Chapter 4
Three weeks passed and before I knew it I had buried myself under a mountain of homework. Who knew that college could be this difficult? I had spent each day since my date with Greg scurrying around on campus between classes, darting back and forth from work, and getting home late with just enough time to sleep.
Greg and I continued seeing each other. When not in class, we met for coffee or lunch. I only saw Jackie a few times, mostly when at work. Unfortunately, I hadn’t had time to really investigate Rachel’s death. Rachel’s insistence at showing up whenever she liked didn’t help. I had a feeling this was going to be a common occurrence with her.
The weather had turned a bit colder as we moved into October. I was glad that Jackie had bought me that jacket. It was quite warm.
I jogged across campus with my arms full of books. One more class to go today and I could go home. The late afternoon sun felt nice, but I hadn’t time to enjoy it.
“Mel.” Once again Rachel appeared from nowhere.
Her sudden appearance caused me to drop my books. They scattered everywhere. “Rachel, not now,” I said. I knelt down to gather my stuff.
“Have you found any leads?”
“I’m sorry, no. I’ve been busy.”
“But you said you would help me,” whined Rachel.
“Rachel, I will help, but you need to give me something to go on. Right now, I’m about as far as the cops got. Now, please, go away. I have a class to get to. We can talk later when I get home.”
A couple of people walked by. I continued picking up my books and tried to ignore them. “Please, Rachel,” I whispered. “If I stand here talking to you people will think I’m crazy.”
“Oh, please,” replied Rachel, “You’re way past that. You agreed to help a ghost find her murderer.”
“Rachel, you can’t keep popping in when you please. You may be dead, but I have responsibilities. No go back to the apartment and I’ll meet you there.”
More people walked by. They stared at me with a questioning look.
“Practicing for a play,” I said with a smile. Their glances told me that they didn’t buy it.
“Fine. If I go back, do you promise to spend the night with me helping me figure out who killed me?”
“Yes.”
With that, Rachel left. I grabbed the rest of my things and hurried off to the other end of campus for my math class.
I arrived home to find Rachel waiting for me. She sat on the couch watching television. She snapped her fingers and the TV turned off. Luckily, Jackie had to work so I didn’t need to worry about her walking in while I talked with a ghost.
“So, how was school?” asked Rachel.
I dropped my books and slumped in a chair exhausted. I had a mountain of homework, but it would have to wait. Right now, it was time for Rachel and I to talk. I had promised her and guessed I ought to quit putting it off. “The usual,” I responded to her question.
“Well,” Rachel jumped to her knees on the couch, “It’s time to put all that aside and concentrate on catching my murderer.”
I thought about her statement a moment. A part of me thought that it sounded selfish. I pushed it aside. I did promise to help her and right now it was all about her.
“What do you remember about the night you died?” I asked.
Rachel rubbed her chin concentrating. “Most of it is a blur. I remember I had a night class that night. It was the usual three hours of boredom, but I got through it. Afterward, I went to Zappy’s to meet with some friends.”
“Greg said you came home late in a panic. That you rummaged in your apartment for something, called Tom, and left,” I said.
“That’s right I did. But I don’t remember what had frightened me,” said Rachel.
“What class was it?”
“Huh?”
“You’re night class. What was it?”
“It was that video editing class with Professor Vincent,” replied Rachel.
I massaged my temples. This was going nowhere. I had a ghost that only I could speak to who wanted help finding her murderer. The only problem was she couldn’t remember the night she died.
“Are any of your friends still at the college?” I asked.
“Most of them graduated last May,” replied Rachel. Suddenly, she jumped up in excitement. “Sara! Sara is still there. She failed a couple of her classes and was forced to stay an extra semester. She and I were pretty close, like sisters.”
“It’s a start.”
“We should go see her right now.”
I stared at Rachel. “Now? It’s nine o’clock at night. I’m tired and want some sleep.”
