Michael Hunter - Come Get Me

Besides, Jim wanted to find Rob not have Rob come find him because he was coming to arrest him for disturbing the peace or something. The guy didn’t seem concerned that Jim had noticed him so Jim decided to adopt the same attitude. Seeming bored with what he saw the guy eventually looked away and so did Jim but not before risking another quick look. This time Jim realized the face actually was familiar. He just didn’t know why. It must be someone he knew when he’d lived here before but he couldn’t remember who. Not wanting to walk up to somebody who quite probably was a stranger Jim gave up the idea of trying to find out who it was and turned to leave when suddenly something else caught his eye. A woman about his age, dressed in a restaurant uniform had just come out and was jogging towards him from the back entrance of the building. Watching her bounce her way to him he thought she was awfully bubbly. She was slightly tall, maybe a little on the thin side but not overtly so, with dirty blonde hair that trailed in the wind behind her and she bounced nicely in all the right places. She almost looked like a model he’d seen on TV but not quite. Being curious as to who it was he decided to wait and see. He didn’t recognize her but that didn’t necessarily mean anything plus she was a looker so he figured it might actually be a good idea to wait. He’d been gone a long time. Hell, for all he knew the guy sitting in the truck was Rob and this was his girlfriend. Worse comes to worse it would all be a mistake but then again maybe not. He thought she looked more and more familiar the closer she got. He still couldn’t place her but he thought the possibilities of knowing her were increasing. Just about the same time she reached him a long forgotten memory flashed through his head. It was from high school and a girl that looked a lot like the one smiling at him was trailing him through the halls. He looked over his shoulder every once in a while and there she was. Then he was back staring at her hoping she hadn’t said anything to him while he’d been daydreaming. The memory still lingered. Looking at her he remembered she’d had some kind of crush on him or something. He would tell her she should stop following him but she would never listen. She constantly bugged him and his friends. They teased him unmercifully. He really hoped this wasn’t the same girl but the more he looked at her the more he was sure it was. She changed a lot since then though. He remembered her being skinny with no shape whatsoever.

That wasn’t the case now.

He was having a hard time keeping his eyes above her neck especially since her chest was heaving up and down from her running to catch up with him. Her name was on the tip of his tongue when she finally got enough air to speak to him.

“I’m glad you stopped,” she huffed, “I was calling you from the drive through. I didn’t think you heard me at first. You’re Jim Collins right?”

“Yup, fraid that’s me,” he answered. “I actually didn’t think you were talking to me. That’s why I didn’t stop. I haven’t been around here for a long time….” he finished still struggling to remember her name.

“Maria,” she said supplying it for him, “Maria Derch.”

“Oh yeah, that’s right Maria Derch. I remember now. We knew each other in high school right?” he said trying unsuccessfully to cover up that he hadn’t remembered her name. “I think we even had a few classes together.” He hopped he was right about that. It was bad enough he didn’t remember her name. That probably made her feel real good.

If the smile that spread over her face was any indication he’d said the right thing. Jim was still a little vague on anything other than the fact that she used to pester him but he figured acting like he remember more wasn’t going to harm anyone. He didn’t really want to hurt her feelings either since she was the first person he’d seen from the old days. It didn’t hurt that she was good looking either. Who knows maybe she’s changed, he thought as she began speaking.

“Right,” she said giggling like a teenager, “you do remember me! Although we had more than a few classes together if you know what I mean.” Unfortunately he had no idea what she meant. The way she said it made him think she thought he should know. Too bad he didn’t. For the life of him, all he could remember was being in math and maybe an art class or something with her back in the twelfth grade. Except her following him around but she couldn’t possibly mean that. If she was talking about anything else he was drawing a blank.

“Oh yeah, that’s right,” he said cautiously not wanting to look like an idiot. Thinking it was a safer route to take, he quickly changed the subject to something he was a little more comfortable with. “So how have you been since graduation?”

“Oh you know,” she began without too much enthusiasm, “not too much to do around here. We have a bake sale every now and then and we finally have some new restaurants and a Wal-Mart being put in but other than that it’s small town life as normal. Still as exciting as ever.” After that she launched in to how he was and what he’d been up to. He didn’t have much of a chance to say anything since almost as soon as he started speaking she took off on another topic. Something about the town and some of the people still living there. He didn’t pay much attention. His earlier idea about her having changed seemed to’ve been shot to hell, she was still as annoying as ever. She did still look pretty good he thought trying to distract himself from her voice. He could always use a gag if they hooked up. She was in the middle of saying something or other that he wasn’t really paying attention to when he caught a name he recognized.

“Excuse me what did you just say?” he asked before she could start in on another topic and forget all about the name she’d said.

“I said, you must’ve come home because of Tommy’s funeral. It is in a couple of day’s y’know,” she said rolling her eyes dramatically as if repeating herself were too troubling.

“Yeah,” he muttered, “that’s about the only reason, other than my family, I have for coming back to this place.” He hoped she might say something else about Tommy. Maybe he’d left a message with her or something. She seemed like she’d at least known him so maybe she had more information. It was like he was expecting something from beyond the grave to explain everything and he was looking towards anyone he met to give it to him. Looking at Maria though he knew she definitely wouldn’t be the one. Tommy would never be that desperate.

She looked slightly offended after hearing his words but quickly covered it up by talking again. “The rumor going around is that he was killed by some kind of bogeyman or something. They say he was out in the woods all alone and was killed but nobody knows how. I heard he was really messed up. Stuffed on a tree or something like that. Now, I don’t know if it’s true or not but I guess it could be considering all the other rumors going around. The sheriff is trying to keep it all quiet but I don’t think it’s working to well.” She looked around, then in a slightly lower voice said, “I also heard that it looked like someone pushed him but they don’t have any proof.”

“What do you mean all the other rumors and what about someone pushing him? I hadn’t heard that before,” he asked. Maybe he would get some use out this conversation after all. If nothing else he would have a few more questions to ask Rob when he found him.

“Well,” she began whispering as if there was anybody else in the general area that even cared, “everybody is saying how he was pushed out his tree stand. At least, that is, all the people I’ve talked to. I don’t see how that could’ve happened though. I mean a tree stand is pretty small isn’t it? I don’t know. Anyways, the rumor going around is that Tommy was doing something with one of the boys in towns’ wife and he kinda caught them at it. He got him back though by going out to Tommy’s stand and killing him. Yup, pushed him right out of it they say. Then to make it look like an accident he tossed him on a tree or something. I don’t know what the big deal is about falling on a tree is though. I mean falling on a tree isn’t that big a deal. I’ve seen a lot of people fall out of trees and on them too.” She said all of this as if it was an everyday occurrence. Jim almost pitied her for being so stupid. Not seeming to know any different she stepped even closer than she already was and told him it was all being kept quiet because the tree Tommy had landed on was way to far away for him to have made it there by himself. There was no way he could’ve reached it without help. Everything Jim was hearing, even considering the source, was making it harder and harder to believe Tommy’s death had been an accident.