Broken Marilyns

WHAT LIES BELOW

WHAT LIES BELOW

It was my day off but Bradley had to work so I decided to keep myself busy by mowing his lawn.  Pulling the rusty lawn mower to the back yard after I was finished with the front, I slumped down on an empty bird fountain and used it as a stool.  The beginning of this summer was brutal, and every day got worse, like the earth was being swallowed by the sun.

Wandering Bradley's house with my eyes, they darted to a window.  A heavy brown curtain waved, blown by a stray breeze every so often.  The office, I thought.  The window was open and all that stood between me and Bradley's skeletons (if he had any) was a screen.

Stalking towards the window, I fidgeted with the screen to see if it would loosen easily.  I'd done this a lot when I was a girl, getting myself locked out of the house while my mom was at work.  Lifting the screen, a small gap appeared on the bottom.  Forcing my finger inside the gap, I pulled outwards.  The screen popped open.

Bradley's office was typical.  A sturdy wood desk sat on top of a huge light-blue tapestry and some bookshelves and filing cabinets lined one of the walls. Making my way to the computer, I walked over something peculiar, something beneath the carpet.  Pulling back the carpet, I found a small door to the basement.  Yanking up on the door, I took a deep breath before making my descent.

It wasn't creepy like I'd imagined it would be in the basement, it was actually surprisingly clean.  To the side I noticed some boxes of files stacked up against a door.  As I moved closer to the boxes, I began to smell some type of chemical.   Bracing myself, I pulled on one of the top boxes and almost toppled backwards.  I pulled fairly hard, anticipating a heavy box, but to my surprise the box was completely empty.  All of the boxes were empty.  

Twisting the doorknob, I felt it give way.  An overpowering scent hit me once I cracked the door open, and it was pitch black inside the room.  Feeling around on the sides of the wall, I felt a switch and flipped it on.  Lights flickered on and I was presented with several pictures hung up on strings over a long picnic table with various tubs on it.  This was a photo lab.

So why go to all the trouble of concealing this room?  Skimming the photos that were hanging, I noticed a lot of beautiful faces, and then I recognized one - Julia.  Taking a step back, I noticed something interesting.  All of these girls were blondes; platinum blondes.  Taking out my phone, I took pictures of each photo.  

The photo lab must have been close to the garage because I heard Bradley's car pull up, gravel crunching beneath its tires and wheezing from the summer heat.  Shit.  Closing the door, I hurried to stack all the boxes back against the wall.  Bolting up the stairs, I covered the door back up with the carpet, sprinted to the window and lifted myself up and over the windowsill.  Jumping down, I landed on the ground but fell onto the screen.  Grabbing the screen, I shoved the springs against the top of the window and tried to press the screen back in place.  Two problems: the screen had a hole in it, and it wouldn't go.  Frantically, I wiggled and pushed, begging it to lock into place.  "Jenna?" I heard Bradley call from inside.  With one last effort, I pushed up and in and felt the screen click.

Grabbing a clump of weeds out of the ground, I walked to the middle of the lawn, acting unawares that Bradley was home.  When I finally looked up, Bradley was watching me from the kitchen window.  When I started up the lawn mower, he disappeared into the house.

*          *          *          *

"Do you know how the screen on the office window got a rip in it?"  Bradley barged in on me after I stepped out of my room from taking a shower.

"Oh!” I jumped.  Bradley was too close.  “I was mowing the lawn earlier and I ran over a rock.  Shot it right through the screen.  I'm sorry, I completely forgot, I’ll replace the screen."  I tried to act normal and go about making lunch but Bradley kept staring at me.

"Where's the rock then?"

"I don't know," Bradley chewed at his cheek, analyzing me.   "What, you think I crawled through the hole and got into your office?  Why do you care, are you hiding something?" Bradley's eyes narrowed.

"Yes.  I told you I have cases I'm working on that are confidential."

"Well I didn't break into your office," I huffed.