"Go!"
Then, mercifully, Jennifer hears the click of the front door and McKenzie is out. Hank reaches for the gun and Jennifer gets up and slams her foot down on the back of his neck. She makes a break for it, bracing herself for the shot but there's none. Outside McKenzie is nowhere to be seen. Then, across the road, two shadows. Lenise calls out, McKenzie by her side.
"Hurry!"
Jennifer looks over her shoulder. Hank is on his feet.
"Quickly," hisses Lenise.
Jennifer runs across the road and they hurry inside and lock the door.
"Is he coming?" says McKenzie.
They stand in the dark, back from the window.
"He's looking over here," says Lenise.
"Have you called the police?" says Jennifer.
Lenise doesn't answer and keeps watch. "I told you this would happen, didn't I? Men are loose cannons when crossed."
"Lenise, have you called 911?"
"No."
"Why not!"
Jennifer reaches for the phone.
"Wait. He's leaving," says Lenise.
They watch as he gets into his car and drives away.
"What if he comes back?" says McKenzie.
"He won't."
"How can you be so sure?" says Jennifer.
"You surprised him. He didn't expect you to fight so hard. He needs time to think about his next move."
She takes the phone from Jennifer's hand.
"What are you doing? We need to call the police."
Lenise places the phone back on the cradle.
"I've got a better idea."
20
Lenise shows them to the spare room upstairs.
"You can stay here tonight."
She disappears briefly and returns with pillows and blankets, then disappears again and comes back with a glass of milk for McKenzie.
"To help you sleep."
Lenise turns to Jennifer.
"And when you're done here, I've got something stronger downstairs."
Lenise leaves them and they stare at the empty doorway, standing there like two stunned wretches forced to flee a fire in the night.
"Drink your milk," says Jennifer.
McKenzie nods numbly and drinks while Jennifer organizes the blankets and pillows. When she's done, McKenzie gets into bed and Jennifer tucks her in tight.
"He was going to kill us," whispers McKenzie.
Jennifer doesn't know what to say. She can't say it's all over now and everything's going to be A-okay. She can't say he didn't mean it and isn't a nutcase and wouldn't have really hurt us. She can't say one day we'll look back on this and laugh.
Suddenly McKenzie grabs her and holds on tight. Jennifer can't remember the last time they had hugged and it feels good.
"I was so sacred, Mom."
"He's gone. We're safe now."
"I thought you were so brave."
"You're the brave one," says Jennifer, kissing the top of McKenzie's head. "Get some sleep."
Jennifer leaves McKenzie and finds Lenise sitting in the half-light sipping amber liquid from a tumbler.
Lenise signals with her chin to a bottle of liquor and full glass on the coffee table. "That's for you."
Jennifer drops into the armchair and takes a pull. Bourbon. Spicy and numbing. She touches the ache on her face. Bruises. Swelling. She can't cry. But a second later she is, uncontrollably and noiselessly, tears splashing into the bourbon, stinging the cut on her lip. Then she remembers she isn't alone and looks up to see Lenise staring at her.
"Don't waste your tears on him." In the glow of the light, Lenise's face is softer than usual, although her coarse hair is sticking out all over the place. "He's an asshole of the highest order."
"Yes," says Jennifer. "Yes, he is."
Jennifer drains her glass and Lenise pours her another.
"In South Africa we have street justice."
"You mean lawlessness."
"No, you're quite wrong. There is law there, just a different type."
"If you say so."
Lenise leans in to make her point. "Don't be one of those cases were the cops arrive two minutes too late. What I'm talking about Jennifer is effectiveness."
Jennifer stares into her glass. "I'm not sure I like what you're getting at."
"You can't leave this situation in the hands of other people who don't have a true interest in your wellbeing, who see you as just another name on a complaint sheet, another task of a hundred more they have piling up in their in-trays." Lenise pauses. "I'm talking about dealing with this once and for all."
"I'm not a killer."
