Excerpt from Melba Ridge
"Brenda?" There was no answer. Of course there isn't, he thought. Brenda Cort is dead.
"Cory, I have to ask a favor of you," she said.
Corbin cupped his hands over his ears. "Brenda, why are you haunting me?" he cried.
He closed his eyes and saw her standing near the cove where they tied the small row boat, he swiped from the boat house. Brenda smiled. Everyone thought she was a mousey girl on the boney side. The night of the big senior dance at the Farrington Lake Pavilion, she was far from mousey. She stood tall and slender in her black cocktail dress with a single strand of pearls hanging in the "V" of her bosom. Her brunette hair tumbled down her back. "Cory, why did you bring me out to the island?" she asked. Her red lips and pearl-white teeth shone in the moonlight.
Cory tried to keep his cool. He was a star athlete on the Melba Ridge High School swim team. "I wanted to show you something."
Brenda smiled. "I didn't think you even knew who I was. Nobody in this town knows me. At least, they don't act like they know me."
"I know you." He wanted to get to know her even better.
"I hate this town. I know I could be somebody if I went to New York." Corbin wasn't listening to her. He watched her mouth move, imagining himself kissing her, and caress her milky shoulders. He reached out and wrapped his arms around her. "Do you think I have a chance in New York?" she asked.
Cory kissed her ear. "You have a chance anywhere you want to go." His voice became husky.
She turned in his arms. "Cory, do you mean it?" Their lips met for an instant before she broke their embrace. "Cory, I think you better take me back."
"Why?"
"Something is happening, and I don't want it to happen."
Cory's mind was clouded with visions of Brenda, Gwen, Suzanne, and even Evie. They were the girls he always dreamt about in his fitful teenage fantasies. Mostly, he dreamt about Gwen, but she was home studying. Brenda was a few feet away. "Please!" he moaned.
Brenda turned and stumbled on a log. "No! Cory, take me back."
He moved toward her. He fell on the same log, as he reached for her. She struggled free and started to run. He followed, tackling her, as he tackled an opponent in football. They both fell into the slightly chilly lake water. "Leave me alone, you bastard!" she shouted. "Leave me...."
Cory grabbed her hair and pushed her head beneath the water. He saw lights, bright party lights off in the distance covering the Pavilion. He heard laughter and squeaks of delight. He felt Brenda cease her struggling.
"Mr. McCoy." Roscoe wasn't sure what he returned to, nor would he ever tell anyone. Corbin was on the ground in a fetal position, crying and babbling unintelligibly. It sounded as if he were saying "I surrender."