A Place So Wicked

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A Place So Wicked Page 10

by Patrick Reuman


  “Is this town always this quiet?”

  “What do you mean?” he asked.

  “Well, on my walk here, to the park, everything was just so…quiet. Like a ghost town or something.”

  “Feels a bit like it, too, sometimes,” he said.

  “Would you like to go do something, then? I’m a bit bored.”

  He turned and looked at her for a long moment. Then, finally, against all odds, he smiled. “No, I can’t today. I have to be home soon, actually.”

  “Do you come here often?” she asked, feeling dumb as soon as the sentence was out, remembering that he lived not far.

  “Yes, it’s practically my back yard, and no one comes here so, it’s kind of peaceful, or boring, I suppose, depending on how you look at it.”

  She laughed, and so did he. “All right, Eli, then I’ll be here some time tomorrow. Around the same time as I showed up today.”

  His smile grew. He looked so much better with a smile than he did when he was acting gloomy, maybe even cute, she thought.

  15

  The house was very quiet with two of the kids gone, Lisa thought as she stood in the living room. Toby had left earlier, with that girl, which she was excited about. To her knowledge, he had never had a girlfriend, and this one was quite pretty. A smirk formed across her lips even as she imagined it, the two of them walking down an aisle, her in a lavish white dress, him, her handsome oldest son, in a black, stunning tux. It was silly, obviously, given that they had just met, but as a mother, she couldn’t help but think ahead.

  Paisley had left as well. She wasn’t sure where her daughter had gone, but she just barely saw her as she’d walked out the door. It was probably for the best. She and Richard had things to do anyway, taking Trevor to the doctor being the primary one, and she knew Paisley probably wouldn’t want to accompany them there. It was good for them to get out of the house at times, especially now, and maybe make some new friends. She knew how hard to was to meet new people, recalling the multiple times she had to move to a new school as a child. It already felt like they had been there forever, though.

  She was excited to get out as well, even if only to go to the doctor’s. She wasn’t sure if it was all in her head, but she was almost certain the smell from the basement was beginning to leak out into the rest of the house. She couldn’t imagine what it would be like to go down there now, but she was sure she would find out through Richard and Robbie when they got home and went down there again.

  She was so relieved at the doctor’s kindness on the telephone. She knew before even calling that she must have been nuts to hope a doctor would see them on such short notice, but she had to try. She recalled the last time she had made an appointment before they moved. The doctor had told her the nearest date that she could get them in had been three months in the future. She hadn’t expected anything different here, especially given that the doctors in the area weren’t her primary and none of them knew her.

  But to her surprise, the doctor, Dr. Ricketson, agreed to see them. This would save them a stressful, and likely expensive, visit to the ER. Initially, he hadn’t agreed, telling her he had no openings for patients or available dates in the near future. He told her all about how over-scheduled they were and how it would likely be months before they would be able to get them in. Until she let it slip that they were new in town and didn’t have a doctor set up yet. She was amazed at how hospitable the people here were. He even asked where in town she had moved and knew the street. The doctor had explained how he too, had moved to Black Falls years back and how kind and welcoming everybody had been and he just wanted to return the favor.

  They were scheduled to go see the doctor that morning, in less than an hour. She wanted to let Trevor get as much sleep as he could get before they left. She had heard him moaning and groaning the night before, all the way from her bedroom. She recalled waking up to the sound, but before she could get up and check on him, it disappeared. She figured he had fallen back to sleep. And if he was up late in pain, she wanted him to get what sleep he could now.

  She heard a noise by the front door and turned. She stood and waited, expecting Paisley or Toby to come walking in. But nobody came. That was strange, she thought, as she walked over to the door. It was silent now, even as she took a quick peek through the peep hole. There was nobody outside, but she thought she saw something outside the door. It was on the ground right outside the door, but she still couldn’t tell what it was.

