The Initial Insult - Mindy McGinnis Page 0,45
screen, and I don’t have my library card with me, so I go back up to the front desk, to the Nice to pity you smile.
“Hi, I don’t have my library card with me and I need to use a computer, so can you sign in for me, or something? My name is Tress.”
It’s a lot. You forget how to talk to people when you’re mostly only talking to animals.
“Hello, Tress,” the librarian says. “I know you. Do you remember me?”
Of course she knows me. It’s Amontillado. And yes, I remember her. Her name is Cindy. She’s got some gray hair now and a few wrinkles. Must’ve gotten married, that’s what Cecil would say.
“We can get you a new card,” Cindy says, typing away at her computer.
“I don’t need a new card,” I tell her. “I have a card. I used to come here, before.”
Before something happened.
“Yes.” Cindy taps away, not looking up at me. “But your card would have expired. They expire if they haven’t been used in a year, and I haven’t seen you here since . . .”
Since something happened.
“Well, it’s been more than a year,” Cindy finishes.
I don’t say anything. We stand there in silence until she must find something super interesting on her computer because she says, “There it is!” much too loudly.
Heads turn. They turn and see me and pity me.
“Yes.” Cindy clears her throat. “It looks like your card has expired and . . .” Her eyes are moving over the screen, which I can see reflected in her glasses, some red type standing out. It probably says I have library books that are years overdue. It probably says that I don’t have parents. It probably says, Be really, really polite to this girl because we all feel sorry for her. Cindy punches some buttons and the red writing disappears, my lost books and overdue fines and damaged materials washed away in a wave of pity.
There’s a new card in my hand, hard and shiny. I log on to a computer in the corner, one tucked away where no one can see what I’m doing. Where no one can see that I’m googling my parents. The first thing that pops up is a story from the Amontillado Alerter.
That’s a dumbass thing to call a paper. That’s what Cecil says.
No clues in missing couple case
Police are asking for the public’s help in their continued search for Lee and Annabelle Montor, who went missing from their home this past Saturday night. Anyone with information regarding their whereabouts is asked to call the hotline printed below. There are no more details to share at this time.
Not on the Amontillado Alerter site . . . I can just imagine the editor chewing her lip and deciding what she could print and what she couldn’t. The facts were scarce—my mom and dad left home with Felicity in the car, and they never came back. Felicity was found in her nightgown by the riverbank, soaking wet, concussed and bleeding. But she was a minor, and I’m sure the Turnados fought like hell to keep her identity out of the limelight. The editor wouldn’t have been able to print much without wandering into the realm of pure gossip. But it’s a small town and I don’t need the newspaper to get details. There are plenty of those on social media. The Amontillado Block Watch page is particularly helpful.
I heard they found the girl down by the river.
She was still at home. Their daughter is the one that called the cops when they didn’t come back. Dumbass. Don’t spread rumors.
Other girl . . . dumbass.
Page Admin here, reminding everyone to keep it friendly.
He was plenty friendly, if you know what I mean. Came back to bite him in the ass, if you ask me.
Nobody did.
Why the woman? Why kill his wife? You better stop running your mouth before somebody shuts it for you.
Page Admin here, there is no proof the couple in question is dead, and no proof of foul play. Please can we keep to the facts?
What facts? Nobody knows shit. Poof. They gone.
And it’s Lee and Annabelle Montor, Jesus. We all know it. Why bother saying “the couple in question?”
Lee and Annabelle AND Jesus? Things are getting rough around here. ROTFL
You’re making jokes? People are dead. It’s not funny.
WE DON’T KNOW ANYBODY DIED
WE DON’T KNOW THEY DIDN’T
Srsly? Come on, people. They’re gone. Their car is gone. Their kid was left at home alone. The other kid was found on