Sue (30 page)

With a tortured groan, she forced
herself awake only to find Gray Baby curled up next to her on the blanket,
purrs rumbling from her furry form. Sue sat up and wiped cold perspiration from
her brow. She reached for the other side of the bed, but it was empty.

“Melvin?” she called softly.

No answer.

She crawled out from under the
covers, careful not to disturb her cat. She checked the apartment carefully,
making sure the doors were locked. Grabbing a drink of water from the kitchen,
she leaned against the counter and sipped, waiting for her heart rate to return
to normal. Melvin must have slipped away after she fell asleep. She longed for
him now and debated calling him just to hear his voice. Her eyes went to the
clock. It was too late; he’d be sleeping. It had been a while since Zeke
invaded her dreams. She wasn’t surprised by his return, not after hearing he
still lived.

With a sigh, she returned to bed
and huddled beneath the blankets until sleep once more claimed her.

For the next seven nights in a row,
Zeke appeared in her dreams. They were all different, but there was a common
theme. In each one, he was badly burned. And in each one, he wanted her to join
him in death.

Sometimes she woke frozen with
fear. Other times, she woke crying and Melvin comforted her. Then the
nightmares ended as abruptly as they had begun and her life gradually returned
to normal.

Chapter 44

Summer had turned to autumn and
Melvin had returned to school. With a loaded schedule, he had little free time.
Sue lived for those wonderful weekends when he didn’t have to work or study. On
this particular Saturday in October, he was buried in the books and would be
most of the day.

Sue spent an hour at the gym and
then stopped by to see her folks. She sat across the kitchen table from her
parents, bursting with news. “The reason I wanted to talk to you is that I’ve
come to a decision about my life.”

They waited expectantly, coffee
cups held at half-mast in front of them.

“I’m going back to school next
semester.” Sue smiled at them.

Relief played across her mother’s
face as she set her cup down and her dad finished taking a drink. “That’s
wonderful, Susan. Have you picked out a major yet?”

“I have. I want to be a writer.”

Frank cocked his head and looked at
his daughter with interest.
“A writer!”
He turned to
his wife. “We’ve never had a writer in the family, have we, Linda?”

“Not that I can remember.” She
beamed. “What kind of writing?”

“I don’t know for sure yet. So, I’m
going to take several courses along with my required classes.” She took a sip
of her soda before continuing. “Creative Writing, Intro to Literature, some
others. I might end up writing nonfiction, like true crime. Maybe I’ll be a
journalist. Or, I might become a novelist and just make stuff up all day long.”

“What about your job?” Frank asked.

“The school said I could take most
of the classes at night and the ones I can’t are offered online.”

“Will that be too much for you?”
Her mom played nervously with the collar of her blouse. “It’s probably hard to
work while going to college.”

Sue jumped up and gave her mother a
quick hug. “It’s going to be fine, Mom. I can handle it. And I won’t enroll for
a full schedule, I’ll just do part time, at least to begin with.
Later?
Well, we’ll see. Really, there’s nothing to worry
about.” She wanted to squelch the notion that she wasn’t back to normal.
“Besides, I’d like to meet new people, make some friends. Joyce and I don’t
really hang out anymore. Actually never, since...”

“School is a good place to meet
people,” Sue’s mother interjected quickly, smoothly avoiding the uncomfortable
topic.

“There’s more.” Sue shifted
nervously from one foot to the other. “Melvin and I are talking about moving in
together.”

Her mother looked at her father,
trying to keep her disapproval from showing. “We like Melvin,” she finally said
in a careful voice. “Frank?”

Her dad cleared his throat.
“Oh, yeah.
He’s a good guy, that Melvin.” He looked down at
his hands. “But...”

“But what?”
Sue waited, anxious.

There was a long pause.
“But, nothing.
It’s your life. You have to make your own
decisions.” Her dad’s shoulders slumped a little.

“I know how you feel about this,”
Sue said. “But I love Melvin. Who knows? Maybe we’ll be ready for marriage
someday, just not yet. This is only a start.”

