Len and Norma Lose a Body

Chapter 13

This was a small enough town that there was only one bar, one gas station, one café, one store, which meant nothing needed to be named. Over the years these businesses has just become the bar, the gas station, the café, and the store. The bar was like any other small town bar. Dim, dingy, sticky and stained– it was like listing small town reindeer. The owners had changed hands a number of times, but the atmosphere and the furniture never changed.

Sharon, Aaron and crew filtered into the bar. The air was stale but the night was young, and everyone looked better in the dim. It was already quite full even though it was still on the earlier side and Sharon did a quick scan of the tables before following the group to the corner booth near the back. Her eyes went directly to the large table in the middle of the bar. She wanted to see who she all knew, but to her surprise, she didn't recognize a single face at the table. How could that be, she knew everyone in town, didn't she?

She slid into the booth but took at second look back over her shoulder. "Who are these people?" she asked almost annoyed. Barb, the barfly, leaned over the back of the booth from her stool at her VLT. "Rig pigs," she rasped, and they have money to burn". She leaned in closer and Sharon could smell the smoke and booze oozing out of every pore. "Wouldn't be hard to squeeze a couple of drinks out of these guys," winking at Sharon then laughing until a coughing fit over took her.

Sharon turned her attention back to the long table full of strangers in their bar. She wasn't concerned about Barb's coughing fit in the slightest. In fact, it happened every single time they talked. She figured that when Barb stopped coughing nonstop it would be because she was dead. Besides she could hear the whir of the VLT and the bings and boops of her money being wasted behind her. "Do they really make that much money?" she totally interrupted the conversation but she was completely oblivious at this point.

"What?" Aaron wasn't following. "Those oil guys?" Sharon jutted out her chin to indicate who she was talking about. Aaron and the other male teachers immediately started to get their backs up against the wall as low paid professionals often do. They dismissed them as uneducated, seasonal, unprofessional, sleazy, but it was undeniable, the money was fantastic. Sharon wasn't interested in them for their money. The table was misreading her. She was interested in what finding oil on her land would mean for her own bank account. The table was quiet for a second as they all looked toward the table of hard drinking, loud, crude strangers that seemed to be throwing money at the bar like it was New Year's Eve.

...

Mike was having a comfortable night at home with his daughter. Brian had hung around for a bit, but Mike was looking forward to a movie and some popcorn. He had let Lauren pick out the movie and was impressed with her choice. Action and comedy, it was a far cry from the princess movies she had watched over and over as a kid. He would still catch himself singing and humming some of the songs when he was alone working in the fields or on the equipment in the yard. He couldn't help it, they were engrained in his brain after multiple viewings, and he supposed they were good memories.

"Whatcha got planned for the weekend?" Mike made a stab at conversation with his preteen as the popcorn popping and the twisting and banging of the ice cube tray filled the kitchen with noise. "What?" Lauren was digging in the back pantry for pop. "What are you doing this weekend?" Mike repeated this time holding the ice cube tray still. "Oh well I think Nicole's cousins are here this weekend and we're going to bike to the pit," Lauren waited anxiously as she figured her dad was going to spring some last minute family plans that would get in the way of their plans.

"Cool, cool," her dad grabbed the bowl and walked into the living room motioning her to join him on the couch so that they could share the gigantic bowl. "Why," Lauren eyed her dad suspiciously. "Nothing," and really he was just trying to make conversation. Mike noticed that Lauren was getting quieter as she got older. Not that he wanted her to talk non stop like she did when she was 5, 6,7,8. Man did that kid talk a lot, but he still wanted to know what was up with his little girl. He decided to start the movie and grab a handful of popcorn. It was safer than being a naggy dad. He'd save that title for her mom.

...

Diane and Dave were sitting in silence but completely enjoying each other's company. Diane was busy, she was crocheting, and when she wasn't crocheting, she was sewing, or knitting, or doing needlepoint. She needed to keep her hands occupied so that they'd stay out of the fridge. The tv was on but neither of them were really watching it. Dave had his newspapers and was scouring the sections for something to read before settling on the word jumble and comics.

They were both thinking about oil, but didn't want to seem like the kind of person who was blinded by easy money like the Carlson's who had run out and bought a brand new camper. Diane didn't approve of flashing their money be around like that. They were good people, but would this change them? Diane hoped that they would have the foresight not to be too showy. If Diane had extra oil money, and mind you, it wasn't like Beverly Hillbillies kind of oil money, she would be humble. Folks around here for the most part didn't own any mineral rights, so really they were renting land and big oil companies were still the main money makers in this situation.

Dave was reading through the comics and trying to sort out the word jumble with a pencil that needed to be sharpened. He was also thinking of oil. Their land was backed right up against Carlson's. Surely they had to have oil too, but how did this all work? How could you get them to come onto their land to look? Dave wasn't a jealous guy. Heck he was happy for them, but it still couldn't hurt to wish for a little luck to blow his way. He knew exactly what he would do with a little bit of extra cash. He would buy him and Diane ... a camper.