A Sad Soul Can Kill You (15 page)

It wasn't until Serenity had made it around the corner that she slowed down. Disappointed that she hadn't met Saucer, she wondered why Cookie's next-door neighbor had been sitting in his car across the street from the empty parking lot.

Now, she walked slowly home from the bus stop. She kept her head down as she carefully maneuvered her steps between the intermittent patches of ice on the sidewalk. Why was she such a failure? She couldn't even walk down a simple path without tripping over her own feet.

And no one seemed to care—not just about the failed audition but about her. She stepped over the cracks in the sidewalk. Her mother was too busy, and her father was too high. She thought Saucer had cared but even he hadn't shown up.

She reached in her pocket and pulled out her key as she walked up the pathway to her house. As soon as she opened the door, Catch came running up to her, but this time he didn't wait for her to rub and pat his back. He paced around in a circle, then ran back and forth from the hallway to the living room.

“Hey, Catch,” Serenity said taking off her Hello Kitty hat. “What's wrong?” She followed him into the living room and immediately saw Lorenzo lying sideways on the floor.

She bent down and gently shook his shoulder. “Daddy?”

He didn't answer.

“Daddy!” She pushed his shoulder harder, causing his entire body to shake.

There was still no answer.

Her eyes searched quickly for the house phone sitting on the corner table in the hallway. She picked it up and called the hospital where her mother worked. When the operator answered, she asked to be connected the fifth floor.

“Victory Memorial, 5 West subacute unit. This is Stephanie. How can I help you?”

“I need to speak to my mom,” Serenity blurted out.

“And who is your mom?”

“Tia Sparks!”

Moments later Tia was on the phone.

“Ma!” Serenity screamed. “There's something wrong with Daddy. He's lying on the floor, and I can't wake him up!”

“Wait,” Tia spoke firmly. “Serenity, calm down. What do you mean you can't wake him up?”

“He's on the floor, and he won't wake up!”

“Is he breathing?”

It was silent.

“Serenity!”

She was crying now. “I can't tell!”

“Call 9-1-1. No, wait. I'll call them. You call Tony and Shari and tell them what happened!”

“Okay.”

Tia hung up the phone and dialed 9-1-1.

“9-1-1,” the operator answered. “What is your emergency?”

“I'm calling from Victory Memorial Hospital. My daughter just called and told me my husband is unconscious on the floor at our home. The address is . . .”

“What is your name, ma'am?”

“Tia Sparks.”

“And your husband's name?”

“Lorenzo.”

“What's the address?”

“5325 Cooper Circle.”

“I'm sending someone now, ma'am.”

“Can you have them bring him to Victory Memorial?”

“Yes, ma'am.”

“Thank you.” Tia's hands were shaking as she hung up the phone.

“What's going on?” her colleague asked. She'd been standing close by and had heard Tia on the telephone.

“My husband is hurt. They're bringing him here. Can you cover for me? I'm gonna have to leave when he gets here.”

“Sure.”

Tia quickly went over her patients with the other nurse. She was thankful that everyone was stable and that there were no elaborate procedures needing to be done on any of them.

“Thank you so much,” Tia said as she swiped her badge through the time clock and ran to the elevator.

“No problem,” the nurse said. “You go and check on your husband.”

Tia's cell phone rang while she stood waiting for the metal elevator doors to open. It was Shari. “Hi, Shari. I'm on my way down to the ER now.”

“The ER?” Shari repeated. “For what?”

“Didn't Serenity tell you?”

Shari hesitated. “I haven't talked to Serenity. We're not at home. But I've been trying to call you for about twenty minutes. What happened?”

“Lorenzo fell. Let me call you back,” Tia said and quickly disconnected the call.

She dialed the number to her house. It rang five times before going to voice mail. “Serenity, where are you?” she yelled. “Pick up the phone!”

Serenity ran to Tony and Shari's house almost falling several times on the patches of ice spread across the sidewalk. No one answered when she rang the doorbell so she made a beeline back to her house. The ambulance hadn't gotten there yet, and she decided to turn around and run to the house next to Tony and Shari—Homer's house. In a panic, she began pounding on his door.

