Help Wanted

by David Bergantino

  What she saw when she reached the third level surprised her even more than the sight of the mansion had. Doug sat cross-legged several feet away. Candles burned in the middle of a red-checkered tablecloth spread on the platform before him. Set upon the cloth was a sumptuous picnic dinner. Doug looked up at her expectantly.

  "Well, c'mon and sit down!" he said excitedly.

  Laura, stunned, plopped down on the platform, shaking her head at what lay before her.

  "This sure is a surprise," she told him. "Amazing!"

  "This is only part of the surprise," he replied coyly. "Here's more." With that, he pointed out toward the forest in the distance. The sun was setting — spectacularly.

  Laura looked from the sunset to the food to Doug. She was overwhelmed. Doug watched her response anxiously.

  "This is wonderful," Laura nearly whispered. "How did you do all this?"

  Doug was eager to explain. "A buddy on the paint crew helped me set this up. I knew no one was gonna be here tonight. And with the sunset, I just plain got lucky."

  Laura looked at Doug. His eyes were afire. The evening's surprises had not ended. Doug produced a single red rose and offered it to her.

  "I've been wanting to do this for quite some time," Doug told her, trapping her with his eyes. Falteringly he continued. "We've known each other for so long, but we've never dated. But I'm ready now. Will you go out with me?" He seemed to search through his mind, to make sure he had spoken all the words he had rehearsed a million times before.

  Laura was speechless. Slowly she took the rose. Doug nervously tried to fill in the silence.

  "We've always seemed to be out of sync before this. When I broke up with someone, you were dating someone else. Or vice versa." He gulped, panic setting in. The words came rushing out. "You have always been the one for me. Anyone else was just a placeholder for you. Now we're both free. The planets have aligned." He looked to the sky as if he indeed saw some cosmic convergence. Still Laura did not speak. Doug had run out of words, rehearsed or improvised. All he had left was, "Well…?"

  Laura took a deep breath and blew Doug away with a word.

  "No."

  "What?" He looked almost apoplectic.

  "I don't know," Laura said sadly. "Now's a bad time for this."

  "Have I missed the boat again?" Doug asked. "Is Buck sailing?"

  "No," Laura said emphatically. A flicker of hope lit in Doug's eyes, then died away when he saw that Buck's loss was not necessarily his gain. "I'm just very confused about a lot of things right now. I need you more as a friend, to help me through this."

  "I can be a friend while I'm a boyfriend," Doug argued.

  Laura shook her head. "You can't," she insisted. "At least not right now. I can't explain it." Her words were obviously wounding Doug, but Laura felt powerless to soothe him. He would only take comfort in what would be a lie. "I guess the planets haven't aligned after all," she said, hoping to lighten the mood.

  Doug was crushed. He had risked crossing the line and had failed miserably. Now he seemed to be struggling to figure out how to cross back — or if he would even be able. Sullenly he looked out toward the sun that had just disappeared below the tree line.

  "I got this all for you," he nearly mumbled. "You can go ahead and eat if you want." Almost inaudibly he added, "I'm not hungry."

  "Tell you what," Laura said, in another effort to raise Doug's spirits. "Let's wrap this stuff up and take it home. Maybe we'll be hungry by then. If Shelby's home, it can be the three of us. It'll be fun."

  Without looking at Laura, Doug shook his head. "Shelby?" he asked in a low voice, filled with disgust. "I don't think so."

  "What do you mean by that?"

  Now Doug turned, his eyes no longer anxious, or excited, or hopeful. Even the sadness was gone, replaced by anger. "Her boyfriend probably bought her dinner," he said harshly.

  "Boyfriend?" Now Doug was talking nonsense. "Shelby's never dated anyone. And if she had started, I'd know, believe me."

  Doug was shaking his head quickly before she had even finished. "Well, she's started hiding things from you now."

  "Impossible!"

  "Do you remember the other day when you called and the phone didn't ring?" Laura nodded. "It didn't ring because you never called. I was already on the phone. You just didn't listen for a dial tone and started punching in numbers."

  "You mean you were calling me?"

  "Nope. I was already on the phone. With Shelby."

  "She was asleep," Laura insisted. "She came down just as I got off the phone with you."

