There was no turning back now. She had to open the door
and try to be okay with the fact that she was a mom. It was not that she had
any intention of ever cheating on Jim. Far from it. Every woman everywhere
wanted to be found attractive by everyone they met. That was basic physiology.
Karen opened the door and made sure that she said,
“Hello,” out the corner of her mouth. She shot her deadly breath in a different
direction than up his perfect nose.
His rugged beard smiled wide at her.
She couldn’t help herself. Her eyes looked him up and
down and within seconds she had already sexually objectified all of the parts
of his body that made him a man. He wore a tight tan colored Dickies work shirt.
Its short sleeves revealed a colorful tattoo that ran the length of his right
arm.
His arm flexed as he lifted his toolbox, “The
dishwasher?”
“Right, come on in,” she said as she stepped aside and
let him pass.
“Sorry about the mess. I have a sick kid home from
school.”
He entered and headed straight for the kitchen.
Robin greeted him with a shout of, “Naked!” as she waved
her little butt in his direction.
“You sure are,” Steve looked back at Karen, “No worries.
This place is really clean compared to most.” he set his toolbox down on the
kitchen floor and took a knee. “What’s going on?”
Robin raced back out of the kitchen to watch cartoons
with Valerie.
“Nothing much. I have to drive over to my mom’s to let
her chickens out of the coop so they can get some fresh food and water,” she
babbled. Karen noticed his smile and that he was pointing at the dishwasher.
“You mean the machine? Not me, I’m sorry.” She swallowed
hard. “I turn the knob but nothing happens after that.”
“Okay, I’ll pop this open and get it fixed in no time so
you can go rescue those poor chickens,” Steve said as he gave her another big
smile.
Karen laughed much louder at his little joke than
necessary.
“You want a glass of water or anything?”
“No thank you. I’m good.”
“I’ll let you get to it,” she quickly turned and left the
kitchen. Once she knew she was out of his sight she pointed her index finger at
her temple and shot herself in the head.
It was a clean kill.
A little bit later she heard Steve close the dishwasher,
turn the knob and the loud ass machine came alive. It would limp along and
poorly wash dishes for another day. She sprang from the couch and joined him in
the kitchen.
“You got it going,” she stated the obvious.
“Yep, the timer was broken so it was an easy job.” Steve
snapped the lock on his toolbox.
“What do I owe you?” she said jokingly.
“Today’s service will be gratis.” Steve muscled up the
heavy toolbox. He stopped at the edge of the kitchen and looked at the sick
little monster on the couch. She barked out a loud cough.
“I hope you feel better soon.” The man’s smile could
light up a city block. He looked over at Robin. “Have fun being naked.”
“Okay!” She flashed him another peek at her little booty.
“Call the front desk if you need anything else,” Steve
said as he headed for the front door.
“Will do. Thank you again.” Karen followed him.
He popped open the door and stepped through the
threshold, “Just doing my job ma’am,” he gave her a wink as he walked away.
She shut and locked it after him. Back to being a mom,
“All right girls, who needs a bath?” Karen asked as she whipped off her top and
headed for the bathroom.
An hour later Karen stood at the front door and ran down
the checklist. Kids dressed and looking cute, check. Valerie’s hair could use a
brush but what’s the point. She was only going to lie down on it all day and
mess it right back up. The tangled look helped her sell just how sick she
really was.
She has her purse, sunglasses and phone. Check. Check.
Check. Phone’s battery was down to twenty-eight percent. Jim would freak out if
his phone were even close to seventy percent before he stepped out of the
house. Karen loved to live on the wild side and run around town with only a
quarter charge on her battery.
Karen shuffled the kids out the front door. Valerie
announced to everyone that she was sick with a long, deep cough.
"Please cover."
"Sorry."
She locked the door behind herself and tested it three
times to make sure she locked it. One, two, three and now they could go.
"Hold hands." They walked out into the parking
lot of the apartment complex. It was never busy out here but she liked to
practice car safety with the girls.
The family that lived kitty-corner on the second floor to
them was loading up their three kids into a large silver van. The two families
shared a smile and wave. Karen could never remember their names. Carl and Toni.