  She pulled open the door and laid her eyes on what appeared to be a casserole of some sort. It was in a long glass dish with layers of transparent wrapping over the top. But there was nobody there accompanying it. She stepped over it and walked briskly to the edge of the driveway. Up the road, she saw a car reach the end of the street, its blinker turn on, and then she watched as it rounded the corner out of sight.

  She sighed and turned around. That was the third time people had left food by their door but didn’t stop by to say hello. It was a free-food drive by. Not only did she find it a bit rude, but she thought it was equally as strange. They hadn’t eaten any of the food left behind because she had no idea how long any of it had been sitting out there. This was the first time she had gotten to the door right after the food was left there.

  She wasn’t sure she would keep this meal either, she thought, as she bent to pick up the dish. God only knew what these people may have put in it. Poison, maybe. She couldn’t know. She knew it was a wicked thought, but how could she possibly trust people who randomly showed up, left food, then took off without a word?

  Inside, she set the food on the counter and glanced at the time on her phone. It was finally time to wake up Trevor. If she waited much longer, they may end up late to the appointment. Then she had to go get Richard and Robbie, who were taking care of things out back. She could hear the lawnmower roaring at it cut down the grass in the backyard.

  She walked up the stairs and turned into the hallway. Things were just so quiet in there, for the first time. It used to be so loud all the time when the kids were little, and no matter what she told herself, she missed those days dreadfully. All this quiet made her feel like she was nearing insanity.

  The door was already cracked open an inch or two. She eased it open quietly. When she stepped inside, a floorboard creaked under her, startling Trevor into a sitting position, his eyes wide and wild for a single second before seeing the movement was his mother. His face was pale and sweaty as he stared at her with glossy eyes.

  “Honey, are you okay?”

  He only nodded; his face sunken.

  “We scheduled a doctor appointment for you, and it’s time to get ready and go.” She felt bad telling him this at the last minute, but Trevor had never been fond of visiting the doctor, and she didn’t want to upset him.

  He just nodded again, propping himself up a little further. As he rotated to move his feet off the bed and get up, he groaned quietly in pain. Lisa moved in quickly to help him. But Trevor pushed through by himself, forcing himself to his feet. Lisa nearly cried as she watched her son start toward the door. He looked so…drained, reminiscent of how her mother looked in the days before her mother passed as the cancer took what little her mother had left of herself. She moved around like a ghost, like she was already dead even though her heart still beat.

  It killed her to see such a similar pain in her son’s eyes. She went to him, helping him walk, guiding him to the door and then down the stairs. She even helped him get his shoes on before telling him to wait on the couch while she went to get his father.

  She went outside to find Richard and Robbie standing behind the house talking beside the mower. The entire lawn had been cut, dead grass and living grass alike. She walked up to them just as Richard had finished talking.

  “What’s green?” she asked, green being the only word she heard of the conversation they were having.

  “Richard here thinks the grass is turning greener,” Robbie said.

  “No. Not greener.” R
ichard sounded exasperated, like he had already explained this to Robbie more than once and was getting a little annoyed. “You see where the dead grass ends and the green grass begins? That border used to be further back; I swear.”

  “Are you saying somebody repainted the grass?” Lisa asked.

  “That’s the crazy part!” Richard held out his hand. “It’s not painted. It’s real grass, real green.”

  Lisa looked into Richard’s hand at the loose blades of grass sitting within. She took them, holding them in her own, rubbing them with her fingernail. They did look like they were alive. But whatever Richard was suggesting couldn’t be reality.

  “It was getting dark when we were out here yesterday. It probably just looks like the green expanded.”

  Richard shook his head like he wasn’t sure and then dropped the blades to the ground. “Yeah, maybe.”

  “Trevor is waiting. We have to get to his doctor’s appointment.”

  “Let me just change my shirt really quick. This one’s all sweaty.”

  As Lisa helped Trevor into the car, watching him struggle to buckle his seatbelt, she debated just taking him to the emergency room. If they didn’t have an appointment in literally fifteen minutes, she probably would have. But she had hope that this doctor they were going to see would have some sound medical advice. And if he recommended the ER, that’s where they would go.

