by S. E. Akers
Maybe he’s still ticked about the other day? I did almost back into him. With that guilt-wheel picking up speed, I decided to see if I could get some sort of reaction from a kind gesture, so I threw up my hand and waved to him with a cheery smile plastered on my face.
Unfortunately, I got one. Mr. Estell startled me with an awfully menacing grimace. His eyes pierced through me like a dagger, and a feeling of sheer hatred pelted my entire body like a hail of gunfire. This time, a whole lot more than just my spine shook. Every daggone nerve in my body was quivering.
Immediately, I bolted into the house and slammed the door. I hurried into the living room and peered out the window. Mr. Estell hadn’t moved from across the street, and his eyes were still eerily transfixed on me. The bare window provided me with no cover whatsoever, so I backed up into the foyer and turned to go down the hall. As I whipped around, I ran smack into Ty.
“CRAP!” I screamed as I clutched my chest.
“I’m sorry, Shi,” Ty chuckled. “I didn’t mean to scare you like that.”
I caught my breath. “It’s not you,” I insisted. “It’s that Mr. Estell outside. He threw me an awful look and wouldn’t stop staring at me.”
Ty darted towards the front door like a protective alpha-male and threw it open. “WHERE? I don’t see him.”
Confused, I rushed to the door and ran outside. I couldn’t believe it, but Mr. Estell was gone. It was almost like he’d vanished in thin air. I charged towards the road and looked up and down the street.
“Where the heck did he go? He was JUST HERE a second ago,” I declared.
Ty joined me in the front yard. “Someone probably came along and picked him up. He’s always hitchhiking,” he reasoned.
I hurried back inside with Ty following right behind me. “No…There weren’t any cars that passed by. I didn’t see or hear a single one,” I stated adamantly.
“Well, he’s gone now. You can stop acting like a scared little girl,” Ty cracked as he passed me and tugged on my ponytail.
His “little girl” comment flew all over me, especially thinking about how Professor Tanner Grey had thrown that perturbing phrase around on my behalf, repeatedly.
“I’m not acting like a ‘scared little girl’! He just creeped me out…That’s all!” I barked.
“Woah! I’m sorry, Shi…Easy,” Ty defended as he threw up his arms. “I know the guy’s probably not playing with a full deck.”
In an attempt to console me, he laid his hands on my shoulders and began rubbing them gently. It started out as a friendly gesture, but the longer he massaged them, the deeper and more defined his touch became. I wasn’t upset anymore, but as a warm tingle ran rampant throughout my body, I knew I was a heck of a lot of “somethin’ else”.
I looked over at his hands and then up at him curiously. Ty pulled away quickly, obviously embarrassed by his frisky, unconscious move.
I desperately needed another tension breaker. “Oh, um…I’m finished with the dining room. How about you?” I inquired.
“The spare bedroom is all packed up. I’m working in Bea’s bedroom right now,” Ty said, sounding more relaxed.
“Do you want some help?” I asked.
“Yeah. Come on,” Ty replied with a smile and motioned me down the hall to the rear of the house.
As I entered Beatrix Sutherland’s master bedroom, my eyes did a complete sweep of the extremely frilly and feminine space. The walls were covered in a yellow-striped wallpaper, adorned with a fetching pink floral motif. Her grand cherry poster bed was draped in a soft white chenille quilt and smothered in decorative throw pillows. I shook my head. If I thought there were a lot of knickknacks in the living room, I was mistaken. I discovered “the mother load” in here. Little birdies lay positioned and perched on every table, in every corner of the room. My attention then turned to an old wooden rocking chair sitting by a window. Without a doubt, it was a picturesque addition to the room’s décor, but there was something funny about the way it was situated. It faced towards the window, not into the room like you would see in most every other home — yet another little oddity that kept fueling my suspicion.
We packed up everything she wouldn’t need for the next week. I could see Tyler out of the corner of my eye. He seemed to want to say something, but kept hesitating for some reason. His restrained silence was driving me a little nuts.
“So…What do you have to do this afternoon that’s more important than helping ’ole Bea?” I inquired.
