Joey's Place

Prelude

Prelude

June 1993
Edge lake, WI.

"We better get back, son. The sun is going down soon."

"Just a little longer? Please, dad?"

"Ten more minutes."

The young boy, not quite ten, looked up at his dad. Hope was shining in his soulful brown eyes, well, what could be seen of them anyhow. His overgrown ashy brown hair was hanging in his face as usual.

"Five minutes, son." A soft smile crossed the man's face, and his hazy blue-grey eyes were warm as he regarded the boy.

Andrew Cooper had been begging his dad, Joey, to take him fishing for weeks now. His dad had been so busy at his bar, Joey's Place; he never had the time. Finally, Joey had managed to get the bar covered and a day off so that they could have a day at the lake, just the two of them.

They'd had such a great day. Andrew had caught nearly five fish and was through the moon with excitement. Five more minutes was everything to the excited boy as he got ready to cast again. He was getting good at it and had been enjoying showing off to his dad. His dad's mobile phone rang, then and broke up the moment.

Joey frowned, looking at the mobile for a moment before answering the call.

"Valerie, I told you not to call anymore."

Valerie? Andrew wondered who that could be. His mom's name was Emma. None of the ladies that worked with his dad at the bar have that name either.

"Lizzy! What's wrong, sweetheart?" Joey was standing and quickly gathering their things. Andrew took his cue and got up to help. Although he was upset about leaving, he was curious about who his dad was talking to.

"Come along, Andy." Joey motioned for him to follow and was nearly running to the car. Andrew hated that nickname. It sounded like a little kid's name, and he was not a little kid anymore. However, he could see that it wasn't the time to argue about it.

"It's okay, sweetie. It's going to be okay. I will be there real soon." Joey was still talking to someone when they got in. He hung up before he put the keys in and started the car.

Andrew silently buckled up and glanced at his dad. His jaw was set in a tense line, and his eyes looked upset. His knuckles were white because they gripped the steering wheel so hard.

"Dad, what's going on?" Andrew asked but didn't get an answer.

They drove down Main Street, and Andrew wondered if they were going to the bar. Maybe he missed that someone who worked there was named Valerie or Lizzy. They went right past the bar, though, and down an ally. There was a small block right after the alley that Andrew hadn't seen before. It had three houses on one side of a real beat-up old road and two on the other. The sidewalks were all full of cracks and stuff.

His dad parked in front of a shabby-looking house at the end of the corner. The white paint was peeling everywhere. One of the windows was broken and had a trash bag over it. The yard was littered with toys and overgrown. Who would his dad know that he would live in a house like this?

Andrew followed Joey to the door and noticed he didn't even knock. He just walked right into the house. They walked into a kitchen, and Andrew nearly gagged. It smelled so bad. Dishes were piled high in the sink, empty beer bottles were everywhere, and the garbage overflowed. Andrew plugged his nose as he followed his dad to the next room.

His eyes widened when they walked in. A woman was lying on the floor in the middle of the room on a shaggy brown carpet. Her face was ashen, and her eyes looked weird. She was mumbling things that Andrew didn't understand. Next to her sat a teary-eyed little girl with tangled dark brown hair and a red nose from crying.