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Mike tugged at his scarf, the spring air layering an uncomfortable warmth over his face and body; though he pulled his scarf up to cover his mouth once again anyway, and his aching legs were still wrapped in a thick layer of sweatpants. Spring was a miserable time of year, at least for the Korat. They didn’t use to be, mind you, however as he aged the blooming of the few flowers that Gravelwood had only brought him more disdain. Another thing that spring brought was the town fair, a habitual celebration of a place no one cared for, at least that was the way Mike saw it. In truth, Mike didn't always hate the state fair, but it reminded him too much of his past now for any good emotions to rise in his chest when he heard of it. All the blue-scarfed cat could see were visions of his past as he trudged alone through the decorated streets; fair games with Lucy, standing idly with his sister and snickering under their breath about how ridiculous the mayor's haircut had become; the singular time, far in his past when Sandy bought him a candy apple. These apparitions of people he had lost caused his teeth to clench and eyes to sharpen, though in truth they were sharpening at nothing.
The mayor was speaking now, up on his podium with his ridiculous haircut, telling of Gravelwoods ‘riveting’ past. Mike was standing at attention, much like the rest of town. This too, was habitual, and Mike had heard all of it before, which only gave his wandering mind more space to drag him back to terrible places. His mind wasn't the only thing wandering, those green eyes of his roaming around the crowd, though he knew he would regret that decision. He was indeed correct in that assumption, and those same eyes fixed on the ground as soon as they drifted to Lucy. She, unlike him, was actually dressed for spring, her sweater slightly lighter than it usually would be, not that anyone but Mike would notice. She was always wearing a sweater, Mike despised it, she was like a cartoon character. What Mike hated even more was there was nowhere his eyes could go that wouldn't remind him of her. As far as the korat’s eyes could travel away from Lucy was Sam, her older brother standing on duty in his police uniform as he always seemed to be. Mike didn't mind the police, or Sam for that matter, but there was spite in him instinctually for the older khao manee purely for whom he associated with. If Mike could give Sam anything, however, it would be that he was the only policeman in town that seemed to even pretend to give a shit, which he supposed was an accomplishment, as far as doing the bare minimum could get you.
Unfortunately, all of this wandering only led him back to staring at the mayor and his stupid haircut, which filled him with a different kind of melancholy. He chose to listen for the first time in a vast collection of years, perhaps it would bring him away from the thoughts of his lost sister or the spite of his former friends. The mayor spoke more confidently during the recounting of Gravelwood’s founding and purpose than during any other point of his yearly speech, which made sense because it was the only part of the speech he knew would never change. Howard Hardwall had been the mayor of Gravelwood for about as long as Mike could remember. The town held elections, but Howard would always run, and no one would run against him, so he would always win. He was the kind of man who really wanted to present as if he had everything under control, and most people believed him, or at least Mike assumed they did, considering he was always mayor. Though it was also fully possible that simply no one else in town cared enough about it to try and run it, which was why he kept winning, Mike considered it a fifty-fifty split between one option or the other. Either way, he never believed Howard’s schtick about having it all under control; he was like Daisy in his presentation, and if Mike knew anything about Daisy, which he did, and if Howard was anything like her, which he appeared to be, he was likely a mess behind the scenes.
His speech recounted the history of Gravelwood from the day of its inception to the present moment. It had begun as a mining town, one of hundreds in this section of the country. He went on about the great forests of Maryland and the rich minerals contained just beneath its grass, which Mike thought was completely ridiculous. No one cared about Maryland, and no one cared about its forests, as a person who lived there his entire childhood and early adult life, he knew this fairly certainly. Eventually, the town of Gravelwood sprung around that mining outpost and then continued far after, even when the ground was nearly dry of resources. Instead, Howard would go on to say, the focus turned to the creation of Deep Creek Lake, not far from the town border where a resort would soon open. He described those miserable golf courses like they were the second coming, praising them for what little money they would cough up for Gravelwood, even though in their creation they stole Mike’s favorite chunk of the woods. That place did bring the town money, though through what means Mike didn't know or care, yet he hated it anyway. He didn't know of anyone who didn't hate those golf courses, the moment there was a lake to enjoy you surround it with fences that proclaim you’re too poor to enjoy it? Mike thought it was a total waste, which it was.
The real heart of this town didn't come from its creation or history, no matter what amount of obsession the mayor would place on it. The best parts of town were the little places and events the remaining inhabitants carved out for themselves. The Rinky-Dink diner on the edge of town, manned by Paulo and James, two of the last people who would still put up with Mike in the first place. The spot deep in the woods with the giant stone fire pit, where various folks would throw various parties, even though Mike was always a little concerned they were treading on some evil ancient pagan ritual site. Jessica’s tattoo parlor, which Mike avoided like the plague because he was scared shitless of Jess, but had been told was cool. Toby dead in the river incident 2011. Those things were what made Gravelwood, and Hardwall’s speech couldn't ever possibly portray that.
