Rusty Logic

by Robin Alexander

  “She’s gonna need a warrant to get into that house. All we need is duct tape and a strong rope, and I’ve got both of those things,” Stella said.

  Mona grimaced. “But if we’re wrong and the woman is innocent, we’re the ones who committed a crime.”

  “A very serious damn crime. Leapin’ Lincoln, Stella, listen to what you’re proposing.” June shook her head and closed her eyes. “I’m just gonna say it because Mona’s trying to be nice, and Patty is lost in a world of thread. You have finally split your gourd.”

  Mona jumped to her feet when Stella’s face flushed red and her mouth flew open. “Sisters, we always treat each other with respect, or at least we try. Let’s simplify this. Stella, we need more intel before we can commit to anything. I can’t assure you that we’ll take this matter into our own hands this time. If this woman is truly dangerous, we’re outmatched. Patty is the youngest, and she’s fifty-three. We’re too old to tangle with anyone.”

  Patty raised her hand and added, “I’m also menopausal.”

  Mona smiled at Stella. “Honey, if you can safely get us more information, we’ll get together and form a plan.”

  “I can do that,” Stella said as she stood, gathered her things, and walked out.

  “You hurt her feelings,” Patty said to June.

  “Did you hear what came out of her mouth? I don’t think it’s a good idea to encourage her to gather more information, either. She might get in her mind to take matters into her own hands, and only God knows what she’ll do.” June drummed her fingers on the table. “I think it’s finally time to contact her kids and let them know their mother has flown over the cuckoo’s nest and crashed into the tree.”

  “Our mothers loved Stella like a sister, and she has always been there for each of us. Her kids will stick her in a nursing home, and I think she deserves more than that. Yes, her latest mission is rather…exotic, but she’s missing the old days when she was someone important in this town. Surely, y’all can understand that.” Mona looked at June and Patty. “Let’s help our sister.”

  “What’re you suggesting?” June asked wearily.

  Mona shrugged. “Let’s go on surveillance with her. This fantasy isn’t gonna last long, and she’ll go back to piddling around in her garden and watching TV.”

  *******

  Kirsten drove down Chestnut Street and slowed to a stop when she noticed Rusty at the mailbox. She rolled down her window and smiled. “How’re you today?”

  “What’s the purpose of this?” Rusty pointed at the box made to look like a big-mouth bass.

  “A postal worker puts your mail inside of it. You can put mail in too, and signal them to pick it up by raising the fin.”

  “If I don’t laugh at your sarcasm, will you arrest me?”

  “Nah, but I may ticket you for a sour face,” Kirsten said with a grin.

  “That was cornier than your first remark.” Rusty pointed at the mailbox again. “This is hideous and just plain stupid.”

  “You can’t hate on fish in this town. There’s not many people around here that don’t have a boat or at least a rod and reel. But if you prefer, you can get one like Stella’s.” Kirsten jerked a thumb at what looked like a birdhouse. “Did we get off to a bad start?”

  “No,” Rusty said and looked around. “Thanks for the help last night. I did feel a little better after you explained it was just a neighbor making sure everything was okay and not some freak.”

  “I’m sorry that was your welcome to Ancelet Bay.”

  “At least I know that a lot of help comes quickly when you call for it.” Rusty swept a hand through her hair. “I was expecting one grumpy officer who’d do nothing but make a report.”

  “We don’t have a lot of crime around here, at least not in this area, plus I live just a few blocks away. When I heard the address and the nature of the call, I figured that Stella might’ve been the problem. The locals are used to seeing her skulk around. So what made you choose Ancelet?”

  Rusty began to fidget. “I’m the CEO of a business in Baton Rouge, and I’m here on sort of a…sabbatical. I needed to…get away from the hustle and bustle to reassess my priorities. This place is close enough if I need to get back there for an emergency but distant enough to keep people out of my hair while I focus on future expansions.”

  “I’m so jealous,” Kirsten said with a smile. “I’m kind of tied to this town. If I need to get away, I usually have to hide in the bathroom at the station.”

