The Truth About Kadenburg Read Online Free Page B

she
picked up an empty dispenser to clean. “Yes, Ma’am,” she nodded. Sheesh. Nana Hettie always seemed to be nice to everyone except for Presley, and she
just didn’t understand why that was. Presley hadn’t done anything to her as
far as she knew. Then again, she hadn’t really been the poster child for teenagers
in Kadenburg.
    Presley didn’t like to think about how stupid and
reckless her behavior was back then. She had gone through a terrible phase of
wild hormones and the need to rebel against society. Maybe she’d done a
few things that tarnished her name, but it wasn’t like she murdered anybody!
    The first two hours on the job of being a waitress at
Nana Hettie’s diner passed fairly quickly. The breakfast crowd filed in for
their usual meals-as if they expected Presley to read their minds-and then they
were gone, leaving behind an hour’s worth of messes for her to clean up.
    It’s money, she reminded herself. The sooner
you save up, the sooner you can get out of here. She could do this. It
wasn’t so bad. She’d done factory work before and that had been bad.
She really admired the people who could do such a repetitive task all day,
every day. Waitressing was definitely the luxury job to have in Kadenburg. It
was the only motivation she needed. The rest of her five hour shift passed in
nearly the blink of an eye and then she was heading out the door.
    She didn’t want to head straight back to her Uncle
Arnold’s just yet. The evening was young as far as she was concerned and even
though the town rolled up its streets by 8pm on any given day of the week,
Presley was determined to find somewhere to pass the time.
    One drink wouldn’t hurt , she thought as she pulled
into the parking lot of Jimbo’s. Jimbo’s was the only bar in Kadenburg and
Presley wasn’t a stranger to the smoky atmosphere of drunken men. As soon as
she was legal, she made it a weekend ritual to take up fort in the small
building, shooting pool with men who thought they could play, and
listening to the country classics such as Hank Sr. and Johnny Cash. Sometimes,
it was the only thing a girl could find to do when she lived in a hick town.
    This is a bad idea, the more reasonable voice
echoed in her mind. Don’t rely on old habits.
    Presley rolled her eyes, ignoring her own voice of
reason, as she killed the engine and got out of her car, making sure the doors
were locked before she walked towards the entrance. The bright green neon sign
overhead flickered. The ‘J’ was dark-someone needed to fix that. It was only
going to be one drink. That’s all she needed, a little something to help her
relax for the evening. She deserved it after slaving away in the diner anyway,
didn’t she? That was the argument she was going to go with. One drink
wouldn’t hurt anything.
    Once she was inside and seated at the bar, Presley
gazed around to see if there was anyone she recognized. Kadenburg was an
extremely small town, but there were still travelers who passed through and
made the bar their home during their stay. She couldn’t imagine why anyone would actually want to stay there, even for a short amount of time.
Aside from the old drive-in theater, there was nothing else to serve as
entertainment for the locals; let alone people travelling.
    When she didn’t see anyone she recognized among the
small crowd of faces, Presley turned her attention back to the bartender who
gave her a big grin.
    “Presley Goult, back in town to raise some hell?” He
asked with a chuckle. He placed a cold beer bottle in front of her before he
moved back to the small sink to wash some glasses.
    “Who, me?” Presley laughed as she lifted the bottle for
a drink. “Would I do that, Jim?”
    The older male turned his head to gaze at her over his
shoulder, shaking his head slowly as he chuckled. “You’ve still got a mighty
prestigious reputation around here, young lady. One that nobody else will ever
live up to.”
    Presley took a large sip of her