Wrecker

by Dave Conifer

  It looked like the men had found the paint for that room because the job was well underway. The edges weren’t as sharp as the ones Manteo had done but it looked like a passable job. Steve turned away when he saw Jane come in, but Eddie didn’t.

  “What do you think, Jane?” he asked.

  “It looks okay,” she answered. “I guess.”

  “Just okay?” Steve asked without looking her way. “Get off. It looks as good as the other rooms.”

  “Not really,” Jane countered. “The edges aren’t straight and there are a few drips. And I think it’s going to need another coat.”

  “At least it got done,” Steve snapped. “If that bum we hired would finish his work we wouldn’t even be here.”

  Jane watched him sealing a paint can with a rubber mallet before she spoke. “What about the other room?” she asked. “You didn’t find the paint, did you?”

  “It’s not here,” Eddie said. “We looked everywhere. Too bad. We’d have plenty of time to start the last room.”

  “Not only did he skip out on us, he stole all the paint we bought,” Steve snapped.

  “This is wrong,” Jane said. “It’s Rob’s job. He’s not a bum. I’m sure he has a good reason for not being here. We hired him and we owe him the chance to finish it.”

  “Don’t even start,” Steve said. “We don’t owe him squat. As a matter of fact, he owes us for the paint he stole. I’m calling the Better Business Bureau on him tomorrow. Maybe we can save somebody else from getting scammed.”

  Eddie laughed. “I’m sure he’s a member in good standing.”

  “He didn’t steal anything,” Jane argued. “We didn’t get scammed. You’ve said it yourself for three months. He’s the best bargain we ever had.”

  “Maybe I should call the police, too,” Steve continued. “He’s got criminal written all over him.”

  “Cut it out!”

  “Oh, did I hit a friggin’ nerve? You’ve got a soft spot for the caveman, don’t you?”

  “Give it a rest,” Jane replied. “I just think he deserves to be treated decently. I think I know where to find him. I’ll go talk to him. Maybe I can get him to come back.“

  “I’m not surprised. You and the fucking caveman are getting pretty cozy. Something going on there?”

  “Look who’s talking!” Jane shot back.

  There was never any danger that the mallet would hit her. She tracked it as it left his hand and soared end over end across the room in her direction. It smacked the wall a few feet from where she stood as she leaned in the opposite direction. Chunks of freshly painted sheetrock broke free and dropped to the floor along with the mallet. Beads of wet paint splattered across one of her shoulders and onto the floor around her. She watched the mallet clatter to the floor before turning to face Steve with her mouth hanging open.

  “What the fuck is going on with you and the caveman?” Steve yelled. “Really! I want to know. Is that why you cut me off from sex? Tell me, damnit!” He stood and punched the wall, denting the sheetrock. “You actually know where he lives?” he asked as he rubbed his knuckles.

  “Mommy?” Allie said from the doorway where she stood holding her cereal spoon. “I want more.” How long had she been there, Jane wondered with horror as she ran to her and hustled her back to the kitchen. What had she seen?

  “Christ almighty,” Eddie said after Jane had pushed Allie out of the room. “You just threw a hammer at your wife right in front of your daughter. What’s the matter with you? What’s going on?” He glared at his friend. “Are you screwing around with somebody? Why did she say that?”

  “Hell, no! It’s a long story,” Steve answered. “There’s a lot going on.”

  “No kidding. Maybe you better start from the beginning. But not now. You’ve got more important things to do.”