  “Trust me when I say this brilliant idea loses its appeal by the hour. I need to get back to work on some important reports, but I have a question. Why is this place called Ancelet Bay if there’s no bay, just a ditch?”

  Kirsten laughed. “Because it rhymes. If I remember my history correctly, the town is named after one of the founders, and adding bay to his name just seemed to have more of a ring to it. Ancelet is surrounded by bayous, and one of them became wider when the land around it sank. I guess someone considered that a bay. Just so you know, that’s not a ditch, it’s a bayou.”

  “Interesting,” Rusty said with a nod.

  “Well, it was nice meeting you, Rusty. I’m sure we’ll cross paths again soon. Ancelet isn’t that big.”

  “Nice meeting you too,” Rusty said before she turned and walked away.

  Chapter Four

  While awake, Rusty was aware that she’d had the dream on a regular basis, but asleep, the strangeness was all new and confusing. In slumber, Rusty found herself standing at the edge of a burned-out forest. Trees gnarled and charred loomed above her and reached into a gray sky as if they longed to escape the desolate landscape. Mist and smoke swirled around her as she waded through the ash. There were fragments of a life once lived strewn around her—melted picture frames, pieces of photos, a teddy bear facedown in the rubble.

  Rusty was filled with a feeling of loneliness and utter desolation as she tried to make sense of her surroundings. She called out, hoping that someone would answer and help her understand what had happened, but there was no reply, no sound at all. In the distance, she could see the outline of what looked like a house and made her way to it, but when she arrived, she realized that it was only a frame. It was made of all new wood and showed no signs of being burned and further added to Rusty’s confusion.

  “Sad, isn’t it?”

  Rusty whirled around and watched as a figure slowly emerged from the mist. A young woman with dark hair and eyes wearing a blue dress with large white polka dots gazed at Rusty. She was beautiful, and her clothing was the only thing of color in the gloom.

  “Momma?” Rusty said, her voice childlike. “What are you doing in this place?”

  “I’ve always been here, and I always will be,” Justine said.

  “This is where you came when you died?”

  “Oh, no. I have a fine house that sits in the center of a beautiful meadow and overlooks a crystal clear lake. It has a double oven, and I can bake eight pies at a time. The Kennedys enjoy my pecan, Elvis loves my blueberry, and your grandma, of course, favors the pumpkin.”

  “You’re hanging out with Elvis and the Kennedys?” Rusty asked in amazement.

  Justine frowned as her gaze swept over the landscape around them. “Rusty, what have you done?”

  Rusty looked around too. “What do you mean?”

  Justine pointed to the house. “When will you finish it?”

  “Finish…what?” Rusty asked.

  Justine continued to point at the house and didn’t answer.

  Rusty gazed up at the two-story skeletal structure. “This isn’t mine. Who would build in such a dismal place?”

  “Change it.”

  “I don’t want to change anything,” Rusty said as she grew irritated. “I don’t want to be here.”

  Justine’s voice was firm when she said, “Rusty, you must fix this, you must build.”

  “I’m about damn tired of everyone telling me what to do,” Rusty exploded. “I’m the woman that makes thin
gs happen. I’m in control.”

  Even as Rusty spoke, her voice grew smaller, so much so she didn’t recognize it. She held up her hand and stared at it in horror. It had morphed into a child’s. She looked down at her feet that had grown small, as well, and her two knobby knees. “Oh, shit,” she said as she clutched her face. “What have you done to me?”

  The dream switched before Justine could reply, and Rusty was back in her office. She breathed a sigh of relief and sank down into her chair until she realized her face was level with her desk. Neil walked in at that moment and gazed at her curiously. “Little girl, you can’t be in here.”

  “I’m not a baby,” Rusty said firmly. She ripped open her desk drawer. “Those are my tampons, and that’s my vodka and cigarettes. Now go get me a booster seat, so I can reach my keyboard. Oh, and stop by the muffin cart on your way. I want two chocolate doughnuts with sprinkles. Skip the coffee and get me some chocolate milk.”

