Now I should have headed home but decided at the last minute to stop by Sugar Creek Cafe. I occasionally treated myself to a sugar free iced coffee. As hot as it was today, plus my emotional roller coaster ride through the day, I deserved a treat.
The door chimes sang to me when I stepped in. The melodic vibration was always welcoming. Sugar Creek Cafe was not trendy and sleek like the popular franchise coffeehouses. Instead, it was like walking into someone’s home. There were various tables, all round, some small and others wide. Each table was fitted with high-back wooden chairs that reminded me of the chairs from my grandmother’s house. Along the walls of the coffeehouse were booths with high backs for privacy. If you really wanted to make yourself at home, in the back of the coffeehouse were sitting areas that included couches and plush seats.
There were people scattered around the cafe, most armed with a phone in their hand, some with laptops and others appeared to be having real conversations with their coffee companions.
The person who came up with the decor and started the coffeehouse was as eclectic as the interior. Fay Everett happened to be a student of mine, probably one of my oldest students. She was in my eighth grade class when I was still a very young teacher. Fay loved the bohemian look and over the years had grown locs that fell down near her waist. Today, she had them tied above her head. She’d always worn glasses and was one of those people who liked to make a fashion statement with her frames.
Both Fay and Jocelyn were behind the counter. Fay blinked at me, her eyes wide and bright behind turquoise, cat-eye shaped frames. She grinned like a Cheshire cat, “Hey, Ms. Patterson. It’s so good to see you today. You are looking good. Retirement and marriage seem to suit you just fine.”
“Thank you, Fay. Good to see you too. I see the cafe is continuing to do well.”
“It sure is. Always busy in here. Now I know you like iced coffee. Sugar-free, right?”
I smiled, “Now, that’s why I will always give you my business. Girl, you have a memory on you!”
“I don’t know about that. I’m pretty sure I remember because you were and always will be my favorite teacher.”
“Oh, you don’t know how much that made my day.” While Fay went off to make my iced coffee, I turned to Jocelyn who seemed more upbeat today. I asked, “Glad you’re still enjoying working under Fay?”
Jocelyn stepped forward, “I love working here, and I owe you for sending me towards this place. You know I’ve had some jobs that I can’t say I’m proud of.”
When I first met Jocelyn a year or so ago, she’d been working at Hooters. She had a few years of being lost, and I was happy she’d come around and started to see the cafe as more of a step up in her career. I pointed to her, “Being promoted to manager is a pretty big thing, you should be proud.”
“I am.” Her smile disappeared as she approached me from behind the counter. She lowered her voice so no one could hear but me. “Have you heard from Briana today?”
Oh boy! “No, was she supposed to be working today?”
Jocelyn let out an exasperated sigh. “Yeah, that’s what Fay and I were talking about before you arrived. Briana’s on the schedule. I hate to do this to her because she’s going through a rough time, and I definitely know about that. Been there and done that. Still, this position needs to be filled by someone who’s going to show up.”
My heart sank. I kind of knew this was coming when Jocelyn talked to me about this the other day. I couldn’t tell her Briana had run off. I wanted to give Amos time to find her and not alarm other people that she could be a person-of-interest or even a suspect. That reminded me of another reason why I decided to stop by the cafe.
“Do what you need to do, Jocelyn. Amos and I appreciate you helping her out. Hopefully when the dust settles around her, she can focus on her future.”
Jocelyn stared at me, “Is she going to be okay? I saw the video has made rounds.”
“You saw it too? Where did you see it?”
Jocelyn glanced back. Fay seemed to still be working on my iced coffee. She pulled out her phone. When she showed me her phone display, I recognized the Facebook interface. “Fay and I were talking about this earlier today too. Right now, no one has approached us about the video. We think nobody knows this happened here, but at some point someone is going to say something.”
I nodded, “The cafe has a unique interior. I’m sure someone will say something. I noticed a lot of people are on their phones in here. I guess anyone that day could have recorded the argument. Did you notice anyone who may have been recording the fight between Briana and Sondra last Monday?”
“No. I had my attention on Sondra, who was acting like she was about to tear up this cafe.”
“You told me the other day she had a friend with her.”
“Sondra’s friend? Yeah, she was shorter than Sondra, rather thin and she didn’t really say anything. She was wearing false eyelashes. They were pretty long, and you almost couldn’t see her eyes.”
That had to be Charlene!
“Where was she at when Sondra was hurling insults at Briana?”
Jocelyn thought for a moment. “I remember her getting her coffee first; she must have gone to get a table. In fact, it wasn’t until the carafe was dropped that she appeared. I remember her trying to pull Sondra away like she was afraid, but Sondra kept snatching her arm back. By then I was threatening to call the police. That seemed to stop the squabble.”
I had a pretty good idea that it was Charlene who was with Sondra, which made me curious again about their friendship. I was under the impression the night at the Black Diamond was the first time they’d gotten together to hang out, but they were here together at Sugar Creek Cafe a week before.
Did they come here to grab a coffee beverage or did they step inside on a mission?
Before I could focus my thoughts more, Fay placed my iced coffee on the counter. “Here you go, Ms. Patterson. Sorry it took me awhile. We have a new girl today and she needed help with the register.”
“Oh, I could have helped her.” Jocelyn quipped. “Sorry, I started talking to Ms. Eugeena. We were talking about…” Jocelyn dropped her voice again, “the video.”
Fay rolled her eyes. “That video. You know I’m all for publicity for Sugar Creek Cafe, but that’s not the kind I want. Never in the ten years I’ve had this place open have I had that kind of drama. It’s a shame. I feel bad for Briana. She’s been doing good, but I think that incident has shaken her up. I can tell her confidence is gone.”
I nodded, “Those women also bullied Briana when she was younger.”
“What?” both Fay and Jocelyn responded.
“Yeah, a lot of bad memories. Hopefully we can get Briana back on track. ”
Fay smiled, “I’m all for giving people chances. We need the help, but I’m not shutting her out yet. When you see her, tell her to check in with us. We do care about her. And that girl can sing. I’ve been trying to get her to do a mini-concert here one weekend.”
“She does have a beautiful voice. How much do I owe you?”
Fay smiled, “It’s on the house today.”
“Thank you. I appreciate you treating an old lady. Ladies, I’m not going to hold you up. I’m going to sit a bit and get out of your hair.”
I moved past a woman who had her table covered with papers and was tapping away on a laptop. Another table I passed, two women were chatting back and forth and giggling about something.
One of my past times was people watching. As I shimmied into a chair in the back, I wished I’d been people watching a few days ago when Sondra walked in. Since it was the thing to do, I pulled out my phone and soon found the video in question. I watched the video on mute. I mainly wanted to see the video from the angle in the coffee shop. I almost jumped up from my seat when I realized whoever recorded the video had to be sitting in the same sitting area where I was currently. But who? And how were they able to send the video to the police and Sondra’s mother? Did they intentionally upload this video to social media for all to see?
The cafe wasn’t chilly, just enough coolness to be comfortable. Still, I shivered as if a blast of cold air crawled down my shirt. I’d even looked around me to see if a vent was nearby. There wasn’t that I could see, but I knew the real reason why I’d been chilled.
Someone was really setting Briana up in the most awful way possible. Why?
I had a sneaky suspicion I knew who was behind the video recording, but what didn’t fit with my growing theory was why Sondra lost her life this past weekend.