so it goes

The call came in right before the library was going to close for Thanksgiving at 5 o'clock. Oliver had been trying to figure out every-one's holiday schedule. It seemed it was going to be spread thin, but that was nothing unusual. He'd just have to make the best of it and try to be as happy as he could be. Sometimes, he thought this job was all about acting and nothing else. He couldn't let it show the stress he was under, the thought he really wasn't sleeping at night. Nor the fact there was a headache pulsing in the lower part of his head and slid down his neck to the small of his back. He could only wonder just how much longer he could take it. When would he drop? Would it be today?

The city police asked if he'd seen his sister as if she might be there in the library looking for a mystery book.

"No, no I haven't. I would have called if I had." Oliver closed his eyes wondering what the bad news would be in the next breath.

"It seems her boyfriend thinks she's dead in the trunk of his car, but we didn't find anything."

"He doesn't know where he left her?" He said the words slowly trying to make sense of what was being said. He just stared at the big desk calender where he was sitting. A cold chill stung him. "Who is he?"

"Raymond, " Oliver caught the first name but not the last. He remembered a Ray. Maybe. It had been some time ago. He was much older. A drunk that she met at a bar, maybe it was at the liquor and cigarette store where she used to work. They went that far back. And now it at ended to what Oliver thought..years ago. Although, he couldn't make out when it ended. Was it when he last heard from her or last night?

"But we haven't found a body," the police officer said, "We really have no reason to believe there was ever a body in the trunk of his car, anyway."

"What do you mean?" Were they going to just let this drunk man go?

"His family is picking him up for rehab. We'll keep him over night."

Oliver didn't say another word. He just hung up. It didn't seem fair to him, they could keep some people in jail for days and somebody like this drunk could get out tomorrow.

He hated Thanksgiving, and he really wanted to have something to be thankful about this year, if Bex would let him.

Just then she came in from the breakroom. "Guess what?" She looked pleased. "Mom's invited us over for Thanksgiving."

"Isn't that just lovely." He did his best to put on his happy face, but he felt bitter inside.