The mumbling and ranting continue as Katy drives us to the storage unit. I sit my butt in the back seat and pretend to not understand what’s going on. Truth is, I haven’t been in Pelican Bay for long, but at times it’s like I’ve lived here my whole life. I’m assuming there’s a history.
“It’s not that outrageous, Katy,” Winnie says.
Katy’s eyes widen, and she stares at Winnie like she’s grown a third head. “It’s outrageous. I’m always blamed for things.”
“You ran your car in that cornfield senior year.”
Katy scoffs like she can’t believe Winnie has the audacity to bring that up. “That was an accident, and no charges were filed.”
Winnie doesn’t respond, but Katy continues to stare her friend down.
“Did you know about this?”
Winnie lifts a hand to her chest. “Of course not. I’m just saying stranger things have happened around here.”
“I bet you this is Pierce’s fault.”
“Oh look, we’re here,” I say although we’re still fifteen feet away from the turn off for the storage buildings.
Katy looks to the backseat, her attention no longer trying to silence Winnie with her laser eyes but instead focused on me although her expression changes to a smile. “Do you need help going through boxes to find it?”
“No, I remember right where the box is.” It holds all my special memories from Emma so I didn’t want it to go on the moving truck and instead brought it over my car. The box was one of the last things left in the storage unit. It should be super easy to find.
Winnie makes the turn to the parking lot, and I give her directions to locker 102 toward the back of the fenced-off area. It’s not a huge storage unit, but it holds most of my belongings right now. When you think about how my whole life can fit in this little ten-by-twenty space, it’s kind of sad. I can’t wait to find some place permanent in Pelican Bay and grow roots here.
“Your neighbor’s door is open,” Katy says as she gets out of the car and walks to the open unit next to mine. The storage unit has its garage door wide open, but no one seems to be around.
“Maybe they had to go to the office for something,” I say, stretching down to the ground to unlock my door. The key on my padlock always sticks and I’m forced to pull it in and out, jiggling it around before the padlock pops open.
Winnie stands behind me, blocking my light and watching me fumble with the lock. “Katy, you can’t just walk into someone’s storage unit.”
“I just want to see what they have in here.”
Winnie shakes her head. “Katy has boundary issues.”
“Clearly,” I pant, pushing open the heavy storage door.
“She doesn’t always listen well either.”
I need Winnie’s help to get the door all the way up since I don’t want to put too much weight on my ankle. “I haven’t noticed,” I lie.
“Um, guys,” Katy yells, backing out of the storage unit.
Winnie stiffens and drops her hands, leaving me holding the weight of the door alone. “What?”
“It’s full of drugs.” Katy stands a few feet from the open storage unit, her eyes never wavering from the middle of the room. “A whole stack in the middle.”
Winnie walks over to Katy without getting close the door and does her best to peek inside. “What is?” she asks as if she doesn’t believe her.
I forget all about Emma’s baby book and join the pair while not getting too close to the open unit.
“All those banana boxes are full of white stuff wrapped in cellophane.” Katy points at a stack of banana boxes nine or ten high sitting in the middle of the storage unit. The rest of the area around it is empty.
“How do you know what drugs look like?” I ask.
Katy looks at me like I’m the dumb one. “I watch TV. Haven’t you ever seenScarface?”
“Are you sure?” Winnie asks, her voice filling with panic. “Huxley will freak.”
