V & V (wlw)

Chapter 15 - The one in the old house

As Ron would come to find out, Victoria had no qualms going overseas if it meant escaping her own parents. Apparently it was a bonus, as she had a reason to turn off her phone.

They took flights directly out of the country, intending to meet up with her family at the venue in another country. They were waiting for their car, and Ron was lecturing Vic.

"So like, keep your standards in check."

"I know. I'm not going to embarrass you in your own house."

"Well, not my house. Family's house. It's like an ancestral thing."

"I get it." Victoria was in a tank top and shorts, already sweating in the tropical humidity. She had made Ron slather sunscreen on exposed bits of her shoulders in the airport bathroom.

"I can feel myself burning. It's like melanin whiplash."

"That's what you get for never going outside."

Victoria put her sunglasses on as the car drove up to them. Once inside and they set off on the road, all Ron could do was stare outside the window for over an hour. She hadn't been back in so long. She was afraid she wouldn't remember.

Victoria was similarly occupied. Ron offered, "Never been here before?"

"Not to this part of the country, no. A lot greener than what I saw." They were on a long stretch of road that cut through fields of very tall grass. "What are these?"

"Sugarcane. Got lost in a field once. They're itchy."

"Why were you in there?"

"It was a dare. I did not find my way back, I kept going until I hit a road and then walked to the house. Dad was so mad at everyone." Ron smiled at the memory, watching Victoria from the corner of her vision.

"I don't think I've ever met your dad," said Vic, and her smile wavered only slightly.

"He's passed."

"Oh. Sorry." Victoria put a hand on her knee.

"Nah. It was two years after we moved. Of course it was hard, but we managed."

Vic looked at her like something fragile; Ron could see the gears in her head turning, trying to churn out something to say. Before she could, the car slowed to a stop.

"Ma'am – sir? Boss," said the driver. "Can't drive na."

Veron responded in the local language, to the man's relief. Apparently the road had deteriorated and stayed unpaved for years, and his car couldn't make the last leg of the trip.

They got their bags out of the trunk and Victoria handed the man a wad of cash half an inch thick. After a back and forth, he thanked her and got back in his car to turn around and leave.

"You ever get tired of trying to tip people?" Ron slung her bag strap across her shoulder.

"No."

"Good."

The trek was easy, the hardest part of following the dirt path being having to carry all of their things.

"As long as we keep along this road, we'll reach the place."

"Mm. Not the first time you've said that. Are you sure you're not just reassuring yourself?"

Ron shot her a glare. It was the way to the house, ten years ago at least. Before Victoria's smugness could suffocate her, they saw a building in the horizon.

From afar, it looked old and weathered. From up close, it looked like a thing that been left out in the sun, and when decay set in, someone erased the rot all at once. Veron took in the sight of this lovely, dessicated corpse.