Whitman River

by Maeve Ashfeld

  She hobbled off to the bathroom. She closed the door and quietly locked it. Then she took a deep breath and started picking tissue out of the small can.

  What am I even doing?

  She held her breath and pinched the corners of tissues as she pulled them out, trying to touch the least amount of germs as possible. Soiled tissue, wet wipes, cotton swabs, and even a gum wrapper.

  What kind of psycho chews gum in the bathroom?

  Everything except the envelope.

  She carefully put everything back in the can and washed her hands. Then, she washed them again. She washed them one last time for good measure. Then she poured rubbing alcohol on her hands because you can never be too careful when dealing with shit-stained toilet paper. She let her hands air dry and left the bathroom.

  When she got into the hall, she could see light coming from Albert’s office. That’s odd. She peeked in the bedroom and saw that Albert wasn’t there. She crept to the office door and listened. She could hear talking.

  Who is that?

  She opened the door and saw Albert sitting and watching something on his laptop.

  “What are you doing”

  “Well, I got up to check on you and your toe. Then I couldn’t sleep.” He patted the sofa, “Wanna sit with me?”

  “No, thanks.”

  “Alright. Are you going back to bed? If so, I’ll join you in a few.”

  “Yeah. I-” Glenna glanced down at the floor and saw some white papers near Albert’s feet.

  The envelope?

  “You what?”

  Glenna snapped back, “I’m still tired. Goodnight.”

  “Night.”

  Glenna smiled and closed the door. The smile fell from her face as she walked back to bed and got under the covers. Her heart was pounding against her chest.

  What is he hiding from me? I’ve got to get in that room.

  The next morning, Glenna woke to find that Albert had already gotten up to go to work. She jumped out of the bed and beelined for the office.

  “What are you doing?”

  She froze and turned around. Albert was standing at the end of the hallway and staring at her.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “Well, good morning to you, too. I took the day off because you’ve been on edge lately. I just wanted to spend the day with you and see what we could do to get things back to some semblance of a relationship.”

  “Oh. That’s very sweet.”

  With him there, she wouldn’t be able to look for the bank letter or figure out what that pile of papers was in the office. He shreds everything and she found it suspicious that he was holding on to certain things. Glenna thought for a bit and then she grabbed her head.

  “I’ve got a pretty serious migraine. Is there any way you can go down the block and grab me something?”

  He squinted at her, “Sure. What do you need?”

  “Anything, really. My head is killing me.”

  “Uh huh. I’ll be back.” Albert grabbed his keys and headed out.

  She watched from the window as he pulled off. As soon as his little black car turned the corner, she rushed to the office.

  Where is it?

  She pulled open drawers and looked behind stuff. Then, she remembered that the papers were near his feet. She peeked under the couch. There was a clear tub with a blue lid. She pulled it out a bit and saw stacks of envelopes.

  “What the fuck?”

  There were tons of opened envelopes from the bank. All addressed to Albert. She also saw some mail with a different letterhead - a red triangle with black writing. It looked so familiar but she couldn’t quite place it. A letter was also in there. She heard the car door slam outside. She snatched up the letter and stuffed it in her clothes.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Nothing. I mean, I was just- You left the radio on and I turned it off. The noise was giving me a migraine.”

  “Thought you already had one?”

  “I do. It just got worse.”

  “Good thing the drug store is only around the corner.”

  “Yeah.” Glenna chuckled and followed Albert to the kitchen. He filled a glass with water and gave it and the pill bottle to her.

  “Thanks, I’m going back to bed.”

  “Okay. Let me know if you need anything.”

  “I will.”

  She walked back to the bedroom as calmly as she could. She closed the door but left a crack open so that she could hear if Albert came down the hall. She reached into the waistband of her pajamas and pulled out a bank statement. She managed to grab two before rushing out of the room.

  She carefully opened them. The most recent statement had a two thousand dollar deposit from Zavian Industries. Both statements showed regular withdrawals. Gas stations and restaurants. The balance in the account was upwards of one-hundred thousand dollars. Glenna’s jaw dropped.

  Where did he get all of this money? And why didn’t he tell me? There is no way he could have saved this much from working at the shop. He'd have to save for five years and not spend a dime.

  Glenna thought back to all the times he had money when they were in a pinch. Seemingly, from nowhere, he always had the money. His parents were alive and she hadn't heard of a dead rich uncle. They only really talked to coworkers.

  But what about the letters? Who the hell writes letters anymore? Unless… does he have another job?

