by Agatha Rae
AGATHA RAE
THE BELT
The Belt
Agatha Rae
©Agatha Rae
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or use of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the permission of Agatha Rae or Firefly & Wisp Books.
All the characters in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead is purely coincidental. All work is from the imagination of the author.
www.fireflyandwisp.com
Also published on Smashwords
978-0692696880 – ISBN
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I want to take this opportunity and thank Danielle Zwissler, my dear friend and publisher, for her faith in me, her support, and encouragement. Danielle, you’re an inspiration.
A huge thank you to Firefly & Wisp for publishing The Belt; it feels great to be a part of the group.
Special thanks to Carrie Rae for her invaluable help and support! Carrie, you’re a star!
A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world.
-Oscar Wilde
Confession is always weakness. The grave soul keeps its own secrets, and takes its own punishment in silence.
-Dorothy Dix
“Every guilty person is his own hangman.” -Senaca
Chapter 1
He was free! Finally. He couldn’t believe it!
John Smith stormed out of the house, in which he had lived for over fifteen years with his wife, the practically always drunken bitch, and her adult son, Mickey. He shut the door so hard that a courier walking to his car three houses away looked in John’s direction.
He took a deep breath and walked to the sidewalk, where he stopped for a second, lit a cigarette, carefully covering its tip with his hands to make sure the rather strong, early March wind wouldn’t blow it out. John inhaled and looked back at the house. He was waiting for Margaret to run out after him, to give him the traditional rant about how he had made her life miserable, how he had ruined it. The usual things. Only she hadn’t.
He inhaled again, puffed the smoke out and scratched his chin. He could feel the nicotine calming him down. He kept on looking at the door, but Margaret was a no show. John suspected she started unscrewing another bottle of wine the second he’d left. Her usual way of facing the problems. He scoffed. It was unbelievable how many years he was able to spend with her and not suffocate.
Just as he finished his cigarette he couldn’t help but notice how very quiet it was. The silence was a bit disturbing. There were no screams from the house, no sound of broken glass, and no crying. It was weird, because Margaret was a hysterical person. She would exaggerate all of her problems; she’d panic, she’d cry too loud and worry too much. Unlike John, as he was cool. Calm. He always thought ahead. He had plans.
For a split second, a thought had crossed his mind to check on Margaret to see if she was fine. God only knew, she was nuts; she might have hurt herself. As he was leaving the house, she did look as if she was about to lose it. John threw the cigarette on the ground, extinguished it with his foot, and looked at the house. He debated within himself for a moment, then decided it was well past time to move on.
Without letting her silence bother him too much, John zipped up his jacket, grabbed his suitcase handle in one hand, took out his cell and started walking towards his car while scrolling through his contact list. His last phone call was from Rhonda. No, he wasn’t planning to call her ever again. That thing was over. He moved the thumb up. Cindy. He smiled. Yes, it was time to call Cindy. He looked at the house. No, he wasn’t going to call her now, he needed to get out of there. He put the suitcase in the trunk, got into the car, turned the key and a few seconds later was on his way to Cindy’s workplace.
He glanced at the rearview mirror and saw his house one last time before making the turn. He smirked. That’s who he was. The man with a plan. If not A, B. If not B, C. He was the winner, the cat landing on four feet. Always. He turned the radio on, sprayed the windshield with cleaning liquid and once he had passed the lights, he was gone.
***
Cindy was sitting in her office, checking monthly sales reports for her boss when her cell chimed. She took it out from her purse and smiled once she looked at the display.
“Hello?”
“Hey, beautiful,” John said and was absolutely sure she smiled. He looked at his reflection in the side-view mirror and tidied his hair with his hand a little. He had a few gray locks, but he didn’t mind. For some reason, the women loved it. He was forty-three years old and was sure he looked very well for his age, so he never had any problems with the ladies. Not to mention he knew how to charm them, he thought with satisfaction.
“Hi, John,” she giggled.
“I’ve been thinking about you; you know?”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. I can’t wait to see you.”
Cindy laughed. Yes, he knew exactly how to charm them.
“Well, I’m at work, I won’t be able to leave before 4:00 p.m.”
“That’s too bad, because here I am, in the car, right under your window, hoping you’d come and celebrate something special with me.”
“You’re here?!” Cindy exclaimed and walked towards the window. She looked down and saw John’s royal blue Land Cruiser. He was holding his phone next to his ear and was looking up at her. She waved to him, and he reciprocated the gesture.
“What do you want to celebrate?” she asked.
“I’m free, baby, I’m finally free,” he replied and smiled broadly.
“Oh my God, you are?” Cindy couldn’t believe it. “For real? Like, completely free?”
“Yes, honey, completely free, all yours,” he confirmed, still smiling.
“Oh, baby, I am so happy!” She exclaimed.
“Me, too, trust me; me too. Now we can start our life together, just like we’ve always wanted to,” he said in an affirmative tone.
“Oh, John, that’s wonderful,” she sighed.
