The Vagrant Shadow

Chapter 3

The grandfather clock struck noon when the door bell rang. It was such an odd sound; the clock struck at about the same tone as the doorbell if not a little louder, but hearing those chimes synchronize at the exact moment as one another gave the house an eerie ring to it. I leaned against the banister with interest which was above the front door way as I listened to what was being conversed. Lesli was sitting innocently on the couch across the way. She looked so odd, yet at the same time she looked quite beautiful. Despite her lack of mobility in her legs, she had a sort of soft aurora around her. The sun shone brightly against her rich blond hair s her frame was illuminated—almost like a holy aurora had enveloped her being. I couldn’t quite help but stare at her before I turned my attention to Max who was barking quite gruffly at the stranger, wagging his tail wildly. I couldn’t see who he was greeting but I could tell by the clipping of his nails against the hickory hard wood flooring that he was doing his happy prance. When Max met a stranger, his behavior is quite peculiar: he would first bound to the door, bark once, sniff the mail slot, and then bark again before sitting at door waiting. When the strange entered the home, he would circle them once, nudge their pocket for any food, then go lay down which usually resulted in very large snoring that followed suit. A familiar voice came into ear shot my head quickly turned in shock.

          “I am sorry to bother you Ms. Byrom, but I was wondering if Thomas was feeling any better, you see he dropped his wallet on his way out of the hospital,” My aunt gave Liz a quizzical look of suspicion and then opened the door to allow her to come in. Liz stepped inside and looked around as she glanced at me, but kept quiet about my presence. I gave a faint smile and turned the corner, slightly so that I was out of viewing range, but could still see what was going on.

“You have a very nice home, Ms. B,” Liz said coyly. My aunt gave a small snort of approval and proceeded into the kitchen. “Have a seat,” she said sharply. “I will get us some drinks, and see if Thomas is up,” Upon hearing my name, my heart raced as I slyly slid back into my room and hid underneath my covers, pretending to be asleep. Although I couldn’t see what was happening, I could hear the poison of Liz’s attitude drip from her teeth as she started condescending attitude.

“So, you must be Thomas’s new girlfriend,” she said coolly. Lesli glanced up from the magazine she was reading. “What…?” she asked innocently, “Who said anything about that, I hardly know him” Liz bull snorted and gave a flick of her hair. “Good, because he’s my man, and I will take him for every single penny if I have too,” she boasted. “Not every day you meet a class-A sucker, am I right?” Lesli cleared her throat, and continued reading her magazine. “Hey, I am talking to you!” she said giving Lesli a violent push. Thankfully Lesli had her wheels locked in place. “I heard you,” she said calmly, “I just choose not to respond,”

“Well you’re responding now, aren’t you?” Liz retorted.

“Yes, but that’s because your being rude, and I don’t want to be like someone like you,”

“What is that suppose to mean?”

“You’re smart, you can figure it out. Not everyone has to spell it out for you,”

“You’re a real piece of work, you know that?” She snorted.

“You don’t like it, and then you can leave. No one said you had to come in, you did that on your own,”

“You are a real piece of work,” Liz fumed.

“No need to be a broken record,” Lesli said simply, flipping through the pages.

Liz got up from the chair and circled around Lesli with a disdainful glare as she got down real close and whispered in her ear. “You really want to push me over the edge, because you are this close me breaking your nose,”

“Break my nose, go ahead see what happens,” Lesli said softly. “You won’t like the outcome,”

“Lesli…” I whispered softly as I continued to listen in on the conversation. I wasn’t sure what happening next, but all I could hear was screaming, cries for help and then a giant splash. I got out of bed, and watched Liz wipe her hands together walking away from Lesli who tried to keep her head above the freezing pond water. I jumped out of bed, scaled out the window and confronted Liz who grabbed my arm and was going to drag me into the house. I couldn’t ignore Lesli’s cry for help, because she couldn’t swim that well.

