Julie looked around, seeing faces she had thought she would never see again. The whole town had stayed the same. They had gotten a little older, sure, but everything, and everyone was just as they always were, and probably always would be until the day they died.
She watched Roy emerge from the back room, a frustrated look on his face.
He and Carla were the only people that she had missed while she was away. The rest of the town was take it or leave it, but those two had been her rock while she had dealt with her brother’s death, and her father’s insanity.
Paul was nice and all, but he had always been more interested in the idea of the Kramer family. He loved the idea of the wealth, and the prestige that went with the name. He was a gold digger from the first day she had met him.
"He going to be okay?" Carla reached over the bar, pulling a beer from out of the cooler.
Another bar patron tried to follow her lead, and nearly lost his hand as Roy slammed the freezer door shut.
"Don’t even think about it." Roy turned his attention back to the women in front of him. "I’ll wake him up in a couple of hours."
They all talked for a bit, drank a lot, and tried to ignore the fact that Julie had run out on them. She could feel the guilt building up in her stomach, and she was just waiting for one of her old friends to let out that drunken question that she was dreading. Why’d you leave?
Luckily that question never seemed to come. As the night wore on, and their state of intoxication increased, it started to seem like old times again.
In the span of three hours Roy and Carla had filled her in on what she had missed over the past six years. Mostly everything had stayed the same, although she was surprised by just how many people had died.
It seemed like the older generation was just kicking off faster than anyone could count.
"Well, I better get you home. You got lots of searching to do tomorrow." Carla, even though she had drank more than anyone else at the bar, sounded perfectly fine. She didn’t even wobble when she stood up.
"Searching?" Roy leaned forward. He was the only sober one of the group.
"Trying to find out what happened to my mom." A grey cloud seemed to fall over Julie, and she felt a small chill run up her spine.
"I’ll come and help."
"You don’t have to."
"She was my aunt. I want to know just as much as you do. I was here and I couldn’t even figure it out." Roy stopped for a second. "I’ll stop over around three. Okay?"
"Okay."
Carla had her keys out of her purse and was heading towards the door. Julie stayed behind, just to get one last moment with her cousin.
"You sure she’s okay to drive?" Julie watched her friend, waiting for the sure signs of drunkenness to show themselves.
"Don’t tell her I told you this, but she makes me give her club soda in her drinks instead of liquor." Roy leaned in close. "She’s been on the wagon for two years now. No one in town knows. Well, except for me. She says it wouldn’t look right if the town librarian admitted she was a drunk."
"Was it bad?"
"I’ll tell you about it later. You go home and get some rest. I’ll see you tomorrow."
Roy gave her a quick kiss on the forehead, and then sent her on her way.
Julie was out the door, and heading towards Carla’s car, her feet moving a little to fast for the rest of her body. She had to remind herself to take Carla’s example and skip the booze next time they went out.
They drove for a while, Carla not saying anything, but a kind of heat seemed to fill the air. Julie wasn’t positive, but it looked like Carla was about to explode.
"I can’t stand what that damn Paul is doing to your cousin." Carla kept her eyes on the road. "He’s been leading him on ever sense you left. You know that, right?"
Julie just sat, confused.
"What do you mean? Paul’s using Roy how?"
Carla just gave her a look. "I don’t have to remind you about Roy, right?"
"You mean Paul is..."
"No! Well, I don’t know. Who knows with that jack ass." She stopped in front of the gate to Julie’s house. "It just isn’t right. Roy is such a sweet guy. You should have seen him and Chester together. A lot of people in the town thought it was kind of weird, considering how much older Chester was, but they were happy. Then Paul would come crashing in and screw everything up." Carla took a breath. "I’m sorry. I..."
Carla seemed to enter a trance as her eyes fell on the gate.
Julie followed her gaze.
There, tied to the gate was a long-stemmed black rose. There was a note attached.
Julie got out of the car, and slowly walked towards the flower. She half expected the thing to vanish as if it was just some drunken hallucination. Her fingers wrapped around the stem, and she slowly opened the note.
"There is no bother looking for answers you will never find."
-The BRS
"Well isn’t that creepy."
The sound of Carla’s voice made Julie jump.
"Whose the BRS?" Julie looks over the note, the flower, but couldn’t find anything. "Are they some new group around here? Like a women’s league or something?"
"I’ve never heard of them. It’s just... well, who leaves someone a black rose."
Julie was asking herself the same question.
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