“Which is why this is the perfect time to go. She’d be at Zappy’s. It’s a great place to hang out for college kids.”
“But it’s in the middle of the week,” I protested. I had no desire to go anywhere. I just wanted to go to bed.
“Like that’s ever stopped any one from going to the bar. Come on, party pooper.” Rachel hauled me out of my comfortable chair. Before I knew it my purse and keys were shoved into my hands and I was out the door.
I drove across town following Rachel’s directions to Zappy’s. I cranked my radio up so no one would wonder why I seemed to be talking to myself. When I pulled into Zappy’s parking lot I had to drive around to find a parking space. The crowd was unbelievable. Ten minutes later I finally found a space to park the car. The music pounded against the windows.
“Let’s find her quick,” I told Rachel. Secretly, I hoped that she wouldn’t be there. I had no idea what I would say without coming across as an amateur sleuth. Or just plain nosy. I chuckled inside. That’s exactly what I was.
A wave of tobacco smoke, booze, and pounding music wafted over me. I detested these places. Yet, I had to be here to help Rachel get her memory back.
“I.D.?”
I stared at the guy behind the counter for a moment until I realized that he was talking to me. I quickly handed him my driver’s license. He looked over, frowned, and handed it back. Apparently he was hoping to bust some high school student trying to sneak in.
“Five bucks,” said the guy.
“What?”
“Five dollar cover charge,” he repeated.
Luckily I had some cash with me. I forked over a five and went in. Instantly, I understood why this was a college hangout. The loud music and alcohol was an open invitation for it. But the place had a private section for those who wanted to be alone, a dance floor, and a bar with stools. I picked a menu off of a table and glanced at it in the multicolored lighting. They served food as well.
“Weee,” shouted Rachel next to me. “This is fun isn’t it?”
“Hey,” I shouted at her, “We’re here to work. Remember?”
“Sorry,” said Rachel, “It’s been awhile since I felt alive. So to speak.”
“Do you see her?” I glanced around at the crowd. The place was packed. No way were we going to find Sara in here.
“No,” said Rachel, “Stay here while I look around.” She left me alone. I glanced around me. Without any ideas on what to do, I meandered to the bar.
“What’ll it be?” asked the bartender.
I racked my brain trying to remember the list of drinks. “Southern Tropics.” Instantly, my drink appeared and I had to hand over some money. I raised my drink to my lips.
“Hey!”
Rachel popped out of nowhere and grabbed my shoulder. I dropped my drink. Great. Instead of drinking my beverage, I was wearing it. I snatched some paper napkins and attempted in vain to wipe the mess of my jacket.
“I found her,” said Rachel.
“Where is she?”
“Up there on the second floor,” replied Rachel.
“Hey, baby.”
I turned around and found a man ogling me. The man’s breath stank of too much liquor. I ignored him.
“
Hey,” he persisted, “I said ‘hi’.”
“Kick him in the nuts,” said Rachel.
I shook my head. I didn’t want trouble and having two people talk to me at the same time was very confusing. “Go away, please,” I said to the guy next to me.
He grabbed my shoulder and whirled me around to face him. “I don’t like being ignored,” he spat.
I struggled to break free, but his grasp was too strong. Before I knew it, Rachel had appeared by his side. She yanked his stool out from under him causing the man to bang his head on the counter. “Hey, bitch,” said the man as he stood up.
Rachel snatched a beer bottle off the counter. The man stared in horror as it floated towards him, clonking him on his skull. He ran off knocking tables and chairs over. I stared aghast at what just happened. A few people eyed me peculiarly. I waved at them. Instantly, Rachel grabbed my arm pulling me from the bar.
“You need to be more forceful,” she scolded me.
“Look what you did,” I said in shock.
“Oh, he’ll be alright,” she said passing off my concerns as little importance. “When a guy won’t leave you alone, you don’t politely ask them to leave. You force them to go away.”
