Lock Ness and Shame

7

One hour ago Seamus O'Reilly and Vika Corbitte had wrestled a dead body from the trunk of a car; ten minutes later they'd packed it to the river. Five minutes after that they'd hoisted its deadweight into a john boat her parents kept tied to a rickety dock behind the cabin.

Shame could still hear the unhealthy whump! a head made when it collided with thick aluminum.

Vika had screamed then slapped a hand over her mouth, her eyes darting to Shame's to determine how angry she'd made him.

“It's okay. We're both a little jumpy,” he'd said, recalling his name being whispered by a laughing dead girl.

He closed his eyes. Gritting his teeth, Shame willed the memory away. One hour and forty five minutes ago that had been and still they were sitting on the riverbank, trying to ingest enough liquid courage to finish the job.

“Please Shame,” she whispered again, her voice sharp as broken glass.

“No!” He opened his eyes, swung his head around and stared at her. “We can't call. Not yet. Maybe...”

Vi waited, searching his eyes. He placated her.

“We'll call in the morning, okay?”

“Why not now?”

“We have to get our story straight, baby. I told you that already. We can't call until we do that or both our asses are grass. Do you wanna go to jail?”

“No!” she squeaked, shaking her head violently.

“Yeah, well, neither do I.”

Between chores Vi had complained, begging Shame to call the cops and tell them what had happened. As if. Shame might be many things but stupid had never topped the list.

“First thing, you promise?”

Vika sounded like a four year old, her voice small yet piercing. As she waited for assurance she rubbed the hem of her shirt with her thumb. Back and forth, back and forth, until Shame was sure she'd rub a hole right through it.

Gently he reached for it, stopping its constant motion.

“I promise,” he said, squeezing her fingers.

“Okay, so long as you promise,” she said then looked away. Her eyes fell on the boat and she shuddered. “Hand it here,” she said, holding out her hand in his direction.

Shame smiled and reached for the bottle beside him. When she took it, unscrewed the cap and tipped it to her lips Shame relaxed a bit.