  “By the way,” Steve said. “It was a rubber mallet, not a hammer. Big difference.”

  ~~~

  Allie was okay as she walked down the hall with her mother but she fell apart quickly after that. She was crying so hard back in the kitchen that she couldn’t speak. Jane felt like crying herself. She’d meant what she’d said about looking for Manteo. Until then the plan had been for her to go alone but she’d been too busy ducking hammers to arrange that. Right now Allie doesn’t want to stay here any more than I do. She can come with me. The only question in her mind was whether she should bother with the trip at all. Even if she tracked Manteo down and convinced him to come back, Steve would never stand for it.

  For now, none of that mattered. Getting out of the house was all she could think about. She could already hear Eddie scolding Steve for what he’d done. It wouldn’t be long before he was in the kitchen with an empty apology. She scooped up her keys, grabbed her sobbing daughter by the hand and led her outside. The front door of the house opened just as they reached the car. Allie climbed into her car seat when Jane opened the rear door, but there was no time to latch her in. Jane slid in behind the wheel, started the car and backed down the driveway before Steve was even close. It wasn’t until they were safely hidden behind McDonald’s that she pulled over and buckled Allie in.

  Although the mission seemed futile Jane decided to go through with it. Steve was out of control. He had been for a long time, and now Allie was getting old enough to understand what she was seeing. That very moment she was crying hysterically in the back seat after watching her father throw a hammer at her mother. As it stood now her world was about to collapse, at least in her child eyes. There was no way Jane could run from it anymore. Something has to give and it’s up to me to make it happen.

  She pulled out her cell phone and dialed Kristie’s number. Kristie answered after two rings. “Hi Jane,” she said after clearing her throat. “Everything all right?”

  “Sorry. I woke you up, didn’t I?”

  “It’s okay. Are you all right? Does your head hurt as bad as mine does?”

  “I was the designated driver, remember?” Jane replied. “Can I come by? Allie’s with me.”

  A few minutes later they pulled to the curb outside Kristie and Tom’s rancher. Jane smiled as she remembered Tom complaining the night before about the pine needles he was constantly cleaning out of the gutter, followed by Kristie’s refusal to allow the sixty foot loblolly pines that surrounded the house to be cut down. Kristie appeared in the front door when Jane and Allie were halfway up the driveway. She held the storm door open until the visitors had gone inside.

  “I take it you’re not on an early morning mall run?” Kristie asked.

  “No. Is Tom around?” Jane asked, not sure how much she wanted to say if he was going to hear it.

  “Yeah, he’s around here somewhere, unless he went back to bed,” Kristie told her. “He spent a few hours with his head in the toilet after we got home so he’s pretty beat. What’s up?”

  “Can Allie sit in the living room for a minute?”

  “Of course.”

  “Allie, go into the living room. Miss Kristie and I need to talk.” Allie didn’t budge. In fact, she clamped onto her mother’s leg and hid her face.

  “Would you like some toast?” Kristie asked Allie after bending down. “Or an English muffin?”

  “Toast,” Allie said with a nod after peeking out from behind her mother.

  Kristie walked over to the counter top where a loaf of bread was already out. She pulled out a slice and slid it into the toaster. “Your mom and I are going to talk in the other room. Can you tell us when the toaster pops?” They left the kitchen after Allie nodded.

  “Steve and I had a big fight,” Jane whispered. “I think he knows that I know. I kind of mentioned it.”

  “Knows that you know what?” Kristie asked, before she remembered. “Oh, that. I was hoping I’d only imagined that.”

  “Rob hasn’t been around for days. He left the paint job half done. I’m afraid he’s in some kind of trouble. Steve says he’s going to report him to the Better Business Bureau. Maybe even the police.”
>
  “The police?” Kristie exclaimed. “For what?” She took a deep breath. “Jane. Look at me. Why do you care, anyway?”

  “I don’t know,” she admitted. “He told me a few things. I guess I feel sorry for him.”

  “The handyman? Like what?”

  “There’s no time right now. I know somebody who might know where he is. Can I leave Allie here for a while?”

  “Sure, we’re not doing anything. If it’s okay with her,” she added.

  “I’m not asking her. I’ll see you in a few hours.”

  “Okay.”

  “If Steve calls, I wasn’t here.”

  “Okay,” Kristie said again. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”

  ~~~

  It was only after she pulled onto the expressway and checked the traffic behind her that she was sure she wasn’t going to be chased by her husband. I almost wish he’d show up and make me come home, she admitted to herself. Knocking on that mansion door and asking how to find Manteo wasn’t going to be easy.