“Like your father said, it’s your
life.” Sue’s mom stood and went to the refrigerator. She began pulling food out
to prepare a meal. “We’d prefer you got married, of course. But these are
different times we live in now.” Her movements were abrupt, belying her words.
She placed a head of lettuce on the counter and then turned to look at her
daughter. “You know, you could come back home while you finish school. That way
you wouldn’t have to live alone. Or even worry about holding down a job. Lots
of kids do that; there’s nothing wrong with it.”

“Everything’s wrong with it,
Mom,” Sue said gently. “Thank you for offering; it means a lot to me; but that
would take my life in the wrong direction. I need to move forward, be an adult.
You can see that, can’t you?”

They gazed at each other for
an emotion-charged moment. The hopeful expression on her mom’s face gradually
resolved into acceptance. She nodded.

Sue changed the subject.
“What’s for lunch? I’m starving.”

“Tuna casserole.
And I thought I’d make a salad, too. Grab that big bowl from the cupboard for
me, would you, honey?”

The awkward moment passed and Sue
pitched in to help her mother. She talked about how big Gray Baby was getting
and the mischief she got into. Soon, she had her parents smiling and laughing.

After a quick lunch, Sue drove
home, head filled with plans. The day was gloomy, sky overcast, a chill in the
air. The weather reminded her that it was almost exactly a year since she’d
left town with Zeke on her road trip to hell. As the months had rolled by, it
was harder to relate to her mindset of that time. So much had changed.

Sue pulled into her driveway,
gathered her things, and walked to her front porch, a bounce in her step in
spite of the cutting wind. She unlocked the door and tossed her purse, phone,
and keys on the coffee table. Gray Baby stretched lazily, leaped lightly from
the sofa, and wandered over. Sue scooped her up, gave her a loving, and then
let her outside. She picked up her cell phone, checked the battery, and carried
it into the bedroom. Plugging it in to charge, she gathered a change of clothes
and headed for the bathroom to shower.

Luxuriating under the warm spray,
she considered different careers that involved writing.
Columnist,
copywriter, editor.
She shrugged. There was plenty of time to decide.
She soaped up, shaved, and rinsed away the foamy residue. She’d just finished
washing and conditioning her hair when a sound caught her attention and she
turned off the water to listen. She heard nothing more, but quickly toweled off
and put on her robe.

She opened the bathroom door and
peered out. Her eyes traveled over the shadows in the short hallway and down to
the dimly lit living room. She thought she’d left the lamp on, but couldn’t
remember for certain.
I’m probably imagining things.
She hurried across
the hall to the bedroom. A chill traveled down Sue’s spine when Gray Baby
sauntered in, jumped onto the bed, and curled up on a pillow. “Oh, no,” Sue
whispered.

Gray Baby meowed and gazed with
interest toward the hallway that led to the front room.

Sue turned to look and recoiled in
shock as Zeke stepped through the doorway.

“Hi, Bunny.”
He gave her a slow, easy smile. “It’s been a long time.”

His hair was a lighter blond than
she’d pictured in her fantasies and he didn’t have a tan. But he looked good,
stunning as ever. Her heart slammed in her chest. “Zeke,” she croaked, frozen
in place.

Breaking free of her paralysis, Sue
made a dash for the door, hoping to slip past him, but he grabbed her easily,
pinned her arms to her sides, and danced her backwards to the bed. She plopped
down on the edge of the mattress and clutched her robe in shaking hands. The
cat arched her back and darted from the room.

Blood pounded in Sue’s ears and she
felt faint. Panic set in and she began to whine a high-pitched shrill that
filled the room.

Zeke produced a knife. “Shut the
hell up,” he snapped.

Sue put both hands over her mouth
and tried to slow her breathing.

Zeke leaned down, speaking quietly.
“Calm down, Sue. Quit acting all scared and shit. I’m not going to hurt you.”

“But the knife?”
Her voice was breathless and small.

“That was just to get your
attention. I’ll put it away if it makes you nervous.” He slid it into a sheath on
his belt and patted it with something close to love. “This is Big Earl, Ben’s
brother. Isn’t he nice?”

Still fighting panic, Sue cowered
as he loomed over her. She fixed her gaze on his booted feet and pushed the
question past lips that were stiff with fear. “What do you want?”

“First of all, I’m going to need
some money. I’m running low. But mostly, I’m here to reconcile with you. I’m
here because I missed you. Didn’t you miss me?”

