The Silver Lake Murder by Gregg Matthews (read novel full txt) 📗

flirt with her. The plumbers came over and repair the plumbing charging her for parts, no labor. The cost of labor was buried in the paperwork. Some locals try to help each other if they can.

Stepping into the shower, turning the barely functioning rusted water valve to the on position sent cold water out from the shower head like a garden hose. She drank down as much water as she could. She reached for the sliver of soap and the empty shampoo bottle and tried to make the best of both of them. The water flowed over her young, toned, and tired body bringing her back to life. She looked down into the drain at her feet and saw the color red was mixing with the slightly soapy water. She pinched her nose and leaned her head all the way back to try to stop the bleeding, but her nose still bled and burned.

Drying her body off with a thin white towel, she dressed for work. Her body was in sync with the other waitresses she worked with. They were all in good shape. She looked at her reflection in the mirror while combing her wet hair. She flipped the blow-dryer from the off to the on position. The noise from the blow dryer quickly caused her headache to increase the throbbing pain. The noise from the blow dryer was cut off after she switched the blow-dryer to the off position. The dampness was quickly removed from her hair.

Looking at the reflection of her body in the mirror. She knew her body was her most valuable asset. She put her underwear on, first the bottoms, then the top. She checked her reflection in the mirror again, she has blond hair, soft blue eyes, and a round face. She smiled to uncover pearl-white teeth, never had a cavity in them. Her breasts were large, round, and perfectly formed. Her body core was lean and toned. She took care of her skin with moisturizer and tried to stay out of the direct sunlight in the summertime. Her legs were toned from walking to the Lakeview Lounge then back home every day and night. Sometimes she took a walk around the lake to clear her mind before and after work. She often wondered if she was ever going to move away from Silver Lake, or would she be a local for the rest of her life?

She was always more of a rebel and did not go along with the crowd. She didn’t understand how she was in debt with Luke. The drugs, alcohol, and Luke had crept their way into her life. She wondered how she let that happen. She was upset with herself but could not, on her own, stop doing the drugs and drinking the alcohol. She made herself upset and cried often.

When she looked down at the tattoo between her thumb and index finger, she saw the tattoo of a crude outline drawing of a Jackal. Some of the other waitresses at the Lakeview Lounge had the same tattoo; she thought it was cute, so she got the same one. She realized not all the waitresses have the tattoo of the Jackal. The waitresses who do drugs and were in debt to Luke had the Jackal tattoo. She realized the Jackal tattoo was a big mistake.

The customers at the Lakeview Lounge used any excuse to try to talk to her while she was working. She knew they were trying to make conversation after a long hard day of work. The male customers wanted a pretty female to talk to and tell their problems to. Cindy always listened with a sympathetic ear and encouraging words. Her pretty face and young body brought a lot of money into the bar from the male customers; she treated them with respect. Although most of the men did not treat her respectfully.

She slid on a pair of old weathered jeans with a wide black leather belt. The jeans fit her body firmly and accentuate her figure. She threw on a green Lakeview Lounge T-shirt. She slipped on a pair of white socks and tanned low-cut work boots; she tied them up tight. She grabbed her black leather pocketbook with a large brass zipper, two straps, and flung it over her shoulder.

She tried to remove herself from the house before her mother caught her and lectured her on how she was living her life. Most mornings, she would leave one hundred dollars in cash from her tips the night before, on the kitchen table for her mother. The past few months, she had not left any money at all. Most of the money she made went straight to drugs and alcohol at the Lakeview Lounge during the after-hours parties. She would leave the Lakeview Lounge after working all night and partying until 4:00 a.m. with a negative cash flow. She was running up a large tab with Luke. She was in debt and worried about how she was going to pay the money back to Luke. She could not help it; she wanted to party, and she didn’t worry about the money she owed. Before she left the cottage, she pushed the newspaper to the side of the kitchen table and wrote her mother a note.

Dear Mom

I know I have not been a good daughter lately. I am trying to pull my life together. I will start giving you money again as soon as I pay off a couple of other debts. I am trying really hard.

Love, Cindy ☺

Some blood drips from her nose onto the paper. She threw the note into the trash can. She grabbed a new piece of paper and wrote the note again. This time a tear from her eye landed on the paper. Good enough.

“That is what Cindy told me on July 1st,” Kelly says through tears.

“I understand,” Blake says to Kelly while looking over at Billy and Lester.

“Cindy was trying really hard to get her life together,” Kelly says.

“Do you