Babbling Upwards

Previously
He couldn’t have killed her. She was everything to him. He would have killed himself first.

“Then explain Dana to us Charlie.” He thought he heard his thoughts laughing.
Continued...


Kevin had been looking for Charlie for a couple of days now. He had stopped going by “KB Jones” shortly after graduation and before getting a job at Wall Street. That is not to say he gave up being “KB Jones”, just he stopped going by that name. Kevin Jones had a better sound to brokers.

It was Kevin’s job as a stock broker that was bringing him to look for Charlie. He had a few good tips that should turn Charlie’s luck right around. He felt responsible for his fallen friend. He knew Charlie had been down on his luck since loosing his job. It really was wrong that he was fired, but mistakes happen and they usually require a fall guy. Charlie drew the short straw and unemployment was his. He even had to forgo the usual severance package due to the nature of his is offense.

He had gone by Charlie’s house two days ago looking for him, but Michelle had not seen him for a week. She was really scared and Kevin could not tell if she was scared for Charlie or of him. She kept stressing that he had to find him and quick. She was worried what would happen, worried what he may do, and worried about many things that made no sense to Kevin until she mentioned that he was arguing with himself lately; violently sometimes.

Kevin had known about Charlie’s “voices” for many years as well. Charlie told him one night about how Michelle had a magical power to silence his possession. He more than loved her; he needed her to remain sane and happy. She did not complete him so much as absolve him. Without her, he feared what his thoughts would make him do.

Kevin knew never to try and steal her from him. This was something made by fate and they found each other. Kevin also feared him after that conversation.

She never asked Kevin to bring Charlie back home. Kevin took notice of that. It was strange. In the years he had known Charlie, he had never seen Charlie as in love with someone has he was with her and had always just thought she loved Charlie the same.

There was something going on that he did not yet know, but he was really bored and had the day off, so it was time to play “Dime Store Detective” for the day. He had the trench coat on and the cheap suit with badly tied tie. He needed a hat. He really could not do this right without a fedora. He knew a place on the way to the subway. His biggest dilemma was if he should narrate his trip, internally of course.

“OK,” he thought, “I can do this. She was a lady. No! She was a dame. Yea! She was a dame searchin for a guy.
“Can you help me” she asked me. A sultry sort of begging was hidden behind her right eye; or is that a tick?
“Never mind the internal monologue. I’ll just get the hat.”

His cell phone rang, playing “The Macarena” at full blast. It wasn’t that he liked that song. He thought of the most annoying ring he could to force him to answer his cell phone. He really hated the damn invention.

He had been looking for two days now and had nothing to show for it. He really hoped that this call was Charlie saying he is home. He would settle for Michelle calling to say Charlie is OK. He would even take Michelle saying he was in the hospital. At this point, he would take anything that would allow him to stop the search.

Kevin had to take a week’s vacation to make sure he did not get fired. After the first day he was only mildly annoyed, but now he was getting worried.

He looked down at the phone and saw it was Charlie’s house calling. So far so good. If there is a G-d, it would be one of his planned scenarios. He answered the phone to find there is no G-d. It was Michelle, but she was only calling to check on his progress and to give him something she found.

While going through last month’s bills, she noticed he had breakfast at the same diner everyday. It was out of his way for work and she had never heard of it before. He took down the name “Sam’s Coffeehouse Diner” and quickly assumed this must be where Charlie met that Dana girl at. How could he have forgotten about Dana?

Charlie had told him once or twice about this really nice waitress he met named Dana who worked at this place he found. He said the food was awful, but there was this girl there he could talk to for hours.

When asked directly if Charlie was cheating on Michelle, he denied it. He said he just really enjoyed talking to her. He said his voices never even came around when he was with Dana.

The next logical step then is to head off to “Sam’s Coffeehouse Diner”, after buying that fedora of course.
Continued...