  "Uh-uh. She was probably listening in on the conversation to make sure I wouldn't tell you about her and Chester."

  Laura felt suddenly dizzy and grabbed a nearby railing for support. Doug had gone too far this time. Way too far.

  "Look, you can be mad at me all you want," she shouted. "But you leave my sister out of this. She would never hide anything from me and she certainly wouldn't date Chester, behind my back or otherwise." Laura rose quickly to her feet, causing the scaffolding to sway. "That's really low, Doug, especially for you. Please take me home now." Moving faster than she should, Laura descended the ladder.

  "It's true, I swear," Doug shouted after her as he followed. "It started in the hospital when they shared the room. You know how charming he can be, especially with looks like his." Laura made a beeline for the car, hoping Dough would shut up. "I saw them out a couple nights ago. When we were talking, when you thought you had called me, I was telling her that she should stay away from Chester."

  "I'm not listening," Laura sang out as she reached the car. She pulled at the handle, but she had locked the door and had to wait for Doug to arrive with the keys. When he did, he wouldn't let her in until he had finished.

  "I told Shelby that Chester was a creep, and was probably just using her to get revenge on you. When I said that, she went ballistic."

  "Ballistic?" Laura sneered. Now she knew he was lying. Shelby rarely became excited, let alone went "ballistic."

  "Yeah, she told me that if I spilled the beans, I'd be sorry." The anger had left Doug's voice. He seemed now only to be relating the story out of concern. But Laura still wasn't buying it.

  "Shelby threatened you? Give me a break!" Then her eyes narrowed to dangerous little slits. "You let me in this car right now and take me home. And on the way, I don't want to hear any more of your lies. And after we get home, I don't want to hear or see you again."

  "But, Laura…"

  "Right now!" she commanded. Doug relented and opened the door. He started the engine without another word and drove off.

  They drove past someone in the forest who had heard much of the argument. With a smile, the lurker returned to a car hidden just off the road, anxious to report what had just transpired.

  * * *

  Doug had barely stopped his car when Laura leaped out of it. She did not look back as she marched straight into her house and slammed the door behind her. Stopping just inside the front door, she waited to make sure Doug drove away. The engine rumbled off into the distance within a few seconds.

  Fury still festering within her, Laura went straight to Shelby's room and walked right in. Usually she knocked, but tonight was a special case. She had a lot on her mind. Unfortunately, Shelby's room was empty.

  Her mother caught her at the bottom of the stairs.

  "Is something wrong, Laura? I heard a lot of slamming and stomping around."

  "Nothing really. I just have something important to tell Shelby." Laura peered past her mother into the living room. No one was there.

  "Shelby's not home yet," her mother said mildly. "She called and said she was with some friends at the mall."

  "The mall?" Laura asked, as if her mother had told her Shelby was hanging out at a slaughterhouse. "She never goes there."

  "You didn't either, until around Shelby's age," Mrs. Walcutt pointed out with a motherly twinkle in her eyes. "Anyway, the mall should be closing, so she'll be home soon."r />
  Laura decided to wait in her room for Shelby to come home. But an hour later, she had still not arrived. Laura felt frantic, but Mrs. Walcutt seemed unconcerned. "If she's with friends, they may have gone somewhere else."

  "But what friends?"

  "I don't know," Mrs. Walcutt admitted. Then she smiled. "But isn't it nice that she has some now?"

  Laura returned to her room. Mrs. Walcutt went to bed. Still Shelby remained out with her "friends." The excitement of the evening caught up with her, and suddenly Laura found herself exhausted. She left her door open a crack and lay down on her bed, hoping to doze until Shelby returned.

  * * *

  The next thing Laura knew, it was morning. She had slept through the night and had not heard Shelby return… if she had returned, Laura thought in a sudden, paranoid flash.

  Looking into her sister's room, she saw that Shelby was indeed deep asleep. That in itself was odd. Shelby was usually an early riser. Then Laura noticed the clothes draped over the chair facing Shelby's vanity. Some of Laura's clothes. Some of Laura's party clothes. Usually Shelby restricted her borrowing to oversized sweaters and jeans.

  What she had borrowed last night was not mall wear.

