Murder Mystery McKenzie (Frank McKenzie complete collection so far)

by Luis Samways

  Eight

  Tell Me It Isn’t So

  We are against the bathroom stool. I thrust hard as she grabs the top of the cubicle. It’s over as we both moan in ecstasy. I look at her as she stares into my eyes. I kiss her once again. This time the kiss is different. It feels different as I run my hands through her hair. I pull away and start to get dressed. She does the same as I watch her put her bra and panties back on. It’s a shame that it happened in the bathroom of a crappy bar. I see her thinking the same thing as I finally get my clothes back on.

  “So…” I say as I mull over the situation in my mind.

  “Indeed,” she follows up

  She walks out of the cubicle and walks up to the large mirror near the sinks. The toilets in here look nearly unused. I gather that’s the reason we were not disturbed during our little escapade. I try to break the atmosphere.

  “Good thing we didn’t get caught, huh?”

  She nods once more as she takes out her makeup bag and starts dowsing her face in blusher.

  “I think so, too,” she adds.

  “These toilets sure beat the crappers that the boys have to use. You wouldn’t believe the state they’re in.”

  “Oh, that’s good.”

  She carries on putting her makeup on. Her hair is frazzled as I look at her distant gaze in the mirror.

  “Is there something wrong, Elle?” I ask as I fiddle around in my pockets, trying to find my phone to look at the time.

  “No, why should there be?”

  “It’s just that you seem distant.”

  “Maybe because I just had sex with you in a public place.”

  “I know I enjoyed it.”

  She shakes her head as she puts her makeup back into her small bag. She slings it over her arm and makes her way to the door. She hesitates, then turns back toward me. She gives me another new look that I am not accustomed to.

  “The least you could do is to be honest with me, Toby. I know you’re holding back.”

  “Holding back what?”

  “The way you feel,” she says, while still giving me that new horrible look.

  “I think I made that pretty clear — you were here, weren’t you?”

  “To have sex with me is one thing, but not telling me why you did it is another.” She turns back to the door and walks out. The door swings shut, leaving me a little dazed and confused.

  Nine

  Okay…Tell Me What I Did

  I’m sitting down in the same bar stool I’ve occupied the whole night. Everything is going as planned. The boys are half cut on beer and coke. An assortment of women are poking around Seth’s area, chatting and flirting to the man of the hour, or the so-called man of the hour, I should say. Everything is just dandy. Well, except one thing. Elle is over there with the girls, talking and flirting with, yep, you guessed it, Seth. I am on my twentieth shot; I’m fully loaded and ready to smack that asshole again. The thing is I can’t, because while I sit here on my lonesome, I notice Seth eyeing me with apologetic eyes. He notices what Elle’s game is. And so do I, because not only is it obvious that she is trying to make me jealous, I so happened to text Seth when I was in the bathroom, explaining what happened, that yours truly had intercourse for the first time ever, with the girl he had been in love with since kindergarten. He knows how hurt I am that she is blatantly trying to make me mad. He hasn’t even given her as much as a look since she landed in his area.

  I carry on being grumpy and ill-mannered as the fat bartender tries to make conversation with me.

  “Another drink?” he asks me as I look down at my now-untied shoelaces.

  I raise my glass. Words don’t come out, so I just grunt in the direction of the bottle in his hands. He smiles and pours me another while I’m still holding the glass. The bartender is talented, because I’m all over the place. I remember thinking that he had a steady hand, not one drop spilled, even with my unsteady drunken tremor.

  “What seems to be the problem, kid?” he asks me as he pours one for himself. His big burly fingers lock around the glass bottle as he screws the cap back on. He leans in and takes a sip, resting his huge weight on his formidable forearm.

  “What are you, some sort of marriage counselor?” I hiccup.

  He chuckles a rueful belly laugh.

  “I didn’t know you were married.”

  “I’m not, but I might as well be. She’s already off cheating on me. It’s only been forty minutes.”

  He nods in sympathy.

  “Yep, I know what that’s like, kid. Every man has his heart broken at one point or another. It’s the real man that gets up from self-pity and rises proud as he moves on to the next one.”

  “What if the next one does the same?”

  “You beat ’em to it.”

  I laugh as he pours me another drink, then pouring himself one as he leans in closer.

  “You know that girl you’re staring at, the one you screwed in my restroom?”

  I gasp in horror, as if to say I would never do such a thing.

  “News travels fast, Toby. Don’t worry about her. She’s only doing this to try to make you sweat. That’s what women do best. If she didn’t like you, kid, she wouldn’t have fucked you just like that. I know her family. They are respectable. It takes a certain someone to turn a respectable woman into a sex-crazed animal. You’re her special someone, kid. Make sure you show her that.”

  I nod and dismiss what the bartender is saying as I grow ever more jealous at the sight I am seeing.

