The Mask, Chapter 13
6.
October 10th, 2019
11:00 AM
As soon as Conroy stepped out of his truck into The Golden Kitty'sempty parking lot, he felt something off. He'd just come from his A. A. meeting in Booneville, feeling the usual peace and determination he always felt after his weekly connection with those who had walked similar paths as he. That peace fled, however, soon as he stepped onto the asphalt, replaced by a crawling sense of malign unease.
Something was wrong. He could feel it in the air. He turned and looked over his shoulder, at the treeline bordering the far edge of the parking lot. He saw nothing in its shadowed depths, yet he felt something lurking in there, regardless. Watching him. Waiting.
The Golden Kittyopened at two. Girls started dancing at one, which meant they started arriving around 12. The club's "manager," Rob Kittering (Lancing's lazy nephew) would show up anywhere from 12 to 2, depending on how bad of hangover he'd been sleeping off from the night before. Which meant it was up to him to get the club open and everything ready, despite it not being in his job description at all.
That suited Conroy just fine. When he'd returned to work after recovering from his accident and getting right with God, he saw that as part of his new mission. Kittering was "the manager" but Conroy was really in charge. It was his responsibility to make sure The Golden Kitty ran like a tight ship, and run like a tight ship it did.
He scanned the treeline once more. Nothing moved there. Even so, he felt sure something was lurking just beyond the trees, in the darkness. He stared for a few more minutes.
Nothing.
He gave himself a shake and turned away, muttering a prayer as he did so. He didn't have time to get the willies. He had to get The Kitty ready to rock and roll.
*
All Saints Church 11:00 AM
"It's been a rough week. I'm not going to lie, I've been tempted to drink a few times. Especially Monday night. Something happened at work....."
Julie paused and shook her head, trying not to think about those two weirdos - maybe Jody and Jack Riley Jr. - wearing masks and trying to get into The Golden Kitty. Cassie was right; they'd just been weirdos in masks. That's all. What was there to be freaked out about?
Even so, the unease they'd spawned had clung to Julie all week, especially at The Kitty. Even though they hadn't shown up since, she expected them to, almost every minute of every night, right to the end of her shift. If she was dancing, waitressing, even giving a private dance out back. Every single minute, she expected to see that mask looming above her, its mouth unhinging and spreading wide enough to swallow her whole face...
"Julie? You okay?"
Julie came back to herself. Sitting in a metal folder chair with others in a circle, in one of All Saints' Sunday School classrooms. Her A. A. meeting, her weekly lifeline to sanity. She'd needed it more than ever, today.
She brushed hair out of her eyes and flashed a bright, fake smile at Father Ward, the group's leader. "Sorry. Like I said, it's been a rough week. Anyway, some jerks showed up at work Monday. Didn't do anything because security threw them out. But it spooked me, bad. Don't know why. I've been on edge all week. It's a good thing my sponsor lives right next door...or..."
She shrugged. "Why knows? Anyway, it doesn't help that booze is pretty available where I work. My sponsor wants to me find another job somewhere else because of that. But I don't know where I can make the same kind of money, so for now..."
She spread her hands, and looked at everyone in the group, offering another fake smile. "Anyway, that's my story for this week. Thanks for listening."
Thank you, Julie, the group murmured. Father Ward himself said, "Thank you for your honesty, as always, Julie. Now." He addressed the group. "Let's start talking about the Trunk'r Treat we'll be holding here at All Saints. I'm going to need some volunteers to..."
Father Ward's voice faded as Julie caught the gaze of a man sitting in the circle across from her. Weathered face, in worn but clean clothes, with shaggy but combed salt-and-paper black hair and bushy but decently kept salt-and-pepper beard. Marty, she thought. She smiled at him and nodded, and he nodded back.
However, she could see it in his eyes, and the set of his jaw. While everyone else had bought her sunny smile after daydreaming about those guys in masks, he hadn't at all. He'd seen right through it...and knew, somehow, how terrified she still felt. She wasn't sure if that made her feel better, or worse.
*
She wasn't consciously avoiding Marty, but even so, she cringed inwardly when he approached her as she was helping herself to the donuts and cider Father Ward had provided for this week's meeting. She'd sensed he'd been able to look past her cheery exterior, and seeing as how her shift at The Kitty began in two hours, she didn't want to think about those two in the masks, at all.
With no preamble, he stuck out his hand and said, "Don't think we've ever talked since you started coming. Marty."
She accepted his handshake, and was pleasantly surprised to find it firm and confident, though not aggressive or overbearing, like some men's handshakes were. Despite the group's confidentiality pledge, she'd never shared her employment at The Kitty, for obvious reasons. However, she sensed in Marty's handshake the kind of man who wouldn't treat her any differently if he knew what kind of "work" she did.
