The Monster Within by Jeremy Laszlo Page A

Mexican. It feels like half of this city is full of Mexicans. I shake my head and look around the interior of the station, expecting that there would be a little more than just two cops. Why did they just send one car? A man fucking put a gun to my head and the police send one car? What was that all about?
    God, was his name Sanchez or something like that? Why can’t I remember anything? I look at him as if he’s a ghost. My whole world feels different. I think it’s the adrenaline or the shock of everything starting to wear off, but I definitely do not feel normal. I feel like I’m going to throw up, or cry, or something. There’s something wrong with me. Did I die in the shooting? Am I alive? I look at the officer “No,” I say to him in a hollow voice that doesn’t sound like my own. Is this all they’re going to do for me? Is this everything they can do for me? What if he comes back? What if he puts that gun to my head again and this time he pulls the trigger?
    I look over to where Courtney is seated while the second officer, a white guy with a buzz cut, is interviewing Mr. Chen and getting whatever information they think they can gleam from that worthless piece of trash. The moment he came barging through those doors, twenty minutes before the police finally decided to show up, he was threatening me with pay cuts until the money I lost was paid back. Forget catching the guy and getting the money back legally, no, he was just going to dock my pay. This is my life now. That’s fine. I don’t think I’m going to be coming back to work again. How can I bring myself to return to this place? It’s hell. I almost died here.
    Courtney isn’t nearly as shaken up as I am. I’d forgotten about her completely for a while, calling her out of the back room after already having called Mr. Chen and the police. She’s sitting in a chair looking at me with sad, concerned eyes. We rehearsed our story before Mr. Chen got here. She would be standing just out of sight of the camera, looking at the condoms because she and Tommy were going to get busy tonight. When the gunman showed up, she passed out in terror. It was the only way to make it look like she wasn’t a threat when the gunman ordered me to empty the register. She didn’t like the idea of sounding like a fainter but I told her that the police would bring questions and those questions will have answers that might make their way back to Tommy. At that point, she agreed to say anything that I told her. She’d looked away from me when she said she was sorry. I wonder if she still sees me as a man. Maybe when this is done and I get my mind right, I can have another go at her, but not now.
    Outside, the sun has pretty much evaporated into the horizon and darkness has descended upon the world beyond the glass front I’m so used to staring out. The billboard that serves as the welcoming sign to Whispering Hills is illuminated by two of five lights that are supposed to be working. There’s nothing appealing about the porch lights that buzz in hues of pale blue and harsh orange. I’m going to go home soon and I’m going to be stuck in that trailer with Mom and her hacking. There will be no club tonight, no Courtney, no anything. I look over at Courtney and she offers me a soft, sad sort of smile.
    “What about the car?” the officer asks me. “Did you get a license plate?”
    “No,” I shake my head. “I was pretty worked up by all of this and when I saw Courtney on the ground, she was my first priority.”
    “That’s totally understandable,” the officer nods to me. “What about a description? Do you remember what it looked like?”
    “No,” I shake my head again. “Mr. Chen has a whole bunch of cameras outside that work. They must have picked it up.”
    “Yeah,” the officer grins. “He’s got a whole bunch outside, but only one inside. Not the brightest bulb in the box.”
    I smile and Courtney laughs softly. The officer looks at her and his eyes