Anonymous

Chapter 21

Chapter 21

A black plume soared above a pile of burning branches - Kyle's growing bonfire of deadwood and old papers he didn't want anyone to pilfer through. Julie hurried up their driveway, coming back from her jog, in time to see Kyle throw in his version of useless mailers. He picked out a stack from a cardboard box.

"Wait a minute. I wanted to go through those. You burned some of my recipes last time."

"Is this what you're looking for?" Kyle held up a handful of letters.

"What is that?"

"The rest of his letters. The ones I never showed you." Kyle tossed a letter into the fire. "He stays home from work sometimes just to watch you. But you probably know that. Don't you?"

"You're making that up. Let me see those."

"I know why you leave the shades open, why you dress up to go to the bank. You like to be watched."

"You're starting to scare me. Where did you get those? How many are there?" she asked, barely seeing the handwriting.

He singled out a letter. "He talks about your black lace bra in this one," then he tossed it in the fire, "you must have given it to him. He says he likes to sniff it." He singled out another one, waved it in her face, and jerked it away before she could grab it. "Did you find the panties he bought for you? Red-zippered, he says. He left them for you in the barn. I burned those, too."

"Let me see that." Julie grabbed his arm, trying to get the letter, but he flipped it in the fire with all the rest. "Kyle. Don't!" He grabbed her arms forcefully, enough to leave bruises, holding her back, her yelling, "You're hurting me. Let go."

He loosened his grip. "Didn't want you to get burned, that's all," he said, dusting ashes out of her hair.

She smacked his hand away and took a step backward, her face aglow with orange and red hues of the fire pit. "He was stalking me this whole time, and you let me think he was some stupid businessman. Don't you care about what happens to me? Do you think I would have gone to that bar if I'd known about those letters?"

"You know as well as I do, these were sent after your night at the bar. I don't know what you did that night, but he wants more." He turned his back to her and jabbed at the fire with a pitchfork. "Go away. I can't look at you."

That night Kyle slept in the guest room again. The next morning, he was gone before Julie woke up. She'd barely slept, visions of a faceless man watching her through her windows. She let the boys sleep in and was making coffee when the phone rang.

"Hi Julie. I can be ready by nine o'clock. Is that okay?" Debra asked.

She'd forgotten all about Debra, all about a morning jog. "I've got a lot of errands this morning. How about later?" Julie lifted a section in the closed blinds and briefly looked out the kitchen window. She wouldn't open the blinds in the kitchen or anywhere in the house. Something had snapped inside, something during the night when her eyes wouldn't shut. A stalker had been here, had seen her in every light. It was as though Kyle had welcomed it as a means to torment her.

"I thought you had a 4-H meeting later."

"That ended when the fair did. The boys are leaving next week for college." Julie nervously twisted the telephone cord around her finger as she talked.

"I can't believe it. I barely got to know them and they're already leaving." Debra's cheery voice was a welcomed reprieve, if only for a moment.

"I can't believe that Kyle had them working across town all summer. The only time I got to spend with them was at the fair and then for orientation for Bowling Green." An awful thought crept in, "For all I know that pervert was there, too."