Chapter 8

Blue and red streams of light flashed periodically over the solemn faces of the three young women as they observed the mess of emergency vehicles in the restaurant’s parking lot. They watched the two coroners lift the body bags containing the recently deceased men into the back of the van. Quinn gave an involuntary shiver as she hugged her arms and turned to Daria.

“What happened?” she asked quietly.

“One of the kitchen staff decided to take a dip in the deep fryer, as you can see he didn’t fare so well,” Daria turned to Quinn, and caught the uneasy look on her face. Daria mentally chastised herself, ‘Note to self, don’t take such a casual approach to dead people; normal people get upset when someone dies.’

Before Daria had a chance to make amends for her offhand comment, Quinn laughed.

“I suppose not,” Quinn said, her tone more relaxed than Daria had anticipated. “Were you still going to The Zen? Jane said to meet her there at eight-ish.”

Georgia shot a warning look toward Daria, “Morgan, can I have a word?” Georgia said.

“Uh, sure.” Daria replied; she knew exactly what Georgia was going to say.

Daria followed Georgia to a distance far enough away from Quinn that they were out of earshot.

“Daria,” Georgia started.

“Look George, I know what you’re going to say. I don’t care.” Daria said firmly and turned to go.

“Just… Just be careful okay? I don’t want you to get on Rube’s bad side,”

“Then Rube isn’t going to know about it, is he.” Daria replied haughtily, she wasn’t going to be talked out of this. She felt a pang of guilt grip her insides as she saw the concerned expression on Georgia’s face.

“Just be careful, I’ll see you at home Daria.” Georgia said quietly as she turned and walked to her car.

***

Scuffed footsteps sounded out into the quiet street as Quinn and Daria casually strolled in the direction of The Zen.

Daria glanced at Quinn, a concerned frown etched into her features, “Are you okay? Things were pretty overwhelming back there,” she said as she directed her attention back to the road ahead.

Quinn shrugged, “Yeah, I didn’t see anything but I doubt I’d be too shaken about it if I did,”

“What do you mean?” Daria asked.

“I guess I’ve been desensitized to sudden deaths,” she cast her gaze to Daria. “If this happened a couple of months ago, I’d probably be beside myself, but now…” Quinn trailed off and looked down at her feet.

Daria studied Quinn; her arms drawn protectively around her middle, a forlorn expression on her face. It was obvious Quinn wasn’t taking everything as coolly as she was letting on.

“What happened?” Daria prodded gently, sensing Quinn’s need to talk.

Quinn looked up at Daria, she shook her head and smiled quickly. “It’s a long story; you don’t want to know about it, besides you barely know me,”

“Try me,” Daria smiled.

Quinn took a deep breath, “A couple of months ago someone close to me died, my sister. It was a freak accident at school, everyone saw it,” she paused a drew a ragged breath, “It was my fault, I,”

“What? How was it your fault?” Daria interjected.

“It was my idea to have the expo, I was the one who enlisted three witless buffoons to set up the props…She’d still be alive if I had just done things differently,”

“You don’t honestly think that do you? Quinn, how could you have possibly know what would happen, you didn’t plan the event with the knowledge that it would end with your sister’s demise,”

Quinn sniffed, “I know but, if she didn’t…if she was still alive my life wouldn’t be as messed up as what it is,”

Daria flinched inwardly, ‘Messed up? What had happened in the last eight weeks since my death?’

Quinn glanced at Daria and continued as if reading her mind. “After Daria’s death my parents kind of lost it. My Mom threw herself into her work, eighteen hour days; I never saw her. My dad sort of just, checked out. He spent,” Quinn paused, a slight scowl burrowed into her brow, “spends,” she corrected bitterly, “Most of his days on the sofa, lying in his own filth,” Quinn’s tone had gotten progressively harder.

Daria looked at her uneasily; she had no idea what Quinn had been going through. Quinn continued before Daria had time to offer her sympathies.

