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
Chapter 9
True to her word Beth walked over to the table to collect the two tipsy patrons in need of a ride home. Somehow in that brief window Jericho finished another beer. Beth’s car was a red Ford Focus and as C.J. climbed in behind the driver seat he thought about how this is exactly the car he pictured Beth driving.
As soon as his head hit the headrest a wave of drowsiness smothered him, as he dozed off he heard Jericho asking about something to drink when they got home. He woke to Jericho slamming his car door shut and Beth’s gentle announcement, “we made it”. The house was a ranch style brick, with a few stairs that led to a dark wooden door. When C.J. walked in he caught a faint scent of a faint musty aroma, but then it was gone.
By the time C.J. entered the house Jericho had already left the kitchen holding three whiskey glasses each holding a whiskey stone. “Who wants a drink!” he shouted.
C.J. cocked his head perplexed by Jericho’s fervor for more alcohol and politely declined, “no thanks, well actually, I’d appreciate a big glass of water.”
“Suit yourself” Jericho said as he stared at C.J. equally perplexed as to why he wasn’t taking a drink freely offered. “More for me! Beth, would you like one babe?”
“I definitely want one, my favorite please”, she said as she blew Jericho a kiss.
Jericho disappeared into the kitchen to get a mixer for Beth’s drink. C.J. felt this was the perfect time to inquire about what was going on. “Are you guys celebrating something, or does he always drink this much?”
“He’s a bit excited, so he’s drinking slightly more than usual. He got some really good news earlier about a project he’s been working on with his cousin Marshall”, Beth said with a huge smile.
“What was the news?” C.J. asked, genuinely curious.
“Oh, I’ll let him tell you if he wants, it really is his business” Beth said with a finality that ended C.J.’s query.
“What are you guys talking about?”, Jericho asked as he entered the living room.
“Oh, I was trying to get Beth to tell me what you’re celebrating, what are you celebrating?” C.J. asked.
Jericho handed Beth her drink and then took a seat next to her on the couch. Just behind the couch C.J. noticed a large framed family photo with a young Jericho and an older gentleman who looked like Jericho’s twin. On the frame below the photo read an inscription, Family motto: “The bold take.”
“We’re celebrating the culmination of two years worth of work. If everything goes according to plan we should be seeing a big payday later this week. Isn’t that right Beth?” Beth held up her crossed fingers and smiled.
“Are you taking something?” C.J. asked, as he nodded to the family photo.
Jericho looked over his shoulder, “that’s my dad, he wasn’t right about a lot of things, but he wasn’t wrong about that. You want something, you take it.” Jericho's stare turned icey, but C.J. held his gaze. Beth shifted on the couch, most likely in an attempt to snap Jericho out of his spiraling mood. He glanced at Beth, smiled, and took a deep swig of his whiskey. He placed his glass on the table and told C.J. he’d show him to his room.
The house had two bedrooms and one and a half bathrooms. It was the perfect size for Jericho and Beth, if Beth lived here full time, that still wasn’t clear to C.J.
When the bedroom door opened the origin of the faint musty smell became evident. C.J. crinkled his nose and made a mental note to open the window later. There were a few boxes and a lot of papers, and a notebook filled with wild chicken scratch sitting on a desk in the corner of the room. One of those was a map of South America, which had some bearing scrawled in the margins, the only decipherable word on the map was Brazil.
“Have you been to Brazil?” C.J. asked.
“You don’t miss anything do you? Nope never been, but I have an interest. There’s something I want there, so I needed to do some research.”
“But, what’s down there?”
“No more questions, it’s a nice night I think we’ll grill, how do you feel about steak?”
“I love steak.”
“Great, entertain yourself for a bit, I need to make a phone call.”
After Jericho left the room, C.J. flipped through some of the papers on the desk and the notebook. On one of the pages towards the back of the notebook the words ‘Found Bearer Bonds’ were circled and underlined. C.J. frowned and walked out of his room. He walked up to the front of the house and found Beth in the kitchen, she was scrolling on her phone looking for a saute recipe to go with the steak.
“Excuse me, I can’t pass up the opportunity to have a shower while I’m here. You think that would be okay?” C.J. asked.
“Sure thing, head into the master bedroom and turn left, you’ll find everything you need in the bathroom linen closet”, she said.
“Thank you”, C.J. thought, at least something good is coming out of this trip to the twilight zone.
When you first started writing this did you know how long it was going to be?
I was expecting something quite short but this feels like it's shaping up to at least be novella length, maybe even a full length novel.
Most people start with short stories but you've jumped in the deep end and you're definitely pulling it off. Well done.