#nepenthe chapter

Cream Cafe was a little less busy than usual, with only a few customers left talking and chatting about their days. Dee was hunched over her homework, trying to figure out what the hell all the numbers on her sheet were supposed to do. Math had never been her strong suit, and Peter was at work.

It was a typical spot for her. After school, she would grab her backpack and notebooks and walk to the cafe. Jack would usually make her a hot cocoa and point her towards a table in the back where she could work in peace—well, work in math hell.

… She looked up at the counter, where Jack was cleaning a mug and talking to a customer about a complaint. He looked tired. He usually was like that nowadays. It worried Peter, and a part of Dee wondered if it was why she didn’t get to stay with Jack too much anymore.

They made eye contact, and Jack signaled with his hand for her to wait and be patient. The customer went back to complaining that her coffee was too bitter, and he slowly reached over the counter and grabbed some sugar packets and cream. That seemed to placate the Karen, and she stormed off with a haughty sigh.

He moved around the counter, petting the fuzzy robot on the counter, Lumi. The store mascot. He then leaned against Dee’s table. “Hey.”

Dee looked up at him. “Yeah, I nee-“

“I need you out of here in ten minutes.” He interrupted her, snappy. “My boss is going to yell at me if you don’t get out. I know you’re family, but he’s a bitch about people loitering.”

The words didn’t exactly match the real meaning. Jack didn’t want Dee around at the moment. That was usually how it went.

“… I’ll just make it easier on you.” She just gathered her things. “Just gonna leave now.”

He took a breath, rubbing between his eyes in frustration. “Come on, Dee, you know I’m not trying to be mean–”

“I get it. I do. You don’t want to risk your job and all that.” Dee slung her bag over her shoulder. She didn’t wait for an answer or an explanation. She just walked out through the front door, putting some spare change in the tip jar as she left. 

Jack was like this more often than not nowadays. He pushed people he cared about away to focus on work… she worried for him. Was her being there in the cafe bothering him? Maybe she was overthinking things. That’s usually what happened. She had to remember that Jack had his own problems, and those problems didn’t always relate to her.

She went across the street to the auto shop, “Miller’s Gears and Shifts”. The man who owned it, Dave, usually gave her jobs and stuff so she could make some money and help out around the place. It paid decently well, he probably overpaid her, to be fair, but it still was nice to be able to do something that she was enjoying.

When she got in, she saw him hunched over the open hood of a car, focused and mumbling to himself. “Uh… Dave?” Dee called out, setting down her bag on a clean table.

“Yo, Dee.” He pointed to a stopwatch on a rolling cart. “Grab that and start it when I say so.”

“Why?” She still grabbed the black cord and her thumb hovered over the button.

“I’ll tell ya. Now go.”

Beep!

Dave got to work, suddenly ducking down and scrambling under the car, as his hands started working quickly, doing some stuff and making a really bad smell come from the car. Probably motor oil. “COME ON YOU BABY!”

He slid out from under when he was done, and Dee stopped the stopwatch. “Are you going to answer what that was for, or…?”

“I was goin’ for a world record on th’ fastest oil change. What was my time?”

She looked down at the screen. “Two minutes and six seconds?”

“FUUUCK!” He threw his wrench on the ground. “THAT’S 34 SECONDS OFF DUDE.” He finally looked at her. “Oh, shit, ya have schoolwork today? Uh, head to my office, less dirty ova there. I also got somethin’ for ya to help with.”

“... why do you want to set the world record for an oil change, anyway?” She set down the stopwatch and grabbed her backpack again, heading towards the office. She set down her stuff on the desk and went up to him.

“I wanna be able to like, say that I have the fastest oil changes around. And actually have the proof. Ya know?” He had gotten a power washer from the corner of the shop and put it in her hands. “There’s sum graffiti outside in the alley, some punk ass kids deciding to be emo and shit. I kinda need ya to wash it off. Careful with the chems, okay? Wear gloves?”