Lenise waves a hand. "No, no. Not that far. He needs a scare. He needs to know you will no longer tolerate him."
"Why would he take any notice of what I do?"
"Because he wants control of the situation. You have to make him think he's still in charge."
All of a sudden, it's too much, and the tears are back, more fiercely than before.
"Oh God, why is this happening?"
"Cut it out," snaps Lenise. "You can't be afraid. That's his weapon. He's just like any other terrorist. We have to beat him at his own game. Now I'm not going to lie to you, this is going to be dangerous. You need to be strong for yourself and that girl in there. But above all else, Jenny, from now on, you show no weakness."
*
Jennifer wakes on the couch beneath a multi-colored afghan. She blinks heavily. The glass tumblers and bottle of bourbon sit empty on the coffee table. Her tongue is sandpaper against the roof of her mouth. She sits up, bracing herself for the rush of blood to the head, and when it comes she's still not ready for it, the pressure forcing itself mercilessly against her skull like its own unique weather system.
She unfurls her limbs from the tangled blankets and goes into the kitchen where Lenise is making tea.
Lenise looks up. "Your face."
Jennifer touches her aching cheekbone.
"Bad?"
"It'll heal."
"Where's McKenzie?"
Lenise lifts her eyes to the ceiling. There's the hiss of water through pipes.
"Oh God, again?" says Jennifer. "Her skin is beginning to crack."
"It's how she copes," Lenise pours Jennifer some tea. "There's no sign of him. I checked."
"Good," Jennifer gulps down a mouthful. "I've been thinking. I'm going to shut the business for a week, get my head together."
Lenise puts down her cup.
"Carry on as normal. He has to believe you're not frightened."
"But what if he tries something while I'm there?"
"He won't. There's too many people around and when it comes down to it, he's a coward. Just make sure you stick to public places and don't go walking down any dark alleys."
"What about McKenzie – I can't send her to school."
Lenise nods."I think you're right. He could snatch her. She can stay here with me."
"Are you sure?"
"I wouldn't offer if I wasn't," Lenise points to the clock. "You're going to be late. You should go. We'll talk tonight."
Jennifer says goodbye to McKenzie and returns to the house for clean clothes. At the front door, she hesitates, struck with the fear he was still here, lurking somewhere behind a curtain or in an upstairs wardrobe. She shakes it off and goes inside but wishes she hadn't because the house doesn't feel like home anymore. There was a hollowness to it now, like the place had been abandoned after some cataclysmic event.
She's expecting to see chaos, but nothing is out of order, even the chintz cushion is resting on the sofa arm exactly where she'd left it. And there on the side table, next to the cold cup of coffee and reading lamp, is the neatly folded apple print dish towel and the gun placed on top.
Jennifer wraps the gun and hides it in the hot water cupboard beneath a stack of double sheets then goes upstairs to change her clothes, forgoing a shower to get out of the house more quickly. But when she looks in the mirror, she knows she's got a problem. The b
one under her eye is a deep, curdled black, her left cheek livid and swollen. She pulls out the tube of concealer from her makeup bag and does her best.
When she gets to work, Rosemary says –
"Oh my Gosh, Jen, what happened to your face?"
Jennifer decides to keep as close to the truth as possible.
"I had a fight with Hank."
"Hank did this to you?"
"I don't want to talk about. I'm okay now."
"But Jen, he hit you?" she says. "I just can't believe it."
"How's it looking for today? Are we busy?"
"Has this sort of thing happened before?"
Jennifer falters. "Rosie, please, just leave it."
She flees into her office and tries to calm down and nearly gets there until Rosemary buzzes. The first client of the day has arrived.
*
Jennifer feels the clients survey the damaged terrain, as if she's the one under examination not them, and before they can ask what happened, she tells them it was a car accident, but when she offers her explanation she can feel the doubt, from the women mostly, who nod silently, but with sympathetic and skeptical faces. None of the men ask, but Jennifer doesn't care what they think, she's just relieved to get through the day.