This guy just kept talking, Mike was starting to re-learn why he had stopped paying attention as a child and vowed never to do it again. He let himself back up, weaving through the small crowd backward as he kept eye contact with the mayor. There weren’t a lot of rules at the Gravelwood fair, but the one rule that had been deeply enforced since Sam joined the force was that everyone had to pay attention to the mayor during his speech. Mike did notice that Sam gave children a good bit of slack, but he was no child anymore, and he had no intention of getting on Sam’s bad side, or more accurately his worse side. Eventually, he was far enough back that he could lean against a wooden food stand, finally giving his legs half of a break from their aching torment. The korat didn't even know he had company who had the desire to interact with him until they were already speaking, delivered in a deep and excited mutter.
“Y’think he’s gonna slip on the grease?”
Mike’s ears twitched and his face twisted in visible confusion at David’s completely out of left field and frankly unintelligible question, though if anyone would say a sentence of that caliber it would be David. David had started growing in high school and basically never stopped since. The chocolate lab stood a good two heads over Mike yet still was able to have more energy than could fit in his lanky body. The clothes he wore only accentuated his form, his jean jacket was sunbleached and covered in patches, though as it got more worn it only fit David more. In contrast to his jacket, David’s skinny jeans were far from old or sunbleached, and it seemed to be the only part of his wardrobe he put any care into keeping high maintenance. His long legs crossed over each other as he leaned on the stand next to Mike, staring wistfully off toward the Mayor as if he hadn’t already planned a prank he was just waiting to come to fruition.
“David shut up!” Mike whispered back through clenched teeth, trying to move his mouth as little as possible so as not to move the scarf that covered it, “I shouldn’t be talking to you, I swear Sam’s gonna pin me as an accomplice in whatever shit you’re pulling.”
“Oh please!” David shot back with a grin, eyes still locked on his beloved mayor, “Not even Sam thinks you’re cool enough to participate in one of my schemes, you think he’s gonna slip on it or not?” David was a delinquent, or perhaps that wasn’t exactly the word. All of David’s crimes were minor, graffiti, trespassing, and doing things like playing pranks on the mayor. He only got away with any of it because of the lack of police security in Gravelwood which allowed him to get away with his little escapades. Mike thought the whole thing was completely ridiculous, but to David’s credit, he wasn’t nearly as depressed as a certain korat, at least he had something to do. Even so, Mike wanted not to be seen around David in public whenever possible, just because of what would be associated with Mike by proxy if he was. David was everything you wouldn't want to be seen in public with, a delinquent, loud, openly gay, Mike had taken more than enough blows to his public image as far as he was concerned, and he wasn’t looking for more.
“Probably not.” Mike admitted with a sigh, “I don’t think even you could hide a grease puddle in the midday sun.”
He could hear the way David’s grin grew across his cheeks, “Just you watch Mike, just you watch.” Strangely, since Sam joined the force, David had only increased his love for tomfoolery. Mike had always assumed before then that he had only done it because no one would stop him, but now that there was a person who truly wanted to he only tried harder. It was all one big game to him, Mike had decided, to see how far he could stretch Sam before one of them snapped. Sam and David were a strange set of foils for each other, and from what Mike had heard a good section of David’s schemes revolved around specifically toying with the older cop, what pleasure the labrador could gain from that was completely beyond him.
“Don’t you have anything better to do?” Mike whispered sharply from the corner of his mouth, “Or is this really all you have to get up to?”
“I do plenty of things Mickeal!” David responded as if he was offended, pronouncing Mike’s name wildly incorrectly on purpose, “Why, I was at church just this morning!” Mike squinted, there was nothing about David that screamed ‘godly’, though he could see David going there ironically. The korat knew what godly people were like, hell he used to be one of them. As he got older the whole deal only became more disillusioned in his mind, what was the point of praying to a dubiously existent icon of benevolence if it wouldn't even do anything to tangibly help you? The only person his age he could think of who still cared about church was Jasmine, who leaned pretty heavily into the whole business, likely because there wasn’t anything else she had going for her. She held all these mantras about how god would save them, and how they could save each other through god, but to Mike, there was nothing to be saved. There was no point in trying to make Gravelwood better, because the only way to do that would be to just build a new town somewhere else. At points, he wondered whether Jasmine would eventually come to that conclusion, or if she would continue to chase phantoms until they led her to miserable disaster.
“Isn’t church a little straight for you?” Mike asked with a deadpan expression, though David couldn’t control his giggling.
