The Beginning of the End, Part 33

I allowed myself to drift into a dreamless sleep, still shaking at the memory of seeing him again. When I woke up, Kevin was gone. It was now afternoon, he had probably gone to work. Sure enough, a cursory glance around the room told me that his work gear was gone too. I took a deep breath and tried to collect my thoughts.

I was still wearing my work uniform, and suddenly I just wanted to change clothes as fast as I could. The fact that he worked in the same place I did the whole time made me sick to my stomach. Although I had told Gregg I would be back at work tomorrow, I was no longer sure I would ever be able to go back there again. Once I changed clothes, I grabbed some loose change from the dresser and left. I needed to hear what Nancy had to say.

My hands shook as I dialed the number. I heard her familiar voice and blurted out, “I saw him.”

“You saw who? Who is this?”

I took a deep breath. “I saw him. The guy. This is Dasi. You told me he was in jail. Why is he out? What’s going on?” It all came out in a rush.

There was a moment of silence, as if Nancy were weighing out her response. Finally, she replied, “I’m sorry, Dasi.”

I felt the blood rushing to my head, anger making my thoughts swim. “You knew? When did he get out? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Calm down,” she said with authority. “I didn’t know. At least, not when I talked to you yesterday. I just found out this morning myself. He was bailed out late last night. And Dasi, I did tell you that was a possibility.”

“But you didn’t think it was likely,” I accused.

“No, I didn’t,” she admitted. “But it's happened, and now the most important thing is getting this into court and getting him put away for good.”

“He worked with me,” I whispered.

“What?”

“He worked with me. I mean, he worked in the kitchen. In the back. I didn’t even know.” Then it hit me. “That’s how Jesus knew him. From work. Oh, my God.”

Nancy’s voice was soothing. “It’s ok, Dasi, calm down. You’ll get through this. Is he still working at the restaurant?”

“Not anymore,” I replied bitterly, and told her what had happened.

She listened in silence, and when I finished she sighed. “I’m sorry you had to go through that ,” she said quietly.

I shook my head and shrugged, I didn’t know what to say. I was sorry, too. But it had happened, and it wouldn’t be the last time I would see him. I would have to face him in court, and now that he was out, I could feasibly run into him practically anywhere, at any time.

“Are you still there?” Nancy asked.

“Yeah, I’m here,” I said dully.

“I could draft up a restraining order. In fact, I will,” Nancy told me. “That way you can feel a little safer.”

“Thanks.”

“Are you going back to work, then?” she asked.

“Actually, I don’t know. I really thought I would, but after everything…”

“It would certainly be understandable,” she reassured me.

“I just don’t know if I could work there knowing that he was there. And all his friends are there,” I shuddered.

“Not all of them,” Nancy said pointedly.

“What do you mean?” I asked quizzically.

“Well,” Nancy began, “apparently Jesus has left the country.”

I felt all the air go out of my lungs. Not only did Jesus leave me on that night, but he now he had left me permanently. The only witness to the crime besides the people involved had run away.

“So what does that mean for the case?” I asked bitterly.

“I won’t lie to you, it does make it a little harder. If we had Jesus as a witness it would be an open and shut case. Now, we have to hope the jury is sympathetic enough towards you to convict.”

“And the defense will try to prevent that, of course,” I said flatly.

“Dasi, we discussed that already. But I don’t want you to worry about that right now. All I want you to do is move forward, and I’ll get in touch with you when I need you,” she said firmly.

“Don’t call the restaurant,” I said, with a humorless laugh. “I would guess you should probably leave a message for Kevin at the casino. I’ll let him know.”

Nancy told me she would file the restraining order as my attorney, and therefore I wouldn’t need to come in to sign anything. She told me to let her know if I ever saw him again, or if I needed anything.

Um, yeah, I thought. A time machine. To go back and start over. Before that night. Hell, maybe before I ever even got to Reno.

“I will.”

I hung up and felt my eyes fill with frustrated tears. I was feeling so many emotions I wasn’t even sure I could think straight. I blinked several times and angrily brushed at my eyes, then walked home. I sat in the room for a few minutes, but I was too antsy to sit there alone. I got up and walked outside, crossing the lot and checking out the room numbers on the doors.

When I got to the one I thought was correct, I knocked.

The door opened a crack, and I saw one blue eye staring at me. “Hey,” I said, “you guys partying?”

Melanie opened the door the rest of the way with a broad grin. “Hey, Dasi!” she turned after letting me in and closing the door. “Look, Bobby, Dasi’s here!”

Bobby looked up as he hit the pipe. I saw his lip curl up into a smirk as he finished, then exhaled. “Well, hey there, neighbor,” he drawled. He picked up a second pipe and dropped a rock in it. “Looks like you could use one of these.”

I took the pipe and he lit it for me. The drug swept away all my fear, all my pain, all my anger. All I felt now was the rush. And damn, it felt good.