Sue’s mind scrambled to make sense
of the situation. “I’ve thought about you a lot,” she admitted, which was the
absolute truth.

“That’s more like it.” He reached
out his hands to her. “Come here, baby.”

Timidly, she rose on shaky legs.
She couldn’t go for the knife; he’d be ready for that. If she could get to her
purse in the front room, she could slip her hand around the gun inside and
shoot him right through the bottom of the bag. All it required was a little
pretense. She’d take him in her arms, act like she was glad to see him.

But before she had the chance, he
reached out and grabbed her wrists, pushed them down at her sides and held them
there in a tight grip. Lifting her head, she looked up into his face. His vivid
blue eyes glittered with unfathomable emotion. The long-awaited moment was upon
her.
Isn’t this what I’ve dreamed of, longed for?
He bent to kiss her,
moved his sensuous lips over hers, slipped his tongue inside her mouth,
tasted
her as if she were a rare delicacy.

And she felt...nothing.
Except disgust.

“Thank god,” she gasped with
relief.

He misunderstood her sentiment. “I
know, it’s like old times, isn’t it? Oh, Susie. Sweet baby,” he groaned. “Open
your robe. I want to look at you.” He released her arms.

“No.” She pulled the garment
tighter around her body.

“No?” He put his hand on her chest,
shoved her back onto the bed. “What the hell’s wrong with you? I said open your
fucking robe.” He glared at her as he fingered the knife hilt.

Shaking, she did as he said.

“Take it off and lean back.” He
raked her body with his eyes and licked his lips.

She complied, revulsion crawling
its way up her throat.

“Hey, they did a damn good job
patching you up. Scar isn’t even that bad.” Zeke stroked the front of his jeans
with his thumb as he regarded her.

Kicking out suddenly, she caught
him on his left knee and sprang from the bed. He lurched but didn’t fall, and
stumbled after her, snatching her back by the hair.
“Son of a
bitch!
That hurt like hell!” He landed a vicious punch to her stomach,
right over the old stab wound. Her midsection bloomed with pain and she
crumpled to the floor, cradling her belly.

Zeke rubbed his knee, put his
weight on the leg,
tested
it. He pulled back his right
foot and kicked her in the ribs. Then he backed away, watched her as she gasped
for breath on the floor.

“This isn’t how things were supposed
to go,” he complained. “You always did know how to ruin a moment. Did you think
you were going to take me?
You?”
He paced a few times,
then gripped Sue’s arm and jerked her to her feet. “Get dressed. And make it
quick.” He shoved her toward the dresser.

Struggling to stand, she pulled on
underwear and jeans, wept as she slid her arms into a shirt and carefully
tugged it down over her head. He picked up her shoes and threw them at her.
They bounced off her legs and landed nearby.

Leaning against the doorjamb, he
lit a cigarette and watched her. “You just don’t think, Sue. You haven’t gotten
any smarter, that’s for sure.” He inhaled deeply and blew smoke in her
direction. “And what the hell did you do to your hair? It looks terrible.
So drab and dull.”

She dropped to the floor and bent
over to put on her shoes. The pain subsided to a dull ache. Once her laces were
tied, she used the dresser to pull herself into a standing position. Then she
turned to face Zeke and received a shock. The cigarette dangled loosely from
the corner of his mouth, and Gray Baby was in his arms. He stroked the cat
roughly, staring at Sue with challenging eyes. “I asked you a question,
Einstein.”

“What? What was the question?” She
hated the pleading tone in her voice.

“
What was the question?
” he
mocked. “I asked you about your hair. Why’d you ruin your hair?”

“The red just didn’t look right on
me.”
Please put my cat down.

“I liked it.” He looked down at the
cat cradled in his arm, ran his hand over her back, pulled lightly on her tail.
She complained with a mild meow and struggled to escape. He held her tighter.
“Nice pussy.”

“Let her go, please.” Rage bloomed
inside Sue, but she covered it with a shaky, disingenuous smile. “Look, why
don’t we go into the living room,
sit
down? I’ll fix
something to drink. We have a lot to talk about.” If he fell for it, she could
escape out the back door.