“My mother always said that girls should be sugar and spice and everything nice. You know, like that poem.”
Rachel looked at me as though I had just told her I had seen Bigfoot. “You’re kidding, right,” she said. “In this place, sometimes you have to be sugar and spice and not so nice. Come on.”
We reached the top of the steps. The music wasn’t quite so loud up here. I glanced around at all the people in the booths. Some were couples, but most were groups of friends out for a good time.
“There she is,” Rachel said pointing to a girl in her early twenties. She had shoulder length blonde hair with red highlights. Thankfully, she seemed to be alone. I weaved my way through the tables and booths towards Sara.
“Hi,” I greeted her. “My name’s Mel.”
She put her drink down. “Sara,” she said, “Nice to meet you. First time here?”
“Yeah.” I helped myself to a seat. “I just moved here for school.”
“Welcome to Vermont,” Sara said. “You’ll be coming here often I’m sure. Everyone does.”
“You here alone?” I asked.
“Am now. I came with some people but they wanted to go to an after party. I figured I’d finish my drink and go home. You live on campus?”
I couldn’t believe my luck. Sara had just given me the perfect opening. “I moved into the Alamont apartments, not far from campus. Apartment 214.”
“Rachel’s place,” said Sara. She set her drink on the table. “Why’d you move there?”
“I’m sorry,” I said, “Cheap rent and furnished. I didn’t know about Rachel until after I signed the lease.”
“Don’t worry about it,” apologized Sara, “Of course, you didn’t know. It was a place to rent. And who wouldn’t at the price they were offering?”
“Did you know Rachel well?”
“We were good friends,” said Sara. “Rachel was always fun to be around. This was our favorite place to hang out.”
I tried to think of a way to ease into questioning about the night Rachel died. I couldn’t so I just jumped into it. “I hear the cops never found who killed her.”
“No. Those bastards. They didn’t even try.” Clearly, Sara thought that the entire case had been mishandled. That boded well for me. “They focused on Tom. But that guy couldn’t hurt a fly. He was one of those rare ones that is a genuine gentleman and isn’t gay.”
I nodded my head in understanding at that last statement.
“Tom loved Rachel. And she loved him. I mean, they were truly in love. They had just gotten engaged two days before. No one knew, but me. No, Tom wasn’t the type. Naturally, there was no evidence for a conviction and the cops let the case drop because they were too lazy to reconsider their list of suspects, or suspect.
“Poor Tom,” Sara continued, “He was devastated by Rachel’s death. The constant bombardment by the cops ruined his life here. Afterward, everyone thought he had done it. He packed up and left when the investigation ended. Didn’t even wait for the semester to end.”
“And no one’s heard from him since?” I asked.
“Nope. He left no forwarding address. Said he didn’t want anything to do with this place. Can’t blame him. His life here ended when Rachel died.”
“Poor guy,” I said. “But who would have killed her?”
“Don’t know. Rachel was with me here that night. We had a night class together and usually came here for a little bit afterwards. I remember her leaving at around midnight. She went to her car and that was the last I saw her. An hour later I got a call from Tom. He said she had left him a cryptic voice message. Something about witnessing a terrible act and needing his help to email a video. She wasn’t the most technologically advanced person. Anyway, he said she wanted to meet him in the computer lab at the college. He got the message late and when he arrived she wasn’t there.”
“Why wouldn’t she be there?”
“You know, you’re asking a lot of questions. You aren’t one of those crime junkies that get their kicks prying into unsolved murders, are you?”
“No. I just have a natural curiosity.”
“Yeah, sure you do.” Sara stood up. “Look, I don’t know you and I don’t feel right talking about Rachel’s death to a stranger. Leave me alone.”
“You can’t let her leave,” said Rachel. “Call her a ‘fat chick’. Quick!”
“Fat Chick!” I yelled it out loud and everyone turned in my direction.
Sara paused glaring at me questioningly. Then, she went down the stairs and my chance of getting more information was over.
