More Poison in Your Coffee?

Epilogue

            At Taste Teas I was pouring a tall glass of iced tea and watching Jackson ice some kind of strange looking cake behind the baker’s counter.

            “What is that?” I asked him.

            “Custard Cake.”

            “It looks totally disgusting.” I picked up the tray.

            “Trying something new. Might be a best seller.”

            “We’ll see.” I said with a smile.

             Jackson had been happier than I’d seen him in years now that the threat of reentering prison was behind him. I watched him, a free man all the ugliness of the past few months behind him. Free to bake his cakes in peace, as it should be.

            Pasha walked in off her lunch break and smiled. “You should have let me bring you back a vegan dog, they were very delicious today.”

            To my credit, I managed not to show the wince. “No, that’s okay.” I walked from behind the counter with the tray that held the single glass of iced tea.

            “You know Evie, I just want to say that I’m super proud of you for finally joining my cause. Because of you, one underprivileged little girl out there can get an education.”

            That’s right; she finally pestered me into giving money to one of her many organizations. I figured if there are people like Earl in this world, spreading so much hate in the name of the almighty dollar, then I could use a little bit of my own dollars giving a little love back. After all, it was just pocket change to me, and if it helped one girl I’ll never meet stand a fighting chance, then it was worth it.

            “By the way,” Pasha continued. “Did you know that if you donate just a little money to this wild life reserve I heard about you could save an endangered tiger? I’d be for a good cause.”

            “Are you for real? Don’t you have some coffee to make or something?” Geez, give an inch and she’ll walk all over you.

            “Oh, all right.” She hummed a chipper tune while she walked toward the break room. Her heart was in the right place but the girl was straight nuts.

            I sighed and continued my walk toward the stairs. Speaking of Earl, his court date is coming up soon. He’s up for two murder charges, assault with a firearm, battery, and two counts attempted murder. I hope they send him to jail for the rest of his life.

            Naturally, Johnny and I will have to testify in court. Earl didn’t even try to deny his crimes. They caught him red handed. Standing over me with a gun loaded with bullets that matched the one they pulled out of Johnny and the one that took Karalyn’s life. He was toast and he knew it.

            When I got to the top floor, my body adjusted callously from the comfort of central heating air to the harsh heat. Johnny was standing on a short ladder with his hands busy tinkering with the insides of the broken AC unit. About a month ago, Johnny had walked into Taste Teas and let slip that he spent time up North as a painter.

            Thrilled by this I asked him to paint over the ugly red messages left on the wall of my office and my bedroom. He agreed, for a price. He thought he was finished with me and could finally move on, but then he let slip that he’d briefly worked at an air conditioning repair company in Texas. Overjoyed I asked him to fix the unit here at Taste Teas, and he agreed to for only one hundred and twenty dollars; plus tea. He calls it an annoyingly persistent discount.