  About halfway through town, Lisa glanced into the rearview mirror and caught a glimpse of Trevor with a half-smile on his face, a radical change from the expressionless sickness he had been wearing just minutes before. The smile spread to her. Maybe he wasn’t as sick as he had looked. Perhaps she was even overreacting.

  Now that they were deeper into town, she saw life—kids playing, people jogging, a person walking their dog. Maybe it was because they lived sort of near the edge of town that everything always seemed so quiet. But where they were now, driving through the heart of town, things were lively. As they pulled up to a stoplight, she heard kids laughing and playing in the distance, and the smile on her face grew.

  The doctor’s office was a small, modest, one-story building. They found their way into a parking spot between a blue SUV and a car and got out. Trevor removed himself from the vehicle on his own accord, which had Lisa almost bursting with relief. She felt tears coming but pushed them away.

  “You okay?” she asked, unsure of how to articulate what she was feeling.

  “A lot better, actually. It’s weird.” He stretched his arms and cracked his joints. He almost wanted them to turn around and head home. Suddenly, he didn’t feel like he even needed to be there anymore. But he knew it would make his mother feel a lot better if they went inside, so he would do so.

  Richard led them inside. Beyond the entrance were rows of seating on the right and the left, and straight ahead was a counter, separated from the rest of the waiting room by a transparent layer of glass. The woman behind the counter filled out paperwork as the three of them approached.

  Lisa dinged the bell. The woman looked up, her hair pulled back in a ponytail, a complimentary smile on her face. She held the pencil exactly where she had left off as if she were waiting for them to go so she could continue as she was.

  “Hello, I’m Lisa Prescott—”

  The woman dropped her pen as if Lisa had startled her. Why she was startled now and not when Lisa dinged the bell was a mystery Lisa didn’t think was worth solving. Lisa smiled and continued as the woman picked up her pen.

  “We’re here to see Doctor Ricketson.”

  “Yes, yes,” she said in a near stutter. “He told me you were on your way. Please take a seat and I will go get him.”

  Lisa nodded as the woman stood and disappeared from the counter. Richard leaned in to Lisa’s ear. “She’s a strange one.”

  Lisa just nodded, turning to scan the waiting room, making sure nobody was listening to her husband’s comment. The waiting room was still empty, just as it had been when they entered a few seconds earlier. She leaned to him in return. “Be nice,” she whispered.

  They all took a seat in one row, but before Richard could even start reading the magazine he picked up from the table, a door off to the side of the counter opened and an older gentleman in a doctor’s coat stepped out.

  “Mr. and Mrs. Prescott, I presume?” His smile was glaringly white. He was a tall man, older, with facial hair just long enough to notice the grey that was taking it over. They stood, and Richard held his hand out. The doctor took it in a shake.

  “Yes, we’re here because our son Trevor,” he signaled to Trevor, “has been feeling pretty sick.”

  Doctor Prescott looked Trevor up and down. “He looks all right to me. How are you feeling?”

  Trevor wasn’t sure why, but he felt almost as if the doctor were accusing him of lying. Like when you tell the teacher at school you are sick and need to see the nurse and she thinks you’re just trying to get out of class.

  “I feel all right,” Trevor said. “Better now that I got outside and got some fresh air.”

  “Great. That’s great to hear. Well, let’s get you inside and get some blood drawn so we can get you back to your house and relaxing.”

  The doctor moved out of the way and allowed the three to pass through the door into a brightly lit hallway.

  “The room at the end, on the right,” he said.

  All four of them crowded into the small examination room. The doctor signaled for Trevor to hop up onto the examination table. There was a light knock on the door. They all shifted to see a young woman in the doorway, her hair long and brown and beautiful.

  “I brought everything,” she said as she guided a small cart into the room.

