Previous Chapters
1.)https://charactercognition.substack.com/p/the-listening-spot
2.)https://charactercognition.substack.com/p/the-listening-spot-eb2
3.)https://charactercognition.substack.com/p/the-listening-spot-4eb
4.)https://charactercognition.substack.com/p/the-listening-spot-3ca
5.)https://charactercognition.substack.com/p/the-listening-spot-918
6.)https://charactercognition.substack.com/p/the-listening-spot-bd8
7.)https://charactercognition.substack.com/p/the-listening-spot-29b
8.)https://charactercognition.substack.com/p/the-listening-spot-14a
9.)https://charactercognition.substack.com/p/the-listening-spot-a56
Chapter 10
Tuesday Night
C.J. felt relaxed after his first proper shower in days. He returned to his room and opened a window to replace the scent of old paper with the fragrance of the trees. C.J. put on his dirty clothes and made his way back to the kitchen, but it was empty. As he looked around the house he heard a chuckle coming from the backyard. The backdoor was ajar and he could see the faint glow of firelight dancing in the deepening darkness of the sky.
“We’re back here!” Jericho yelled, still holding his whiskey glass, which seemed to be bottomless. “How was your shower?”
Now warm and cozy and a little more sober, C.J. was feeling timidly pleasant. “It was great, thank you. I’m camping right now, so that shower was a welcome luxury.”
“Ahh yes, the state park. Turns out I will be up there this week after all. Would you like to know why?”
C.J. wasn’t sure he did want to know why. Jericho was slurring his speech and speaking through a cacophony of hiccups. C.J. glanced at Beth who shook her head no. “I’m good actually, no thanks” C.J. said.
“I’m going to tell you anyway!” Jericho yelled in annoyance. “Me and my cousin did find those bearer bonds, and we’re going to take them.” Jericho triumphantly thumped down in a chair next to the fire waiting for C.J.’s response.
“That sounds exciting…” C.J. didn’t know what else to say. The more Jericho talked the more nervous Beth appeared. A sober Jericho probably wouldn’t have shared those details and he might be a little cross in the morning when he realizes what he did, Beth sneakily pointed to the steak, and C.J. took the hint.
“What are we having with this steak? It looks delicious” C.J. waited for a reply, but Jericho was mesmerized by the prancing flame tips of the fire.
Beth spoke up, “Hey babe, we’re ready to cook the steak.”
“So cook it”, Jericho spat.
“I’ll run inside to grab the saute”, C.J. said and briskly walked inside.
Medium rare steak doesn’t take long to prepare and they were eating within 15 minutes of dropping it on the grill. Dinner was pretty quiet, there were hardly any words exchanged, most of the sounds came from the clinking of silverware on plates. After about 40 minutes C.J. grabbed his dinnerware and bid the two goodnight. “I’m going to get some rest, it’s been a long day.”
Jericho sat there catatonic but mumbled “Marshall you better not mess this up.”
C.J. shrugged and turned to Beth, she said, “let me help you with some of this stuff and grabbed her plate.” Once inside she gave C.J. a warning, “don’t mention anything he said tonight. If we’re lucky he’ll forget some of that stuff he told you, it won’t be good if he thinks you know too much.”
“Thanks for letting me know Beth. Is he always like that?”
“No, but since his dad died, he’s been a bit more temperamental. But most of our days are still good ones. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight Beth.” C.J. retreated to his room and laid down. Initially he couldn’t sleep, it was strange being in a new house with a bizarre character like Jericho. After about 15 minutes of staring at the ceiling C.J. decided he’d block the door with the desk chair. If anyone wanted to get in they were going to have to make an awful lot of noise. After that C.J. drifted off into a deep sleep.
Wednesday Morning
The house was still quiet when C.J. woke. He gingerly walked to the kitchen looking for a way to create coffee; after rummaging through a couple of cupboards he found everything he needed to put on a pot. The embers in the fire were mostly ash, but there was just a hint of orange visible in the pile of gray smut. C.J. wasn’t sure how long it would take for the two of them to wake up, and he didn’t really feel like waiting. The sooner he could get out of here, the better. But, it looked like he was going to be waiting a bit. So he opened up the fridge, found some eggs, fried three of them and sat down to enjoy his coffee.
The smell of breakfast coaxed Beth from her slumber. As she stumbled her way to the kitchen she asked rather loudly, “save me any!” with a laugh.
C.J. looked up from the corner of the room he’d been staring at for the last 3 minutes and replied, “I share coffee, not eggs”, and smiled.
Beth grabbed a mug, poured herself a cup of coffee and took a seat at the table. After a minute C.J. spoke up.
“I hate to be an inconvenience, but would you please give me a lift back to my truck?”
“Oh stop fussing, of course I’ll give you a ride back. Let me just go and grab my keys.” Beth took another sip, and got up with the coffee cup in tow. She was taking this one for the road.
C.J. ran back to the extra room to make sure he didn’t leave anything, and it didn’t look like he had, he and Beth met at the front door and headed out to the car together.
“So, when does the convenience store open?”C.J. asked.
“Well, it opens when Jericho opens it.”
“Huh, that’s pretty nice.”
“Small town rules, you know?”
“I don’t know, but that sounds pretty nice.”
“We like it.”
C.J. just stared out the window on the short ride back to his truck. Beth parked in the next spot over and after a thank you and a wave was on her way back to Jericho’s place. As C.J. pulled out of the parking lot and made his way back to T.L.S. a wave of relief washed over him. This is why you don’t talk to strangers, he thought.
The question on the top of C.J.’s mind during his drive back was, what kind of caper is Jericho mixed up in. He didn’t get enough details to gather whether or not it was legal, but from what he heard it was certainly dangerous. C.J. took some solace from the thought that he’d never have to know. The drive went by quickly and he was happily back to the state park parking lot. He parked at the end of the lot and walked by a few parked cars to the trail head. Something about the last car caught his eye and he stopped. After a cursory investigation he was almost certain this was Penelope’s car. She must be up here on one of her running and camping trips. Wednesday seemed a bit early to take off for the rest of the week, but maybe this is how she used her vacation days.
C.J. looked around, there was no sign of Penelope and he had no idea how he would find her out here. Still, the thought of seeing her made him happy, he imagined she’d stay until at least Saturday or Sunday so there’s a chance they could meet up. He hiked the mile back to T.L.S. to find it exactly as he left it.
Staying over at the off putting drunk guy's house and wanting to get away quickly in the morning, I've certainly been there before. You're really good at making CJ's adventure relatable.
I’m so relieved CJ got out of there without anything happening, I was worried for him! Lol