“So, what’d you say? Come on, Cindy, just grab your stuff and come to me.”
“I’d love to, but I can’t. It’s the end of the quarter, and we need everything properly checked, signed and sent to the accountants. There’s no chance I leave the office early today. I’m so sorry.”
“Oh no,” he looked up at her, disappointed. “It’s such an important moment, and I thought we would celebrate it, like, here and now.”
“I know, honey, I’m, sorry, I really am.”
“Well, I have an idea. Just wait,” he said and opened the door. He walked out of the car, the wind immediately messed up his hair. “Don’t walk away from the window, okay?”
“Okay,” she smiled, intrigued.
John walked to the back of his car, opened the trunk and took out his suitcase.
“See this, honey?” he asked.
“Yes,” Cindy replied and felt her heart beating faster.
“I’ve got everything I need here. I’m moving in with you,” he said smiling broadly.
“Oh my God, John, that’s wonderful!” she exclaimed and covered her mouth so nobody else in the office would hear her.
“I know, right? We’re finally doing it, baby!” He laughed. Her reaction was giving him the chills; he really was the king of life.
“I’m so happy, John, you have no idea!”
“Me, too, honey, me too! There’s one thing, though,” he said and his facial expression became serious.
“What is it?”
“I left your keys at home. I was in su
ch a hurry; I didn’t take them. Hell, I’m glad I took the car keys,” he said. “So, here’s what I’m thinking—how about you lend me your keys, I’ll make myself a copy, and we see each other at home when you finish work?”
“That’s a brilliant idea, I love it.” Cindy laughed. She was so happy; she couldn’t believe it. They’d been dating for almost a year now, but he kept telling her he was afraid of leaving his unstable wife, that he felt responsible for her, especially now when Mick was in another city in college, and Margaret had only John to keep her in one piece. At first, the secret meetings were fun, but after a while, Cindy felt frustrated, she hoped for a steady relationship, and the longer it was like this, the less serious it was to her. She was already twenty-nine, and she wanted to settle down.
“Okay, honey, just give me a second, I will bring you the keys,” Cindy giggled, hung up and turned away from the window. John was looking up at her, the smile on his face disappeared the moment he could no longer see her, he put his phone into his jeans pocket. Well, that was the best he could get for now. Who knew, it might even turn out fine. He sighed and leaned on the car.
John hadn’t really left the keys to Cindy’s apartment in his family home. He had lost them while spending the night at Rhonda’s. The next day, before leaving her place, he looked for them for about an hour, but was unable to find them. Then one thing led to another, Rhonda was no longer a reliable woman, and now, Margaret had finally lost her marbles, and, there he was, putting his plan C in motion. C like Cindy, he smirked.
The weather was pretty good as for early spring. The leaves on the trees had only begun appearing, the air was warm, the wind was strong, but rather pleasant than chill.
Cindy walked out of the building, came up to John, put her arms around his neck and kissed him. He kissed her back and pulled her closer to him.
“Happy?” He asked, smiling and looking straight into her eyes.
“Very much so, yes,” she replied happily, reached into her purse and took out her house keys. “There they are; you know which one’s which?”
“Yes, of course.” John took them and put them into his pocket. “I’ll prepare us something nice to eat, how about that?” He kissed her again.
“Fantastic, I’ll make sure I get home as fast as possible.” Cindy looked at him, hugged him, and took a step back. “I need to go, sorry.”
“It’s all right, do whatever you need to do, and when you come back we’ll have a little tête-à-tête.” He winked and she laughed out loud. He was impossible. And now he was all hers! She flirtatiously bit her lower lip, blew him a kiss and went back into the building.
***
When John got to Cindy’s, he put his suitcase in the hall and went to the kitchen to open one of the windows. Right away, he smelled the lavender scented moth balls that Cindy insisted on having. John hated them.
He opened the fridge, took out a plastic container with some cheese, took two slices, and closed the door while chewing. He leaned on the window sill, took a pack of cigarettes from his jeans pocket and lit one. He was lazily puffing the greyish smoke from his mouth while looking around. He knew the apartment very well, Cindy and he would often have their little get-togethers there, but he had never liked the place, too much. First of all, it was second-rate and Cindy never had enough of money, nor taste, to refurbish it properly. She didn’t own it, only rented, and kept on telling him she didn’t want to spend money renovating a flat that didn’t belong to her. In her mind, it was only a place she lived in until she was able to buy herself what she wanted. Even so, the kitchen cabinets looked old, unfashionable, and there were gaps between the parquet slats. She had an old-looking TV in the living room, too. It was a pretty wasted two-bedroom apartment in an average, rather depressing neighborhood. John rubbed his forehead, exhaled smoke and he looked at his suitcase. What a degradation. These were not the conditions he was used to. This was below a certain standard, and he would not have allowed himself to live like this under any other circumstances. He sighed, inhaled one last time, then threw the cigarette out the window. Things would have to change around here, no doubt.
John went into the bedroom and placed his suitcase on the bed. He opened it, and it wasn’t until then, that he had a chance to look through the things he had taken from home.
