realize that that ringing he heard in his dream was his telephone.
He got up off the couch and went into the kitchen.
“Hello,” he answered the phone, then yawned.
His eyes widened a little and got a tad faint when he heard a familiar voice at the other end of the phone. “Yes, sir, I’ll be there right away,” he said, then hung up the phone. Darin looked a little nervous. “Fuck!” he called out then rushed out of the kitchen.
Darin got inside his Impala, started it up, and drove out of the mobile park.
He drove to the northwest area on Primrose Avenue and pulled into the Burkeville Police Station building.
He parked in the parking lot.
He got out of his car and stared at the two glass front doors. He wasn’t looking forward to going inside but knew he had to.
Darin headed off the front doors and went inside.
Once Darin got inside the police station, he headed off to the front desk where Sergeant Wally Adams worked.
Behind the front desk were four desks for all of the officers that worked in the department.
To the right was the office for Chief Hanson.
To the left was a hallway that led to the four jail cells of the station.
“Hello Darin,” said Sergeant Adams. “I guess you’re here for Tiffany?” said Sergeant Adams.
“Yeah, I am,” said Darin, as this was a routine occurrence numerous weekends of coming to the station, and he looked a little ashamed – again.
“Chief, he’s here,” called out Sergeant Adams
Darin started to get visibly nervous.
Chief Robbie Hanson walked out of his office. He got a smirk when he saw Darin behind standing behind the counter.
“We found her asleep in her car at a red light,” said Robbie while he walked over to the counter. “Now, I’m not going to slap her with a DUI,” he said then glared at Darin.
Darin started to feel weak and flushed. He had always suspected that Robbie was Sheryl’s killer based on that night at the lake after graduation. But since Robbie’s dad was the Chief of Police, Darin always felt her murder investigation was intentionally flawed.
Robbie’s smirk grew larger anticipating what would happen next. But he didn’t want to deal with a passed out citizen on his floor, so he walked away.
Darin started to feel better once Robbie was away.
“You have some paperwork to sign,” said Sergeant Adams and pushed a piece of paper in front of Darin.
Darin grabbed a pen and read over the paper.
A little while later, Sergeant Adams brought Tiffany out of the jail cell number two and escorted her over to the front counter.
She looked like death warmed over and ready to fall back asleep at any moment.
It was quiet between Darin and Tiffany while they left the station, got in his car, and drove back to the Oak Paradise mobile home park.
The second Tiffany and Darin got out of his Impala she bent over and vomited into the dirt.
Darin just walked away and went inside the trailer.
Tiffany wiped her mouth then went inside the trailer.
Later that night, Tiffany was sound asleep in the bed.
Darin stayed in the living room and fell asleep on the couch.
Sunday morning arrived, and Darin woke up around nine that morning. Tiffany was still asleep in the bed.
He got up, and immediately started a raspy lung filled with crap cough. After he was done, he shoved a Marlboro cigarette into his mouth and lit it.
He went into the kitchen smoking and made a fresh pot of coffee and decided to eat Cocoa Krispies for breakfast.
After his quick breakfast, he sat outside the trailer in one of the Adirondack chairs, drinking more coffee and smoking another Marlboro.
The door to the trailer opened up, and Tiffany stepped outside. Her hair was all over the place from sleeping, and she had bags under her eyes. She was also topless, so the people in the nearby trailers got a view of her saggy breasts. This happened quite often.
She looked at Darin. “I have a fucking headache. Run to the Burt’s and get me some major aspirins. And I want the strongest fucking kind they have,” she said while rubbing her throbbing forehead.
Darin finished his Marlboro and cup of coffee. “That’s what you fucking get,” he mumbled to himself while he got up and went inside the trailer.
Ten minutes had passed, and Darin was at the Burt’s Drug store located on the main street of Burkeville.
He went down an aisle and found the aspirin.
He grabbed a box of Excedrin Extra Strength then while he walked away, he noticed the selection of sleeping aid boxes.
He stopped and stared at the available selection.
He picked out a box and stared at it.
He pondered if he should try it again.
He walked away with the box of sleeping pills and Excedrin.
Darin got to the end of the aisle. He stopped and remembered his mom and how she cried with joy that he didn’t kill himself back in 1971.
Darin walked back and put the sleeping pills back where they belonged.
He headed off to the cash register.
Fifteen minutes had passed, and Darin was back at his trailer. Tiffany had taken her four Excedrin and went back to sleep it off in their bed.
Darin sat outside on his Adirondack chairs, drinking more coffee and smoking a Marlboro. He wondered if he should call Kenny to get together. He decided against it, as Kenny suddenly wanted nothing to do with Darin immediately after they returned from Ocean City that summer. For the life of him, he couldn’t figure out why. Maybe it was because Darin tried to kill himself after Sheryl was murdered.
He shrugged that thought off and went back to his coffee and cigarette.
The rest of Sunday was boring as usual for Darin. He went to bed at nine that night.