by Dan Dillard
Chapter 8
The knock came early. Light tapping on the door that might have been ignored by the average guest. Jason's hearing was higher strung. He recognized the scent coming from under the door and rushed to pull on a t-shirt. The desk clock said it was only seven thirty. She was early.
"Normally, a wake-up call is a call, right?" he said.
"Yup. But, I'm off work and need some coffee."
He opened the door, framing her in its jamb like an odd bit of Americana which Rockwell never thought of. A backpack sat on the floor next to her.
"No class this morning?"
"Nope. You wanna go or not? I'll spring."
He stared at her for a full five seconds before answering. She held her annoyed face the whole time.
"Yeah. Yeah, I'd love to. Give me five minutes. Hey, you wanna come in?"
She peered around him into the room and shook her head.
"No offense, but this place creeps me out. I've had a dozen too many slimy travelers invite me to their rooms. No doubt they do horrifying things in there. I don't know how you sleep on that miscellaneous fluid sponge."
He glanced back at the mattress and twitched.
"Understood. Gimme five minutes."
He closed the door and peeked through the peephole. She was texting and leaning. He took a quick leak, brushed his teeth and washed his face. Then he pulled on a pair of jeans and grabbed his wallet and phone. Eleven days-he would start the internal changes soon.
One quick glance at his teeth and his eyes, bloodshot but normal, and he was in the hallway with Becca.
"Bout time," she said.
"Hey, can we go someplace besides Jack's?"
"Sure-oh yeah. You don't want the new love interest to see you with another woman?"
He winced.
"No, it's not like that. I'm supposed to meet her this afternoon and I don't want to seem eager."
"You're a boy. By definition that makes you eager," Becca said.
Jason smiled. "Boy?"
"Yes. No matter what's in your wallet or how nice your suit, car or chest is. Boy. We might as well keep you all in a big sandbox so we can just avoid the whole lot."
"So, you like girls?" he asked.
"Ya know, there's still something magnetic about men, but I haven't ruled women out either."
Jason nodded.
"Cool. So someplace else?" he asked.
"Hey, coffee is coffee. As long as it's loaded with chocolate and soy milk. There's a little hippie caf? around the corner. Actually, there's a little hippie caf? around every corner here."
They walked.
"What are you studying, Becca?"
"Journalism. It was my third choice."
"Really? What happened to the first two choices?"
"Those were drinking and sex. According to my parents and my grades, I failed at both. So now I'm paying for my own degree."
"Ouch."
"Yeah."
The two sat at an outside table at the small caf? and ordered coffee. The morning sun drew soft shadows on the sidewalk as traffic rolled to work or to school. Becca laid a ten dollar bill on the table and pinned it down with a salt shaker.
"Didn't you say you had an appointment at nine?"
"Yeah. Rental house to check out. I'll get a cab."
Jason stood. "Hey, thanks for the coffee."
"Where is it?"
"The house? Um?"
He pulled out a slip of paper from his jeans pocket and handed it to her. Becca read the address and laughed at him.
"You'll never make it. Come on, I'll take you. I'd hate for you to miss out on this."
"Is it bad?"
"I wouldn't say that. It's just too far from civilization for me. I need WiFi and java," she replied.
She clicked the remote on her keychain, unlocking her car doors. Jason looked concerned.
"Far from civilization? How far is it?"
She cranked the motor which came to life. They were in traffic and turning left within seconds.
"About ten minutes."
"It only takes ten minutes to get out of civilization?" he asked.
"Ha. Around here, it only takes ten seconds to get out of civilization. You're basically moving to the stone age."
Secretly, Jason liked the idea of living on the outskirts and having easy access. He smirked as he watched out the car window. Becca was difficult to read, but he enjoyed her company. Then he imagined her face melting into a tragic grimace upon learning his secret, but shook it off.