No, Cliff and Tina, right, she never remembered. They had three children, two
of them were close in age with Valerie and Robin and the older daughter was
about nine. The three kids had the same jet-black hair as their mother, except
the Mom’s had a solid streak of green flashing through it. She had a cool punk
rock look. The family’s van sported a few heavy metal band stickers across the
back window.
Valerie and Robin got super excited every time they saw
the neighbor kids. They would fire questions back and forth.
“Where are you going?”
“You wanna play?”
“Your mom’s hair is green?”
“We have a Botchy.”
“That’s my Daddy and Mama.”
“Look at shoes,” Robin said as she slapped her foot down
onto the concrete and the top of her shoes lit up.
“Whoa.”
“Cool. I want that.”
Kids made friends so easily. Karen wished it were that
easy for adults. The fear with neighbors was that they would be over all the
time. It might be totally cool, but what if it stopped being cool and you want
them to go away?
Then what?
It was never worth the risk for her and Jim. During the summer
months the kids would all play together at the apartment’s pool. The adults made
small talk but it never got any further than that. Tina spoke to her kids in
English with a little Spanish mixed in. Karen could only half understand what
was going on. Her husband, Cliff was always polite but never really said much.
He would second a command Tina had issued to the kids, but that was all Karen
had ever heard him say.
He looked a lot like Jim. Same skin tone, hair color,
build and age. It was weird how closely they looked like each other. Generic dad
look you might say. The main difference was Cliff had his hair buzzed short. He
looked like he just got out of boot camp. Karen wrangled the kids into the car
and waited for the neighbors to get out first. Then she was off.
She got bombarded with the same questions every
time she drove anywhere.
"Where are we going?”
“Can we get cheeseburgers?”
“What's that? What's that? What's that?"
Karen zoned out as she pulled up to an intersection. Her
attention was quickly grabbed by flashing lights in her rearview mirror. Two
police cruisers zipped by them and raced down the street. Right behind them was
an ambulance. Its siren set the kids off and both of them screamed at the top
of their lungs only because they thought it was funny. Valerie coughed and
coughed. It sounded like she was about to lose a lung back there. The light
turned green and Karen tapped the gas. Another set of cruisers flashed past
her. She jammed on the brakes in the middle of the intersection.
“What the hell is going on?” she asked herself.
“Mama, you said a bad word.” Karen looked up into the
rearview mirror at her oldest.
“I am sorry. Will you forgive me?”
“Yes Mama. You’re forgiven,” Valerie said and then barked
a cough into her sleeve. Her voice was rough from the coughing attacks.
“I need to get you some cough medicine.”
“No way. It tastes gross.”
“It will make you feel better.”
“Nope.”
“We’ll see if Ganny has any.”
“Ice cream will make me feel better. Can I have ice
cream?”
“Medicine first and then maybe ice cream.”
“Ice cream and then I’ll have medicine and then a little
more ice cream?” Kids are so good at negotiating.
A few blocks down the road Karen found the accident that
had all of the police speeding past her. Black smoke shrouded a three-car pile-up
just off the side of the road. A circus surrounded the crash and there was a
frenzy of activity. Some of the officers had their guns drawn. An EMT was laid
out on a gurney.
His uniform was covered in blood. It looked too black
to be blood, but what else could it be?
His body thrashed back and forth.
Two other EMT’s fought to push the injured man back onto
the stretcher. An officer stood guard with his gun drawn. Karen couldn’t quite
hear what the officer was screaming.
“Strap…I’ll put a bullet….don’t let it bite…!” The cop’s
face was bright red and covered in sweat. He spit commands at the top of his
lungs, but the sirens drowned him out. Her view was quickly blocked when a fire
truck pulled up next to the scene.
As Karen crept past the mess she did a little rubber
necking to catch a glimpse. There was a lot of dark crimson liquid everywhere. It
was all over the ground. All over the responding teams. Someone was dead for
sure. You can’t lose that much sauce and still be amongst the living. Two more shotgun-toting
cops sprinted toward the accident.
“Mama, look!” Valerie pointed out the front window.
Karen’s head whipped around and she jammed on her brakes. Her front bumper was
a foot away from a young officer. His hand was up, commanding her to stop. He
stepped quickly over to the passenger’s side window. Karen tapped the button
and the window automatically rolled down. He scanned the inside of the vehicle.
He was visibly shaken up.
“Hello,” Valerie smiled brightly at him.
