Finding Camden

Chapter Seven

There it was. A wooden sign. Barely noticeable because of the darkness.  The wood had been split and raw looking in places. It was big. VICTOR, FLORIDA. POPULATION: 1021. We pulled over. Few buildings we haphazardly scattered around the village like area. No one was really...there. I could not see Camden wanting to go to a small little cooped up area. A gas station to the left of the sign had been demolished. There were few houses. Maybe twenty at the most. It was creepy.  Lights were  few also. Porch lights and some smaller lights  located inside. We pulled back onto the road and cruised around to find the police station that we'd hoped for. There was one. It was tiny and looked like it was most likely, no use. We parked my car and walked over to it.

"Think anyone's in there?" Darrell whispered. I was clueless why he was being so secretive in this abandoned area.

"I dunno, maybe? It looks like there might be a light on in there." I marched up the steps and knocked. Right on the last tap, the door jolted open.

"May I help ya''ll?" A thick older man opened the door. He had a beard but his head was mostly...hairless.

"Yeah, hi." Darrell stepped over to my right side. He pulled me closer to him. Why was he being protective? The guy wasn't that frightening other than that is breath smelled like he ate from a dumpster.

"And how's that?" The man had a thick southern accent. He's voice was deep and firm.

"Our friend. We were hoping you could maybe... Help us find him."

"Come in."

 He led us inside. It was dusty and reeked of mildew. He had a light on at his desk. He had a tobacco spit cup on the right side of the desk. He gestured us to sit down. We did.

"So what's your friends name?" He folded his hands on the desk. His fingers in twined with the corresponding one.

"Camden Young." Darrell stared coldly at the man.

"Ah, yes. Reverend said he rented an apartment out here to him. He said he moved to Barring  the other day." I sighed  and buried my face in my hands. I was hoping that this little hunt for him was about to end. But it clearly wasn't.

"Where's that?" Darrell decided he would do most of the talking.

"Ah, maybe about an hour east of here. A little town. I can call Reverend tomorrow mornin' if ya'll would like."

"Why not now?"

"He's probably in bed right now sir."

"Does it look like I give two right now?"

"Sir.."

"We don't have time for poking around!" Darrell raised his voice. Chunky listened. He dialed the number.

"Hello? Yes, I know it's very late... Could you stop by? Oh, well I have a few kids here asking about Camden Young you told me about... Yep, I did tell them about that... You would? Alright... Have a nice night sir." The man set the phone back down and ran his hands over his face before he spoke.

"Well, Reverend is going to call him. He's going to ask him about how he's doing and where he is. But, he is calling tomorrow. So I am afraid ya'll have to stay the night here." He raised his eyebrows.

"Okay." I said. I stood up and walked out. I knew this would be a dead end. I walked out to the car and slept in the back seat that night.

***

I have to admit, it was chilly. It is late November so it's only about 56 degrees outside. When the sun was barely up, we started the car and searched for a diner or something. Luckily, we did. A little diner called Baron's. We were greeted and steered to a booth. An elder lady was our waitress.

"It's were everyone comes to eat anymore."  She offered a smile and pulled a small notepad out of her apron. Her hair was pulled into a tight bun. It was a pale white, like a sick child's skin color.

"What would you like to eat this mornin' my friends?"

"Do you have eggs & bacon?" I asked the lady. Her name tag said Denise.

"We sure do. Orange juice, milk, tea, or water dear?"

"Orange juice." She nodded towards Darrell and he agreed upon orange juice, also. Danise  left to command our orders to the cooks.

"I don't think we'll find him now." I said bluntly.

"I think we will."

"We have moved around so much already. Trying to find his house or wherever he is staying in a bigger area, just says we won't find him."

I gaze out the window we were seated at. Birds flying freely and chirping. Happy and free. They felt free. I wondered if Camden felt free. Like a bird.We only had a few days until we had to go home. Five to be exact. Shortly, the waitress came. She set down our plates. They were white with blue designs on them. She then set down our receipt and left. While we devoured our breakfast, Darrell looked uneasy. We sat in peace while the tension of  awkwardness grew tighter. It stayed quiet until we got in the car.

"I don't understand why Camden left. At all." Darrell said while he ran his fingers through his hair.

"Well, neither do I. Hopefully, we'll find out sometime soon." It was roughly 10:30 and decided to see the officer. We pulled in the gravel and parked.  I stepped outside into the crisp autumn like air. It was windy which made my skin feel bitter. I was wearing jeans and a light jacket, which wasn't much help. I could feel the breeze through the jacket.

We walked up to the porch steps. Darrell rapped on the door and it opened with a croaking noise. The officer gestured us inside  the melancholic  office. Darrell & I sat down into the uncomfortable chairs while the police man sat down into this black spinney chair. It wasn't until just now he had a name plaque on his desk. His name appeared to be Officer Roy. It was engraved to cold metal. We finally got to business. Well after he popped some dip in his mouth. I was quite disgusted. It smelled horruble.

"Reverend said that Camden was doing well and that he thinks he might settle down there in Barring." Officer Roy leaned back in his chair and set his hands on his bald shiny head.

"And...? That's it...?" I said. I already felt my blood pressure spike.

"No, calm down. He also said he lives in the apartments. But, he did not say which one. The are two apartment buildings in Barring, so that kinda narrows it down. But not much. Barring is pretty big,  very populated. And, that's about it." He nods his head when he finished talking and sighed.

"Yeah, it does, but it means going apartment to apartment and door to door." I say.

I focus on looking outside. We did figure out that he wasn't abducted. Or at least I've known that for a while. But how are we going to find him in a sea of people that exist in that town? We accepted the little bit of information and decided to head off in a few hours. I hope and hope that he's okay. That he'll explain that he missed me, that he was sorry. Especially, that he would explain why he left.