Honey Whiskey

Tragic Town Fair

Wrapped in the thin bed sheet, his curls were disheveled. Jonah's eyes kept glancing over at his phone, waiting for a notification to show up. Dust particles were occasionally swaying and swirling around in the sunlight beaming into the old attic. His chest was rising painfully, every breath seemingly heavier, he finally decided to unlock his phone. Searching for a new message from Romy, nothing. Jonah hadn't gotten any news from Romy or Elaï since they had left New Orleans ten days ago. Shoes were kicked off in his direction, landing a mere meter away from him. He finally took notice of Maybelle approaching. Jonah was still wearing his pyjama pants, he didn't even have the will to get up to greet her properly. She lowered herself and sat at the end of the old mattress.

"-Do you have anything going on? Why are you still in bed?", she locked eyes with him.

"-I'm waiting for Romy to send me a message. He said he would every so often."

"-Well, I think we should do something. I have a few days off."

"-I don't know..., this is kind of important. I don't want to miss it."

"-And, what if instead, we left to do something fun? You could still check your phone every hour. Deal?"

"-Mhm...", Jonah was hesitant. It wasn't a bad idea. He had already been staying there for a few days. He would need to leave the attic at some point.

"-Yes...?"

"-Alright, yes. What do you want to do?"

"-There's a fair in a few towns over. It seemed fun. Would that interest you?", Maybelle adorably smiled, hopeful that she would convince him further into going with her.

"-Deal. Grab some clothes and meet me back here in 30 minutes."

"-Perfect.", swiftly grabbing her shoes, she disappeared out of his view and out of the house.

As they had agreed, Maybelle was waiting by the pink Cadillac, her backpack in hand. After settling everything in the trunk, Jonah hopped in the car with the young woman. Brushing his fingers through his freshly washed curls, she had set up the GPS. The voice rose to announce the way to go, it was going to be a few hours before they would make it to their destination. Arriving at the decrepit motel, Jonah parked the car before going inside to pay for a room. They would not have any problem sleeping in the same bed. Settled down in the room, he had laid his phone on the bed before making his way out to get ice. Maybelle was admiring the motel room, spiderwebs in a few corners of the walls, stains of dirt, and an unknown substance stuck to the carpet. Beginning to get bored, she glanced over at Jonah's phone. She swiftly took it and started looking at his pictures and notes. Noticing a recording, Maybelle started playing the audio. After the first few words, she knew that she wasn't supposed to know the existence of this recording. She hurried and locked herself in the bathroom. Maybelle turned on the shower, muffling the sound of the audio. She didn't want Jonah to know she had found this. Listening carefully, her heart was beating out of her chest, and she was completely taken aback. It was a declaration of love. Closing back the evidence, she went back into the room and placed the phone on the bed as it was before. It took her a few moments to calm down, Jonah finally got back in the room with the bucket of ice. She was shuffling her backpack on the bed, placing it there, acting as if nothing had happened. Maybelle glanced back at him, smiling.

"-I got the ice.", he filled up the bathroom sink with the ice before sinking into it a few bottles of beer.

"-Good. Do you want to go to the fair?"

"-Yes, we should probably leave before sundown."

~

Rotating at a fast pace, Jonah and Maybelle were holding on as they rode the spinning cups. Colorful lights were hung up around the whole fair, illuminating the place. As they got off the ride, the duo walked for a little while. Food stands were lined up side by side in the open field, cotton candy, popcorn, caramel apples, slushee, ice cream, lemonade, and bbq. The multiple stands seemed to offer delicious food since families or groups of teenagers occupied all the picnic tables. After they managed to ride the Ferris wheel and make their way through the mirror maze, Jonah and Maybelle took the chance and slid down the giant rainbow slides. Tired out a bit, the duo walked past the carousel. She approached the ring toss stand, her eyes were glued to this giant golden retriever plushie.

"-Do you want it?"

"-I could try to win it, sure."

"-Good luck.", after paying the employee, he stared at Maybelle who was trying her best to win the plushie.

Following multiple unsuccessful tries, Jonah decided to win the dog for her.

"-I'm not good at these games."

"-It's okay, I'll get it for you."

Moments had passed, and he was trying again and again. Maybelle began feeling sleepy, standing by his side. The sun was long gone, the night was dark and the stars were shining in the sky.

"-I think I'm going to go back to the motel. I'm tired."

"-Alright, I'll come back in half an hour. Be safe."

"-I will. Don't worry. If I need help, I'll call you.", smiling gently, Maybelle kissed his cheek before she left him at the ring toss stand.

Strolling down the sidewalk, Maybelle couldn't stop thinking about the recording. She had to talk to Jonah, she needed to know if his feelings were real. Maybelle walked by the parking lot and a few apartment buildings. She abruptly stopped by an alleyway, goosebumps creeping up her neck. She peeked behind her, right in time to see a vague shadow crossing the sidewalk towards her. She urgently made her way into the alleyway, stumbling on the trash covering the ground. Moving past the dumpster, she felt safe anew. A strong hand clasped over her mouth, muffling her screams. Maybelle was struggling, glancing back at the man holding her. His hands tightly wrapped around her neck, squeezing until Maybelle was gasping for air. His eyes were empty of emotions, he wasn't going to let go. Slumped in his grasp, the man threw her body into the dumpster before leaving the alleyway.