Chapter 4: Forget It

Brittany McPherson was once again on duty that afternoon at the Conoco Station on Highway 11.  She bore much the same expression she’d had when Auburn had come in the week before—resigned, either due to fatigue or boredom.  Only this time, Auburn noticed something else in the expression—either sadness or fear, she couldn’t tell which.

She arrived at the building right at two o’clock.  Brittany looked up with a jolt when the door opened, then relaxed when she saw Auburn.  Immediately, she went straight back to a book she was reading, taking no further notice of her customer.

Auburn had been planning to go straight to the counter, but the long walk had given her other ideas.  She went to the cold drinks section and grabbed a soda, this time Big Peach—made by the same company as Big Blue.  Big Peach wasn’t quite as good as Big Blue, but it was a nice flavor itself, and Auburn was in the mood for something different today.

Suddenly, she stuffed her hand in her pocket, just to make sure she’d brought money with her.  Her hand closed around three bills—without looking, Auburn remembered that these were a five and two ones.  She was glad she’d had them with her, especially since she hadn’t been planning to buy anything.  As she marched to the counter, the Big Peach was the last thing on her mind.

Brittany must have remembered Auburn from the week before, because she didn’t mention the club.  She didn’t mention anything else, for that matter.  The first words out of her mouth came after she’d scanned the Big Peach.  “That’ll be $1.50.”

Auburn plunked down both of the dollar bills and watched as Brittany opened the cash register, then made her move.  “Where was your project last night?”

Brittany’s eyes grew as wide as the old Eisenhower dollar coins from the 1970s (twice the size of quarters, for those who have never seen one).  “My WHAT?”

“The project.  Remember?  The one Mr. Richards mentioned when he came in here?”

“It was at the club!” gasped Brittany, obviously flustered.  Her hand shook as she tried to pick up a quarter.

“It wasn’t at the club, was it?” said Auburn, knowingly.  “It was somewhere else, I’ll bet.  How many of you were there, four?”

Brittany dropped the quarter.  “What are you talking about?” she said, even as it was obvious that she knew the answer.

“Oh, you never went inside with the rest.  You’re too tall to be mistaken for a midget.  But those weren’t midgets last night, were they?  They were other kids, too young to have driver’s licenses.  I’ll bet you drove the—”

“No, no, no, it’s not true, it’s not!” exclaimed Brittany.  “I didn’t rob that bank, I tell you I didn’t!”

“Who said anything about a bank?” said Auburn.  Brittany looked up, frightened.

“I—I heard about it on the radio this morning!” she said.

“Maybe you did, but you already knew about it, didn’t you?” said Auburn.  “Why else would you get so frightened when a community leader like Mr. Richards—”

“He’s a monster, that’s what he is!” exclaimed Brittany.  “The most evil man who’s ever lived in this town, and he’s got everyone fooled—except the ones that can’t expose him!”

“Why don’t you?” Auburn asked.  “What hold does he have over you?”

Panic now filled Brittany’s eyes.  “Don’t ask me to do that!” she said.  “You don’t know what you’re messing with—look.  I know who robbed that bank the other night.  I won’t say whether I was in on it or not, and I don’t think you can prove who was, but if you can, then please, listen to me!  None of us—er, none of the people who were there the other night wanted to be there.  We—they didn’t want to steal anything that didn’t belong to them, but Richards wanted it, and he made them rob it!  His hold over them is worse than death itself!”

“Worse than death itself?” said Auburn.

“I—remember, I’m not saying whether I was there or not, but I’d die before I’d do anything illegal like robbing a bank.  Richards has even worse threats than that, and he’s using one on everyone in his Brotherhood Club!  They’ve all got to do whatever he says, or he’ll, or he’ll go through with them, and—oh, it’s too horrible!”

“If no one stops him, though,” said Auburn, “he’ll keep staging crimes like that and—”

“Don’t get involved!” said Brittany.  “You’ve got to avoid the club and Richards at all costs!  If he gets you in the club, you’ll have to do what he says!  You’ll want to give yourself up, but you won’t be able to, because of the consequences—”

“What consequences?” asked Auburn.

“I can’t tell you!”  Brittany was adamant about that.  “I’d be willing to go to jail for robbing a bank, serve the full sentence, get a criminal record if it would mean getting free of Richards.  But if I ever were arrested, somebody would get killed.  It’s not me, or you, but someone would, and that’s why I can’t get out of the club.”

“Who?” asked Auburn.

“I can’t tell you!” said Brittany.  “I’ve said way more than I should’ve already.  Please, just forget about it entirely!  Or else!”