  Holding up the burgundy blouse — bought at Fair Warning only minutes after it had been taken from the box and hung on the display rack — Laura realized something. This blouse had been Chester's favorite. Laura almost woke Shelby up right at that moment, but held herself back. Silently she cursed Doug. As she left the room, she also reproached herself for allowing herself to doubt her sister because of what Doug said.

  Yawning, she went to the front door to get the morning paper. She picked it up off the front porch, then stood there for a moment and scanned the headlines. Bombings, death, kidnapping, and deficits. She looked up from the headlines, still yawning.

  What she saw in the street choked off her yawn. She dropped the paper and gasped.

  Chapter 11

  A painted white line ran a twisted course up part of the driveway, onto the sidewalk and to the front walk, where it continued on, ending in a large arrowhead pointing straight at the Walcutts' front door. In the street, at the end opposite the arrow, were painted the words:

  Shelby and Chester sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G

  Laura ran for the phone. Doug's sleep-clouded voice answered.

  "You get over here and clean that out of the street before Shelby wakes up or I'm going to call the police."

  "Wha…? What are you talking about?" Springs creaked. Doug was still in bed.

  "You know damn well! You've got a half hour to get over here," she growled. "When my mom sees this, she'll flip!" Laura hung up before Doug could reply, then took the phone off the hook, knowing he'd probably try to call her back. Now he would be forced into action, or suffer the consequences.

  Even after last night, Laura had been willing to sympathize with Doug and how he felt. She did care for him a lot, after all. That's why they had been such close friends. But he had gone almost beyond the point of no return.

  Doug arrived less than thirty minutes later. His shock at what he saw was either genuine, or a well-rehearsed facsimile.

  "I didn't do it, I swear," Doug told her in hushed tones. Shelby hadn't woken up yet. "Even if I did, which I didn't, I wouldn't be able to clean it up. That job will take heavy-duty solvents and scrubbers."

  "You're the painter, so you would know," Laura remarked sarcastically.

  "I didn't do it," Doug repeated more urgently. "Look, maybe I knew that telling you about Shelby and Chester would hurt you, but somebody had to tell you. You would have found out sooner or later." He gestured toward the painted message. "I didn't need to do this."

  "Do what?" came a sleepy voice from behind Laura. It was Shelby. She had a fuzzy, sleepy smile on her face but became suddenly cold and alert when she saw Doug. "Oh," she said flatly.

  "Ignore him," Laura told her. "You might as well look at what he did, though."

  Doug started to protest his innocence again, but stopped as Shelby looked out at the street. Her eyes went wide. Then she did an odd thing.

  Shelby laughed.

  "Wow… I've never had a rumor spread about me." She sounded elated.

  "Then it's not true?" Laura asked, glaring at Doug.

  "Oh God no!" Shelby cackled as if the idea were physically repulsive and hysterical at the same time. "I find porcupines more cuddly than Chester."

  "Stop with the games," Doug warned. "Tell the truth."

  As quickly as that, Shelby's amusement disappeared.

  "I don't know what your problem is, Doug. I thought we were friends." She looked out at the message on the street. "If that weren't so ridiculous, I'd say it was really, really mean. What did I ever do to you?"

  Doug seemed genuinely flabbergasted by Shelby's response. "Cut the acting, Shelby. Tell Laura what's going on between you and Chester."

  Shelby took a deep breath and said, "Okay." Turning to Laura, she looked her sister right in the eye. "What's going on between me and Chester is, well…" To Laura's horror, Shelby was having trouble saying whatever she wanted to say. A satisfied gleam appeared in Doug's eye. Finally Shelby got it out. "Actually, nothing is going on with me and Chester." With a smug smile, she turned back to Doug. "Satisfied?" Doug did not reply. To Laura she said, "You can ask Chester. Though the way he is these days, who knows what he'll say."

  Angrily she turned to Doug. "Have you caught Chester's disease of rampant nastiness or something?"

  "She's lying," Doug said, even though he was clearly giving up. "I'm sorry you don't believe me. I am your friend."

  "And Shelby's my sister. Leave us alone," she ordered.

  Doug slinked off to his car. As soon as he had driven away, Laura and Shelby walked into the house.

  "I'm really sorry," Laura told her sister.

