Read Online Under Abnormal Conditions by Erick Burgess - Free Book Online

line, I thought I
would have to pick my heart up from the floor.
    “Michael Drake?” he asked.
    The voice belonged to Kevin Turner.
    “Yes, this is Michael. What can I do for
you?”
    “This is Kevin Turner. I know you got knocked
around a little bit last night, how are you?”
    “Fine. What do you need?” I asked, figuring
he was searching for the supposed missing cash.
    “I am going to need to ask you some questions
about the incident last night.”
    “Go ahead.”
    “I’d rather have a face to face with you. You
can come to my office. Drive around to the back and the officers
will let you in.”
    “Well, I have to talk to the police and-”
    “That’s fine,” he interrupted. “Talk to them
first and meet me at the office at four o’clock. Thanks.”
    He quickly hung up the phone. I didn’t know
what to say. Ricky started clearing the table and asked, “What was
that about?”
    “The security guy from the club wants me to
come in and talk to him.”
    “Security?” he chuckled. “That’s trouble,
Doc.”
    “Yeah, I got that feeling too. If I don’t
show up I’ll look guilty.”“If you do show you’ll just look
stupid.”
    I dismissed my churlish houseguest and
finished preparing for my day. I must have drunk twenty cups of
coffee the night before to keep me awake. With every step I took, I
could feel every sip.
    As I sat down on the edge of my bed to clear
my head before I started getting dressed, tiredness fell over me.
With so much happening that morning, I hadn’t had the time to be
tired. With a few moments silence, thoughts of sleep crept into my
mind.
    The soft pillow and warm sheets looked so
inviting I had to hurry and start getting dressed. If I had
hesitated for an instant, I would have drifted to a place so far
away from my problems I may never have awakened.
    In the darkness of a man’s dreams, he can
valiantly fight the monsters that haunt him during the day. He can
also be afraid of waking up. Afraid of what the next day may have
in store for him.
    I walked to the bathroom to splash some water
on my face and wake myself up. Convincing myself the weary man in
the mirror was not myself was not an easy task. My face wore a thin
beard and heavy bags under my eyes. I looked like someone that had
been up all night.
    The spot on the back of my head was still a
little tender. Whatever I was hit with left its mark. I hoped a
shave would improve my appearance enough to make a good enough
impression. For as long as my father was a cop, the only time I had
seen the inside of that station was visiting him.
    Just as I finished my shave, Ricky walked in
the bathroom.
    “Getting ready for the inquisition?”
    “It’s not like that. They just want to go
over what happened last night.” I said half for him, half for
me.
    “You believe that?”
    “I have no reason not to,” I answered.
    “Yeah well, that’s you. What’s the deal with
the security guy?”
    “Same,” I said as I walked back to the
bedroom.
    “Yeah, you got to talk to the police. You
don’t owe that club anything. It could have been you that got
killed.”
    “It doesn’t matter. If I don’t talk to him,
they are going to think I’m guilty of something. I know I’m
innocent. I don’t have anything to hide.”
    “That don’t mean you shouldn’t be
afraid.”
    His words were tempered with the wisdom of a
man that had spent more than his fair share of time in the criminal
justice system. If he were to tell it, all of his brushes with the
law could easily be explained away.
    His robbery charge was simply a case of
picking up a bag he thought was his. It probably wouldn’t have been
an issue if the bag didn’t contain a three thousand-dollar laptop
computer. A charge of burglary was merely a house party that got
out of hand. The only catch was the owners of the house were out of
town and had no knowledge of the party.
    He never did any serious time, but for a
while we wondered if we would have to make plans to visit