“Hello,” Robin copied. He did not break a smile. Sweat
dripped off his young clean-shaven face and onto the passenger’s door. Most
people couldn’t resist the children’s cuteness, but it was like they weren’t
even there.
“Is everything okay officer?” Karen asked. His head snapped
in her direction. Some sweat flung onto the dash. His eyes burned with an
intensity Karen had never seen before. He looked like he could cry at any
moment.
His voice broke, “Has anyone sustained any…injuries?”
Valerie coughed and his head whipped back to look her
over.
“Is she sick?!” he stared at Valerie. She smiled back at
him and did not pick up on any of his weird social cues.
“She has a little cough, but no one here has sustained
any injuries.”
“Move along, ma’am. Drive safe!” and his head was gone.
He was on to the next car. This might have been
the most exciting thing Karen had ever seen in Vancouver, Washington.
It was only a fifteen-minute ride to Penny’s house but the
kids drove Karen nuts the whole way.
“I gotta pee!” Robin announced from the backseat. There
was a fifty percent chance the kid really did have to go. Karen didn't bring a
change of clothes if she messed herself in the car.
Now it was a race. Could she get to her mother’s house
across town or would the two-year-old lose control and piss all over her little
self? A stressful few minutes later the tires screeched to a halt in the
driveway. Karen ran. Popped open doors. Unfastened safety belts. Snatched up a
panicked baby and let out a sick five-year-old.
They dashed to the front door. She fumbled with the keys
till she got the door open. She rushed the slow-footed five-year-old through
the front door and sprinted to the closest bathroom. Robin had her pants on so
it took a few extra seconds to get them down, but she did it. Mission
accomplished. No pee pants today!
Back in the front door hallway the house alarm went off.
Valerie held her hands up to her ears and coughed out a loud scream at the top
of her lungs. She did the same joke she did in the car. She screamed her head
off because the alarm was too loud. It took Karen three tries but she finally remembered
the code and got the alarm off. This headache all for some dumb chickens, but
that’s life.
"I'm done," Robin called from the bathroom.
Karen got her taken care of and set the TV on
Dora the Explorer
. She got
Valerie set up on the couch with some more water. After some heavy convincing,
Karen got Valerie to drink a little cough medicine and then handed her a bowl
of ice cream to help wash away the taste. Karen took Robin to the back of the
house. Robin knew exactly what they were here for.
"Tickens!" Robin said as her Mama fought to get
rubber boots on her little feet.
The backyard was covered in mud and chicken poop. They
left a spare set of boots for the kids here. Since Karen and Jim did not have a
backyard for the kids to play in at the apartment they would come over here
almost every weekend so the kids had a chance to play outside. The coop Penny
built for the chickens was big. Really big. There was a good-sized area that
they slept in and an even bigger fenced in area for them to play.
Chickens play, right?
She had it set up so you could pull a string on the
outside fence area and it opened the coop’s front door. Karen let the ladies
out and popped open the gate door. The gals had free reign of the whole
backyard. Penny’s backyard was quite large and there was a tall fence
surrounding all three sides. Karen let the kids play back here for hours
without a worry. Robin chased the poor chickens around as Karen headed back into
the kitchen.
She had to see if there was any snack food about to go
bad. Penny needed help cleaning out the sweets every couple of weeks. Karen didn't
throw them away, she ate them. She called it recycling. She didn't want the
open bag of chips to go bad. Those Oreo's couldn't eat themselves. She didn’t
know if Penny even noticed that the food went missing. Karen often thought
Penny believed that she had eaten the food herself or that there was some kind
of a food gremlin. Karen considered it a public service that she did for her
Mom.
Jackpot!
A quarter bag of Barbeque potato chips and one little cupcake.
She ate the cupcake quickly. If the little ones saw it, there would be no cupcake
for Mama. She had a good hour here before she had to pack the girls up and head
home. She fired up Penny's computer and did a little Facebooking. She watched through
the window as Robin tried over and over again to pick up the same chicken. The
girl was persistent.
"Mama, I'm still thirsty."
"Let’s see what Ganny has in the fridge," she
said as she clicked "like" on a photo and headed back to the kitchen.