Buildings became trees became cornfields became trees. Then she clicked her blinker and turned right heading up into the limestone hills. Hardwoods hugged the two-lane road allowing only the most determined of sunbeams through. Becca slowed the car to read the house numbers on a mailbox. It just happened to be their destination.
"That was it," she said, pulling over to turn around.
Jason looked back over his shoulder and didn't say a word until they were in the driveway. The house sat back from the road. Small and brick, the home was inviting-simple. The yard was neat, freshly manicured. In the center of the yard, stood a stout woman with leathery brown skin and long salt and pepper hair. She could only be Anne from the telephone call. Jason smiled at the thought that her look was an identical twin to her phone personality. He was thankful his watch said 8:52.
"Holy God. She scares me," said Becca.
She pulled the key from the ignition and the two stepped from the car.
"Morning," Becca said.
"Uh huh," the lady replied. Then she looked at Jason. "Didn't say you was married."
"Oh, we're not married," Becca said.
Anne fixed her with a stern expression, letting her know her business was with the gentleman and to please be silent.
"She's just a friend," Jason said.
Becca frowned. She stepped up to the woman and extended her hand. "I'm Rebecca."
The old lady gripped her hand and shook it, never taking her eyes from the young man in her driveway.
"Anne."
"I'm Jason, ma'am. We spoke on the phone."
"What I tell you 'bout that ma'am business? Name's Anne. All you need to know. I ain't formal. Don't like it."
"Rude," Becca said under her breath.
Anne looked at her again, this time smiling with her few teeth. "You got that right, pixie."
"Is this the place?" Jason asked.
"Yep. I live up the way a few miles. I just finished fixing this one. It was torn down by a twister last spring. Insurance bought a new roof, new appliances and some furniture. Hell, it's like a palace in there."
Jason looked the house up and down, then around the property. The air smelled clean.
"Neighbors?"
"Nah," Anne said. "Closest one's me. Then another mile or so before the next house. My family owns a few thousand acres in here."
Jason peered into the distance trying to pinpoint the deer he smelled.
"You have family?"
"None left. Just me. You handle that?" Anne said.
"Sure," Jason said. "Can I see the inside?"
Anne shook her head in jest. "Hee hee, I s'pose wouldn't be right if ya' didn't."
Becca looked on in awe at the walking cartoon. Anne opened the front door with a ring of keys and held it open as the young man and woman walked inside. Jason moved quickly into the home, invisibly sniffing for warnings. A simple brown sofa and bookshelf crowded the small living room. In the kitchen, just inches to the right, he saw a brand new refrigerator and range. A square wooden table sat up against a corner bench. There was a sliding glass door from the breakfast area to a small wooden deck. He watched through that window at the wilderness beyond.
Becca watched the old lady. Anne watched Jason.
"What's the matter, pixie? You never seen an injun before?"
"It's Rebecca, not pixie, and no. Is Injun what I should call you?"
Anne snorted a small laugh at the girl's obvious discomfort. "Ja
son, you get rid o' this one. She's angry, but I like her. Maybe I'll keep her."
Jason was ignoring the drama unfolding behind him and slipped out the back door to the deck, scanning the woods and breathing the air. Something felt right about the area, like home. He walked around the house back to the front yard and surveyed the road. The road was tree-lined and blocked his view nicely. It was almost like the house existed in the woods alone, just where he wanted to be.
"Hard keeping up with you, son," Anne said.
"Huh? Oh, sorry. I'm in love with the view, and the seclusion."
"Don't like people, huh?" She looked at Becca. Think you might be hanging around the wrong kind."
Becca laughed like she finally got the joke. Then she patted the old lady on the shoulder. "I love you. We should have lunch sometime," she said.
Anne smiled. "I'd like that, I think," she said. "And I'm Cherokee. Ani Yun Wiya."
Jason looked back at her. He should've seen the Native features, like the family in his dreams and visions.
"Cherokee in Indiana?" Becca said.
