Cored

Chapter 5: Eat, Drink, or Steal

Katherine helped Kevin finish cleaning up, telling him only pieces of the story. How she'd run into the woman at the bar who seemed to know George and how she'd run into the pair outside. How there were so many more questions to answer.

"So he's your dad?" Kevin asked, clearly invested in her search.

"My uncle, I guess. My father's twin."

"Does he know where the guy from the photo is?"

Katherine raised her shoulders and took a long breath. "Apparently he died a long time ago."

Kevin just looked at her for a minute, then said a quick "Sorry."

"Thanks," Katherine replied. "But I came for answers more than I came for him." Liar, she thought, but she didn't want to lay that on Kevin. If she said it enough, she'd convince herself it was true.

"I think I'm just going to go change out of these clothes."

"Okay," he said. "I could bring you up some tea in a bit if you'd like?"

"I'm fine, but thank you," she said, not wanting to talk anymore.

She walked up the stairs, leaving Kevin alone at the bar. He wiped the same piece of the counter had had ten times already before finally putting the towel down. He called back to Arlo, telling him he could go home early. No one else would be coming in here tonight.

Katherine quickly changed out of the sodden clothing. The bar had a washer and dryer in the back for all the napkins and towels, and Kevin let her wash her clothes in it when she needed. She took the top into the bathroom to at least rinse out the beer, planning on doing a load tomorrow.

She stared at herself in the mirror as the water ran over the shirt. Her makeup had gotten splattered by the beer, so there were more patches of ruddy skin peeking out than normal. Her hair had gotten frizzy, too. She pulled her hands through it for a moment, hoping to calm it down, but eventually put it in a ponytail. She noticed her roots were starting to poke out, a deeper brown than the auburn lengths. "Like cherry cola," the stylist had said to her when she first picked the color a few years ago. Her mom had loved it so Katherine kept the color. She'd have to find a hairdresser around here somewhere.

As she took off the skirt to rinse it too, she noticed it was a bit loose. All of the walking through the hills, she thought, but she had been slowly losing weight since her mom had died. She was always been the biggest in her class, though, so no one really noticed. Granted, there wasn't really anyone to notice anymore.

Trying to ignore the change, Katherine folded the beer—and now water—soaked clothes and left them on the bathroom counter. She pulled on a pair of jeans and a fresh shirt. It was only 8:30, so she thought she take a quick walk and clear her head. She couldn't go up to the clearing in the hills now, but she could at least wander through the village.

She peered around the corner of the stairs, glad to see that Kevin wasn't in the front. She quickly went out the door and into the cool night air. It felt nice on her neck, which had been hot and scratchy under her hair before. She noticed the lights were still on in the bakery, odd for this time of night. When she looked inside, she saw Marcie standing behind the counter. The old woman looked up and waved her to come in. Katherine didn't want to be rude, and the bakery always smelled so comforting.

"Hello, dear. What has you out this late?" the woman asked.

"I was going to ask you the same thing," the girl smiled. "You're normally closed by now."

"Yes, but tonight I'm doing some inventory. This old brain doesn't count as fast as it used to."

"I have a hard time imagining you any sharper than you are now," Katherine said.