“If you were a true Christian you would know that god is gay Micheal.” David responded, barely holding himself in from falling into a laughing fit. Mike only rolled his eyes, still trying to focus on anything besides David.
“I doubt the priest would agree with you on that.”
“Oh yeah? Ask Jasmine I bet you she’ll agree with me.”
“There is no way in hell that Jasmine would agree with you on that. I doubt Jasmine even tolerates gay people.”
David only chuckled in response, hopping onto the stand and kicking his feet, “If only you knew how wrong you were…” Mike’s eyes squinted in confusion at David’s strange vagaries, but he quickly shook it off because, in truth, he didn't care. He went back to letting his mind wander, and his eyes wander in tandem. Thinking about Jasmine had tainted his mind with unwanted memories again, and he bit his tongue to keep them down. He hated the number of friends Haley had because it only meant more people he had to avoid looking at now that she was gone if he didn't want to feel melancholy for the rest of the day. He and Haley were never too close, only as close as would be expected of a sibling. Sure, they hung out at points, she would poke fun at him and he would eventually get her back, but he never considered them to be particularly good friends. Though now that she was gone, he felt like he thought about her more than he had any right to.
Mayor Hardwall was finishing his speech now, and with a bow, he closed his act before beginning to walk off stage. Mike desperately wanted not to care, however, his eyes laser-focused on Mr. Hardwall anyway as he trekked across the wooden platform. Sure enough, to Mike’s shock and David’s delight, it wasn’t soon after that the mayor of Gravelwood was flat on his back on stage. He fell like a Looney Tune, his leg flying upward as the other slid out from under him. The whole crowd erupted into chatter and Sam sprung to his feet. He was helping the mayor up in a flash, his eyes already locked on David with a fury burning brighter than the forges of Olympus. David, on the other hand, was laughing hysterically, jumping up and down and pumping his fist, not even trying to hide that it was totally him. “I fuckin’ told you!!” The labrador cackled, giving Mike a slap on the back as he spun around to begin his escape. “Anyway, it’s been great catching up but I gotta bounce, enjoy being depressed or whatever it is you do!” And with that he was gone, breaking into a sprint with Sam hot on his tail.
The korat watched him go, glaring at his rude comment as if the back of David’s head would burn if he furrowed his brow hard enough. His keen ears picked up on every bit of the commotion, this was the worst part of David’s pranks, the commotion they caused. Mike had always hated loud things, and not only was David loud, but he created more loud in his wake wherever he went. The other unfortunate part of Mike’s incredible hearing was he had a habit of picking out the sections of noise that his brain wanted to hear, it was too bad for him that Mike and his brain didn’t often agree.
“Holy shit he actually did it!” Lucy snickered, turning to her brother as the both of them watched the eldest of her siblings charge off after the brown-furred dog.
Augustus let a breath of amusement escape his nose, he looked more tired than usual, likely having gotten up only for this as Sam wouldn’t let him sleep through it. He wiped his eyes as he spoke with a smile, both eyes closing just the same despite his large vertical scar. “I guess I didn't doubt him. Sam’s getting sloppy though, if I were him I would have been guarding that stage all night.” Augustus had been a member of the Rose family for about half a decade now, and even still Mike was baffled that he was even present. Sure, he may have technically never done anything bad, but he just had this aura about him Mike didn't like, as if Lucy only hung out with him to get back at the grey-furred cat. He felt as if in another universe, it would have been quite easy for Augustus to actually have done something considerably heinous, that’s what he told himself anyway, perhaps he was right. The ties the Siamese cat held to Alejandro and his group had always raised several red flags in Mike’s mind, and though he split from their direction rather quickly, Mike was not one to forgive.
A certain somali cut in then, as if it was normal for the three of them to be talking, as if he had the right. Despite Mike’s rage, however, Paulo talked just as normally as ever, because this was a relatively normal conversation. “Did you actually think he wasn’t gonna do it? He’s been talking about that one all month!”
The white-coated girl shrugged, “I’m not around to listen to all of his ramblings like you are. Plus… I don’t know I feel like Sam would have caught that, I think you might be right about him slipping.”
Mike wouldn't let himself be entranced by their voices any longer, turning away stiffly and beginning the journey away from the fair and back to his house. It had been as productive of a fair as any other, that is to say, it had been a waste of time, but in Gravelwood a waste of time was all you could hope for. At least he had gotten a walk, and at least David kept Sam’s attention enough that Mike would be gone before the khao manee could think about questioning him. He pulled his scarf over his mouth once again, and as he walked away from the Gravelwood Town Fair, Mike continued on his fruitless journey to suppress the memories that would forever haunt him. Echoes of the past, present, and future of all of the residents of Gravelwood, clinging to the brick walls and run-down streets like dew on a leaf after morning rain.