She finishes just after five and heads for the grocery store, leaving a concerned-looking Rosemary to lock up. The store is busy and she encounters more stares and wishes she'd had the foresight to wear sunglasses. She can't believe she's doing something as mundane as shopping for groceries in the middle of all of this, but she can't expect Lenise to feed them. She'd done enough already. Jennifer does a quick circuit and gets what she needs and hands her bank card to the clerk and he zaps it through the machine.
"Declined," he says.
"What?"
"The card declined."
"But there should be enough money."
Hank had done this, she was sure of it, and Jennifer knew when she checked their online accounts, he would have drained them too. She fights back anger, digs around in her purse and hands over another card.
"Try this."
The guy puts it through the machine.
"Invalid."
The queue grows behind her. People crane to take a look at the beat-up woman with the bad credit.
"You got cash?" says the checkout guy.
She looks in her purse. Two twenties. Not enough. She grabs the milk, cereal, eggs and bread.
"Here."
She pays the money and wheels the cart to the side. The tub of frozen yoghurt drips onto the linoleum floor.
"Sorry," she says uselessly.
Jennifer hurries to the exit. Over the loud speaker Sophia is called to put the groceries away.
21
When Lenise opens the door Jennifer is hit by the smell of oven-baked vanilla.
"That was unnecessary," says Lenise, looking at the bag of groceries.
"You didn't ask for any of this."
Lenise waves a hand. "Forget about it."
In the kitchen Jennifer finds McKenzie peeling carrots, face scrubbed clean, wearing a blue hoodie and sweat pants Jennifer doesn't recognize. Her hair isn't wet so that was a start.
"How you holding up, hon?"
"Lenise made us dinner."
Lenise blushes. "It's only simple fare."
"Would you mind if I clean up first?" says Jennifer.
*
When Jennifer's done with the shower, she goes downstairs and finds Lenise in the living room.
"Dinner won't be long," says Lenise.
Jennifer takes a seat on the couch and picks up the book on the coffee table. Precious Stones.
"I was going to be a gemologist back in South Africa," says Lenise. "Things didn't work out."
"You still could."
"What? At my age? And then there's the cost. Education isn't cheap."
Jennifer puts down the book.
"Sounds like you gave up too soon."
Lenise flashes with anger."What would you know?"
Jennifer shrugs. "Sometimes you've got to fight for what you want. The universe rewards action."
"Don't give me that new age bullshit."
McKenzie appears with a casserole pot.
"Dinner's ready," she says.
*
Jennifer picks her way through the meal, a beef stew of some kind, spiced with fennel seed and marjoram. It may have been good, Jennifer can't tell because she seems to have lost her ability to taste. McKenzie is bright and talkative and Jennifer wonders if she's experiencing some kind of post-traumatic stress thing. After they finish, McKenzie gets up to put the plates in the dishwasher but Lenise shoos her away.
"That thing leaks. Off you go, girl. Your mother and I will do them the old fashioned way."
"I don't mind," says McKenzie.
Lenise shakes her head. "I have a rule that whoever lends a hand with dinner doesn't do the dishes."
"But I like helping."
"It's okay, hon, Lenise and I need to talk," says Jennifer.
McKenzie looks like she's about to argue but finally leaves.
"She's has a forgiving heart," says Lenise, filling the sink and adding a squirt of dishwashing liquid. "Although that may not last forever." Lenise dunks a pot in the hot water and washes the inside in slow smooth circles. "Daughters are so much easier than sons. Oh, everyone says how easy boys are to raise – all they need is three meals a day and a bed. But that's a lie. Males are far more complex than that. You cannot take them at face value as they would have you believe. They have secrets. They're selfish. They drain you of emotion and give nothing in return. A girl, well, she takes the initiative. She'll do things for other people that she gets no personal benefit from. She will do things without being asked. A man you have to prod and cajole and nag. You have to make lists for them to follow. They can't think beyond themselves. But a girl, a girl is thoughtful."