She nodded, grabbing the washer from him. She then headed out to the back alley and just went to work. As she sprayed over the wall, she couldn’t help but look over the weird design. Some sort of cross like thing with a snake curled around it. Maybe a gang symbol… 

It took a bit, but eventually, it was clean again. Dee went back inside, washing her hands, and Dave walked up and put $150 in her hand, which she pocketed. “Thanks, helps a lot with the business. No one wanna see that shit outside my place, ya know?”

“Yeah… thanks, Dave. Uh… are you any good at geometry?”

“I can try, it’s been a hot minute since I’ve done that shit.”

The two of them went into the office, Dee taking out the notebook and her folder, taking out her pencil and leaning over the paper. “So… it’s trying to find an inner angle of a triangle…”

“Oh, that shit’s easy, did your teacher tell ya bout the 180 thing?” 

“The what?” She looked up at him.

“Yea, 180 thing, where, ya know, all angles total 180?” He started rambling and explaining the math… which, well, Dee zoned out in the middle of it. “... ya ain’t listenin, are ya.”

“Um… no. Sorry.” She rubbed the back of her hand with her pencil. “This just goes way over my head.”

“This is why yer called Dee, for gettin’ Ds.” He grinned, a bit playful. His good eye crinkled as he poked her shoulder. “Who names their kid Dee, anyway?”

“Ah, uh, my first name is actually Delilah, everyone just calls me Dee. Something about it being cute and stuff.”

“Reeeally? Huh. I think I like Dee better either way. Suits ya.”

She smiled a bit, and then Dave walked her through the worksheet. After a while, Dave had a thought.

“I wanted to tell ya somethin. Yer a good kid, and I know ya can keep yerself safe… but I have sum advice.” He leaned back, but put a hand on her shoulder. “Ya need ta trust yer gut. If somethin’ feels wrong? You run the fuck away. You live again.”

Dee looked up at him. 

Silence.

Then, she broke it.

Math sucked. It really did. At least the two of them got it done, Dee struggling over the questions while Dave offered advice and yapped about random stuff. It was what they usually did. It was a welcome change to the grind of school. She wasn’t in the studying group because of the sounds of pencils scraping, which usually made her lose focus. The silence at home wasn’t helpful either, even though Caroline often came up with snacks and to check on Dee… 

The only distraction today was the thought of that graffiti. It had to be some sort of gang sign, she assumed. Was that some sort of tag? She was pretty sure her town was safe, but you never really knew. She closed her notebook, the papers making a soft thump.

“Hey… I can’t help but think… what was that graffiti for?” She leaned forward. “Are you, like, in danger or something? I-”

Dave quickly waved it off. “Dee, I’m fiiine! It’s all good! If it ever gets bad, I’ll tell ya, but for now, ya don’t need to worry about it. Kay?”

She made a small squeak as Dave reached out and ruffled her hair. “I get it, I get it… whatever you say, Dave…”

“Ya need me to grab ya food at all before ya go? McDonald’s isn’t too far and I don’t mind closing the shop for an hour.”

“Oh-!” She blinked. “That would be nice, actually… thanks, Dave.” The whole mess was still on her mind, but chicken nuggets were always good. 

“No problem, kiddo.” He gave her a grin, grabbing a piece of paper and scribbling out “closed for now” with a dying sharpie, taping it to the front of the shop. “Come on, let’s go then, huh?”

Dee nodded, and the two of them started walking. It was only a few blocks away, really. Their town was really walkable, which was good for her. She liked being able to go where she wanted without having to rely on a car… not that her family could afford a second car. Jack didn’t have a car either, as far as she knew. 

Dave held open the door for her, which recieved a small snort. “You don’t have to hold the door, I’m 16.”

“Someday you’re going to appreciate a door being held open when you’re carrying a heavy ass engine.”

“I’m not looking to go into being a mechanic, so there. Blehh.” A lie. Dee was planning on taking after Dave and learning under him, but that was a surprise for later.

He shrugged. “Still is nice.” He ordered himself a burger and Dee chicken nuggets, and they sat down to wait for their food.

“Ya know what I like? Moments like this. When yer older, yer gonna appreciate the quiet moments in life.” He leaned back in his chair, a small smile on his face. “It’s real nice to just breathe and not have to worry about anythin.”