“The hell is going on!” I screamed at Liz as I pulled away and ran to help Lesli out of the pond. Her blond hair was caked with pond scum as she coughed out water while I dove in and retrieved her wheel chair from the bottom of the pond. The chair was heavy so I left it at the bottom and sprung myself on to the dock.

“Liz, you have to leave, NOW!” I screamed.

“I am not going anywhere,” Liz retorted in defiance. I stroked Lesli’s hair combing the pond scum out of it, as disgusting as it felt. Liz went to pull me off of her, but seemed to constricted by something, as I turned my head, I saw Liz handcuffed together while my Aunt was writing a citation.

“Yes, I am a cop, and you just messed with the wrong family,”  Liz looked at my aunt and then at me while my aunt pulled her away from Lelsi and myself and put her into the squad car she kept in the garage.

“I will be back,” Aunt Flora called, “I got to book her, maybe a couple months in jail will keep her occupied,” I nodded towards the car that pulled out of the driveway and flipped on her flashing lights. It felt good justice was beings served, even if it was to my soon to be ex.

I found it kind of hard to believe that Liz would blow up on Lesli like that however, I wouldn’t expect her to act any other way. Her behavior was unlike any I have seen before, but by researching psychological disorders for my abnormal psychology class, I would diagnose Liz as having jealous subtype schizophrenia. I carried Lesli into house and set her on the couch. She shivered a bit and I went into the spare bedroom and pulled a wool blanket off the bedspread and wrapped it around her shoulders and got up to leave the room, but she tugged on my hand not to leave her. I looked at her and whistled for Max who came bounding into the living room and leaped on to the couch, placing his large head on to Lesli’s lap. She sighed and stroked Max, who began licking her chin. She giggled and snuggled with the St. Bernard. I made my exit out the patio door and towards the pond, and peered into the water, where the wheelchair was laying lazily on its side. I took off my shirt, as the cool and frigid hit my skin. My body gave off an eerie shiver and dipped into the water. I swam down to the bottom of the pond and swam around the wheelchair, studying it with blurry vacant eyes. It was dark down there, and I had a hard time keeping my eyes open. The water stung as hues of green swirled around me. I kicked my feet up to the surface and took a breath of air, before diving back into the depths of the pond. It was only a few moments time before I came back up for air, and swept my bangs out of my eyes. I caught the gaze of a man who was watching me with interest. I looked up at him, casting my gaze from his tan hard leather boots, to his military uniform. I blinked as he held out a hand to help me out of the water. I sighed and declined it. He offered it to me again, insisting. Reluctantly I took his hand as he draped his jacket around my shoulders.

“A bit nippy for swimming,” he said gruffly as he led me into the house. I didn’t say a word. “You alright?” he asked softly. I whipped my hair out of my eyes, while I combed my fingers through my hair.

“Yeah, I am fine,” I muttered softly. I handed him the jacket and went upstairs to my room to put on a heavier sweater. I came downstairs and glanced at the countertop where a set of keys was lying. A note read under the keys: Thomas, Gene will be here shortly, will you pick up a cake for him? Mom.  I looked at Gene who was sitting patiently on the couch, video chatting with his buddies on his iPad. By the sounds of the running water, I could tell Lesli was in the shower. Poor girl had a hard life. I passed Gene who hadn’t noticed me, as I slipped out of the door silently. I looked down at the keys and then at the parked car that remained dormant. When I looked up at the car again, my jaw dropped as I gasped with excitement. “No way,” I squealed. The car that was parked on the street was a dark blue Ford Mustang with a white racing stripes and a propped tail fin. I opened the door and saw a note on the dash board. Thomas, I know you’ve had it rough, but here is to a fresh start—Gene. I placed my hand on the steering wheel and glanced at the bay window Gene was still sitting. I bit my lip and revved up the engine. The sound was almost too good to be true. I checked over my shoulder and pulled into the street, accelerating on the gas—the quiet that seemed to loom over the small town was instantly shattered.