Homer opened the door slowly. “Hi, Serenity,” he said calmly. “Come in.”

“No, Mr. Woodard,” she said breathing rapidly. Thick cylinders of smoke escaped from her mouth as she talked. “I was looking for the Wiles but they're not home. My dad's hurt and the ambulance is coming.”

He looked down toward her house, and then scanned the cul-de-sac. “Come in and calm down,” he said feigning concern. “It's freezing out here.” He touched her shoulder and stepped to the side. “I can take you to the hospital.”

Serenity looked into his hazel eyes, then past the halfway open door. The foyer behind him was dark and uninviting, and something about the way he touched her shoulder made her feel uncomfortable.

“I have to get back to the house,” she said backing down the steps.

“Wait,” he reached out and grabbed her arm and pulled her into the foyer just as the shrill sound of the ambulance neared the cul-de-sac.

Serenity struggled to get away, but Homer's grip was too tight. He pulled her farther into the foyer, and then slammed the front door closed.

Tony saw the concerned look on Shari's face as she ended her call with Tia. “What's going on?” he asked.

“Lorenzo fell.”

“Is he hurt?”

Shari sighed. “Apparently so. Tia called the ambulance.”

“How did she know he fell?”

“I'm not sure. She must have talked to Serenity because she thought Serenity was with us.”

Tony looked at her silently.

Shari gave him a knowing look. After hearing about Lorenzo's fall and the ambulance being called, Shari couldn't bring herself to tell Tia about Serenity. She didn't have the heart to tell her that the reason they weren't at home was because they were out looking for her daughter who had made plans to meet a total stranger. Shari decided she would tell her once things settled down.

Now, having been unsuccessful in their search for Serenity, Tony and Shari were just turning into the cul-de-sac when they saw the ambulance in front of Tia's house. Tony pulled up next to the ambulance.

“What happened?” he asked.

“Looks like a fall,” one of the paramedics said as his partner helped him load Lorenzo into the back of the ambulance.

“Is his daughter here?” Shari asked.

“No one was home when we got here,” the paramedic said. He headed for the driver's side of the vehicle. “The door was open when we arrived.”

“Where is she?” Shari said looking at Tony.

Tony rubbed his chin. “We'll find her,” he said as the ambulance left the cul-de-sac with its siren blaring. “I'm sure she's okay.” He tried to sound optimistic. He turned to look at Cookie in the backseat. “Where did they say they were going after they met?”

Cookie's eyes grew big as Tony looked at her. “I don't know,” she said. Her posture remained rigid. “He just said something about a pizza restaurant that closed.”

“And why didn't you say something, Cookie?” Shari admonished her again. “You know better than that!”

Cookie's eyes became watery. “I don't know.”

“Well, because you don't know,
we
don't know where she's at or what might be happening,” Shari said angrily. She looked at Tony. “I told you we should have put a block on that computer.”

“I put a timer on it,” he said with a slightly irritated tone. “That should have been enough.”

“I'm sorry,” Cookie said, crying heavily.

Shari rolled her eyes.

“Sorry doesn't cut it,” Tony said. “Not only are you on a punishment for the next month, but you can forget about using that computer again.”

“Lord, please let her be safe,” Shari whispered.

Homer kept his arm around Serenity's small waist as he carried her toward the basement door.

“Stop!” Serenity yelled. “Let me go!” She frantically turned her body back and forth as she beat on Homer's chest.

Homer tightened his grip. “Stop moving!” he said.

“No! Let me go!” Serenity cried. She began beating on his chest, but she was no match for his more than three hundred pounds.

“Stop hitting me!” Homer said. He reached over with his other hand and held both of her arms down.

He took her down into the basement and held her down in an old torn leather chair as he removed her coat.

“Why are you so frightened?” he asked as he began unrolling the ball of twine he'd purchased earlier. “You wanted to meet me, right?”