“Really? Doing nothing is boring… school is boring…” Dee fidgeted with one of her gloves, running her thumb along the stripes.

“Boring will become real nice. Trust me on that. Comfort in the mundane, ya know?”

“I dunno…” She trailed off as their bag of food came, and she pulled out her fries. The two of them ate in silence, but Dave did mumble something before he ate. She couldn’t catch it over the chatter and beeps around them.

Either way, the food was nice. Being able to spend time with Dave was nice. He was like an uncle to Dee, although she was a bit too embarrassed to say that out loud. It wasn’t very likely that he would agree with all that, anyway… She said goodbye to him once they were done eating, thanking him over and over for his kindness. 

A week passed. Her life was still as boring as ever. Same routine of going to school, heading home, sometimes going to the cafe of Dave’s to work. It was Dave’s more often than not due to how Jack had brushed her off…

It was a Wednesday, but Peter was home. He was on the phone. “Yes, officer, he wasn’t at his apartment, either. It’s like he went and vanished without a trace. No, he didn’t show any signs of wanting to hurt himself, he didn’t even-”

“Peter?” Dee finally spoke up, and Peter raised a finger, telling her to be quiet.

“Yes. Thank you so much for your help, I just want to make sure he comes back safe. I’ll print out some posters and put them around town…” He nodded along to the person on the other end of the line. The police. Why was Peter calling the cops? Who was missing?

“What’s going on?” She moved forward as soon as he hung up and put his phone on the counter. 

“Jack’s work called me… he’s been a no show for three shifts, so I went out to check on him… He isn’t home, Dee, and I don’t know where the hell he could be.” He ran his hand through his hair. “I’m missing work for all this… god, I hope this is going to be worth it…”

“That can’t be true, he can’t have just disappeared. He would have told me at least! Or his boss, Steven… Maybe not Steven, he hates Steven… But you get it!” Dee shook her head. “The thing is, he would have told someone if he wanted to disappear! There would have been something at least, I know that he wouldn’t want to do something like this, not willingly. You know him too, Peter. You know he wouldn’t do this either.”

“He’s depressed, absent, an asshole to everyone around him, and drinks for fun. I don’t like what’s going on either, but he probably did something stupid and doesn’t want to face the consequences of his actions. That’s why I called the police, and that’s why I want him to get back safe. If he isn’t safe? He can stay with us for a bit.”

“And so, what, you’re just hoping the police can take care of it?” Her fists clenched. “No, I’m going to actually do something, because clearly you don’t care!”

“Dee, wait a moment-” Peter tried to reach out after her.

Dee didn’t listen. She stormed out of the house, slamming open the front door and then breaking into a run. She didn’t know where she was going, and she really didn’t care at the moment. All that she knew is that she was running into the forest. Somewhere she would go when she was upset.

She remembered when their mother had passed. She had ran then too. Running meant that you didn’t have to deal with all the problems. What Dave had said… it really did make sense. 

Her lungs were starting to burn, so she slowed and collapsed onto the mossy floor. She took a deep breath, smelling the dirt and the white lilies… 

Lilies?

She sat up slightly, reaching out towards one. Her fingers brushed against the soft petals, wondering why they were growing around here. Lilies didn’t usually grow in the area, right? 

She heard soft steps behind her, and turned around. A woman with white hair and a grey dress… white and black accents… 

“... What the fuck.” Dee furrowed her brow. “Who are you?”

“You seem to be a bit lost.” She didn’t answer the question, instead crouching down in front of Dee. “Not physically… mentally. Something is bothering you, dear.”

“I… My brother…”

The woman reached out and ran her fingers through Dee’s hair. They were cold. “Shh… you’re going to be okay. Tell me what’s going on, and take your time.

Dee nodded. “Um… His name is Jack, and apparently he hasn’t been to work in a while… Peter thinks he’s gone missing since he isn’t home, but there’s no way he could have gone missing…”

The woman gave a slow nod. “I see… and you’re worried for him, aren’t you?” Her hand didn’t leave Dee’s hair, still gently petting her head. “I can most likely help.”

“You never told me your name.”