Len and Norma Lose a Body

Chapter 17

Lauren had set her alarm for 9 in the morning but she didn't need it. She had been looking forward to today for weeks. The girls were coming and it was a beautiful day and she had nothing to do and ... she stopped short even thinking about it in case her parents could sense it ... Nicole was bringing a bb gun. Guns were always around, but 'they weren't toys' she could hear her dad's voice in her head. She had collected some cans and jars and cartons for target practice and had stashed them in her room over the last few weeks without her parents noticing and she was going to have to get them out of the house without detection this morning.

They weren't meeting until 10 so she had a bit of time to grab some snacks and have some breakfast and figure out a way to transport all their target practice out of the house without her parents noticing. She was out of her room and into the kitchen by 9:05 and the house seemed quiet. She could smell coffee, but no one was in sight. Lauren poked her head into the living room and listened down the hall for any sign of her parents. Getting this rattling backpack out of her room was going to be easier than she thought as she hurried back to her room grabbing the bag and whisking it to a sunny spot outside the front door.

She'd gotten the bag out of the house, but noticed that her mom's car here. "Mom," she called out as she came back into the house. It was highly unlikely for her mom to be anywhere but the house if she was at the farm. "Back here," he heard from her parents' bedroom. Lauren headed back noticing that the door was open a crack but the lights were off. Her mom was sitting on the bed in her robe and pajama pants. Her hair was up in a messy bun on top of her head and she was wearing her glasses. She never wore her glasses unless she was ...

"I'm sick," her mom looked so tired and she held her coffee cup in both hands sitting up in bed. "Oh like are you barfing," Lauren cringed, she hated barfing more than everything and instinctively backed up a step or two to avoid breathing the air. "No no just end of the year exhaustion kind of sick," her mom reassured her. "I'm going to need a quiet day, do you have something you can do today?" Lauren was relieved she wouldn't have to wait on her mom hand and foot, and quickly let her mom know that, yes, she would be gone all day with her friends. "Good good," her mom nodded taking a sip of her coffee in the oversized mug, "Stay out of trouble."

...

Len and Norma were up, it hadn't seemed like they had really gotten down, for their morning coffee. Len could taste the second glass of rye in the back of his throat this morning, but he sure didn't regret taking a second helping after the night they had had. Len was at the kitchen table and Norma had her back turned to him at the stove. "How do you want your eggs?" Norma called out from her post at the stove. "Over easy," Len answered easily. The answer was always the same.

Before she knew it Norma had cracked and started frying up the last 8 eggs in the carton. "We expecting company?" Len got up from his chair at the kitchen table to survey Norma's work. Eggs, sausage, toast, enough for a crowd. A smile spread across Norma's face and she flipped the eggs. "Well now, I guess I did get carried away. I think I might have just wanted to stay busy to keep my mind off of things." Len could understand that since he had been out to the alley behind the garage to inspect about a dozen times since the sun had come up.

As they ate They still couldn't find a reasonable explanation for the disappearance of the body. It's not like he could have just got up and walked away. Len had driven over the man –twice. If he somehow was alive, would he be able to identify the location and make and model of the car and or his face? They had left their car at the farm when they went to switch it out with the truck last night and he thought that was a good place for it to be for the day. There were always jobs around a house that required a truck so no one would think anything of it. Norma's voice interrupted his thoughts. "You better get ready to drive me downtown. I'll get mail and groceries and you can go for coffee and we'll see if anyone is talking yet." Len added a mental note to stop at the lumber yard since he had the truck he might as well run an errand or two that was truck worthy.