I rested my face in my hands in exasperation. “That went well,” I said. “You want to tell me why I just called a complete stranger a ‘fat chick’?”
Rachel sat across from me with a disappointed look on her face. “That was a saying between the two of us. It was something only she and I used. She had to know it came from me. But she’s right. We did come here that night. We were celebrating my recent engagement. I can’t believe that I’d forgotten that. Poor Tom. The police thought it was him?”
“So he didn’t kill you?” I asked.
“Tom? No!” Rachel stared at me as though I had just eaten a rock off the ground. “Tom was the first man to treat me like a lady. He never raised his voice at me or threaten me. Even when I lost my temper at him, he would just calmly reassure me that everything would be alright. He always did little things for me. You know, the chores that no one wants to do. He did them so that I wouldn’t have to get my hands dirty. No, Mel, Tom didn’t kill me. Of that I’m certain. I miss him.”
Rachel started to cry. I felt sorry for her. She had died soon after getting engaged to a great guy. On top of that the cops failed to find her killer and almost ruined her fiancé’s life. My heart ached for her sadness. Is this what it was like to die? To linger on alone while those you loved carried on with their lives?
“Rachel,” I soothed, “I’m sorry. We’ll find the truth. We will.”
Someone cleared their throat next to me. The waitress had walked up and I never noticed. I looked at her sheepishly wondering how long she had been there listening to me basically talk to myself. “A beer please,” I said.
The waitress eyed the empty glasses that littered the table. Naturally she thought that they were all mine.
“You don’t think I drank all of these,” I blurted out, “These aren’t mine.”
“Uh-huh,” said the waitress with her hands on her hips. “Honey, anyone who talks to themselves is either drunk or crazy. Considering there are all these empty glasses, I figure it’s the former. I think it’s time you went home.”
I scowled at Rachel. She
laughed out loud, but, unsurprisingly, only I heard her. I stood up and sauntered toward the stairs.
“Make sure someone drives you home,” said the waitress after me.
I made it to the main floor without too much incident. Once again, I weaved my way through throngs of people who busied themselves with having a good time. I had almost made it to the exit when a big, burly man stood in my way. Leather and tattoos covered his dark skin. I tried to go around him. It was no use. He kept blocking me.
“Excuse me,” I said.
“You one fine honey,” growled the man.
Oh no, I thought. Here we go again.
“How about you and me leaving this place?”
“Some other time,” I said. I didn’t like what he had in mind.
The man inched closer. I held my breath to keep from passing out from his stench. I backed away, but a table blocked my progress.
“Knee him in the stomach and bash his face in,” instructed Rachel.
“What,” I replied.
The man bent down to kiss me. This time I did as Rachel suggested. I rammed my knee hard into the man’s soft middle. Then, I broke his nose with the heel of my hand. Afterward, I managed to wrench his arm behind his back and bashed his face into the table. The man fell to the floor in agony.
His friends stared at me in shock. I glanced around at all of them not believing what I had just done.
“Anyone else want some,” I said sounding braver than I felt.
No one moved.
“Time to leave,” said Rachel.
Quickly, I dashed out the exit into the chilly night air. I inhaled deeply to clear out my lungs before I got in my car and drove home.
“I didn’t know you had that in you,” squealed Rachel with laughter. “Dang, girl, you broke his nose on top of that! You are a tough cookie.”
The adrenaline of knocking that guy down eventually wore off. I laughed with Rachel. Even I had difficulty believing that I had done that.
“That is what I’m talking about,” Rachel continued. “Sometimes you have to show a guy that no means no. And if that means dealing out a few bruises, then so be it. You may learn a thing or two from me yet.”
We laughed and giggled the rest of the way home. I finally walked through the door to the apartment at around two in the morning. My eyes barely stayed open long enough for me to make it to my room and crawl into bed.
Sugar And Spice And Not So Nice Page 4