  She ducked back out before anybody had the chance to thank her. The doctor started getting everything ready to draw Trevor’s blood. She was surprised he wasn’t starting with a physical examination, but he was the doctor, not her.

  “You’re drawing the blood?” Lisa asked.

  The doctor looked up from the cart. “Yes. Why do you ask?”

  “Well,” Lisa said, “it’s just, I used to work at a hospital, and the phlebotomist or nurse usually drew the blood, rarely the doctor.”

  Doctor Ricketson smiled. “No, I’ll be doing it this time. I want to get you folks in and out so you can get back home. Make sure this boy of yours gets the rest he needs.”

  Lisa nodded.

  “So, how are you folks settling in?” He straightened Trevor’s arm and laid it flat across his own knee, facing downward.

  “Okay, so far,” Richard said. “A few hiccups but nothing we can’t handle.”

  “Oh, really? Like what?” He wrapped a tourniquet around Trevor’s upper arm and started searching for a vein.

  Richard almost blurted out something about the basement and its smell but stopped himself. “Nothing, really. Just new house stuff. Making sure everything functions all right. You know?”

  The doctor told Trevor he would feel a slight prick and then drove the needle into his arm. Within seconds, it was over.

  “Oh, absolutely,” the doctor said as he removed the tourniquet and taped a piece of gauze over the pinpoint wound. “I’ve moved into my fair share of new houses. It can be a rough task, that’s for sure.”

  They waited out in the waiting room for a short while. Trevor was picking at the needle’s entry point, the location bright red and very slightly inflamed. He had removed the gauze almost the moment they reentered the waiting room. Lisa told him to cut it out, and he did. The doctor came out right then.

  “We’re all set! So far, he’s looking fine.”

  “He’s fine? That was quick.” She glanced up at the clock. She had worked as a secretary at a lab when she was younger and she knew most lab tests took much more than fifteen minutes to return results. And small doctor’s offices like this usually had to send their blood to the local hospital to get the tests done. Unless this place had a lab of their own, which was unlikely, but not impossible, the doctor couldn’
t have seen the results yet.

  “Yes. Most of it is done. Nothing seems to be wrong that we can tell thus far, at least. But if things worsen, feel free to come back for a visit. When you get home, make sure you stay inside and get your rest. All right?”

  Trevor smiled, just relieved to be feeling better. “Of course. Thank you.”

  16

  Everybody was gone, and that left Robbie in a happy place. He didn’t mind living with his brother and his family; in fact, he sometimes preferred it. But just as often as he preferred it, he also missed the easily obtained silence that he had at his old apartment. Well, when he and his ex weren’t arguing, that was.

  The first thing he did was retrieve a big bottle of vodka from the top shelf of his closet. He felt like a child again as he held the bottle of clear liquid in his hand. Richard and Lisa didn’t drink, not really, at least not outside of special events. Robbie, on the other hand, used to drink plenty. Hell, drinking was how he met his ex. But, after meeting her, he withdrew from the daily drinking, almost to the point of not drinking at all. He would never have considered himself an alcoholic, but there were a few times that Richard suggested it in not-so-subtle ways.

  As far as Richard knew, Robbie had stopped drinking completely. He had never asked Robbie straight-forward if he quit; it was just kind of an assumption that Robbie allowed Richard to maintain because Richard never saw Robbie drinking or drunk, not in years. Richard even went so far as to congratulate Robbie on his sobriety.

  So, if the price of keeping his brother’s blessing was to hide his vodka on the top shelf of a closet, he would do that. But right then, as he made his way downstairs, the bottle in hand, he was downright excited. He retrieved a glass from the cupboard and set it on the counter. He wondered if he were being a little too brave. Richard had never distinctly told Robbie he couldn’t drink at the house, but he didn’t want Paisley or Toby getting home and seeing him with a bottle in his hand. He wasn’t sure if it would even occur to either of them to tell Richard what they saw, but he didn’t want to risk it either way.

 

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