Funeral for a Friend

31

“Wow, you surprised me,” Cat told Colleen, covering her mouth after she screamed. “What are you doing here?”

Colleen gave her a little smirk. Her clothes and hair were wet from the rain, and she had a large satchel dangling from her shoulder. Cat was still naked in front of her, and Colleen reached out and playfully shoved Cat’s wet arm. They were just a few inches apart in the bathroom doorway. “I thought we could hang out together, girlfriend. Just you and me.”

“Does Brayden know you’re here?”

“Tall, blond, and handsome? Your boy toy? Yeah, he’s on the porch. I told him this was a girls’ night. No dudes allowed. He said I could go in. Come on, you’re up for that, aren’t you? A little Cat and Colly time?”

“I guess. Sure.”

“Look at you, you are so hot.”

Cat had never felt uncomfortable being naked in front of another woman, but Colleen’s eyes traveled up and down her body in a way that felt off. “Thanks. Listen, I forgot to get fresh clothes from my bedroom. Could you get some for me? I don’t want to walk out there with Brayden outside.”

“Yeah, of course. Whatever you want.”

Colleen disappeared and returned a couple minutes later with a loose green tank top and frayed jean shorts, which Cat quickly put on. The two of them wandered into the cottage’s living room, and Cat took one end of the red leather sofa while Colleen took the other. When Cat stretched out her legs, so did Colleen. The rain was loud on the roof above them, and wind shook the house.

“Any news on Wyatt?” Colleen asked her. “Have the police found him?”

Cat shook her head. “No.”

“Well, I’m sure they’ll get the son of a bitch soon.”

“Yeah. I hope so.”

“How about we sneak out again? Ditch boy toy and take my car?”

“I shouldn’t,” Cat said. “Stride wants me practically behind bars.”

“You sure? I feel like doing something. We should go someplace.”

“Where?”

“I don’t know. Maybe find a club or something. We could dance.”

“I’d love to, but Stride would kill me. He says I need to stick around here until they find Wyatt.”

“Yeah, okay. I get it.”

Cat noticed that Colleen’s brown eyes never seemed to move or blink, and her smile was frozen on her face. The girl’s chalky skin had a glistening fringe of sweat where her blond hair met her forehead.

“Curt came by,” Cat told her. “He left right before you got here. He says you broke up with him.”

“Yeah, I did. I was over him. Life moves on.”

“He’s pretty upset. I told you he wasn’t as tough as he looks. I said you should let him down gently.”

Colleen’s smile twitched a bit, but that was her only reaction. “I know, but when you’re getting rid of a guy, you need to do it quick like you’re pulling off a bandage. Anything else just prolongs the pain.”

“Are you really sure you’re over him?”

“Very sure.”

“Are you dating somebody else?” Cat asked. “Is there another guy?”

“Another guy?” Colleen giggled. “No, there’s no other guy.”

“Curt thought there was.”

“Well, Curt’s paranoid. Look, he’s nice and all, but it was never going to be a long-term thing with him. If he didn’t get that, that’s on him.”

“Okay. You know what you want, and it’s none of my business. But listen, just so you know, Curt may try to get you back. I told him to talk to you. Go over to your place. I thought maybe there was still a chance for the two of you to make up.”

“You told Curt to go to my place?” Colleen asked with an exaggerated pleasantness in her voice. Cat could tell she wasn’t happy about it.

“Yeah. Sorry about that. I figured if you guys talked, you might change your mind. I shouldn’t have gotten in the middle of it.”

“It’s okay. Don’t worry about it.” Colleen began to rub Cat’s legs with her bare feet. “You want to put on some music?”

“Sure.”

Colleen’s eyes narrowed, and she cocked her head like a fortune teller trying to read her mind. “I’m betting you’re a Chainsmokers fan.”

“I am. I’ve got all their music.”

“You like ‘This Feeling’?”

Cat laughed. “Oh, yeah. I play it over and over. I drive Stride and Serena crazy with it sometimes. Do you like it, too?”

“Love it.”

Cat didn’t have to be asked twice. She retrieved her speakers from her bedroom, and she connected her phone and booted up the Chainsmokers song, letting Kelsea Ballerini belt out the opening lyrics. She saw Brayden glance inside through the rain-soaked front windows when he heard the music. When their eyes met, Cat deliberately swung her head away, ignoring him. She wanted him to know she was mad. She wanted to be a bitch.