Ty smiled and paused for a moment. “I have to drive over to Pineville and pick up my tux.”
The last time I’d spoken with Ty about anything to do with tonight’s dance he seemed a bit miffed. I’d passed off Katie’s theory as “totally delusional”, so I tried to lighten the mood.
“Oooh…That is important,” I mocked as I whipped out one of Ms. Sutherland’s evening dresses from a garment box nearby and draped it over my body. “After all, the Homecoming dance is one of our school’s biggest social events,” I proclaimed. “With the notable exception of the prom. Anyone who’s anyone will be there.” My playful, southern accent was laden with sarcasm.
“I know,” Ty replied, mirroring my tone. “You wouldn’t believe who will be there…and who they’re coming with too!” Ty’s innuendo was as crystal clear as Ms. Sutherland’s stemware that I’d just packed away an hour ago.
I frowned as I hung the dress back in the cardboard garment box. I didn’t want to talk about the dance. It would be here soon enough. Ty took the hint from the look on my face. He’d hit the target when he shot that one out of the chamber. Once again, a deafening silence swiftly filled the room and stagnated like a thick, suffocating cloud while we continued packing.
No sooner than we had finished up, Ms. Sutherland came strolling into the bedroom. “How’s it coming in here?” she asked.
“I just have to carry out the last box. Then we’ll be officially done,” Ty announced proudly.
“My, you both have worked so hard today. You two make a good team,” Ms. Sutherland stated with a smile. An awkward vibe bounced back and forth between us. “Please…Come into the kitchen and get something to drink.”
Ty hoisted the remaining box onto his firm, broad shoulder and motioned me ahead of him. “After you,” he insisted politely and waved his hand.
We followed Ms. Sutherland down the hall and into the kitchen. Two steamy cups of apple cider were already waiting for us. We both pulled out our chairs and sat around the round oak table, eager to sip on the warm treat. Her cider recipe turned out to be second to none — plenty of sweetness, with a hint of spice and not too tart — the perfect drink for a crisp autumn day.
We sat there for a spell, singing Ms. Sutherland’s praises and telling her how much she would be missed. Her eyes began to tear up from our heartfelt wishes for her happiness.
“Goodness, you both are so precious. Your words mean more than you’ll ever know. Thank you so much for helping me today. You’re both so thoughtful and caring.” Ms. Sutherland continued to weep. “Those are rare qualities in teenagers nowadays.” She walked over to where her paper towels sat on the counter and fiddled with the empty tube. “Please excuse me for a moment. I need to get some tissues.”
“Sure,” we replied.
As she exited the room, I found myself wondering how I could ever think “sweet old Beatrix Sutherland” would be trying to deceive anyone with a fake disability. My time was almost up, and I still hadn’t uncovered anything. I sat there empty-handed and feeling uncomfortably ashamed.
Another moment of awkward silence passed. This seemed to be the recurring theme of the day. However, it came to an end when Ty noticed the time on the clock above the refrigerator. It was 1:30 PM.
He shot up out of his chair. “I’m late!” Ty exclaimed as he pulled his keys out of his pocket.
I guess he can’t keep his tuxedo waiting. Kara wouldn’t appreciate that one bit. Secretly, I wished I was that excited about the dance tonight. The o
nly thing I felt was miserable, with a touch of dread.
Something in the back of my mind surfaced as I watched him race over to grab his jacket off the wall. Most every guy in school usually went to Primo Formals downtown or to one of the shops in Bluefield to get their tuxedoes. It just seemed odd.
“Hey, Ty…Why did you go to a tux shop over in Pineville?”
“Well, I um…hadn’t planned on going to the dance,” Ty revealed as he slipped on his jacket. “All the other stores were out of my size by the time I decided to go, but I found one over there at Ava’s Formals. My mom knows a lady who works there.”
“Oh…So Kara being crowned Homecoming Queen changed your mind? Last night?”
That’s probably why he wasn’t at the Drive-In. He was trying to track down a tux. That made sense, but what I couldn’t understand was why Ty wouldn’t naturally assume that he’d have to go to the dance with his “girlfriend”. I couldn’t fathom the thought of Kara being happy about not attending the Homecoming dance, let alone going without a date. She lived for that crap.