Serenity looked up at him with surprise. “You're
Saucer?
”

He pulled her arms behind the chair and secured her wrists with the twine. Homer wrapped the string around her wrists several times, and then tied a knot.

Serenity sat still as tears began to spill from her eyes.

Homer pulled off the elastic band that was holding her hair together in a ponytail. Her hair fell down and stopped at the base of her neck.

“Now we've met,” he said as he ran his fingers through the strands of her hair all the way down to the red tips.

He walked away and sat down on a bench across from her. Every now and then he twisted the wedding band he still wore on his left ring finger as his hazel eyes traveled the length of Serenity's legs stretching out from the seat of the chair. He stood up and walked back over to her.

Serenity tried to catch her breath.

“You have pretty legs, you know that?” he said as he stroked the side of each of her legs.

She jumped at his touch. “It's cold down here,” she said in an unsteady voice. “Can I have my coat back?”

Homer scrutinized her under the 100 watt light bulb she sat beneath. Even with fear etched all over her face, she still bore a striking resemblance to her mother. He grabbed her coat from the bench and placed it across her lap.

“Can I go now?” She blinked, and the tears rolled down her cheeks.

“Can you go now?” He looked surprised. “We're just getting started.”

“Please,” Serenity struggled from side to side.

A distant look appeared in his eyes. “I told her I still wanted her,” he said. “But she hung up on me. Now she won't answer my calls.” He snickered. “I guess you'll have to do, little fish.”

“I need to go home!” she screamed. “Let me go! The police will come!”

“No, they won't,” Homer said smugly. He poked her forehead with his finger. “Because they don't know where you are.”

Serenity blinked quickly. “Yes, they do. My friend knows your name. She'll tell them!”

“My friend knows your name.” He mocked her. “Don't be so naïve, little girl. Saucer is not my name.” He pulled a small key out of his pocket and began tossing it back and forth. “If you're going to play with fire you better learn how not to get burned.”

“Please,” she begged. “I won't tell anybody. I promise.” She started crying again. “Just let me go home!”

He looked at her and thought about Tia. “That will depend on your mother. But really, she should have returned my calls.”

“What . . . What are you talking about?” Serenity cried. “What does my mother have to do with this?”

“You'll find out soon enough, little fish.”

“Please,” she pleaded again, “let me go. I promise I won't tell.”

“Oh, you'll tell,” he snarled. “You don't care about me either.” He stopped tossing the key. “You're just like your mother.”

Serenity stiffened as confusion spread across her face.

Homer thought about the pain he had suffered because of Tia's rejection. It was completely unwarranted, and he was tired of it. It had been that way all his life: his mother, the girls in school, his wife, and now her. He rubbed his forehead. He needed to show Sandra—no, he meant Tia. Yes, he needed to show Tia that this time it was going to be his way. And his way was to not let the relationship end until and
if
he said so.

“I'm sorry,” he said to Serenity. He pulled the string above her head to turn off the light bulb. “But it's your mother's fault.”

“Wait!” she cried. “Mr. Woodard!”

Homer ignored Serenity's cry as he limped up the basement stairs. He closed the door behind him and locked it. All this time, he had unknowingly been chatting with Tia's daughter. He felt it had been an act of fate that she had turned up on his doorstep after their failed meeting earlier. Now, he had her in his basement.

Homer felt proud of what he had accomplished. Soon, he would pull out his phone, press the familiar number on the key pad and wait until Tia answered his call. Maybe this time she'd be more interested in what he had to say.

Serenity watched the pull string from the light bulb above her head swing back and forth. “Please, God,” she prayed, “please let me get out.”

She anxiously looked around the unfinished basement and noticed a medium-size square window just above the washing machine on the other side of the room. She began to cry as she started wiggling her slender wrists back and forth in an attempt to loosen the string.

The sun was beginning to set. Soon, it would be completely dark in the basement. “Please, God,” she whispered over and over as she focused all her energy on being freed. Sometime later, she abruptly stopped crying when she noticed the string slowly but surely beginning to loosen.