The bay window in the kitchen was full of little plants
and porcelain bird figurines. It looked out onto the front yard. On the other
side of the fence four cop cars raced down the street. Their sirens called out
and let everyone know to get the hell out of the way. It was strange to see that
many cop cars on this street. It was not a main road. This was way back into a
suburb.
Penny did not have any kid drinks in the fridge. No pop
or juice. Nothing. The kids must have drunk everything she had last night when
she was watching them for date night. Karen grabbed a plastic cup from the
cupboard and moved to the sink under the bay window. She poured a glass.
Her heart jumped when she saw a figure standing in the
driveway. It was a man. Dressed in dark clothes. He spotted Karen in the
window. He moved for the front door. A second later there was a knock. Karen
panicked. She had heard too many stories recently about nasty home invasions
ending in murder. Every time a stranger approached the house it put her on
edge. Did she lock the front door? Karen couldn’t remember. She dropped the cup
into the sink and sprinted out of the kitchen.
It was unlocked!
“Shit,” she whispered to herself.
“Hello.” The thick wood door muffled his voice. As
quietly as she could she turned the lock. The bolt slipped into place and she
let out a deep breath.
“Ma’am? I’m here to talk to you about satellite. Are you
happy with your cable service?” he asked as he knocked again. “Ma’am, I saw you
in the window. It’s rude not to say anything…ma’am?” He knocked again.
She couldn’t hold her tongue any longer, “It’s my Mom’s
house and she’s happy with cable.” Karen watched him through the peephole.
He was missing a front tooth and had not shaved for a few
days. He could have been handing out free chocolate and hundred dollar bills
and she still would not open the door.
“See, that’s all you had to say.” He turned away from the
door, “Rude ass bitch!” His voice trailed off as he shuffled down the walkway
for the street.
Karen heard Robin playing loudly outside. She raced through
the kitchen and to the backdoor. Robin tried again to pick up the same chicken.
She never gave up on that stupid thing. Karen jumped out the door and picked up
Robin.
“Mama, chicken,” she said as she pointed down.
“I know, chicken. Come on baby,”
“Beautiful little girl you got there!” A voice shouted.
It came from the back gate. She faced the man. His big grin stared right at
her. There was no lock on that gate. If he wanted to come in there was nothing
Karen could do to stop him. Even if she ran as hard as she could for the
backdoor she was not confident that she could get the sticky old sliding glass
door shut before he got to her.
“I said she’s a beautiful girl! What amazing red hair she
has on that little head of hers!” His fingers curled around the top of the wood
gate. He pulled himself up onto his tiptoes so he could get a better look of
the backyard.
“Oh, thank you. Sorry about earlier…it’s my Mom’s house
and I don’t like to…”
“Answer the door, like a courteous human being.”
“I’m sorry.” She shuffled a few steps for the door.
“Could I get a glass of water?”
Karen stopped and forced a smile, “I got a sick kid in
there I need to take care-.”
“It’s so hot out today and I’m so…” his eyes floated up
and down Karen’s body, “…thirsty.”
That was it. She had had enough of this asshole’s
bullshit. She put down Robin and took a few steps closer toward the gate. Robin
chased after the same poor chicken.
“Is that how you sweet talk all the women?” Karen stood
with her arms crossed. “You close a lot of sales acting this way?”
A look of confusion flooded the man’s face. “I…I…”
“I don’t have time for this sir. I have a sick child to
tend too. So please move along and go bug someone else.”
His jaw dropped open like a fish. He swallowed what
little pride he had left and let go of the fence. The salesman turned quickly
and ran right into a human body that stood directly behind him.
“Oops, sorry sir.”
Karen recognized the voice. It was her brother, Troy. She
hadn’t heard him pull up. The salesman took a step back and looked up at the
man towering over him. Troy stood a solid six two and two hundred twenty
pounds. A cigarette hung lazily out of the corner of Troy’s bearded mouth. An
old baseball cap sat backwards on top of his head and a set of dark sunglasses were
perched at the end of his nose.
“I’m sorry I was just leaving.” The salesman spoke
quickly.
“No problem. If you’re still thirsty feel free to drink
from the garden hose at the front of the house.” Troy took a drag off the
Marlboro and blew the smoke right into the salesman’s face. It was clear that
he had heard everything the creep had said to his sister.
“Okay. Thank you for your time.” The salesman
sidestepped into the little flowerbed to get past Troy.