“At first I thought Mom’s new enthused attitude to work was just her way of coping, but then Tom died and his parents implored the firm to have her handle their case, now she’s worse than ever!” Quinn scoffed.

“How… How’s your Dad?” Daria stuttered, hopeful that her tone didn’t show the desperation she felt.

“He’s slowly progressing through the grieving stages but now with the divorce,”

“Divorce?” Daria asked incredulously.

“Yeah, it all came to a head this morning; I think they’re really serious this time. I knew that their relationship had been strained for a while,” Quinn smiled mournfully, “It was one of the last things Daria and I talked about, she always knew what to say to make me feel better. We were never really that close, which is what I feel most guilty about; I never got a chance to tell her that I really loved her, never had the chance to apologize for ignoring her at school, and never had a chance to really be sisters.”

Daria felt the warm sting of threatening tears as Quinn spoke. Daria looked down at the footpath, “I’m sure she knew how you felt, even if you only showed it sometimes… Is that why you quit that Fashion Club thing at the funeral?” Daria asked tentatively.

Quinn nodded, “Sort of. Daria’s death really put things in perspective for me, and suddenly things that had been important to me seemed trivial. I realized there was more to life than discussing the new season’s colors and hem-lines, there has to be. I want to be a better person, not the vapid fashion clone I was when I was in that club; those girls aren’t nice people, and they brought out the worst in me. I need real friends that like me for me. I at least want to achieve something I can be proud of by the time I die, and Daria’s sudden death has shown me it might be a lot sooner than I think.”

Daria felt a small smile tug at the corner of her mouth as a sense of pride filled her from with-in. “You’re not as bad of a person as you think you are and I’m sure your sister is proud of you, but remember not to get carried away.”

“You know you’re probably right, she would say something like that,” Quinn smiled, “You know you and her would have gotten along pretty well.”

“Mmm,” Daria nodded and looked up; they stood at the front doors of The Zen.

***

“Mr. O’Neill is dead?” Jane’s eyes widened as she took in the information. “Quinn are you okay?”

“I’m fine, I wasn’t there,”

Jane and Quinn were seated at one of the booth seats on the side wall of The Zen, waiting for Morgan to return with their drinks. They were using the time of relative silence before Mystik Spiral began their set to talk.

Jane’s brow furrowed, “I thought you said you were working?”

“I was, but I was lucky; Morgan said I looked like I needed a break, so I took it early.”

“Oh… Wait, what was Morgan doing there?” she asked suspiciously.

“She had to see…oh no, I forgot to ask her. I spent that whole time rambling on and,”

“Quinn, what are you talking about?”

“Morgan came to the restaurant to speak to Dewey Rogers she must of known him,”

“Shaggy from school? Wait didn’t you say he…”

“Yeah, in the deep fryer. I never asked if she was okay; we spent the whole walk talking about my problems.” Quinn looked up and spotted Morgan balancing three glasses of soda in her hands as she returned to the table. She set them down awkwardly and took a seat.

“I forgot to ask if you were okay after all that stuff at the restaurant,” Quinn started, placing a hand on Daria’s arm.

“I’m fine,” Daria answered.

“But, you lost a friend tonight, holding it in isn’t-”

“Friend?” Daria’s eyes widened, “Dewey… I ah, he wasn’t a friend,”

“But you were there to see him, weren’t you?” Jane asked suspiciously.

“Yeah… It was for my friend, Mason. He wanted me to buy some pot for him.” Daria stuttered quickly.

“Oh,” Jane and Quinn replied in unison, it was common knowledge that Dewey 'Shaggy' Rogers was a stoner.

The sound of Trent’s voice pulled all three girls attention to the stage. “We're Mystic Spiral, but we're thinking of changing the name.”

Daria smiled at Trent now signature opening, “Some things never change.” She said quietly, not realizing it had been loud enough for Jane to hear.

Jane’s brow furrowed as she scrutinized Morgan; something didn’t sit right, there was about Morgan made her feel uneasy, and until she figured out exactly what that something was, she wasn’t going to trust her.