  Ten

  Now I’m Angry

  I’m past sitting on my ass and watching Seth break his promise, the promise that he would never go against me or my feelings, the promise that all male friends make. “Bros before hos.” Although Elle is no hoe in any shape or form, she is the girl of my dreams. The girl I had just lost my virginity to an hour ago, the girl who is now sitting next to my best friend, touching his arm, whispering into his ear, the girl who is falling into the Seth trap, the girl who is about to make the biggest mistake of her life. I can’t just sit here and watch her take this jealousy thing this far. It’s one thing to try to prove a point, but I’ll be dammed if I’m going to let her break my heart like this.

  I get up, trying to stay nimble and steady. I down my last shot. I’ve got to make sure this one counts. I walk on over to the group. The boys are busy trying to pull while I’m busy trying to keep my cool. I finally reach Elle and Seth, who are deep in conversation. She has her hand on his bicep. She spots me standing there. She quickly takes her hand off him. He turns around rapidly, facing me head to head. He stands up and puts his drink down. A Budweiser; I grab it off the bar and down the rest of it. I grin at him while he stares blankly at me. I swing the bottle hard against the bar. It smashes in half. I hold the other half in my hand. The shards of glass poke out violently as I square up to Seth. The place goes dead as people stare at me and him. The bartender comes up to us and leans over against the bar.

  “What’s going on?” he shouts.

  I look at him and smile. I toss the bottle behind me and nod my head. I walk out of the bar and sit on the curb. I wait and listen. I hear the place come back to life as people continue what they were doing. The door behind me swings open as Seth joins me.

  “We have a problem?” he asks as he sits on the step beside me.

  “No, unless you’re planning on making a move on Elle.”

  “You know she’s trying to make you jealous. I wouldn’t worry about it. She’ll cool down.”

  “Whatever, dude.”

  “Were you really planning on bottling me?” He laughs.

  “Depends if you were planning on being an asshole about the situation,” I say.

  “Okay. Look, man, let’s just continue drinking and having fun. I guarantee you that if you lighten up a bit and join the boys drinking and laughing, then maybe Elle will approach you. She’s winning at the moment, dude. You know what she’s like anyway. That’s her personality, distant and shit. Get
a grip, Frenchy.”

  “‘You’re right. Fuck it, let’s get wasted and hit on girls. Let’s see who outlasts the other.”

  “Yeah, that’s more like it. I’ll be by your side.”

  “Thanks, man. I’m sorry about this. You know how it is.”

  “I do.”

  He pats me on my shoulder as he helps me up. We both give each other a small but firm hug. He’s right. If she wants to play this game, I’ll play it better. After all, Frenchy can be a player if he wants, right?

  Eleven

  Two Can Play at That Game

  I lick my lips a little. I’ll never get used to the salty smell of some drinks. Not to mention this is my third straight tequila. I’m mushroomed around my friends, including Seth. We are downing shots and drinking pints like water. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting this night to be such a heavy one. I’ve already drunk more this night than most nights combined. Elle is sitting on the stool I occupied earlier. Although we are a good twenty feet away from her, I can still feel her eyes digging into me. Looks like her plan didn’t work. Seth and I are best buddies again. Laughing and joking at each other’s genius (balancing shot glasses on our foreheads) while she sits and stews in the corner. Oh, how great it is to be the man, or so I thought.

  Although I am enjoying my playboy lifestyle immensely, I still get the feeling that she is winning, because while I’m surrounded by my friends and acting like I’m having a good time, she is still on my mind nonstop. It’s like I can’t win — how can she still be on my mind when I have two girls by my side? One of them has a low-cut top on that reveals her large perky breasts, and the other one keeps hinting that she and the large-breasted one want me to themselves and are willing to “share me.” Call me crazy, but less than an hour ago I was still cherry boy. Now that I have it popped, it seems the whole world wants a piece of Frenchy…everyone but Elle.

  “What do you say, then, big boy?” whispers the persuasive big-breasted woman.

  I glance over at Elle. Although this attention is much appreciated on my part, I can see how it could hamper my future success with Elle.

  “Thing is, girls, I have a girlfriend,’ I gingerly state while both of them look at me in disbelief.

  “And how does that affect the situation?” the other one asks me.

  “Well, I have a girlfriend, meaning that I can’t be intimate with anyone else.”

  “Your loss, then,” says other one. They both walk off in anger as I watch. Seth turns around to me with a questioning look on his face.

  “What happened there?”

  “I told those two girls that I had a girlfriend.”

  “Why would you do that?”

  “Because I do.”

  “No, she hates you, remember?”

  “Be that as it may. I still like her.”

  “Whatever, man,” Seth says while drinking his drink. I turn around and see Elle in the distance. Her eyes dart from me to the floor. I walk on over to her and put my drink on the bar next to her hand.

  “One for the lady,” I holler at the bartender. She smiles at me as she watches the fat man pour her a drink.

  “You okay, Elle?”

  “Yes, what about you?”

  “I’m feeling better now that I’m talking to you.”

  Twelve

  The Talk

  “Good,” she says to me as I twiddle my thumbs behind my back. I sit down next to her, pulling the stool closer.

  “I’m sorry, Elle. You know I care about you.”

  “Actually, I don’t.”

  “I just said so, didn’t I?”

  “There’s saying it and meaning it, Toby.”