  Glenna’s eyes widened. There was the fact that he met clients on a regular basis. But they were all supposedly for the shop.

  Glenna stepped out of the room to get some water. She could hear the loud grinding and whirring from the old paper shredder. She tiptoed down the hall and saw the empty tub on the desk next to Albert. He was feeding envelopes into the machine.

  Fuck.

  The Visitor

  It had been a few days since Glenna had found the bank statements. She was still struggling to process everything. Albert had made it his business to be home while she was “sick”. That meant she hadn’t found the time - nor a reason - to go back into the office.

  Albert was behaving so strangely.

  Maybe he’s a drug dealer. Or a cheater.

  She thought for a moment.

  I’d rather he be a drug dealer.

  While Glenna sat in her thoughts, she heard the doorbell ring. She could hear Albert jump out of the office and run towards the front. She heard the door close.

  “Honey, who was that?”

  There wasn’t an answer.

  “Babe?”

  Glenna rose from the bed and walked to the front. Albert wasn’t sitting in the living room or the kitchen.

  “Albert?”

  As she got closer to the door, she could hear talking outside. She pulled the curtain aside and saw Albert talking to someone.

  She could barely hear Albert say, “I’m going to call the cops.”

  He stepped back inside. Glenna watched the person walk away.

  “Who was that?”

  “Nobody. Just some lady who’s lost.”

  Albert walked back towards the hall. Glenna continued watching the woman go down the stairwell and off down the street.

  “Everything alright, Glenna?”

  “Yeah, just getting some more water.”

  The woman turned and locked eyes with Glenna. It sent a chill down Glenna’s spine. She closed the curtain and went to the fridge to get a glass of water.

  Albert came back into the kitchen and kissed Glenna on the forehead. “I’ll be back.”

  “Where are you going?”

  “Don’t worry, I’ll be back.” Albert adjusted his coat and put his hand on the doorknob. “Is there anything you want for supper?”

  “No, not that I can think of. Not right now. Hey, did you ever take my letter to the post office?”

  “Yeah.” Albert shut the door behind him.

  Glenna stood near the window with her glass of water. She watched him peel off down the street.

 
; “Where is he going off to so quickly?”

  Once Glenna was sure he left, she made her way down the hall. The door to his room was locked. It’s never been locked before.

  She went back to the bedroom to search for the key.

  Where would it be?

  She got on her knees and lifted the sheets to check under the bed. A manila folder was under his side. She walked over and picked up the folder. The outside had the red and black logo for Zavian Industries – the same one that had been making deposits to Albert’s account. The only thing inside the folder was a flash drive.

  She plugged the drive into her laptop. It had two folders. She clicked the first one labeled “Albert Mackey”. There was a .txt file with a bunch of garbled characters. When she backed out and clicked on the second folder, “Whitman”, it didn’t pull back anything. The folder was empty.

  What?

  She put everything back in its place and continued searching. The key didn’t turn up in the dresser or closet. Glenna was at a loss.

  Eventually, she gave up and went to the living room to find something to watch. The time on the TV told her that it was well into the afternoon. Albert had been gone for hours. She picked up her phone and called but he didn’t answer.

  He responded with a text: I’ll be home soon.

  Glenna was upset but didn’t want to make a big deal of it. It was hard not to scream and cry. Glenna went to the bathroom and popped one of her sleeping pills. She didn’t want to be awake when he arrived. She curled up on the couch and fell asleep.

  Glenna woke to Albert tapping her shoulder.

  “What time is it?”

  “It’s late.”

  “Where did you go?”

  “I had to go think for a while.”

  “About what? Where have you been? Was that woman one of your clients?”

  Albert grabbed Glenna’s hand. His fingers were cold and he was shaking. “Glenna?”

  “What’s going on?”

  Albert looked into Glenna’s eyes.

  “Albert?”

  “Will you marry me?”

  Glenna felt her heart stop.

  “Well, what’ll it be?”

  “Yes, of course.”

  “Great. I don’t have a ring right now but I know I’m ready.”

  “I don’t need a ring. What changed your mind?”

  Albert pulled at the corner of his shirt, “Well, I’ve wanted to for a long time. You’ve just been so distant. I figured that if I proposed, you might stay with me.”

  “Oh, Albert,” Glenna started to cry and placed her head on his shoulder. “I’m not going anywhere.”

  The doorbell rang.

  “Who is that?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “I hope it’s not the woman from earlier.”

