Anonymous

Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Staying at Sam and Marie's house, Julie came to the door. "Go away!" she yelled from inside the closed door. She could hear Marie arguing with Sam to mind his own business.

"Julie, answer the door!" Kyle yelled through Marie's front door, from the porch, pounding his fist. "Please, open the door. You don't understand." He'd rung the doorbell a dozen times and had pounded on the door a dozen more.

"Open the door, Julie. Please," he pleaded.

"Stop it. Sam and Marie are upset enough," Julie yelled through the door.

"I can't stop. You have to listen to me," Kyle pleaded again.

Julie swung the door open. Every nerve in her body on edge, she would not be afraid, not outwardly. "You killed him. You actually killed him. Why aren't you in jail?"

Kyle stepped inside. The door closed behind him. "Julie, you can't really believe that." He reached out to her, touching her arm, but she jerked away.

"You can fuck yourself all the way to hell and back," Julie shouted.

"Come on, don't be like that."

"You said you're going to kill 'the son of a bitch' and now he's dead. How could they let you go? Are they idiots? Do you think I'm an idiot?"

"Julie, I . . . ."

"No! We're done. I'm not going home with a murderer."

"I'm not a murderer. You have to believe me." Kyle said, his eyes piercing through hers.

Julie rubbed her face in her hands. "Just go home. I've had enough. Just leave me alone."

"Listen to me. Please. There's a reason I've been upset. The jobs, the foreman I hired, this last developer, it's all been torture. Then I find out I've been buying bad cement." The tone in Kyle's voice turned harsh, the tone she knew so well. "Those last jobs," he said, "the cement crumbled and now the property owners are threatening to sue me. We could lose the house."

Julie quieted down, a realization hitting her. It was always something, his excuses for bad behavior, bombs he would drop whenever his temper flared. She wouldn't fall for it this time, not when he was using it to justify a killing. "I can't believe you're bringing all this up now. Not after you killed that man."

"You know me, Julie. You know I say things I don't mean. How could you even think I could kill anyone?" He looked so believable, standing there, sincerity in his eyes.

Julie felt herself tensing, blindly staring at a tear in the flowered wallpaper. She suppressed the layer of guilt.

Kyle must have seen he was losing her. He softened his voice. "I'm not kidding. I was so upset today I wanted to drive my truck off the interstate bridge."

There was a long silence. Kyle's gaze settled on an umbrella stand. Julie watched her own foot tap in slow motion. She wanted to wake up from this nightmare. She wanted to have her boys back home. She wanted a normal life.

"You have to leave now," Julie said softly, her hand on the doorknob.

"How can you be like this? I thought he was going to hurt you . . . . I brought you roses today."

She hesitated. "What did the police say? Why did they let you go?"

"It was just a coincidence, that's all. I went there but he never came to the door. Nothing happened. You've got to believe me. Come home, Julie. It'll be different this time. I'll do anything."

Julie took an exhausted breath. He had risked everything to protect her. He could have gone to jail. Maybe he really was sorry. He'd kissed her last night. Maybe he really did love her.

"Come on, go get your things," he said softly, touching her face, resting his palm upon her cheek. "You know in your heart it wasn't me. Trust your gut. Come on home."

Julie opened her mouth to speak. She heard the sound of 'O' flooding the sound of 'kay' as the word "Okay" slipped off her tongue, almost like someone else had said it. She searched his eyes, his warm blue eyes.

Kyle retorted, "I can't believe you said fuck."

She paused, picking the last of her wits off the floor. Why couldn't she have been psychotic just once? A couple of maggots wouldn't have killed him.