Page 96 of Road Queens
“So you found out she was back, and there you were, right here in this park,” Amanda continued. “You wasted no time getting in her face. Why’d you even care?”
“I don’t give a fuck about any of you.”
Sidney let out a sharp bark of laughter. “Cut the shit, you’ve been crushing on Cass since middle school. And she did worse than reject you; she ignored you.”
“To be fair, I had a lot on my plate back then.”
“Shush, Cass! And you hated it when she helped me get the bike you wanted. You were acting like a jealous spouse despite the fact that you’re single and, I imagine, will remain that way until you eventually succumb to hypothermia because you wear sleeveless vests in Wisconsin winters. When did you find out Sonny had been storing her Commando?”
Good question. The Manners clan stuck together, mostly because the rest of the town couldn’t stand (most of) them. And Amanda found it telling that Sonny had kept that Commando a secret for five years.
“And when,” Sidney continued, looking at Manners like he was a bundle of rotten eggs, nicotine, and denim, “did you decide to kill Franklin Donahue and frame Cass for it?”
“Who the hell is—”
“Jonny Frank, Jonny Frank, fucking Jonny Frank!” Sidney howled.
“What?”Jeff looked at them, now in a half circle surrounding him. “Jesus, fuck, I didn’t kill anybody! And I didn’t touch your piece-of-shit bike.”
“It’s a Norton Commando, and they’re made in England, you clot,” Amanda snapped.
“Beat me to it,” Cassandra remarked. Then: “‘Clot’? What is that, some kind of British diss?”
“I’ll explain what clots are to you later, Cassandra.”
“I know what a clot is, Amanda. I’ve just never heard you use it as an expletive.”
“You don’t know anything about anything, Mr.Manners?”
“Fuck right, I don’t!”
Amanda managed to stifle her laugh.Can’t believe he said that out loud.
“So if we dust the bike for prints, yours won’t be anywhere on it. Right, Mr.Manners?”
There was a long pause while they all watched Jeff try to pick one lie and run with it.
“I—it’s my bro’s shop. I’m in there alla time, maybe I touched it or something, I dunno.”
“Or something”? Eww. Also, that’s just as good as a confession. At least as far as I’m concerned.
“But what was your motive for murder?” Amanda asked. “Just to bring weight down on Cassandra?”
“I told you, I didn’t kill anybody. You think I give a shit about Jonny Frank or Franklin Jonny or whoever the fuck?”
“Maybe not, but youdogive a shit about messing with Cassandra. And when you saw a chance, you grabbed it.”
His hands were up like he was being arrested. Appropriate! “Swear to fuckin’ God, I didn’t kill anybody.”
If it’s an act, it’s a good one.
“You wereseen, Mr.Manners. There are witnesses.”
Manners seemed to suddenly remember he wasn’t on trial nor under arrest nor obligated to submit to an interrogation in a public restroom. He shoved his way through them until he reached Amanda, who felt grumpy and disinclined to move. His shoulder thudded against her, and she stumbled, then straightened in time to see Sean stretch out a long arm, catch Manners by the back of his shirt, and bounce him off a stall door.
“Touch her again,” he said with terrifying calm, “and you’ll be pissing blood all weekend.”
Sidney smirked and glanced at Amanda, and as usual, Amanda knew what her friend was thinking:Okay, that shit was pretty cool.
