The Brokens

8

8

Beth rested her head on her left hand, typing with the right. It had been a couple days since the incident, and she was feeling as useless as ever. The doctors had said that she was lucky that the blow hadn’t caused a concussion, let alone brain damage, but now Chenny had sidelined her because he always had to play the hero. Sure, she knew that his intentions were well-meaning, but sometimes Chenny got a little over-protective. Beth was pulled out of her focus when someone knocked on her feeble door. Cautiously, Beth got up and walked to the door. With one hand hovering over a vase, she opened the door; you could never be too cautious. To her relief, it was Daniel. No- relief was not the right word, more like, slight difference in tension. Daniel looked at her through the crack that she had opened the door.

“What?”

“Just checkin’ in on my girl, Elizabeth.” he said with a slight grin. She could tell he found humor in her disgust.

“One, I’m not your girl, and two, what do you want?”

“Aw, you caught me. Yes, fine! I need you on a job.”

“Oh, so you’re giving me busy work now?”

“No, I’m giving you work-work now.”

“Well then what is it?”

“Look, I have this one witness, and he has been acting really shady. He’s from the Thames case, infact. Anyways, I’ve been a tad busy these days, so it would be great if you could do your whole PI thing to him. You know, follow and look for anything suspicious.”

“And, I’m assuming their will be payment?” asked Beth, trying to punch holes in his story. Daniel bit his lip.

“Aww, Liz, don’t do me like that! Can’t this be just a, you know, nice gesture of good-faith towards your local police department?” he asked, pouting. Beth scoffed.

“How about from now on you give me inside info?”

“You know what, as long as it doesn’t compromise the state, sure. You’ve got yourself a deal.”

“Great, now scram. And for the record, don’t ever call me Liz or I’ll punch you in the gut.”

“Point taken. Later Ellie,” Daniel said with a smile, before walking away from the door. Beth slammed it shut, and then let out a breath. At least she’d have something to do for the day. Beth sat back down in her chair. Beth jumped at the noise of her phone buzzing. It was a text from Daniel, which read ‘forgot to tell you the kids name (woops) its kev saratoga. funny name right??? i mean who names their kid just kev??? whatever happened to poor ol Kevin?!’ Beth sighed, and then clicked the block button. Then, she opened up her laptop and put the kids’ name into her search bar. Not much came up till she scrolled through the listed social medias. Finally, she found a Kev Saratago in her area. As she poured coffee into her thermus, Beth groaned; she had a feeling that it would be a long night.

____________________________________

Manu set down the radio and turned it on. One by one, he put his tools back into the box as the music started to pick up. It had been a good day; he and Nicolette had gotten out of school early since it was finals week and his dad was working the night shift. It would be nothing but him and the shop for another solid five hours. That was enough time for him to clean up the whole garage and get started on dinner for his mom, who worked 20 hour shifts at Oake General. Sure, some would find the empty house eerie but he actually liked it that way. Manu picked up his phone and held it with his shoulder as he grabbed the broom which hung off the wall. Nicolette picked up after only a few seconds.

“Hey babe, howsit?” he asked. He heard Nicolette laugh on the other side of the line, which made him smile.

“Good, how about you?”

“Just cleaning out the shop.” he said, as he began to sweep up a large pile of wood chips.

“You’re such a good son. I better your dad really appreciates that.” she said. Manu frownd, for sometimes it seemed like Nicolette liked his dad more than he did.

“Yeah, I’m sure he will. Well anyways, I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Yep, same as always.”

“Great. Bye.”

“Bye.” she responded. Manu quickly hung up the phone and set it down on the table as he threw the last of the wood chips into the trash.

____________________________________

Beth watched from her car as Kev ate breakfast with his parents. For a 22 year old man, Beth thought that it was just a little odd that he hadn’t ran away from this city and his parents at the first chance he had. Her camera shutter clicked as Beth snapped the stereotypical PI photos. This guy was the epitome of boredom. Beth had been watching him for the past 7 hours and he had done nothing but sleep, watch television, and eat. The only thing that Beth had learned was that this suspicious witness lived and ate like a toddler. It would be a miracle if she got anything on him. Beth watched and snapped more photos as he dismissed himself from the table and went through some door, maybe into a garage. Beth sighed and relaxed into her seat as she lost any remaining visuals. She would just have to play the famed waiting game which every PI needed and every PI hated.

“Bye mom, dad.” she heard Kev yell from the garage. Maybe he had seen her? It was obvious that he was trying to attract attention. If he was, it had worked, because as the garage door opened and his old silver junker pulled out, Beths’ hands rose to the steering wheel. She stared hesitantly as he drove off- he was mocking her. Yes, he had definitely noticed the extra pair of eyes on him. Beth sighed, and put her foot onto the gas pedal.