  Neil started speaking in that placating tone she hated. “You need a hug.”

  “No touching! Don’t you come any closer.” Rusty got up on her knees and started banging away on her keyboard. “Where do we stand on the permits to operate in Gonzales?”

  “You come with me, it’s time for you to rest,” Neil said as he held out his hand.

  Rusty recoiled. “I told you, I’m not a baby, and I don’t want to go to bed.” Neil continued to slowly move toward her, and Rusty screamed. “You can’t tell me what to do! I’m not a baby! I’m not! I’m not! I’m not!”

  Rusty awoke from the dream with a gasp and sat straight up. It took her a moment to realize where she was. She ripped the blankets away and was relieved to see an adult body and said, “Shit,” just to hear her own voice. With a sigh of relief, she grabbed the framed photo off her bed stand and gazed at it.

  The picture was taken when Justine Martinez was only nineteen years old. Her smile was radiant, and she’d been caught twirling, her navy blue polka-dot dress fanned out around her knees, the wind in her hair. It was the only photo Rusty ever kept of her mother because it was taken when she was truly happy and carefree, and Rusty had never known her that way.

  *******

  “Good morning, baby,” Mona said cheerfully as Kirsten walked into the kitchen. “I hope you’re not disappointed that we’re having cereal today.”

  “I just came by for coffee,” Kirsten said as she kissed her mother on the cheek.

  Tal was seated at the table with a frown as he contemplated a bowl of what looked like gruel. “You need to make that speeding ticket Antoine wrote Chad Hawkins go away,” he said when Kirsten took a seat.

  “Why? He earned it fair and square doing fifty-two miles an hour in a twenty-five-mile-per-hour zone,” Kirsten said coolly.

  “Chad and his family have done more work in this town than anyone else. If not for them, the library would’ve been condemned,” Tal argued.

  Kirsten shook her head. “That still doesn’t mean he can do whatever he wants. Main Street is full of pedestrian traffic, someone could’ve been killed. If Chad was on fire, that’s still not a good enough reason to drive that recklessly, so he pays the ticket. Antoine gave him a break by not arresting him.”

  “I said, make that ticket disappear.” Tal stirred his cereal and gave Kirsten a fierce eye. “Make that happen today.”

  “Not on my watch, Daddy. If your friends don’t want speeding tickets, tell them to abide by the limits.”

  “Don’t mind your father, he’s just grumpy because he’s constipated.” Mona set a bowl of cereal in front of Kirsten. “Eat that, you don’t want to end up the same way.”

  Tal wasn’t willing to back down. “You don’t ticket the pillars of this community. I thought I taught you that.”

  “Well, Dad, that’s one lesson I pay no heed. If the mayor was driving like Chad, I would’ve personally written him up. The ticket stands.”

  “You forget that your position is appointed,” Tal said as his voice rose. “You start pissing off the council, and you’re gonna find yourself in the unemployment line.”

  “With my integrity intact,” Kirsten ground out.

  “There must be something in the water around here,” Mona interjected. “Everyone seems to be at each other’s throats. You two, stop it right now. I am not gonna have my morning ruined by bickering. Change the subject.”

  “Well, I’m done with this straw and milk,” Tal said as he pushed his bowl away and got up. “I’m going out to the shop, and if I get hungry, I’ll eat sawdust. It’s the same damn consistency, and it’s gotta taste better.”

  Mona sighed as the back door slammed behind her husband. “You know he misses being chief.”

  “I know,” Kirsten said with a nod. “But he needs to accept that I’m not gonna do things the way he always did. I’m sure that’s what the town council and the mayor expected when they appointed me, and if they want that, they need to reinstate Dad.”

  “I respect what you’re doing, but it’s not gonna be easy. The good ol’ boys club is still alive and well in Ancelet. It was much worse when I was a girl, and that’s why the DOD formed.”

  “Can y’all do anything about the boys club now?”

  Mona smiled. “Baby, we’re too old, and none of the younger women are interested in joining just to play cards. They all have families to raise and work to go to. You’ll have to take up this fight on your own, but just know the Daughters will do what we can if you truly need us.”