  “Well, I mean it as I’m saying it, Elle.”

  “So what were you doing talking to those two bimbos?”

  “They left, didn’t they?”

  “Eventually…”

  “Well, they did leave. The reason for that being even though they were there trying to get me to go home with the both of them, I had you on my mind.”

  “Is that supposed to impress me?”

  “Uh, no.”

  “Good, because I don’t care who wants to sleep with you, and how many of them want to do it at the same time.”

  “Neither do I.”

  She rolls her eyes at me.

  “So you’re saying that you would rather sleep with me for a second time than sleep with two women who so happen to look like the ones bookmarked on Seth’s Facebook?”

  “Yes, and not only for a second time, but for the foreseeable future.”

  She looks unimpressed as she taps her fingernail on the rim of the empty shot glass.

  “Oh, okay. I’ll just check my schedule to see what dates I have in the ‘foreseeable future’ and check that they don’t clash with yours.”

  “Come on, Elle, you know what I meant…what I mean.”

  “Unfortunately, I do, Toby.”

  She gets up from her stool and grabs her coat.

  “I’ll be outside. If you want to come with me, you can.”

  “Of course I want to come. I’ll just say goodbye to Seth and the rest of them.”

  “Okay, I’ll see you in a bit.”

  Thirteen

  The Departure

  ‘Seth, Elle and I are going home. This place sucks tonight,” I say to Seth, who appears to be on the verge of doing the same thing.

  “Okay, I’ll tell the rest of them, and we can all go together.”

  “We are all too drunk to drive, Seth.”

  “I know. We’ll walk home. You guys can crash at my place — it’s the closest.”

  “If you say so. I’ll tell Elle what’s going down.”

  I nod at Seth, who downs his last drink and starts rounding up the guys. I make my way out of the Dive and give the fat bartender another smile as he flicks his towel off his shoulder and waves me off. I open the heavy flappy doors and see Elle sitting on the curb across the street. She looks gorgeous as usual; she’s biting her fingernails while staring down at her feet on the wet floor. She looks up at me and signals me over. I walk over, admiring her long legs.

  “Are you cold?” I ask her.

  She shakes her head stubbornly. I can see she is, so I take my parka off and drape it around her shoulders; she gives me a gleeful grin as I plonk myself down next to her.

  “So what’s the plan?” she asks me while I take a cigarette out of my pocket and light it.

  “Seth said we could all crash at his house. I don’t know if that’s okay with you or not, but his place is closer than all of ours.”

  “I suppose that will have to do, won’t it?”

  “Yeah, I know, I would much rather you and me go to mine.”

  “I bet you would.” She laughs playfully.

  At that moment Seth and the rest of group crash through the Dive’s entrance, singing and chanting in drunken unison. I look over at Elle, who catches my gaze.

  “I’m sorry about trying to make you jealous, Toby.”

  “Aw, don’t worry about it. I deserved it.”

  “I wouldn’t say you deserved it, Toby. We did have a good time, after all.”

  I smile ear to ear; turns out she does like me after all. I try to hide my happiness.

  “So it was good, then?”

  She laughs as she gently takes the cigarette out of my hand and inhales a drag while looking at me with her wide, beautiful eyes.

  “Would I be wanting more if it wasn’t?” she asks.

  Fourteen

  A Drunken Stumble

  It’s amazing how drunk you feel when you hit the fresh air. I don’t quite notice it very often, but tonight it seemed like all of us were suffering from fresh-air drunkenness. I’ve been sitting on the curb outside the Dive for a good ten minutes before the gang decides to make a move to Seth’s. Elle and I are talking through our differences, tailgating the group. The trek to Seth’s includes some highway walking. We keep to the hard shoulder as cars whiz on past at sixty-five miles an hour. It d
oesn’t do much good for the senses, all those bright halogen lights hitting our already blurred vision. Seth is at the front, playing the leader of the pack as he talks to Dwaine at his side. The rest of the boys are a few steps behind him, going about their conversations. As for Elle and me, we’re just talking over the night’s events.

  It’s pretty dark outside. The only light we’re getting is from the bright bulbs speeding past us. Every few seconds the cars lighten up the cracked hard shoulder beneath our feet. My tennis shoes glow for a few seconds, then return to their usual dull color. I get a glimpse of Elle as another car rushes by us; her face brightens up for a few seconds as the whites of her eyes glisten in the gloom of the night.

  “You okay?” I ask her, trying to make some conversation to match the loud chatter in front of us.

  “Yeah, I’m just a little drunk. I’ll sober up before we get to Seth’s.”

  “Okay.”

  We keep walking as Seth and Dwaine stop dead in front. A buzz of commotion is heard from both of them as I push through the boys to see what’s going on. Seth and Dwaine are looking at the ground intently, as if they’ve found something interesting. I tap Seth on the shoulder, trying to get his attention.

  “What’s the holdup?” I ask him, feeling the bitter cold of the night.

  He turns around to face me, his eyes alight with excitement. He points to the ground a few yards from where he’s standing. I can’t see anything. I give him a questioning look.