  Albert cut a glance to Glenna, “I doubt it.” He continued towards the door and looked through the window.

  “Fuck.”

  “Who is it?”

  The doorbell rang again. Albert opened the door to two officers standing in the doorway.

  “Good evening. Is Glenna Whitman here?”

  Albert turned to look at Glenna. The officers peeked over.

  “That’s me.”

  Glenna walked over to the door. Her heart was pounding.

  “Ms. Whitman, we believe we have a Mr. Robert Whitman.”

  “Oh no, is he hurt?”

  “Ma’am, he was found this afternoon. I’m afraid he didn’t make it. You are next of kin and we need you to come identify him. If you could come by the station-”

  “Can I come by in the morning?”

  “It’d be best if you came now.”

  “Okay, I’ll put something on.”

  “Ma’am? We’re sorry for your loss.” The officers turned to leave. Albert closed the door. He hugged Glenna tight and held her for a while.

  “We have to go.”

  “Okay, I’ll get your coat.”

  The Young Man

  The cafe wasn’t so full today. There were a few people here and there. A lady clacked away at a typewriter and a couple was playing footsie in the far corner. Mostly, everyone was enjoying good company and spending the nice day out.

  Robert rarely got a chance to escape Woods County. His life there kept him busy. There was always something going on. However, he was more than happy to make the drive to see his family.

  A young man waved in Robert’s direction. His heart sank when he noticed that the man was alone… again. Maybe one day Glenna would join them. But, not today. He managed to push out a smile.

  “Albert, good to see you.”

  “You too.”

  Robert pulled out a seat at Albert’s table and sat down.

  “How’s Glenna?”

  “She’s alright.”

  “Still doesn’t want to see me?”

  Albert shook his head.

  Robert hated having to meet him like this and not see Glenna. Sure, things had gotten rough. But, not this rough. He didn’t think so anyway.

  “Sir, can I get you anything to drink?”

  “The usual, please.”

  “Yes sir.”

  The waitress walked back to the kitchen. Robert caught Albert staring as she walked away. He rolled his eyes.

  Does Glenna know that he's like this?

  “So, Albert, what’s been going on with you two?”

  “Nothing much.”

  The waitress brought out Robert’s drink. An Arnold Palmer with mint leaves and a lime slice. He thanked her and took a sip.

  “You know, I’ll never understand how you can drink those things. I tried once and it was so sour, dude.”

  Robert laughed, “I get that. They put a lot of sugar in the tea here, though. It kind of balances it.”

  “Yeah,” Albert fiddled with his phone.

  “I don’t see how you drink that in the middle of the day.” Robert pointed at the half-drank beer on the table. There was an empty bottle beside it.

  “Puts hair on my chest.”

  “Haha. You’re not running out of that any time soon.”

  Albert smirked half-heartedly at Robert.

  “I don’t drink anymore. I used to. Then it took away someone very important to me. They’re not the same anymore and they feel like they have to keep drinking.”

  “Yup.”

  “So, what are your plans this week?”

  “Uh. I got a few errands today but nothing really beyond that.” He took a gulp of his beer and went back to his phone. “You bring the money?”

  “Of course. And the letter.” Robert pulled an envelope out of his jacket. He placed it on the table next to Albert. Albert quickly grabbed the envelope, opened it, and thumbed through the bills.

  Robert had never really been fond of Albert. He always seemed like he just wanted the money. Every conversation was short and turned to finances.

  He really hoped that Glenna was getting his letters. He didn’t want to press too much and soil any remaining goodwill. It had been almost seven years since the last time he spoke with her. There was so much to tell her. So much that he wanted her to know. Robert wanted to be sure that she was taken care of financially, of course. But, more than anything, he just wanted to hear from her again.

  “You know,” Albert said without looking up. “We’re having some issues with her car. We were thinking maybe…” He paused and stared at Robert.

  “Oh, of course.”

  Robert reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. He was reluctant to have these meetings with Albert at first. After all, he barely knew him. Albert had just responded to his letters one day and asked him to meet at this cafe.

  Every month, Robert used to mail a letter and a check to Glenna. A week or so later, the unopened mail would be returned to him. Soon, the letters weren’t returned, but the checks weren’t cashed either. Then, Albert started showing up to collect the letters and checks. He explained that Glenna wouldn’t know about the money, but he would
use it to take care of her. It’s been like that for four years. In a way, this was better. Robert hoped that one day Glenna would show up at the table with Albert.