The town of El Bueno

Chapter 4

I let out a high pitched scream of terror that seemed to shake the little town like a mini earthquake. Miguel was knocked off balance due to me and had also fallen down. He wasn't amused.

"What the hell was that amigo?" he asked staring at me.

I did not reply at once. I closed my eyes and took in a couple of heavy breaths before opening my eyes again. There was no woman there.

"I thought..." I began my voice shaking

"Thought what?" Miguel asked looking confused. A few onlookers were staring at us.

"Thought I had seen a woman...dead...over there" I said pointing desperately.

Miguel was on his feet by now and he stared at the spot I was pointing.

"The Mojave sun is known for playing tricks on your eyes," he said letting out a small sigh.

"Everything alright Miguel?" one of the onlookers called out looking slightly concerned.

"Yeah, fine Max" Miguel replied smiling slightly and giving a thumbs up. "Guy just lost his balance"

I said nothing and continued to stare at the spot. He offered me his hand to help me up. I took it, dusted myself and continued forward, doing my best to erase the recent hallucination from my memory.

Sheriff Madrazo was, by every definition, the classic clichéd town sheriff. He donned a cowboy-esque hat perched neatly on his head, sported a magnificent mustache and permanently held a cigarette between the fingers of his right. He had a large pot belly and when he spoke his voice oozed of a man with arrogance. Nevertheless, I rambled on, partly because I had a sense of false hope and partly because there was nothing else I could do.

When I was done the sheriff said nothing. Instead, he merely pulled out another cigarette from his packet and lit it. He stared out at the window, lost in thought. My patience was wearing thin but I remained calm all the same.

"You didn't leave the room at all last night?" he said breaking the silence but continuing to stare out the window.

"No sir I did not"

"You say you kept the bag in a corner?"
"Yes"
"And at no part of the night, you were woken up by any disturbance?"

"No sir"

"Hmphf," he said continuing to stare out the window before suddenly getting to his feet. "I'll make a few inquiries. Rest assured the matter will be dealt with and I will be in touch with you shortly"

"Uh, thanks" slightly taken aback by his reaction but pleased all the same.

"You may now leave"

"What do I do for money?"

The sheriff looked at me with his eyebrows slightly raised.

"Go meet Akshay, the Indian guy who runs the town's only grocery shop. Last I heard he was looking for another clerk to help with the shop. Might be still worth a shot. His shop is right next to the church, you can't miss it."

I nodded and rose to leave.

Akshay was a highly charming, rather young man in his thirties. He had a very sharp face and had a stocky build. As the sheriff had pointed out his shop was located right next to search. It was fairly big with shelves consisting of different items neatly piled up. Just your average grocery shop.

"Ah yes yes," he said surveying me with his eyes giving me the feeling that I was being X-Rayed. "Runaway boy eh... Well not to worry... not to worry. Yes, you can work here."

"Will I be paid every day?" I said not bothering to hide the hint of impatience in my voice.

Akshay clearly detected it too for he asked: "Not planning on staying very long here?"

"No sir I am not."

"That's a shame," he said frowning slightly "Well you'll be getting $2 dollar every day. Sundays off. So that's a total of around $50 every month and I'll be giving you a free room to stay in as well as free lunch."

"That's not much"

"Take it or leave boy," Akshay said looking slightly irritated by my greed.

I sighed. If I wanted to get out of here I had to take whatever opportunity came my way.

"Alright"

"Excellent," he said beaming and clasping a hand on my shoulder.

"So what's my job?"

"Nothing too complicated he said taking his hand off and moving around behind his desk. "You'll need to usually arrange all the stuff on the shelves," he said pointing randomly all around the shop at the various items on display and occasionally handle customer payments," he said this as he pointed at the counter. "That's it really. Just basic maintenance. I won't be here most of the time, got other business to attend to, so you'll be working with a girl called Max. Runaway traveler just like you... and quite lovely I might add" he finished blushing slightly.

I didn't reply immediately I decide to asses the situation at hand. It seemed like monotonous work but at the same time it wasn't really hard work either so I gave a half shrug of understanding.

"Good. You can start today. I have to be off now" he said as he looked at his watch. He put on his jacket and clapped me on the back. "Make yourself at home"

"Yeah thanks" I muttered as he hurried out of the shop closing the door with a tiny clank.

I sighed and sat behind the cashier's desk. It was now 7 PM and the sun was setting giving a very blood red tint on the horizon. I was very tired, it had been a long day. My eyelids were beginning to droop. I hoped I wasn't going to be trapped in this town for very long. I was hoping to settle in somewhere a bit more sophisticated.

I suddenly shook with a start, the door of the grocery shop had opened and a woman walked in the shop. I had my first customer.

I couldn't catch a glimpse of her face. In any case, she had a black sort of hood to cover her head. She picked up a basket and strolled past the shelves. I mindlessly twiddled my fingers on the desk as I hear the occasional sound of her dumping a grocery item onto her basket. It didn't take her long to finish her shopping place the basket in front of me.

I took out the items one by one and tallied the bill.

"That'll be $10 madam," I said looking up at her.

She did not respond immediately. She was looking down at the floor. At the sound of my voice, she raised her head and let her hood fall.

It was the same dead woman I had seen earlier in the day with the same missing eyeballs, scars all over her face, her hair ripped in many places and her in her hand she carried a blood-stained silver knife.