Margaret was so nuts that morning, that as he was packing, he had a feeling he was escaping from a sinking ship; he mostly shoved in anything he was able to reach. Now he finally had the needed peace and quiet to look through everything.
He sat on the bed, cringed as he heard the delicate squeaking sound, and took out a few tees, a shirt, two pairs of pants, some underwear and socks. He also found some toiletries. It was all right; it seemed he was set to peacefully wait for Margaret to calm down a bit and then pick up the rest of his stuff.
John looked around the room. He had no idea where he would put his things if he indeed was to take all of them. Not in Cindy’s apartment, it was too small. He thought he might rent a storage unit sometime in the future. Now, however, was not the time to worry about that.
He heard his phone vibrating. He took it out of his pocket, saw Rhonda’s avatar on the display and rejected the connection. Rhonda was the last person he wanted to talk with right now. A few seconds later, a text appeared on his screen “PLEASE CALL ME WHEN YOU CAN, I AM SO SORRY. XO .” “XO” and a sad face at the end. John scoffed. It’s over, baby. It’s over.
John came back to the kitchen, checked the fridge once again and decided he would order in some sushi. They both loved it, and it would be a perfect meal for a little celebration. Now all they needed was some wine. He picked up his phone and dialed the number for the Sushi place, and put in his order. A few minutes later, and with a lot of time on his hands, he went back into the bedroom for his clothes.
Cindy wouldn’t be back for at least another three hours, so John decided to put his clothes in the closet, but then he recalled the awful lavender stench and decided against it. He opened the closet doors, spotted the little cloth bag with the lavender powder, and took it out and emptied it into the toilet. “There,” he said, “good riddance.” He laughed, as he watched the nasty concoction flush down. He shook his head, and thought of his friend Paul, whom he told he’d give a call later, and dialed his number.
Paul was about ten years younger than John, but they shared most of their interests, mainly women and traveling, which was convenient as those two things, in their case, would often go together. Paul was also one lucky son of a bitch, because two years ago, he won the lottery and was now a carefree owner of a night club and had almost 3 million dollars still waiting for a suitable investment idea; which, in John’s eyes, made him an even more attractive entertainment partner.
The two men would often meet for a beer or two and either exchange their latest success in the ladies’ department, complain about the government, plan another trip together, or just club with other people. Even though Paul was younger, his creativity and lack of any scruples where partying and women were concerned was really impressive for John; he, most probably, wouldn’t have experienced half of the things he had, if it wasn’t for his friend. Feeling free, finally free and the joy of it, made John think about him.
“Hey, man,” John said when Paul picked up the phone.
“Hi, what’s up?”
“Guess what, I left Margaret.” John smiled broadly as he said it out loud. God, it felt great!
“No!”
“Yeah!”
“Get outta here!” Paul laughed. “When?”
“Today, a few hours ago! It feels fucking great; I can tell you that.”
“Where are you staying? At Rhonda’s place?”
“Nah, the Rhonda thing is over.”
“Why, what happened?”
“She backstabbed me, we’ll talk about it over a beer or something. I mean, I just walked out of prison, I don’t wanna talk about people like Rhonda.” John laughed carelessly.
“So, where are you
?”
“I’m staying at Cindy’s for a while.”
“At Cindy’s? I thought you hated that place!” Paul exclaimed, amused.
“I do, but it’s just for a few days until I find something better.”
“Well, remember you can stay at my place.”
“Yeah, I’ll sign up for the nonstop hangover once I have my shit together,” John said, then burst out laughing, “Until then, I have a few other options.”
“You mean Molly?”
“Damn right, I mean Molly. I would stay with her, but she’s gone for two weeks,” he added a bit quieter and looked through the window to make sure Cindy’s car wasn’t in the parking lot.
“How did Margaret take it?”
“Oh man, she lost it. Like, totally.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah, it was quite the circus. I’m gonna give her a few days to calm down and then I’m gonna go back for the rest of my stuff.”
“Okay, if you need anything, let me know.”
“Will do, see you, Paul.”
“Bye.”
John put his cell on the table and once again walked to his suitcase to finally put his things in the closet. The lavender smell was still present there, but it wasn’t that intense anymore. Once it he was done, he took a shower, waited for the food delivery and for Cindy to come home from work. John sat in front of the TV and started flipping through the channels. It was unbelievable how awful everything looked on a non-high definition screen. Not to mention the fact he had no idea when the last time he had to watch anything on such old equipment was. A TV with a picture tube. Welcome back to the 90’s. John held two things above all others in his life. Well, Three. Women, having a good time, and being up-to-date with all the latest gadgets like the newest smartphones, TVs, and sound systems. Come to think of it, all those things kind of went together, especially as far as having a good time was concerned. This was John’s life philosophy – making it as pleasurable and enjoyable as he could, because, well, you only live once, right? Why limit oneself? At least it’s not black and white, that was something, he thought, looking at the TV and laughed under his breath.