X's -- Flash Fiction

image from The Omniscient Mussel

Pulling away in a maroon Chrysler Pacifica, she gave him a thumbs up and smiled. Damn. Thirteen minutes late. Mike said she had to be at the airport.

It must be an Uber, Jen drove a little yellow Honda Fit. What kind of name is that for a car? A three-year-old pitches a fit when he doesn't get his way. A hissy fit not a Honda fit. Mike said his Southern was showing when he talked like that. Mike'd say the same thing about his being late.

He called Mike. "Missed her."

"I know. She called. Not a problem." But he didn't sound too happy. "Don't screw this up. There's a key in one of those fake rocks. Under the lilac."

"Okay. Do you know where she left it?"

"She left you a note on the fridge." He didn't sound happy at all.

"Okay."

"Gotta get it to them before seven tonight or the deal's off." He sounded angry.

Mike was not a good man to cross. He didn't know what Mike's deal was, but he was smart enough not to ask. None of his business. He just needed to find the money, and he had no idea what a lilac looked like. He could find a fake rock.

Once inside the house he found the note. As it turned out, one among many items on the fridge. A conversion chart for cooking measurements -- teaspoons to tablespoon, cups to pints, etc. Crayon art. A coupon for Blue Belle ice cream. He didn't know they'd started selling that again. Maybe he'd pick up a half gallon.

There was a handwritten list. It had ten items with an X marked in front of three of them -- pink make-up bag, (that notation had a red line through it,) Baking for Dummies, pg 73, and  dog treats. Jamaica Blue Mountain was scrawled in pencil along the side.

Do you suppose she broke it up? Really not a bad idea. Maybe it wouldn't all be lost at once.

X must mark the spot. Okay. He knew what he was looking for -- two packets of one hundred $100 bills each.

He found the cook book on the second shelf of the book shelves at the end of the kitchen counter. No money. The dog treat box was in the pantry. Just dog treats. He couldn't find the pink make-up bag.

"X, my eye. Mike's gonna X me out," he muttered. He pulled out his phone. Maybe he should call Mike. Then again, maybe he'd better do some more looking.

What the hell did Jamaican geography have to do with anything? He googled "Jamaica Blue Mountain." Coffee?

Where would Jen keep coffee? Not in the pantry. The cabinet over the coffee maker? Nope. The freezer?

The freezer, yes! And, guess what, "X" doesn't mean a thing. $20,000, however, fits very neatly into a one pound coffee bag. Smells pretty good, too.

Now, if he just didn't get caught in traffic.

#atozchallenge