  "It's okay, really," Shelby said brightly." I really like the idea of having rumors spread about me. It's fun!"

  Laura searched her sister for any sign of discomfort. Shelby truly seemed to be enjoying the drama. Let her, then, Laura thought.

  "But what's going on with everyone lately?" Laura wondered out loud.

  "I know," Shelby said, suddenly becoming serious. "It's like a sickness, isn't it?"

  Laura nodded. "Like an insidious virus that's crept into all of us. Mom will freak when she sees that," Laura suddenly said. "What will we do?"

  Shelby thought for only a moment. "Don't worry. If I'm not upset, she won't get too upset."

  Laura knew this was true. "But what about the mess?"

  "She'll call the police, we'll tell her we have no idea who did it, the city will clean it up, and I'll have a juicy little rumor spreading through town about me!" Shelby clapped her hands together in glee.

  "But we know who did it," Laura pointed out.

  "Who, Doug? If he denied it to us, he'll deny it to the police, too," Shelby argued. "Besides, do you really want to get him into trouble that badly?"

  Laura thought about it. Really, she didn't. He was being awful, but it would hopefully pass. And since Shelby wasn't concerned, Laura didn't feel so compelled to pursue it. She agreed halfheartedly to Shelby's plan.

  And for the first time in a long time, everything happened as predicted: Their mother didn't get too upset, she called the police as a matter of record, and a crew was scheduled to clean up the paint that afternoon.

  Before the crew arrived, however, Buck called. He was very upset.

  "Someone threw paint, house paint, all over my car!" He was livid, as out of control as Laura had ever heard anybody. "I hate this place. We never should have moved here!"

  "It's not like this, usually." Laura's words rang hollow, but she wanted to cheer him up if she could. In the past twenty-four hours, his warning about Doug had proven on target. "Insurance will cover it, won't it?" she asked hopefully.

  "Yeah, but I still have to pay a deductible. And I can't afford that. I bet Chester's doing this to get back at me for bea
ting him the other night." Then his voice turned savage. "He didn't learn, apparently. Well, believe me. I'll teach him."

  "Hold on!" Laura told him. "Maybe it wasn't him."

  "Who else would have it out for me?" Buck demanded.

  "I don't know," Laura said quickly. "Maybe it was just a random thing. Your part of Elm Street's not the best neighborhood, you know."

  "Maybe," Buck said with disbelief. "But if I find out if was Chester, he's going down. That's all I have to say."

  Laura tried to keep her voice calm. If things kept up at this rate, the boys would end up killing each other.

  "Are you working tomorrow?" she asked, seizing the opportunity to change the subject.

  "Nope, got the day off, for whatever that's worth now."

  "How about if Shelby and I pick you up and take you to the pool. It's supposed to be a hot one."

  "Really?" The invitation astonished Buck. Then his voice turned suspicious. "Won't Chester be there?"

  "Actually, I don't know," Laura told him. "He doesn't work every day. Besides, I'm not letting him stop me from doing things I enjoy."

  She was putting up a brave front, but secretly Laura was worried. It would be her first time at the pool since Chester had fired her. She had only made the suggestion because it was summer, and the pool was a natural place to be whether she was working or not. But there had been so much trouble recently. Suddenly, going to the pool didn't seem like such a hot idea.

  "We could go to the park instead," she offered hopefully.

  "No, the pool's fine. If you can handle it, so can I." Inadvertently, she had impressed Buck.

  Damn.

  They made arrangements for the next day and hung up. She called Doug right after.

  "Now what did I do?" Doug asked sullenly when he answered the phone.

  "Don't give me that," Laura snapped. "Buck just told me about his car."

  "Let me guess," Doug said in a dull voice. "More paint."

  "Yeah, all over the place," Sarcastically she asked, "How'd you guess that, I wonder?"

  This finally set Doug off. "Because I heard that some paint was stolen from the Appleby house last night. They called me because my buddy knew I was supposed to be there. At least they believed me when I said I didn't do it." His anger was tightly woven with a sense of disappointment. "I can get over you not wanting to date me, but it hurts that you think I would lie to you. I should never have told you about Shelby and Chester. Maybe my timing wasn't the greatest. But hey, you're not the only one with problems."