Lenise looks at Jennifer.
"I think I've found someone who will assist," she says.
Jennifer stares at her. "I don't want to involve anyone else in this mess."
"You didn't think we could do this by ourselves, did you, Jenny? Your husband needs to know you're serious. Outside help will show him you mean business."
"What exactly are we talking about here, Lenise?"
"Use your imagination."
"Beating him up?"
"If that's what it takes."
"What if things go too far?"
"They won't, Ron's a professional."
"Ron? I don't like the sound of this. I'm not a violent person."
"That's what Ron's for."
"What if something goes wrong and we get caught, we'd be accessories. I'll end up in jail and where would that leave McKenzie?"
"You want him gone from your life, don't you?" says Lenise.
"Yes."
"This is your only real option."
Jennifer drops into the chair. "I didn't ask for any of this."
"You need to keep it together, Jenny, for the girl's sake."
Jennifer looks at Lenise. "Can we trust this guy? Ron?"
"He won't let us down."
Jennifer runs a hand over her face. "God, I can't believe I'm even contemplating this."
"Effectiveness, Jenny, remember that."
"So you keep saying."
"His fee is ten thousand dollars."
"What!"
Lenise shrugs. "He's taking a risk. He needs to be well compensated."
Jennifer looks at Lenise and lowers her voice.
"Hank has drained my accounts."
Lenise puts down the dish cloth. "Bastard. Without money this is going to be difficult. What about the business?"
Jennifer shakes her head. "I could be audited. I can't explain away a 10K withdrawal."
Lenise places the final plate in the dish rack and drains the sink.
"Think of something. I need it by tomorrow."
The drain gurgles and the sink runs dry.
"Okay
," says Jennifer finally. "I'll find a way."
22
Lenise met Ron three years ago at a bar in Lebanon, Missouri. He was small but well-built, with the ropy biceps of a fulltime construction worker. And he liked to show them off. He was younger than her and when he first bought her a drink she was suspicious that it was some sort of set up, that perhaps he had friends hiding around a corner laughing their heads off as he bought some mature a drink on a dare.
But it wasn't a set up. He'd been alone and just passing through. He told her he moved around the country doing his thing, "freelancing" he called it. They had talked all night and then went back to his trailer and made love. Both of them knew it wouldn't last, but that was okay.
They met up every once in a while and he'd show off his latest bloody knuckles or bruised ribs and she would fuss over him and coo "poor baby" and they would polish off a bottle of Jack and end up between the sheets.
She hadn't spoken to him in over a year and was lucky he still had the same cell number.
"Hey Lenny, how you been keeping?" he says.
"Peachy."
He laughs. "Smartass as usual."
"I might have some business for you," she says.
"Yeah?"
"How does 10k sound?"
"Sounds mighty sweet to me."
She'd be a liar to say it hadn't occurred to her to pad out Ron's fee, take a commission. Lord knew she needed the money. But it wasn't right in the circumstances, given what that son of a bitch had done to the girl.
"It's for a friend of mine. Husband trouble."
"Better not on the phone, Lenny."
"Oh, yes. That was careless."
"Usual place?" he says.
"That would be good."
The usual was a diner on the outskirts of Madison. He is already there when Lenise arrives. She has taken extra special attention with her hair. She knows it's stupid, that this is purely a business transaction, but she can't help it. He smiles and gives her a hug. She feels his muscle contract beneath his plaid shirt. He had grown older, but in a good way, and Lenise wonders, not for the first time, why it was when men got older it was salt and pepper sexy but when a woman aged she was a washed out has been.
"You're a sight for sore eyes, Lenny."
"Liar."
"You get hitched yet?"
"Cut it out, Ron." But she loves the attention.
They order coffee and when they're alone, she pushes the envelope across the table.
The Devil's Wire Page 9