Discombobulate

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Sheriff Winston sipped fruit punch from a red solo cup. He had been helping out at the fire station for over two hours. He was wearing a cheap pirate costume.

An oversized flimsy long-sleeve shirt hung off his arms. The thin black material dangled around his wrists. His striped pants were bright red and the same shade of black. He couldn't find a parrot for his shoulder, but he found a white plastic cockatoo.

He was able to super glue the legs to his shirt. A pirate hat sat on top of his head. An eye patch covered his left eye. He already had large steel-toed boots. He wore them every day for work.

The bottom of the pants covered the top half of the shoe. The rounded black toe section peeked out from the pants. A red piece of fabric was double-looped and tied around his waist. A fake sword was in a holster on his side. Since he was off duty, he didn't need to worry about carrying his utility belt. He didn't need weapons today.

He had been standing in the back corner of the station for the past ten minutes. A steady stream of people had showed up when the bash started. It was a four-hour event from 4 pm until 8 pm.

An array of different characters were scattered throughout the vicinity. A group of boys dressed up as different superheroes. They wore wristbands and ran from activity to activity.

A few different girls were dressed as Disney princesses. A family of five was dressed as the Power Rangers. A few more kids were dressed as wizards from Harry Potter. Some parents hadn't bothered to dress up.

Sheriff Winston had been steering clear of Greg Sullivan. He had arrived an hour after the place opened. This wasn't the time or the place to have a confrontation with him. There were too many people. Many of them adored Sullivan. Winston's name would be mud if they publicly fought.

Winston watched him go up to a mom with three kids. The two little girls were dressed like fairies. Glittery wings peeked over their shoulders. Their blonde hair curled around their face. The remaining boy was dressed up like a green dragon. A tail trailed behind him and dragged along the ground. He was holding his mom's hand.

The mom was wearing a bright red cape with white fake fangs. Every few minutes, she had to adjust her teeth. A small trickle of fake blood dribbled down the corner of her mouth.

"You hate him too, don't you?"

Sheriff Winston glanced over to his side. A man stood beside him with his arms crossed over his chest. He couldn't have been older than thirty. He debated sharing his opinions with the man.

"Hate is a very strong word."

The man snorted and rolled his eyes. "It's a fitting word for a bastard like him. He's the biggest bastard in the county. You can admit you hate his slimy guts too."

Sheriff Winston turned towards the man. His dark eyebrows furrowed over his hazel eyes. He frowned and met Sheriff Winston's eyes.

"You're that new sheriff they put in, right?"

Winston nodded, "that's me, I'm Sheriff Winston."

The man stuck out his hand, "I'm Arnold Barker." 

"You used to be a de-" Winston's words were cut off.

"Yeah, I was one of Sheriff Sullivan's deputies. I lost my job because of that son of a bitch. The department fired me without letting me explain. They never let any of us explain. They threw the whole fucking book at us."

"It's my understanding that the deputies helped Sullivan cover things up. You tampered with evidence."

"Yeah, but nobody will let us explain ourselves. People are acting like we had a choice. There were four of us and we were all used like puppets."