Colleen got off the sofa and danced, singing the lyrics in an off-key voice. Cat danced, too, letting out some of her pent-up energy from being stuck inside the house. Colleen sidled up to dance behind her, and when Cat turned around, the other girl stayed right there, like they were squeezed together in a crowded club. Neither of them had much rhythm, but Cat didn’t care. They swayed, they sang, they bumped together, and when the song was done, they played it again. And then again. Eventually, after the fourth time, Cat switched off the music and collapsed back on the sofa. She put her feet on the coffee table, and Colleen did the same, sitting right next to her. Both of them were sweaty and hot. Colleen put a warm hand on Cat’s leg below her shorts.

“You got anything to drink around here?” Colleen asked.

“Sure, what do you want? We’ve got Coke, Mountain Dew, water.”

“Got anything harder?”

Cat grinned. “I think that can be arranged. Like what?”

“Tequila.”

“My kind of girl,” Cat said.

She glanced over her shoulder to make sure Brayden wasn’t watching, and then she went into the kitchen and retrieved a bottle of Jose Cuervo from Stride’s stash in the cabinet. She grabbed two shot glasses and brought everything back to the other room. When she poured an inch for Colleen, the girl downed it in a single swallow, and Cat did the same for herself, enjoying the burn.

They did it again.

And again.

Cat began to feel happy. The alcohol went to her head. She relaxed, humming the way she always did when she was a little buzzed. She took the remote control for the television, turned it on, and muted the volume. Mindlessly, she flipped stations, not even spending a second or two at each one.

“Do you ever think about running away from here?” Colleen asked in a dreamy voice.

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know. Leave your life behind and go somewhere new. I’ve always thought it would be cool to vanish and leave a big mystery behind me. Magazines would write about it. Maybe they’d do those true crime TV shows, too. ‘Whatever Became of Colleen Hunt?’ That kind of thing.”

“People talk about stuff like that, but they never do it,” Cat said.

“Oh, yeah, that’s because most people are cowards. Stuck in their blah blah lives. But I could. What about you? Do you think you could ever just pick up and go?”

“When I was on the streets, maybe I could. There were a lot of days back then when I wanted to take off.”

“Well, see, we could do it together,” Colleen said, and Cat couldn’t tell if she was joking. “Run away, go off the grid. Cash only. Color our hair. We could be ghosts. No one would ever find us.”

“You’re crazy.”

“Hey, when I make up my mind to do something, I do it. You want to go, we go. I’ve got my car on the street. I’m all packed.”

Cat looked at her strangely. “I’m sorry, you’re packed?”

“I just mean, I’m free to do whatever. No strings. So are you.”

Cat shook her head and spoke softly, bringing reality into fantasy. “No, I’m not. I have a kid.”

“So bring him with you.”

“He doesn’t belong to me. He’s with the Olsons. Even so, I’d never go away and leave him behind.”

“Well, like I said, bring him with you. He’s still your kid, not anybody else’s.”

Cat frowned as she drank more tequila. “I don’t like this conversation anymore.”

“Sorry. I was just having fun.”

Cat turned up the volume on the television, because she didn’t want to talk for a while. The TV was tuned to a news channel broadcasting from inside the DECC. Hundreds of people filled the ballroom, and a countdown clock showed twenty minutes until the beginning of the event. A photograph of Devin Card filled a corner of the screen, and a message scrolled across the bottom: “Anonymous Accuser Promises Appearance at Town Hall.”

“Wow, I’d love to see that,” Cat murmured.

“What?”

“The woman Devin Card raped. Everybody says she’s going to come forward tonight. She’s going to confront him.”

“No shit?”

“Yeah. That takes guts, huh? To stand up in front of all those people? I’d love to be there. I want to see him skewered. Men like that, they think they can get away with anything.”

“So let’s do it,” Colleen said.

“What?”

“Let’s go over there. I mean, it’s five minutes away. Let’s do it.”

“Stride wants me to stay home. Wyatt’s still out there.”

“Oh come on, Cat. Look at all those people. Look at all the cops. It doesn’t get much safer than that. Brayden can come along with us, so Stride can’t complain. We can take my car.”

Cat hesitated. “I don’t know.”

“We’ll watch the fireworks as she comes forward. And then afterward, who knows? Maybe you’ll change your mind about going someplace else.”

Cat switched off the television. When the house was silent again, she could hear the thump of the driving rain not letting up. More lightning lit up the windows, and a drumbeat of thunder followed. Colleen was right. She felt trapped, and she wanted to be free.

“Sure, what the hell?” Cat said. “Let’s go.”