  The trip took longer this time since she was driving the speed limit. After leaving the expressway she followed county road 571 to the light before turning left. It would only be a few more minutes.

  Maybe it was because it wasn’t as dark outside but it seemed as though the stone pillars came more quickly than the last time. She took a deep breath as she tapped the brakes. When she reached the pillars she turned in without any hesitation. This time the shed door was closed and there was nobody in sight. Water from the sprinkler system spattered harmlessly on the windshield as she crept toward the house. After easing onto a circle near the front door she cut the engine, determined to deny herself any opportunity to turn back.

  Creedmoor. The guy who lives here is Richard Creedmoor, Jane reminded herself. Checking that out on Google had turned out to be a good idea. It would look better if she knew at least something about whoever opened that door, even if it was just a name. But what was she going to say after that?

  After smoothing her hair back and staring herself down in the rear-view mirror Jane stepped out of the car and walked up the brick steps and between the columns to the wood door. There was a doorbell as well as a brass knocker. She chose the knocker and rapped three times. After a minute passed she did it again. By then she knew nobody would answer. She wished Kristie was there. It was easy to run out of the house in a frenzy, but now what was she going to do? Go back? Of course, but when? How? What was Steve going to do?

  A few minutes later it was clear that either nobody was home or whoever was inside wasn’t going to open the door. It wasn’t such a long ride, she thought, already rationalizing about her failure as she stood and waited. After another minute she admitted defeat and turned away – until she heard the metallic sound of a deadbolt lock grating as it slid out of its slot. The knob on one of the doors was already turning when she looked back. Maybe she was about to learn something after all.

  Chapter 11

  Eddie watched from inside as the car backed down the driveway and disappeared up the street, leaving Steve standing helplessly on the sidewalk. Instead of waiting for his friend to come back in he returned to the den to finish cleaning up. Within seconds the front door slammed. Steve stomped and slammed his way into the house and joined Eddie.

  “What happened?” Eddie asked. “Did you catch her?”

  Steve sighed. He sat down on a tarp and leaned back toward a wall which was wet with paint but caught himself in time. With his hands he pulled his legs into Indian style position before looking up. “Nope. She knew I was coming and she got out pretty quick. I could have followed her but what’s the point? What would I say?”

  Eddie picked up a paint-spattered blanket that he’d been using as a tarp for years and began folding it. “Yeah, what would you say? The way you were acting, it’s probably better that she got out.”

  “I just don’t know what’s going on with her anymore.”

  “Dude! You just threw a hammer at her! Look at the wall over there if you can’t remember doing it!”

  Steve turned and looked at the gash in the wall, and then the mallet where it lay on the floor in a pile of gray dust. “It was a rubber mallet, but don’t let the facts get in the way of your story, bro.”

  “Are you serious?” Eddie sputtered. “Jesus, man. Didn’t we just talk about this a few weeks ago? Out on the deck? I thought you had your head back on straight but now you’re more screwed up than ever.” He tossed the folded tarp onto the floor next to a milk crate that was crammed with painting gear and picked up another, this one made of clear plastic. Dried paint chips rained onto the carpet as he threw it around looking for a good place to start folding. “I guess I should have taken these outside and shaken them out,” he said loudly, trying to be heard above the crackling of the tarp.

  “I think she’s messing with the caveman, Eddie. My wife, with that nasty dude. You’d be mad, too.”

  “What do you mean, ‘messing’ with him?”

  “What do you think I mean?” Steve asked. “Because I probably mean just what you think I mean.”

  “You think she’s sleeping with him?” Eddie asked incredulously.

  “I’m not sure. But they’ve gotten awfully close. Same with Allie. I heard her calling him Uncle Fucking Rob once. At least Jane made her stop calling him that. Where do you think they just ran off to? She actually knows where he lives.”

  “It didn’t sound that way to me,” Eddie countered. “I think it was more of ‘a friend of a friend’ type deal. But let’s say she likes the guy and wants to look out for him. I’ll buy it. What’s so bad about that? When do we get to the part about them sleeping together?”