"No, I don't think we have. Julie." She pumped his hand once, squeezing it for good measure before releasing it. As she did, something occurred to her, and she blurted out without thinking, "Hey. Aren't the guy who camps out at Shady Acres in the summer, then bunks down in the old train station during winter?"
She immediately covered her mouth, kicking herself for being so bold. "Omigod. I'm so sorry. That was too personal, wasn't it? I just thought I remembered you talking about that at one of our last meetings."
He smiled, and she saw in his eyes a good-natured humor. "No, it's fine. I was talking about it at the last meeting. About how I was getting ready to move up to the train station for the winter."
At the last part, she noticed a shadow pass over his expression, there one moment and gone the next. As if he'd just thought about something he'd been trying to keep at bay. Just like her and the weirdos in masks. "It work out okay? You all settled?"
That shadow passed over his face again, and stayed a bit longer as he shook his head. "Uh. No. Doesn't look like I'll be staying there this winter. Will have to find other accommodations."
She saw it then, flickering in his gaze. The same thing he'd probably seen hiding behind her fake smile. Fear. An unreasoning, cloying fear. "Oh. That's too bad. Why?"
He gave her a smile almost as fake as hers had been. "Wild animals," he said vaguely. "Looks like some have moved in. Have to find a new spot."
She nodded, sensing he was telling the truth...but not all of it. "Oh. Sorry to hear that." And then, before she could stop herself, she also blurted out, "If you ever need a couch to sleep on, somewhere warm...I don't mean to sound too forward, but I've got room, and..."
She stammered and trailed off, cheek glowing hot. She sounded like an idiot! Even worse, she sounded like a desperate woman trying to con a man into her bed, which she wasn't doing at all!
All Marty did was smile, however...though she thought his cheeks might've reddened slightly, also. "Thanks for the offer. But I'll manage. I always do."
"Right," she nodded too hard, hard enough to sprain her neck, if she wasn't careful enough. "Right, because you've got that whole free-living, independent thing going on. Right. I get it."
She clammed up, suddenly feeling foolish, or, even worse, stupid. Silence fell between them. Suddenly, there was nothing left to say. Whatever impulse had brought him over had obviously faded, and she certainly didn't want to make any more of an ass of herself than she already had.
He took a cup of cider, and a donut. Nodded at her and said, "See you next week." She nodded back, and she felt relieved (and also a little disappointed) as he turned and walked away.
October 10th, 2019
11:00 AM
As soon as Conroy stepped out of his truck into The Golden Kitty'sempty parking lot, he felt something off. He'd just come from his A. A. meeting in Booneville, feeling the usual peace and determination he always felt after his weekly connection with those who had walked similar paths as he. That peace fled, however, soon as he stepped onto the asphalt, replaced by a crawling sense of malign unease.
Something was wrong. He could feel it in the air. He turned and looked over his shoulder, at the treeline bordering the far edge of the parking lot. He saw nothing in its shadowed depths, yet he felt something lurking in there, regardless. Watching him. Waiting.
The Golden Kittyopened at two. Girls started dancing at one, which meant they started arriving around 12. The club's "manager," Rob Kittering (Lancing's lazy nephew) would show up anywhere from 12 to 2, depending on how bad of hangover he'd been sleeping off from the night before. Which meant it was up to him to get the club open and everything ready, despite it not being in his job description at all.
That suited Conroy just fine. When he'd returned to work after recovering from his accident and getting right with God, he saw that as part of his new mission. Kittering was "the manager" but Conroy was really in charge. It was his responsibility to make sure The Golden Kitty ran like a tight ship, and run like a tight ship it did.
He scanned the treeline once more. Nothing moved there. Even so, he felt sure something was lurking just beyond the trees, in the darkness. He stared for a few more minutes.
Nothing.
He gave himself a shake and turned away, muttering a prayer as he did so. He didn't have time to get the willies. He had to get The Kitty ready to rock and roll.
*
All Saints Church 11:00 AM
"It's been a rough week. I'm not going to lie, I've been tempted to drink a few times. Especially Monday night. Something happened at work....."
Julie paused and shook her head, trying not to think about those two weirdos - maybe Jody and Jack Riley Jr. - wearing masks and trying to get into The Golden Kitty. Cassie was right; they'd just been weirdos in masks. That's all. What was there to be freaked out about?
Even so, the unease they'd spawned had clung to Julie all week, especially at The Kitty. Even though they hadn't shown up since, she expected them to, almost every minute of every night, right to the end of her shift. If she was dancing, waitressing, even giving a private dance out back. Every single minute, she expected to see that mask looming above her, its mouth unhinging and spreading wide enough to swallow her whole face...
"Julie? You okay?"
