The Fog of Dreams

by Justin Bell

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  Louisa Gutierrez slowed her pace from a swift run to a gradual jog as the yellow house drew closer on her right. The sun was hovering just above the horizon and a low pre-dawn light cast a gray pallor over the small neighborhood cul de sac. Her house sat alone and the color of desert sun, a single light shining bright just above the front door. As she jogged towards her house, she blew out a thick puff of air, shooting a strap of dark hair from in front of her eyes. A narrow section of it stuck to her skin, slick with sweat, and didn't move.

  Moments later she pushed her way through the front door and blinked her eyes unexpectedly, a bright white light of the kitchen coming at her like a sudden flare against the darkened sky.

  "Julietta?" she asked, squinting against the light. "Are you up?"

  Julietta Gutierrez emerged from around the corner, coming from their bedroom, a white ceramic mug clutched in her tanned fingers. "Aye, I'm here," she replied. She held out the coffee to Louisa who retrieved it, then leaned in and gently kissed her on the corner of her mouth.

  "I thought you had today off?" Louisa asked.

  "I thought so, too," Julietta replied. "Charlie had different plans."

  Louisa rolled her eyes. "I'm sorry, sweetie. When did he call?" Charlie Becker was Louisa's deputy, a lifelong citizen of Norwood, Vermont, who seemed to relish the days that he could call her before the crack of dawn and keep his new Chief of Police on her toes. He hadn't been shy about his opinion of Louisa, who arrived in Norwood approximately 18 months ago and took over the Chief's duties after the former head of the department was escorted from his post amidst a series of hushed whispers of corruption.

  Even before she arrived, she'd had strikes against her, coming from the 'big city' and having one of those pesky extra x chromosomes. Charlie was nice enough, but had no patience for those he called flatlanders, and even less patience for a new Chief who he was certain was brought on mostly for demographic purposes. Never the mind the fact that she'd graduated top of her class at NYU or that she had been destined for a long and decorated career with the Federal Bureau of Investigations. She was a girl and she was Puerto Rican?certainly the decision was the city's way of proving their non-racial bias.

  Except that was bullshit. Louisa knew it, the county knew it, the state knew it, and she suspected deep down inside, even Charlie Becker knew it, especially after serving with her for a year and a half. But she suspected that when he was out with his buddies playing poker on Friday nights he still tipped back that Bud Light and bitched about the flatlander Mexican chick who stole his job. Oh, well.

  "He called about 5:30, I think. There's a mess up by the town line. Looks like some kind of animal attack, I guess?"

  Louisa cocked her head slightly. "Really? What kind of animal?"

  Julietta trodded off into the kitchen, approaching the coffee maker to brew her own wake up fuel. After talking to Charlie she knew Louisa would need it more than she did today.

  "He couldn't say. Said you should probably call him then come up there as soon as you could. I asked if I needed to page you, he said no."

  Louisa nodded. "Okay. Let me go jump in the shower." She turned to walk towards the bathroom.

  "I'm sorry mi ama," Julietta said softly, drifting back into her native tongue.

  Louisa turned towards her. "Sorry for what?"

  Her own mug full of hot black coffee, she approached the love of her life, clutching the mug in both hands. "I know you hate it here. We're only here because of me."

  That much was true. It had been Julietta's residency at the local medical center that had brought them to small town Vermont. A teaching hospital that serviced the twin-state area and just happened to be one of the most esteemed teaching hospitals in the upper northeast.

  "Julie, don't be stupid," Louisa said, walking over to her. She put a calming hand on her bent elbow, steadying it. "I have a great opportunity here. Charlie's an asshole, sure, but it's nothing I can't handle. I've dealt with worse."

  Julietta smiled softly and nodded again. "Okay. Just please let me know if it's too much, okay?"

  Louisa returned the soft smile. "Of course. I'll be damned if that redneck is going to drive me out of here. Where you go, I go. Okay?"

  They kissed softly and Louisa turned back towards the bathroom to take her shower and start her day.