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***Read the first part [here](https://steemit.com/weekendfreewrite/@honeydue/jagged-1-weekend-freewrite).***
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<sub>Photo by [Sasha Freemind](https://unsplash.com/@sashafreemind) on [Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/photos/nXo2ZsKHTHg)</sub>
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Neither of them could explain just what had happened to Green. Hell, the wife didn’t even seem to know who Green was. And neither did the kid, to be honest. He was rambling, kept trying to tell Burley something, but he didn’t seem to know the exact words to do so. It was like he was trying to explain, while at the same time, trying to keep himself out of it all. 
And it became increasingly clear to Lieutenant Burley that Oliver Patterson knew more than he was saying, so he figured screw it, why not see what this guy had to offer?
‘Mr Patterson,’ he said, in his most authoritative voice, ‘will you please tell me everything you know about Anthony Burris Green, from beginning to end? Otherwise, I will have to place you under arrest.’
He wouldn’t, but Patterson didn’t need to know that, did he? Granted, there was some grumbling on Mrs Patterson’s part. Out of the two, she seemed the more fierce one, level-headed even at this late hour. Her husband seemed...loose somehow, like he was floating through space.

Ollie Patterson stared up into the ceiling, then at his wife, and he began telling his story, eyes trained on her, and not once turning toward the lieutenant.
‘I first met Burris years ago, I was just outta school and he always hung around the bar where I worked at the time.’
‘The bar you now own,’ Lieutenant Burley interjected.
‘Yes, among others, yes. He seemed a creep, even then, but you know, I guess I was curious. I was much younger then and I...I wasn’t very realistic about my view of the world.’

There was something fake about the guy’s seemingly easy laughter, like he was trying hard to hide something and Burley didn’t like it in the least. 
‘Anyway, that was years ago, you understand, and I only really spoke to him a couple times. I mean, I don’t think that’s a crime, is it?’
But something was making Oliver Patterson uncomfortable. Why would he ask if it’s a crime, when no one had accused him of anything? Yet somebody had, Burley realized, as he turned in his seat to look at Oliver’s wife. Nellie’s eyes were like liquid fire burning into her husband. His chest, ‘cause she could no longer look him in the eye. Maybe ‘cause an hour ago, she’d been sleeping peacefully in her bed and now here she was, finding her strangest nightmares had come to life. And that’s the thing with nightmares, they always come in groups of three. And if this particular one seemed to be coming true, what other nightmares might find their way into the real world?

What are you doing, Ollie? Why couldn’t you just stay in bed?

But it was far too late, Ollie had gone and now, they all had to deal with the consequences. 

‘He felt strange, even then, like something had gone bad in his head, like he couldn’t talk to people properly, you know? He seemed so lonely, so I’d head over to his corner some afternoons – he only came in the afternoon and always sat in the same corner. So, it was his corner by right, everyone in the bar knew that, even though no one knew who the fuck the dude was. So, I’d head over and talk to ‘im sometimes. About dogs, he liked talking about dogs, said he had several and you know, I’ve always liked dogs. Then, he started getting a bit weird, started saying things about...’

Patterson’s words trail off and they both stare at him, his wife and his inquisitor, with eager eyes for him to finish.
‘...about a coffin.’

And Ollie finally looks at Lieutenant Burley.


He said things about being here before and how they’d buried him...alive. It was scary, I mean, we got all sorts of weirdos at that place, but never quite like that so I let my boss know this dude was being a bit weird and I guess some of his guys sorted him out. That was Andy, he was my boss then and he was always a straight type of guy, you know? As soon as someone was weird or you know, upset the ladies or anything like that, they were out. And then, I didn’t see Burris for a while. A long while.’

‘You keep calling him Burris. It just seems strange, Mr Patterson. I mean surely, Green or Anthony would come to mind more easily?’
‘Why? Those weren’t his real names. I mean, I know that’s how you know him, sir, but I always knew him as Burris. That was his only real name, always went by that. He said he was always Burris. That the others were just...flicks of a paintbrush.’

Nellie reached out for his hand, but Ollie pulled away, briskly, in a gesture that didn’t seem his own. This neat, slightly ruffled young man didn’t seem like the type of man who was violent and there was such kindness in his eyes when he first saw her. 
But now, something was cold in him, like a story from long ago, weaving itself around him, drawing him away. 
‘Ollie,’ she whispered, voice so quiet, so missing him. And in that one word, there was all she ever wanted to tell him – that she wouldn’t mind, that she’d love him, despite everything. But he didn’t seem to hear any of that. He kept his hand out of her reach and his eye on the ground. 
Something had changed in the boy and Burley wasn’t sure he liked that. When he’d come in, not two hours ago, his eyes had been wild, but he’d seemed prepared to tell the truth. Burley had assumed he knew something about the dead guy, but that he wasn’t actually guilty of anything.

But now, he wasn’t all that sure.
‘He asked if I’d like to work with him.’
‘Doing what?’
It was Nellie Patterson who’d spoken, staring at her husband with hurt in her eyes. Another woman who’d heard the phrase ‘let’s tell each other everything’ once too often and had been foolish enough to believe it. 
Oh and how Ollie had wanted her to believe it, how he wished he’d be the good guy, that he would tell her everything and they’d be one little happy family. 
But there was something dark about the boy, something that wouldn’t give way to any such silly dreams. It was, in all likelihood, what had drawn him to Green – or Burris, as the young man insisted on calling him – in the first place.
 Ollie Patterson shifted in his seat and looked at his wife again.

‘He made sure things didn’t disappear.’

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## Cheers for reading,
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