Julie came back to herself. Sitting in a metal folder chair with others in a circle, in one of All Saints' Sunday School classrooms. Her A. A. meeting, her weekly lifeline to sanity. She'd needed it more than ever, today.
She brushed hair out of her eyes and flashed a bright, fake smile at Father Ward, the group's leader. "Sorry. Like I said, it's been a rough week. Anyway, some jerks showed up at work Monday. Didn't do anything because security threw them out. But it spooked me, bad. Don't know why. I've been on edge all week. It's a good thing my sponsor lives right next door...or..."
She shrugged. "Why knows? Anyway, it doesn't help that booze is pretty available where I work. My sponsor wants to me find another job somewhere else because of that. But I don't know where I can make the same kind of money, so for now..."
She spread her hands, and looked at everyone in the group, offering another fake smile. "Anyway, that's my story for this week. Thanks for listening."
Thank you, Julie, the group murmured. Father Ward himself said, "Thank you for your honesty, as always, Julie. Now." He addressed the group. "Let's start talking about the Trunk'r Treat we'll be holding here at All Saints. I'm going to need some volunteers to..."
Father Ward's voice faded as Julie caught the gaze of a man sitting in the circle across from her. Weathered face, in worn but clean clothes, with shaggy but combed salt-and-paper black hair and bushy but decently kept salt-and-pepper beard. Marty, she thought. She smiled at him and nodded, and he nodded back.
However, she could see it in his eyes, and the set of his jaw. While everyone else had bought her sunny smile after daydreaming about those guys in masks, he hadn't at all. He'd seen right through it...and knew, somehow, how terrified she still felt. She wasn't sure if that made her feel better, or worse.
*
She wasn't consciously avoiding Marty, but even so, she cringed inwardly when he approached her as she was helping herself to the donuts and cider Father Ward had provided for this week's meeting. She'd sensed he'd been able to look past her cheery exterior, and seeing as how her shift at The Kitty began in two hours, she didn't want to think about those two in the masks, at all.
With no preamble, he stuck out his hand and said, "Don't think we've ever talked since you started coming. Marty."
She accepted his handshake, and was pleasantly surprised to find it firm and confident, though not aggressive or overbearing, like some men's handshakes were. Despite the group's confidentiality pledge, she'd never shared her employment at The Kitty, for obvious reasons. However, she sensed in Marty's handshake the kind of man who wouldn't treat her any differently if he knew what kind of "work" she did.
"No, I don't think we have. Julie." She pumped his hand once, squeezing it for good measure before releasing it. As she did, something occurred to her, and she blurted out without thinking, "Hey. Aren't the guy who camps out at Shady Acres in the summer, then bunks down in the old train station during winter?"
She immediately covered her mouth, kicking herself for being so bold. "Omigod. I'm so sorry. That was too personal, wasn't it? I just thought I remembered you talking about that at one of our last meetings."
He smiled, and she saw in his eyes a good-natured humor. "No, it's fine. I was talking about it at the last meeting. About how I was getting ready to move up to the train station for the winter."
At the last part, she noticed a shadow pass over his expression, there one moment and gone the next. As if he'd just thought about something he'd been trying to keep at bay. Just like her and the weirdos in masks. "It work out okay? You all settled?"
That shadow passed over his face again, and stayed a bit longer as he shook his head. "Uh. No. Doesn't look like I'll be staying there this winter. Will have to find other accommodations."
She saw it then, flickering in his gaze. The same thing he'd probably seen hiding behind her fake smile. Fear. An unreasoning, cloying fear. "Oh. That's too bad. Why?"
He gave her a smile almost as fake as hers had been. "Wild animals," he said vaguely. "Looks like some have moved in. Have to find a new spot."
She nodded, sensing he was telling the truth...but not all of it. "Oh. Sorry to hear that." And then, before she could stop herself, she also blurted out, "If you ever need a couch to sleep on, somewhere warm...I don't mean to sound too forward, but I've got room, and..."
She stammered and trailed off, cheek glowing hot. She sounded like an idiot! Even worse, she sounded like a desperate woman trying to con a man into her bed, which she wasn't doing at all!
All Marty did was smile, however...though she thought his cheeks might've reddened slightly, also. "Thanks for the offer. But I'll manage. I always do."
"Right," she nodded too hard, hard enough to sprain her neck, if she wasn't careful enough. "Right, because you've got that whole free-living, independent thing going on. Right. I get it."
She clammed up, suddenly feeling foolish, or, even worse, stupid. Silence fell between them. Suddenly, there was nothing left to say. Whatever impulse had brought him over had obviously faded, and she certainly didn't want to make any more of an ass of herself than she already had.
He took a cup of cider, and a donut. Nodded at her and said, "See you next week." She nodded back, and she felt relieved (and also a little disappointed) as he turned and walked away.
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