  “She cut me off, Eddie. Nothing. She doesn’t even sleep in the same bed with me anymore. That’s not like her. I mean, she’s all shy and quiet in public but she’s usually ready to go once the lights go out. I’ve always told you about that. Especially after a night of drinking. But lately? Nothing for me.”

  “You two went out? What about me?”

  “We went out with her friend from work and her husband the other night. We all had a few drinks and shit. Her friend’s husband is a little doofy but he’s okay once you get used to him. Anyway, we get back here, Jane and I, and wham! She’s all pissy and next thing I know she’s sleeping on the couch. That never happened before, not on a night we were out. Something’s going on. I just know it. And I think I’m right about what it is.”

  “Yeah,” Eddie said. “I saw her sacked out on the couch. But that’s still a pretty big leap, to say she’s, you know. Screwing around on you. Maybe she was pissed because you acted like a dick while you were out, which I’ll bet you did. Like you did today. Did you ever consider that?”

  “Don’t you think it’s weird that she ran right to him this morning when things got rough?” Steve asked. “Because I sure do.”

  “Yeah,” Eddie conceded. “If that’s what she did. That’s hard to explain. It doesn’t sound like Jane at all. But you really don’t know jack about why she’s acting this way. You could be completely wrong. You have no idea where she went or what she’s doing there. I just don’t believe it about Jane, I’ll tell you that.”

  ~~~

  Jane silently repeated the name of the owner of the house as the last lock klacked and the door began to open. Creedmoor. Better make it Mr. Creedmoor. All she wanted to know was how to get in touch with the handyman that kept his tools in the little shed. She was prepared for this Richard Creedmoor. But that didn’t help after the door was open enough for her to see inside. Not when she saw a half-naked Rob Manteo standing in the doorway with his hand on the knob. She wasn’t sure who was more surprised.

  “Rob!” she said after they stared at each other for a few seconds. “What are you doing here?”

  He was truly a mountain of muscle, towering over her even more than usual because the porch was several inches lower than the floor he stood on. His thick beard seemed to be moving higher on his face, to the point
where it would soon encroach on his eyes. She’d never seen him close up with his shirt off. His skin was the same deep brown it had always been. Interestingly, there were no tan lines, although she’d rarely seen him working outside with no shirt. His muscular neck, covered with stubble that threatened to link up with the thick swirly hair on his chest as it already had with his beard, was so much wider than his head that he didn’t even look human. The muscles on top of his shoulders were so oversized that they seemed to extend from his ears to his chiseled arms, which bulged in every direction all the way to his wrists. His abdominal muscles, free of any traces of fat, rippled from side to side just below the monstrous pectorals that cast a shadow halfway down to his belly button. The skin-tight sweat pants he wore did little to hide the massive muscles that ran from just below his waist to taper off at his knees before exploding sharply the rest of the way down. If she’d had any doubt about what he’d told her about the vast amounts of chemicals he was consuming, those doubts were history. He was a freak. Nothing short of a freak.

  He’d distorted his body through exercise, and even more by steroid abuse, but his eyes still made her most uncomfortable of all. It had gotten worse since the last time she’d had such a good look at them. They were pasty and yellow, so dark that she wondered how well he could even see. She felt like reaching out and scraping the layer of dingy crust that seemed to cover them. As she gawked, momentarily speechless, everything she’d read about steroids and supplements since he confessed what he was doing rushed through her mind. His eyes were a window on what was going on inside his body. He was well on his way to killing himself. All over a promise that he hadn’t ever really made.

  ~~~

  “You want to know what I think?” Eddie asked. By then his equipment was packed up neatly in the hallway. “About all of this?”

  “No. Well, yes. What does the wise man think about all of this?” Steve replied.

  “I sure as heck don’t think your wife is cheating on you. That’s for sure.”

  Steve shrugged. “It’s just a hunch. I’m not sure either.”