Ty smiled and shook his head. “That’s not why I changed my mind,” he replied with a shy grin. “You are still coming tonight, aren’t you? I mean, I will see you there?”
“Trust me…You won’t be able to miss me,” I replied caustically as I thought about the hideous layers of puke yellow fabric that would advertise my “grand entrance”.
Ty was in such a hurry he seemed oblivious to my sarcasm. He rushed out the door and then stopped before he completely exited.
“Save me a dance,” Ty called back with a wink and then ran off like his tail was on fire.
A smile crept across my face, amplifying the flush of my cheeks as I pondered his staggering request. I found myself daydreaming about dancing with Ty while my fingertips stroked the edge of my mug.
Could Katie be right? Was he possibly interested in me? I allowed my thoughts to carry me away for a moment. I never thought he shared any of the same feelings I’d had. Then again, I was too focused on school to even notice.
I pictured us there, dancing slowly under the soft lights of our dimly lit school gymnasium…until the reality of that ghastly dress surfaced. Like a cold slap hitting my face, I emerged abruptly from my trance. Not to mention, the reality of his girlfriend, Kara, and my date, Mike Riverside. I shook off any preconceived intensions regarding his “dance request”. We were already coupled up for all intents and purposes — Kara had been his girlfriend for a while and Mike was merely a peace-keeping favor from Hell.
My eyes wandered around the kitchen while I sat there waiting for Ms. Sutherland to return. Surely she needed to pack up a few things in here as well. The décor of the cutesy little space was strawberries, and they were everywhere. So many you would think you were out in the middle of a berry patch — on the wallpaper, the placemats, the appliance covers — practically on anything standing still. Even all the ceramic canisters and dishes that lined her almond-colored countertops were painted in the motif.
My eyes continued to travel around the room. I soon spotted the box marked, “Master Bedroom”, that Ty had forgotten in his haste to take out to the truck.
I pushed my chair away from the table and walked over to collect the box. It was kind of heavy, but nothing I couldn’t handle. I used my butt to push open the backdoor and made my way down a small set of concrete steps. There was a long narrow walk beside the house that led out to the driveway. As I toted the box to the truck, I noticed that the cypress trees which desperately needed pruning ran clear back to the rear of the house, right alongside my path. The overgrown limbs hung down over the walkway and had a creepy appearance, like rough jagged arms reaching out. I felt a few of their needles scratching me, but I continued to push onward, burying my face down behind the box to avoid any scrapes. Once I’d arrived at the back of truck, I slid the cardboard box snugly inside and gave it a little tap, signifying a job completed.
While I stood there, my ears picked up on a subtle noise. It was an odd, high-pitched rattling sound, which seemed to be getting louder and escalating at a disturbing rate. As I turned to check it out, from out of nowhere Ms. Sutherland lunged at me. She had come at me so fast that I immediately flinched and crouched down defensively toward the concrete drive — hands over my head and eyes now closed. Oddly enough, my knee-jerk reaction to her hostile and unforeseen move had been mostly triggered by the horrible scowl I’d seen etched on her face. But something else had caught my eye in that split-second — something that appeared to have been lodged in the center of her forehead.
I hunkered down beside the box truck thinking, WHAT THE HELL?
Gradually, I opened my eyes slightly, squinting for a clarifying peek. She was just standing there in front of me, now passive and motionless, but something was hanging beside her that trailed down to the ground. Since there seemed to be no more apparent signs of aggression, I slowly lowered my arms and rose to my feet. On the way up, my eyes shot open just as fast as my bottom lip fell to the ground. There standing in front of me was Ms. Sutherland — holding the largest freakin’ rattlesnake that I’d ever seen!
Chapter 7 — Surprise, Surprise
I stood there flabbergasted by the horrid vision of the elderly “blind woman” clutching a stout-looking, twelve-foot rattlesnake lying limp in her hand. The sight of its lifeless, scaly body, which stretched from her fist to the ground and then curled around her feet, shot a jolting shiver down my spine. My frame may have been locked in a stupefied state, but my eyes continued to swell from the impossibility of the feat I’d just witnessed.