“Watch the dahlias,” Troy hollered as he pointed down at
the flowerbed. The salesman leaped out of the bed and speed walked down the
driveway.
“Thank you for stopping by!” Karen yelled after him.
The salesman scampered down the street. Troy slid his
sunglasses up onto his forehead and pulled the cigarette out of his mouth. “I think
that guy really liked you.” He winked at his sister. Robin stopped chasing the
chickens and realized who was on the other side of the fence.
“Uncle Troy!” she squealed.
“Red Robin!” he squealed back as he popped open the
fence.
“What are you doing here?” Karen reached out for a big
hug. She disappeared under her brother’s broad shoulders. Robin wanted up into
his big arms right away.
“Mama texted me that she forgot to let the chickens out,”
he said as he propped his little niece up on his shoulder.
“She texted me too.”
“Where’s Val?” he asked as he stubbed out the cigarette.
“She’s in there. Sick on the couch.”
“Well maybe Uncle Troy can make her feel better.” He gave
Robin a playful shake as he headed for the backdoor.
On the ride home there was even more police activity on
the streets.
It must be a full moon tonight.
“Mama, I’m hungry.” Valerie coughed into her sleeve.
“I offered you food at Ganny’s. Why didn’t you eat then?”
“I wasn’t hungry.”
Luckily they just passed a Burgerville. Karen pulled
into the drive-thru. This was her favorite fast food place in the entire
galaxy. She got the same thing every damn time. Burgerville should have just
called it the “Karen Special” just so she didn’t have to waste time saying so
many words.
“I would like two waters. A pepper bacon cheeseburger on
a gluten free bun prepared and two cheeseburgers, no ketchup and cut in half.
Plus a large fry.” See, the “Karen Special” would save so much cotton pickin’
time. She kicked the air conditioner on high and laid the fries out on the
vents to get them cold enough for the kids. The fries were always so hot and
for whatever reason her kids liked food almost cold. If the food were too hot
they would spit it out and cry. She downed the burger like it was the only
thing keeping her alive. Everyone's bellies were full and that made Karen
happy.
It was the same race all over again on the way back home.
This time Valerie was the one that had to pee. They sprinted back into the
apartment. Again she fought with her keys to get in the door. The next-door
neighbor stepped out of his place.
"Hello," he said as he waved at the kids. He was
deaf. So Karen made sure she looked him in the eyes.
"Hello, David," she said back. David was the
one neighbor’s name she could remember because he signed it to her the first
time they meet. She didn’t know sign language, but the moment stuck in her
brain. He noticed Valerie's pee dance.
"Someone's got to go," David said as he pointed
do at the little one.
"Yep. It's an emergency." Karen forced the
right key into the hole and got the lock to pop. Karen pushed Valerie in first.
"Bye. Have a good one," she told him as she closed the door.
"Bye." David signed the word at them as he said
it.
A second after she closed the door there was a knock. She
checked the peephole. It was David.
He never knocked. Karen opened the
door. David pointed at the doorknob.
"Keys."
Karen looked down at her keys hanging from the knob. Jim
found her keys like this at least once a month.
"Thank you." She pulled the keys out of the
door. Robin already had her pants off and she showed David just how free she was
with her little body.
“Naked!” she announced.
David laughed out the words, "No problem," he
waved again and headed out of the apartment corridor. She closed the door and
turned the bolt. Valerie exited the bathroom.
"Lay down bubba. I'll put on a cartoon." Karen
tossed the keys into her purse. Botchy needed to be let out the backdoor. Karen
had set up a little fence to keep Botchy in the back porch area. Jim put a wood
dowel in the sliding glass door track for safety. So Karen could open it for
the dog and leave it open without worrying about someone walking in on them. It
slid five inches before it came to an abrupt stop. Botchy scooted out the door.
Karen’s phone rang and vibrated. It sounded like it was coming from her purse.
"Phone! Phone!" Robin pointed at her purse.
"Thank you for the phone update, baby." She
found it at the bottom of the purse. It was Jim. He normally called about this
time. Either he just had a good sale and he was calling to tell her about it or
he was calling to say how dead it was at work and he was going to complain. She
slid her thumb across the phone.
"Hello."
"Karen! Are you and the kids okay?" Jim sounded
freaked out.