Bed of Lies

Chapter 5: Crazy

Alex sat in his house staring at the creme walls with a glass of whiskey in his hand. His mind was centred around Norma and how she had lied to him for all the time he had known her. He recalled back to the first time they had met 3 years ago. Norma had just moved into the motel and Alex, along with the now deceased Deputy Zac Shelby, dropped by to find out about the new owners.

September 12, 2013
Alex and Zac walked around the motel trying to find the new owner. The lights on the motel porch were dull and the atmosphere was cold. Alex pulled out his torch and noticed the endless rolls of carpet in the trash. Norma walked out of one of the rooms and cleared her throat to gather the men's attention. 'Good evening, gentlemen. I was about to tell you that we're not open for business yet but it doesn't look like you're looking for a room'. Alex turned to see a woman with platinum blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. She was wearing a blue and white checked shirt and denim jeans, also donning a pair of grey sneakers. Alex looked at her intently and failed to crack a smile. Noticing his hesitance, Shelby spoke up. 'Ah, no m'am. We were just checking things out, seeing if all is good'. Norma smiled brightly at the pair.
'Yeah, everything is fine. I'm Norma Bates, we moved in a few days ago'. Alex stood awkwardly. He took note that she said 'we'. Who's 'we?' He wondered. Zac began to get annoyed at his ignorance, but was too focused on how attractive he thought Norma was. 'I'm Deputy Zac Shelby, this is Sheriff Alex Romero' he introduced them. Norma nodded, flashing her best grin. An awkward silence fell and the atmosphere became tense. Norma tried to kickstart a way that would end the conversation. 'Yeah so uh, my son and I are just pulling up some carpet. We're doing some renovations'. Alex jumped at the mention of her son. 'You have a son?' He asked, perhaps a little too forcefully. Norma noticed this and stepped back, frowning slightly. 'Yeah, my son Norman. He's 17' . Alex chuckled a little bit.
'Norma and Norman? It's uh - unusual' he stated. Norma began to become defensive, but Alex noticed that she held back. Instead of showing her annoyance, she shrugged. 'Well, son's take their fathers names all the time.' Alex checked his watch - 2:08am. Norma's son had school tomorrow. Why would they be up pulling up carpet at 2am?Why would it be that important to prevent her son from getting sleep? 'You know it's 2 in the morning, your son has school tomorrow' Alex told her.
'I had no idea it was that late' Norma sighed, shooting a smile in Shelby's direction. Alex glared at Norma. He watched as she rubbed her shoulder with a pained expression. As she removed her hand from her shoulder, he noticed a bandage wrapped around her palm. Norma was tired of speaking to the men and refused to look at Alex. 'It was nice to meet you' she beamed at Zac. She then looked over at Alex. 'Thank you'. Alex wouldn't let her leave until he found out more information. 'What happened to your hand?' He asked. Norma looked uncomfortable at his question and stalled her answer by looking at the damaged hand. 'Uh, I was um... I was pulling up some carpet and it.. It's nothing, it's a nick' she stuttered. His eyes narrowed at her nervousness.

That was the first time she had lied: she didn't cut her hand on the carpet knife. Keith Summers attacked Norma and stabbed her in the hand. The second lie she told was when he asked her if she had seen Keith, and she had said no. Later on in the case a witness came forward, claiming the pair had met and appeared to be having a heated argument. That argument occurred on the day of Keith's disappearance. Alex shook his head in disgust that he let her get into his head like that. He took a sip of his whiskey when the doorbell rang. As he made his way to the door, he knew who it was before looking through the curtain. It was Norma. It had to be. He had ignored every call and text message from her and showing up at his house would've been her last option. Alex sighed and looked at her with a stern expression. 'Can I come in?' Norma asked with a weak voice. Norma's face looked sad and exhausted. Alex didn't want to talk to her, he was beyond angry at her. Underneath the anger, Alex knew he still cared for her. 'Fine, come in'. Norma walked past him. 'What are you doing here?' He asked coldly. Norma looked at him, defeated. 'Alex please, don't be like that. You haven't answered any of my calls and I need to know where we stand. You said goodbye to me last night. What do you mean by that? Are you leaving town?'
'No. It means I'm done with you Norma' he replied. Norma began to panic and her eyes grew wide. 'I trusted you. I let you find out things about me that I was ashamed of! How could you do that to me? Just toss me aside like I'm nothing?!' Norma yelled. Alex was taken aback at her outburst and decided that if she was letting out her anger, he would too. 'You lied to me, Norma! I thought that we had something. When I heard that Norman killed his father I knew you wouldn't tell me the truth. You've been lying to my face ever since I met you. You lied about Keith Summers, Shelby, Norman and God knows what else. I protected you from the cruelty of this town. Think about what people have done to you here - I protected you from that' Alex shot back.
'You didn't protect me from anything! Where was my protection when I was raped? Or how about the time Abernathy dumped that dead body in my bed and you did nothing about it?! All you've ever done is treat me like shit since we first met'. Norma was seething by this point.

Alex felt disgusted when he thought about anyone hurting Norma, and to find out she was raped broke his heart. He decided to remain silent which infuriated Norma more. She headed over to the door and tried yanking the chain to open it. The door didn't cooperate which made Norma go crazy, kicking it in frustration. Alex stood back and let her express her anger. She started screaming and kicking harder which forced Alex to march forward and pull her away from the door. 'Norma, stop. Let go of the door' he said quietly. Norma obliged and fell into his arms. She began crying and clung to him like a child. Alex usually felt uncomfortable with physical contact but he let go of that and wrapped his arms around her. 'I'm so sorry, Norma. I had no idea that you were... Sexually assaulted'. Norma cried harder and Alex was overcome with sadness at her plight. Alex started to worry when Norma started hyperventilating and having a panic attack. 'Norma, you need to breathe. Norma. Breathe' he told her. He lifted her up out of his arms and rubbed her back. She calmed down slightly but was still panting. After 10 minutes of her in that state, she was now settled. 'I'm sorry Alex' she mumbled sadly. Alex sighed and kissed the top of her head. 'It's okay. Don't worry about it. I'm here' he said. The words of comfort didn't come easily to him. Alex had never been in a situation like this where he had to console a woman. Even though the words coming out of his mouth were foreign to him, he knew he meant them. 'I'm sorry I couldn't protect you. If I could change it I would, but I'm here now. I'm going to protect you Norma' he whispered to her. Little did he know how much his protection to her would cost him. Sooner or later, he would pay the price.