FIELD MICE REVENGE
Knox
Iwalked into Honky Tonk through the kitchen, twirling my keys around my finger and whistling.
“Someone’s in a good mood,” Milford, the line cook, observed.
I wondered exactly how big of a dick I usually was that made my good mood breaking news, then decided I didn’t really give a shit.
Making sure to school my expression into my normal scowl, I headed into the bar. There were about a half dozen early birds scattered around the place. Max and Silver were eating brownies behind the bar and clutching their mid-sections.
Fi came out of the bathroom with her hands on her low back. “God. Why do I have to pee 147 times a day when I’m riding the cotton pony?” She groaned when she spotted me. “What the hell are you doing here? It’s Period Night.”
“I own the place,” I reminded her, scanning the bar.
“Yeah. And you’re also smart enough not to show up when you have three menstruating women on shift.”
“Where’s Naomi?” I asked.
“Don’t you take that tone with me today, Knoxy. I will break your face.”
I had taken no tone with her, but I knew better than to point that out. “I brought you brownies.”
“You brought us brownies so we don’t cry in the kitchen.”
She had a point. Fi knew my secret. Tears were my kryptonite. I couldn’t handle a woman crying. It made me feel desperate and helpless and pissed off.
“Where’s Naomi?” I asked again, trying to modulate my tone.
“I’m fine, Knox. Thanks for asking. Even though I feel like my uterus is being crumpled up inside my body so it can be expelled through my Lady Canal, I’m thrilled to be working tonight.”
I opened my mouth to retort, but she held up a finger. “Uh-uh. I wouldn’t do that,” she advised.
I shut my mouth and tagged Silver at the bar. “Where’s Naomi?”
Her expression stayed carefully blank, but her eyes skated to Fi, who was making an exaggerated slashing motion across her throat.
“Seriously?” I asked.
My business manager rolled her eyes. “Fine. Naomi was here, but there was some trouble with Waylay’s teacher. She went to take care of it and asked us to cover for her.”
“She’s bringing us pretzels afterward,” Max said around the brownie she held between her teeth as she shuffled by with two fresh beers. I was pretty sure that was a health violation but was smart enough not to mention it.
I eyed the women before me. “You thought I’d be pissed that she went to take care of something at the school?”
Fi smirked. “No. But it’s a slow day. Thought it would be more fun this way.”
I closed my eyes and started to count to ten. “Why haven’t I fired you yet?”
“Because I’m amazing!” she sang, spreading her arms wide. She flinched and clutched her stomach. “Fucking periods.”
“Amen,” Silver agreed.
“Strap on one of those damn heat pad things and take turns getting off your feet,” I advised.
“Look who’s Mr. Menstruation,” Fi said.
“Working with the Synched Sisters has educated me in ways I never wanted to be. Who’s the teacher?”
“What teacher?” Max asked as she blew past us again with a couple of empties. The brownie was now gone. I hoped it hadn’t fallen into one of the beers.
“Waylay’s teacher,” I said in exasperation. “Did she say what the problem was?”
“Is there a reason you’re so interested?” Fi asked, looking too damn smug for my liking.
“Yeah. I’m paying her to be here, and she’s not here.”
“Your tone is aggressive, and I don’t react well to aggressive during my Lady Business,” Silver warned.
This was why I didn’t come near Honky Tonk during Code Red, which is how I labeled it in my calendar.
“Mrs. Felch,” Max called from the corner two-top she’d commandeered. She was sitting on one chair with her feet propped on the second and a damp bar towel draped over her forehead and eyes.
“I’m personally not a fan of Mrs. Felch. One of my kids had her. She gave homework over Christmas,” Fi recalled.
“Fuck.”
Fi and Silver turned to look at me. Max peeked out from under her cold compress.
“Mrs. Felch is married,” I said.
“That is usually what Mrs. means,” Silver said, patronizing me.
“Mrs. Felch is married to Mr. Felch. Nolan Felch.”
Fi got it first. “Oooooh, shit. That’s not good.”
“Wait, didn’t Tina—”
“Yeah. She did. I gotta go. Try not to scare off all the patrons.”
Fi scoffed. “They’re here for the free Bloody Mary shots we give out during Crappy Hour.”
“Whatever. Later.” Heading for the parking lot, I vowed never to come back to Honky Tonk during a Code Red.
I made it almost to my truck when Liza’s Buick rolled up. But it was Naomi’s dad, worry lines carved into his forehead, behind the wheel instead of my grandmother. Amanda was in the passenger seat, looking agitated.
“Everything all right?” I asked, reading the mood.
“Waylay is missing,” Amanda announced, a hand clutched to her heart. “She walked to the cottage to get her schoolwork together and was supposed to come straight back to Liza’s. We were going to have dinner-and-a-movie night.”
“She didn’t come back, and her bike’s gone,” Lou said gruffly. “We’re hoping Naomi had seen her.”
I swore under my breath. “Naomi’s not here. There was some trouble at the school with Way’s teacher, and she went to handle it.”
“Maybe that’s where Waylay went,” Amanda said, clutching her husband’s arm.
“That’s where I’m headed now,” I said grimly.
“You’re part of a parent-teacher conference?” Lou scoffed.
“No, but I’m sure as hell gonna have your daughter’s back when she walks into an ambush.”
* * *
I ignoredthe speed limit and stop signs on the short drive to the elementary school and noticed Lou did the same behind me. We pulled into adjacent parking spaces and stormed the front doors, a united front.
I hadn’t stepped foot in the school since I was a student here. It looked as though not much had changed.
“How do we know where to go?” Amanda wondered when we walked in through the front doors.
I heard raised voices coming from one of the hallways.
“My money’s on that way,” I said.
“Your sister ruined my life!”