“Shiloh, are you okay, dear?” Ms. Sutherland asked with utmost concern.
“Um…Yeah,” I mumbled in a daze (and without checking). As I came to my senses, my hands briskly patted my head and upper body. “I think so,” I assumed. “Where did that thing come from? I’ve never seen a snake that big before — EVER!” Its daggone head was bigger than her fist!
“Oh dear, I’m so sorry. I feel just awful. It must’ve been hanging on a branch in one of these old cypress trees. I haven’t had them pruned all year, and I bet they’ve grown out of control. I should’ve had Tyler trim them back when he was here last week. I figured they probably looked bad, but I had no idea how dangerous they were.”
Ms. Sutherland stood there pleading for my forgiveness, but that was the last thing on my mind. I was well aware of how the snake could have been in the tree, but that didn’t help me comprehend how in world she knew I was outside or better yet, how accurate her aim was in reference to its demise.
“But HOW…how on earth did you know WHERE it was?”
Ms. Sutherland held up the scaly corpse and gave its tail a quick shake. “By its rattler, dear,” she replied casually.
It took me a second to process her answer. “Maybe…But you grabbed it and killed it in one shot! HOW?” I demanded skeptically.
“Lucky, I guess…or rather you were the lucky one,” she deuced with a smile.
No shit, I thought as I observed how long and pointy its fangs were. All of my earlier suspicions were aroused once again.
“Okay, but…how did you know that I was outside…BESIDE THE TRUCK?”
There’s no way she can spin this one, I thought confidently.
“I was coming into the kitchen and heard the backdoor slam, so I followed whomever it was around the side of the house. I heard the sound of a rattler coming from above, and well…my instincts kind of took over. My eyes may not be of use to me, but my other four senses are very fine-tuned. I’ve gotten quite familiar with the sounds of rattlesnakes in the woods from—”
I interrupted her far-fetched excuse. “From your bird-listening expeditions, right?” I posed crisply.
“Exactly, dear,” Ms. Sutherland replied in a candy-sweet tone.
I threw my arms up in defeat. I couldn’t have cared less if she saw me do it either. My patience was spent, and I was sick of her twisted game. On one hand, I was thankful that she’d kept me from becoming
snake-bait, but on the other, she was driving me crazy with suspicion. WHY?
I suddenly remembered seeing something stuck on her forehead when she had leapt out to grab my slithery attacker. I started inspecting her face and found myself impulsively brushing her forehead with my hand. Alarmed by my actions, Ms. Sutherland immediately jumped back and began rubbing her head.
“Shiloh, is there something wrong?” Ms. Sutherland asked nervously. “Oh, goodness. Did some of those little needles land on my face?”
“No,” I replied somewhat confused. “There aren’t any needles, but I thought I saw something on your head… Something round and kind of glassy.” Mystified, I stared at her forehead.
I could’ve sworn I saw something there. My eyes searched all around to see if anything had fallen onto the ground. Nothing but grass…and a little old lady holding one huge, dead-ass snake.
“Come back inside, dear. You need to sit down for a second after a scare like that, and besides, I have something for you.” She pitched the snake down onto the grass beside the driveway. “I’ll get Mr. Mayfield to dispose of that when he comes by later.” She felt around for my hand and then guided me back down the path beside the house, en route to the kitchen.
No sooner than I’d plopped down in my seat at the table, my fingers started tapping a steady rhythm unconsciously on its firm oak top. How am I going to find out? After all, she’s had a lot of practice at concealing it all these years…
“Is something wrong, Shiloh?” Ms. Sutherland asked. She’d noticed my little tapping tick before I realized what I was doing.
I stopped pecking on the table. “Nothing. I’m still a little dazed…I guess.”
“We can call it a day if you would like,” Ms. Sutherland suggested. “There are only a couple of drawers to box up in here. I do a lot of cooking, so I didn’t want to pack up my entire kitchen just yet.”