"Nah, my family is from Tenessee. We didn't see much point in the Trail of Tears. Wound up here. I'm the seventh generation of my family to live on this land. The last one, too, unless I have a miracle baby."
All three laughed. Jason's mind made up, he reached out a hand to the owner. Somehow the symbolism of renting land from a Native American felt right, if not corny. "What's the price again?" he said.
"Eight hundred a month. Two months up front."
"I'll take it if you'll have me," he said.
As she shook his hand, her eyes hardened, then closed, then opened again. It was as if she saw beyond him. "Wa-ya," she said.
"I'm sorry?" Jason asked.
"Wolf. It is your spirit, your watcher. Wa-ya."
It rattled him. She couldn't know the truth, but she knew something and it didn't seem to bother her.
"What's my spirit animal?" Becca asked.
Anne turned to her and held her hand out. Becca placed her hand in the old woman's palm and Anne closed her eyes in deep thought. After a moment and several deep breaths, she opened them.
"Bitch," Anne said.
Becca rolled her eyes in an 'I-knew-that-was-coming' fashion.
"Or perhaps it was cockroach," Anne said. Her stone face melted into a smile, accentuating each wrinkle. Jason laughed, caught off-guard by Anne's sense of humor.
"God, you're funny," Becca said in her monotone way.
Anne patted Becca on the shoulder."You are the squirrel. Sa-la-li. Wolf eats squirrel. Not a good match, you two."
"Friends," Becca said. "How do you say friends?"
"U-na-li-i."
"Cool," Becca replied.
Jason fished several hundred dollars from his wallet and handed them over to his new landlord.
"I will give you the rest when I bring my things. About two hours?"
She flipped through the bills and counted.
"Fine by me. Take this key. I'll come back by the day after tomorrow for my money. Same time, nine o'clock."
Jason palmed the key and smiled. "See you then."
Anne walked down the drive toward the road.
"You take care, Rebecca the squirrel. Don't expect I'll see much of you 'round here."
"Enchanted, Anne. I was serious about that lunch date."
The old woman cackled just as one might expect her to and continued up the road to wherever she lived. Becca turned to Jason with wide-eyed concern. "Thanks for this," she said. "This morning was just too weird for words. Can we get out of here?"
"Drop me at the hotel?"
"Sure, but then I need to sleep."
She drove and both stayed silent on the quick trip. When they reached the hotel, Becca unlocked the car doors, then locked them again. Jason looked back at her.
"Will you keep in touch? Let me know how things turn out?" she said.
He could tell it pained her to ask.
"Sure. Did I make a friend?" he said.
"There's something about you interests me. Don't worry, I don't wanna have your babies. I just think there's more to your tail than wagging," she said.
"Cute," he replied.
If you only knew, he thought.
"It's something my grandma used to say. Maybe crazy Anne made me think of her."
Jason stared at Becca for an uncomfortable length of time. She was interesting, funny and would stay detached. He scrawled his cell phone number on a scrap of paper from his wallet. Then he hesitated a moment, before he handed it to her.
She looked at the paper, then grabbed it from him. "I'm still not having your babies," she said.
"Right. Look, I just get the feeling it will be hard to make friends around here."
She gave him a 'duh' face and whispered, "Get out while you still can."
He chuckled at her, glad to call her a friend.
"I'll stop by the hotel sometime after I get settled in. Next week maybe?"
She unlocked the doors again and Jason hopped out.
"Sounds good. Oh, and you might want some bug spray," Becca said.
As soon as he closed the door, she drove off. Bug spray wasn't on his list. What was on his list was a large bottle of ibuprofen. He ate it like candy once the change started and it was coming soon.
Jason checked out of the hotel and caught a cab back to the little house in the woods. He tossed his bag of clothes on the full size bed and looked in the refrigerator. There was a gallon of milk, some eggs and a loaf of bread there. In the cupboards he found some peanut butter and coffee and a sugar bowl. A note on the stove said, "Welcome home. I don't cook. Anne."