  *******

  Rusty had spent three days inside, except for the few minutes it took to collect a newspaper that had been tossed onto her driveway. She’d rearranged what little furniture she had a half-dozen times. Neil had packed a jigsaw puzzle in her things, and she’d put it together and tore it apart a few times before she became completely bored. Instead of feeling relaxed, tension mounted as she wondered what was happening at Smart Shopper while she was away.

  Neil was a complete pushover in her mind, and scary scenarios began to play in her brain. She envisioned the staff using its fleet of vans to conduct personal business instead of making deliveries. The dispatchers were asleep. The sales staff was in a bar somewhere having drinks, all the while profits were draining out in streams.

  She grabbed her phone and paced while she waited for Neil to answer her call. “Hey. Hey. How’re things going?”

  “Good, I just left our lawyer’s office where we put the finishing touches on the Donalay Foods contract. I even picked up a new customer when I stopped to get gas this morning. A lady and I had a conversation at the pumps, and I gave her a brochure. She’d placed an order by the time I got back to the office. I was all worried that the transmission was going out in another one of our vans, but it turned out to be just a vacuum hose. It’s a good day. What’s going on with you?”

  “I’m settling in. I’ve been taking it leisurely, you know. I put up a few things here and there,” Rusty said as she walked in circles with her hand on her hip. “I was thinking that it would be productive if maybe I could work on the projections for New Orleans since I’m so relaxed.”

  “You’re a workaholic, and you sacrificed everything good in your life to feed that habit. Rusty, you’re in detox. An alcoholic can’t take a drink every now and then if they want to be sober. It doesn’t work that way.”

  “I really hate it when you use that tone with me,” Rusty said between clenched teeth.

  Neil sounded surprised when he asked, “What tone?”

  “You speak to me like I’m a child or a wounded animal. I don’t like it.”

  Neil’s tone changed abruptly and became firm. “Honor your deal. No work for a month. If you’re bored, get a hobby. You mentioned fishing, you should—”

  “I don’t want no damn fish! The stupid newspaper here is all about fish. It’s filled with pictures of fish. I won’t even eat one because I’m so sick of them!”

  “Then find something else to do,” Neil said coolly. “Jaqueline warned me the first couple weeks of y
our detox would be rough, and you’d take out your hostility on me. I’m more than happy to listen to you rant.”

  “Don’t try to placate me like you would a child.”

  “I’m not. I miss you, and I’m glad to hear your voice even if it’s yelling. I’m still your partner, I’m here to help.”

  Rusty released a heavy breath. “Dear God, sometimes I hate it when you’re so sweet.”

  “Okay. How about this? Quit your bitching and find something to do with your time, you petulant asshole. Don’t you know how to do anything that doesn’t involve an office and a computer, loser? Get a life, titmouse.”

  “All right, you’re going too far. Now I just want to kill you.”

  “Well then, prove me wrong. What’re you gonna do about your situation?”

  Rusty stared out the window at her mailbox. “I’m going fishing.”

  Chapter Five

  Rusty wrinkled her nose when she opened the door to the hardware store. A sales clerk was in her face before she even had time to blink. “Welcome to Hadley’s Hardware. My name is Keith, how may I assist you today?”

  “What the hell is that smell? Do y’all have a broken sewer pipe?”

  Keith sniffed at the air like a dog. “I’m not sure I know what you’re talking about. All I smell is fertilizer and feed.”

  “It stinks. You need to put out some deodorizer in here, Keith. Where are your mailboxes?”

  “Aisle four, I’ll show you.”

  Rusty followed him, and when they arrived at the aisle he mentioned, she hissed like a cat when she saw a big-mouth bass box sitting next to a chicken, and the handle was a tail feather. “Tell me you have something besides these. You know, the kind normal people use?”

  “Those are here on the bottom in green, black, white, and silver. Do you prefer metal or plastic?”

  “This,” Rusty said as she grabbed a basic black metal box.